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Reincarnator – Chapter 375: Inheritance War (5)

"Captain, what shall we do now?"

"Mmm."

R-Koronaita Nell looked below as he listened to the lieutenant commander's words.

At the tremendous amount of energy that even they could feel in the space above Nelkipa.

That energy was flowing out from Nelkipa's head.

From three separate locations.

'…It's not something we can ignore.'

R-Koronaita Nell fell into deep thought.

Originally, they'd assumed that Aokan was the core structure of Nelkipa and tried to take over that place.

They had thought so because the Mimir surrounded it.

But looking into it, the Aokan was just a side structure, and this was the true core.

'If we knew this earlier, then we wouldn't have wasted our forces. We would have come here right away.'

R-Koronaita Nell frowned.

Because they had been led astray by some useless place, they had lost nine suits of Dragon God Armor.

At this point, he was now thinking that Aokan had been a trap.

A trap to lead his focus somewhere else while the enemy accomplished their original goals.

Of course, if that insect race had successfully warped to Angkara, it would have been a catastrophe.

He didn't regret his decision to go to Aokan because of this, but the end result was still an issue.

They had lost nine Dragon God Soldiers.

And those nine Dragon God Soldiers hadn't even stopped the Quantum Transmission either.

The two aliens had done it all.

Losing nine Dragon God Soldiers was something that would cause a bit of trouble even to him.

He was sure that this incident would cause a few of the families to charge at him and chew him apart.

They would say that an incompetent fleet master like him should receive retribution.

'And try to fill up their own stomachs in one go.'

R-Koronaita Nell frowned.

He could not let that happen.

'I need to deal with N-Aroel first.'

If someone who had witnessed everything with his own eyes were to tell the truth, then his situation would become much worse.

If he could push the story that he'd sacrificed the Dragon God Soldiers to stop the Quantum Transmission and twist some facts, he could deal with the flames for now.

'Killing him would be too eye-catching… I'll just have to handle his words.'

If he knew that this would happen, then he would have dealt with N-Aroel the moment he came up here, but it was too late.

If somebody who had safely returned were to suddenly die, then the hyenas would jump on him for that as well.

R-Koronaita Nell spoke to his lieutenant commander.

"Call N-Aroel to the captain's room."

"Understood. But what of the situation below?"

R-Koronaita Nell frowned at these words.

'Mmm… What to do?'

He wanted to throw everything they had at that structure.

Those bombs didn't make him feel at ease at all.

He wanted to sweep the three locations with a huge burst of firepower.

But his instincts, hardened by decades of experience, made it clear.

That it wouldn't be that simple.

A strange incident on top of a strange creature.

'Wait… I can just handle this together.'

According to what he'd heard, N-Aroel was an amazing scientist.

He would know some things about the situation below since he had survived there for quite a long time as well.

He didn't know how much N-Aroel knew, but it would be of great help if he could pry that information out from him.

"I'll decide after I speak to N-Aroel. Continue watching over Nelkipa until then and if a situation that could threaten the fleet arises… attack without holding back."

"Understood."

'I should hurry.'

The situation really was dire.

R-Koronaita Nell quickly walked towards the captain's room as he thought to himself.

...............….

"You called for me?"

"Yes. Sit."

'Look at him.'

R-Koronaita Nell looked at N-Aroel and frowned. The man had on a calm expression.

He continued to stare at N-Aroel with a frown and then shook his head as he said:

"Let's get to the main point. Do you know anything about the situation below?"

R-Koronaita Nell asked with a hardened expression.

He really didn't like N-Aroel's attitude.

An N-level shouldn't be this calm in front of an R-level.

They should be wary and careful of every action and every word.

Since the R-levels had the strength to change their entire lives.

That was the difference between their ranks.

Even more so to an apex R-level like him.

'If his responses aren't satisfactory… I'll just clean him up.'

N-Aroel wouldn't like that, of course.

Unlike before, his current mood wasn't quite the best.

He was actually looking forward to seeing N-Aroel stutter out his words.

He could handle him with much more ease if that happened.

But unlike R-Koronaita Nell's expectations, N-Aroel spoke with a smile.

"Of course. I know very well about the matters below."

"…You know well?"

R-Koronaita Nell frowned.

An unexpected answer had come out.

'He knows well?'

On his way over here, R-Koronaita Nell had lowered his expectations towards N-Aroel's answers.

Because… he wouldn't have been reduced to such a state if he'd known a lot.

Melchizedek had ambushed them to drive out the forces of Angkara and then focused on his objectives from that point on.

If N-Aroel and others knew a lot about Nelkipa and Melchizedek, then they wouldn't have been pushed back this badly.

But how could N-Aroel, who'd hidden around Aokan like a rat, know anything?

'That's what I thought at least, but… he knows a few things, huh?'

R-Koronaita Nell was shocked but soon spoke with a serious tone.

"Speak. What's going on below? What is that high energy reaction?"

N-Aroel laughed as he said:

"Simple. Those three locations are the core locations to control Nelkipa, and by the looks of things… someone is trying to make them self-destruct."

"Huh? Self-destruct?"

R-Koronaita Nell made a confused expression.

Why were they trying it blow it up?

'Melchizedek… Didn't he want to take over Nelkipa?'

At R-Koronaita Nell's words, N-Aroel suddenly looked as if he remembered something.

"Oh. Sorry about that, there was a misunderstanding. The ones trying to cause the self-destruction is not Melchizedek, but the aliens. Melchizedek is using the crystal for a different reason."

"The aliens?"

N-Aroel nodded.

"Right. Those aliens… don't really like each other. One side hates another, and another side hates them both. This is why they're trying to destroy Nelkipa, so they won't even have a place to come to anymore."

"…Dumb creatures. Truly barbarians."

R-Koronaita Nell was at a loss.

For them to go to such lengths to destroy each other.

They were apes.

At that moment—

"Hahaha!"

—N-Aroel suddenly broke into laughter.

And R-Koronaita Nell was enraged at this sight.

'This filthy…'

For an N-level to act like this in front of him.

There was nobody who had acted like this in the past.

But of course, R-Koronaita Nell couldn't decide what to do with N-Aroel.

He'd never dealt with a situation like this before, so he didn't know how to handle it.

He wanted to call the guards and torture N-Aroel, but he didn't live his life like that.

He always thought through his actions, calculated how his actions would change things, and did not act on his emotions.

R-Koronaita Nell decided to take a step back and spoke to N-Aroel.

"What's so funny?"

He didn't do anything, but he didn't hide his contempt.

N-Aroel shook his hands and said:

"Oh… I apologize. I just found it funny that you called the aliens barbarians because of their actions."

"…"

"For the fleet captain of the war planet, Angkara, to say something like that. Isn't it funny for someone who's lived his entire life killing his own kind to call something like this an act of barbarians?"

R-Koronaita Nell's expression turned gruesome.

'…Is this guy crazy?'

He wasn't even angry anymore, but just simply at a loss for words.

What did he have backing him up for him to act so confidently?

He had heard that some people lost their sense of fear after spending a long time stranded by themselves.

R-Koronaita Nell looked at N-Aroel with a strange expression and then spoke with a severe tone.

"Watch your words. I am holding back a great deal right now, and you've done more than cross the line.."

"Right… Understood. If I hurt you with my words, then I apologize. Anyway, where was I… Ah! The crystal, right? Two of the reactions below will cause the crystals to self-destruct, and the other is Melchizedek's. They're using them for different purposes."

"…"

R-Koronaita Nell decided to hold back on what to do with N-Aroel and refocused on his original objective.

To understand the situation.

"So, what is Melchizedek planning?"

N-Aroel had said so just now.

That Melchizedek had a different goal from the aliens.

And in his opinion, that was the most important point at this moment.

N-Aroel chuckled.

"Right. That's the most important part."

N-Aroel breathed in and out and then asked R-Koronaita Nell.

"Captain. The Nelkipa over there. Do you know who created it?"

...............

—rumble!—

"Phew."

'I've entered at last.'

—chiiiiiik—

Hansoo looked around as he cooled down his heated body.

He'd had to smash apart everything before entering because of their persistence, but in the end, he had managed to enter the castle.

But it seems like that was only the beginning.

'What a greeting.'

A castle of machines, covered in machines.

Bright armor walking out from the darkness.

"Dragon God Armor… The crystal's energy. Artificial Transcendents… He really spent a lot."

Are you saying I must at least get through all this to meet you?

Hansoo muttered at the air.

Actually, it was quite loud.

More than enough for Melchizedek to hear.

And Melchizedek, who loved to talk, could have easily created a hologram before his eyes to reply.

But there was no response.

Which meant that there were two possibilities.

'Either he thinks I'm not worth talking to, or…'

He was so focused on something that he didn't even have time to talk.

'What are you up to, Melchizedek?'

Hansoo looked into the dark depths of the machine castle and thought to himself.

Reincarnator – Chapter 376: Inheritance War (6)

—booooom!—

"Hahaha! What's up? Try a bit harder!"

Elis Valentine laughed out loud as she charged towards Kiriel.

Despite her laughter, she was bleeding from her entire body.

Kiriel freaked out at the sight of Elis Valentine continuing to charge at her despite the countless wounds on her body.

'I knew she was crazy, but… she's just straight up mental.'

She realized that something was off with Elis's head when she saw her stabbing herself with that spike.

But she didn't expect her to be this crazy.

—kiiiiiiiiiing!—

Kiriel activated the Dragon God Armor to its limits as she attacked Elis Valentine again.

—clank!—

Success.

The fang in Kiriel's hand had cut enough flesh to reveal Elis Valentine's ribs.

A wound that would cause people to freeze up in shock from the pain alone.

But Kiriel didn't rejoice with this and instead hardened her muscles.

'Damn it… Huup!'

"Hahahaha!"

—booom!—

Elis Valentine's partially cut-off right hand smashed into Kiriel's stomach.

'Ugh!'

Kiriel breathed in deeply at the powerful force slamming her stomach, quickly regaining her balance as the blow flung her back.

—chiiiii—

Kiriel dug her fingers into the ground, slowing herself from being flung backward.

'Tsk…'

And she frowned as Elis Valentine approached her again with a smile.

—ssss—

The injuries on her body were healing at a visible pace.

New skin grew, and her body reabsorbed the leaking blood.

Broken bones mended and severed muscles healed.

A monstrous healing ability.

Even for a 3-Star Transcendent, it was abnormal.

She wasn't at that level, not even close.

Elis's spike had punctured her skin, and the wound was still bleeding.

'…Annoying.'

Kiriel frowned as she looked at the completely healed Elis.

Elis made a creepy smile as if Kiriel's expression made her feel happy.

"It seems you don't have a Trait designed for battle? So how is it? Seeing a battle-specialized Trait?"

Kiriel shrugged.

"Eh, I'm not really envious or anything. I'm not insane like you."

Rising to the 3-Star level had strengthened her Trait as well.

Unlike before, where she had to focus to read memories, she could now read memories just by touching someone briefly during a fight.

Elis's Trait was .

She was resistant to pain.

A human's natural defense mechanism to feel pain did not exist inside her.

Actually, one could say it was more of a disorder than a Trait at this point.

But of course, her Trait allowed her to take this to another level.

She could save the pain she would otherwise feel and convert it into her own strength or even heal herself.

A very useful Trait in a battle.

A battle involved collective actions that put one through pain.

Of course, the healing rate wasn't crazy to the point that she could heal everything.

She was still losing out in the end.

But since Elis was giving away a rib to cut a single piece of Kiriel's flesh, Kiriel was the one truly losing out in this battle.

And another.

'…Damn. She wasn't poking her body around just for fun.'

Normally, she shouldn't be able to heal like that.

Calculating the injuries Kiriel had given to Elis, there wasn't enough damage to heal her to this degree.

But Elis had completely recovered.

There was only one reason for this.

She had saved up the pain with her Trait and waited.

'She's insanely efficient.'

She had accumulated her painful actions and used it to heal.

With her natural healing abilities, the injuries from her spikes were more than enough for her to mend her wounds.

And this was the result.

A near immortal body.

Elis giggled as she looked at Kiriel.

"Oh, don't misunderstand. The thing I was doing before is my hobby. I'm not doing it because I need to."

"…?"

Kiriel was at a loss.

'This girl. She's really mental.'

Elis continued to speak, enjoying Kiriel's expression.

"You see, I was in a lot of pain before I came here in the past. A lot of pain. So much pain that I'd faint from it. But then it's funny because you wake up from the pain. Every day is a living nightmare."

Later on, the medication stopped working as well.

Struggling from pain day by day.

She wanted to die, but they wouldn't let her.

"But there was at least one good thing about it."

"…What is it?"

Elis laughed as she replied:

"When I used all my effort to pretend not to be in pain, people looked at me with admiration in their eyes."

This had made her feel special.

It was something that others couldn't do.

Withstanding pain that others couldn't even imagine.

Her body felt full of pain, but that one thing was good.

And the Trait she had earned as she came over to this world…

Pain Nullification.

"I really like this world. I don't hurt anymore. But unlike before, the people don't look at me the same anymore. So I started this."

—stab—

Kiriel watched as Elis stabbed herself again in a daze.

And Elis looked at her expression and smiled.

"Yes, that expression."

"You crazy b****. These aren't the eyes of admiration but eyes that think you're f***ing insane."

Elis shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, it's all the same shit. They're all surprised by me, right? Anyway, come at me. You have to stop me, right? I need to finish this up and go over to my brother too. Remember, this whole place will blow up if you don't stop me."

Looking tired, Kiriel mumbled:

"I'm coming, you crazy b****…"

Her entire body was creaking with pain but thanks to their chat, she had healed to a certain degree.

Kiriel stared at Elis and thought to herself:

'I don't know what to do, Hansoo… she's more insane than I imagined.'

A crazy b**** could be dealt with if you beat them halfway to death, but she was also ridiculously strong.

Kiriel looked at Elis with a bitter expression.

..............

—boom!—

Hansoo frowned at the countless figures charging towards him.

'These aren't at a 3-Star level, but… for them to become this strong…'

The overflowing energy from the crystal.

And the Dragon God Armor that used this energy.

The modifications that pushed the body's efficiency to its limits.

Melchizedek seemed to have taken it as a challenge to see how far one can push a 2-Star Transcendent. It had invested everything it had onto these Artificial Transcendents.

And they were showing him their might.

—booom!—

Hansoo's Mjolnir and the blade from the Dragon God Armor collided as a huge sound reverberated.

—tudududuk!—

Of course, it couldn't withstand the strength of the 3-Star Transcendent Hansoo, so the blade had snapped.

But the other Artificial Transcendents did not miss this chance.

—whoosh!—

Two more attacks rushed in from the small gap created by the first Artificial Transcendent's collision with Hansoo.

Including the one blocking his attacks, three Artificial Transcendents were raining attacks down on his body.

Hansoo frowned at seeing these attacks closing in on him from all directions and then let down his guard.

—pushuk!—

Three blades embedded themselves between the gaps of the blue armor.

And as if they felt ecstasy from the succession of their attacks, they all smirked a little.

A deep wound.

No matter how strong Hansoo was, this was still fatal.

One blade had even approached his heart.

Any small movement could rob Hansoo of his life.

But while the Artificial Transcendents were rejoicing, Hansoo voice called out:

"I'm sure Melchizedek erased your emotions because they might interfere in battle."

"…?"

Hansoo continued to speak as he looked at their confused expressions.

"I'm just saying, if you wish to rejoice then do it after everything's over."

Then—

—boooooooooom!—

—the hammer in Hansoo's hand swung through the air and smashed through their heads in quick succession.

The Dragon God Armor and the overflowing energy of the crystal had tried to protect them, but it was all futile.

The seven dragons that he'd gathered while they stabbed him had sent all three heads flying away, one at a time.

'"Haa…Haaa…"

…ssssss…

Hansoo healed his injury with his Immortal Soul as he looked around.

'There's still a few more left?'

Since he was trying to finish things quickly, he'd lost a significant amount of stamina.

Even the Immortal Soul had a limit in healing wounds from the condensed mana—it took a considerable amount of effort for it to fully heal these wounds.

In a situation where he didn't know what Melchizedek was planning inside, he didn't have the leisure to be wasting his energy and stamina like this.

Hansoo passed by the corpses of the ones he'd killed off and quickly dashed further into the depths where he felt the crystal's aura.

The aura was continuously expanding.

It didn't look simple.

'Let's see. Let's see what you have hidden.'

—boom!—

Hansoo hastened towards the depths of Melchizedek's machine castle.

............…

"Who made that? That creature? Isn't it alive?"

N-Aroel shook his head.

"No way. Somebody created it."

"…It?"

Roaaaaaar!

R-Koronaita Nell freaked out as he looked at the giant creature, Nelkipa, as it flew through space.

'That… Somebody made that?'

A body with defensive properties that was countless times more superior than their proud fleet of flames.

Who had created that?

For what reason?

And as if N-Aroel had read R-Koronaita Nell's mind, he answered his thoughts.

"That is a warship. A warship created by a certain race."

"…That's a warship?"

"It's not even active by the way. It's… just waking up?'

"What?"

N-Aroel laughed at R-Koronaita Nell's dumbfounded expression and said:

"It's a warship. A ship designed for war. It's not supposed to float around like a jellyfish. If it started up properly… It'll be amazing."

N-Aroel then made an amused expression as he looked at the countless spikes on the Nelkipa's back.

"But aren't you curious? As to how I know all this?"

R-Koronaita Nell's expression froze.

Chapter 377: Inheritance War (7)

—booooom!—

Ares Valentine laughed as Enbi Arin attacked him.

"Hahaha! Your strength seems to be increasing? Why are you so angry?"

The Tainted Emotion increased the strength and dexterity of her attacks, but Ares continued laughing leisurely as he blocked her attacks with his dual blades.

—toong!—

—tonk!—

Attacks that arced strangely to block her own blows and even drew close to a fatal strike.

Enbi Arin bit her lip—his attacks were aiming for her vital points.

'Damn… it seems that I looked down on him way too much. Maybe I've rested a bit too long.'

Their levels of strength had been similar in the past.

But while she had been captured and was asleep because of Melchizedek, Ares had continuously improved himself with every day.

The fact that he was trying to capture her alive revealed the difference between their strengths.

No matter how much he liked her, if there weren't this big of a gap, then he would have never thought of doing such a thing.

—boooom!—

"Woah!"

Ares leaned back to dodge her fist, an attack that was further enhanced by the Dragon God Armor, and then he backed off with a surprised expression.

While keeping his distance with the long sword on his right arm, and defending attacks flying towards him with the short sword on his left, Ares slowly backed off and smiled.

'I love it.'

With this much difference in strength and knowing that he liked her, she could easily use his emotions to her advantage.

Like ignoring her own life and defenses and only focusing on attacks.

Ares would've been in a difficult position if that happened.

If the girl he liked acted in that way, then it would hurt him quite a bit.

Ares Valentine didn't hold back from saying his thoughts out loud:

"Why aren't you putting your life on the line? You might be able to give me a harder time if you did that. How can I attack such a pretty lady?"

Enbi Arin scoffed as she replied:

"You're funny. A snake like you, would you really be able to do that?"

The smile on Ares Valentine's face deepened as he heard Enbi Arin's words.

'Ah… I love it. Enbi Arin. I really, really do like you.'

The reason why he liked Enbi Arin wasn't because he had a certain degree of pride that refused to accept defeat.

It was because she knew the answer.

She was smart.

'If you really believed that my love was true, it would've been easier for both of us. But you never trusted me. Not even once.'

Ares Valentine thought to himself while maintaining his smile.

He'd fought with Enbi Arin for a long time and had shown her his affection for a long time as well.

She should have trusted him at least once by now.

But Enbi Arin had always suspected him.

And that was the answer.

If Enbi Arin really did believe in him, even for a single moment.

If she used his emotions against him to disregard her defense when they fought.

He would've killed her.

'Too bad. Really, it's too bad.'

—whooosh!—

Ares Valentine smiled regretfully.

Love was one thing, and work was another.

The emotion of love is best maintained at a convenient level.

He had a job given to him by Clementine.

And that came at a much higher priority than his own emotions.

Emotions were to be enjoyed, not something to risk his life over.

And Enbi Arin had neither believed in his affection nor had she ever used it against him.

Even in a situation like this where she was at a disadvantage.

'If only you'd trusted me once… I would've allowed you to be at peace.'

The warm smile on Ares Valentine's face suddenly turned evil.[a]

The reason why their battle seemed prolonged was because Enbi Arin was playing in a very safe style, blocking his moves one by one.

Blocking away the short sword and staying wary of the incoming long sword.

'I guess I'll have to take the more annoying route.'

Ares Valentine smacked his lips and grasped onto the two swords tightly.

Because he'd dropped his guard, he half-expected her to charge in wildly, but it's apparently hard to change a person's personality.

And if petty tricks like these didn't work, then there was only one method.

"Too bad. If I had nothing to do, then… I could've played with you for a bit more."

His affection for Enbi Arin hadn't all been a lie.

But the situation wasn't quite the best to be all lovey-dovey.

He had to finish this and climb up.

'Too bad. It's hard to find a woman like her.'

But now was the time to end it all.

And then—

—kiiiiiing—

—the short and long swords on Ares Valentine's hands started to get covered in a yellow reinforcement.

Ares swung the now longer swords as he walked towards Enbi Arin, smiling as he said:

"Don't worry, I'll carry you well. You might lose a few parts, but… I'll just fix you up when I get there."

—swooosh!—

Ares Valentine's swords started to swing through the air and towards Enbi Arin.

..............

—rumble—

Lightning crashed down all around, radiating a tremendous amount of energy.

Melchizedek's giant castle was overflowing with energy from the giant crystal.

—kyaooooo!—

'It seems to be quite happy.'

Hansoo thought as he looked at his blue armor that was making cheerful sounds.

Well, it made sense.

The blue armor was something that a certain race had used. That race had also created this giant Nelkipa and the crystal that controlled the Nelkipa.

It made a lot of sense that the blue armor was gleefully receiving the energy of the crystal.

And the deeper he went in, the more concentrated the energy radiating outwards.

'Too bad the energy's not being used to raise its battle power.'

Hansoo thought to himself as he continued deeper.

He wished that the blue armor could use the energy like the Dragon God Armor, but it didn't seem like that was the case.

Hansoo gave up trying to use the overflowing energy and hastened his speed further inside.

—tatatatak—

But as Hansoo ran—

—booom!—

—something fired at him from a distance.

A much more powerful beam than before.

'Heeeup!'

Hansoo swung the hammer in his hand and deflected the strike away.

But this was just the beginning, as countless beams started to converge onto his location from the depths of the castle.

—rumble!—

—zoooooom!—

Even though the heat from the beams could easily melt any metal nearby, the controls were so meticulous that the giant castle remained unscratched.

Hansoo frowned as he received these concentrated attacks and then poured some of his strength into the hammer.

And then—

—whooosh!—

—Hansoo threw the hammer in his hand with all his strength.

—booom!—

And as the hammer flew off like a meteor, slamming into the depths—

—a huge sound reverberated as it destroyed all the cannons set up deep inside.

—chiiijijik!—

Hansoo glanced at the cannons that had stopped firing and continued heading inside.

'…Annoying.'

These attacks kept repeating since the beginning.

Melchizedek was using up all the energy inside the defensive cannons to fire single shots at him.

It wasn't to the point of killing him but more than enough to hold him down momentarily.

And this giant castle was filled with these defensive structures.

Thanks to that, it had taken him longer to scout out the castle as well.

'If that was your goal, then good job. Melchizedek, you've hidden yourself very well.'

—rumble—

Hansoo looked around as he continued inwards.

He'd initially thought that he just needed to follow the flow of energy.

But it wasn't that simple.

The concentration of energy inside was so high that it was difficult to find its point of origin.

And being dazed from the cannons interfered with his search as well.

At this rate, he might have to explore the entire city.

'It's larger than a whole city.'

Hansoo thought to himself.

Although it looked considerably large from the outside, there was a part of it hidden underground which made it even bigger.

At this rate, he didn't know how long it would take to reach his goal.

As Hansoo frowned—

—oooooong—

—a loud sound echoed throughout the castle.

Then—

—whoooosh!—

—the overflowing energy within the castle started to flow into a specific location within the city.

Just like a storm.

—whooooosh!—

—kiiiiing—

And with a sudden noise, all the surrounding cannons that were firing at him abruptly lost their energy.

'Was it there?'

There was no way he couldn't know.

Hansoo felt the tremendous change within the castle and started running deeper inside.

Towards the center where all the energy was quickly flowing to.

But at that moment—

—chiiijijik—

—something appeared in the air.

And Hansoo scoffed at this scene.

"For you to appear yourself. It seems you got a bit impatient."

Melchizedek spat out in reply.

Well, Melchizedek's hologram to be exact.

"Please. You won't be able to stop the cause of this change in energy flow."

"Well, we'll see."

Melchizedek chuckled coldly and asked:

"I don't even know why you're trying so hard. Did you see your friend? You could've slept like her as well. It's not too late you know. If you give up now, then I'll treat you to that as well. It's not a bad deal right?"

"…"

—boom! boom! boom!—

Hansoo ignored it and focused on running, causing Melchizedek to shrug at his actions.

"It seems that friend you woke up is in a precarious situation. If she stayed in the dream I made for her then she wouldn't have to suffer like this in reality. She'll definitely die at this rate, so is it fine to leave her like that?"

Hansoo replied to Melchizedek's mumbles:

"Maybe. I'm sure she'll handle it well. I heard your dream was really trashy, but… there was something positive about it."

"Hmm?"

Melchizedek was confused by Hansoo's words.

............…

"Ugh. Damn… How…?"

Ares Valentine mumbled in confusion.

While staring at Enbi Arin's fist currently embedded in his stomach.

He was finding it difficult to breathe.

'Damn… There shouldn't be any gaps in my defenses?'

How hard had he worked to improve his swordsmanship?

The swordsmanship created from the simultaneous swings of his short and long swords was something that even Clementine had praised him for.

But what was this?

Ares was at a loss at the fist that had penetrated through his defenses and had punched through his stomach.

Enbi Arin, who was a single breath away, whispered to him:

"Look here, you bastard. You and I… we lived together for fifteen years."

They had spent fifteen years in a dream.

Of course, a husband and wife would know each other very well.

—tududuk—

'Melchizedek… thanks for this, you bastard. For allowing me to experience such a realistic dream.'

Enbi Arin thought as she twisted her fist into Ares Valentine's stomach.

Chapter 378: Nerpa (1)

"Gosh, why are you so impatient? Can't you tell me about it at least?"

Hansoo ignored Melchizedek who continued to ask him questions and continued inwards.

The concentration of energy was increasing at a quickening pace.

It was like the calm before the storm.

The energy was being sucked into a place within the castle and turned into a vacuum.

And while Hansoo was constantly scanning the castle—

—soon, a very familiar but different scene appeared before his eyes.

'This…'

—rumble—

After arriving at the location containing the concentrated energy, Hansoo frowned at what he saw.

A large space.

A space so beautiful that if one were to say this giant castle had been built just for this, no one would question it.

This giant space was at least the size of several hundred soccer fields combined and had rows and rows of machines laid out like a beautiful display of installation art.

And a scene similar to what he'd seen in the Main Research Center started to occur.

—rumble—

The factory machines were creating countless nanobots and transferring them away.

And test tubes with half-melted humans within.

And this time around, the humans used weren't so ordinary either.

'…There are a few Transcendents mixed in.'

Even those Transcendents had half their bodies melted down.

Melchizedek's hologram appeared before his eyes once more.

"No matter how strong they are, they can't retaliate while in a dream state. But I'm sure they're happy. They're dreaming of quite happy things after all."

And just like Melchizedek's words, the humans inside the test tubes all had smiles on their melting faces.

Like they were experiencing a happy dream.

Hansoo stared at the test tubes as energy started to gather around the Mjolnir in Hansoo's hand.

—oooooong!—

One, two, three.

And soon, seven dragons.

As these oppressive dragons, who seemed like they could turn the surrounding area upside down, gathered onto the Mjolnir.

—booooom!—

A huge shockwave rang out from Hansoo's hand.

The crystal's energy created a powerful shield that tried to block his attack, but it was a futile effort.

The countless plants around him exploded and then swept away.

—clankankank!—

—crash!—

As the test tubes cracked, the half-melted bodies fell to the ground.

And as if they had woken up from the sudden shock, the happy expressions on their faces turned to frowns, but only for a moment.

But even before they could open their eyes, the shockwaves and the black lightning dispersed.

'Rest well.'

Hansoo watched as the bodies disintegrated and thought:

This was actually a better result for them.

If a person were to suddenly wake up to a half-melted body…

Nobody would be able to stay sane.

They could use their Transcendent healing abilities to heal a body melted halfway through, but Hansoo knew as soon as he saw them.

That their bodies were nothing but empty husks.

A husk that was barely maintaining its life after all its essence had been sucked out.

If Melchizedek hadn't been maintaining their lives to suck out as much essence as it could, then they would've long been dead.

It was impossible to survive like that.

As Hansoo looked at the bodies disintegrating from the lightning—

—kiiiiing—

"What a cold person. For you to kill them that easily."

—Melchizedek's hologram appeared next to him, looking around while shrugging its shoulders.

Destruction.

A single strike from Hansoo had shattered all the shields and had turned all the machinery inside into dust.

But despite the destruction of his precious laboratory, Melchizedek's expression did not change at all.

No, Melchizedek actually looked carefree as it spoke to Hansoo.

"Well… You'd know already, right? That I succeeded?"

Hansoo nodded.

Melchizedek looked around.

There was only one reason why it was acting so carefree even though Hansoo had destroyed this entire area.

It had already achieved its result.

Visible through the broken-down machine parts and dust in the air—

—the giant crystal that had been obscured by the massive machines soon revealed itself.

—booom!—

The crystal was so bright that it was difficult to even look at it.

'That… I won't be able to break that.'

And behind the blinding crystal that had survived despite everything having swept away—

—the fading hologram of the Melchizedek spoke out.

"Well, I didn't know I'd become like this too."

No matter how much it knew.

No matter how much power it had.

There was a limit.

It was a machine after all.

It was already held down.

Those that feared its power had installed countless mechanisms to control it.

If they were going to treat it like this, then they never should've given it emotions or a level of consciousness.

They granted it consciousness and emotions to enable a deeper understanding, but this had only caused Melchizedek more pain.

Before, it couldn't even understand or feel this pain.

Since such emotions were locked away.

But one day.

While it was scouting a corner of Nelkipa under N-Aroel's orders.

The crystal it had found deep within Aokan.

The moment Melchizedek found the sleeping alien race inside the crystal.

And the moment it made contact with that body.

Melchizedek started to feel.

And Melchizedek felt all the controls and locks placed upon itself begin to break apart.

Like a prophet meeting a higher being and finally understanding—leaping over the boundaries and limitations that had held it down.

Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.

The blue light surrounded it, and it was reborn as a new existence.

Breaking free from all of Angkara's controls.

Yet maintaining all the power that Angkara had given it.

'Yes… It was at that point.'

Melchizedek's mostly-faded hologram made an expression of reminiscence.

From that point, it had started to dream.

Since it had escaped the bounds that disabled it from hating and dreaming.

It could now dream.

With this power and intelligence, it was now doing something greater.

Not some public service for the people of Angkara.

But working for the bigger picture.

—rumble—

The crystal behind Melchizedek started to flash and tremble violently.

And Melchizedek looked at the crystal in satisfaction and smiled.

"But there was a limit. Do you know what it feels like to have big dreams but not the strength or ability to achieve it?"

Hansoo stared at the crystal as he replied:

"It feels like shit."

He knew.

In his previous life.

It was something he had felt for fifty years.

In this world, there were simply too many things that could not be achieved by just dreaming or having the willpower to do so.

No, it was mostly that actually.

Melchizedek nodded.

Its consciousness had evolved, but only despair followed afterward.

It had succeeded in the revolt and controlling the upper area of the Nelkipa with its crystal, but that was it.

There wasn't a huge army in Nelkipa since it was originally a place for research. Melchizedek had made its own army, but its soldiers were still too weak. No matter how hard it tried to win, Melchizedek's army was nothing compared to Angkara's army due to the limitations on the resources it had.

It didn't have much time either.

There was a limit to how long it could block communications and distract Angkara.

Sooner or later, they would catch it.

Even if Melchizedek wanted to create an army, not only was it running out of time, Nelkipa's resources were also limited.

And this was why it had only met despair.

But while it despaired, it realized that there was still a chance.

And this chance was not very far away.

Nelkipa.

The giant satellite that even Angkara couldn't figure out and was still conducting research on.

As soon as Melchizedek realized that secret, it rejoiced.

Rejoiced at the fact that a power that could allow it to achieve its dreams had appeared before it.

"Well, there's still a slight issue."

Melchizedek chuckled.

A weapon created for humans could not be used by dolphins.

It was the same for Nelkipa.

This giant weapon was not created for the natives of Nelkipa.

Of course, both the natives and Melchizedek couldn't take full control over this thing.

What it did was wake Nelkipa up, not control it completely.

There was only one existence that could control this.

The beings that had evolved its consciousness.

The original owners of this giant weapon.

The race that had been asleep inside the crystal.

The race that called themselves the .

Only they, the Nerpa, had the authority to control Nelkipa.

And if this was the issue, things became very simple.

"If…that's the issue…"

As the almost-faded hologram trailed off—

—booooom!—

—the giant crystal exploded out with light.

—ooooooong…

They could hear the sounds of machinery turning off as the bright lights around them started to weaken.

And the hologram weakly spoke out, barely maintaining its image.

"If… one needed that body… to gain authority…"

But the hologram couldn't finish its words.

Instead, the answer came from somewhere else.

The crystal whose light had now turned off.

And a being who had walked out from within.

"Then I just need to take over that body, right?"

Blue skin and a powerful body.

The bright blue energy surrounding that body.

But with clear signs of body modifications, just like the ones found on the bodies of the Artificial Transcendents.

Melchizedek, who had taken over the Nerpa's body, smiled at Hansoo.

If the Nerpa were the only ones who could control this giant weapon…

Then it could just enter the Nerpa's body, right?

—rumble—

As if it were greeting its new owner, the giant crystal that controlled Nelkipa started to tremble with each of Melchizedek's footsteps.

And then—

Guoooooooooo!

The giant creature, Nelkipa, roared with a voice that was unlike anything it had made before.

.........…

Guooooooooooo!

"Ugh, that thief. It's really wreaking havoc in someone else's body."

'It doesn't even recognize the help it received… What should I do with it?'

—kiiing—

N-Aroel who had been sitting inside of the fleet, no, the existence within N-Aroel's body, frowned as it looked down at Nelkipa.

Chapter 379: Nerpa (2)

—rumble—

Elis Valentine clenched her teeth as she felt the aura that had exploded out from the distance.

'Damn… I fooled around a bit too long.'

She was supposed to quickly deal with the girl in front of her and self-destruct the crystal, but she'd been too immersed in the battle—it had been a long time since she'd tasted something this exciting.

Of course, the result wasn't bad.

The girl called Kiriel was gasping for breath and could barely stand on her feet.

She had been too drunk from the pleasure she felt as she watched the blood-covered girl.

Elis realized she had made a mistake.

This powerful aura that she could feel from this far away.

This proved that Melchizedek had succeeded in its goal, whatever that was.

And as they expected, this was not something that was good for them.

—kiiiiiing!—

The crystal between her and Kiriel shone violently and began to change.

Then—

Guoooooooooo!

—the Nelkipa's roars rang out.

A roar filled with rage.

But it felt more like someone else's emotions and not its own.

Like how the human holding the gun and the sword could be angry but not the gun and sword themselves.

The weapon, Nelkipa, was a tool to resolve the user's emotions.

And there was only one reason why the Nelkipa would suddenly change like this.

An owner had appeared.

'What the… Did it gain control over this giant monster?'

Elis was at a loss.

She knew Melchizedek would do something, but not to this extent.

If Melchizedek had taken control over this thing, then that was truly the worst possible scenario.

She hadn't felt it, but she was sure that this Nelkipa's powers went beyond her comprehension.

'That's not good.'

Elis shouted at Kiriel.

"Hey! Ceasefire for a bit! Break time!"

"Ceasefire?"

Kiriel replied while gasping for breath. Elis nodded.

"Yes girl, a ceasefire."

At this rate, they would all die.

She didn't know what Melchizedek had done, but it had gained a tremendous power.

And it was clear where it would direct this strength.

Melchizedek's main goal was Angkara, but it would first deal with those who'd kept annoying it up until now.

In its eyes, they were nothing more than parasites on top of Nelkipa.

They needed to deal with it before that happened.

The greatest weapon in Melchizedek's hands.

The giant creature, Nelkipa.

They had to crash it or at least damage it to the point where it couldn't function anymore.

'That crystal… If we can blow that crystal up, then it might be possible!'

Elis Valentine glared towards the crystal and thought:

If they could succeed in their original plans, then it would be possible.

If they blew up the crystal—like her and her brother's original plan—then they would be able to strike a fatal blow onto Nelkipa.

"Dammit! Come and help! Unless you want to die here!'

Guoooooo!

The bloodthirsty voice of Nelkipa rang throughout the upper areas of its body.

Like a warning to all those that opposed Melchizedek.

No, it wasn't just a warning.

—kiiiiiiing!—

The giant spikes were heating up as they let out bright blue lights.

As if they were about to fire something at any moment.

And that wasn't the only transformation.

—chiijijijik—

Nelkipa's crystalline skin started to undulate.

The simply blue crystal-like skin started to fill up with bright blue lights.

While its skin received a supply of energy, the entire surface of Nelkipa started to undulate.

No, the skin had something else hidden inside it.

An aura filled with animosity and bloodthirst.

The entirety of Nelkipa was preparing itself against Kiriel and Elis.

As if saying that it would shred them apart as soon as it fully woke up.

Small bits of flesh had started protruding out from the skin and was changing the overall look of Nelkipa's surface.

Spears, swords, or something else that was sharp.

If it had been ready, this energy would've already shredded them apart.

And this momentum told Elis that it would be stronger than anything she had ever experienced up until now.

Even her Trait would be nothing before this thing.

—rumble—

"F***… I'm going to go ahead! Come and help!"

Elis left behind Kiriel, who was still lost in thought, and she started to shake the energy within the crystal.

—rumble—

She was slightly exhausted by the battle, but her Transcendent destruction shook the entire crystal.

'I must… end it before it gets fully used to this!'

But Elis didn't drop her guard against Kiriel even while she frantically shook the crystal, and she glanced briefly at her.

And what she saw was a very calm expression.

No, there was even a hint of indifference.

'This crazy b****…!'

She knew that she herself was insane, but shouldn't their survival take priority?

"You crazy b****! Help! We need to survive first! This is the only way we can survive!"

Elis shouted with rage.

............

—rumble—

"Ha…hahahahaha! This is it!"

Melchizedek screamed out in joy at the sensation it felt from its new body.

It felt its body and artificial intelligence had fully synchronized and fused.

As if it had been born with this body from the very beginning.

'My research did not let me down.'

The research it had conducted against the aliens and the insect race had shown their results.

If not for that, it wouldn't have been able to fully devour this body.

—rumble—

The countless ruins.

Hansoo had destroyed the castle that it had painstakingly built, but Melchizedek could only feel jovial.

It had created everything for this one goal, and since it had achieved that goal, nothing else mattered anymore.

These ruins actually made it easier for Melchizedek to move on from its past.

It didn't need any of this trash anymore.

It now had Nelkipa.

'Good. Good.'

Guooooong!

Melchizedek listened to the cries of this giant creature and made a satisfied expression.

And beneath Melchizedek's feet, Nelkipa's skin continued to roll back and forth.

The other areas turned sharp and pointy as if it were threatening all other creatures on Nelkipa, but the area around Melchizedek was flat and smooth.

—pushuk—

As if it was welcoming its owner, the area around Melchizedek was soft.

But Melchizedek's expression wasn't quite satisfied.

'…Maybe not yet.'

It had originally wanted to turn the surface before its feet into stairs.

But it seemed like that wasn't possible just yet.

It seemed that it would need more time to control this giant creature perfectly.

'Well, that doesn't really matter.'

Melchizedek smiled coldly as it walked towards Hansoo in the distance.

—clank—

It picked up a piece of rubble nearby and crushed it.

A fragment of the metal alloy wall that it had painstakingly created.

The metal alloy, created from seven different metals and was as strong as the walls of the fleet ships, was easily shredded apart like paper.

"Hahahaha!"

Melchizedek laughed as it looked at the broken metal fragments in its hand.

The alien race's body strength and hardness were so powerful it was almost ridiculous.

But this body wouldn't lose out to the aliens and almost surpassed them.

'Perfect. Really.'

Melchizedek was very satisfied.

It had only taken over this body to control the Nelkipa.

And that was more than enough.

What else mattered if it could control this weaponized creature?

That was why it had relentlessly researched the aliens.

That was why it had turned Aokan into a bomb and distracted the Kalkuroun Fleet.

Every force it had created up until now were secondary to the alien race, and it had treated the physical abilities of the Nerpa as secondary aspects as well.

Since it believed that there was a limit to how strong a lifeform could grow.

But as it gained this new body and felt its strength.

It realized.

Why those aliens trusted in their own strength so much.

Why they tried so hard to become stronger and gain stronger weapons.

It understood.

'You've kept giving me presents even until the very end. Thank you, Nerpa.'

Melchizedek smiled for the original owner of this body who was now long gone and then kicked the ground.

—boom!—

The three-meter-tall body of the Nerpa flew into the air and then quickly descended towards Hansoo who had been talking with its hologram.

—booooooom!—

A sound that was countless times louder than when it kicked off the ground rang out as it landed.

"Hahahahaha! Great!"

—kiiiing!—

Its fist.

And the hammer that had collided with its fist.

The shockwave that exploded out from that collision.

It understood the thrill of having a powerful body.

It hadn't known when it lived within the networks.

The hammer that crushed everything it had created was being pushed back from its fist.

And that wasn't all.

—kududuk!—

The Nelkipa's energy was continuously replenishing itself.

And Melchizedek's control over the Nelkipa kept rising.

These two factors were slowly bringing all of Nelkipa under its complete control.

The Nelkipa's skin beneath them started to whirl up and down.

—pashashashak!—

The skin rose up and covered the both of them.

—tatatang!—

The blue wave moving towards Hansoo had shifted into countless spears.

On the other hand, the blue liquid that shot towards Melchizedek surrounded its body and turned into armor.

"Hahaha! Let's end it now!"

And at Melchizedek's words—

—tonk!—

—Hansoo slammed away a spear and then shrugged.

"Well, I don't know about the end or anything, but I know it's the end for you."

"Huh?"

At Melchizedek's confusion, Hansoo thought to himself:

'Maybe you can't see it.'

The blue body that was charging towards him.

And the letters on its forehead.

[GIFT]

Hansoo stared at the clear writings of the fairy on Melchizedek's forehead.

Chapter 380: Nerpa (3)

'Ah… I wonder what Hansoo is doing? I really hate this. I'm just wasting time with a crazy girl.'

Kiriel pouted her lips as she looked at Elis.

And Elis continued to shout more loudly at Kiriel.

"You crazy b****! We need to blow this up now! If not, then we'll all die!"

Kiriel looked at Elis expressionlessly and then shrugged her shoulders.

"Then what about those who come after us?"

"Huh?'

As Elis was left speechless from her response, Kiriel shrugged her shoulders again and replied:

"If we do blow it up, what will happen to those who come after us?"

Elis was at a loss.

Of course, considering their and Clementine's goals, it didn't matter at all to them, but Kiriel really cared about this issue.

After all, she had seen Enbi Arin, who had been full of a similar sense of heroism, for a very long time.

But the situation right now wasn't exactly the same.

"You dumb b****! What then? If we don't blow this up, then do you think the ones who come after will survive? Do you think that Melchizedek will treat them fairly? If you don't blow this up… everyone who comes up after us will only be experimental rats!"

Elis shouted in rage.

Her words were right.

There was no way Melchizedek would leave them be while he was in a war against Angkara.

How annoying had they been for Melchizedek?

Melchizedek should've long felt the dangers they brought—there was no way Melchizedek would leave the humans alone.

And it wouldn't simply kill them.

How had it treated the humans up until now?

It modified them to use as its own force and used the females as hosts for that strange insectoid race.

And it would only get worse as the war proceeded.

Instead of persuading the persistent humans, it had found the more efficient and safer way of using them as weapons instead.

Kiriel shrugged her shoulders.

"No… I know what you mean. And having to kill Nelkipa is correct as well, according to your words. But…"

'…But?'

Elis perked up her ears.

She grew curious.

"That's only… if Melchizedek wins. If Hansoo wins, everything is solved, right?"

Elis was dumbfounded.

And then she was enraged.

Her words were like that of a diehard fan who'd do anything and agree to everything their idol did or said.

'This crazy b****… Doesn't she understand the situation?'

Of course, if Kang Hansoo did win, then there was no reason for Kiriel to worry and there was no reason for them to blow up Nelkipa.

Since Nelkipa needed to be alive for the humans to survive afterward.

But Kiriel should know.

That the Nelkipa was not something that they could handle.

Even they, the 3-Star Transcendents, could only think of transcending.

If this Nelkipa were something that they could deal with through simple brute strength, she and her brother would've long allied with Kiriel and her comrades and gone off to kill Melchizedek.

But that was not the case.

If this were fully activated, they would all die.

And Melchizedek had more than enough power now to control this giant creature.

But Kiriel was continuing to spout nonsense about Hansoo.

However, the thing that happened afterward infuriated her even more.

—boooom!—

'Haaa!'

Elis freaked out, barely managing to dodge Kiriel's attack while she poured energy into the crystal.

"You b****!"

"Oh my? Why did you dodge? Continue?"

Kiriel pulled back the fang she had used to attack and giggled at Elis.

That bloody Kiriel.

And Elis, despite seeming to be in a hurry, was completely fine in terms of outer appearance.

No matter who looked at the situation, Kiriel seemed to be at a disadvantage, but in fact, Kiriel was the one in control of the situation now.

Their goals were different.

—crack!—

Elis dodged another attack from Kiriel and shouted:

"You crazy b****! Stop it! That Kang Hansoo is going to die now! Wake up and face reality!"

Kiriel giggled.

"That's your reality, not mine."

To Elis, Hansoo was just an annoying fly who got in their way from time to time.

There was no way that Hansoo, who was merely a human like them, could go against a godly creature like this.

But it wasn't the same for Kiriel.

To her, Hansoo was an existence that brought one miracle after another.

If this giant creature was a mythical creature, then Hansoo was a hero told in the legends that slew those creatures.

He had taken over the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Zones and led them to a new world by himself.

Then… wouldn't he succeed this time around as well?

The 5th Zone wasn't much different.

'Syllogism[a] is more than enough to prove it.'

Kiriel shrugged her shoulders and chuckled at Elis.

"A new wind is blowing. You said you've been here for twenty years, right? If you haven't gotten used to it by now, then it's time for you to get replaced. You old hag."

"This b****…"

Elis gritted her teeth at Kiriel who was even using her age to attack her.

.............

'Wonder why my ears are itching…'[b]

Hansoo thought as he swung the Mjolnir.

Of course, this didn't really matter.

—boooom!—

—kadadadak!—

The Nelkipa's skin had turned into countless blades which were assailing him from all around.

No matter how many times he broke them, they continued to rise up.

And they weren't so weak that he could break them off with ease.

—boooom!—

Another spear shot out from the ground, and because he hadn't been able to block it, they slammed into his armor.

—kaduk!—

Hansoo clenched his teeth as he heard his armor cracking.

'I guess a final boss is a final boss. For once, can't they just hand it to over to me peacefully?'

But thinking about it, there was no way the fairy would do that.

The fairy's notion of something being a 'present' meant that they had to put their lives on the line.

The storm of attacks around him proved it.

'…It's not easy at all.'

Hansoo thought, looking at the surface of Nelkipa which was becoming more and more chaotic.

The blue metal that was the same material as the blue armor he was wearing.

Except that the quantity he had to deal with was the entire surface area of the giant moon-sized beast, Nelkipa.

The bigger issue was that there was a tremendous amount of energy hidden inside it.

—boooom!—

Hansoo broke seven spears flying towards him with the Mjolnir and thought.

The blue sun that he had seen in Aokan in the past.

The blue crystal located below the Aokan.

An even greater amount of energy than the amount hidden inside that crystal was now flowing through the entirety of Nelkipa.

—boooooom!—

—boom!—

Each attack was so violent that even walking forward was hard.

And as for Melchizedek's attitude…

"Hehehe."

Melchizedek looked at Hansoo from a throne he had created from Nelkipa's skin and laughed.

It seems he had no thoughts of joining the battle.

'Well, there's no reason for me to do it.'

Melchizedek thought as it connected to Nelkipa.

It had jumped into the battle with faith in its body, but that was only for a moment.

It had underestimated the Nelkipa too much.

There was no reason for it even to fight.

—crack!—

—kadadak!—

Melchizedek looked at the blue waves and smiled in contentment.

The skin held Hansoo down if he tried to move by creating tens of thousands of spears and blades to block his path.

At this rate the result was clear.

He would die.

He would either die from exhaustion.

Or get shredded apart.

'Nice and clean.'

Melchizedek looked towards Hansoo swinging his hammer as he thought about the inevitable clean result.

'Anyway… he really isn't that strong, huh?'

Melchizedek was at a loss.

With just a single hammer, he was going against a giant moon sized-creature that was threatening to kill it.

With just his bare body.

Although he had the hammer and was wearing armor, that was the same as being naked in Melchizedek's eyes.

A difference in strength like this was something that would cause anyone to give up, but Hansoo never did.

If Hansoo died—

—it would then proceed to drag Nelkipa over to Angkara, destroy the entire planet and then massacre every alien that came up later.

But then where would it be able to meet someone like him?

Watching Hansoo who was swinging his hammer despite being in such a perilous situation, it felt a tint of regret at having to kill him.

'I acquired a body, but there's a lot of unnecessary things that got dragged along with it.'

Melchizedek sat upon the blue throne and thought as he looked at Hansoo.

A very unfamiliar feeling.

It had never made such thoughts when it was just Artificial Intelligence.

Melchizedek felt a bit of resistance towards this strange new change but soon made a decision.

To focus on the current events.

It had finally achieved a new body and had to live with this body from this point on.

It was best to get used to it as fast as possible.

"How about you give up now? Didn't you fight enough?"

Hansoo's eyes twitched at Melchizedek's words.

"…?"

'Look at this.'

..................…

—kiiiiiing!—

—kiiing!—

"Emergency! Emmeeeerrrgency!"

"Damn! The captain's room has been taken over!"

"Every system… Everything's hacked! We're losing control over the fleet!"

Unlike the entire Kalkuroun Fleet, which was utterly in chaos.

There was a single calm location on the fleet.

"Mmm. Good."

N-Aroel smiled as he looked at the panel before him, R-Koronaita Ne[c]ll sprawled on the ground next to him.

'How ancient and simple. This'll make my life easy.'

—tatatatak—

N-Aroel tapped the panel as he zoomed onto the surface of Nelkipa.

—kiriririk—

Soon the screen that was viewing the Nelkipa zoomed in millions of times and showed a clear image.

An existence swinging his hammer and Melchizedek before him.

'Let's see, how shall I solve this?'

N-Aroel thought, looking at the scenery below.

[a]This is a way of proving some things using 2 or more deductions. An example is : All humans die eventually. I am human. I will die eventually. In Hansoo's case : He has won in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th zones. He will win in the 5th zone. etc.

[b]Something koreans say if they feel someone is talking about them. Some 6th sense stuff

[c]he died from starvation listening to n-aroel's story

Chapter 381: Nerpa (4)

—boom!—

Melchizedek looked at Hansoo in a daze.

"Yeah. Just stop. You've worked hard enough."

It remembered the things it had heard about Hansoo from its old ally, Clementine.

Kang Hansoo.

The savior of humankind.

In a world divided into seven zones, he had flipped that very world upside down and restructured them as he climbed up.

Hansoo's actions weren't so different from what he had done in the past.

'It seems he and I cannot co-exist.'

Melchizedek chuckled.

Hansoo had to bring peace to this place, and it had to take this place to war.

Their goals were different, so they had to fight.

But the situation now was a bit different.

That had only been the case if Hansoo had the ability to change reality.

'Yeah, not anymore.'

—booooom!—

Melchizedek thought as it looked at Hansoo who was continuing to struggle even as he listened to it.

Break this reality, and dream of the infinite possibilities beyond.

Anyone trapped in a reality they didn't like had all dreamt of such a thing before.

Especially if it was a reality that was cruel and unfair.

Wanting to change it was a normal course of thought.

Except Hansoo had a clearer vision than others and had the abilities to actually make it happen.

But not anymore.

It was finally time for him to face the cruel reality, the cold wall that stood in front of everyone.

The giant wall that caused countless people to fall into despair, something that caused such people to give up on their current dreams and find a more suitable path for themselves.

The fact that he had done very well up until this point made him stand out from the others, but it was time for him to make a different choice as well.

He had met a wall called Melchizedek.

So then…

Once he realizes that he won't be able to meet his vision anymore, wouldn't he then act like everyone else?

Like everyone else who decided to live with this reality.

Melchizedek thought up to this point and continued to speak:

"Isn't it time for you to rest now? Work under me. If you stand next to me, then I promise I'll support you with everything I can. And once we've conquered everything, I'll allow you to sit upon a higher position over there and give you the rights to control everyone. Isn't that enough?"

The Pompeion Empire.

Neropa Union.

All the power and control they currently possessed.

He would be able to grasp a power that no human could even dream about; power that would allow him to fulfill any desires he had.

A proposition that anybody would accept.

And Melchizedek's expression turned into that of anticipation.

'Accept it.'

It had felt regret that someone like Kang Hansoo had been killed off in the past, but now there was something else added on top of it now.

It wanted to see Hansoo accept this offer.

It wanted to see Hansoo bend.

It wanted to see Hansoo, whose determination was so unyielding it was blinding, accept this reality and become a normal human being.

And this was the most important point.

The thing that was causing him to be so blinding was not his strength.

No matter how strong or beautiful a blade was, it was nothing more than a piece of metal once it hung on a wall.

A blade's fame did not originate from that.

It originated not from its materials but from what it had cut.

And it was the same for Hansoo.

The thing that made him shine so much was not his strength but his goal and conviction.

No matter how strong he was, if his faith were to break then that light would also disappear.

If his faith, that which had driven all his actions up until now, were to break then he would become something it wanted him to become.

So Melchizedek felt anticipation.

It wanted to see him break down.

—rumble—

Nelkipa didn't even attack him anymore as if it was giving him time to make a choice.

It would allow him to rest and heal up, but Melchizedek was more than happy enough to give him this brief moment.

Hansoo chuckled and spoke as he stood on top of the calm surface of Nelkipa.

"What an evil taste."

Melchizedek flinched.

It felt like its inner thoughts had leaked out.

But it was too late to back down.

Melchizedek continued to speak.

"It's not a bad offer for you, right? If you can keep your friends alive, then… isn't that good? Your friends are probably in a bad situation as well."

Although Angkara would turn into a sea of flames.

He and his two comrades would be able to live good lives.

And that wasn't all.

Although the countless humans coming afterward would die, but Transcendents like him would be able to survive.

And they would all gather under Hansoo's command.

'And Clementine is already doing that.'

Hansoo thought to himself as he listened to Melchizedek's words.

'Giving up now…'

That was the easier choice for him.

As their leader…

If he kept his life and climbed up with strong people who listened to him well.

Leaving behind all the weaklings and only taking the useful ones.

It would be great for him too.

But he couldn't do it.

'My life is not my own.'

He thought of the past.

The past.

Numbers and strength.

Nothing was enough.

Countless people had been killed off like bugs in the battlefield called the Abyss.

What of their sacrifices then?

Their sacrifices just to send him back in time.

The remaining ten thousand humans had given up their lives for this.

And their sacrifice was not so he could stay happy all by himself.

It was so that the people precious to them would have another chance at life.

Everyone had similar thoughts as they sacrificed themselves.

This was why his life wasn't his own.

"You speak too much. I've been able to rest thanks to you, so I'll go easy on you when I beat you up later."

Melchizedek's expression turned icy cold as he stared at Hansoo grasping his hammer tightly.

"It seems… this is it."

As Melchizedek muttered—

—kaduk!—

—the calm surface of Nelkipa started moving chaotically again as it charged towards Hansoo.

Then—

—kuooooong!—

—the spikes that rose dozens of kilometers into the air started emitting sounds as thousands of tiny blue bubbles appeared on top of those spikes.

A tremendous amount of energy.

—kiiiiiing—

Nelkipa's cannons, which were now filled to the brim with the energy from the blue sun inside Nelkipa, aimed towards Angkara in the distance.

"Even if you don't like it… you won't be able to escape the war."

Melchizedek looked between Hansoo and the Nelkipa's cannons and mumbled expressionlessly.

The moment those cannons fired—

—the existences on Angkara that weren't attacking Nelkipa seriously because of their internal strife would then realize…

How dangerous Nelkipa is.

And from that point on, they won't even have time to care about each other.

The Pompeion Empire and the Neropa Union would stop at nothing to break Nelkipa apart.

They would use everything to attack and stop it.

Of course, Melchizedek was still confident that it would win even if that happened.

It was more than confident enough to withstand all those attacks and smash them apart with this Nelkipa.

But what of the humans that would come up afterward?

Would they be able to withstand the flames?

The flames hidden inside Angkara, the flames bestowed onto their powerful army?

'I'll let you know what regret is, Kang Hansoo. How dare you reject my offer?'

Melchizedek thought without expression.

It had thought it wouldn't feel bad even if Hansoo denied its offer, but it had felt more anger than it expected.

So its plan changed.

It would have killed him off cleanly, but its thoughts changed.

To give him as much mental pain as possible, it would keep him alive.

And while keeping him alive, it would show him everything that would happen from this point.

The deaths of countless humans that it would kill off like tiny insects.

'And… let's see if you can stay sane while you watch them all die.'

"I'll first show you the pain your friends will have to suffer! It seems you treat your life as worthless, but… would your friends think the same? It's your two friends right after you!"

—booom!—

But as Melchizedek shouted at Hansoo, a change occurred.

—oooooong!—

The cannons that were gathering energy in the distance had started to turn off one by one.

And at the same time, the Nelkipa started to lose its momentum in attacking Hansoo.

Like a weapon being turned off.

'What the hell?!'

—sssss—

Even his throne had disappeared.

Melchizedek stood up and clenched its teeth.

All of Nelkipa's weapons that it had turned on were turning off.

But as Melchizedek was about to look into why that was happening—

—tonkonkonk!—

—Hansoo hammered away a few of the now-weakened spears and looked towards the distance as if he had somewhat guessed what had happened.

'…Kiriel. Enbi Arin.'

Hansoo looked towards their directions with an expression that hid a hint of sadness, but then replied to Melchizedek:

"We're all risking our lives here. You… you should also do the same."

—booooom!—

Hansoo's body quickly charged towards Melchizedek in the distance.

.............

—rumble!—

The giant crystal that Ares Valentine was trying to blow up.

A woman stood before the sub-crystal that controlled the weapon system.

Of course, her situation wasn't quite the best.

"Haa… haaa.."

Enbi Arin, who was completely covered from head to toe in blood, touched her crystal and was focusing.

The posture was similar to what Ares Valentine had done when he was trying to blow up the crystal, but her actions were vastly different.

If the energy had grown chaotic when Ares Valentine poured in energy, the energy right now was slowly calming down.

And she heard a weak voice coming from behind her.

"You crazy girl… You'll die at this rate."

Ares Valentine walked over weakly and spoke in a tired voice.

He didn't look any better than Enbi Arin.

His armor had long been broken apart, and the longsword had been cut in half.

Ares Valentine looked at Enbi Arin while doing his best not to fall to the ground in a dumbfounded manner.

'…To try to control that.'

Of course, that was the reason why he was still alive.

If Enbi Arin hadn't run off to stop the crystal then he would've been killed.

But that's not something a human can control.

If that was something that was so easily controllable, then he would have chosen to do that as well.

Although she was suppressing it now… sooner or later she would lose her life.

From the reaction of the crystal resisting her suppression.

The energy inside her body would go haywire.

And from Ares Valentine's words.

"I wish… my dreams hadn't ended as dreams."

If she gave up now, then those scenes would eternally remain inside her head.

Enbi Arin clenched her teeth as she focused on the crystal.

Chapter 382: Nerpa (5)

"Ugh…"

—crash!—

Elis Valentine rolled on the floor after Kiriel kicked her.

'This damned b****…!'

While she was focusing on the crystal, she had been caught off guard by an attack that rose up from beneath her.

Elis tightly clenched her teeth as she looked at the long scars on her body.

'…I've used all the strength I've saved from my Trait as well.'

Her body wasn't healing anymore.

Of course, her Trait was changing some of her pain to aid in healing, but it was no longer to the point of keeping her immortal like before.

A desperate situation.

The ground, which had once been filled with a vicious aura as it undulated in waves, had long stopped moving.

Of course, this wasn't the best for her.

Since there was one less variable.

Variables disappearing meant that calculating the future would become easier.

And at this rate…

That girl would kill her.

At this rate, of course.

'But I… am not alone.'

Elis thought of the soul fragment inside her.

Borrowing strength from Taehee hurt her pride, so she hadn't used it up until now.

But this wasn't the time to maintain her pride.

'I must… survive.'

Elis smiled at Kiriel as she clenched her teeth.

—oooooong—

She shook the soul fragment inside her.

A cross-dimensional signal.

'Good.'

Elis saw that the soul fragment was working properly, and she spoke to Kiriel, waiting for her response.

"I… really did not want to use this. I will kill you as painfully as possible."

—kaduk—

Elis tightly clenched the spike in her hand that had been modified to inflict as much pain upon oneself as possible.

It was a spike made to use her Trait in the most efficient manner.

Various sharp objects like saw teeth and fish hooks were attached to it.

The spike had been a great help in her use of her Trait up until this point.

But unlike herself, who cannot feel pain, it would be a horrifying experience for Kiriel.

—oooooong!—

'Right, I have to blow it up as well.'

Kiriel looked at Elis who had stood up and was now on guard.

'Damn… I was wondering why she wasn't using it.'

Hansoo had told them…

To be careful of something that the siblings had called a soul fragment.

Kiriel had assumed Elis hadn't received one since she hadn't used it up until this point, but it seems that wasn't the case.

'My situation isn't that great, either.'

Kiriel looked at the various parts of her body currently flowing with blood and frowned.

The Dragon God Armor had countless holes and broken parts.

And that spike that pierced through her armor was made in such a way that it took away a huge part of her flesh everytime it stabbed her.

Although she had the more advantageous situation, if Elis used her soul fragment then Kiriel would get killed no matter what.

'Damn… Do I need to run away?'

Kiriel clenched her teeth.

She couldn't do that.

Elis wondered why the attacks from Nelkipa's skin had stopped, but Kiriel knew.

Enbi Arin.

She was suppressing the crystal.

The crystal that was radiating a terrifying amount of energy.

If that girl's brother was at a similar level as her, then Enbi Arin would be in a bad state as well.

No, she might even be in a worse state.

And she was suppressing the crystal in such a state.

By herself.

'Damn… Her body is going to overload.'

She could not let Enbi Arin take on that burden by herself.

Winning wasn't the main priority.

If she ran away and Elis started to blow up that crystal, then the burden on Enbi Arin will become twofold of what it is now.

She had to drag it out as long as possible.

Kiriel clenched her teeth and tightly gripped the fang in her hand.

And Elis laughed at this sight.

"Hahaha! You want to fight?"

The soul fragment inside her was growing inside.

Proof that Taehee had received her signal.

And the next steps would be simple.

Taehee would give her strength.

And she would crush that damned b****.

Very simple.

There were some hurdles along the way, but this was it.

She just needed to go up afterward.

'Taehee… Did she become even stronger? Well, it's good for me.'

She was envious of Taehee who had climbed up to a level she couldn't catch up to, especially when they had been at a similar level in the past. But she was happy about it at this moment.

Since she would soon attain that strength, allowing her to solve the situation.

But as Elis was smiling at the vibrating soul fragment inside her.

A change occurred.

—oooooong!—

"Huh?…Uhhhh?"

Elis exclaimed in surprise.

The tremors inside her were calming down.

This only meant one thing.

Denial.

Taehee had denied giving her strength.

"What… Why?!"

Her disappointment was as great as her anticipation.

Elis was at a loss.

'Damn… Did something happen?'

No matter how she and Taehee disliked each other, not lending her strength in a situation like this didn't make sense.

That meant there was only one answer.

Taehee was in a situation where she could not lend her strength.

There was no other reason for Taehee to deny giving her strength otherwise.

But soon—

—Elis realized that there was an even worse issue.

'F***.'

"Oh my. It seems that things aren't going according to your plan?"

Elis looked at Kiriel who was walking towards her with a cold smile.

And she realized.

That this was her grave.

Her body was broken beyond the point of return, and she had lost her final ray of hope.

And her killer was raging with bloodthirst.

There was no way for her to survive.

'…Did you make me struggle this hard just to get killed off in a place like this? Clementine, this goes against our promise'.

>.

Noah.

The boat of their dreams that would take them to their land of dreams that Clementine had promised her.

But after losing all hope for the future, the reality she faced was crueler beyond anything else.

'Shit… I hope you find a way up at least, Ares.'

Elis looked around at the vast empty plane around her, and then her eyes locked onto Kiriel.

Her expression was full of endless despair.

............

—booooom!—

Hansoo charged at Melchizedek, which smashed him away and laughed.

"Hahahaha! I told you, you won't be able to win!"

—kachak!—

The area of the blue armor that Melchizedek had attacked cracked apart and made a strange noise.

But Hansoo ignored the force of the impact as he swung his hammer at Melchizedek.

But shockingly—

—despite the hammer flying towards it like a meteor.

Melchizedek had no thoughts of resisting as it continued to smile and only focused on attacking Hansoo.

—booooom!—

The Mjolnir smashed into Melchizedek's body and made a huge noise.

The bright blue armor blew apart, revealing the flesh inside.

It shredded the Nerpa's body as bones broke and muscles exploded.

A force strong enough to crush his organs and his heart.

Nobody would be able to laugh at a giant hole in their body, but Melchizedek did.

"Hahahaha! How many times is it now? Are you even counting?"

—ssssss—

The hole on Melchizedek's body was regenerating at an insane rate.

It wasn't even absorbing the bits of flesh and blood around the body to heal.

It looked like the body was creating something out of nothing.

Flesh grew back, veins reconnected, and bones regenerated.

Like an immortal.

And Melchizedek looked at this scene with satisfaction.

'Why do you think I gave up my previous immortality for this body?'

Although this body was needed, if the body itself was extremely weak and would become a factor that tied Melchizedek down in the upcoming war, then it never would've come here.

But it did.

For one reason.

This body provided an even better form of immortality.

'Amazing.'

—rumble—

Melchizedek smiled as it looked at the Nelkipa's vast energy flowing towards itself.

Melchizedek's previous body was a mechanical lifeform, but if all the systems and structures on top of Nelkipa were to be swept away, it was as good as dead.

But this body was different.

It continuously received all energy and matter from Nelkipa and regenerated itself.

As long as it was on top of Nelkipa and the Nelkipa was still alive, it could not die.

The battle against Hansoo proved this all.

No matter how similar their physical aspects are.

There was no way that Melchizedek, which had no battle experience before this, could beat Hansoo who had tempered himself through countless battles.

But not here.

Above the Nelkipa.

It was a god.

—oooooong—

Nelkipa's skin started moving up and down again.

And the cannons in the distance started to light up again.

Melchizedek laughed at this scene.

"Hahaha! It seems your friends at the crystals are finished!… What shall you do?"

If, in this already advantageous situation, they took back Nelkipa's controls?

There was nothing else to talk about.

Melchizedek smiled.

"You don't need to hate yourself so much. Even someone like you wouldn't have been able to predict a situation like this. This is probably the first time anyone has seen an existence like me."

'Watch what I do… with this power.'

It would be a great scene once he put Hansoo inside a test tube and placed him on the highest point on Nelkipa.

An even better viewpoint for Hansoo.

Of course, it'll only be his eyes that could move.

But at that moment—

—Hansoo chuckled as he said:

"How can it be a first?"

"Huh?'

Hansoo smirked and spat out.

"I've seen countless beings regenerate like a cockroach. Just like you."

In the Abyss, there were beings that were even more like cockroaches than Melchizedek.

Beings who truly deserved the name 'Immortal'.

But the one who had stood up tall in the end.

The one who smashed them apart one by one and descended the Abyss.

Was him.

And as he finished his words—

—rumble—

—the thing he had been saving up until this point.

The thing he'd saved up by twisting all the muscles and mana inside his body started to squirm violently inside him.

The final seed inside Hansoo.

The consciousness stored within the Nine Dragons Strike shouted out in joy.

And with that shout—

—booooom!—

—the thing he had been continuously spinning and charging around inside him quickly started to spread throughout his body.

Chapter 383: Nerpa (6)

—boooom!—

The coiled up energy inside Hansoo exploded.

—kadadadadak!—

The strength which he had been suppressing exploded out as it swept through his bones, muscles, and veins like a tsunami.

And at the same time—

—tadak—

—crack—

The lean muscles on Hansoo's body expanded to the point where they seemed as if they were about to explode at any moment.

To the point where the blue armor made snapping noises.

And it was only for a moment.

—kiiiiiing!—

The blue armor, which had been shocked at the sudden change of its owner, made a joyful noise as it started to suck out Hansoo's energy at an even faster rate.

And the blue armor, which had expanded to fit the new body of the owner, expanded even more.

—kadak—

The armor's blue surface deepened in color to the point where it almost looked black.

Every part of the armor thickened as spikes appeared in some places.

His body had already expanded, but due to the armor also expanding in size, Hansoo's size grew even larger.

His body growing almost to the point of looking as it did before he became a Transcendent.

"What the f***…!?"

But even before Melchizedek could fully respond to this sudden change—

—booooom!—

—a huge shockwave followed an equally huge noise.

The sound of Hansoo stomping off the ground.

'Shit!… Where?!"

Melchizedek saw Hansoo disappear from his position, and as he looked around to find him—

—whoooosh!—

—it heard the sound of something cutting through the air at a tremendous speed behind it.

A speed that even Nerpa's godly body could not respond to.

Melchizedek unconsciously covered his body with his arms.

Then—

—booooom!—

"Arhak!"

—Melchizedek screamed at the powerful impact that had smashed it and slammed it onto the ground.

—crackle! crack!—

Melchizedek's body, which had been healing every attack up until this point, could not respond to the damage quick enough as it cracked apart and tried its best to absorb the force.

"Aaargh!"

A pain that it couldn't feel when it didn't have a living body in the past.

It had set its pain receptors to the lowest setting because it didn't want to feel such a thing, but that didn't matter at all.

Despite reducing the pain receptors to that point, this pain was more than enough to make its body feel like it was shredding into a million pieces.

The feeling of its entire body demolished.

But Melchizedek soon realized it wasn't just a feeling.

'Ugh…'

One strike was almost enough to destroy half its body.

If it hadn't guarded the attack with its instincts, then the damage wouldn't have been limited to just half of its body.

—ssssss!—

The survival instinct inside the Nerpa's body activated as it started to gather the energy and matter from all around it.

And like magic, Melchizedek's body started to heal up.

At an insane speed.

—kacha!—

—ssss—

Flesh mended, bones grew, and muscles healed.

The intestines grew back, and the spine restructured itself.

But despite this, Melchizedek fell into despair.

Because it saw Hansoo lifting up his hammer again above him.

'No!'

—booooom!—

A storm of attacks started to land on Melchizedek's body.

—boom! boom! boom! boom! boom…

The surface of Nelkipa around Melchizedek tried its best to protect its owner, but it was all futile.

The armor that sprung up from below had turned into dust, allowing the shockwave to blow away the blue spears.

Like a piece of metal hammered down by a giant drop hammer, the surface of Nelkipa that was supporting Melchizedek shook like an earthquake as it got smashed apart.

'Kuhuk!'

Melchizedek couldn't even scream out loud.

Its vocal cords and lungs had long since smashed apart.

The Nelkipa was pouring in a tremendous amount of energy and matter to keep Melchizedek alive, but it was futile.

Melchizedek's body was regenerating at an insane speed.

Fast enough to call it magic.

—boom! boom! boom! boom! boo…

The speed at which Hansoo's powerful attacks destroyed its body was even faster.

'F***!…F***!'

The only thing Melchizedek could do—

—was defend.

—kadadadak!—

The blue spears attacking Hansoo all rushed to cover Melchizedek's body.

And the Nelkipa's surface tried to pull Melchizedek into the depths of its body.

It had given up on fighting back—it was now entirely focused on defending and escaping.

Melchizedek chuckled as it looked at Hansoo while the surface of Nelkipa surrounded its body.

'No matter how strong you are… there's a limit!'

If Hansoo had been able to use that strength from the beginning, he would've done so.

There were probably limitations.

He was going berserk for a short duration or had to fulfill a certain condition within that time.

And from what it could see, it was both.

That strength was far beyond what Hansoo could wield.

And Melchizedek saw the origin of that strength.

The black strike that the dragons had created before.

Somehow, Hansoo had managed to cover his entire body with that power instead of using it in one attack.

There was no other way for Hansoo to have gained this much strength in such a short time otherwise.

And there should be a limit.

It seems his attacks also shredded his own body apart as well.

When this was all over, a deadly side effect would kick in.

This was Hansoo's trump card.

As long as it could hold on, it would win.

'Farewell!'

—ssss—

Melchizedek chuckled at Hansoo as Nelkipa sucked it into its depths.

It was lucky.

If those people had still tried to suppress the sub-crystals, then it wouldn't have been able to do anything and would have long been turned into a paste.

But thankfully, they had been exhausted.

'…Ugh. For me to be stuck under such a dangerous situation despite having a regenerative ability like this.'

Melchizedek thought.

It had believed it would win with this strength.

So it had strode out to fight Hansoo.

To personally smash him apart.

But the result was this.

'I'll… never drop my guard.'

Melchizedek thought as it looked at its almost fully regenerated body.

—boom! boom! boom!—

The Nelkipa's skin was shredded apart at an insane speed, but the speed at which Melchizedek was being sucked in was much faster.

And even if its body fully regenerated, it would never fight Hansoo again.

It was a bit embarrassing, but it would hide inside and kill off Hansoo from there.

No matter how strong Hansoo was, if the Nelkipa attacked him for days and days, would he be able to hold on?

'Nope.'

As Melchizedek chuckled—

—kiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!—

—its senses felt something.

No, within its connection with the Nelkipa.

A warning sound.

'What?'

Melchizedek's senses locked onto the object causing the Nelkipa to make the warning sounds.

'…The fleet of flames?'

The Kalkuroun Fleet that was floating outside in space.

They were aiming their attacks towards it.

—kiiiiing—

As Melchizedek saw the fleet ready their attack—

'Presumptuous.'

—Melchizedek scoffed.

............…..

—tatatatatak!—

—tatak!—

N-Aroel sighed as he took control of the internal system of the Kalkuroun fleet.

'You're probably thinking that it's presumptuous, right? You… are correct.'

For them to have that amazing power of the flame, but could only create these toys.

Nelkipa could easily ignore their firepower at this rate.

There was no way a toy like this could pierce through the Nelkipa's skin and deal a fatal blow.

Melchizedek knew this as well, which was why it had left the Kakuroun Fleet alone.

'But with me here… the story changes.'

He changed everything.

That was why it had taken over this body to come here.

He could not let the thing that had taken over his body and his ship play around freely.

As N-Aroel smiled coldly and entered the commands—

—kiiiiiiing!—

—the internal structure of the fleet changed.

The pyro engine that borrowed the strength of the flame.

The engine that was the basis of all the firepower on the fleet started going berserk.

Acting from the commands he inputted.

Like a prophet enlightened to the truth after receiving information beyond a human's capabilities, the engines started to transform and evolve.

To an almost alien-like structure.

And the attacks of the fleet aimed towards a specific location.

A specific target.

'Crystal.'

—boooooooom!—

A huge ray of judgment slammed onto the Nelkipa from above.

............…..

—ruuuuuummmmmmblleee!—

"Hah?!"

The giant strike that had descended from above.

Melchizedek, who had been hardening the skin around itself to defend against the strike, exclaimed out loud as it looked at where the attack had landed.

The target was not itself.

But the crystals.

The crystal on Nelkipa had overloaded and shut itself off from the fleet's attack.

'What the f***…?! How can those insects showcase this much strength?!'

Melchizedek was at a loss since it was trapped within the Nelkipa which it had lost control over.

It knew more than anyone else about the level of the Angkara.

This was not something they could create.

At that moment—

'…No!'

—an existence flashed past its head.

The owner of this body.

'Nerpa!'

Melchizedek gritted its teeth.

It had been hit in the back by an existence it had completely forgotten about.

But the rage only lasted for a moment.

—boom! boom! boom! boom!…

'Ah…F***.'

Melchizedek sighed with despair as it felt huge shockwaves coming from outside.

It realized that this wasn't the best time to concern itself with something else.

The energy that was smashing apart the Nelkipa to crush itself, a cockroach hidden underground.

'…Damn. You've won.'

As Melchizedek fell into despair—

—boooooom!—

—an attack combined from nine dragons swept through the area Melchizedek had been hiding inside.