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Chapter 384: Nerpa (7)
—ooooooong!—
As the suppressed crystal calmed down—
"Haaa…Haa…"
—plop—
—Kiriel, who had been suppressing the crystal, collapsed on onto the floor and groaned.
"Ugh…"
It wasn't just a simple groan, but rather a very painful one.
It was truly hard to suppress the crystal.
'Enbi Arin… how in the world did you do this?'
She knew why the Nelkipa's skin had briefly stopped attacking them.
Because Enbi Arin was suppressing the other crystal.
So she had dealt with Elis Valentine and tried to suppress the crystal as well.
But what was this…
A pain beyond anything she could imagine.
The energy of the Nelkipa had resisted her energy and retaliated vigorously as if her attempts at suppression had hurt its pride.
And the result of that was Nelkipa shredding apart Kiriel's entire body.
If that strike from above hadn't fallen from the sky and destroyed the crystal, then she really might've died.
"Cough…"
Kiriel coughed up blood as she checked her destroyed organs.
At least she was alive.
Thankfully, this was still within the limits of what she could heal.
At this rate, she could heal as long as she had the time to.
After all, she was a Transcendent.
'It's time to move. Right… that's been bugging me.'
Kiriel pondered where she should head towards first—Enbi Arin or Hansoo—but then frowned as she looked at the Kalkuroun Fleet above her.
.....................
—tatak—
—tadadak—
The location where Nelkipa's main control crystal was now in ruins.
And below the giant crater—
—an existence was looking into the sky, barely alive.
—chiiijijik—
'Damn…this is it.'
Not only was its body destroyed, but the blow had also broken the core that kept it alive.
The crystal had stopped working as well—there was no hope that it would survive.
Even if Hansoo didn't kill it off, it would slowly die by itself.
—chiiiijijik—
Melchizedek realized its doom as it looked despairingly at the sky.
Towards the red planet in the far distance, Angkara.
It had failed.
Failed to return there.
Failed at unifying Angkara.
'Well, it's out of my hands now…'
It hadn't planned to do all this for the masses.
It was simply due to its curiosity, its vision, and its greed.
Since it was dying, it didn't care what was going to happen to Angkara.
'Nerpa… I didn't expect you to act in such a decisive moment.'
But suddenly, Melchizedek frowned as it looked towards the red fleet in the sky.
The fleet which it expected to descend onto Nelkipa was slowly backing away.
Towards Angkara.
'Huh?'
That Nerpa should've long since taken over that fleet.
Otherwise, there was no way they could showcase such a might.
Which meant that it was the Nerpa's choice to go to Angkara.
'Why…?'
Curiosity popped up inside Melchizedek's mind despite being on the verge of death.
It had believed that the Nerpa would come and retrieve the Nelkipa.
But even before it could finish contemplating, Hansoo appeared before its eyes.
Melchizedek smiled as it saw Hansoo lifting up his hammer.
"Congratulations. From what I hear… this is your fifth. There's two more to go. I truly hope… you fail in the next zone."
It wanted to see Hansoo fall into despair, but it looked like it didn't have enough strength to make that happen.
But there would clearly be others stronger than Hansoo who could.
A person who was entirely focused on getting used to the reality.
'I hope… you can smash this guy apart.'
Clementine.
Although Hansoo was amazing, it had truly felt shocked when it had seen Clementine for the first time.
The reason why it was wary of the aliens.
Melchizedek thought of the greatest annoyance in its life as it started to overload its heart.
It wasn't going to let itself be killed.
'You… you didn't kill me. I just simply committed suicide.'
As Melchizedek's half-closed eyes met with Hansoo's—
—boom!—
—Melchizedek's core exploded, its remaining debris turned to dust.
And Hansoo thought of Melchizedek's gaze as he approached its body.
Like in the past, there was a single gift box and a letter.
'Hmm… Let's open the box first.'
Hansoo decided to appease his curiosity by opening the box first.
And from inside, two shiny orbs came out.
Two marbles.
A normal person might've been happy at the sight of a reward.
But as soon as Hansoo saw the two marbles—
"….?"
—Hansoo's expression turned gruesome.
'Two? Not three?'
The fairies gave out rewards fairly.
There was no way he would've been the only one to receive a reward.
Enbi Arin and Kiriel's roles had contributed too much.
If Kiriel and Enbi Arin hadn't stopped the explosion of the crystal and suppressed it.
If they hadn't dealt with Clementine's underlings while he was dealing with Melchizedek.
He would've failed.
Which meant there should've been three rewards in this box.
His, Enbi Arin's, and Kiriel's.
One each.
Hansoo quickly opened up the letter in his hand.
And a single line was written on the letter.
'F***…Arin!'
—boooom!—
Hansoo's body disappeared.
........................….
"Cough… Ugh."
'How fast… heh.'
Enbi Arin made a tired expression as she looked at the two streaks of light charging towards her in the distance.
She didn't want to show them that she was exhausted, but it wasn't that easy.
She really was tired.
All her organs were burned up and destroyed.
Because she had overexerted herself trying to suppress the crystal.
This giant creature, Nelkipa, did not hold back on the creature trying to control it and resisted her.
Thanks to this, her entire insides had ended up destroyed, and it had even broken her core.
So she knew…
That this was the end of the road for her.
Transcendents weren't amoebas.
There was a limit to how much they could heal, and once they crossed that line, the body could not withstand the energy flowing through it and slowly killed itself off.
And she had long passed that line.
Despite resting, her quickly diminishing flame of life proved this.
'I really did run for a long time.'
Enbi Arin's expression was full of regret.
She was afraid of death.
She wanted to escape this hell and find peace.
So she had fought. And fought. And fought.
To escape the worst-case scenario.
But as death quickly approached her, she realized that it wasn't quite what she expected.
'…It's actually quite nice.'
She could finally rest.
She didn't have to fight anymore.
She didn't have to kill anymore.
She had fought too long.
Twenty years since she had come to this place.
And fifteen years stuck in that dream.
She had fought for thirty-five years and struggled to climb up.
She deserved to rest a little, right?
She had struggled for thirty-five years, no, twenty years excluding the dream, so nobody would say anything if she said she wanted to rest.
'Nice…'
Enbi Arin weakly turned her head and looked next to her.
"Why… did you help me?"
"…I don't know."
Ares Valentine, who also had his insides destroyed from the crystal, smiled at her as he lied down in a similar fashion.
He also didn't know why he'd done it.
'Well. It's not half-bad…'
Ares, who had been trying to figure out his complicated feelings, looked at Enbi Arin's profile and smiled.
Although the method was a bit different, he was going to 'go up and rest' now.
"…".
Ares Valentine's eyes lost their light and slowly closed.
And Enbi Arin, who had been looking at Ares in silence, turned around towards Hansoo who had almost arrived and smiled.
'Thanks to you… I've had a busy life.'
Enbi Arin thought of the dream Melchizedek had given her.
In it, she had truly been happy.
Taking over the seven zones and pushing back the Abyss.
Nobody could handle their power, and those precious to them were no longer killed.
Maybe it was a bit too perfect.
A bit too happy.
And if she really cared about her life and hadn't suppressed the crystal.
The scene in her dreams wouldn't have been possible.
'Too bad I won't be able to accompany you.'
She wouldn't be able to follow them, but it didn't matter.
There was somebody else who would achieve it for her.
Although it was only a dream for her.
Hansoo would be able to turn it into reality.
'I wish you the best of luck on the 6th floor as well… Work for my share too. Heh.'
And with this final line of thought—
—sss—
—Enbi Arin's eyes closed.
...........................
"Let's see. Time to hurry. There's no time. Come on, you hunk of metal."
N-Aroel complained to the giant ship, mumbling as he looked at Angkara in the far distance.
He had lost his legacy
He could not lose the flame as well.
The faster he was, the better.
'And from what I heard… those aliens are there as well.'
He'd heard that the aliens were there.
Either hiding in secret or out in the open.
N-Aroel nodded as he remembered something.
'Right. It's called the 6th Zone, right?'
N-Aroel, who had been thinking while looking at Angkara, suddenly looked down at Nelkipa and smiled.
'Well, if fate allows it, then we'll meet again. Anyway, thanks for this time around. Everything was resolved with ease. See you next time, maybe.'
—kuoooooo!—
The Kalkuroun fleet started to move towards Angkara at full speed.
Chapter 385: Angkara (1)
"Ha…"
Hansoo sighed as he looked at the cross before him.
'Arin…'
A comrade who had fought with him until the end of his previous life.
'I hope… you can finally rest well.'
Enbi Arin.
A comrade that had been out of the ordinary from the very beginning.
Most people had stood out from the masses with their leadership, brains, luck, or talent.
Without such distinguishing characteristics, humankind would never have gained enough strength to reach the Temporal Crystal.
A hundred out of six billion humans.
Becoming strong from around the middle point was nowhere enough to reach that height.
They had to be ready from the very beginning and monopolize every method to become stronger.
So their comrades had climbed the Otherverse by following the paths of powerhouses.
But not Enbi Arin.
Enbi Arin had been a weakling when she arrived.
Her body was weak.
She did not have charisma or leadership qualities.
Nor was she lucky.
The ones who had arrived with her were imprisoned criminals.
She had been dragged here while doing some public volunteer work at a prison.
And after being captured by those men who were full of hatred and lawlessness, she had gone through a lot of hard times.
Thankfully she had realized her Trait of Tainted Emotion and ripped apart everyone who had caused her harm, but the memories of those times continued to haunt her.
Since Enbi Arin had rarely spoken of it even in his past life.
'…I guess your wishes have come true.'
He'd hoped that Enbi Arin would never accomplish her wishes.
But she had.
Hansoo looked bitter as he thought of the calm and comfortable expression Enbi Arin made as she died.
"…I came up because you called me, but I didn't expect to see this."
Ekidu.
Ekidu, who had controlled the humans with Karhal below, spoke in a bitter tone as she looked at the cross before her.
Enbi Arin.
She hadn't known her for a long time, but it was enough to become friends and have trust in each other.
They had searched for Hansoo and fought for the humans during those two years of Hansoo's disappearance.
Despite being the leader of the giant clan called The Cross, her dreams were very simple.
She was shocked at this, but she liked that about Enbi.
Since she had also fought for the village with a similar mindset.
And after hearing Enbi Arin's scar from the past, these thoughts were further reinforced.
When they parted, they had wished for their dreams to come true, but to reunite like this.
'…Dumbo.'
Ekidu looked at the cross in the middle of Nelkipa's surface and then turned to Hansoo and Kiriel.
It felt like she would be trapped in this sadness if she didn't change the topic.
This world was not kind enough to let them hide behind their sorrow.
Ekidu shook off most of the thoughts in her head and asked Hansoo:
"…Is it all over for this place, Hansoo?"
Hansoo nodded.
Melchizedek was gone, and Clementine's forces were gone as well.
The only thing left were the few Abyssal beasts and a few hidden humans.
This was not enough to threaten those coming up from below.
Kiriel, who also had a sad expression, joined in on the conversation.
"What happened to the zone below?"
Ekidu smiled as she replied:
"It's going well. The kids are quickly becoming Transcendents as well."
Because they had no way to efficiently control the Transcendents in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd zones they didn't make any, but the 4th Zone where Karhal and Ekidu resided was different.
Even if 1-Star Transcendents appeared, the 2-Star Transcendent Karhal could easily handle them.
Since he could control them, they just let them loose as well.
'And… it doesn't seem like we have the leisure to hold back from making them.'
—rumble—
Ekidu looked at the lightning surrounding the elevator.
The space between the zones divided by the elevator twisted from time to time.
And due to this, it was causing countless bolts of lightning to crash around it.
A very unstable-looking scene.
Ekidu asked Hansoo:
"…How long do we have?'
She wasn't very specific, but it was clear what she was talking about.
Time until the Abyss collapsed around them.
Hansoo replied in a heavy voice:
"Not much. Really."
—rumble—
Hansoo looked at the elevator.
There really wasn't much time.
Five months at most.
Maybe even less.
He had to unify and organize the seven zones before that.
Using that as the basis, creating as many Transcendents and preparing for battle.
Hansoo looked at Ekidu.
"I want you to take care of this place."
Meaning he wanted her to receive the soul fragment and remain here.
Somebody needed to remain here to enforce the rules and lead the ones coming up after them.
Ekidu made a helpless expression and replied:
"Ugh. Fine, I guess I'll be bored for a while. There's really nobody else here."
Ekidu shrugged as she looked at the bare plains.
A colossal creature.
If Hansoo and Kiriel left, she would be left alone.
'I want to follow, but… it seems like that won't be possible.'
They had both been 2-Stars up until recently.
But somehow Kiriel and Hansoo had crossed the wall in that short period of time and had become a step stronger.
The limits of 3-Star Transcendents.
If they had both remained below, then they would not have been able to become this strong.
They became stronger to meet the dangers they came across.
Ekidu thought of this basic rule of the world and shrugged her shoulders.
'Well, I guess I'll just be lonely and not bored.'
Ekidu thought as she looked at Hansoo.
There was a lot to do.
Even if she received the soul fragment, she needed to rise to the level of a 3-Star Transcendent in order to control and raise the ones coming up from below in an efficient manner.
Which meant she had to hunt the remaining Abyssal beasts and become stronger.
And unite the scattered humans in the 5th Zone.
'What to do about this giant thing…'
Guooooooo!
Ekidu looked at the Nelkipa which had lost its owner, had its crystal broken and was now just aimlessly floating round space. She asked:
"Can… can we not use this?"
Hansoo looked at the crystal for a moment and shook his head.
"No."
'It's… quite damaged..'
Hansoo thought of the streak of light that had destroyed the crystal.
The Fleet of Flames.
Their goal seemed to be the same as his.
Destroying Melchizedek.
That was probably why they'd helped him.
But if they really wanted to help, then they could've attacked Melchizedek directly.
Since that would've been more efficient and a more sure-fire method than attacking the crystal.
But there was a reason why they attacked the crystal.
They had destroyed the main crystal and gotten rid of any possible control of Nelkipa.
'If not for that… I would've kept Melchizedek alive and tried to use it.'
Melchizedek probably knew that as well and self-destructed.
If it could control the Nelkipa, its worth would've been much higher.
But since it could not control the Nelkipa anymore, its existence was basically worthless.
'There's still something suspicious.'
Hansoo thought as he looked at the melted-down crystal.
That power was not something the Fleet of Flames could make.
For the crystal that even he, a 3-Star Transcendent, couldn't destroy with ease.
They had completely melted that crystal down.
If that much strength could've been gathered in the first place, then melting down Aokan as a whole was possible.
Or just destroy Melchizedek's metal castle before it moved to another body.
But the Fleet of Flames had done so—they had melted the crystal.
Which meant one thing.
An outside force had come into play.
At that moment—
—Hansoo thought of Melchizedek's enraged roar right before the Nine Dragons Strike had attacked it for the last time.
Nerpa.
The owner of the body that Melchizedek ate.
'…So they interfered, huh?'
Hansoo looked towards the direction that the Fleet of Flames had disappeared to and shook his head.
They would meet soon.
Since they had to go up now too.
—kadak—
Hansoo gripped onto the marble that the fairy had given him as a present and looked towards Angkara.
........................…
"Ahh… Land. It's really been a long time."
As N-Aroel was admiring the giant planet before his eyes, he heard an enraged voice.
"You… do you think you'll be able to live after doing all this?"
The captain, R-Koronaita Nell, gritted his teeth at N-Aroel.
There was a limit to how many crazy actions he could tolerate.
For him to take over the entire fleet…
And R-Koronaita Nell had an inkling as well.
That only their outer appearances were the same and there was something else inside that body.
Something unlike them.
"You're being confident now, but as soon as we arrive, your body will burn up from the power of the flame."
And at those words of R-Koronaita Nell—
"Kehehehehehe."
—N-Aroel smirked as he listened.
"You ungrateful vermin. You want to burn your owner with the gift we gave you?"
"Huh?"
N-Aroel chuckled as he said:
"Just as I said. The flame you wield… was originally ours."
—boooom!—
The giant planet of flames, Angkara.
N-Aroel looked at the red light shooting up from the cracks between the continents in reminiscence.
Chapter 386: Angkara (2)
—boooooom!—
Kiriel went through the elevator, looking at the gift the fairy had given her and made a content expression.
She then turned to Hansoo and asked:
"Where shall we go from here?"
She didn't care about his psychic ability or whatever.
She only knew that she could just trust in him and follow him.
After hearing Kiriel's question, Hansoo thought:
'Planet of the Flame, it's been a while.'
The planet of war and the Flame, Angkara.
A planet of continuous internal strife because of the
There was only one thing he needed to do there.
Take over the
If he could take over the Flame that was the country's source of strength…
Then the natives of Angkara, who had built their entire civilization upon the power of the Flame, wouldn't be able to threaten him anymore.
The differences in their physiques existed after all.
So this time around, he just needed to take over the controls of the
There was no need to kill them all or drive them away.
'Well… just because I don't have to kill them doesn't mean it'll end peacefully.'
Hansoo thought.
It was similar to modern society.
If a random existence came along and tried to steal all of humanity's electric power, nobody would stand idle.
And to them, the Flame was something much more important than electricity.
They could not hand over control of the
'Well, whatever happens… I must hurry.'
If he didn't take control of Angkara, matters would become difficult.
Since if he didn't, sooner or later they would start aiming for the Nelkipa again.
If waves and waves of fleets like the Kalkuroun Fleet came along, then there was no way the humans below could deal with them.
The strikes from space would sweep them all away.
And he could not let that happen.
Not just because he had to take over the 6th Zone but because he had to keep the 5th Zone safe as well.
"Well, we have a guide this time so it should be easier."
Kiriel looked at the man standing next to them who was making an unpleasant expression.
And from her look—
"Ugh… You damned monsters."
—R-Korun Nell, the man who fought Kiriel in the past, looked back at Kiriel and Hansoo.
..................…
'Damn. I didn't want to get mixed up with them again…'
R-Korun Nell thought to himself.
He'd realized the moment they forced him to blow the train up that he had fallen into a nasty trap.
He'd ended up slamming the research center straight into Aokan.
Crazy bastards.
But they had somehow found him in order to use him again.
It was his fault for just quietly hiding away, thinking that they had no more use for him.
Kiriel chuckled as she looked at R-Korun Nell.
"Don't look at me like that. What were you going to do without us? Were you going to live here forever?"
From those words—
"…"
—R-Korun Nell merely gritted his teeth and stayed silent.
Because her words were right.
He'd quietly hid himself in a nearby refugee center awaiting rescue because he knew even having ten lives wouldn't be enough if he got swept up with them.
Trusting in the fact that the Kalkuroun Fleet would not leave him behind, a Dragon God Soldier from the Nell family.
And how he had rejoiced when he saw nine Dragon God Soldiers descending from the fleet.
But he had been in despair ever since.
The Dragon God Soldiers never came to his rescue.
Aokan, where they had charged into, had blown up.
And the Kalkuroun Fleet, after sending down a single ray of attack, had left for Angkara.
Lost in despair and wondering what to do from that point on…
These people came to find them.
They had somehow found him deep in hiding and simply dragged him along.
To this strange elevator.
And at this moment, they were rising up at a fast pace.
'…I'm not sure if this is the right choice.'
He didn't have a choice really, but because he was feeling the dangerous aura the two were letting out with each second, he didn't feel quite comfortable.
Kiriel tapped his shoulder and said:
"Don't feel so burdened. We even gave you back the Dragon God Armor, right?"
Kiriel had changed out of R-Korun Nell's Dragon God Armor to one in better condition, taken from the nine Dragon God Soldiers.
Of course, she returned R-Korun Nell's original armor.
R-Korun Nell clenched his teeth.
There was only reason why they'd given his armor back.
Since they had the confidence to crush him no matter what he tried to do anymore.
This overbearing aura.
'What in the world… Did those aliens go through a metamorphic stage or something? How did they get this strong in such a short amount of time?'
R-Korun Nell looked fearfully at Kiriel.
This girl had been at a similar level as him back at the giant train.
Well, she'd pushed him back, but they still had a good fight.
But look at her now.
She had evolved into a powerful existence far beyond his imagination.
An existence that even a truckload of people like him wouldn't be able to handle.
He'd felt a similar power level of a Dragon God Soldier when she wore the armor in the past, but it was much more different now.
The fleet.
Angkara's proud Fleet of Flames.
That small body was letting out an aura that was as strong as an entire fleet.
A fleet that was designed to destroy entire moons.
'Ugh, whatever.'
R-Korun Nell stopped thinking about it.
He decided to just go with the flow.
There was no way for him to beat them anyway.
'Anyway… something like this existed, huh?'
R-Korun Nell looked around the elevator.
Although most B and A-Levels, and even N-Levels, did not know much about these aliens.
He, being a Dragon God Soldier, an R-Level and a member of a family, had picked up some stories.
'Anyway… I didn't know how they appeared, but this is how it happened, huh?'
R-Korun Nell looked curiously at the elevator, which they couldn't make even with their advanced technology.
But then—
—oooooong—
—as if the elevator was stopping, it started to slow down.
—kiiiiiing!—
The elevator doors opened as a bright light seeped in through the gap.
—whooosh!—
A strong wind entered the space of the elevator.
And R-Korun Nell's eyes twitched at the sight that appeared before him.
'We… really arrived.'
He had been skeptical.
But they had really returned to his planet through this strange elevator.
A familiar scene.
Amidst the ruins.
A few buildings that still seemed to be in use stood tall while maintaining their structural integrity.
And the old armored vehicles moving through those buildings.
R-Korun Nell frowned when he saw this and spat out:
"The trash dump… I wondered where you guys popped out from, but I guess this was it."
"Trash dump?"
Kiriel looked at R-Korun Nell in curiosity.
.....................…
Planet Angkara.
Although the owners of Angkara had succeeded in creating a great civilization with the power of the Flame, they couldn't stay in peace with one another.
They had fought for a thousand years.
They needed more strength to win over their opponent, so they continued to create new and powerful weapons.
Although there were countless empires, families, and nations, there were bound to be those who were more advanced than others.
So during the thousand-year battle, they had increased their strength by either uniting the other nations or destroying them entirely.
"The Neropa Union and the Pompeion Empire are the two largest powers that remained after all this."
R-Korun Nell said as he looked at Kiriel.
The Pompeion Empire that had devoured the entire Pompeion continent up north.
And the three families in the south.
The Nell, Ron, and Pael families.
Although these three families had fought each other in the past to increase their individual strength, that was something they couldn't afford to do anymore.
Since the Pompeion Empire was on the cusp of sweeping them away.
So after feeling the dangers of the Pompeion Empire's fast expansion, the Nell, Ron, and Pael families decided to unite and create the greatest alliance ever recorded in history.
The result of this was the Neropa Union which succeeded in rivaling the Pompeion Empire.
"This is the place where the survivors hide—in the shadows of the ruins that the two forces created while they were busy battling each other."
R-Korun Nell's expression turned dark as he spoke.
Small and weak countries, unions, families, and tribes.
Their endings were clear from their limits in strength and power.
Either stick to one of the two sides.
Or be erased from history.
The history of war up until this point had proven this.
But these guys picked neither of the two choices.
No, they were using the situation for their own benefit.
By keeping the balance between the two forces.
Or making ridiculous requests by threatening to help the other side if they didn't comply.
But their strength was a bit too significant for the two forces to simply ignore, so they often fulfilled their requests.
'We'll make sure to destroy you all once the war ends. You presumptuous bastards, making such requests without any kind of backing…'
R-Korun Nell suddenly flinched.
'…Backing?'
Did something exist in the trash dump that they could trust in?
At that moment—
—Hansoo chuckled as he spoke to R-Korun Nell.
"We've come to a good spot."
'Perfect.'
Out of the three locations, he didn't know where the elevator would arrive at.
But the place the natives called the trash dump, or the
There was something he needed to acquire here.
'The External Flame Divine Tool.'
A divine tool created to control the external Flame.
The entire planet.
A divine tool of legends that had the power to control the
'Just wait a bit, I'll bring you some friends. Of course… there are probably a lot of flies buzzing around you.'
—oooooong—
Precious artifacts were destined to have flies swarming around it.
Mainly, people who didn't know the true value behind them.
Hansoo looked at the Mjolnir in his hand and chuckled at the beings who were approaching them from a distance.
..................…
A woman asked a man in front of her:
"We just need to trust you, right?"
The man nodded.
"Yeah. Once we have that, we can turn things around. The Neropa Union will become a beacon of hope. That Sangjin guy told me this."
Sangjin, nicknamed the King of Hell.
The man laughed as he spoke the name of the man who'd led the army of the fallen.
Chapter 387: Flameless Land (1)
—kuooooooong—
A man was digging as he mentioned the name of the King of Hell.
"Yeah, that Sangjin told me all about it. He's not really the greatest friend of mine, but he wouldn't have lied. So don't worry. Everything is fine, alright?"
The girl, Erunheim, gritted her teeth as she listened to the man.
'Damn…I don't know how much I can trust him.'
Although they had allied due to unfortunate circumstances, and they did have quite a considerable amount of strength, she couldn't drop her guard.
They were from a different race after all.
Aliens.
Unlike her, who had to stay and die in this world, they were just passersby.
Since they were in a different situation, she didn't know what their true goals were either.
But she could only stay with this man and the other aliens.
Her situation wasn't good enough to just ignore them and walk away.
Her opponent was too strong.
'The Nell family… those damned bastards.'
Thinking of those guys, her old scars hurt.
The scars of that day when their nation had fallen to the invaders, and they were forced to escape with the other refugees.
'Soon. I will have… my revenge.'
The woman held onto her side as she frowned.
There was no way to beat them face-to-face.
So she had thrown away everything and escaped to this place.
And the Dragon God Armors, fleets, soldiers, and the factories.
All of these things.
They had stolen a bit here and there, but that was the limit.
To go against the Neropa Union and the Pompeion Empire that continuously pumped out fleets?
Suicide.
Of course, the gap between them was already large, and it was only growing larger.
So they needed something to change.
Even if they had to hold hands with the devil.
'Ha…'
Erunheim looked at the man before her eyes and said:
"Are you sure everything is going according to plan?"
The man shrugged.
"Didn't I tell you already? That's all we need. Why did you guys run here? It's because of that, right?"
—rumble—
Erunheim looked at the shining object in the depths and shut up.
'Right…'
The place the outsiders called the
They had tried multiple times to live in this place, but they always failed.
Because mysterious monsters roamed the depths of this place.
Of course, it wasn't a land of mystery because they couldn't deal with it using the Dragon God Armor or their fleet.
No, the exact opposite.
Although the monsters looked scary and were much stronger than normal people, they were still nothing in the face of the Flame's power.
The monsters simply melted before the Dragon God Soldiers and their fleet.
But there was another reason why they couldn't enter.
Because they couldn't use the power of the Flame inside here.
'Yeah…'
Erunheim looked to the depths again.
To the bright-red crystal.
Nobody knew what that palm-sized crystal was, where it came from, or what it was made of.
Since they had only found it by luck anyway.
But they were clear about one thing.
The crystal down there had the power to suppress the
No matter how powerful the force.
The area surrounding the small crystal, spanning a radius of 500 kilometers, could not use the power of the Flame.
That was how powerful it was.
Despite just being a tiny crystal.
It suppressed the
And they had been able to hide in Reyunion because of this.
Without that, either the Neropa Union's fleet or a Dragon Soldier would have long since killed them off.
In other words…
With that…
They wouldn't need to fear the nine fleets under the Neropa Union.
Nor their proud army of Dragon God Soldiers.
Since they were nothing more than hunks of metal without the Flame.
She would show them their strength.
'Yes… this is all we need.'
Erunheim glared at the tiny red crystal that refused to come out.
.......................
—rumble—
Kiriel shrugged as she stared at the people walking towards them.
Although they seemed like they had enhanced bodies, they were nothing more than normal people in her eyes.
And though they had weapons in their hand, they looked like normal weapons and not weapons that used the Flame.
'Pfft.'
Kiriel scoffed inwardly as she stared at the people who looked at them for a moment before quickly running away.
She had been worried about Dragon God Soldiers or the fleet ambushing them.
Despite how easily she could handle the Dragon God Soldiers, the fleet was a different story.
The power of the giant metal fortresses in the sky was nothing compared to the Dragon God Soldiers.
She was worried that they'd fly beneath the atmosphere to attack them, but it seems that wasn't the case.
R-Korun Nell's mumbles proved it all.
"Ugh… This cursed land. Makes me uneasy."
—clank—
—clank—
R-Korun Nell complained since his Dragon God Armor had turned into a piece of normal armor due to the absence of the Flame's power.
This is what he hated most about the trash dump.
Kiriel seemed to have realized something as she looked at R-Korun Nell and said to Hansoo:
"Anyway… It looks like most of us lived in this place before the barrier against the Abyss had been destroyed right?"
Hansoo nodded.
It was just as she said.
Outside this place, where the Flame's power still existed, normal adventurers couldn't beat the power of the Dragon God Soldiers and the fleet no matter what.
But it was different inside here.
Without the power of the Flame.
They were just like normal humans.
Although they were slightly stronger than normal humans because of their genetic and body modifications, they were still weak.
So most of the normal adventurers had stayed in here before the Abyss fell on them.
They had hunted the monsters that roamed around here and then climbed up after gathering enough runes.
Of course, the difficulty was extremely high since this place was the 6th Zone after all.
There were also a few other problems, but they didn't really matter much.
Since the people who had survived back then were the elites of elites working under Clementine.
'But… not anymore.'
Their goals were different so the way they acted should be different as well.
If their sole goal was survival, then, of course, things would be simpler.
They just needed to stick around in here for a bit, and then go up after killing some monsters.
But this wasn't good.
If they didn't handle this place, then the Nelkipa would sooner or later end up attacked.
What good would it do if the 6th Zone was safe when the 5th Zone was blocked off?
So they had to deal with this place.
Obtain the External Flame Divine Tool and then unite all the areas.
'…A simple change in the goal changes the enemy.'
Hansoo shrugged his shoulders as he thought of the Pompeion Empire and the Neropa Union.
He just needed to take things step by step.
Of course, it wasn't only their goals that had changed but their situations as well.
Since they weren't normal adventurers whose growth was limited by the wall but instead were Transcendents.
Of course, without strength, people couldn't go out from this place even if they wanted to.
They were stuck in this place.
But Transcendents were different.
3-Stars could fight with starships.
And 4-Stars could even fight against an entire fleet.
—kuduk—
Hansoo felt the hammer and the blue armor as he started to move.
"Let's go."
According to what he knew, this place was the outskirts of the
And the location of the divine tool was at the very center of the Flameless Land.
They needed to get there first.
Kiriel followed after Hansoo as she asked:
"Right… so are Clementine's underlings our current enemy?"
If the people of the Flame weren't a threat to them, then there were only two types of beings that could threaten them.
The monsters of the Abyss.
And Clementine's underlings.
Since the two were those who disliked them the most.
Hansoo shook his head.
"I need to look at the situation for a bit… It could be a bit different."
With a change in their objectives, the situation would change.
In other words, their objectives might change depending on the situation.
He had opened the barrier to the Abyss, and the others had gained the strength to roam outside the Flameless Land.
'Clementine… would not have picked the choice of sitting around.'
And if Clementine had picked the choice of escaping this tiny pen and escaping into the vast land past it…
Who would have taken over this leaderless place instead?
'This would be a good place to gain some strength.'
Hansoo thought, looking around the Flameless Land.
......................
—swooooosh!—
—kuaaaahhh!—
A head flew off from a blade.
And the beheaded existence made a grotesque noise as it fell to the ground.
But it was clear that its existence wasn't an ordinary one.
It should have left behind a corpse, but that existence quickly disappeared and melted away.
—ssssss—
A man picked up a crystal where the corpse should've been and smiled.
'Good. Very good.'
This was an amazing place to raise one's strength.
He was able to monopolize the Abyssal monsters that came out from the elevator with nobody to disturb him.
The people of Reyunion lacked the power to go against him, so he just needed to slowly hunt and raise his strength.
Even better since they treated him with the utmost respect.
He was living like a king.
But the man's expression turned dark.
There was only one reason why he was living this life.
Because those who truly deserved to live like kings had all left.
—crack!—
The man tightly clenched the crystal in his hand and thought:
'Those bastards… left to take over the Empire and Neropa Union. I could have as well. Sangjin… You aren't the only one who's so amazing and all that.'
As long as he could gain that mysterious object, he could leave as well.
The man headed towards the headquarters as he clenched his teeth.
'Let's see what news the scouts have.'
The people of Reyunion were weak, but they were numerous in number and had good communication methods, so they were useful as scouts.
The man thought of the scouts which he'd sent out in case the Transcendents came back and quickly started to move.
Chapter 388: Flameless Land (2)
—boooom!—
"There's too many weaklings around here."
Kiriel said with a shrug, smashing away the skull of an Abyssal monster.
Maybe it's because they were on the outskirts, but there were no humans here.
But there were quite a lot of others filling their spot.
—ssss—
Hansoo picked up the crystal left behind by the corpse and said to Kiriel:
"Maybe it's because people don't live here. They probably didn't clean this place up that well."
It was just as he said.
If the area where the humans lived and the area where the Abyssal monsters appeared were in the same place…
And there weren't enough humans to clean them all up…
It wouldn't be weird to find Abyssal monsters in a place where humans didn't exist.
'Or the opposite.'
But then—
—R-Korun Nell gave the answer.
"Dammit… Who would want to live in a place swarming with these things? Those pieces of trash… For them to let these things roam around here… The Neropa Union would never let this happen."
Hansoo nodded at R-Korun Nell.
Those words were correct as well.
They probably hadn't expanded their powers up to this point because of all these monsters.
But Kiriel shrugged her shoulders as she looked to the distance.
"Anyway… what shall we do about them? I'm not really into being stalked."
R-Korun Nell frowned at her question.
"… Is someone watching us? Since when?"
"Hmm. Ever since we arrived? They're pretending to run away but keep watching us from a distance."
"What the…"
R-Korun Nell was confused.
Why were these two ignoring those spies?
Intel was the most important thing in a battle.
No matter how large your force.
No matter how many talents you had.
If they didn't know what they were going against, but the enemy knew about them?
Their lives would be in danger.
That is the battlefield.
But these two were just leaving those spies alone.
"Why aren't you dealing with them?! You can easily kill them!"
R-Korun Nell asked.
He knew that this woman in front of him was a monster.
She could easily snipe those scouts that were dozens of kilometers away.
But Kiriel ignored R-Korun Nell and asked Hansoo:
"What shall we do?"
Hansoo shrugged his shoulders.
"Leave them alone. They're probably having a huge headache trying to figure out what to do with us."
'We'll see… what they really do.'
—kacha!—
Kyaaaak!
Hansoo stomped on an Abyssal monster that popped out from beneath the ground and thought.
These monsters weren't strong at all.
But this was more than enough to massacre the people of Reyunion who couldn't wield the Flame.
Which meant that there was a Transcendent who was fighting the Abyssal race alongside the people of Reyunion.
But if so, that brought up another question.
If the Transcendents existed, and they were in an alliance with the people of Reyunion, why were these monsters still roaming around freely?
The Transcendents could easily resolve this.
Which meant one thing.
'They aren't really on the friendliest terms. Let's see what happens.'
He just needed to do his own job.
—crunch!—
Hansoo smashed away another monster charging towards him and continued on his way, all while ignoring the scouts in the distance.
......................
"…More aliens?"
"Yes."
"Mmm…"
Erunheim frowned.
There were seven people with the same uniform standing by Erunheim.
Same uniforms, but each gave out a different impression.
The seven people, who despite wearing identical outfits, each radiated an aura that was vastly different from the rest.
But they still had some similarities between them.
First, they were all leaders of a family, a nation, a union, or a tribe.
Second, their forces had all been defeated, and they had been forced to escape to this place.
A man in the corner spoke out.
"Didn't they say that no more aliens would come up? Are you sure you checked properly?"
The scout nodded as he replied:
"They could easily smash apart the C-types with just their bare hands. Very, very easily."
"…Hmm."
Everyone fell silent.
'They lied… They told us that no more aliens would come up.'
Gacherat, the patriarch of the Hun family, thought to himself.
They didn't know the exact details concerning the aliens' situation.
They had no way of finding out detailed information about beings that could jump between dimensions.
But the aliens who held a certain power within their Reyunion territory had often shouted with confidence:
'Damned bastards…'
Gacherat gritted his teeth as he thought of their cocky attitudes.
Although his situation was grim at this moment, he was once a ruler of a vast territory.
His family also had fleets that could cut across the skies just as well as the Dragon God Soldiers.
The
But all of that did not matter in this place.
Since they couldn't use the Flame in here.
But ironically, they were able to keep their lives staying here while escaping from the eyes of the Neropa Union.
Instead, they placed their lives in the hands of those aliens, receiving their protection.
Without them, they had no way of dealing with the strange monsters crawling around this place.
They would be killed off in a month without the aliens.
But this made them feel more and more uneasy.
A relationship like this always ended with the destruction of one side.
Even more so if one side was as cocky and proud as those guys.
A few days ago, the aliens had almost dragged off a few of his family members into their beds.
If his daughter hadn't been a part of that group and he hadn't stepped up to beg for them, the aliens would have definitely taken them away.
'…Taking the crystal is one thing, but why must they do this? We have to deal with those guys.'
They didn't have a method until this point, but a new variable had just appeared.
And it was clear that Gacherat wasn't the only one with these thoughts as the other leaders within Reyunion nodded at each other.
Erunheim also seemed to have sensed this as she said:
"Let's approach them carefully. Do you all agree?"
Most of the other aliens were just killing off the monsters while enjoying alcohol and women in a specific location.
Which meant that if they blocked the eyes of the aliens, they would have no way of realizing that more aliens had appeared.
That would give them more than enough time to have a discussion.
'We don't know how strong the newcomers are, but…'
Even if they were weaker than the ones already in Reyunion, it didn't matter.
As long as they figured out a weak point or their relationships with other forces, it would give the people of Reyunion a huge advantage.
"Ugh… things were better before those guys left."
One person thought back to the day when the aliens had split up and left.
"No, we didn't have a shred of hope back then… But at least we have something now."
"Right…"
Everyone nodded.
A tiger could not be dealt with.
But a fox pretending to be a king after the tiger has left could be dealt with.
Soon—
—the leaders of Reyunion all split up and started sending messages to their families and people.
.........................
"So, nothing is happening?"
"Hmm… Well. Good."
Erunheim got annoyed at the man's casual attitude and said:
"Huh? I told them to deal with it, but I guess they didn't. Alright. I'll go over and deal with them properly today.>
<…>
Erunheim was at a loss at his response, and she clenched her teeth and turned off the screen.
The man scoffed as he looked to the person next to him.
"They're treating us like idiots, right?"
The man standing by the side nodded.
"Yes."
"Damned bastards."
The man scoffed.
Even monkeys knew about the importance of intel in a battle.
Why would they leave every eye and ear to those guys?
There was a reason why he didn't personally gather intel.
There was no need to.
—pazzzzk—
"Ugh…"
A body destroyed from torture.
The machinery parts inside his body had long been destroyed as well.
The man looked at the woman beneath him and chuckled.
"It really is a nice place. Nobody notices when a person disappears."
The reason they left some monsters alone wasn't because they were lazy.
But rather, it was convenient for them to exist.
'Even if a person disappears, we can just say the monsters killed them.'
Why would there be a reason for him to gather intel?
When he could just kidnap someone who already collected the intel?
"Let's see… Turn it on. You have something you saved up, right?"
"Ahh…"
The woman hurriedly moved her hands and activated the machine before her eyes.
Although it had a secure lock and the aliens couldn't even figure out how to use it.
Although she had received countless training for various tortures and had hardened her mind.
These guys were different.
'Beasts… Monsters…'
The scout, Kamel, hurriedly turned on the machine as she stared at the man who seemed to have crawled through hell.
Soon—
—chiiijijiik—
—the machine crackled as it played a video.
Displaying the clear faces of two men and a woman.
And the man's expression quickly changed at this sight.
Confusion at first.
To disbelief.
And then joy.
"Hahahaha! Nice! Kang Hansoo! You didn't go up? Hahahaha!"
'Sangjin, the man you spent so long searching for… he's right here!'
Although his body was different, how could one not know about Hansoo?
That blinding being.
The man laughed as he spoke to his underling.
"Focus on gathering the crystal! I need to go somewhere!"
—booom!—
Flames shrouded the man's body, and he disappeared.
Chapter 389: Flameless Land (3)
'It's been a while, but… it's really a sight.'
Hansoo continued to look around as he headed inwards.
At all the broken down Dragon God Armor.
At all the starships destroyed from the result of a hasty landing.
'It seems they really escaped in a hurry.'
The Reyunion's weapons.
Hansoo looked at the ships that had crashed due to the lack of the Flame's strength.
He'd never thought of going against the Flame in the past, so he had never cared about it, but he knew now.
As to how powerful the Flame's strength was.
A strength that was strong enough to go against the Transcendents who'd crossed the wall.
And that was still a small fraction in comparison to the true strength of the Flame sleeping inside the planet.
But inside this area, all of that strength was forbidden.
Because of the existence of the External Flame Divine Tool.
At first, no one knew who had created this tool.
There were no traces of the creator.
But Hansoo knew after going back into the past.
As to who'd shoved that Flame into this planet.
And who'd hidden the tool to control the Flame in this land.
'…Nerpa.'
The Nelkipa that orbited Angkara and that existence hidden inside the Nelkipa.
Hansoo could deduce many things looking at the Nerpa who'd gone off to Angkara the moment it woke up.
Of course, this didn't answer every question.
'Why is he coming here, though?'
Hansoo thought of the Kalkuroun Fleet that should be slowly approaching this place.
.....................
Inside the giant starship.
R-Koronaita Nell was dumbfounded as he listened to N-Aroel's words.
"You… you gave us the Flame?"
R-Koronaita Nell shouted out in rage.
"Don't lie! What kind of words are those?!"
Although they gave it the simple name of
It was not just a simple ball of flame.
The small sun that was sleeping inside the planet.
The
Everybody could see the red sun of their planet through the
It was the source of life for their planet, which had once been doomed to freeze to death after their previous sun had died out.
Giving their race the power to control the fleet and travel through the universe.
They only called it a
N-Aroel, the Nerpa, chuckled.
"Yeah? Then is it logical for a sun to stay trapped within a tiny planet? To release that kind of energy without control, you guys clearly know that it should've long since reduced your entire planet into a blazing ball of flames."
"…Ugh."
R-Koronaita Nell fell silent.
Those words were correct.
That was a question that no researcher on Angkara could answer.
A ball of energy trapped within their planet that should've been tens of thousands of times larger than what it appeared.
Maintaining a very calm state that wasn't causing any harm to their planet that surrounded it like a thin shell.
Very illogical indeed.
The Nerpa chuckled towards Angkara that had now appeared before his eyes.
'I didn't know this would happen.'
The
They had stepped out and bestowed the
Although it wasn't as big as the original sun, the Nerpa had dug out the insides of that giant planet—which was already many times larger than a normal planet—and placed the
When his race had been in their prime, something like that wasn't difficult nor was it a problem.
But not anymore.
The simple gift that they had given away was now his only hope.
A flame that they had given to save the dying race.
The beings of this planet didn't have the right to complain if he were to take it away.
'It's a bit childish to give something and then take it back, but what else can I do… Anyway, where do I even start?'
The Nerpa frowned.
A chaotic planet.
The only toy he had was a fleet, which had a few ships he couldn't even use anymore—their engines had overloaded when he destroyed the crystal.
Although this was more than enough to destroy countless cities and shake an entire nation, that was not enough to go against his enemies.
According to N-Aroel's memories, his enemies had built their entire civilization from the
They would struggle with every last ounce of their strength to not lose the Flame, which meant that he would have to go against the entire planet.
'It would've been easier if I had the Nelkipa… tsk.'
He missed his stolen body and Nelkipa at this point.
With the Nelkipa, he could easily erase their entire civilization within a day and take over Angkara.
At least he had stopped Melchizedek and the aliens from taking it over.
'The fastest way to control the Flame is acquiring the controller.'
If he could take the three controllers spread around the planet, then he would be able to control the Flame as a whole.
Game over.
Although he didn't have his blue armor or his powerful body, the power to control the Flame was embedded deep inside his soul.
He would gain the chance to stand up again.
'It seems our savior has failed… I must at least try to save our fallen race.'
The Nerpa thought back to the man who'd left with a heavy burden on his shoulders.
........................
While the Nerpa was heading towards Angkara.
Hansoo was also heading towards his destination.
—boom!—
Hansoo smacked away another Abyssal monster and then chuckled at the aura he could feel around him.
'What to do…'
He couldn't see them because they were so far away, but he could clearly feel them.
The people who were watching him from the distance.
Despite seeing his group for the first time and to still maintain their distance like that, it meant that they knew about Transcendents and how strong they were.
'They're used to Transcendents.'
He could also deduce another thing.
That the Transcendents inside here were around the 3-Star level.
If they felt that Hansoo's power was that of a 2-Star Transcendent, then they wouldn't be keeping such a long distance from them.
'At least a 3-Star… hmm.'
He didn't know how many there were, but they weren't weaklings.
As Hansoo looked into the distance—
—kuoooo!—
—an aura quickly approached them from the far distance.
And Kiriel said softly to Hansoo as she felt this:
"Not quite gentle, huh?"
"Right."
The being was approaching them at an incredible speed.
Although the vehicles of Reyunion were easily moving at a speed above 300 km per hour even without the Flame, the mysterious Transcendent easily left those vehicles in the dust as they approached Hansoo's group.
The meteor-like being crossed multiple kilometers in an instant and soon arrived before them.
—boom!—
The man smiled as he looked at Hansoo and said in greeting:
"Long time no see, Mr. Hansoo. I'm called John Stone."
'…Who? I've never seen him before.'
Hansoo was confused.
But John Stone whistled as he looked at Hansoo.
'The world really got much better, huh?'
Hansoo was a being who was so powerful that he couldn't even imagine his strength in the past.
With a power so overbearing that being on the same floor as him was unbelievable.
He shone even more because he used that strength to fight at the very front lines.
Achieving things nobody could even dream of.
Back then, he'd thought that Hansoo was mankind's savior.
Until he turned the world upside down and disappeared two years ago.
'Well, I've gotten much stronger thanks to you.'
He'd managed to quickly rise up to the 6th Zone and gained a tremendous amount of strength.
Although Hansoo was stronger than him, he was still confident.
Intel was more important than strength.
The reason why Hansoo had been able to lead them was not just because of his strength, but mainly because he knew what to do.
But not anymore.
He wouldn't know anything since he'd just come up.
It wasn't Hansoo that was setting up the playing field anymore but him instead.
'Good. Good.'
"Do you know what's going on around here?"
Hansoo chuckled as he looked at the confident John Stone.
'I can already guess where your confidence comes from, but… things won't play out the way you want.'
Information was important indeed.
If he was going to speak on his own, then there was no reason to refuse.
John Stone giggled as he said:
"You wouldn't. If you did… you wouldn't be this carefree after knowing that the man you raised has already betrayed you…"
'Heheh.'
John Stone smiled.
.........................
'Tsk. I knew this would happen. They're already swarming around them.'
The Nerpa was at a loss as he looked at the data from inside the Kalkuroun Fleet.
They had left behind three controllers.
But flies had already gathered around two of them.
Especially large flies.
'One… is the Neropa Union. Another is the Pompeion Empire… I see.'
He'd been initially surprised because the technology should've been beyond their comprehension, but it looks like they'd solved a part of it.
That was probably the reason why the two forces had been able to crush all others.
Because they had a secret weapon that the others didn't.
'I guess this fleet would be nowhere enough.'
The Nerpa pondered for a moment and then changed his destination.
'The last one should be easy. The flies around it seem weak enough.'
—ooooong—
The fleet started to move again.
Towards the Reyunion's territory.
The Flameless Land.
Chapter 390: Flameless Land (4)
"A betrayal."
John Stone chuckled at Hansoo's words.
"Yeah. He's playing at being friends with the people of this place. Even though I've been trying to persuade him to work for our kind."
John Stone pointed to the area behind him.
"Here are a few of my forces. I built them after everyone else left. Ah, they're coming now."
From the direction that John Stone pointed at—
—rumble—
—a few armed vehicles, running on ancient fuel, were making loud noises and emitting black smoke as they approached Hansoo's group.
Despite using ancient fuels, the technology used to create them was very advanced, so they moved at swift speed. Soon, the vehicles had reached their party.
…brrr…
Dozens of vehicles stopped by Hansoo and John Stone as hundreds of people started to disembark from the vehicles.
People with ancient weapons.
And John Stone waved to them with a laugh.
"Haha. You came?"
"… I don't even know how you found out."
John Stone chuckled at Erunheim's words.
"My own race came up, so how could I ignore them? I should be the first to greet them."
Although the word 'race' was a bit awkward…
It was the correct term to use in the current situation since they were messing around with another race all while jumping around multiple dimensions.
John Stone smiled.
And Erunheim frowned at this sight.
'What a snake…'
Despite their scouts' extreme wariness of the alien's territory, a few of them had been kidnapped from time to time.
She had been wondering about these incidents, but it seems that her worries weren't unprecedented.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for John Stone and the other aliens to find this exact location in the vast territory of Reyunion.
John Stone looked at Erunheim's expression in contentment and then looked at Hansoo again.
'With him here… he'd be of great assistance.'
Although he acted proudly before Erunheim's forces, Sangjin was someone he couldn't even dream of going against.
As well as any others on the same level as Sangjin.
Even if he got the crystal that could suppress the Flame, what good would that be against his own race?
Yes, it would make it easier for him to go against the Neropa Union or the Pompeion Empire, but he needed a different kind of strength to go against another Transcendent.
'I can't go up anyway, so… I need to make this place my own land.'
Going up would be a stretch.
He needed to figure out a way to make this place, the 6th Zone, his home.
An unshakable home of this own.
Of course, some might think of John Stone as weird.
They could go up at any time through the elevator, but there was a reason that they were sticking around the Neropa Union and the Pompeion Empire.
They could just hunt around here for a bit and then go up.
But no.
The road upwards had long been blocked.
'Damned bastards…'
John Stone frowned as he thought of the final words of those who'd gone up to the 7th Zone.
Although it annoyed him, their words were correct, and he did agree with them.
He'd climbed up here wanting to become the best, but there was always a higher mountain.
The people who had gone up had formed an alliance to crush anyone who tried to go up after them.
It was too dangerous for him to go through them.
Of course, why would he need to go?
He could just get the crystal and take over the 6th Zone.
It wouldn't be impossible if he had the crystal—he could use it to deal with those weak to the crystal, and then use strength to deal with everyone else.
'And this person… would be of great help in dealing with them.'
The more shields he had, the better.
He had to drag Hansoo over to his side no matter what.
John Stone thought of Sangjin as he spoke to Hansoo.
"Sangjin gave up on going up and allied with another nation. Despite me telling him to stay here and help the people coming up after."
John Stone pointed to the people behind him.
It wasn't a lie.
These people had barely succeeded in coming up from below.
Although a lot of survivors were spread around the continent and throughout the entire 6th Zone, these were the people who had decided to stay and increase their strength.
This was a safe place to raise their strength, and they also had the people of Reyunion working as their slaves.
'Not bad at all.'
He was the leader here and could provide Hansoo with everything he wanted or desired.
And this man was someone who struggled to save mankind.
There would be no reason for him to collide against Reyunion, a place made to protect their kind.
John Stone continued to speak.
"But it's really not easy. The people who originally lived here continue to crawl back out of curiosity… Everyone who had the strength to help left on their own. We need someone as strong as you. Stay with us."
Hansoo didn't reply to that question, but rather asked another question:
"I'm curious about something else. So he left for another nation?"
John Stone nodded.
"Yes, the Pompeion Nation."
"Hmm."
The expressions of Erunheim and the other people of Reyunion turned dark.
John Stone continued to speak as he observed the looks on their faces.
"I don't know where he is or what he's doing—we're struggling this hard, but he ran off alone."
"Struggle?"
John Stone nodded again.
"Yeah, we're trying to dig something up."
'I can't hide that thing anyway.'
Even if he tried to hide it, the noisy people around him would spill the details in the end.
About the powers of the crystal.
If that was the case, it was better to drag this guy in and quickly finish the job.
Since the job would become much easier with Hansoo's help.
'He wouldn't try to force things anyway.'
John Stone thought of the stories he'd heard about the Hansoo of the past.
And Hansoo only sighed inwardly as he looked at John Stone.
'…Are there only people like him left around here?
He'd figured out that something had happened because of the lack of aggression up here.
But this was too much of a disappointment.
This was the limit of people surrounding the core location, the elevator.
Of course, the man before him had gathered some forces.
A few 3-Star Transcendents were present, and there were quite a lot of people from Reyunion as well.
If he could absorb all this strength, it would be quite useful.
But this was not what he expected.
Hansoo looked around.
'What the hell have you done up until now?'
This was nowhere close to what he'd anticipated.
He had hoped that stronger people would've been around here.
Even if they were fighting.
But there was nothing here.
Clementine's forces had long left this place.
And his old comrades had left too.
But this place was a strategic point.
If they hadn't chosen to protect this location, there would be a reason for that.
A reason that forced them to leave.
'It seems the place up there has truly become chaotic… I need to deal with these kids first.,'
Hansoo looked at the man who was standing before him without a single shred of fear.
It seemed that John thought his words had sounded enticing and was feeling confident about his offer, but that was not the case.
Hansoo really wasn't feeling so great right now.
Then—
'What the hell?'
—as he looked at Hansoo's eyes…
John Stone felt a sense of danger as he slowly backed away.
......................
—rumble—
The top of a giant tower that rose up to the clouds.
A beautiful terrace was located at the top of this tower.
—chiiiing—
Inside the translucent barrier that blocked the powerful winds from outside.
A man sat as he looked at the scenery below.
"A good sight."
—rumble—
The man looked down as he mumbled.
The hundreds of ships that covered the sky.
The countless skyscrapers that filled the space between them.
And the light of the
Within the entire planet of Angkara, there was only one man who could look down at all of this.
The Emperor.
The epitome of authority within the Pompeion Empire.
The man who controlled the
And inside the terrace where only the Emperor was permitted, a few others were standing.
Three men and two women.
But one man stood out.
Because while two of the men and the two women radiated a violet aura, only one man radiated a natural color.
Showing that he was truly alive.
Emperor Pompeion spoke to that man.
Towards the man who held a heavy atmosphere.
"I thank you again for your efforts. And also… don't you miss your old comrades?"
At Pompeion's curious words—
—the man, Sangjin, spoke with a heavy tone:
"…No. The situation has changed after all."
Pompeion nodded.
"Right. You're already quite burdened with your current duties. But… I hope you can try a bit harder. That is the only way for you to acquire what you desire. And what I desire."
Sangjin nodded.
Chapter 391: Flameless Land (5)
"What happened?"
"That…"
As John Stone flinched at the overbearing aura that Hansoo was emitting—
—Erunheim replied besides them.
"Are you talking about Clementine's forces?"
"I don't care who. Why are there only these guys here?"
A lot of thoughts flashed through Erunheim's head at his words.
'…Is this man not interested in John Stone at all?'
It seemed like this man was quite a powerful person.
Even John Stone, who was always acting so proud and cocky, was staying silent due to the aura Hansoo was emitting.
Which meant that this man was much more powerful than what they'd expected.
They had thought that he would be weaker than John Stone because he had just come up from below, but it seems their predictions had been wrong.
Which meant that they had to take advantage of this situation.
'How can I convince him to help us…?'
They needed someone to go against John Stone, so she was worried that they might join forces.
John Stone alone was hard enough, but if someone who even John Stone was afraid of joined forces with him, then they would lose all hope.
But it seems John Stone and Hansoo weren't at all friendly with each other.
They needed to turn the situation in their favor.
"It's a long story. Why don't we—"
As Erunheim organized her thoughts and started to speak—
—Hansoo shook his head as he looked at her expression.
"There are too many foxes here."
Ten.
—boom!—
A terrifying aura exploded out from Hansoo and suppressed their entire surroundings.
"Ugh…"
"Huek!"
Erunheim and her guards all froze.
And John Stone made a defensive posture while groaning.
'…So suddenly?'
And unlike what John Stone had feared—
—Hansoo just spoke to Kiriel behind him.
"Kiriel. I'll leave it to you."
"Yes."
—ooooooong—
Kiriel walked up to Erunheim and then placed her hands on her forehead.
And soon—
—all the memories contained in Erunheim's body started flowing out and entering Kiriel's head.
.........................
'This lady has lived a hard life as well.'
Kiriel thought as she continued to read through Erunheim's memories.
She sucked the fragmented memories of Erunheim after her escape to this place into her mind, reorganizing them to play through like a movie.
Escaping with the remaining forces of a nation destroyed by the Neropa Union and fleeing to this Flameless Land.
The monsters attacking from the insides of this place.
Joining the forces of Reyunion and meeting the aliens who lived in this place.
Kiriel knew that this was the most important part.
'Let's see. This was before the Abyss fell… Are those guys Clementine's allies?'
Kiriel froze as she looked at the memory.
They didn't seem like Clementine's forces.
A few people shone within the memories of Erunheim.
The handsome man called Keldian who was voicing his opinions.
The man who agreed with Keldian called Kangtae.
And a beautiful woman listening to their words with a serious expression.
'Her name is… Eres? What a beauty.'
But there was someone who shone even more brightly than these people.
A man who was smiling from the back.
'…I can't see him clearly.'
The appearance of that man was very blurry for some reason.
It didn't seem like Erunheim had focused much attention on him.
Since this memory was showing that Keldian and the others wanted to leave.
The expressions of Erunheim and the leaders of Reyunion were grim.
They were in a very grim situation.
The Neropa Union terrorized them outside the Flameless Land.
But staying inside, they could not defeat the monsters without these people.
The expressions of Keldian and a few others froze at the naggings of these people, while Eres and a few others couldn't seem to ignore their pleas.
Of course.
The difficulty continued to rise as they went up.
And the issue of internal conflict existed.
Reyunion's main forces comprised of Eres's people— the others wanted to either kill off the people of Reyunion or turn them into slaves.
They just stayed silent because Eres was too powerful.
But if they all left, the people of Reyunion would all be reduced to become slaves.
And not only that.
If they blocked this place off, then those coming up after them would be in danger.
But to go up after leaving behind a few forces here, the situation above would be too grim.
But at that moment—
—someone spoke.
.
A few others spoke out to remain.
And Eres and the others decided to go up after leaving the rest to these people.
Erunheim's uneasiness was clearly palpable.
At the remaining forces who didn't seem powerful enough to deal with the monsters.
But fighting against their choices would only lead to their deaths.
So Erunheim and the other leaders stayed silent.
But the moment Eres and the others left, the situation changed.
Towards a completely different direction.
And all the forces gathered under the two people who remained to protect them.
But of course, the peace didn't last long.
Everyone turned grim at the events that happened afterward.
And with those words, all the other aliens pretending to be in opposing forces all gathered to the center.
Of course, Reyunion's territory had turned into a mess.
After all, rather than hunting the monsters all around them, the aliens had gathered in that place instead. There was nobody else to block the monsters.
Although they were able to hold on to some degree with their mechanical weapons, it did not solve the core issue.
After the deaths of tens of millions of people in Reyunion, Erunheim and the others suppressed their fears and went to the aliens.
But then—
—their cold expressions were still very clear within Erunheim's memories.
<…>
Erunheim clenched her teeth and backed off.
Their words were right.
Erunheim decided to be thankful that it hadn't ended in a massacre as she gathered up the other leaders of Reyunion, quickly forming a defensive line to push back the monsters.
Thankfully, the forces of monsters had diminished quite a bit after the aliens hunted them down to increase their own strength.
Because they had struggled so hard to protect their territory, they had formed a decent line of defense.
Of course, it didn't last long.
Three months.
It only took three months for their world to be flipped upside down.
A strange elevator slammed down from the sky and onto the center of their territory.
And even more powerful monsters started to crawl out from that elevator.
If they could fight the previous monsters with mechanical weapons.
Then only the power of the Flame could deal with these new monsters.
If the aliens hadn't been shocked at the sudden appearance of these monsters and hadn't immediately hunted them down, then all the remaining people in Reyunion would've been killed off within a month.
And everything continued to be chaotic after that.
New aliens continued to rise up.
And they had survived in the small gap created between the battles of the original aliens and the new aliens.
The past two years was chaos in itself.
But there was a force that shone even brighter than the others within those years.
The man who rose up quickly while Clementine's forces had been distracted.
The man who had become strong enough to push back Clementine's forces.
Kiriel exclaimed out loud after she finished with the memories of what Erunheim had gone through.
"Woah…!"
'Amazing. Was that person Sangjin?'
Kiriel thought to herself, deducing the identity of the man, the enemy of John Stone.
In Erunheim's memories.
Clementine's forces were running away to the elevator.
But her expression turned grim.
She heard the final words of Clementine's forces as they left.
'They couldn't take it?'
Kiriel was at a loss.
Sangjin's forces had succeeded in pushing away Clementine's forces—why did they hand over this place to John Stone and then just leave?
.........................
"Haa…Haa… I wonder what's going on above?"
A man looked up as he used the light from his reinforcement skill to get rid of the darkness around the small crystal.
—chiiiiik—
'Making me feel uneasy…'
The man frowned at the strange sight of the darkness being tied down to a specific location.
If this darkness did not exist, he would have long taken away this crystal.
But this darkness was clinging onto the crystal.
Like they were holding it down so it wouldn't escape.
And the fact that the area outside the dark half-kilometer radius around the crystal was extremely bright.
"Stop spouting nonsense and focus on digging. It seems we've almost finished digging it out."
—chiiiik—
Just as that voice had said.
The shadows that were holding the crystal down had mostly been destroyed.
They just needed to take this crystal up.
'John Stone will deal with it well.'
—chiiiiik—
The man focused on cutting apart the shadows again.
Chapter 392: Flameless Land (6)
Kiriel decided to go even deeper into the memory.
'Let's see what happened.'
Kiriel focused as she started to read the memory after Clementine's forces had left.
...............…
Erunheim's memories continued.
After Clementine's forces had gone up.
This place was at peace for a short while.
Sangjin had succeeded in controlling the territory of Reyunion with his abilities.
And none of the Transcendents could do anything while he was there.
But one day.
After going into the place where Clementine's forces had been digging at.
The peaceful days had ended.
At Sangjin's words, all the aliens had gathered for a meeting.
Erunheim didn't know about the contents of that meeting.
But one thing was clear.
Everything changed after that day.
And Sangjin left after that.
Towards the Pompeion Empire to the south of Reyunion's territory.
And Erunheim couldn't figure out the reason behind Sangjin's parting words.
After that meeting.
Some stayed.
Some went to the Pompeion Empire with Sangjin.
Some went to the Neropa Union.
Erunheim didn't know what they were all thinking, but one thing was clear.
They each had different plans and had decided to split up.
The Transcendents had all left.
And she never saw them again.
..............................
'Mmm…This is how things happened? Mmm… I wondered how someone like this had taken over this place.'
—kiiiiing—
Kiriel nodded as she returned from the memories.
Of course, John Stone wasn't weak in any sense.
John Stone was by far the strongest out of everyone who had decided to stay, and he was a decent leader.
If not, he wouldn't have been able to reach this level.
After all, Kiriel didn't have any confidence that she could beat John Stone in a fight.
'He's strong… He's strong indeed.'
Kiriel mumbled as she looked at the aura John Stone was radiating.
He was strong.
Although they were all at the 3-Star level, John Stone had stayed here and continued to increase his strength after all.
Of course, he was still lacking in comparison to those who had left.
From Erunheim's memories, there were at least twenty people who looked stronger than John Stone right now.
And this was only what Erunheim saw.
If they hadn't all left, John Stone would've never been able to take over this place.
"…That is what happened."
"Ugh…"
John Stone gritted his teeth at Kiriel who bluntly explained everything she saw to Hansoo.
It was all true, but it made him seem very incompetent.
'Damned b****…'
Who was it that prettied up this place like this?
Of course, Hansoo didn't care for John Stone's thoughts as he made his decision.
'I should go check inside.'
The thing that Clementine's forces had wanted to dig out was definitely the controller he was looking for.
The object that was the reason this place was called the Flameless Land.
But there was something strange.
Two years was not a short time.
No matter how well-hidden the External Flame Divine Tool, or whether other things had gotten in their way of digging it out, two years was more than enough time to accomplish their goals.
But Clementine's forces had relinquished it and gone up instead.
And an even stranger thing was Sangjin and the other people's actions.
Sangjin had checked the insides and had left afterwards.
There was a reason for this.
And he needed to check it out.
"Which direction?"
"This way."
As Hansoo looked to the direction Kiriel pointed to—
—John Stone knew instinctively.
That these people were aiming for the same thing as him.
These guys shouldn't know anything since they'd just come up, but every single one of John Stone's instinct was crying out in danger.
He sensed it.
That these people were going for the object hidden deep within this place.
The object that was supposed to be his.
"No!"
—boooom!—
John Stone's aura exploded outwards along with a shout.
His entire body burned up in dark red flames.
'No! Do you know how much I've struggled for that?!'
Flames spewed out from John Stone's eyes.
John Stone's trait.
Berserk Mode.
It was a very simple trait, but there was nothing as good as a trait like this when it came to a battle.
A rage that burned the second he felt danger from his opponent.
It was similar to Enbi Arin's Tainted Emotion, but there were clear differences.
Unlike Enbi Arin's trait, which only raised two stats depending on the emotion, John Stone's trait increased all his stats through either rage or fear.
The downside was… his decision-making skills and sanity became very clouded.
'No!'
As his Berserk Mode activated—
—the fear he felt towards Hansoo started to wash away.
And rage replaced it all.
"Kuaaaaap!"
—whoooosh!—
The giant axe on John Stone's back rose up along with his Berserk Mode.
The monster that appeared on the 6th Zone.
An axe created from a monster that was famous for its hard exoskeleton, the Atantael.
The blade was created by sharpening its exoskeleton and its handle was made from its bones.
The axe, which played a huge part in helping John Stone rise up to his current position, flew towards Hansoo's neck.
—swoooosh!—
Kiriel looked at the axe and thought to herself:
'…Brute.'
Her trait, Psychometry, was amazing in a sense that it allowed her to quickly become stronger and gave her a lot of answers.
But it was still lacking in a battle.
In the end, she felt that it would be difficult for her to deal with this brute currently charging towards Hansoo.
But Kiriel just looked around in boredom.
'I guess everyone has their own job.'
She just needed to do her own.
But Hansoo acted outside her expectations.
The moment Hansoo saw John Stone charging towards him, he spoke to Kiriel.
"Let's go."
"Huh?"
'You aren't going to kill him off?'
Kiriel was confused, but her actions were still very quick.
Even before the axe got anywhere close to them.
—kiiiing!—
Clouds appeared from Kiriel's body and covered their bodies.
Then—
—whoooosh!—
—the axe started to cut apart the clouds.
"Hahahahaha…hah?"
John Stone's expression turned dark as he cut through the clouds.
'I don't feel like anything got cut…?'
And then—
—John Stone focused on the insides of the cloud where Hansoo and the woman should've been at.
"What the… Where did they go? Uaaaahh!"
John Stone, who was still in his Berserk Mode, shouted in rage as he looked at the empty land before him.
........................
—charrrrk—
Above the depths.
White clouds started to appear above the hole.
Then—
—whooosh—
The clouds disappeared, revealing the figures of Hansoo and Kiriel.
"Nice… We really arrived!"
Kiriel exclaimed out loud at her newly learned skill.
She had read about the skill's explanations but using it was a whole other sensation.
The depths that she'd seen in Erunheim's memories was in front of them.
Hansoo asked Kiriel:
"How are you?"
He was asking about her status.
Kiriel looked at her body and replied:
"There seems to be a lot of limitations. It drains a lot of my stamina and… I don't think we can use it as a means of escape."
A new skill.
She realized after using it.
One could move with no restrictions to distance, and once the skill was activated, they would become untargetable until it ended.
But there were a lot of limitations.
The biggest one was the user's beliefs during a battle.
If one used the skill because they decided they couldn't win in the battle, then the skill would not activate.
It only activated because she believed Hansoo could still win.
If she were alone, the skill would've never activated.
'What a petty fairy. Should at least allow me to run away with it.'
Of course, running away wasn't the best option, but knowing that one had a means of escape would allow them to fight with more confidence.
But Hansoo chuckled.
"Well, it has a good synergy with your trait."
"…Right."
Kiriel nodded.
Cloudy Movement.
This meant that to Kiriel, who could read memories, it had a great deal of synergy.
She had brought herself and Hansoo here using the memories of Erunheim.
'It'll be very useful.'
Kiriel then asked Hansoo:
"Anyway, why did you want to come here right away?"
'Instead of beating him.'
Kiriel didn't voice her whole opinion.
It made her sound too blunt.
Hansoo looked down into the depths and said:
"I felt like we needed to come here quickly."
When he heard the memories that Kiriel read…
Hansoo felt that something was amiss.
A feeling that urged him to hurry.
If he had engaged in battle, then he would've had to fight John Stone and everyone else who followed afterward.
'It…It doesn't feel quite right.'
And he realized it as he looked down.
As to what was making him feel this uneasy.
The darkness that had almost separated from the crystal.
The adventurers who had been cutting away the darkness then shouted at Hansoo.
"Huh? Who are you guys?"
"This place is off-limits?"
Hansoo looked around the crystal, the people around it and then turned towards Kiriel.
"Let's go in."
"Yes."
His goal was right before his eyes.
These brats weren't his opponents at all.
After speaking to Kiriel, Hansoo jumped into the depths.
Towards the crystal that was being tied down by the darkness.
Chapter 393: Owner of the crystal (1)
—whoooosh!—
Just as Hansoo arrived—
—chaos occurred beneath.
"Who are you?"
—tatatatak!—
A few people quickly approached them and asked.
And Hansoo replied:
"John Stone sent us. To see the progress."
There was no need to fight unnecessary fights.
He only needed to figure out the situation down here.
And more than anything else…
'Feels like I shouldn't fight in there.'
—sssss—
Hansoo thought as he looked at the strange darkness.
He didn't know if it was because of the controller or because of something else, but it was hard to see inside the darkness.
He would be able to check after he went in there but causing a wreck here didn't seem like the best option.
Hansoo decided to trust in his instincts from his years in the Abyss and just scout things out.
"Let's hurry up and go down. We need to check on the crystal."
"...Sure?"
The doubtful expressions on the other people remained as they started to move downwards.
"Come."
—whoooosh!—
Hansoo and a few other Transcendents started to make their way down.
But they didn't go all the way down.
—tatatak!—
The Transcendents stopped part way through to tie themselves onto their original posts, cutting away at the darkness again. They said:
"We'll remain here and finish up our job, so go down and speak to Ban Gipson. The crystal is under his jurisdiction."
And with those words—
—whoooosh!—
—Hansoo and Kiriel quickly descended away from the others.
While dropping down, they passed by quite a large number of Transcendents.
Every single one of them had tied themselves onto a part of the wall and were cutting away at the darkness.
—clang!—
—kacha!—
Not a single normal adventurer was among them.
All these Transcendents were using their respective reinforcements and skills to cut away the darkness.
But the darkness was so durable and strong that they barely made a dent despite the countless attacks.
"Damn…'
One Transcendent gathered his strength and slammed down onto a long strand of darkness.
—boom!—
The thin strand of darkness snapped.
—kuooooong!—
The strand of darkness made a strange sound as it squirmed violently.
Not only the snapped strand, but every single bit of darkness around it as well.
And every time that strand moved, the darkness that squirmed along with it threatened the light around them.
The expressions of the the Transcendents turned dark.
It was a sight that was hard to get used to no matter how many times they witnessed it.
These damned strands were already hard to cut off, but even after being cut, they still caused a scene like this.
But they could not stop.
Since they all knew how John Stone would treat them if they stopped.
John Stone was a good leader, but once angered, it was very hard to restrain him.
'Ugh, I hope he doesn't get angry.'
A few people trembled at this thought and continued to cut away at the darkness.
And Kiriel looked at these people with an uncomfortable expression.
"This… This place feels a bit murky, right?"
The darkness around them was crying out in alarm.
The 1 and 2-Star Transcendents didn't seem like they could feel it, but…
She, a 3-Star Transcendent, could feel it clearly.
Something that seeped out from the dark depths—something that made her feel uncomfortable.
'I don't really want to touch any of this.'
Kiriel debated whether to put her hand into the darkness, but realized that they were quickly approaching the floor and prepared to land.
—tatak!—
Hansoo and Kiriel landed lightly on the floor.
And before their eyes—
—booom!—
—they saw a few people in the middle of working, all letting out an aura that was countless times stronger than that of the people they had seen on the way down.
—tonk! tonk!—
The strands of darkness that 1 and 2-Star Transcendents took countless hits to snap—the people were cutting them away with each swing of their weapons.
Of course, they weren't cutting away multiple strands per swing but thinking about how strong the strands were, they were significantly faster.
But their eyes were clearly drawn to something else.
A tiny crystal.
The tiny crystal that was shining brightly amidst the darkness drew Kiriel's attention.
'The strands… They're all attracted to this place, right?'
The strands of darkness were all gathering onto the crystal.
And this is what Clementine and Sangjin had probably seen.
The item that Hansoo was also looking for.
'Well, this was easier than I expected.'
He looked around at the people working calmly and then started to walk in.
He felt like he needed to check the crystal first before looking at the darkness around it.
But at that moment—
"A cockroach crawled in."
—a man chuckled as he looked at Kiriel and Hansoo.
Hansoo looked at the man and said:
"John Stone sent us. We've confirmed it above already."
The man continued to chuckle.
"That's so you guys won't run away, you dumb bastards."
The ones above hadn't sent them in because they were stupid.
They already knew that these people were trespassers.
But there was a reason why they had let these two pass.
So that they wouldn't run away.
'Heheheh.'
He didn't know everyone under John Stone.
But he knew one thing.
The people who could come down here were a limited few.
John Stone made it hard for anyone he didn't trust to even approach that precious item.
This had caused this project to slow down quite a bit, but it did have a lot of advantages as well.
Since they would know the moment someone tried to trespass.
"There's always people like you. Curious for what's going on inside and crawling inside… Well, it's good for us."
He was used to this.
There were always countless cockroaches around.
They actually liked those kinds of people.
This was one of the few methods of stress relief for those who spent all day digging these mysterious strands of darkness.
"Let's start by… beating you halfway to death first."
As the man mumbled—
—boooom!—
—countless skills started flying towards the two from the darkness.
......…
—boooom!—
—boom!—
The darkness started to brighten up from the countless skills.
And Kiriel frowned as she blocked away the attacks with her fang.
'Easy.'
Every single one of them were Transcendents.
Most were 1-Stars or 2-Stars, but there were some who stood out more than the others.
They were either slightly weaker than her or even on the same level as her.
Meaning that they were at the 3-Star level.
—rumble!—
Although they aimed most of their attacks at Hansoo, there were a few flying her way as well.
'Look at that bastard.'
—tonk!—
Kiriel deflected an attack that flung her back, grasping her injured wrist as she looked at the man sending skills flying her way.
A man who smiled maniacally as he focused all his attacks on her.
He was only aiming for her, all while scanning her face and body.
Ignoring Hansoo completely.
Kiriel frowned as she swung her fang.
—whooosh!—
Red clouds started pouring out from Hansoo's body.
'End this quickly.'
The red clouds covered the dark area and expanded at a tremendous speed.
"Ahh… uaaaahhh! What is this?!"
"Kuaaaap!"
Screams echoed out from all directions.
'Wha—what the hell is this!?'
The man, Ban Gipson, screamed inwardly as he looked at the red clouds that was gnawing away at his body.
Reinforcement, mana, and weapon.
The red smoke devoured everything.
And the ones who rolled around the floor screaming only lasted for a bit before they fell silent.
The only ones remaining were himself and four other 3-Star Transcendents.
And towards them—
—whoooosh!—
—the terrifying sound of something approaching echoed forth.
'F***!'
Even before Ban Gipson could fully respond—
—boooom!—
—a large hammer flew and slammed into Ban Gipson.
"Kuaa…aaaap!"
—boom!—
The Transcendents looked at Ban Gipson who had been sent flying and flinched.
Ban Gipson was their leader.
Although there was only a tiny gap of difference in terms of strength, he was still the strongest out of all of them.
And for such a person to be sent away from a single strike.
'Even John Stone isn't that strong…'
But one of the men looked at Hansoo as his expression turned into one of disbelief.
A very familiar face was visible between the blue armor.
"What the… Kang Hansoo!"
And everyone else flinched as they heard the man's shout.
Why bring up that name here?
Hansoo ignored them as he continued to walk forwards, saying to Kiriel.
"This doesn't feel quite right. I'll deal with them so read the memories here."
Kiriel nodded.
As they started fighting, the darkness started to tremble.
As if something was trying to wake up from the external stimulus they were causing.
"Dammit… Arrgh!"
"Haa!"
Leaving the three Transcendents and Hansoo behind, she quickly started to read the memories.
And soon—
—the memories of the area around the crystal swiftly entered her mind.
From the moment Clementine's forces found the crystal.
To when Sangjin had entered here.
And from when John Stone started to work on this place and reached this point.
Soon—
"Damn…"
—Kiriel gulped as she looked around.
At the darkness surrounding her.
'It's not that they chose not to take it, it's just that… they couldn't.'
It was weird indeed.
If people like Sangjin and John Stone were to create their own forces.
Then Clementine's forces, who should've been waiting for such people, should be extremely busy instead.
Since that was the only way for them to become stronger while being hidden from the eyes of Clementine.
Which meant that there was something that could distract Clementine's forces.
She had been confused because the land above looked way too peaceful, but it seems the answer was here.
'They're all… sleeping here.'
The darkness around her.
It was an Abyssal race.
The real culprit that had forced Clementine's forces to leave this place and go up.
'Crazy bastards… They're waking up a monster that's sleeping in peace.'
Kiriel thought of John Stone's forces that were cutting away the sleeping monster's tentacles, her expression utterly horrified.