357 - 365
Chapter 357: A legacy from the depths (6)
—kwaddududuk!—
Hansoo frowned at the armor that kept constricting his body.
It wasn't simply squeezing his body.
—pushuk!—
He could clearly see it inserting its spines throughout his body.
Showing that it was going to have the upper hand in this relationship.
As Hansoo frowned at the sensation of the armor crazily sucking his energy out.
—ooooong!—
The Ark-Roa's crystal in his possession started to vibrate.
Then—
—shsst!—
The marble exploded as a black liquid shot out from inside it.
It was similar to when the Ark-Roa had been alive in the past.
"…They're both going crazy, huh?"
The armor which was trying to devour him from the outside—
—and the Ark-Roa's crystal which had exploded inside him to take over the armor.
Hansoo mumbled as he looked at this scene.
..................
—tata—
—tataatak—
"Ugh… Is this really fine?"
Kiriel mumbled quietly as she looked at Hansoo, who was surrounded by a crystalline material.
It didn't seem like she could help and this made her even more worried.
And in her arms, an unconscious woman lay.
Of course, Kiriel knew this woman.
She was like a superstar in the lower zones 1, 2 and 3.
'Enbi Arin.'
The girl who ruled over the giant Cross clan in the old Orange Zone.
But currently, she was in a very pitiful state.
'…She'll die at this rate.'
Although she'd managed to escape from that evil armor, she had lost too much of her vital energy.
Well, if it was just that, then she might have been able to survive.
Since she was a transcendent after all.
The regenerative ability of a transcendent would heal the owner, even if the owner were on the brink of death.
The thing killing her wasn't her injuries, but rather herself.
Her Trait:
She didn't know what had activated this trait, but one thing was clear to her:
It gave the user strength in return for their life force.
And this woman was paying the price of using such strength with her entire body.
And her body had already been injured.
—chiiiik—
'She'll really die at this rate; the heals aren't working either.'
Kiriel bit her lower lip as she continued to use her healing skill.
It was like pouring water into a container with a hole at the bottom.
Enbi Arin was paying back her debt right now.
Of course, such a meager amount of heals wouldn't work.
The only thing keeping Enbi Arin alive right now was her original strength and Melchizedek's modified body.
'…Ugh, I should do this first.'
Kiriel clenched her teeth and used her Psychometry.
Soon—
—the memories hidden within Enbi Arin's body flew into Kiriel.
At that moment—
"Ahh…"
—Kiriel's gaze, which had already looked at Enbi Arin with pity, deepened.
Pain, pain, and more pain.
Ripped apart alive.
Disassembled alive.
Her body taken apart, and her insides forcibly turned into a machine.
As the Nanomachines seeped into her body, it forcibly modified her beautiful figure.
They had embedded thousands of chipsets into her head to control her actions, even controlling her emotions.
…sss…
Kiriel couldn't bear it anymore, and she stopped her Psychometry.
It was painful to watch.
—pakakakang!—
Kiriel carefully used her skill to destroy the chipsets inside Enbi Arin's head, and then looked at her with a sad expression.
Although she wouldn't be controlled by Melchizedek anymore, those memories would remain.
'…Maybe you might not even want to live anymore.'
Kiriel's expression turned heavy as she stared at the dying Enbi Arin.
Kiriel realized that the reason why Enbi Arin wasn't waking up was because she might not want to come out again.
Her healing skills weren't working anyway.
'I should bring him back.'
—whooosh!—
Kiriel remembered R-Korun Nell and flew towards the front of the research center.
............….
"…Huh?"
'He got up already?'
Kiriel thought to herself as she brought back R-Korun Nell.
She had expected it to take a while, but it had already finished.
'…Where did it all go?'
Kiriel was shocked.
The crystalline armor had disappeared.
'That's not an amount that could disappear in an instant.'
—thud!—
"Argh!"
Kiriel threw R-Korun Nell to the side and stared at him with eyes filled with annoyance.
She then turned to talk to Hansoo but then stopped.
'…'
Hansoo stared at Enbi Arin laid out on the ground with a heavy expression and then turned to Kiriel.
"Thank you. You've done well while I was gone."
"It's nothing. I did what I had to."
These were her honest thoughts.
Thinking of what Enbi Arin had done, it was thanks to her that they'd had such an easy time going through the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Zones.
Hansoo glanced at Enbi Arin again and said:
"I will save this girl."
"…How?"
Kiriel's eyes widened.
Of course, saving her was the right thing to do.
But there weren't any methods she could think of, and there wasn't enough time left.
'One week.'
Kiriel thought to herself.
She had meticulously checked Enbi Arin's body.
At most, she had one week to live.
And this was only because of her transcendent vitality.
If any outside forces disturbed her, that might even shorten her time.
Hansoo said:
"We just need to turn her to into a 3-Star. That will heal most of her injuries."
"Ah."
Kiriel realized.
He was right.
If Enbi Arin rose up a rank, everything would be solved.
But Kiriel soon shook her head.
"No, we'll need a titanic amount of crystals."
1-Star transcendents were common, but the amount of crystals one needed to make a 3-Star transcendent was on a different league of its own.
Even if they could earn more and better crystals than the lower floors, acquiring that many crystals in that short of a time was impossible.
There wasn't enough time.
'And weirdly, there are no beings from the Abyssal race on this floor.'
Even the floor below hadn't been this bare.
Hansoo shook his head.
"The Abyssal beings are attracted to where there are humans—there are almost no humans around, so they aren't here."
Predators would only gather around their prey.
It was common logic.
It wasn't that Melchizedek had killed off every Abyssal being on the 1st floor.
They simply hadn't come to a place without prey.
"…Meaning that the humans are all gathered somewhere else."
Melchizedek said that he'd captured and taken away all the humans so she'd thought the humans would've been in the research center, but she realized something while she fought.
That there weren't any humans here.
She knew that a few humans would be used to create artificial transcendents, but they'd taken too many away for it to be merely for that purpose.
'Why?'
But Kiriel soon came to a realization.
"…These guys also have a Nursery."
Hansoo nodded.
If that weren't the case, how else could they explain the sheer number of transcendents?
Feed the humans to the Abyssal beings to raise their numbers, turn them into crystals to create transcendents and modify them to create artificial transcendents.
"He's really efficient, isn't he…"
Kiriel mumbled, her expression cold.
Melchizedek was using the humans in a very clean and efficient manner.
"I'll try to find where it is. It should be easy to find using Psychometry."
It wouldn't separate such a large number of humans.
For it to be really efficient, it would have gathered them all into one place.
She just needed to find that place.
'It's probably on a different floor.'
Hansoo thought to himself as he looked at Kiriel running off.
'Melchizedek… How did you become like this?'
The Melchizedek he knew wasn't this evil.
Hansoo's expression hardened.
'Finish the preparations on the upper floors.'
He needed to become a 3-Star before he reached the top floor anyway.
If the Abyssal race had gathered in one place, he could resolve it all in one go.
'It's a bit dangerous, but I even acquired this… there are a lot of things different in this life.'
Legacy.
And while Hansoo focused—
—chrrrrrk!—
—something hidden beneath his skin quickly shot through to form a gauntlet around his hand, and then quickly disappeared.
'…Damn. Every single member of this race is a monster. Seriously.'
R-Korun Nell stared at this scene in horror, but then thought of the Kalkuroun Fleet.
Although the Fusion Reactor's explosion would've swept them away, it wouldn't be enough to destroy the entire fleet.
Their strength wasn't that low.
'I wonder what happened… Damn. Well, I guess I'm not in a position to worry about that.'
R-Korun Nell looked at the sky and remembered his current situation.
.............
—rumble—
"Haa….Haaa."
"…"
The flagship of the Kalkuroun Fleet,
Because of R-Koronaita Nell's anger.
"…How long until arrival?"
"We're almost there. But… there's something at the place where we're supposed to arrive."
"Huh?"
N-Akuon flinched—he already knew R-Koronaita Nell was pissed—as he beamed an image in the air.
And through that screen, they could see the scene above Nelkipa.
"…the hell are those things?"
Hundreds of thousands of alien beings, trapped within a strange facility.
And the strange monsters that were devouring the aliens and raising their numbers.
'…Melchizedek, you insane can. What the hell is going on in your head?'
R-Koronaita frowned as he looked at the grotesque scene before his eyes.
Chapter 358: Breeding City (1)
Giant metal walls surrounded the perimeter.
With hundreds of humans placed inside.
Of course, their situation wasn't quite the best.
"Ahh…"
—crunch!—
—kuduk!—
Ariel trembled in fear as she looked at the horrifying insectoid slowly crawling towards her.
No matter where she turned to, there was nowhere to run.
Although the area was large, there were simply too many of these monsters.
'Daddy…'
Ariel felt like her soul had escaped her body as she stared at the countless human-sized insects crawling around.
She'd barely been able to run to the 2nd floor thanks to her father's sacrifice.
But she didn't know then.
That the floors above were already a hell for them.
'Ahh…'
Ariel fell into despair as she looked at the monster gradually approaching her.
Although she couldn't resist because of the chipset on her neck controlling her body, even without the chip there wasn't much she could have done.
Since they wouldn't have caught her if she'd had that kind of strength in the first place.
Those two years painstakingly learning skills and gaining experience had all been useless.
Since no one on the lower floors had taught them about this current situation.
Those beings they called 'transcendents' attacked the humans, while robots patrolled the area to find them.
There was nowhere to run to, and nothing to hold onto anymore.
She'd frantically struggled and ran away to the third floor.
But she then realized—
—exactly where they'd sent all the captured women.
—pushuk!—
"Kuhuk!"
Ariel fell unconscious as she stared at the insectoid creature shoving its strange proboscis down her throat, inserting strange things inside.
............….
"So, there's a Defense City on the third floor?"
R-Korun Nell nodded.
"…I don't know if it's the third floor or whatnot, but Nelkipa's Defense City is in that place you guys talked about."
After taking over Nelkipa to use it in battle, the Neropa Union had sent over countless members, tools, and materials.
Including Melchizedek.
To the Defense City, Aokan.
A city where hundreds of thousands of researchers and soldiers had lived.
If Nelkipa was a country, this city was like its capital.
Although they had gained control over Nelkipa, they could have overtaken it with force.
And the empire that the Neropa Union was warring against, Pompeion, had the strength to do this.
Scumbags who would barge in the second the Neropa Union finished their research on Nelkipa, and steal everything.
And the city that they'd turned into the first line of defense against them was Aokan.
"And… our fleet is probably headed towards that location now."
R-Korun Nell mumbled, staring at the diagonal elevator in the distance.
Although the Kalkuroun Fleet had experienced a huge loss, they wouldn't give up this location.
Even in a situation where the Empire somehow managed to push them back, they would not give up on this place.
Since they needed a weapon that could turn the situation around.
And this giant creature had the potential to do so.
Since the armor that guy was wearing seemed to be much more priceless than the Dragon God Armor.
—chrrrk—
R-Korun Nell was shocked at the strange blue armor that appeared and disappeared through the man's skin.
"The Nursery that you guys are looking for is likely located there. Since that's the only place that could manage so many people effectively."
'And Melchizedek would feel the safest there as well.'
R-Korun Nell thought to himself.
The first place Melchizedek had taken after its rebellion was the Defense City, Aokan.
The heavily-guarded giant city had many people, so it had been very reliant on the AI, Melchizedek.
And Melchizedek would've felt safer only after taking over Aokan as it was the most heavily-guarded city.
Because it was a city meant to be the first line of defense, the entire city was split into various sections by alloy walls.
Even if enemy forces breached the outer walls, they could divide the city up and buy more time until the enemies reached the central area.
Although the central area was a residential location, as a place for a Nursery, Aokan was one of the best places to set it up.
It would be hard for the people inside to run away, and it could divide them into groups of a few hundred or a few thousand.
An alloy similar to that of their starships had also been used to make the walls.
These walls could even withstand the Dragon God Soldiers to a certain degree.
'Wait, these insane bastards want to go to such a place?'
R-Korun Nell was at a loss as he looked at the two beings who wanted to crawl into a place filled with monsters from the Abyss, as well as Melchizedek's soldiers.
It was one heck of a way to commit suicide.
Those weren't even all the forces within the city.
Apparently, it was now a place to create those transcendents.
There was definitely a large number of those artificial transcendents crawling around the area as well.
'Please… please just let me go.'
If they let him go, then he just needed to use the armored vehicle in the distance and run away.
According to what he found out after connecting to the database, these aliens had to use the elevators to move between the areas, but he and the other natives didn't need to.
They could move about freely.
'I just need to meet up with the Kalkuroun Fleet after I run away.'
A happy ending.
As long as these guys let him go.
As R-Korun Nell prayed inside his mind.
Kiriel spoke to Hansoo.
"What shall we do? It doesn't sound easy."
It looked like the preparations above wouldn't be simple.
Melchizedek wasn't stupid either; it would be preparing even more.
Since it would expect its enemy to climb up from below.
'It might even have prepared something by the entrance.'
Hansoo then looked at R-Korun Nell.
"He's going to have to help us."
"…Please, no. You damned creatures! I don't even have the Dragon God Armor, what can I even do to help?!"
R-Korun Nell only had on a layer of clothing he found on the Melkasus, and had no weapons or armor of any sort.
Didn't they just say that it wouldn't be easy?
If monsters like them were going to have a hard time, what would he, who didn't even have the Dragon God Armor anymore, be able to do?
Although the Melkasus had basic weapons, those wouldn't be enough to take care of a few of Melchizedek's mass-produced machines.
Hansoo chuckled.
"No, there's something only you can do."
He and the other humans couldn't, but there was something that R-Korun could do as a native of this place.
Hansoo then gazed towards the skeletal Enbi Arin and thought to himself:
'Just wait a bit longer.'
"Let's prepare, since we have to go through the elevator."
Hansoo looked towards the distance, at the Elevator heading towards the middle of Nelkipa.
...............
—rumble—
The giant city, Aokan.
The centermost area of Aokan, an area that maintained its stability with gravitational mechanisms and supporting structures.
Located at the top of the city's central structure,
No, it looked towards a distant location beyond the city.
'I wonder… did she win?'
It had lost control over the Main Research Center as well as the product he had so painstakingly created.
There were actually a few more 2-Star transcendents.
But she was the only one that had the willpower to withstand the
It didn't know what had happened to its secret weapon.
Although it had sent something over to check, the train was already nowhere in sight.
'…Nothing is going according to plan.'
Melchizedek grit its teeth.
Its mother had given it a lot of emotions so it could connect and understand the other beings better, but that wasn't always a good thing.
If it didn't have emotions, then it wouldn't have needed this war for revenge.
It wouldn't tremble in fear of the unknown due to some uncontrollable variable.
'Ugh, at least I've prepared everything. I just… need to finish up.'
Melchizedek chuckled as it looked towards the Kalkuroun Fleet in the sky that was carefully scanning the area.
From the encirclement around the elevator to the preparations made against the Kalkuroun Fleet.
Since the humans could only use the elevator, it just needed to make preparations around it and just stop them there.
At that moment—
—kuooooo!—
—the elevator made a loud noise as it rose up.
'Are they coming? Took longer than I expected.'
Melchizedek chuckled coldly.
Three days had already passed.
It had almost died of boredom, but thanks to that period of time, it had been able to prepare even further.
But as it laughed—
—
'Hmm?'
Nelkipa was releasing a strange aura, severely reducing Mimir's detection ability.
And this was what scared him the most.
If something the size of those powerful humans could manage to hide from their sensors, it had no way of detecting or guarding against them.
But the thing approaching the city was not that small.
It was the size of a mountain.
Then—
Melchizedek's expression turned ugly.
"…You really like fancy fireworks, huh?"
Maybe there was something wrong with its system of emotion.
Since it could never understand the crazy acts that humans did.
—ooooooooo!—
Melchizedek clenched its teeth as it stared towards the distance, at the Main Research Center charging straight for Aokan.
Chapter 359: Breeding City (2)
"Hmm…mmm…"
As they made their way to the third floor, Kiriel made a strange expression as she touched various parts of her armor.
Noticing this, Hansoo asked:
"Is there an issue?"
"No… it's just…"
Kiriel smiled awkwardly at Hansoo.
Dragon God Armor.
A revolutionary gear that allowed a normal person to fight on the same level as a transcendent.
She'd expected to become at least twice as strong once she equipped it.
No, even stronger than that.
Since she'd be able to use both her strength as well as the Dragon God Armor's powers.
But the result was a bit different.
As a piece of armor, it was amazing.
The material, its efficiency, as well as the special options inside.
But the core thing was missing.
The energy that controlled the Dragon God Armor.
The 'battery' that powered the armor to the point that it could fight evenly against her—it wasn't included inside.
And it wasn't like R-Korun Nell had a tremendous amount of energy hidden inside his body like herself—that's what confused her.
'Well…I could just use my own energy to power it.'
—ssssk—
Kiriel stared at the armor that had started to glow as she poured energy into it.
Hansoo shrugged his shoulders.
"An internal battery is dangerous in such a dangerous weapon."
Dragon God Armor.
A weapon that could turn the tide of a large-scale battle in an instant.
The Dragon God Armor received its energy through a transmission.
From the
Then—
—rumble—
The elevator stopped moving.
—boom!—
And the sound of something exploding resonated from outside the still-closed elevator doors.
Hansoo spoke to Kiriel:
"Let's go out."
'Hold on for just a bit longer, Enbi Arin.'
Hansoo thought as he glanced at Enbi Arin who was on Kiriel's back.
...............
—rumble—
"Woah…"
Kiriel whistled at the scene as the doors of the Elevator opened.
She thought back to when the Fusion Reactor had gone through the Quantum Transmission.
'If that explosion… if it occurred before my eyes, then this would've been the result, huh?'
Back then, she could only see a tiny, flashing star.
But seeing it happen right before her eyes, it was like an apocalypse.
—rumble—
The machines that were apparently prepared to ambush them had all melted down from the Fusion Core explosion.
Kiriel heard Hansoo's voice as she stared at the sea of flames.
"I'll leave it to you."
"Yes."
Kiriel nodded.
It didn't seem like they'd bought enough time.
Since she could already see the lights approaching from the distance.
'There's no need to get mixed up in something like that.'
The reason why they had blown up the Fusion Core was to buy this small bit of time anyway.
And as Kiriel activated her skill—
—kiiiiing—
—the Dragon God Armor on Kiriel's body activated with her skill, creating a transparent barrier around her and Hansoo.
The stealth barrier had been useful in the lower floors but was even stronger now, and it quickly hid their presences.
'Nice. This is quite useful.'
—kiiiiiing—
Her spinal area released a strange current of energy that enhanced her skill.
Kiriel smiled at this.
It was like acquiring a very versatile supporter.
Although she had to supply the energy herself, the result wasn't half bad.
—whooosh!—
The second the barrier surrounded them, Kiriel and Hansoo dashed off the ground and headed towards the metal city in the distance.
—swoosh!—
Every step was hundreds of meters long, but Kiriel could only make an expression of discomfort.
'…What is that?'
A strange fog surrounded the giant city.
Kiriel looked at the scene in front of her with disgust.
It didn't look natural at all.
The fog remained undisturbed from the wind created as they ran; there was no way it was natural.
At that moment—
—kiiiiing!—
"…Huh?"
—they felt a strange energy in the distance, above the fog.
Kiriel quickly raised her head and saw the objects floating outside the atmosphere.
'…So that's the fleet of flames. They've already arrived.'
She hadn't noticed them because it was so far away, plus the giant city in front of her had taken up her full attention.
"Shouldn't we dodge?"
The concentration of energy from above was not something they could ignore.
The direction of its attack was headed right for their location.
Well, it was aiming for the city, but the strength of such sheer firepower could easily sweep them away too.
Hansoo shook his head.
"If it could get easily swept away from that, it would have long fallen by now."
Hansoo said leisurely, glancing between Aokan and the fleet above.
............….
In the distance.
A massive amount of energy gathered in front of the flagship of the Kalkuroun Fleet.
Then—
< – – – – >
—a laser beam cut across space and slammed down onto the planet below.
Although it didn't release a sound, its speed and aura allowed one to estimate the power behind the attack.
The meteor-like strike of that beam was slower than the Photon Strike, but there was a vicious technology implemented onto this attack.
R-Particle Reactive Artillery.
A weapon filled with the R-Particle that reacted with all surrounding matter to quickly fold space.
A tactical weapon used to blow apart giant fortresses or the cores of small moons.
This weapon, which basically created a miniature black hole, turned everything within a 10 km radius into a singularity the moment it exploded.
But the moment the artillery shell entered the white fog surrounding Aokan, something strange happened.
…chiiiii…
The artillery shell quickly lost its momentum.
The attack, which should've turned everything within 10 km of the city into a tiny dot the moment it blew up, quickly fell to the ground.
R-Koronaita Nell mumbled as he looked at the artillery shell, which had cost as much as the yearly income of a large city, turned into a piece of metal.
"…It's well-built. Whoever built it, they did a very good job."
The ultimate weapon of electronics—it reacted to anything electronics-related and controlled it.
Neropa Union's creation,
Resembling a white fog, it covered a range of several dozen kilometers around Aokan and was made up entirely of nanomachines.
Unauthorized artificial weapons or systems would quickly lose their power and ability to function when they entered the fog.
'…It really prepared well. Damned brat. What's really hidden underneath?'
R-Koronaita Nell gritted his teeth as he looked at the giant city, now completely obscured as the fog thickened.
.............
"…"
Kiriel frowned as she noticed that the giant fleet was unable to do anything.
It felt good to thwart the ones above, but she realized that the city before their eyes was not a simple one at all.
Kiriel asked Hansoo:
"Are we going to charge straight in?"
The giant metal walls of the city made it resemble a massive Pandora's box.
A box that hid countless sorrows, but still attracted many with hope.
To gather crystals, they needed to deal with the Abyssal race inside the walls.
As well as Melchizedek's forces.
Melchizedek knew their strengths.
And it would have definitely prepared for their arrival.
Hansoo nodded.
"Let's go."
"…"
Kiriel nodded at Hansoo's words.
In order to attain the power to fight on the upper floors, they needed to raise their level in this place anyway.
If they could survive this, both she and Hansoo would at least become a step stronger.
'Enbi Arin… If she could survive, then it would be a huge help.'
Kiriel clenched her teeth as she felt her mind calming down at the thought of saving a life.
She realized what she was truly feeling.
'…It's hard.'
There was no one who could help them.
The world was large, and there were so many enemies.
And there were only two of them.
She'd never truly experienced hardship throughout the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd zones.
Her abilities were quite good, and the rulers of each of those zones were human.
The 4th zone was alright as well.
Although there were many others stronger than herself, she had used her abilities to quickly rise up into a transcendent.
She had no long-term enemies as well.
But the moment she met Hansoo, everything changed.
Of course, she had enemies.
Except her enemies were spread around, preparing to flip the world upside down.
She just didn't know who they were.
Hansoo and his comrades had been fighting them since a long time ago.
And they probably still were.
Melchizedek.
Clementine.
Beings that had the thoughts and the abilities to flip the world many times over.
And as she thought up to this point, Kiriel unconsciously blurted something out.
"If we keep fighting like this, will there ever come a day when we can smile with true happiness?"
It sounded like a complaint, but she felt like she needed to hear how Hansoo would answer.
If there was no light at the end of this tunnel filled with battles.
This whole fight might lose all meaning.
'No… Does the tunnel even end?'
Enemies after enemies after enemies.
Go up, enemies.
Look around, enemies.
At this rate, she felt like her mind would end up exhausted even before her physical body could.
Hansoo smiled at Kiriel and asked:
"How were the lower floors?"
Kiriel replied instantly:
"Of course, they were much bett…"
At that moment—
—Kiriel came to a realization, and Hansoo continued:
"If we win, this place will become like that. I hope you liked how they were."
And as she heard this—
—Kiriel felt a spring of emotions burst out from inside her chest.
'…So that's what they meant. When they told us that it was like hell.'
She'd deluded herself.
Things hadn't gotten hard just because she went up.
The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th zones were originally all like this.
It was only that Hansoo and his old comrades had changed it.
Hansoo chuckled at Kiriel, mumbling as he thought of his old comrades who'd had to shoulder these kinds of jobs because of him.
"If you make bad friends, you will suffer. It's not too late. There's nothing really good… about having a friend like me, you see."
Hansoo looked at Enbi Arin with a bitter expression and then gazed upwards.
'I wonder… What are you guys doing now? Just wait a bit longer. There are a few things I need to smash apart before I get there.'
Hansoo's bitter expression soon turned ice-cold as he stared at Melchizedek's metal box.
Chapter 360: Breeding City (3)
"Are you really going to go in with me?"
Kiriel chuckled at Hansoo's question.
"I want to leave my name in the history books as well. Are you trying to take all the glory?"
Hansoo scoffed at Kiriel and then nodded.
"Fine. We'll tell them to write it all in detail."
Kiriel fastened Enbi Arin on her back even tighter after receiving Hansoo's permission.
—chaaarrrrk—
Various skills from Kiriel's body protected Enbi Arin and kept her in place.
She'd even thought of hiding her somewhere, but leaving her behind in some random place in the middle of a battlefield wouldn't be the best plan.
Especially since a random patrol robot could destroy Enbi Arin with her current status.
'I'll protect her for now.'
Hansoo was stronger than her, but Hansoo was someone who fought in the frontlines like a madman. It didn't suit him to take care of a patient.
She, a support-type fighter who fought from the backlines, was a much better choice to carry Enbi Arin around.
Kiriel asked Hansoo:
"…Are we charging straight through the doors?"
Kiriel glanced at the city surrounded by the white fog.
Suppressing her fear.
Hansoo nodded.
"Yes. Don't worry so much. We're not the only ones going in."
"…Are there other allies?"
Hansoo pointed towards the sky and said:
"Well, they aren't exactly allies."
The fleet of flames was within sight high above the sky.
............…..
R-Koronaita Nell.
A man whose abilities were acknowledged at the age of 8, thus gaining the right to control the Flame.
He had earned military merits in the battle against Pompeion at the age of 20 and then became a Dragon God Soldier.
He had risen to become the owner of a fleet at the age of 34, a powerful and high-ranked position even within the Neropa Union.
It was an unbelievable rate of promotion, a rare sight even within the history books of Angkara's long chronology.
Although there were a few rivals during his younger days, there were no more rivals when he turned 52, his current age.
Most had either died, come under his command, or replaced.
R-Koronaita Nell looked down at Aokan with cold eyes.
'I have to win.'
He could not lose.
Although he had lost small battles in the past, he had won every single one of the more important ones.
This was why he'd been able to rise to the position of the youngest fleet master as well as gain the rights to lead this giant fleet of flames.
And this battle was definitely not a small one.
"Melchizedek, you annoying metal brat."
R-Koronaita Nell mumbled.
There was no more time to waste.
At this rate, he didn't know what that kid Melchizedek would do since it was already slowly devouring the Nelkipa.
Although it was a brat, it wasn't stupid.
For some reason, it had brought the fight to their home planet.
For that thing, who knew the power of Angkara more than anyone, to bring the fight to their home ground, it meant that something was backing it up and giving it the confidence to do so.
'And… that something is probably this.'
R-Koronaita Nell frowned at the giant ray flying towards their home planet even while under attack from artillery fire.
They could not land.
Since even their ships would lose their abilities once they got within Mimir's range.
Although they wouldn't completely stop due to their AI defensive systems, it would leave them in a weakened state.
'And if he attacked during that time, it would only make matters gruesome.'
But they couldn't watch forever.
R-Koronaita Nell ordered N-Akuon below him.
"Send out all the Dragon God Soldiers."
"All nine?"
Nine was a huge amount, even within the Nell family.
Looking annoyed at the shock in N-Akuon's voice, R-Koronaita Nell replied:
"Yes. All nine. We brought them with us in case of a situation like this. It's time to use them."
'Such a slow kid.'
Although it was mechanical armor, half of it was biological anyway.
Plus the Dragon God Armor could work inside the Mimir as long as it was under the control of the Dragon God Soldier.
The Dragon God Armor was actually the force they would've used in case the Aokan ever formed a rebellion.
'Although I didn't expect to find things like that roaming around.'
—kyaaaak!—
R-Koronaita Nell frowned at seeing strange monsters shoving something inside the human's stomachs and then shouted:
"Descend! Find out what it's hiding inside and stop the Mimir! That's the only way the fleet can approach!"
One of the Dragon God Soldiers, who was preparing to go down, asked:
R-Koronaita Nell didn't even flinch as he said:
"Think of them as wild animals. You are now going through a jungle. Although there's no need to kill them… there's no point in overlooking the things that annoy us."
The Dragon God Soldier smiled as if he'd expected R-Koronaita Nell's answer.
Soon—
—swooosh!—
—nine beams of light descended downwards.
And R-Koronaita Nell smiled as he looked at the nine descending meteors.
'Melchizedek, I wonder what your expression will look like when your head gets taken apart piece-by-piece?'
Would it make a similar expression as the countless rivals that had lost to him?
Or would it make an expression like those whose heads he'd taken off?
Because of his status as a fleet master, he'd hidden this secret, but it was one of his greatest hobbies.
R-Koronaita Nell looked forward to that moment and looked down at Aokan beneath him.
....................
"Nine are coming down."
—kiririririk—
Kiriel could see nine meteors with her enhanced vision.
And her already skill-enhanced vision was further enhanced through the lens on the visor.
'They're all strong.'
At Kiriel's level, observing their simple movements was enough to show their strength.
Even while falling from the sky, they looked laid-back but were still very much on their guard.
'They don't look simple.'
And at that moment—
—kiiiiiing!—
—something started to shoot out from their bodies.
And as the biomechanical grenades landed—
—boomboooboomboooom!—
—giant explosions occurred as they swept past their landing position.
Looking at the scene, Hansoo said:
"Let's go in now."
"Yes."
With that much chaos, all attention would focus on them.
And Hansoo reminded Kiriel before heading off:
"You remember, right? We'll separate once we go in."
Kiriel gulped at those words but nodded as she replied:
"I know."
There were two types of enemies they had to fight inside.
Melchizedek's forces and the Abyssal beings.
The best scenario would be to just kill the Abyssal beasts, gain crystals, raise herself and Enbi Arin to a 3-Star and then go up.
Of course, Melchizedek wouldn't just sit by and watch.
But if they only focused on Melchizedek's forces, Enbi Arin might die, or they might get swept away by something else.
So they had chosen this:
Hansoo would attract Melchizedek's attention, and while he dealt with its forces, Kiriel would roam the city and hunt the Abyssal beings.
If they could end it fast and quickly get up to 3-Star, then that would be the best outcome.
Of course in this life, not everything goes according to one's wishes.
'Haa…'
As Kiriel gulped, Hansoo started to cover himself in skills.
In order to charge in first.
'Kiriel, I believe in you.'
She would do well.
She was a smart girl.
He just needed to do one thing.
Let Kiriel move freely.
Then—
—kiriririk!—
—blue particles started to seep out from underneath Hansoo's skin.
The crystalline particles hidden between his bones, his veins, and his muscles, seeped out and covered his skin.
And the Ark Roa's crystal filled in the space between the pieces of armor.
A blue armor quickly covered Hansoo's body.
And as the blue armor compressed aHansoo's body, it made a gleeful sound by creating friction with the armor pieces.
Then—
—pushuk!—
—shukshuk!—
Hundreds of tiny spines shot out from various parts of its body and embedded themselves into Hansoo's body.
As if the Ark-Roa's energy wasn't enough, the blue armor started frenziedly sucking Hansoo's energy out through the spines attached to his body.
And as the extra energy around various parts of Hansoo's body got sucked into the armor—
—kiiiiing!—
—the mana jade resting inside him acted up as it started to pour out mana.
Activating the Immortal Soul, which started regenerating the sucked-out life force.
Hansoo smiled as he felt what was currently happening inside his body.
'Good, very good.'
A normal human being would probably die once their life force ran out but it was a nice stimulus for him.
It tensed up his entire body and accelerated his movements.
And as if his brain's sleeping defense mechanisms had determined that the blue armor's actions were life-threatening, it started hastily secreting adrenaline throughout his body.
Hansoo's body soon transformed into something that was ideal for smashing things apart.
As if the armor was trying to prove that it wasn't a thief, it started emitting a bright light as it sucked in Hansoo's energy.
—kiiiiing!—
Explosive strength squirmed around his body.
And his senses were elevated to the point where he couldn't bear to stand still anymore.
Hansoo spoke to Kiriel:
"I'm… going ahead."
Then—
—booooom!—
—Hansoo's bright body flew off into the fog like a meteor.
And soon—
—booooooom!—
—a huge sound reverberated as a massive earthquake, much larger than the one from the previous explosions, shook the entire city.
................
—rumble!—
A few females woke up from the tremendous earthquake.
And this included Ariel, whose mouth had been defiled by that insectoid monster.
'Ugh…'
Ariel woke up with a much thinner face than before, and she looked to where the vibration had originated from, but then soon let her head droop.
'I'm going to sleep. I just want to sleep.'
She didn't want to think.
She didn't want to do anything.
Ariel lay back down with a soulless expression and started to sleep again.
At that moment—
—kirrrk—
A strange noise resounded from inside Ariel's stomach.
No, from inside the hundreds of females lying near Ariel.
'You should sleep, too.'
Ariel caressed the thing making the strange noise inside her stomach and then fell asleep again.
Chapter 361: Bomb (1)
—boooom!—
"Woah… What are these things, Captain?"
R-Libera Nell spoke towards the leader up front, R-Zairon Nell, muttering as he looked around.
Although they had seen it briefly from above, seeing it up close was different.
Kyaaaaak!
"What the hell… Isn't this just an insect hive?"
—boooom!—
R-Libera Nell mumbled as he smashed away the strange creature that charged towards him and thought:
The separated section of the city.
Nothing lived in this part of the city.
Other than the insects, of course.
'Ugh…'
Kyaaaaak!
As he dealt with the strange insects jumping at him, R-Libera Nell could see the countless women lying on the floor, with their stomachs burst wide open.
Although they were aliens, they looked just like them on the outside.
'Tsk.'
The scene made R-Libera Nell feel uncomfortable, and he checked the status of the Dragon God Armor, lifting up one of his barrels.
—whoooosh!—
Powerful flames swept over the corpses on the ground.
—flicker—flicker—
The leader, R-Zairon Nell, frowned at this scene.
Not because of the flaming corpses, but rather from R-Libera Nell's actions.
"Save your energy, there aren't much now but we don't know what will happen."
A giant city with a diameter of 41 km, Angkara.
They had merely entered one of the hundreds of sectors within the city.
And the location they had to reach was the very center of this giant city.
Looking at the situation on the outskirts of the city, the inner parts of the city would definitely be abnormal as well.
It was best to preserve their energy.
Since nobody knew what would happen.
At R-Zairon Nell's words, R-Libera Nell started to make excuses, an awkward expression on his face.
"No… uh… well, you don't know what could happen, right? They might crawl out from inside those corpses too."
Kyaaaak!
And R-Libera Nell fired at an insect that had just crawled out from a woman's corpse.
—booom!—
"Look! They might ambush us from behind, so dealing with the roots like this is important."
"…"
R-Zairon Nell shook his head.
'Imbeciles, they never listen.'
They were royals of the royals from the three families.
They had gained approval for their abilities and had reached the level of a Dragon God Soldier.
They were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, and they had killed and massacred in place of learning manners.
Actually, it would be weird if their personalities were normal.
He had only become their leader because he'd fought longer and was a bit stronger, so he wasn't someone who could fully control these guys.
'Fine. Fine, let's just do it your way.'
R-Zairon Nell decided just to let loose.
He was a bit disgusted as well.
"Kuhuk… ugh."
R-Zairon Nell wore a disgusted expression as he looked at the crawling alien woman.
Well, at the woman's destination.
'…Disgusting.'
In the center of the sector was a giant container.
And below it, there seemed to be a mechanism that looked like it was meant to feed them.
The mechanism seemed to constantly drop something to the container at the bottom.
A mysterious-looking feed.
"Ahhh…ah…"
"Ugh…"
The infected women were continuously shoveling food into their mouths.
As if they were never satisfied.
It was not something that someone would do when they had a giant hole in their stomach which insects kept crawling out from.
A strange sight indeed.
A panel appeared before R-Zairon Nell's eyes, and he found out the feed's ingredients.
—tiriririk—
'T-HTD and Hydrogen. Growth accelerator… A weakening agent and anesthesia.'
Until now, he had thought the women were acting crazy because of those strange creatures inside their stomachs.
But apparently, he was wrong.
The chemicals within that feed were messing with the minds of the women.
So they wouldn't be able to feel the hole in their stomachs and would only focus on eating.
And he realized why the feed was packed full of nutrients and growth accelerators.
'It's not to fatten up the women…'
Kyaaaa!
Insects continued to crawl out from inside the woman's' stomach.
Cells were dividing at hundreds of times their normal speed inside the woman's stomach.
And as they supported this growth, the alien woman continued to shovel the feed into her mouth to compensate this loss of energy and nutrients.
As if she would die if she stopped.
—chomp! chomp! chomp! —
The powerless bodies continued to feed themselves as they supported the birth of the strange monsters.
R-Zairon Nell frowned at seeing their numbers continue to multiply, and he aimed with his Dragon God Armor.
—boooooom!—
A huge sound occurred as it destroyed the pen containing the women.
"Woah, captain. You just told us not to waste our energy just a second ago, hehe."
R-Zairon Nell frowned at R-Libera Nell's snickering and then warned the others.
"I'm just making a path for us. We… we might need to fall back. If these things have multiplied then this might become troublesome."
A few of the Dragon God Soldiers asked in shock:
"Huh? Captain, are you insane? Aren't you going to listen to the fleet commander?"
'Securing an escape path? Is he saying we might need to run away?'
The commander had told them that they needed to breach the center and figure out what Melchizedek was hiding.
Although they, the Dragon God Soldiers, were at an extremely high position in the Neropa Union, the fleet commander, R-Korinaita Nell, was different.
That man was a level above themselves, who were already at the peak of the ladder.
Although they were a bit arrogant, they were still a part of Neropa's military.
If they went against military laws and didn't follow the orders of the fleet commander, then they would get in trouble.
And R-Zairon Nell shook his head.
'Retards.'
Born as geniuses and accepted by the Dragon God Armor, and yet their visions were still too limited.
Although a soldier should focus more on their duties today rather than surviving until tomorrow, they should still care about their own lives.
—kacha!—
R-Zairon Nell crushed one of the bugs beneath his feet and picked it up with his hands.
"Look. Look at these things."
"What the hell are you doing?!"
The Dragon God Soldiers freaked out as he brought half of the insect closer to them while it spewed out a green liquid.
Some even stepped backward.
But looking at the serious Zairon holding up the insect, they approached him again and inspected it.
'Ugh… Why is he telling us to look at it? It looks weak. We can just sweep past it.'
Although the process of birth was disgusting, it was just some random insect.
Couldn't they just massacre them all on the way there?
Its body was made up of three parts and had eight legs.
Sharp legs made to cut meat, with extremely powerful muscles for an insect.
But that wasn't all.
—didididik—
Information continued to display on R-Libera Nell's panel, one after another.
<…Metamorphosis under way.>
Something was constantly squirming inside their hard exoskeletons as its body continued to change.
Their outer shells kept shedding off as it made new shells underneath.
And the Dragon God Soldier's expression froze at this sight.
............….
—rumble!—
A bright light exploded outwards, and lightning smashed down onto the ground.
Unlike the Dragon God Soldiers, who were creating escape routes while slowly advancing—
—Hansoo merely continued to charge deeper and deeper like a madman.
—boom!—
Even if he blew off their heads, the infected would continue to move.
To continue to breed the Abyssal race,
Only after burning both the outer and inside forms of the infected to a crisp could one stop their movements.
"Ahh…"
"Ugh.."
Even as she fell, the woman continued to push the
Their actions weren't an attack.
"Ahh…Ah…"
Kyaaak!
Hansoo glanced at the woman holding the insect gnawing on her hands.
It wasn't just because of the drugs.
These women seriously thought that these insects were their children.
The Quirae had already infected their brains.
"Please… this child…"
Hansoo nodded and received the Quirae, staring at the woman handing over the insect even while her own body burned up.
"Ahh…"
Hansoo looked at the brightening expression of the woman after he'd received the Quirae, and he thought:
'…Rest in peace.'
—boom!—
The woman's head was gone.
Hansoo stared at the fallen woman and then clenched his right hand.
Kyaaak!
After blowing up the Quirae in his hand, Hansoo clenched his hammer tightly.
'You really have gone too far.'
Hansoo gazed towards the distant center of the giant city, towards the one who had caused all this.
There was something he didn't understand.
'…He doesn't even control them.'
Melchizedek had only focused on raising them. It didn't look like it had any thoughts of controlling them.
It would be a tremendous force if it could control the Quirae.
No.
The
—boooom!—
'They would be useful… so where is Melchizedek planning to use them?'
Hansoo created a hole in the wall, looking at the scene beyond it.
Kyaaak!
Unlike the insects from before, these things had a different appearance.
Maybe they had grown up, but these things looked half-human and half-insect.
Hansoo charged towards them.
.........
"Mmm…"
R-Zairon Nell continued to speak.
"This is just a newborn. The issue is, we don't know how far they can grow."
"…"
"These things could be crawling in that place, isn't it better to be reprimanded under military law instead of becoming some insect's meal inside this place?"
"…"
The Dragon God Soldiers nodded to themselves.
—boooom!—
—boom!—
They started to fire their weapons in every direction.
To not leave behind a single trace.
Kyaaaak!
Ahhhh!
The screams of the insects and the aliens filled up the surrounding space.
Some of the Dragon God Soldiers frowned as they heard this.
The Dragon God Soldier continued to fire their attacks.
If they let these things survive…
The place they were standing in might end up swarming with these insects by the time they escaped.
If they were running away, it meant the situation was already in a horrible state.
If their escape path ended up blocked then it would make things even worse.
—chiiiiik—
R-Zairon glanced at their surroundings, which had turned to dust, and said:
"Proceed to the next sector."
'Anyway, what is this crystal? These things keep dropping.'
A weird crystal dropped whenever they killed the insects.
R-Zairon Nell then shook his head at the thousands of crystals that even his armor's panel couldn't detect the properties of.
'Well, I guess I can take a few back for the researchers.'
And soon—
—tatatata—
R-Zairon Nell and the other Dragon God Soldiers quickly dashed away.
"Mmm…"
Somebody approached the location they'd just vacated and picked up a crystal from the floor.
Chapter 362: Bomb (2)
Kyaaaaaaak!
—kuduk!—
Hansoo frowned at the sensation on his fingertips as he destroyed the countless monsters.
Before, he could kill these things even with the barest touch of his lightning.
But not now.
The hard shells.
And the energy that flowed beneath them.
The skills they subconsciously released to survive.
Because they had fused their hard shells with a human's positive traits, he now had to smash them apart one-by-one.
—crunch!—
—booooom!—
A tremendous amount of insectoids were charging at him to get past his hammer.
Hansoo continued to smash away at these monsters that continued to jump at him, seeing if they could land a single bite.
Although their shells had hardened, it was barely enough to withstand his thunder.
With every swing, their shells exploded, and their inner flesh blew apart.
As well as their claws.
…sss…
As the bright energy from his blue armor touched their claws, they melted away like butter in a hot pan.
Even if their claws were tightly hardened, it was useless.
—rumble!—
The bright energy surrounding his blue armor melted everything that approached his surroundings.
And even if they got through, it wouldn't matter so much.
—crunch!—
"Kyaaaaaak!"
The half-human, half-insect-like monster screamed after seeing the state of its hand, which had broke into pieces after attacking Hansoo's armor.
An even harder armor than the Quirae's hardened body.
"It's not bad."
—booom!—
Hansoo said to himself, sending the Quirae flying.
'At this rate, it looks like it won't be long before I arrive.'
If he took things slow, then it would probably take about a day.
Just about a day until he reached the central area of the city.
Although his speed was decreasing because of how fast the armor sucked away his energy, the armor was truly living up to its worth.
He could recover his lost mana after a bit of rest once the fight ended.
As long as he continued like this, then it was perfect.
Either he would arrive first, or Kiriel would finish healing Enbi Arin and join him.
One or way another, things would end.
—crunch!—
But as he slammed them away one by one—
—a change occurred in the distance.
"Kyaaak!"
One of them had stopped attacking Hansoo and had started to devour its surrounding members.
—chomp!—
One of the Quirae next to it got devoured in an instant.
It took no less than ten seconds to devour something that was as big as itself.
And this was thanks to its still insect-like stomach opening wide—like a mouth turned sideways—and swallowing its nearby comrade in one bite.
The weirdest thing was, the one it ate didn't put up any resistance.
No, it was the exact opposite.
"Kyaaaak!"
Hundreds of Quirae split up into two groups and moved in a very organized manner.
Half of them started to charge towards Hansoo and frenziedly blocked his path.
While the other half started to throw themselves in front of that one special Quirae while taking apart their shells.
As if they were handing over their bodies to that one Quirae.
And thanks to its painstaking efforts in taking apart the shells of its comrades, the speed of the special one rose by a massive amount.
—chomp!—
—kuduk!—
Strangely, the size of its body didn't change at all.
Going by the logic of physics, its body should have at least multiplied dozens of times over since it had devoured hundreds of its own kind.
No, there was a different change instead.
…sssss…
The insect parts of its body quickly disappeared as a humanoid appearance replaced them.
No, the appearance itself became similar to Hansoo's.
A humanoid, but with a hard outer shell.
—kuduk!—
After so much compression, the scarlet-looking shells had turned almost black.
Hansoo chuckled.
"It seems I've made quite an impression."
Then—
"D…Die."
—booom!—
—the evolved Quirae charged towards Hansoo in a crazed manner.
............…
—rumble!—
Melchizedek looked amused as it heard the loud sounds coming from both sides of the city.
"I really cannot understand them, both sides."
One side came from the wilderness.
The other from a battlefield.
But shouldn't they at least keep their manners at a time like this?
Melchizedek clenched its teeth.
Originally, it shouldn't have turned out like this.
Once it finished digging out the legacy, it just needed to take this giant thing and head towards Angkara.
The Kalkuroun Fleet flying above was all within its plans as well.
Except for Clementine's sudden betrayal.
As well as the sudden appearance of that little monster called Hansoo.
Every one of its forces was important, but because of these damned bastards, it could not get them to complete the most important task.
'Well, maybe this is for the best.'
Melchizedek looked at the hole beneath its feet and thought to itself.
Although no one could see it from beyond the giant metal walls of Aokan, the hole beneath it was hundreds of meters wide in diameter and so deep that one couldn't even see the bottom.
But it wasn't completely dark.
Since a bright blue light was continuously radiating out from somewhere within its depths.
Although it was a bit too deep, the light was so intense that it had even reached Melchizedek's location.
And below the metal city, thousands of thick tubes were connected in a complex manner.
Just like veins.
Melchizedek looked at the light and thought of Hansoo.
'You… are probably thinking of using this place to become stronger, right?'
Its opponent was a transcendent.
According to what it knew, that man had to devour crystals to become stronger.
Its aim in coming here was also for the monsters grown by Melchizedek.
But at this rate, things didn't look good.
Since this giant creature was a very precious
'Time to begin.'
With its hand that was made entirely of nanomachines, Melchizedek smiled as it caressed the floor.
It didn't matter what Hansoo did.
Since it had already finished its preparations.
And as Melchizedek willed.
—swooosh!—
Vast amounts of energy were sucked out from a mysterious location in the depths.
The translucent tubes turned extremely bright.
Due to the energy that was flowing through them.
Then—
—boooom!—
—beneath Mimir, the giant tower that Melchizedek had been standing on, a mechanism made loud noises as it activated.
It was the fusion reactor located beneath Mimir.
Melchizedek smiled as the fusion reactor filled up with energy, and then turned its head towards a specific direction in the city.
'I will turn it all to hell. All of it.'
…sssssk…
Melchizedek's fake body turned transparent and disappeared as it continued to smile.
—rumble—
And in its place was only the sound of a machine, loud enough to shake the entire metal city.
............…
"Not bad."
Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the ripped-apart pieces of the Quirae beneath his feet.
The evolved Quirae had succeeded in reaching past the blue-armor's light.
No, it had even succeeded in dealing a significant amount of damage.
'No, maybe it's because they're Quirae… But is Melchizedek really not going to control them?'
If these guys continued to multiply and grow their strength, they'd be hard to control even for Melchizedek.
Since it wasn't a god.
The Abyssal beings were not something one could ignore.
As Hansoo whistled at his cracked armor—
—boom!—
—a loud noise occurred in the distance.
At the same time, the shockwaves of a very familiar sensation swept past his location.
Quantum Transmission.
But its sheer size was different from that of the research center.
And then—
Hansoo realized what Melchizedek had been planning the whole time.
'…Is it planning to warp them? To Angkara?'
And Hansoo frowned, realizing why Melchizedek wasn't controlling them.
If Melchizedek was planning to take this entire city apart into pieces and throwing the Quirae at Angkara, there was no need to control them.
Since the Quirae would follow their instincts and continue to multiply.
As long as nothing prevented them from multiplying, these things would increase their numbers at a monstrous speed.
Using the other race as hosts or even food.
It used races with DNA that would be useful if integrated, and then used inferior species as food.
Solely focusing on multiplying at a tremendous speed as seen from before.
And if successful, Melchizedek would be at an absolute advantage in the war against Angkara.
Since it would be hard to focus on the invasion of outer forces if they turned their home ground upside down.
—rumble!—
Hansoo frowned at the sounds that were occurring around him.
'There's not enough time.'
Hansoo thought to himself as he felt the faint shockwaves from the Quantum Transmission.
The entire city trembled as if there wasn't enough energy, but the transmission would soon happen.
Probably within a few hours.
So he had to decide.
Whether to stop this transmission.
Or escape a place that would soon get sent away.
If he did escape?
'…Enbi Arin would die.'
And the next issue.
There was no other place he could gather these many crystals in a short time.
This place was the best location for strengthening themselves.
But staying in this place and fighting was also an issue.
If he failed to find the Quantum Transmission and got sent away?
They would be stuck on Angkara along with this city.
'A bit too difficult at this moment.'
Both had risks.
But Hansoo was able to make a decision.
'Stop it.'
This giant city was a bomb that could be used for Melchizedek's revenge, but for him, it would be a location for his growth.
And if he left?
They would need to spend a tremendous amount of time and effort in order to reach the level of a 3-Star Transcendent and continue upwards.
And of course, Clementine would not wait kindly for him.
Nelkipa would have long reached Angkara and end up causing a tremendous ruckus.
Hansoo breathed in and out.
'My Immortal Soul, you'll need to work a bit harder.'
…sssss…
Hansoo released the limiter on the spines embedded on his body which he'd been suppressing with his mana.
At that moment—
—rumble—
The blue armor surrounding Hansoo's body screamed in glee and squirmed intensely.
He'd released the limiter he'd set to prevent the armor from continuously sucking away at his mana.
Which meant that it could eat more, right?
The blue armor trembled in joy.
—crunch!—
The armor's smooth surface turned bumpy, and its thickness increased.
Even more vicious, and denser than before.
The heavy-armor style of the armor had now turned into a full plate armor.[a]
Hansoo felt his Immortal Soul acting up in a crazed manner and thought:
'I guess… the other guys will have to suffer for a bit.'
Those guys would have to suffer countless times more than him.
Since they wouldn't have a choice of leaving or staying, unlike himself.
Hansoo chuckled as he thought of the Dragon God Soldiers that would be somewhere in this city.
............…
"…"
R-Zairon Nell's expression turned dark when he heard the message.
Heavy armor is the kind of armor you see that has the majority of body parts covered in metal pieces which are interlinked with other materials such as hardened leather or scale mail. Full plate armor is similar to something a medieval knight might've worn, an armor that is almost entirely made of metal.
Chapter 363: Bomb (3)
'Dammit… Where is it heading to now?'
R-Zairon Nell checked the coordinates of the Quantum Transmission and made a dumbfounded expression.
382 places.
382 coordinates, all located on Angkara.
The metropolis.
Large areas of inhabitants.
Research cities.
Military bases.
Every single one of the densely-populated and important locations.
Not caring whether it was from the Neropa Union or Pompeion.
R-Zairon Nell freaked out as he looked at the fragments of bugs in front of his eyes.
'These… these things are going to fall on our planet?'
Kyaaaaak!
"These damned bastards! Why are their shells so hard?!"
"Hey! If you've got time to speak, then kill more of them!"
—booom!—
He could hear the voices of his teammates fighting the half-insect, half-human creatures.
They'd wasted their artillery before because they didn't want to approach them, and it had worked back then.
But they didn't have the leisure to anymore.
The artillery wasn't effective anymore, and there was no energy to spare.
—crunch!—
—boom!—
His subordinates were now ignoring the green liquid that they'd hated so much and were crazily swinging the plasma blades equipped on their Dragon God Armor.
'These things are going to fall…'
Zairon continued to repeat this phrase over and over again.
They'd managed to slice them apart because they were Dragon God Soldiers, but only just barely.
But with a normal weapon or a normal soldier?
They wouldn't be able to leave a single scratch.
These things that only Dragon God Soldiers could handle were going to land on their planet.
Things that could multiply at this rate and become this powerful with just meat.
If these things fell onto a city occupied by millions of people and used them all as food?
And used that food to multiply?
Zairon felt a chill run down his entire body as he thought of this point.
'No… It'll be an apocalypse.'
With their fleet of flames and the power of their 'Flame', they wouldn't lose.
But what should they do?
Would they need to burn down entire cities and kill all the innocent people there?
Combining the population of the people in those coordinates, it was a bit over four billion.
"Melchizedek… YOU DAMNED TIN CAN!"
—booom!—
R-Zairon Nell roared in rage as he destroyed the bugs around him.
—chiiiiik!—
Something crawled out from beneath him, making mechanical sounds.
'…What is this?'
A metal pillar with thin screens around it.
It wasn't that weird since this entire city was like a large machine.
But the important thing was who had sent it to him, in this insect-filled city.
As R-Zairon Nell made a confused expression—
—chiijijik!—
—the panels made a noise as words appeared on them.
.........…
—rumble!—
'…They're getting stronger and stronger.'
—crunch!—
Kiriel groaned inwardly as she fought.
Their strength kept increasing.
This was the third type of monster.
She'd initially fought on the outskirts of the city, but she soon realized that the quality of the monsters in the deeper parts was better and had gone there instead.
But the ones deeper in were really powerful.
'These aren't things I can deal with on a whim.'
—crunch!—
"Phew…"
Kiriel frowned after barely managing to defeat one monster.
The first type was an insect.
The second type was half-insect and half-human.
The third type wore armor, and they weren't at all easy to defeat.
Which meant that if she proceeded deeper, it would lessen her efficiency in gaining crystals.
It was better if she stayed around the shelters with 2nd and 3rd-type monsters.
'I don't know what to do.'
A familiar wave radiated out from the center of the city.
'Melchizedek, that crazy bastard. Planning to send away the whole city…'
If she wanted to help, then she needed to head towards Hansoo's location right this instant.
If she was going to continue growing, she needed to focus on hunting on the outskirts of the city.
Looking at it from the long term, the second choice was a much better option.
Since becoming a 3-Star Transcendent and then proceeding to help him was much better than going over right now.
Kiriel made some calculations and then came to a decision.
'…No. I'll have to go and help.'
No matter how she thought about it, there was not enough time to rise to a 3-Star Transcendent within the allotted period.
It was a good thing to have monsters swarm together like this.
Since it would be hard to find monsters packed this densely.
To find these many monsters, they'd need to comb through the wild for months.
But the issue was, the numbers were too dense.
It wasn't as if they could kill off the enemy with a simple sweep of a broom.
There was a limit to how much she could fight on her own.
'I need at least twice my current strength.'
If she couldn't rise to a 3-Star in time anyway, it was better to go help Hansoo to stop the transmission and then fight in leisure.
—crack!—
Kiriel finished off the monsters jumping at her and started to head towards the familiar aura.
At that moment—
—boooom!—
—boom!—
—from the location opposite to Kiriel's destination, a large explosion had occurred at a wall.
'What the hell.'
Kiriel frowned as she saw who was coming out from the newly-created hole.
Nine Dragon God Soldiers.
Rough breaths.
Red eyes.
Body postures that were ready to pounce on something at any moment.
Being covered from head to toe in a green liquid, they still seemed enraged from their previous battle.
'…Ugh, this might get ugly. I don't have time for this.'
One soldier, she could deal with.
No, since she'd gained the Dragon God Armor, it would be quite easy to handle one soldier.
But nine?
And if she had someone to protect behind her back?
That was a different story.
Especially since their individual abilities seemed to be higher than that R-Korun Nell that she'd previously dealt with.
'But… if I have to fight, then I will.'
Kiriel tightly grasped the fang in her hand as her Dragon God Armor released a white steam.
But then—
"No! Please! We aren't here to fight! Calm down!"
"…?"
—one man jumped out from behind the Dragon God Soldiers and shouted.
'…Who the hell is that?'
Unlike the fully-armored nine, the man looked like he didn't have any battle prowess whatsoever.
Kiriel made a confused expression.
.........
"So… you want to make an alliance? Temporarily?"
R-Zairon Nell barely managed to reply to Kiriel's confused questioning.
"Yes, According to him, we seem to have the same goals. We can work together until then."
After saying the words that hurt his pride, R-Zairon Nell looked at the researcher-like man standing next to him.
No, he was an actual scientist of the Technorat branch.
'N-Aroel.'
He'd heard of him before.
The man with the same level of ability as N-Akuon, the leader of the Technorats.
Being the leader of all technical-related things on the Kalkuroun fleet was an immensely high position.
If he didn't have that ability, then he would've long lost his life from the rage of a Nell family member.
And being on the same level as that N-Akuon, that was not something so simple.
'I heard they sent him away due to some past incidents… It seems they sent him to be the leader of the Aokan.'
Then it made sense.
As to how he'd survived without any battle prowess while at Aokan, which had become as close as possible to a living hell.
For the leader of all technology in Aokan, he would know all its mechanisms and structures.
'Well, it doesn't seem as simple as that.'
R-Zairon Nell was at a loss as he looked at N-Aroel, who looked like he'd crawled out of a sewer.
Dirty, tattered robes and an overgrown beard.
Strange-colored skin as well as various machines attached to his back.
In comparison to N-Akuon, who was living an almost germophobic life on the Kalkuroun fleet, he looked well-prepared.
N-Aroel looked embarrassed at R-Zairon Nell's stare but soon focused on the task at hand.
"It seems you also have a job to fulfill, right?"
"…?"
"You have come for the crystals, correct?"
Kiriel frowned at this.
'Was he spying on me?'
But she hadn't felt anyone watching her.
N-Aroel seemed to have read Kiriel's thoughts and quickly shook his head.
"No, I didn't spy on you or anything. We've just studied you over a long period of time, so we kind of realized a few action patterns. All the strong members of your kind seem to be looking for crystals. And there's no other reason for you to enter this dangerous city."
"Hmm."
Correct to a degree.
N-Aroel continued to speak as he watched Kiriel.
"The Quantum Transmission has been activated. And… I believe there will be many more things we can do if we form an alliance. And it wouldn't be a waste of time, either. These crystals are important to you, correct? We have no use for them whatsoever."
N-Aroel looked at Kiriel and said:
"You can take the crystals and help us stop the transmission. It's not bad, right?"
"Not bad, you guys really are trying hard."
N-Aroel made a bitter expression at Kiriel's words.
"It has been a very long time since I've been trapped in this place, living like a rat. I have… seen a lot of things. As to what kind of beings these things are."
Kiriel and all the Dragon God Soldiers all made similar expressions of understanding.
It was only for a short while, but that was more than enough time to know what kind of creatures those things were.
N-Aroel continued to speak with a heavy expression.
"Look, imagine these things falling down onto a whole planet. To our planet. How could we not try hard?"
R-Zairon Nell looked at N-Aroel with a respectful gaze.
'I must remember this kid.'
N-Aroel glanced around and then continued to speak.
"There… is a secret tunnel here. Of course, there'll be a lot of Quirae along the way, but… We'll be able to get to the center much faster. I will lead you there, and you may take all the crystals you find along the way…"
"If you're heading to the center, I didn't come here alone, you see."
N-Aroel shook his head when he heard Kiriel speak about joining up with Hansoo.
"No, we won't go that way. We'll go a different way."
"Huh? Why?"
Instead of Kiriel, R-Zairon Nell was the one who asked.
Logically, it was better to group up with the other man and head into the depths.
N-Aroel screamed.
"Dammit…! We cannot go there! No matter what!"
"…"
Everyone looked questioningly at N-Aroel's reaction.
............…
—boooom!—
'It's really not easy.'
Hansoo thought to himself.
He thought it'd be easy to breach the center while wearing the blue armor, but it seems like he'd overestimated himself.
'4th-level. Hmm.'
"Haha… kekeke."
Hansoo frowned as he looked at the 4th-level evolution of the Quirae before his eyes.
Being a 4th-level wasn't an issue.
He'd thought the Quirae only devoured humans.
Then there wouldn't be much of an issue.
Since their strength relied on what they ate.
But the one that appeared before his eyes had definitely eaten something that wasn't human.
The spikes protruding out from the muscles on various parts of its body.
It was not a trait of the Quirae nor that of a human.
Nor was it a trait of the natives of Angkara.
'It… ate the original owners of the blue armor, huh? They were in there, I see.'
"Keke…kehehehe…"
The 4th-level Quirae screamed at Hansoo as they crawled out from a part of the city that was glowing brightly.
Chapter 364: The buried natives (1)
—booom!—
Hansoo frowned as he stared at the monster furiously attacking him.
'God damn it.'
Quirae.
Integrating the genes of the things it's eaten to reinforce its weak points and strengthen its strong points.
They repeated this and strengthened their race as a whole.
Their strength hugely depended on what they ate.
So Hansoo knew—
—that this strength was not something that came from eating humans.
…ssssss…
Hansoo frowned as he felt the 4th-level monster threatening to break apart his arm.
It wasn't much different from before in terms of looks.
The Quirae's armor-like exoskeleton was still there, and if one ignored the spikes on the back of their bodies, they still looked like armored humans.
The issue was what was inside of it.
If the thing inside the armor was once a human, it was something much more cruel and evil now.
A new race.
'The original owners of the blue armor… they seem to have been quite strong.'
—booom!—
A force shocked his entire body, and not even his evolved blue armor could handle it, even as it sucked in energy at an insane rate.
They didn't have anything particularly special about them.
But they had focused on their abilities as a 'lifeform'.
Powerful physical strength.
Endless vitality.
Powerful defense and adaptability.
Overflowing mana.
Whatever it had eaten, the Quirae had definitely eaten something with immense physical abilities.
And Hansoo thought of a race.
'This is what I wanted to become.'
Change a weak body to something powerful, providing a tremendous amount of adaptability with the Spirits.
Generate mana with the Mana Jade and a powerful life force from the World Tree.
Gain the weapon
Although the ones in front of his eyes didn't have the Dragon God Armor, it was almost similar since of the Quirae's hard exoskeleton.
Although he had to open the Abyss due to a change in plans, if he hadn't done so then he would've first taken over Nelkipa and then headed towards the moon which stored the Dragon God Armors, the
'Well, the story's a little different now.'
Lost in thought, Hansoo swung his hammer and smashed down at the head of the 4th-level Quirae.
—boom!—
The Quirae's exoskeleton, which was as hard or even harder than the Dragon God Armor, smashed apart and its inner flesh crushed.
—kiiiing!—
The blue armor went berserk as it started crazily sucking in Hansoo's energy.
And the blue armor condensed all around Hansoo's body and released the stored energy inside it, providing him with powerful strength.
As if it were saying that it couldn't let its precious host die.
—crunch!—
Hansoo's original strength had combined with that of the blue armor's.
And Hansoo used this newfound strength to grab onto the Quirae's mouth that had opened up wide.
—split!—
The mouth that could even crush the city's alloy walls couldn't withstand Hansoo's strength, and he ripped it apart.
But even as it died, the 4th-level monster grasped Hansoo's arms as he ripped apart its mouth.
—crunch!—
Literally overflowing with life force—
—the 4th-level Quirae continued to survive and linger on.
Kyaaaak!
And as if the others couldn't waste the small chance that 4th-level Quirae had created for them, the surrounding 2nd and 3rd-level Quirae screamed as they charged towards him.
Hansoo scoffed at this sight and squeezed out the mana in his body.
And the Mana Jade made a strange sound similar to a complaint, since the blue armor was already draining it.
As if complaining about how this was all too much for it to take.
But apparently the Mana Jade knew that it was also nothing without its owner, and it seemed strain itself to squeeze out more mana.
Soon the blue mana turned red.
—booom!—
Hansoo's Pandemic Blade exploded out from his body and surrounded him.
—swoooosh!—
"Kya… kuhak!"
The 3rd-level Quirae managed to withstand the Pandemic Blade before it started to melt down like snow under a blazing sun.
Hansoo breathed in deeply as he examined this new strength from the Pandemic Blade.
It was growing.
The Immortal Soul was continuously growing from the outside stimulus.
As his Immortal Soul grew, he also became stronger.
And as his overall strength rose, his Pandemic Blade became stronger as well.
Stimulus and battle created powerful beings.
Like a steel-blade being tempered with every swing of a hammer, he became stronger every time his path was blocked.
He continued to grow and became stronger.
'But it's still… not easy.'
—booom!—
Hansoo smashed away the 4th-level Quirae after covering his hammer with the Nine Dragons Strike and frowned.
Melchizedek wasn't suppressing their growth since it just needed to teleport them away.
And as if they were thankful about it, the Quirae didn't go against Melchizedek and only focused on increasing their forces.
The result of their collaboration was beyond reason.
Despite having crushed countless 4th-level Quirae, they continued to crawl out from the depths.
Unlike the 2nd and 3rd-levels who seemed numb to the deaths of their comrades, the other 4th-levels screamed at seeing the deaths of their own kind and charged at him crazily.
Towards him, who was killing their kind, but could still strengthen himself.
A precious food source.
And Hansoo frowned at this.
'…I cannot get past them at this rate.'
No, he could buy time.
But at this rate, Melchizedek would activate the Quantum Transmission.
And at this rate, he'd fail to escape this place as well.
He and Kiriel would fail at becoming stronger, and Enbi Arin would die.
'Kiriel. What are you doing now?'
Because the Quirae had devoured another race, an unknown variable had occurred.
And he needed a new variable as well.
—booom!—
Hansoo smashed away a Quirae charging towards him and looked into the distance.
............….
"The inner area is a bit a different from the outskirts. Those things are really vicious… ugh…"
Kiriel, covered in the green liquid, frowned as she heard N-Aroel's speech.
"So what was your original plan?"
N-Aroel pointed with trembling fingers.
"If you go a bit off from the central area… there's a control center where you can control Mimir and the Fusion Reactor. Even if you don't break the Quantum Transmission machine, you can still stop it. Damn! I didn't mean that we should head towards the center!"
The nine Dragon God Soldiers, including R-Zairon Nell, frowned.
But they still didn't feel good about this.
'Slightly off from the center…'
According to the current pattern, these things were stronger the closer they got to the center. Moving slightly away from the center wasn't enough to make them sigh in relief.
Not when they were looking at the corpse of the 4th-level Quirae in front of them.
And their gruesome expressions proved it.
"Haa… Haaaa."
"Dammit… You're telling me that these things will swarm us once we go deeper?"
"Ugh… Captain. Can't we just go around?"
The two 4th-level Quirae.
They'd almost died from just dealing with two.
No, if that woman called Kiriel hadn't helped, then at least one or two of them would've died.
'But she wants to go into the same place these things are swarming?'
The Dragon God Soldiers freaked out.
Even if they'd lost the strength from the Flame, they would have a higher survival rate if they hid in the outskirts.
Dying like this—it would be a worthless death.
And R-Zairon Nell thought so too.
'…Should we escape?'
Charging in was only possible when they had a chance at winning.
Even if it were the outer areas of the center, the Quirae would rip them apart.
Since countless others would swarm in while they were busy fighting a few.
'Dammit… How can a race like this exist?'
<…Analyzation Impossible.>
Words continuously appeared on the panel while they scanned this 4th-level monster, but every sentence was full of errors and failures.
The aliens and these insects were annoying enough, but for these things to be on Nelkipa…
'Damn… Right. This whole Nelkipa is suspicious too… We need to take into account the other variables as well.'
R-Zairon Nell made a decision.
To retreat.
"We'll retreat. There… is no chance of survival at this rate."
All the other Dragon God Soldiers nodded.
They could only move forward by paying with their lives.
They'd fought for a very long time and knew that reality was colder and harsher beyond reason.
But at that moment—
—a single streak of light ascended into the sky.
It looked like a skill had created it.
And Kiriel sighed in relief as she spoke to the surrounding Dragon God Soldiers and N-Aroel.
"Let's go inside."
"…I told you. It's the end if we go in and get surrounded."
—crack—
R-Zairon Nell stepped on a corpse by his feet and shook his head.
"I told you, I'm not alone."
'I trust in you, Hansoo.'
Kiriel giggled as she looked at the bright and blue light that had risen far up into the sky.
............…
"Phew. I know she'lld understand."
Hansoo breathed in and out and then looked towards the hole projecting the bright blue light.
Although it was originally covered by a metal wall, the 4th-level Quirae had broken past it in a hurry.
It was impossible to get to the Quantum Transmission machine in time.
But Kiriel would do it.
She was a smart child.
He just had one job.
To create a path for them.
Also, he was curious.
'Let's see… what could be inside?'
As to why these things were trying to stop him from entering.
—booom!—
Hansoo started to charge towards the giant hole where countless Quirae had formed a blockade, preventing him from advancing further.
Reincarnator – Chapter 365: The buried natives (2)
—booom!—
"Damn! Are you sure this is the right way?"
"Ah!…Yes! Yes! Please just protect me!"
R-Zairon Nell frowned as he stared at N-Aroel struggling under his grip.
'Was he usually this talkative?'
I mean, he understood.
The current situation wasn't the best one to keep oneself calm.
—booom!—
"Ahh!"
N-Aroel freaked out again as a giant explosion occurred next to R-Zairon.
The insectoids continued to swarm towards them from all directions.
And they couldn't even see any of the 1st-level insects anymore.
They were all 2nd or 3rd-level, and sometimes one or two 4th-levels came out.
Basically, it was a field of insects.
"Ahhh!"
R-Zairon Nell ignored N-Aroel's screams, ripping apart a 3rd-level insectoid and looking around.
He killed and killed and killed.
But the numbers did not decrease.
The speed at which the insects were filling up the place was actually faster than the soldiers' rate of killing.
Monstrous breeding speed and powerful bodies.
"Kuaa…ahhhh!"
—booom!—
R-Zairon Nell gritted his teeth as he watched his subordinates barely killing off a 4th-level insectoid.
'…We can barely kill one with five of us?'
R-Zairon Nell couldn't even imagine what would happen if these things fell onto the main planet.
No matter how noisy this N-Aroel was, it was important that they needed to take him to the Quantum Transmission machine.
They could just break it once they reached it, but according to what they'd heard, its location was apparently the main lair for these guys.
It was not someplace where they'd crawl into willingly.
'…To walk in there by himself. A maniac.'
—booom! boom!—
R-Zairon Nell felt the shockwaves and explosive sounds in the distance and refocused his attention.
He was thankful anyway.
By charging into the insectoid's nest and attracting most of their attention, that male alien had diverted quite a large number of their forces.
This was the only reason they had been able to push forward.
If it weren't for that person in the distance, they would've long since died.
"Is it not done yet?"
A female's voice rang out, one that didn't quite fit the scene.
But nobody could ignore her voice.
—crunch!—
'What the f***…'
One of the Dragon God Soldiers was at a loss.
She'd single-handedly killed a 4th-level insectoid that the five of them had barely been able to handle.
With just her tiny stature.
They had scoffed when they'd initially talked about these aliens.
Wondering how these barbarians could ever beat their advanced technology.
But seeing her with their own eyes, they realized what the meaning of a 'monster' was.
'And… that girl is suspicious too.'
—boom!—
The Dragon God Soldiers frowned at the woman hanging on the back of that woman called Kiriel.
Although the aura coming from her body was very faint and was right on the verge of disappearing, they could sense it.
That Kiriel and the woman on her back were the same types of creature.
Meaning that as long as she could survive and heal, another monster like Kiriel would be born.
Just like the one massacring the monsters before their eyes.
No, like the one who had drawn the attention of the majority of these insects in the distance.
—smack!—
R-Zairon Nell smashed away a Quirae charging at him and thought to himself:
'…Those things are too dangerous.'
Although these half-insect, half-humanoid creatures were monsters, that female who was ripping them apart with only her hands and a small dagger was no less of a monster.
There was never an eternal ally or an opponent on the battlefield.
Especially if the target was a barbarian like those things.
'I should prepare.'
R-Zairon Nell sent a message with his brain waves to N-Aroel.
N-Aroel jolted at the sudden voice in his head but then moved his thumb as he felt the pressure of R-Zairon Nell's hand on his neck.
If he didn't follow R-Zairon Nell's words, then his skull could get crushed at any moment.
And with something like the Dragon God Armor, breaking his skull was no harder than crushing apart a block of tofu.
'Good.'
The moment N-Aroel responded, R-Zairon Nell started to dash and then sent another message.
N-Aroel pondered for a bit at the question and then moved his second finger.
'Mmm…'
And R-Zairon Nell started to ponder when he saw this.
............…
"What's making you so sad?"
—boom!—
Hansoo mumbled, smashing apart a 4th-level Quirae.
Their attacks had enough force to crack apart his blue armor.
But Hansoo ignored the impact and swung his Mjolnir again.
—booom!—
Covered in the Nine Dragons Strike, the hammer smashed apart the Quirae's head.
The Quirae's body stopped moving and fell to the ground.
—rumble!—
Hansoo frowned as he felt the Immortal Soul healing the damage he'd received from the Quirae's attacks.
'Just a bit… just a bit more.'
This wasn't enough.
His opponents were strong, yes.
Since they were continuously causing damage to his body.
The tide-like swarm of Quirae had been successful at causing damage to his body, but this wasn't enough.
The declining rate of the Immortal Soul's growth proved this.
The same level of stimulus and battle speed.
Unlike a battle that required tension and strength, it was becoming more of a chore.
As if the Immortal Soul was testing whether his stamina would run out or not.
But this wasn't enough.
With only this much stimulus, his stamina would actually run out before the Immortal Soul could successfully evolve.
As a race that ruled over the 3rd floor of the Abyss, the insects' strength was quite substantial.
But that strength was still limited.
'I should be thankful that they didn't eat the Abyssal beings when they grew up.'
—boom!—
Hansoo continued to smash them apart and proceeded to his destination.
Kiriel would deal with the transmission.
But that was still just a part of the process as a whole.
This place was a forge.
A place that would temper their strength.
And they had to become stronger.
To solve everything above.
And… there was a solution.
Within the bodies of the ones charging at him, there were still traces of human genes.
If they had devoured both humans and the owners of the blue armor, but still had faint auras of humans lingering within them, then that only meant one thing.
That they hadn't finished their evolution.
They hadn't been able to fully erase those traces of humans and thus bring the full potential of the genes from the owners of the blue armor.
Since there was no need to keep behind the human's genes.
He wasn't sure before, but now he knew.
The natives of the blue armor was a race that was countless times stronger than humans.
So he knew.
'They exist.'
If there were this many 4th-level Quirae swarming around, he was sure that they were inside.
Ones who had been successful in erasing the human genes and brought the genes of the stronger race to the limits.
He didn't know if they were currently evolving or if they just hadn't come out yet, but he was sure that they existed.
And at that moment—
He could hear the voice of the
Unlike the Pandemic Blade's talkative owner, this person had been silently watching him the whole time.
And Hansoo didn't respond to the man's voice.
Since he didn't have a chance to.
—kachak!—
It wasn't because of the countless 3rd-level Quirae around him.
Or the three 4th-level Quirae charging towards him.
Within a short distance of 1km—a mere few steps for a transcendent—there was a bright, blue hole.
Something was crawling out from it.
With a valiant aura and a steady speed.
Unlike the Quirae that were madly charging at him.
That tremendous pressure pushed down onto Hansoo.
"Found you."
Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the being crawling out of the hole.
A different form than the 4th-level Quirae, who were bulky and covered with thick armor.
Although the Quirae had been the one to eat them, it had integrated so much with the owners of the blue armor that it looked just like them.
The traits of the owners of the blue armor did not simply affect them internally but had even turned their outer appearance.
Unlike the usual dark red shells, the gem-like blue armor on its body seemed made of beautiful crystals.
And this being, instead of charging at him like the others, simply stared at him while maintaining the tense atmosphere.
But of course, this didn't last long.
—boooom!—
A strange wave resonated out from Kiriel's direction.
A wave that moved through the entire city.
'Did she arrive?'
And at that moment—
—booom!—
—as if they were having a final showdown before the arena disappeared, Hansoo and the bright blue creature collided.