267 - 275
Reincarnator – Chapter 267 : Underground (1)
The leader of the Hydros Clan, Karon, shook his head.
"What a mess…"
Karon was at loss for words as he saw the giant War Fortress that was surrounded in some white aura.
Quite a lot of things had changed from the collision that happened the day before.
The normal players who lived day to day with their daily earnings didn't know but the giant clans who used the Kingdom's and Empire's territories as their base of operations were busy assessing the situation.
And it was the same for the 15 great clans which were so large to the point of influencing the local powers.
But one thing was clear.
That things had twisted in a very complex manner.
'The ones who appeared… Have no thoughts of coming out from the War Fortress.'
And they couldn't go in even if they wanted to.
Since the Golden Dragon Formation was protecting them.
The half-powdered walls of the War Fortress got reconstructed as the cracked ground mended itself.
The bright light surrounded the entire War Fortress and prevented anybody from entering.
And the players whose revival points were in that perimeter got forcibly moved to the village next door could only stand outside and stare at the high standing War Fortress from the distance.
The people from the Kingdoms who had tried to go through the barrier had received heavy damages from the attacks of the Ains and had retreated.
The only thing they could do was watch for now.
'For this entire thing to have been caused by one mad guy. Unbelievable.'
There was a rumor.
That one bug player had caused all this.
He destroyed the Great Maze, pulled out the Ains, suppressed the 'Red Dragon Wielder' Arthus Krancheska, the captain of the Magic Brigade, and ate up the War Fortress.
This was something that the entire Hydros Clan could not accomplish.
But for him to have done this all by himself.
'It doesn't seem like a fake rumor… We need to see how much of this is the truth.'
Though intel was being gathered at a rapid pace, it hadn't been long since the event had occurred.
And because there were lots of other random information from all around, there was a huge lack of time to gather the important intel.
There was also a bigger issue as well.
'What do I do with this…'
Karon touched the high quality mail in his hand and pressed down on his temples because of the headache.
Then.
Squeak.
The door of the building used as the clan's office opened up as a man walked in.
"Uh. Clan Leader. There's an interesting piece of information."
"…What is it?"
Unlike the other clans, the Hydros Clan was created through close relationships and top players joining afterwards.
Most of the high ranked individuals came in with connections so they were all close to each other.
Karon asked back in confusion as he heard the story from the leader of the hunting teams.
"…So you're telling me that the one who caused the ruckus here is in the center of the Spirit Land which takes days to go to ? And he erased an entire hunting team of our clan?"
"Yeah. Apparently they found this out after getting pissed off when they got killed."
"This is insane. Can he teleport or something as well then?"
The Spirit Land didn't have warp gates.
So the only method to travel was on foot.
As Karon was befuddled at the fact that somebody who should be here was all the way over at the most northern lands of the Spirit Land.
The guy shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.
"The rumor has already been spread all around. Those guys were so pissed that they went around spreading it."
"Sigh… Fucking hell. The northernmost area? Ugh…"
As Karon tightly clenched his head like it was about to explode, the man asked in confusion.
"Don't we just need to buy time? What's to gain from killing him?"
According to the rumors, he was an extremely powerful individual.
And killing one person didn't give much profit.
It was better to focus on the treasure chest in front of their eyes.
'If we could just get through that…'
The War Fortress which had buckled up like a turtle.
But everybody knew how sweet the meat inside this thick shell would be.
As the leader gulped his saliva at the War Fortress in the distance.
Karon shook his head as he handed over the message in his hand.
"Just read it and see what's on it."
"This…"
As he read the message from Karon.
His expression turned grim as well.
............…..
"So… They were ordered to hunt me down no matter what?"
Crunch.
As Hansoo asked the man while grabbing him by the throat, the player spat as he replied.
"Ugh…Then do you think we'd be chasing you like this otherwise? You're dead now. Using hacks unfairly like this."
If the man who he was choking was a normal civilian of this world he might've been trembling in fear of death but sadly he was a player.
The player looked at Hansoo in annoyance while grinding his teeth.
'Fucking hell. What a waste of time.'
It didn't annoy him because this guy was strong.
It wasn't like they died and there was a limit to how much one could take.
He just didn't like the situation itself.
The Empire did promise them rewards.
But it wasn't asking for a favor but rather giving them a command.
How would they move around in a world like this without Warp Gates and without the support of those powers?
And seeing their reaction, it seemed like they were going to forcefully send them into the Spirit Land if they didn't comply.
'Fucking hell. How dare a fucking NPC do this. They tried so hard to please us up until now.'
During the ages when the Kingdoms and the Empires fought, the NPCs tried very hard to drag the players and the 15 Great Clans.
But they had all united now.
The 15 clans could clearly feel that they were outsiders now.
A tremendous difference in strength.
They could still the visualize Cykrus smashing apart the earth with his giant greatsword.
Of course they could fight against these NPCs since they didn't die.
But what would be left for them?
There won't be any fun in playing in a world filled with ruins if they won and losing would cause an even bigger problem.
'Fucking bastards. They should just do it themselves.'
But everyone already knew that the people from the Kingdoms and the Empires couldn't set foot in the Spirit Land.
Though it was shitty, the only method they had was to kill this guy.
"Hmm."
Hansoo thought about the situation for a bit and then started to chuckle.
Crunch.
Whoosh!
Hansoo broke the neck and then looked around as the player started to turn into golden light.
Holes and broken ice.
And artifacts everywhere.
Things the players dropped as they got killed while chasing him around.
'It's already been 3 days since they started chasing me huh.'
3 days.
This was the time he had been looking for the traces of the blessing in the Spirit Land while smashing these things apart.
Following the way the symbol in his chest was telling him to go, all the way up to right below the mountain range.
He could see the raging blizzard above the mountain which rose up almost vertically.
This was not something that he could withstand with just blessings.
Since Mudusella wouldn't ask something impossible, he needed to find a way to go in but it was nowhere to be seen.
Which meant that there was only one possibility left.
'Underground.'
Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the hard, frozen ground below his feet.
Though snow and ice were covering it, nobody really knew how deep it would go.
'…I'll have to use the Nine Dragons Spear.'
As Hansoo gripped his spear.
Dragons started to slowly appear and surround his body.
All the way up to seven.
Hansoo tapped on the ground but there was no telling what was below this.
Which meant that seven dragons might or might not work.
But he only got out seven and pointed straight down.
Since he might have to fight against the players even after smashing his way down in the worst case scenario.
In a situation like this where people were chasing him down from all areas, using a skill like the Nine Dragons Spear which had a huge aftereffect was something risky.
In some ways, it might be better to regroup back at the War Fortress and slowly go through with the Ains instead of smashing his way down.
But Hansoo laughed coldly and prepared to attack below.
'You feel impatient huh?'
The Kingdoms and the Empires were trying way too hard just to recover some pride or for revenge.
Which meant one thing.
That the issue wasn't him, but rather the one who had sent him here and his current location he was at.
And Hansoo was very happy to see this.
'Let's see what you have hidden here.'
"Hey! Kill that guy!"
"Fucking bastard!"
Hansoo glanced between the tall vertical mountain covered in layers of snow and the players charging at him from the distance, smiled in a cold manner and then smashed downwards with his spear.
With the black orb created from seven dragons.
Boooooooom!
Though the Tundra was extremely hard, it couldn't withstand the Nine Dragons Spear.
A tremendous noise occurred as the floor below Hansoo started to break apart.
Smashing apart the ice and melting the snow.
And into the darkness below.
Whooosh!
Hansoo, who had started to fall into the extremely deep hole slowly, used his leftover mana to attack upwards and accelerate his descent.
To go down even faster.
And the players accelerated further as they saw this.
"This bastard! Digging his own grave! You just wait right there!"
"You're fucked!"
The bloodied body of 3 days of chase.
The depleted mana from the big skill.
Hansoo shrugged at the players charging at him.
"You guys will be able to use it as well if you're lucky."
"Huh?"
As one of the players stopped at his words right before they jumped down into the darkness.
Rummmmbleeee!
All the snow that was layered on top of the mountain next to him started to fall down with a tremendous noise.
Creating a gigantic avalanche in the process.
"Holy shit!"
"Uaaaa! Run away!"
The players screamed at the sudden avalanche that had occurred.
............
Oooooong.
'…What a rat.'
Sounds of cracking came out from the hands of Tiamet, who was sitting eyes closed and holding the stake above the White Dragon Arena.
Though the Godly Weapon couldn't break, it was more than enough to show how distressed Tiamet was.
"He's really annoying huh. Just like you said."
"…"
"Jang Oh. Spit it out if you have something to say. Don't stay silent."
The dark shadowy man gazed back at Tiamet expressionlessly.
Reincarnator – Chapter 268 : Underground (2)
Tiamet looked back at Jang Oh expressionlessly.
"I understand that you didn't forget the fact that we're taking care of you outsiders. Well, shall we call what we have a contract, like how you guys call it?"
Jang Oh made a bitter expression at the condescending words of Tiamet.
'I know. That's why you treat us this way.'
Horrible living conditions.
This special area that was created near the extravagant capital always told them.
That they should be thankful to at least be treated this way before going up.
His friend, Clementine, tried very hard for their survival.
But was the life given to them satisfactory? That was a different story.
Reality was harsh.
Especially in this damned world created by 'God'.
Tiamet spoke towards Jang Oh.
"We've been nice to you so far. We've protected you from the players and kept you alive but… I don't like to keep things that are undeeded."
He and the natives of the Kingdoms and the Empire had a hard time going into the Spirit Land.
Since for them the Ain's Blessing was an impossibility and the Protection Elixirs were not working.
This is why he had kept these guys alive.
These parasites that passed by his world momentarily.
But if they didn't do their job, there was no need to keep them.
"Don't worry. I'll solve this problem."
Tiamet laughed towards Jang Oh who surrounded himself in bits of shadows as if he was about to move out.
"Take them all. Everybody who's just sitting around and eating."
Jang Oh's expression froze.
"Don't you trust me? I'm more than enough."
These weren't empty words.
He had been doing well by himself.
And though he heard that the new guy was strong, he had confidence in winning.
Since he had seen the other's skills over the hole.
Then.
Whoooosh!
"Kuhuk…"
Jang Oh groaned at the powerful hand grabbing onto his throat.
And Tiamet, the owner of this hand, slowly tightened his grip as he spoke with a cold expression.
"I'm telling you to do it properly you fucking scrub. Don't you understand? It seems you don't want to take them because it's dangerous but… Know this. If you fail then you guys don't have any value left. If you still have a brain then you should know what is better, all of you dying versus just a few."
"Ugh…"
"Stop him no matter what. From going over the mountain range. Don't let a single person cross it."
Smash!
'Mudusella. Things won't go the way you want.'
Tiamet mumbled after he threw Jang Oh on the ground.
...........
Rummmmble.
Hansoo continued to drop as he got hit by the avalanche that fell from above.
At that moment.
He heard something from below.
The sound of the black marble created from the Nine Dragons Spear smashing against something.
It had succeeded in melting the snow but something was blocking the energy.
Hansoo focused his sight as he fell.
Soon.
Through the mist that had been created from the ice and snow melting, he could see some blackish things.
A steel wall that had been half destroyed by the Nine Dragons Spear.
No, it shouldn't be steel.
Steel wouldn't be able to withstand the Nine Dragons Spear.
Some sort of alloy.
Despite it being half smashed apart, he could still see faint traces of light running through it.
And Hansoo could somewhat guess what this was.
'This looks similar to the things from the Golden Dragon Formation…Why is this here. Hmm…'
The wall of the Azure Dragon's Seat that was surrounded from the mana node's energy.
The feeling of the metal and the energy that was emitted from it were similar to it.
'Jang Oh told me he went through the entrance. Hmm.'
Hansoo thought of the words of Jang Oh from the past but merely shook his head and then raised his spear.
And used his falling momentum to smash into the wall.
Boooooooooooom!
'Not bad?'
Despite it being half destroyed already, the wall did a good job of withstanding Hansoo's attack.
The issue wasn't the material but rather the energy flowing through it.
The wall that was about a meter thick started to heal itself with the energy flowing through it.
Then.
"Ahhhh!"
"You bastard! This isn't anywhere close enough to kill us!"
The voices of the players from above could be heard.
This was within expectations.
Though they got pushed away from the avalanche, this wasn't enough to kill them.
It was just to push them away and buy some time.
'Hmph. It'll be annoying if you chase.'
Hansoo looked at the hole that was too small for him to go through and nodded.
Then his mana was sucked into the Nurmaha's ring.
Kiiiing!
Hansoo saw the shining ring on his finger and then smashed the ring into the alloy wall.
Boooom!
The wall still stood but there was a difference this time.
Whooosh!
The Power Nullification of the ring erased about a two-meters-radius's worth of energy from the wall.
This wouldn't last long since the wave of energy was flowing back into this area.
But this was enough.
Hansoo smashed his spear down onto the wall again.
Crunch!
Without the protection of the mysterious energy, the wall could not withstand Hansoo's attack from just the toughness of the alloy.
A hole about Hansoo's size was created and Hansoo jumped through the wall.
"Huh? Hey you bastard! You're running?"
"Hold him down!"
Boom!
Booom!
The players ran towards the hole Hansoo disappeared through.
But it was too late.
Shhhshshshh!
"Uh!? What the. This thing is shrinking!"
The Power Nullification had long worn out because of the waves of energy that rushed back in.
The hole in the alloy wall that was barely enough for Hansoo to get through was already getting smaller.
"Fucking hell!"
"Damn!"
Boom!
Boooom!
The players attacked the shrinking hole in panic but it was useless.
The energy flowing through the wall was too powerful for them to break through.
"What in the…"
"What the hell is hidden here? Jesus…"
Some people sat down and gave up but some still held on.
"Get back up and try looking around! There might be an entrance somewhere! Even a castle has doors!"
Some of the players heard this and nodded.
And then started to slowly use their skills to search around.
Chiiiiiiiiiik.
Despite the tremendous amount of ice, which had accumulated and condensed over tens of thousands of years, it could not withstand the combined heat from the skills of thouasnds of players.
And as they started their search, a question surfaced into their heads.
'What is this?'
The players made confused expressions.
The game, Exodus, was set in medieval times.
Building up walls with stones and the royalty fighting with swords and spears.
Though these stones and weapons were far beyond normal ones because of magic but the level of science was indeed very low.
An alloy like this, which should only exist in some Sci-Fi movies, should not be present here.
'Is this for some major update…Or something?'
The players came up with the most befitting answer.
Why else would something like this exist below layers of ice thousands of kilometers away from civilization?
At this moment the eyes of the players changed.
Curiosity started to replace the rage inside them.
And the speed of them melting the ice sped up from this.
At that moment.
"Uh?"
One of the players exclaimed out loud while he was melting the ice and proceeding in a twisted path.
Though it was very muted, it could not stay undetected from the focused perceptions of the other players.
"Did you find something?"
"Entrance? Did you find the entrance?"
Everybody started to rush towards where the voice came from.
But then the one who made the noise shook his head.
"No…It's not the entrance but…"
The eyes of the players naturally looked towards where the man was looking at.
There wasn't an entrance there but a strange letter.
[A…]
'What the hell is this now…'
It was so large that despite the player having melted a 30m radius, only a single letter could be seen.
And the players who had gotten curious decided what to do.
"Shall we… Try digging it out carefully?"
"Some should provide support with skills so things don't fall on our heads and the others should melt it!"
Everyone nodded as they spread out.
Chiiiiiiik.
Chiik.
They dug around it like an ant's nest in fear of things collapsing but in order to excavate everything, they would need to clear an area several times larger than a football field.
So everyone carefully enlarged the area while making sure things didn't fall.
They were still master level players and were the most powerful out of those.
The ice melted away very quickly and soon an underground cave was created.
Of a size that could allow thousands of people to live.
And then they read what the letters said.
[ASTRO-17]
'…What is this.'
An english word that symbolized space.
Though they knew what it meant, it didn't belong here.
The game's main concept was unveiling the unknown while traveling through the lands, something like this didn't fit the game at all.
............…
Whoooosh!
The moment Hansoo penetrated through the wall.
He thought that a tunnel or a small space would appear after going through the 1m thick wall.
But things were completely out of his expectations.
"…Amazing."
Whoosh!
Hansoo mumbled as he fell towards the ground far below.
A cylindrical space that was several kilometers wide and tall.
And Hansoo was shocked as he saw the giant world that spread out below his feet inside this space.
Reincarnator – Chapter 269 : Underground (3)
"Fucking hell. There's nothing to see."
The players started to leave one by one after a long period of curiously staring at the mysterious letters.
This damned thing didn't have an entrance anywhere.
Even if it did, they would have to melt all the ice surrounding this thing at this rate.
Which was not possible.
"Let's go up!"
"Ugh. What a waste of time."
The players complained but started to climb up one by one with weights lifted off their minds.
They still gained something from this.
'Even if the guys from the Empire are crazy they wouldn't fault us when we have come this far.'
If they really wanted to go through it then they probably could by gathering every player here including the ones above.
But why did they need to?
This was more than enough.
They had even given up their hunts to come all the way north to find this guy, what can they do about him escaping into some mysterious piece of metal?
'There. Nothing we can do.'
As they came up from the hole, they could see countless others having climbed out from the snow and were checking their gear.
And one of the players who came out from the hole shouted towards them.
"Yo! Let's go! It's a dud."
But nobody moved.
'What? Do they not trust me?'
Well, his words did lack some explanation.
But as the player was about to shout again.
One of his clansmen spoke with a frown on his face.
"…We can't man."
"Huh? Why?"
The clansman showed the player the message that had come.
Though there were a lot of words in it, the summary was simple.
And the player frowned as he saw the message.
'Damned Empire…Stressing me even inside the game. What the hell is the 4th Brigade anyway.'
According to what he knew, there was only 3 Brigades in the Empire.
The player shouted while frowning at the news of the Brigade he had never heard of.
"What about it! If they just started then it'll take forever for them to get here. How long are we supposed to wait!"
These players had taken two days despite running at full speed to get here.
Of course it would take longer if one calculated the time it took to kill beasts on the way.
Then.
Whooosh.
"Don't worry. We're here already."
"…Huh?"
His vision darkened for a second and then the shadow below his feet stood up.
'What the…'
The player was shocked at the sight of his own shadow getting up and moving around.
Then.
The shadow turned into a man.
'Hmm…'
A powerful aura that radiated from his entire body.
He didn't know what the 4th Brigade was but this was more than enough to tell him that they weren't simple.
And there was another problem.
'What is that.'
A small shield in the man's right hand.
As the players made fearful expressions at the shield that let out a suspicious but powerful aura.
The man who had used the spirit and his own skills to travel thousands of kilometers at a tremendous speed, Jang Oh, spoke.
"How's the situation?"
A few of the players were irritated at the arrogant NPC but it was still a NPC from the Empire.
They explained the situation.
Which made Jang Oh shocked.
'…There's energy flowing? Wasn't it a ruin?'
The place he obtained the Spirit wasn't as strong as this.
Since they barely maintained their existence deep inside the ice or in the middle of a swamp somewhere.
'I guess it's a bit different'
But this didn't matter.
Since all he needed to do was accomplish his objective.
'This is the end of jumping around.'
Jang oh muttered to himself as he jumped into the hole Hansoo had made.
With the shield raised.
............…
Whooosh!
Hansoo looked around as he fell.
A vast space.
A lake and a forest.
The lake was so clear and blue that it seemed like fishes would jump up at any moment and the green color of the forest made it look extremely healthy.
And the best part was the sky he was falling through.
Ooooong.
A giant object was floating in the air and lighting up this entire space.
Bright but warm.
Like…
'It's like a sun. A miniature sun?'
It seemed like it contained a tremendous amount of energy but seeing it was radiating very soft light he could only think of the sun.
And something else came into his eyes as he fell more.
If everything he had seen so far was beauty of nature then this was something quite opposite.
Cylindrical buildings that rose high into the sky.
Oooong.
Hansoo used a bit of mana to intensify his vision.
He then saw the identity of these buildings.
Starting at the outer parts, and at the inside through the windows.
And a conclusion quickly came.
'It's a residential building.'
Though there were a lot of strange objects, there were basic living conditions set such as tables, seats, beds and others.
It was a building created for residents.
And looking at this giant cylinder, a thought came up in Hansoo's head.
'Colony.'
A colony created for survival which one could see in Sci-Fi movies.
Tatatatak.
Hansoo landed onto the trees in an area which seemed to have been created as a orchard.
'…Why is such a thing below the Northern Tundra?'
Hansoo made a confused expression.
Even Jang Oh, who had gained the powers of the Spirit, didn't tell him about this.
'Did he not tell me…Or was it different from this.'
He didn't know when and why this was created but he knew one thing for clear.
That there were Spirits here.
Shrrrng.
Hansoo touched the branches of the tree next to him.
Then a joyous and familiar aura seeped out.
An aura full of life and vigor unlike the destructive auras of the Spirit Stones.
'Aura of the Tree Spirit.'
A type of Spirit Stone which was sold much cheaper than ice or fire types because of its lack of usage in battles.
But it was doing its job perfectly here.
Maintaining the best state for the trees that were living here.
'The Lake… And the Land as well.'
Hansoo started to walk as he sensed the nearby auras of the lake and the land below his feet.
He didn't have time to waste.
There was one objective he had right now.
Getting the Spirit and going across the mountain.
And for this, he had to move.
Hansoo pondered for a moment and then picked a direction.
'To the Power Room.'
Though this place was being managed by a Spirit, the Spirit did not live here.
To be exact, the energy of the spirit was keeping every corner of this place alive.
This place which was isolated from light, air and water from the outside.
'And also check on the way. See whether there are living creatures here…'
It was made for living creatures.
It was a low probability but there might be traces of living things.
There might even be somebody who had the answer to the question of what Mudusella wanted him to bring.
Tatatatak!
Hansoo started to head towards the central area with the buildings while following the aura of the Spirits below his feet.
Then.
Shhshshshhhh.
The surrounding trees that were being protected by the Spirit started to tremble.
As if they were communicating.
.........…
Tatatatatak.
After a bit, he got to a giant structure after passing through many others.
'It's here huh.'
A giant structure of which the entire outside was reinforced by a metal spirit.
He could feel a tremendous amount of energy and vigor from inside it.
'There must be something in here.'
Hansoo nodded.
Even if something was inside there, it didn't matter.
Since he just needed to get the Spirit's power and go across the mountain.
Then.
Rummblee.
A rumbling noise was heard from where he had come in from.
And Hansoo nodded at this sound.
'He came fast.'
Though Tiamet couldn't come, there was no way he would just sit and watch.
And Clementine's forces wouldn't sit around either.
Hansoo thought of the man who had come to meet him.
'…I didn't want to meet you like this but I guess I'll have to turn a blind eye this time around right?'
His previous mentor.
At the same time his protector.
And his friend.
Hansoo composed himself as he saw Jang Oh who was creating a hole through the wall he had come through far off in the distance.
While gripping the Forked Lightning tightly.
...............….
"Damn. Are you seeing this right now?"
"What is it?"
"It's live right now. Is it like the hint for the next big update? Damn, I'm jealous of these guys."
A rumor filled with curiosity circulated between the players outside the War Fortress.
Usually a live broadcast would only be used in battles as a tactical usage but that wasn't the case this time.
The players have envious expressions as they saw the live broadcasts of the players who were looking at this entire thing all the way up at the Northern Wall.
They were jealous because the rewards the first party that succeeded after the 5th update came and the Maze had opened were quite substancial.
Rummmblee!
"Woah….What the. Is that a NPC? Jesus christ."
"What is that?"
Rumble!
The people started to mumble in shock from the NPC who was smashing a hole into the alloy wall with a tiny shield in his hand.
Usually they would be attracted at the sight of a powerful NPC but their eyes turned to something else.
Not the NPC but rather the alloy wall he was creating a hole in.
Specifically the things that would be inside.
Then.
Chiiijijijik!
The moment the NPC male created a hole with this powerful attacks.
The players who were watching cheered.
"Woah! Is he going in!?"
"Damn…Shall I go over there as well?'
Due to the yells of the nearby players, the others who had been encircling the War Fortress started to turn on the broadcast one by one.
Soon.
The entire surroundings of the War Fortress were filled with tiny floating screens.
Reincarnator – Chapter 270 : Underground (4)
In the past.
He had gone through the Green Road and had barely gone up but immediately fell into a lethal situation.
Though he had gotten stronger in the Yellow Zone up until then, such a fucked up Zone like the Green Zone was a first.
They could probably survive if they didn't get caught but the eyes of the Bug Killers were too sharp for them to successfully hide when there was nobody to teach them or help them.
And the information about the location of the exit for the Arancar zone which he had logged into made him fall into a deeper despair.
But there was no need to worry that far.
Since surviving day by day was a challenge in itself.
But right before he was about to get killed off by the Bug Players.
A man appeared before his eyes.
The first impression wasn't that great but to him, who only had despair, a ray of hope had appeared.
Of course there were still issues.
............…..
Rumblee!
The players were in shock from the scene of the man in front of them who was breaking apart an entrance.
The alloy wall which had stood strong despite the combined attacks of all of them was slowly being broken apart.
From that man and the flat object in his hands.
'…4th Brigade, I guess they aren't a pushover. What is that anyway?'
As the flat object in the man's hand collided against the alloy wall.
The energy field surrounding the alloy wall was dispersed.
This was the reason why the man had been able to smash apart the alloy wall all by himself.
'Damn. Is there a way to…'
A small wisp of greed appeared inside the player's minds but they suppressed it.
Since attacking somebody from the Empire was a crazy act in itself and there was something else that made them more curious.
What would be behind the alloy wall?
Kiiiiing!
But right before the entrance was broken apart.
The man who had been attacking the wall, Jang Oh, suddenly stopped.
"Huh?
"Hey, why did you stop!?"
While the players were questioning his actions.
"Hmm…"
Jang Oh looked around at the players and then let out a wave of darkness.
Nothing tremendously lethal but it was still powerful enough to severely damage them.
And everybody dodged while cursing in shock.
"What the fuck?"
"What the hell man! Why!?"
As the players backed up.
'Heup.'
Jang Oh gathered up all the strength in his body and smashed the wall under his feet.
Booooom!
The alloy wall that had been badly damaged gave up as a hole appeared.
Jang Oh left behind the players and jumped down.
Whoosh!
"What the hell man!"
"Why are you going alone!"
The players who had backed up all charged towards the hole.
Because they were going crazy from curiosity by this point.
But at that point.
"Back off you bastards."
Boooom!
The man let out a tremendous amount of darkness and prevented the players from coming in.
And everybody freaked out at this attack and ran away again.
Soon the small hole had closed up again due to the alloy wall's regeneration.
"Ahhhh! Fucking bastard!"
"How dare a mere NPC do this!"
Everybody started to vent their anger by cursing off Jang Oh who had left them behind.
They had been wary of going in so far but now the story had changed.
An extremely mysterious space that may be the beginning of a giant quest.
And the beautiful world that they saw for a moment before the hole had closed up.
Bright lights, a clear lake and lush forests.
This was not something that should exist hundred of meters below the ice in the northernmost tundra.
"What the hell! Why did they tell us to stay then!? Didn't they need us?"
"And he said he was the 4th brigade! Why did he come alone!?"
If he was going to go in alone then why did the Empire act like this?
And why did they send them a message to stay here?
'Fucking hell…'
As everybody was grinding their teeth in rage.
One of the players shouted.
"Let's go in everybody!"
There was no reason for them to not.
Though they couldn't break through because they lacked numbers before, they had more than enough now.
They just needed to cooperate to isolate the mana flowing through the alloy wall and penetrate through it.
Everybody acquiesced at these words.
"Sure!"
"Yeah! Do you even know how many are watching this!? We need to show them what's inside!"
The man who had shouted smiled contently.
'I'm going to see it with my own eyes. And… Kill those guys if we get the chance.'
The man smiled.
Those who were monsters.
People who someone like him could not even dream of handling.
But seeing the situation now, they would probably fight each other inside.
At least one side will get turned into a mess.
Which gave them an opportunity.
'This is going to be a jackpot. Hehehe.'
The mysterious shield the man had.
And the glittering artifacts the man who they had been chasing had around his body.
'This is basically a present box.'
Boooobobooooom!
The players started to break apart the wall while thinking about the scenery inside and the two people who would be fighting to the death.
.............
Rummble!
As a man fell down from the hole.
Whooosh!
The man's body got surrounded by shadows and then appeared right before Hansoo.
Crossing across hundreds of meters in an instant.
And Hansoo frowned at this.
'Hmm.'
It seemed like he used a skill but because it had mixed with the shadows around Jang Oh's body, it was hard to tell.
Hansoo muttered to himself as he looked at Jang Oh who had perfectly integrated his skills and the shadow together.
'A man with many secrets.'
Though they were quite close in the past, Jang Oh was extremely protective of the people in his village and did not show anybody how he worked.
Since he always worked solo.
And Jang Oh was frowning as he appeared before Hansoo.
But it wasn't from the rage he had against Hansoo.
<...….>
Jang Oh frowned at the constant trembles of the soul fragment in his head and then shouted in his mind.
Since the powers of a clan didn't work through dimensions.
They all had their own thoughts and motivations. <…..>
Jang Oh released his frown as the fragment loosened up and smiled towards Hansoo.
WIth an expression full of respect.
And not only his expression.
Jang Oh spoke towards Hansoo.
"Amazing. You're the second person I've seen in my life who is this amazing."
The first was Clementine.
He himself had rampaged through the lower areas.
But the moment he saw Clementine he understood that the world was large and there was a lot of monstrous people.
Jang Oh decided to follow Clementine due to Clementine's endless potential in leadership and how she took extreme care of her own people.
Since it felt like there would be no more dangers if he followed Clementine.
'I never thought there would be somebody else besides Clementine who could shock me.'
Jang Oh whistled.
Actually, this guy was beyond Clementine.
According to what he heard, this guy had saved the World Tree, dealt with the Gragos of the Orange Zone and even killed off all the God-like higher races of the Yellow Zone.
In a world like this where it was hard to even keep one's own life, this man had saved an uncountable amount of people.
His achievements made him look like a hero who might appear in legends.
And deserving of his reputation, he had pushed out the damned players and revived the Ains even in this Green Zone.
'How worthy of respect. You… Are doing something that I've wanted to do so much but could not.'
His other comrades were telling him to get revenge for Metiron and kill the man in front of him but his thoughts were different.
Kiiiiing.
Jang Oh spoke towards Hansoo in front of him.
"You've done well so far but stop here."
This guy couldn't even beat him, much less Tiamet.
Jang Oh continued to speak.
"This was good enough. The thing you're doing… Is enraging Tiamet. Stop here and join us instead."
This guy's skill would help him and Clementine tremendously.
Even if this guy wasn't needed, he liked Hansoo a lot for a strange reason and really wished to recruit him.
So he had told him about Tiamet.
To make him give up on his own.
And to make him join his side.
'You've seen it as well. That power.'
He didn't know what was beyond that mountain range.
But one thing was clear.
That the thing this guy was doing here was something Tiamet deeply cared about and wanted to prevent.
If he succeeded then Tiamet would stand up from his seat with a towering rage.
Forsaking everything else.
'Just give up. We're just… People who are passing by. But if you continue to resist…'
Jang Oh thought of his comrades who were caught like hostages and then clenched his hold on the blackish shield.
...............…
"We got through!"
Booooom!
The players shouted in glee from the hole in the wall.
But this glee only lasted for a moment.
People started to shout at the hole which had already started to shrink.
"Hey! Not all of us can go in! We have to keep this up!"
A few of the people here would have to stay and keep attacking it to prevent it closing back up again.
A few of the people laughed.
"Well, there's no reason for all of us to go in right?"
In the distance.
Inside the cylindrical world.
There was a very unique looking area inside this place.
A factory-like structure which was surrounded by giant walls.
'Let's see what's there first.'
Though normal people were afraid of mystery, they weren't.
'We're immortal.'
The mysterious only roused up their curiosity further.
"Hahahaha! Let's go!"
"Everybody, can you see! Continue to tune in since we haven't started fighting yet!"
The players smiled at the giant structures from above and then started to fall one by one.
Towards the ground.
Reincarnator – Chapter 270 : Berserk (1)
The day when they had first met.
The man who laughed at him with a funny mask.
Hansoo spat back at the man.
Though he was weak, he was still an adventurer of the Otherworld.
The viciousness he had grown in order to survive did not lose out to anybody else's.
And the man laughed at Hansoo as if he was cute and then spoke.
Hansoo chuckled.
He knew that this man was strong.
But that was it.
The ones who were chasing him were immortal.
The
At that moment.
The bug killers stopped as they saw the man with the strange mask.
As Hansoo grinded his teeth at the bug killers who had caught up, the man in front of Hansoo chuckled as he spoke towards the bug killers.
Like an order.
'Is he insane?'
Did that dumb mask boost his confidence or something?
But as Hansoo made a dumbfounded expression.
A shocking thing happened.
The people who had been chasing Hansoo backed off peacefully.
And Hansoo was lost for words.
The man took off the mask on his face and smiled.
This was the first time Hansoo had seen Jang Oh's face.
...........
As Hansoo thought back to the past.
Jang Oh spoke:.
"This is the final time I'm saying this. Stop all this and just follow me. And… Make everyone under you surrender. Then they'll at least be able to keep their lives."
It wasn't too late to stop yet.
Though Tiamet treated the adventurers like crap, he didn't try to pull them out by their roots.
He merely kept them below him and controlled them.
Hansoo replied expressionlessly.
"What about the Ains?"
Jang Oh shrugged at Hansoo's words.
"…Nothing we can do about them."
The adventurers would just leave this place.
But the Ains and Mudusella wouldn't stop trying to get across that mountain range.
And this was something Tiamet was dreadfully afraid of.
The Empire and the Kingdoms wouldn't sit by and watch.
And even now, there were preparations going on in the Empire.
'Destruction Cannon.'
Jang Oh muttered to himself as he thought of the hidden weapon underground back in the Empire's capital.
It had been 800 years since the Ains had been trapped.
They, who had sealed the Ains in fear, always thought of the worst case scenario.
What would happen when the Ain's seals were released?
What would they try to do once they got released?
And what would happen to the Empire and the Kingdoms because of the Ains.
The natives had constantly worried and prepared about this for the past 800 years and they had even prepared for a situation where the Ains got to the Spirit Land, a place themselves couldn't enter with ease.
The Ains would try to cross the mountain range but would eventually all get killed before they got there.
Since there was a huge difference between those who had been preparing for 800 years and those who had been in stasis.
"Just join us."
Hansoo chuckled at Jang Oh's words.
If he took this offer, he would be safe temporarily.
He would also be able to reduce the deaths by a large amount.
But that meant that their lives will always be under the control of these guys.
The reason why the Empire and the Kingdoms could not move out with ease wasn't because of the War Fortress.
It was because of the Ains who were slowly gaining back their strength.
And for Hansoo to betray the Ains, who will become his strongest allies, and kill them all?
At that point the balance of power will be broken and there would be nothing they could do when Tiamet decides to kill them all off.
And even so, it was not something he could accept when he needed to receive the Spirit's powers.
'Well, at least I got to confirm two things.'
First, Tiamet was very wary of the Ains and the adventurers who could become variables.
Second, that the variable was across that mountain.
'Let's see what's above it then.'
Hansoo looked at Jang Oh after organizing his thoughts.
Since their opinions and situations varied, they could not avoid a collision.
And he wasn't looking to avoid it anyway.
It was probably the same for Jang Oh as well.
'Because of our past… I'll give you an offer as well.'
As Jang Oh gave him a final offer because he pitied Hansoo and the others, this was the final thing Hansoo could do for Jang Oh.
Hansoo steeled himself in order to not show his emotions and then spoke towards Jang Oh in a resolute voice.
Wanting him to accept.
Though he wouldn't.
"Shall I make a better offer?"
"…What is it?"
Hansoo clenched his spear and spoke.
"Quietly hide until this all ends. Don't interfere. Then after everything ends we will treat you guys well."
Keldian had told Hansoo to kill everybody who interferes.
Along with the Dark Lord of this zone, Jang Oh.
But there was something Keldian didn't know.
He didn't know how the people below Jang Oh were living their lives.
'They haven't done any wrong.'
Jang Oh had decided to shoulder all their sins.
But the moment Jang Oh heard Hansoo's words, his expression froze.
He could not do such a thing.
This other guy was probably saying this because he thought that he would win in the end.
But his thoughts were different after a long period of watching Tiamet's strength.
Tiamet would win and this guy would lose.
So before this guy took all of humanity into oblivion, he needed to kill him.
'You should've stopped here.'
Then.
Boooooooooom!
Shadows exploded out from Jang Oh's body and surrounded him.
Not the cloud-like shadows like the ones he had used so far but rather thick and dark shadows.
And soon a black knight appeared before Hansoo's eyes.
Whooooosh!
Jang Oh swung across the air with the shield in his right hand.
Towards Hansoo who seemed to have expected all this and had started to thrust with his spear.
Boooooooooom!
The moment the Forked Lightning in Hansoo's hand collided with the shield, a tremendous explosive sound occurred as a shockwave spread out in all directions.
Veins popped out from Hansoo's hands.
An attack which carried all his strength behind it.
But the shield had successfully blocked his attack.
'Tsk. I knew this would happen.'
He was superior in terms of the physical capabilities of his body and in mana.
But his opponent had many cards to play as well.
Boooom!
Boom!
Hansoo's spear twisted around like a snake then cut across the air towards the black knight.
The attack which could even smash apart a master player arrived in front of the knight but that's as far as it went.
Jang Oh deflected the attack away with his shield then dispersed his body into fragments of shadows.
Then.
Whooooosh!
A dangerous aura from below his feet.
Hansoo lifted up his feet and dodged away from the shadows that were charging towards him.
The shadow blades that rose out from the shadows below his feet.
Boooooooooom!
Jang Oh, who had been focusing on defense previously, suddenly threw the shield towards Hansoo and Hansoo quickly lifted his spear up in order to block mid-air.
Though he had lost his balance, he was still superior in terms of strength and mana.
But then.
Oooooong!
Jang Oh's shield made a strange humming noise as it started to let out yellow light.
The moment that yellow light passed by Hansoo.
Shwoooosh!
The Demonic Dragon's Reinforcement that surrounded Hansoo's body and his artifacts got shattered apart and the shield smashed towards Hansoo's bare body.
Booom!
Veins popped out in Hansoo's arms as he blocked the shield with his spear.
And as Hansoo jumped back after pushing away the shield.
Whooosh!
Hansoo frowned at the chain-like shadows that exploded out from beneath his feet.
'Dark Spirit. Annoying. That shield too…'
Crunch!
He had ripped apart the chains with brute strength but the shield had succeeded in dodging the spear and smashing into Hansoo's chest.
Booooooom!
A tremendous amount of force smashed into Hansoo's chest and Jang Oh didn't let a single momemt go to waste as he continued to push Hansoo back.
Boom!
Boom!
The surrounding flora all got snapped and broken from the shockwaves as the nearby lake melted due to the collision of mana.
And Hansoo was taking all of these attacks with his bare body.
Booooom!
Every time he got hit, cracks appeared on the Thousand Soldiers Armor and the spear got bent to the point of breaking.
Hansoo smashed the shield which dispersed his mana with the yellow light every time it hit him and jumped back more.
But Jang Oh didn't let Hansoo do as he pleased as a storm of shadows rushed in towards Hansoo.
'So this is how it's like to fight against him.'
He could not tell where the body, skills and weapons were.
It was just all darkness.
He surrounded the entire body with darkness and stormed through.
Cut the enemy's vision and attack from the shadows.
Endlessly.
Even if he gained the Spirit's power, he could not do such a thing right now.
This was the accumulation of endless effort.
Jang Oh, who had succeeded in integrating his entire body, all of his skills and his artifacts with the shadow was nothing but a mass of darkness.
A form which did not resemble a human at all.
'But… He's still human.'
Boooooooom!
As the yellow light dispersed his mana again and the shadows were about to smash into his body again.
Hansoo spoke.
In a cold manner.
"Michael Dawson. How does it feel to sell out your comrades?"
Then.
Jang Oh stopped in place.
Michael Dawson.
One of the two clan leaders of the Ant Eater clan.
The name that made Jang Oh regret for all of eternity.
'Jang Oh… Your mentality is way too weak.'
The moment the shadows around Jang Oh's body trembled.
Crunch!
Hansoo's spear flew towards Jang Oh's body.
Reincarnator – Chapter 272 : Berserk (2)
Jang Oh thought of the past from time to time.
The times when he had traveled along the Yellow Zone with Clementine and his other comrades.
'Eres… I met them here as well.'
People who had come 2 years earlier and had gotten used to this world.
Jang Oh smiled.
The Green Zone, in many ways, was much more perilous than the Yellow Zone but it didn't matter.
Since Clementine had always led them in an amazing way.
Though they were afraid of the players but they were good at hiding and they didn't think it would matter much even if they got caught.
Since he and his comrades were powerful.
There was nobody who could go against them out of the players as they increased their levels explosively and prepared to leave.
They proceeded towards the Empire's capital, Kirkis.
They just needed to spread out to not get caught by the players and just get to the log out zone.
The group of Eres had gone up far before because they had logged in from a different spot but they could just meet them above.
But right before they left.
They met true despair.
The power which determined who the losers of this world were, the Empire.
And the man who shouldered that entire title by himself.
Tiamet Kratus.
They tried to resist the man who was mumbling strange words and was capturing them but it was all futile.
Though they were confident in their own skills, Tiamet was on another level.
They could not even fathom the strength of Tiamet, which had been polished and sharpened for a thousand years, and they got sucked into the White Dragon Arena one by one.
If Tiamet wanted to kill them they would've long died.
He kept them alive for one reason.
In order to drag out everybody who was hiding around by using them as bait.
While the adventures trapped in the White Dragon Arena fell into depression.
Clementine, who they had planned to meet above, appeared.
Maybe to rescue them or maybe because of another reason.
But one thing was clear.
That Tiamet was intrigued by Clementine's words.
And that in just five short minutes, Clementine and Tiamet had found a common ground.
So a contract between Tiamet Kratus and Clementine had been created and these people were able to get released.
Though he and the others were very curious about the contents of the contract but Clementine merely laughed it off and refused to speak about it.
But before she went up.
Jang Oh found out about the contents of the contract.
Jang Oh could not forget Clementine's voice.
The kind voice which asked him to do such vicious things.
............…
Booooom!
Boom!
The players whistled at the sounds which rang out from afar and carefully moved around far off in the distance.
"Sheesh…Do you see that? Monsters. Let's just leave them to fight by themselves and move around on our own."
One of the players whispered in fear.
If they showed the battle and the viewers asked to fight then things would change.
Since they couldn't refuse the words of the people watching them.
'No. I don't even want to get involved in that at all. Crazy bastards… How do you even get that strong?'
Even if they got involved, there wasn't much they could do.
Maybe they might be able to ambush them later.
But right now, there was a bigger and more important objective.
The players ignored the noises in the distance and carefully headed towards the giant structure in the distance.
It was clearly different from the residential areas until now.
As the vast area with the giant structure came into view, the chat room watching the live broadcast exploded.
And as if the movements of the players got quicker as if they were responding to the chat and soon they arrived by the giant dome shaped structure.
And befitting of this giant structure, a much more powerful protective energy field than the one above was flowing through it.
Clang!
One of the players frowned as they smacked the wall.
"We did arrive but… Maybe this doesn't have an entrance as well?"
One of the players nearby shook his head and spoke.
"Let's spread out and search. Whoever finds it sends a signal."
And the players nodded as they spread out.
............…..
Rummblee.
'…It suddenly got quiet. But wait… Isn't it dangerous if those guys stop fighting?'
One player, who had been moving around the area, felt a chill run down his back as he continued to search around.
But this worry only lasted a moment.
"…Found it."
The player, It wasn't big but was clearly designed for people to enter.
And the player who had found the entrance first started to enter it.
'Well… They did tell us to send a signal but…'
Karax shrugged his shoulders.
Was there really a need to?
'I could just be checking things out first in case it's dangerous.'
Karax chuckled as he carefully entered.
He wasn't broadcasting this anyway since he wasn't really interested in things like that.
There was only one important matter.
Things of worth.
If they found it together they would need to share it but if nobody knew about it then it'll all be his.
But while he was walking into this place.
'…Woah.'
Karax stopped and whistled in place.
From the scene that appeared in front of his eyes.
Oooooooong!
Thousands of marbles.
Sizes ranging from that close to humans all the way up to a small house.
Though these glass-like marbles were transparent, they were filled with multicolored lights.
Some blue, some red and some green.
And Karax realized where he had seen these lights.
It was awfully similar to the things he and the others had.
'Spirit Stones.'
Of course he belonged to the top tier players who could hunt in the Spirit Land.
He had his own Spirit Stone and had even seen a few S grades while hunting.
And the light that radiated out from these things were similar to the light that came out from the Spirit Stones.
But there was a fundamental difference.
The difference of energy.
The lights that flickered around as if they were alive.
They really seemed to be alive.
The lights inside the marbles were contantly pulsating while releasing tremendous amount of energy through the tube attached above the marble and that energy flowed to an unknown location.
"Mmm…"
Karax pondered about breaking these for a moment but soon gave up.
These beautiful lights gave out an eerie feeling of some sort.
'Hmm…Is there nothing else?'
Though the marbles had caught his attention first, these shouldn't be the only things in this giant building.
At that moment something came into his eyes.
'…They seem to be heading to one specific spot.'
Though about half of the tubes were heading towards the colonies outside, the other half was different.
Towards a deeper location.
'Yeah. This shouldn't be all of it.'
Ommmmmmmm.
Karax left the marbles and proceeded to head deeper into the structure.
.............
Kwaaadddddk!
The moment Hansoo attacked the heart.
"..Kuhuk."
The shadows surrounding Jang Oh's body trembled.
An accurate attack right on the heart.
The skills and the power of the spirit shattered.
Jang Oh realized that Hansoo had saved a bit of strength for this chance.
'…I thought I knew him a bit from the fight he had with Metiron.'
The spirit was something that was as powerful as the Mana Jade Hansoo had.
Though he lost out in terms of the quality of skills or one's physical prowess, he won in the quantity of skills and the mastery level of the skills.
He had thought that he wouldn't lose out in terms of artifacts with the shield but…There was another fatal difference.
'For his battle skills to be better than mine…'
As Jang Oh was lost in thought at the fact that his battle skills that had been honed for 18 years had been beaten by a newcomer to this zone.
Whooooosh!
Hansoo's right fist headed towards his temple to kill.
'Yeah…This is better…'
As Jang Oh was about to faint while watching the fist coming towards him.
The soul fragment Jang Oh denied started to violently shake.
Then Jang Oh's right hand moved at lightning speed and blocked the fist with his shield.
Then.
The Seven Strands Spear which had threatened Hansoo in the zone below started to head towards Hansoo while being surrounded in a dark aura.
Though there was no mana jade to support this, Jang Oh was much stronger than Metiron and there was the power of the spirit on top of this.
And the power behind it would not be small at this close of a range.
Whooooosh!
Hansoo frowned as he backed off.
Soon.
Crunch!
Craack!
Jang Oh regenerated the caved in chest as he spoke to Hansoo expressionlessly.
"Jang Oh is too compassionate. How would he be able to complete the contract with Tiamet at this ra…Fuck!"
Jang Oh suddenly shouted in shock and raised his shield again.
Then.
Boooom!
Hansoo's right hand smashed onto the shield again.
Hansoo muttered while looking at the different eyes of Jang oh.
'You speak too much.'
Booooom!
Hansoo then continued to attack.
He had to finish this off quickly and go in.
'Those guys are getting on my nerves.'
Hansoo looked towards the structure behind him that had started to activate with a strange noise.
Reincarnator – Chapter 273 : Berserk (3)
Oooooong.
<…It was taken huh.>
Jang Oh mumbled as he looked at his body from a dark location within his mind.
He had failed.
And now the only thing he could do was hope that the person who took over his body, Taehee, did better.
For the contract.
Jang Oh thought of the past.
The words Tiamet had said casually while walking past him.
He didn't know the exact reason why but Tiamet didn't want anyone to go past the mountain range and to the forgotten lands beyond.
Neither the citizens of this world.
The Ains.
Nor the players.
So he had sealed the Ains and suppressed the citizens by creating the Empire and the Kingdoms.
And there was no need to worry about the immortal players since their limitations prevented them from doing so.
But a variable appeared.
Themselves, the adventurers.
Apparently Tiamet realized something the moment he saw them.
That they could go across.
But at the same time he realized something else.
That he couldn't kill them all by himself.
Because the adventurers would continue to climb up endlessly.
He, who was rooted in the White Dragon Arena, couldn't kill everyone of these guys who appeared all over the entire world and eventually somebody who could go across the range would appear and slip by him.
So he had decided to do his best in order to get rid of every adventurer and captured Jang Oh's group to use them as a lure for others.
But then Clementine made a deal with him.
Tiamet wanted to control the adventurers and Clementine needed to handle those who passed by his eyes and came through the Green Road from below.
Since both sides needed the same thing, the deal was made swiftly and with ease.
And there was no need for the citizens of this world to step out either.
Since there was a group who was easy to manipulate and could not die.
With the support of the Empire and the Kingdoms as well as the rewards and the hatred towards the Bug Players, a humongous clan that didn't lose out to other clans had been created.
And Jang Oh received the help of the Empire and had become the clan leader.
To look over the Spirit Land and capture the other adventurers.
And for this price, Clementine's comrades from below had been guaranteed safety.
For the Login area, Arrancar Zone and the Logout Area, the village next to the Capital.
This is how the 'Sigh…'
Jang Oh was dispirited as he watched his own body's controls having been taken from him.
Jang Oh didn't want others to know about what he and Clementine were doing.
It was better the less people knew about this.
And to not let others shoulder this weight with him, he had decided to shoulder it all by himself and had decided to stay behind in this world.
He had gained the power of a Spirit and had raised the mastery level of his skills to the apex.
For 20 years without rest.
And he had dealt with the issues within the Spirit Land all by himself because the adventurers were too weak for this place and because the citizens could not come into this place.
But for him to lose like this.
Jang Oh mumbled bitterly while being trapped within the darkness after having lost.
'Clementine… Is this alright?'
He had never doubted Clementine so far.
The Fragments of Seven Souls, the Contract Trait and the Lord Trait.
There was a limit to how many people one could control with these.
Though the Lord Trait could control a lot more people, the Contract Trait was rarer and more useful and something like the Fragments of Seven Souls only existed with Taehee.
Though they had gained safety within this world, they were still weak within this world and people who couldn't become their allies were more dangerous than monsters.
He had thought that Clementine's orders was the best and had always followed them.
Though he was swimming in a sea of guilt, he withstood the clashing waves thanks to the smiles of those who passed through safely due to him.
Since the second he gave up, Tiamet would set out to destroy them all due to them not having any more use for him.
But then an strange person appeared.
Some crazy maniac who told him that he would take everyone here.
'…Was killing them all the best choice? Did we have to kill them? Clementine?'
Someone said once.
That once you are held back by the chains of reality, the past comes back to you.
Jang Oh thought back to the things he had done and fell into sadness.
.........…..
Booooooom!
Hansoo frowned as he looked at Jang Oh who was attacking him.
He, who was armed with countless Zero-umbering skills, was extremely powerful.
But between himself, who had only trained for a year, and Jang Oh who had 20 years to increase the mastery of his skills, there was indeed a huge difference.
And even more so since people like Taehee and Jang Oh were the elites of the elites.
Chwaaaak!
The moment the red powder spread out into the air.
Black shadows spread out to block the red powder and reduced the damage.
Then.
Boooboboooom!
Countless skills whose their original identities could not be made out because of the shadows smashed Hansoo's body, his reinforcement and his armor.
Though he was superior in terms of physical strength and artifacts, that one shield neutralized it all.
Kiiiiiiing!
'…I guess he trusts this guy. For them to lend him a Divine Weapon.'
Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the shield that was slowly gnawing away at his mana with the the yellow lights.
Arham's Shield.
A shield which dispersed all forms of energy that were malicious towards it.
Though it didn't have a uniquely powerful attack like the God's Flail, this single passive skill's effect in a battle was tremendous on its own.
Though it was a bit inferior to the Power Destruction of Nurmaha's Ring, it still worked as a form of dispelling.
If he didn't have enough mana or the Mana Jade, then his mana would long have dried out.
Hansoo started to worry.
'At this rate… I indeed would win.'
Boooooom!
Hansoo mumbled while looking at Jang Oh who had turned pale.
Though it was better than the situation with Metiron, Taehee, who should be roaming around the indigo or even the violet zone, was much stronger than Jang Oh.
Even if it was a fragment, the body could not withstand it.
But the real issue was behind him.
Ooooooooongg!
The sounds that were coming from the large structure behind him were getting louder and louder.
No, the aura that was being released from that place was the issue.
Rummmmblee!
A huge amount of mana that could even shake the lands below was seeping out.
Oooooooong!
If one could color the auras that were seeping out then there would be numerous dozens of different colors.
Countless types of Spirit's Auras.
And the pressure that was being radiated was so intense that it caused both he and Jang Oh's skins to tremble but the surrounding trees were just becoming more invigorated.
The reason why Hansoo was so sure of his victory was because of this.
Oooooong!
Unlike Jang Oh who already had something inside him, Hansoo's symbol was trembling intensely as it absorbing all the surrounding auras of the Spirits.
And thanks to this Hansoo's entire body was glowing with lights as well.
Whoooosh!
Flames appeared every time he swung his arms and lightning appeared where his spear smashed onto the ground.
Originally, the Arham's Shield should be gnawing away at his reinforcement and making it harder to battle but the energy from the Spirits was filling the gaps.
'Did she give me the symbol after having expected all of this?'
Hansoo thought of Mudusella and started to recapitulate the current situation.
He had the upper hand in the fight.
But even though the situation behind him allowed him to have the upper hand in this battle, leaving it alone didn't really make him feel any better.
Though it was all within his expectations, if this amount of energy exploded in the wrong direction then that itself was more than enough to become a catastrophe.
'…I need to deal with that first.'
Then.
Boooooom!
Hansoo raised the Forked Lightning and then attacked Jang Oh.
The Shield let out rays of yellow light to disperse his reinforcement but countless colors filled the gap where the reinforcement had been.
Craaack!
Wind, Lightning and Flames stormed the location where the shield and the spear collided.
To the point of even causing the darkness surrounding Jang Oh's body to retreat.
Boooom!
As Jang Oh couldn't handle the power behind Hansoo's attack and took numerous steps backwards.
Whoooosh!
Hansoo moved his body and charged towards the structure.
Ignoring Jang Oh completely.
"Hmm."
Jang Oh, no, Taehee looked towards Hansoo's back and shrugged his shoulders.
'Can't follow that. Anyways…He's really strong.'
The auras that Hansoo was absorbing had come out from that structure.
The closer Hansoo got to that building, the faster he would absorb the auras and the stronger he would get.
Fighting against Hansoo in a situation like this where they were already in the losing situation was basically suicide.
Taehee decided to give up and turned around depressedly.
'I had a lot to talk about…I guess I need to look for another chance.'
There hadn't been a chance to say a word but she had come here with a lot to talk about.
But eventually another chance would arise.
Since that guy didn't seem to like her which meant that they would eventually meet again.
Whoooosh!
Jang Oh's body that was surrounded in darkness disappeared.
.........…..
Ooooooooooong!
Hansoo quickly ran past the glass orbs and headed deeper.
He could still see the footprints that had been left behind within this place.
Hansoo eventually arrived at a place.
'This is…'
Hansoo frowned as he looked at the mysterious object in front of him.
Rummmblee!
A giant sphere that had taken position inside the giant structure.
The giant sphere, which had the radius of a hundred meters was floating in mid air as it devoured the energy that had flowed out from the spheres he had run past.
Hansoo was curious about the identity of the sphere but he had something else he had to worry about.
'….Where did he go?'
Hansoo was confused as he looked at the panels beside the sphere.
Since this giant structure wouldn't move on its own, the player definitely activated this himself.
But there was no trace of the player who activated this.
Not even the trace of battle.
'…Did he logout or something?'
As Hansoo frowned thinking about the player who suddenly disappeared.
Rummmblee!
A tremendous earthquake could be felt.
'This….?'
It wasn't really an earthquake.
Hansoo was slightly worried about the whole space collapsing.
Booooom!
As if it finally started acting up, the sphere in front of him began to let out a blinding amount of light.
At the same time.
Rummmblee.
Hansoo finally realized why the earthquake had occurred and what the giant sphere in front of his eyes was.
Hansoo's body and the room he was located in started to slowly rise up.
Smashing through the countless layers of ice above.
'… It was an engine…?'
Reincarnator – Chapter 274 : Land from the past (1)
Empire's Capital. Kirkis.
'Hmm.'
Somebody walked towards Tiamet who was sitting in a lotus position in the center of the White Dragon Arena.
The Commander General of the Empire's Magic Brigade.
Gran kain.
He was almost 80 and there were less than 3 people in the entire Empire who were stronger than him, but he was still very cautious when approaching Tiamet.
After preparing himself both mentally and physically, he started to carefully speak towards Tiamet.
"The Destruction Cannon is almost ready. If we use the Rangkom's Stake as a medium after we finish stabilizing it then we can attack the Ains anytime we want."
Tiamet remained seated in the same position and spoke in a grim manner.
"Before attacking them, send a final warning to them using the players again. Telling them to give up."
"…Understood."
'We wouldn't be able to finish them off even if we used the cannon in a surprise attack Why is he giving them a warning?'
Kain didn't understand but he didn't show his thoughts.
Since Tiamet was an existence at the same level as a God to them.
But Tiamet suddenly frowned and started to glare at Kain.
And Kain was shocked from this gaze and he started to sweat profusely and carefully asked.
"Why… What's the matter?"
Kain thought back to every single action he had performed but he couldn't figure it out.
But Tiamet wasn't looking at Kain.
He was looking towards the north, past Kain.
'… Jang Oh. This useless bastard. I even gave you a Divine Artifact.'
Rummmblee.
Kain couldn't see it due to the distance but he could still feel it.
This aura was too familiar not to notice.
Tiamet stood up as he felt the minute but longing sensation that resonated out from the north.
And Kain was shocked at this action, he hurriedly asked.
"Sir Tiamet. Did I do something…"
"Let's go."
"Pardon?"
Tiamet spoke expressionlessly.
"We're going to the cannon."
Crraacckle.
Tiamet pulled out the Rangkom's stake.
.........….
Rummmblee.
'…A ship?'
Hansoo felt his body rising up into the air and quickly deduced the current situation.
This giant colony flying into the sky being a space ship was just his speculations, he could be wrong.
But there was one important thing.
Was it safe?
Hansoo looked towards the engine which was letting out a blinding amount of light.
It looked like it had been made with technology he didn't quite know about that was way more advanced than that of Earth but it had been hidden under the ground for too long.
Without anybody maintaining it, it wouldn't be strange for a problem to occur.
The worst case scenario was it exploding on the spot or falling back down after a short flight.
The fall wouldn't kill him but the explosion of the engine was more than enough to harm him.
Since the energy being held inside was not something even Hansoo could ignore.
Well, it was the same if it fell too.
He would be fine from the crash but the all the spirit's orbs containing the energy would explode.
It was the same as an explosion at that point.
'Let's see.'
Whooooosh!
There was somebody who was useful for a situation like this.
Hansoo spread out his Dark Cloud and started to check every corner of the Engine Room.
Since he had to escape if things were actually dangerous.
Well, he should have just escaped instead of checking the surroundings but there was a reason why he stayed.
The reason why Mudusella had sent him here.
If he could be sure that this strange space ship wouldn't explode then he might be able to find out a lot more.
Ooooong!
Kiririririk.
The Dark Cloud started to seep into the entire Engine Room.
From the tubes that supplied the energy all way to the various controls.
As well as the Engine.
Of course he didn't do this to understand the technology behind all this.
Since it would take literally an eternity for him to figure all this advanced stuff.
He solely focused on one thing.
The flow of the energy.
The most important thing was how well this energy was being controlled and contained.
And soon.
Whoooosh.
The Dark Clouds all flew back into Hansoo's body as he deduced that it was safe enough.
Surprisingly, this giant engine was working in top condition while controlling and suppressing that tremendous amount of energy despite being activated after hundreds of years.
To the point of even making the flow of energy beautiful.
It felt like he was watching an art piece.
He tried to see if he could affect it with the Dark Cloud but the flow continued onwards while ignoring his attempts.
Which meant it was safe to say it wouldn't fall or explode randomly.
Hansoo then naturally thought of the next thing.
'Could I control it?'
Controlling it was one thing but he was curious of the intel hidden on this ship.
And Hansoo was able to figure out the answer with ease.
'It seems that thing is controlling it.'
Hansoo walked up to the panel next to the giant sphere.
Kiiiriririk
Kiiiiiingg.
The panel, which had yellow letters on a blue background, looked small but this was only relative to the giant sphere.
Seeing it up close it was quite large.
5m sideways, 2m up and down.
And some spherical image was appearing on the panel.
'Globe?'
It was like the globe he had seen often when he had been young.
'Is this the image of the planet we are on?'
It looked like a space ship.
Of course it would have something like this.
And as Hansoo touched the screen, the giant planet spun and showed another angle.
Hansoo spun it around to check things and then thought to himself.
'A bit different from earth…Well I guess that's normal.'
It looked much larger than earth as well.
But this singular projection was not enough intel.
It wasn't showing any important locations, its purpose was just for simple imaging.
'I need more information…'
He tried to pry deeper into the panel.
But what he got in return were bright red warning signs.
[Restricted User]
[Access Required]
[Level 3 Plus Information. Administrator Required.]
[Add additional…]
The interface itself wasn't hard but every part of it prevented him from entering.
'How did the damn players activate this.'
Hansoo smacked his lips.
He originally had three plans.
First, gather as much intel as he could from this place.
Second, go to the restricted lands past the mountain range with this.
Third, use this as a weapon.
This being a colony had no use to him.
Though it could house people, that was it.
If he took this to the War Fortress then the superhumans of the Empires and the Kingdoms would charge over.
It would receive a huge amount of damage even before people got on.
And this place wasn't a login area so he would receive attacks every time he went to the login areas.
But he should easily be able to follow through his three original plans.
This giant ship was basically a bomb.
Killing that monster Tiamet might be too much but it could be used in various ways.
Since he could still kill somebody like Cykrus.
'But…That's only when I can control this damn thing.'
If his intention wasn't to create a giant crater for a lake to play around in, then there was no point of blowing it up here.
Since this ship seemed to have stopped in mid air.
'….I guess this could be used as a floating garden in the future.'
Hansoo moved his eyes away from the panel.
There was no point of wasting time here.
There was a reason why he came here.
Obtaining a spirit in order to go across the range.
Well, he could already do this.
Since there were thousands of spirits outside of this engine room.
As long as he passed the test the symbol gave him.
He wouldn't need to take this giant ship and could just run across it.
'Since the symbol Mudusella gave me doesn't look simple… I should be able to get a stronger spirit.'
The level of the spirit one gained was relative to one's strength and the quality of the symbol.
As Hansoo turned his body.
Kiiiiiiiing!
The symbol on his body started to shine.
'…What the?'
The symbol musella planted on his body.
The light from the symbol flew across his arm and then towards the panel.
And the moment this light touched the panel.
Kiiiiiiing!
New words appeared on the panel.
[Administrator confirmed…Logging In]
[….Access Granted.]
"Mudusella, I don't really like surprise events like this hehe."
Hansoo chuckled.
Reincarnator – Chapter 275 : Land from the past (2)
Rummmblee.
"What the…What's going on?"
"Did those guys who went in activate this thing?"
"Can anybody contact them? I can't seem to be able to."
All the players who had been above the giant ship were startled from the sudden movement of the giant structure.
Though they didn't know how far up it would rise, there was nothing in it for them if they just floated along with this.
'Yeah, no.'
One of the players clenched their teeth.
This obviously seemed to be linked to an amazing questline.
If he died here then he wouldn't be able to participate.
He needed to find a safe spot first.
And his eyes naturally fell upon a location.
The entrance which had been clogged up by skills to prevent it from fixing itself.
'…Not everybody can go in but.'
While they were all glancing at each other, one of the players spoke calmly.
"Since we can't all go in, let's divide it up. An equal number of people between clans. We can just share the rewards from in there afterwards."
But as they were about to agree to this.
Kiiiiiing.
"…What is that?"
"Isn't that from the capital? Kirkis."
In the distance.
A light was flickering thousands of kilometers in the distance.
From the capital of the Empire.
The players frowned as they saw the small but clear rainbow colored light.
"Did the Calicule clan receive any messages? Isn't your clan leader the owner of a territory in the Empire?"
One of the clansmen from the Calicule clan stayed silent but it was clear that he was confused as well from his expression.
One of the people who had achieved a tremendous amount of merit points and had been granted the ownership of a special territory right next to the capital of the Empire.
Their clan leader, Astania, should know something about this.
Since there were rumors saying that he had connections with Tiamet as well.
But they had not received any messages regarding that.
'What could it be…'
Everybody fell into confusion as they saw the seven colored lights that continued to flicker while continuously becoming larger and larger.
...........
As the administrative rights were confirmed, all of the red warning letters disappeared.
Then.
[Administrator number 1011, Access Confirmed.]
[You Are Now Allowed To Access The Mudusella System.]
'….Mudusella System?'
Hansoo's eyebrows rose up.
Since Mudusella was the name of somebody he knew.
But he decided to ask other things first.
There was a lot he wanted to ask.
"What is the objective of this ship?"
Large words started to appear upon the panel.
[The ASTRO-17 Ship's construction had started on the 19th month of year 2199 in order to reach the nearest planet, TIAMET-1131, and had completed its preparations on the 21st month of the year 2211.]
"Reason for this objective?"
[To find more space for the expansion of the race.]
Hansoo nodded.
He finally figured out the origins of this thing.
'Terraforming… Is that what it's doing?'
A few other questions appeared in his mind after finding out the objective of the ship, he decided to ask the thing he was the most curious about first.
"Does the race that built you exist upon this planet?"
This was not something the Empire and the Kingdoms, who fought with swords and built castles out of stones, could build.
Even if the Empire had a lot to hide, this was clearly some super advanced technology.
So he had thought this ship came from outside.
But if this ship was built in order to leave the planet then the story changes.
There had to be a race who had the technology to build this.
A race which he could not guess the identity of no matter what.
There were three possibilities.
1, They left behind a few hidden ships in various locations and all went to their goal planet.
2, They existed somewhere on this planet and were hiding from the eyes of others and were silently observing them.
Or 3…..
'They could've been annihilated.'
Depending on which of the three it was, his plans would be affected in a huge manner.
It would be good if it was number 1 or 3 but if it was 2 where another race was silently observing him then he would need to prepare for this variable as well.
Hansoo smiled bitterly.
'…These worlds are like damn onions.'
He knew that he couldn't prepare for everything even if he came from the future.
Since this world that God had prepared for them was not something they should conquer but rather run away from.
A maze-like place where they trembled in fear while passing through.
But as his plans succeeded and the worlds were conquered, these worlds were like treasure chests as they continuously took out new things to throw at his feet.
In a huge scale.
Hansoo quietly waited for the reply.
It was a good thing in the end.
Since him worrying about something that hid in the shadows meant that his light had reached and drove away the darkness from the corners of the world.
'Let's hear this out. Which of the three it is.'
But sadly, It didn't fully fulfill Hansoo's expectations instantly.
Kiiiiiiingg!
Instead of the answer to Hansoo's question, a different type of information appeared.
[…Energy wave similar to weapon type ZA-114 detected.]
[Converting all surplus energy into Resonance Shield.]
[ETA : 3.1131 seconds. Prepare for impact.]
Normal people might not have understood these strange words.
But Hansoo realized what was going on in an instant.
'…They did something.'
Even he could feel the tremendous amount of energy approaching the ship from deep inside it.
As if they had converted the giant formation of the War Fortress into a cannon.
Chiiiiiiiiing!
All the lights inside the colony started to turn off.
As if they were gathering energy into a specific point.
Crunch! Crunch!
As Hansoo planted his feet onto the floor of the ship in preparation for the impact.
Booooooom!
A humongous tremor shook the entire ship.
Rumble.
The giant sphere next to him trembled as it started to let a blinding amount of light.
Soon, after the shock passed by.
The System's panel showed him the current information.
[Remaining Shield : 85.1%]
[…Calculating situation.]
[In case of continuous bombardment, chance to fall before leaving the atmosphere…98.1%]
[Flight to outer planets judged impossible in the current situation, beginning movement towards the closest colony according to emergency protocol.]
[Setting flight path…]
[Flight path confirmed. Moving to the closest shelter.]
Then.
Rummmmmbleee!
G force that would easily cause harm to normal humans started to get applied.
Of course it was nothing to Hansoo.
But he still cursed out.
"Fuck."
The issue wasn't the acceleration.
It was the direction the ship was heading towards.
Hansoo realized which way the ship was heading towards and smiled bitterly.
The ship was headed above and past the mountain range.
Past the mountain range that was roaring with mana storms.
At that moment.
[Second impact approaching.]
[Remaining shield 85.3%.]
[Prepare for impact.]
Boooooooom!
The second strike landed on the ship.
Rummmblee!
Within the trembling ship.
Hansoo asked the ship's system.
"Can we arrive at our destination? We won't blow up before?"
If it would explode then he needed to get off the ship as soon as possible.
But the system gave a rather positive reply.
[If the weapon attacking us has similar recharge times to Weapon Type ZA-114 then it is possible]
"The shield can hold on?"
This was the most important part.
But sadly, the system's reply wasn't good.
[Currently remaining shield amount is 70.7%.]
[The shield will be destroyed. One extra strike after the destruction of shield is allowed. Prepare for failed landing.]
"…Failed landing."
That was fine.
He was confident in surviving even if he fell from the stratosphere.
The issue was the natural conditions storming around the mountain range.
There was a limit he could withstand with the symbol.
From what he knew, even stronger mana storms appeared starting from the mountain range.
If the shield protecting this ship disappears then he would need to withstand the storm with his bare body.
'…I don't have time for all this.'
Hansoo looked towards the system's panel.
There was a lot he wanted to ask the thing in front of him.
But he had to prepare for the harsh conditions beyond the mountain range.
Boooooom!
As he felt the trembles from the third strike.
Hansoo quickly headed out from the engine room.
To the room where thousands of spirits were.
And the spirits were still letting out their brilliant lights inside their glass orbs.
He needed to choose one out of the thousands.
But there wasn't really a need for him to choose.
The symbol had been pulling him for a long time.
Hansoo walked past the glass orbs.
Towards the location that the symbol was pointing towards.
And soon.
Kiiiiiing!
Hansoo stood in front of a peculiar looking glass orb that was significantly larger than the others.
'Strange. What's in it?'
It was different from any spirit he had seen before.
It didn't have the red glow of a flame spirit, the dark glow of a dark spirit or even the bright blue light of a ice spirit.
'Well. I'll find out after I get it.'
Boooom!
Another strike landed on the ship as the ship accelerated further.
Hansoo decided to stay on the ship until the end.
Since the weapon could aim at him instead of this giant ship if he got off.
It was better to get across the mountain range and disappear from view.
Hansoo raised his hand towards the mysterious glass orb that had numerous dozens of colors intermingled with each other.
Then.
Whooooosh!
And Hansoo felt the conscious of something from the flask entering his head.
It didn't really feel good but he knew.
That he would need to get friendlier with this from now on.
He had gained a powerful ally.
Oooooong.
Hansoo's eyes slowly closed as he felt the foreign consciousness entering his mind.
Then.
As if the ship was preparing for an emergency landing, countless screens that showed the current situation outside the ship appeared in various locations inside the ship.
And everything outside the ship was being shown.
Including the beam of light heading towards the ship.
As well as the mountain range in front of the ship.
Though it felt like he had climbed at least 20 km above, they were still a bit away from the top of the mountain range.
But soon.
Whooosh!
The scenery past the mountain range appeared on the screens.
Clouds, blizzards and mists.
The thing Tiamet wanted to keep hidden from the world.
And the closing eyes of Hansoo got focused onto the screen.
'This is what's beyond the mountain range…'
But even before Hansoo could check the scene clearly.
Somebody spoke to Hansoo.
From inside him.
Hansoo's consciousness got sucked inside as his body fell to the ground.