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Chapter 413: Metamorphosis (4)

Reincarnator – Chapter 413: Metamorphosis (4)

"What the… What is going on?"

The family heads, who had basically flipped the capital upside down, were all lost in confusion.

Crack!

Crunch!

It was only for a brief moment, when the relic's energy was released, that the monsters went berserk.

Now, the seven monsters were all fusing into each other, focusing on the one that had swallowed the person that caused all this.

I didn't even look like a monster anymore.

The flesh and bones of the seven monsters had long started fusing into each other, as if they had been one entity from the start, turning into a more simple, but much larger, form

'It's… Like a mountain.'

They had fused even though they were all individually humongous to start with. This caused the result to simply resemble a large mountain.

As K-Merrow Nell looked at the giant mountain that was being formed in a daze, K-Ukatan Pael shouted in frustration, "You stupid bastard! Why are you just standing there? Aren't we gonna drag that guy and the Relic out?"

Ukatan Pael's personality was like fire, but he wasn't stupid. No, his mind spun fast enough to accommodate his personality and still allow him to lead a giant clan.

Why were those giant monsters fusing in the first place?

Deducing from what those things had been chasing after all this time, it was easy to find the answer.

Energy.

What would happen if those gluttons, who were getting stronger and stronger as they devoured more energy, decided to suck the energy from the Relic?

He couldn't even imagine how much stronger they would become.

As he finished this dreadful thought, dark flames started to blaze around K-Ukatan Pael's body, a power that was a-whole-nother dimension stronger than the strength he had shown so far.

'Ukatan Pael… What a fox! Has he been hiding his strength?'

K-Merrow Nell frowned as he looked at the small sun-like energy.

"Haaaaaaa!"

Booom!

With a long shout, K-Ukatan Pael launched the giant, dark red sun that he had formed toward the giant lifeform that was almost done fusing.

K-Adelaia Ron and K-Merrow Ron shouted in shock as they watched this scene, "You stupid bastard! You're going to destroy everything around here with that!"

"Is there anything else to be destroyed?"

As Adelaia Ron and Merrow Nell tried to stopped Ukatan Pael…

Booooom!

… a huge explosion swept by the area next to Neoreim, ringing out loudly, the strongest and largest explosion so far.

The residual energy of the explosion was more than enough to melt the second layer and evaporate metal.

"Ahhhh…."

"Patriarch! Why…?"

The cloud of death that was caused by the giant explosion swallowed all the living creatures that had been within its range.

Even the ones outside of the explosion's range died one by one from the poisonous vaporized metals and the heat.

'… Damn.'

As Adelaia Ron frowned at the sight, K-Merrow Nell swept away the clouds and shook his head toward Adelaia.

"They were those who had found out about the secret beneath the capital. They had to die anyway. The real problem is that thing."

K-Merrow Nell's eyes had been locked onto one thing the whole time.

Grrrrr.

Despite the giant explosion, the giant monster remained alive. Only the surface of its being had been burned off. The other parts of its flesh squirmed around and quickly mended the areas that had been damaged.

"Haa… Haa… Seriously?"

K-Ukatan Pael seemed to have exhausted himself in that attack, but gritted his teeth at the sight.

Only that much damage despite his attacks? K-Ukatan Pael felt annoyed as he touched his left wrist with his right hand.

'If one isn't enough… I'll show you a shower of them'

He, alone, might not be enough. Even the three clan heads might not be enough to do it, but what if they gathered all their ships and attacked it for three days and three nights nonstop? If they attacked with enough force to even drive a hole through the planet, would that monster still manage to withstand them?

'Yeah, that sounds good.'

If they pierced the entire continent and shoved that thing into the center of the planet, there was no way that thing would be able to survive.

Chiiijiiijiiik.

From the internal communications device that was embedded in his left hand, he heard the voice of the fleet's admiral, the admiral that Ukatan Pael trusted the most, R-Paotan Pael.

Ukatan Pael kept his eyes glued to the giant mountain and said, "There's something you guys need to do. Get over here immediately and…"

But Ukatan Pael's voice cut off.

Adelia Ron had appeared beside him and had grabbed his wrist.

"… What is this?"

That was clearly overstepping the boundaries.

As Ukatan Pael's face stiffened, Adelia Ron looked at him with a numb expression and said, "Wake up, you bastard! What will happen to Pompeion if we bring them here?"

"… Son of a."

Ukatan Pael swore in a manner that was hard to determine whether it had been targeted at Pompeion or Adelaia Ron, but then, he took a step back.

He agreed with Adelaia Ron.

Ukatan Pael took a deep breath and said, "Right. Let's say we don't have the freedom to destroy that thing. But, are we going to keep that thing alive like that?"

It was already that powerful before consuming the Relic's power. If it sucked the energy of the Relic and got even more powerful, there would truly be no more solutions then.

"Woah! I wondered where you had gone off to, but it seems you are still alive!"

"Sure."

K-Merrow Nell continued to speak sarcastically at the voice. He really disliked that fellow, but there was nothing he could do since they really needed the help.

The three clan heads looked at each other with a frown as their eyes moved downward, toward the man who had spoken to them.

From the distance, Kiriel, who had been watching the whole scene, bit her lips.

'I mean, I managed to escape using the chaos, but…'

She understood Hansoo's plan to gather power beneath them, which meant she needed to prepare as well, as much as she could.

'Please, remember me.'

Kiriel disappeared by use of her Cloudy Movements.

....

Rumble!

Two different forces were acting upon Hansoo's body. One, from the massive Relic energy rising from within him, and the other was the dozens of tentacles from the Haetara, which had surrounded him in order to suck the energy away.

The tentacles wanted to rip Hansoo's body apart and suck the energy directly from the Relic, but they realized it wouldn't be as easy as planned. It was too hard for them to simply break him apart.

Despite having squeezed, pressed and crushed him in numerous ways, nothing happened. Actually, things had happened, but the bastard had held on the whole time. It was a battle of time now.

The energy seeping out from him was too sweet for it to give up. How great would it be if it could suck the energy directly?

Grrrrk

The Haetara continued to suck the energy and try to crush Hansoo's body, and to prevent that, all skills and even the seeds within Hansoo's body kept struggling.

The Demonic Dragon's Reinforcement made a impregnable wall, while the Nine Dragons Strike's seed twisted Hansoo's body in the manner that would be most efficient in dealing with the tentacles' attacks.

There was nothing to speak of the Immortal's soul as even the Pandemic Blade was working in order to help the body regenerate. Of course, the skill that was working the hardest was the Demon's Gate.

<… Survival. Important.>

Rumble!

The Thirteen Shadows continuously struggled to regenerate Hansoo's body and resist the pressure. The dark and evil power from the Thirteen Demons was unfittingly working to keep a body alive.

Kakakaka!

As the shadows of the demons complained, one of them chuckled coldly and whispered in Hansoo's ear.

There was no response. Hansoo had basically reached near unconsciousness from all the different forces wreaking havoc within his body.

Nonetheless, the demon Barmamunt continued to whisper.

By the time the kid escaped, he would be a different existence, both in terms of his physical body and of his mind. He would be closer to them, an existence that would enjoy the screams of creatures getting their flesh ripped apart and their bones crushed.

And when that happened, they would be able to have more fun than ever before.

If not, all that effort would be a waste.

Kadadak.

Kuduk.

Barmamunt frowned as he looked at Hansoo, who was going through a massive change.

'I can't understand this boy… Why are you smiling?'

Even while going through the change, even while unconscious, Hansoo was smiling.

That made Barmamunt very uncomfortable.

Chapter 413: A step towards Desolation (1)

Reincarnator – Chapter 414: A step towards Desolation (1)

Rumble!

K-Merrow Nell was in the center of the circuits that extended out from the Relic, looking at the mountain that had finished morphing and standing still with a scowl, as if something had displeased him.

The other two clan heads were doing the same.

A man watching the three clan heads and a humanoid creature by the heads said as he stroke the Relic, "Well, this might actually be for the better. If we hadn't realized that monster reacted this intensely to the Relic, we might've failed even after activating the force build below."

Samuel nodded. If they hadn't known that the monster wanted the Relic, they would've suffered much more since the vast amount of energy being released from the Relic would've continued to entice the monster.

However, the clan heads weren't very satisfied with the man's words.

"Let's get to the point. We need to get back to the battlefield after all."

Samuel shook his head at those words.

"No, there's no reason to anymore."

"…?"

Samuel continued to talk to the dumbfounded clan heads, "It's time to activate the barrier."

Samuel focused on Mihee's words.

"Good job! Everything's solved here as well. We just need to activate the Relic."

Mihee asked with a worried expression.

The fact that the Relic was in their hands meant one of two things: either they succeeded in negotiating with Hansoo, or Hansoo had been killed by Samuel.

It would've been better if it was the former, but something kept bugging Mihee's mind.

Samuel replied with a slightly bitter voice, "… It didn't just end with words of course."

Samuel shook his head.

"No, I didn't kill him, but I don't know what I should do. But…"

Samuel stopped. He wanted to say that they should kill Hansoo, but Samuel hadn't said it out of respect for Hansoo's relationship with Mihee, and because the words Hansoo had left before he disappeared kept bugging him.

'Ominous.'

Samuel clenched his jaw as K-Merrow Nell called for him, "Enough chit-chat. We're going to begin since we've finished preparing."

"… Right away?"

It wasn't K-Merrow Nell that responded, but the man, "We don't have all the time in the world. There's no reason to waste our time if everything is already ready."

Then…

Boom!

… The man's hand started to shine brightly, a bright light that pushed back the scorching heat. That bright light got more and more intense as it started to devour the ground beneath them. And soon, the circuits that were now filled with the bright light started to extend in all directions with the Capital, Neoreim, as their center, past the underground space and toward the boundary of the Neropa Union in the far distance.

Ukatan Pael tutted as he saw this scene, "Tsk! Too bad we can't contain all of the territories we wanted. The 113th Zone in the east is damn worth it."

"We agreed that we would compensate you for that already. There are priorities."

As K-Merrow Nell spoke…

Booooom!

… A change started to occur around the hundreds of metal towers that had been places by the boundary.

...…..

Rumble!

'Everything should be fine, right?'

The 14th Border City, Etoreim.

Metionel looked at the city that had been destroyed by John Stone with a bitter expression. Their tribe had ruled over the place in the past. Though it wasn't theirs anymore, and it was destroyed now, watching the scene still displeased him greatly.

Kachak!

Metionel stepped on the corpse of the traitor, Karas.

'If you were going to just die like this, why did you betray us in the first place?'

Metionel continued to walk through the inner parts of the city that had long been destroyed by Karas, John Stone and the other Dragon God Soldiers, but suddenly…

Boooom!

… A tremendous noise shook the entire city.

Kakakakak!

'What the hell?!'

Pushushushuk!

Metionel activated his Dragon God Armor and barely managed to maintain his balance. He had thought that everything had ended, but what was this?

'… No, there shouldn't be anything else left near here.'

There were no ships, monsters, nor were there any other Dragon God Soldiers. There weren't any special satellite weapons or explosives, nothing that could shake the city like this. However, he was only startled for a moment, and his shock soon turned into fear.

'What the hell?!'

Beneath the ground, from the center of Etoreim, the destroyed city, a giant bright barrier was being created, a translucent barrier that made it hard to discern whether it was solid matter or energy.

It had risen up from the ground and had split Etoreim in half.

Boom!

Kachak!

The city that had barely maintained its shape soon turned to dust and disappeared as the barrier swept past it. The issue was that this barrier was now breaking apart the building Metionel was standing on.

'Dammit!'

Whoooosh!

Metionel quickly activated his Dragon God Armor and rose into the air, watching the scene below in utter disbelief.

It wasn't just Etoreim. The entire continent was being split in half by the barrier that had destroyed the building he had been standing on.

Metionel clenched his teeth.

'Damn… Where does this lead?'

Though it looked like it was rising straight up into the air, Metionel, a Dragon God Soldier, could see that the barrier was half of a sphere. It just looked like it was rising up vertically due to its massive size.

The barrier was making a slight curve as it rose up, which meant that that giant continent would be divided in two parts, a part that was outside the half sphere, and the part that was inside of it.

Though he didn't know what maniac was causing all of this, they weren't doing it just for show, and now, he needed to make a choice that would change his entire future.

However, he only pondered it for a moment before he quickly flew off toward the outside of the barrier.

'Thinking about it, I'll just be trapped inside once this is complete.'

If Hansoo had succeeded in stealing the Relic, this wouldn't have happened, which meant that the Neropa Union had activated this. To be trapped together with them? The Flameless Lands didn't exist anymore, and no other groups were a threat to them. It would be a dictatorship.

'Dammit… Dammit! I don't like those guys from Pompeion either!'

But he had no other choice.

Rumble!

As Metionel made a complex expression toward the giant barrier before his eyes…

Whoooosh!

… White clouds appeared by his side.

"Hey! You!"

Metionel was surprised by Kiriel, who had suddenly appeared by his side.

"Here you are! Come! We have no time."

"Huh? Ahhh!"

Kiriel grabbed onto Metionel and quickly used her Cloudy Movements again.

Sssss!

The two bodies quickly disappeared into white clouds again.

....

Whoooosh!

'This place is…?'

Metionel instinctively looked around as he was teleported alongside Kiriel, and soon…

"…Ugh! What is this?"

"God! My joints!"

Metionel sighed in relief as he looked at the core members of Reunion.

'They are all alive!'

The terrorist actions they had caused in various locations had put their lives on the line. Of course, he had been worried when they had parted, but seeing them all there made him greatly relieved.

'Though, I don't see everyone exactly…'

It was good enough.

Metionel quickly thanked Kiriel.

"Thank you for taking care of us all."

If they had been split apart with the chaos from the barrier, it would've been even harder for them to survive. Kiriel waved at him lightly with the intention of saying that it wasn't much, and Metionel smiled as he looked around.

The most important question was still unanswered: 'Where exactly is this?'

Then, Metionel saw a small window on the side of the area and looked outside.

"Huh?! Ahhhh! Why did you bring us here?!" Metionel shouted with a mixture of fear and rage.

Of course, he'd seen the barrier that was being completed outside the window, which meant that he was in the inside half of the sphere.

At that rate, they would all die.

Kiriel shook her head and said, "Don't be like that. I put a lot of thought into it as well."

"…?"

As Metionel made a confused expression, Kiriel continued, "Think about it. They aren't turtles, right? Why would they be defending themselves like that?"

Metionel nodded. She was right. There was no reason for this.

Kiriel asked with a tired expression, "Wouldn't they be doing that because there are greater dangers outside?"

'Or because they were creating a greater danger.'

Kiriel looked at the barrier with a worried expression.

...

"Good. This is perfect."

A man nodded as he watched the giant half-sphere that covered the continent. It looked like half of a sphere, but in reality, it was closer to a full sphere.

It was now time to head on to the next stage.

The man looked at the clan heads and Samuel as he spoke, "Now, blow up the Red Jade."

Of course, it wouldn't be a full explosion because even that barrier wouldn't be able to withstand one. They were going to shake it just a little bit, just enough to burn everything outside to death.

Samuel shouted in terror, "What the?! You never told us about that!"

What about their race that was outside? They had never heard about that.

The man shrugged at Samuel's words and asked, "Did I have to?"

The man smiled.

Chapter 414: A Step Toward Desolation (2)

Reincarnator – Chapter 415: A Step Toward Desolation (2)

"What?!"

As Samuel responded angrily, the man repeated without an expression, "I asked whether there really was a need for me to tell you such things. This isn't related to the contract you and I had, right? I told you that I would protect everyone within your Union and create a sanctuary for you."

"You… Did indeed," Samuel slowly spat the words out.

The man was right.

'But if you really cared about us, then you should've told us about something like this. You clearly knew our goals…'

When the clan leaders had told them that he could only guarantee the safety of the ones inside the Neropa Union, Samuel and Mihee had nodded since it was hard to save both parties at war with each other. And, if those who followed Sangjin joined the war on Pompeion's side, there was nothing the Neropa Union would be able to do.

So, the two of them had helped the Neropa Union and hadn't thought much of it since they could just assimilate the humans spread around Pompeion's territory after they destroyed those controlling Pompeion.

However, with something like only the people within the Neropa Union being able to survive, Samuel blamed himself for not being thorough enough.

'No… Maybe not yet.'

Rumble!

Samuel gritted his teeth as he looked at the giant wall in the distance that existed to cover half of the continent in it and cook the other half alive.

Who could've thought of such a vicious plan?

K-Merrow Nell snickered at Samuel.

"You should've read the contract thoroughly before you agreed to it. What about we give you a refund? We're pretty nice to our customers after all."

K-Merrow Nell was implying that they would throw the two of them and the other humans out from the barrier. Samuel clenched his teeth and shook his head.

"… No."

Samuel wanted to beat the crap out of those clan heads and cut all ties with them, but at this rate, some simple calculus told him that half of humanity on this continent would die.

He wanted to break the union, stop the malicious plan and figure out a different way. But, he could not.

'… I must save at least half.'

If he escaped that place and failed to find a different method, it wouldn't be just half dying. Every single person would perish.

And if they, the ones who held the contract, disappeared, he couldn't even imagine what would happen to the humans who migrated to this place in the future.

'No, I can at least figure that out.'

Those guys were the type to talk casually about wiping half of his entire race.

As Samuel stood in silence, the mysterious man walked toward the relic and said, "I'll now focus on shaking the relic's core. It will take a bit of time, so don't disturb me. Focus on what you all need to do."

"How long is it going to take?"

The man pondered a moment at K-Adelaia Ron's question and responded, "Not long. Just a week should do."

K-Ukatan Pael laughed out loud at Samuel, who had bit his lip after hearing the words 'a week.'

"Good! Send some letter or something to people on the other side of that thing in the meantime! It should be enough time to say your goodbyes!"

'Damn…'

And, as Samuel ground his teeth…

'Hmm… Is he planning something?'

… K-Merrow Nell watched with sharp eyes.

...…..

Rumble!

Boom, boobooom!

'… Jesus Christ!'

Samuel looked at the sky with a complicated expression. They had done an amazing job as allies. The giant metal towers they had affixed into the ground, and the blue barrier that was the result of the towers, everything was doing great at blocking the attacks on Pompeion, the barrage of attacks that came from beyond the barrier with the noise they made when they collided against it.

Despite the Miprosky-level ships that could easily melt away any city on the planet like ice cream under the hot summer Sun continuously attacking…

Boooom!

Boom!

… The bright barrier stood and maintained its ground, refusing to give in.

K-Merrow Nell's warning from earlier rang inside Samuel's head.

'Damn…'

The watch over them had become much stricter than before, so it wouldn't be easy to move around anymore either.

'… Kang Hansoo, what would you have done?'

Samuel turned around from the barrier and looked in the distance with a complicated expression on his face. The mountain was shaking, but nothing was actually happening to the giant creature that had Hansoo sleeping inside of it since Hansoo's execution date had been pushed back by a whole week.

'No… There was no other way.'

Samuel looked at the various ships floating outside the barrier that were watching over them. As the giant barrier was formed, the Neropa Union's ships that had been buying time against the Pompeion Empire had also been left outside. Though they wouldn't be able to receive the protection of the barrier, that wasn't a huge issue since they just needed to fly out from the radius of the explosion when the explosion happened.

Though a few Pompeion ships that acted quickly alongside the Neropa ships would survive, that wouldn't be much of an issue either. Where would those ships receive energy and supplies once their entire hometown got destroyed?

The chances of them surrendering was close to a hundred percent, and even if they did resisted, it still wasn't an issue. Kang Hansoo's execution would come after that.

Once they cleared the Pompeion Empire and removed the barrier, the ships would descend back to the ground. If the three clan heads and the hundreds of ships attacked continuously, even the giant mountain would melt away.

Even if the mountain managed to resist the attacks, the land underneath it would melt away. Then, it would be game over.

'It would fall straight into the core of the planet… How am I going to tell this to Mihee?'

He hadn't even told the other humans about what was going to happen.

Samuel had a complex expression on his face as he walked into the residence. The fancy interior of the terrace welcome him. It stood out within the ruins of the terror that had been made by the members of Reunion.

'Well… They did focus on important locations, so a living space like this is still fine.'

Then…

"Oh, hello."

"… How did you get in?"

Kiriel giggled as she looked at Samuel and his expression froze.

"I won't take you in, so get out of here. This place is under watch. Soon, either the clan heads or the Dragon God Soldiers will…"

Kiriel giggled again.

"Under watch?"

Tiririring!

Countless panels appeared before Kiriel's eyes, panels that showed various places within the city they were in.

"What the…"

'She stole the authorizations?'

Kiriel spoke in a leisurely tone, "The capital has been blown away. The other cities nearby have been destroyed as well. There's no way they would be able to maintain their systems at this point."

The capital, Neorime, had been entirely blown away. All of the important facilities and the scientists had died as well. And not only that, but the secondary systems that should be holding the city when something like this happened were also destroyed by him and Reunion's terrorist acts. Even the people who could restore those systems had long fled or died.

Though the internal systems of the giant ships floating in the sky were more than enough to stabilize the systems of the entire continent, they were all floating outside of the barrier and could do nothing.

Meanwhile the Technorats of Reunion had survived, so crawling into the cracks and stealing authorizations was easy in a situation like this.

"No need to go that far. This is good enough. Good job."

They couldn't destroy the clan heads, nor the Dragon God Soldiers, nor the ships with the authorizations, so there was no need to go that far.

This was enough, enough to do things comfortably.

Chiii-

Kiriel ended the call with Metionel and then spoke to Samuel, who was still standing with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"I heard about your plans."

She had listened in on the orders sent to the ships, so she already knew what was happening. She even saw Samuel worrying through the hacked system, which is why she had come, to solve everything.

"Stop dawdling around and help."

"What do you want me to do?"

At Samuel's question, Kiriel answered, "It would be good if Hansoo woke up in time but… We need to prepare in case he doesn't."

If Hansoo woke up within a week, that would better, but they needed to prepare, just in case he didn't.

"… You are talking about stopping the plan that is going to shake the entire planet."

Kiriel nodded.

'I must stop Hansoo from being submerged in magma no matter what.'

Even if everyone else all died, she had to stop it.

Samuel's expression remained cold as he replied, "Why must I help?"

It was true he didn't like how the things were unraveling right now, but one wrong move could end everything. He wouldn't even be able to guarantee his own safety at that point. There was too much to lose for him.

Kiriel giggled as she spoke, "Actually, I spoke to someone else before you."

"What?!"

Then…

Tiriririring.

A panel appeared in Kiriel's hand.

"Mihee…"

Samuel was at a loss seeing Mihee's rage-filled expression through the screen.

....

Rumble!

"The way it's beating is disturbing."

It was beating faster and stronger as time went on, as if a change was occurring inside of it.

'We need to hurry and get rid of that…'

K-Merrow Nell frowned at the mountain that was shaking disturbingly, but he quickly changed his focus to the ones that were making him constantly nervous, though not as much as the mountain.

'I hope they don't try anything reckless.'

That would be for the best.

K-Merrow Nell thought of the abnormally quiet humans and mumbled to himself.

Chapter 415: A Step Toward Desolation (3)

Reincarnator – Chapter 416: A Step Toward Desolation (3)

Rumble!

The vast underground.

K-Merrow Nell looked at the hundred-meter wide underground room with a disgusted expression.

"This place always gets on my nerves… What are you doing?"

There were various tools around, and he could not figure out what they were for, along with various forms of energy and experimental subjects.

The man, who was in the center of the lab, said in response, "Experimenting."

"Experimenting?"

The man nodded at K-Merrow Nell's question.

"Yeah, tests regarding the aliens who call themselves 'humans.'"

"You…You aren't attempting the Flame's Blessing again, right?"

K-Merrow Nell had deduced what the man was searching for as he looked at the marks on the corpses on the ground. The man nodded.

"Didn't you say you had already finished the experiment? About five years ago."

"… I did."

The man thought of the past and nodded. He had gone into research right away, from the moment the aliens first appeared on this land. It had been an experiment to allow the Flame's power to enter the bodies of those humans, but it had ended in massive failure.

Unlike the Angkara, who had been exposed to the power of the Flame their entire lives, those 'humans' had not been able to withstand the power of the Flame and started melting away one by one.

It hadn't been a question of strength.

In terms of body strength, those humans had been way stronger than citizen who didn't wear Dragon God Armor.

Even before the strange elevator had descended on humans, their race was just too weak to begin with. They were weak, and it was for that reason that they had raised their strength by using things called runes, artifacts and skills.

However, that strength had become a poison since their bodies could barely withstand it.

As the strength of the Red Jade was added onto this, their bodies were unable to withstand the amount of energy and basically started melting down on themselves.

"You even failed on those things called Transcendents. You told me that before."

The man nodded.

'Yeah…'

As the elevator descended and the general power level of the humans rose extremely fast, some came out of the Flameless Lands and tried to fight. Of course, that was futile.

Maybe if they had gone through at least four transformations, but with only one or two levels of change, they were too weak. Thanks to that, they had been caught, and he had been able to experiment on them again.

He had thought that extremely powerful bodies and souls might bring him success in his experiments, but the result was utter failure again.

Though their bodies and souls had gotten stronger, they had been changed forcibly through the Crystals, and their bodies had been barely holding on.

As the power from the Crystals and the Blessing collided with one another, another failure occurred. The subjects had all become living bombs.

"I thought you had given up, but it seems fun to make the same mistake over and over again, huh?" K-Merrow Nell asked.

One mistake could be forgiven. Actually, multiple mistakes could be forgiven. However, by repeating the same mistake twice, there was no way out of being punished since people like that didn't seek to advance and would make the same mistake again in the future.

However, the man in front of him was doing the exact thing he hated most.

The man responded, expressionlessly after K-Merrow Nell's words, "So what? Are you going to do something about it?"

"…You really are a bastard. Do whatever you want. But, you'll need to activate the Relic within the timeframe no matter what. I really wish to get rid of that thing as soon as possible."

K-Merrow Nell looked toward the giant mountain in the distance, the thing that was shaking in a disturbing manner.

If he didn't get rid of it as soon as possible, he felt like he wouldn't have an easy time sleeping.

The man nodded.

"Don't worry. There's no need for me to do anything else to it anymore anyway."

The Relic was already pumping its power into the core of the planet, toward the Red Jade. There was nothing he needed to do anymore.

The Relic would succeed in agitating the Red Jade in time, and the Red Jade would destroy everything on the planet as punishment for disturbing it.

K-Merrow Nell walked out with a frown as the man continued to look at the body he was experimenting on. It was the body of a very ordinary human, not even one they called Transcendent.

The body he was looking at was similar to the ones who had already ascended. There was one key thing that was different about them, however.

'Yeah…These guys are different.'

Before and after the elevator landed.

The ones who had been there before and the ones who came after were different. The ones who had been there before were just inferior. No matter what skills they had or how many crystals they had devoured, nothing changed. However, the ones that came up after the elevator had descended were different.

'Their bodies have already gone through multiple rounds of modifications.'

It wasn't just some regular modification either. They were extremely advanced, to the point of the man's own race barely being able to accomplish something like it.

Their bodies had been rebuilt, implanted with a pool of mana and then further strengthened by use of some strange material.

'This…This might be enough.'

Joy appeared on the man's face.

It might really be enough for his experiment to succeed.

Zzzzzt!

Chiiiiizzzztt!

The man dissected another subject and then started to ponder.

Not enough. It wasn't enough.

'I… I need more subjects.'

He didn't only need a Transcendent, but he needed a Transcendent who had gone through those body modifications.

He had gathered quite a lot of bodies due to the chaos this time around, but they weren't enough. He needed living specimens, and a lot of them. Only then, might he be able to succeed.

'Good. But, who did all of these modifications?'

They were more than simple modifications. They were closer to art. As the man looked at the various traces upon the body, he got lost in thought.

….

Kiriel breathed in deeply as she looked at the giant mountain in the distance, as well as the Capital that was behind it.

'Haa…'

She was getting nervous, but she calmed herself down and turned around.

"What's the situation like currently?"

Metionel replied as he checked the status of the Capital, "I haven't checked everything, but I'm sure the Relic is inside the Capital."

Since the Capital's main systems had been destroyed, it was even harder to monitor it. All useful Technorats who had survived in various cities had been called to the Capital for recovery work.

The cracks were rapidly being mended, and that made it harder and harder to surveil them. It was hard to figure out the exact details of the situation, but one thing was clear, the Relic was inside the Capital.

'Four days just to find out a small detail like this…'

Since there was too much at stake, they could not move before they were sure.

'I had hoped Hansoo would wake up before then, but… Oh well.'

Kiriel looked at Samuel and Mihee standing next to her and asked, "It would be too hard to get to the Relic, right?"

The two nodded.

'Too hard.'

Maybe if the clan heads hadn't been watching over them so meticulously, but not like this. It was as if they believed the humans were going to try something. They, who knew both of their powers very well, will protect the Relic with all their powers.

Kiriel thought for a moment and then said, "Then, as we planned, we'll need to aim for the metal towers."

Mihee and Samuel nodded.

They only knew that the Relic was inside the Capital. They didn't know where it was, how it was working, nor how to stop it.

But the metal towers were different.

Samuel and Mihee knew the locations of every single one of them, and they knew how to stop them. They just needed to smash them apart.

"I saw them as I was moving the group… They're not that strong. We can definitely destroy them."

"We know all the locations as well since we're the ones who put them down."

Kiriel smiled.

This was good. They just needed to go and destroy them. There was no way they would continue to destroy the planet if the barrier disappeared.

Their plans would fail and they would have to battle with Pompeion again. They just needed to get what they required from the two powers.

"Finish preparing. We'll move once we're clear about the clan head's locations."

Kiriel nodded at Mihee's words.

Though they just needed to destroy the metal towers before the plan went in motion, it was better to hurry since they didn't know what kind of variables could come into play at once they started.

'And, that might happen while we're out doing this.'

She knew that Hansoo wouldn't take that long to reach the Fourth Star. He had gone in after calculating that, after all.

'Hurry and come out, Hansoo…'

Kiriel looked at the giant mountain in the distance again.

.....

At those words…

Ssss.

… Hansoo woke up from his sleep and looked at his body.

"A-amazing!'

Three days, it only took three days for the Nine Dragons Strike to break through. Power that was dimensions stronger than before rushed through his body, but Barmamunt's question and Hansoo's answer weren't just limited to his body.

His mind as well.

"No need to say more."

Barmamunt chuckled disturbingly and then looked at Hansoo.

"Hmm… What to do, indeed."

Vast amounts of strength flowed through his body, and Hansoo played around with a strand of that strength as he looked at the giant creature entrapping him.

Chapter 416: A Step Toward Desolation (4)

Reincarnator – Chapter 417: A Step Toward Desolation (4)

Rumble!

The Great Allen Ravine.

The giant ravine that had acted as the boundary between the Pompeion Empire and the Neropa Union had long lost its purpose due to the new boundary that was now the giant barrier.

Whooosh!

The giant barrier rose up in from between the ravine and into the sky, creating various sounds beneath it, deep within the ravine.

Oooong!

A giant tower rose up from below the ravive, but the difference between its size and the ravine's was so vast that people couldn't see the tower. However, the tower was actually massive as well.

Next to the tower that was located in an extremely dangerous environment, covered in the heat and pressure that rose up from the Red Jade deep within the planet…

Whoooosh!

White clouds started to appear, and suddenly…

Whoosh!

… the clouds spread apart as a couple appeared from within them.

The moment they appeared, the surrounding heat and pressure started converging upon their location as if fighting an intruder. It was an environment that the people of Angkara had given up due to its harsh conditions, which even kept the Dragon God Soldiers from being able to work.

However, the couple that had appeared didn't mind it. They quickly surrounded themselves with reinforcements. If that amount of heat and pressure had been able to damage them, then the tower wouldn't have been there in the first place.

Samuel, one of the two, frowned as he looked at Kiriel, who had just helped him teleport there instantaneously.

"Damn… That memory reading ability this really is disturbing."

Who would feel good having someone rummage through their mind?

Kiriel shrugged.

"Nothing I can do. I can only move to places I know."

"Tsk!" Samual continued frowning as he said, "That… about Mihee. Don't tell her. I will…"

"I know, I know."

Was he really worried about a thing like that in a situation like theirs?

'Just confess already," Kiriel shook her head at the thought and looked around the area. 'So, it was in a place like this.'

Rumble!

The powerful heat that came up from the Red Jade had covered the surroundings, and Kiriel stared at the giant metal tower that was standing within the flames. It really looked out of place.

If Samuel hadn't been the one to erect them, it would've been really hard to find where those things were. Even if the towers were huge, finding something like that in those vast lands would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

'But hey, we found it.'

Oooooong!

Kiriel continued to look at the giant metal tower that shone brightly within the red flames. Though the size didn't make destroying it an issue, the thin protective barrier surrounding it did.

Samuel's complaints could be heard coming from next to her as well. "Tsk! I thought it would be simple," Samuel mumbled at the metal tower.

Destroying the tower itself was easy. However, the protective barrier that was absorbing the energy of the Relic to maintain and sustain itself really got in the way. Though it wasn't as powerful as the giant barrier, the protective layer seemed as if it was still quite sturdy.

'With just a three-star… It wouldn't be enough.'

Not only that, but the moment they attacked it, the three clan heads would be notified. They would rush over there the moment the alarms reached them.

Samuel sighed as he thought up to that point and then looked at Kiriel.

"…This is impossible. Let's just give up."

"Stop spouting nonsense. You know what will happen if you give up."

The moment they gave up, every living creature outside the barrier would burn to death, and Hansoo would be driven deep into the planet's core.

However, Samuel continued to shake his head.

"I really cannot think of a way. The metal tower's protective barrier is stronger than I thought."

They were able to teleport, but the clean heads had access to photon transmission. If the clan heads used the energy that had originally been designated for fighting Pompeion to run the photon transmission, then essentially teleporting the three clan heads would be an easy feat.

It would be more than enough to match Kiriel's skill.

Maybe if their location wasn't exposed… But the moment they started to attack a tower, the clan heads would rush over and stop them.

'Damn! I just need to destroy one, but we don't have enough people.'

Kiriel clenched her jaw. If someone distracted the clan heads and bought them time, maybe. However, as they were, they were nowhere near enough.

As Kiriel made a tight fist, looking depressed…

Booooooom!

… the giant barrier that rose high up into the sky shook.

It was as if the entire land was being broken apart.

Rummmmbleee!

The land beneath it reverberated with noise and vibration as the Red Jade went on overdrive, and the barrier cracked apart slowly as the towers that were maintaining it made huge noises and started to shine blindingly.

Ooong!

And in the midst of all this, Samuel and Kiriel looked on in disbelief.

'… What the?'

Even the attacks from the ships hadn't been enough to shake the barrier, so who could be affecting the barrier to that degree?

'Who?… Is it him?'

Kiriel turned around and looked past the barrier.

...…

Kuooooo!

Cracks were appearing on the giant barrier that split apart the earth and heavens.

Ooooong!

As the barrier struggled to regenerate the cracks and stabilize…

Boooom!

…. a red beam cut through the land and smashed against the blue barrier again, a power that was dimensions stronger than a ship's attack.

If the bright barrier was the shield of the gods, the red beam that smashed against the it was the spear that served to punish them.

And from the end of that spear, a man, who stood on the other side of the barrier, chuckled coldly.

"It doesn't tarnish the hard work that went into it, haha."

Chiiiiik!

It was the emperor of the Pompeion Empire, Pompeion himself.

The crystal that was being held in Pompeion's hand shone menacingly red, and from beneath his feet, a giant cannon the size of a city let out smoke as it cooled down.

<… The 114th Zone, 291th Zone have entirely melted away!>

Various panels appeared around Pompeion reporting the giant cannon's status.

The cannon's name was Gungnir.

Though the cannon looked as if it had been designed to shoot down gods, the current situation wasn't that good. Smoke rose up from various parts, and the sounds of things blowing up could be heard constantly.

And, as Pompeion frowned at that, the Technorat's flustered face appeared.

"Understood, hurry and prepare."

Pompeion frowned and then looked toward the bright barrier. The cannon that had cost an entire year's worth of the Empire's earnings was breaking down with just two attacks.

Though they had both used a Relic to produce results, unlike the barrier that was slowly recovering itself, the giant spear seemed to have received a large amount of damage.

'Tsk! Is this the limit?'

The stolen technology seemed to be too much for their capabilities.

Pompeion chuckled as he he said, "That Neropa… Is it helping me while knowing what that alien is thinking?"

No, Neropa didn't know. If it had, then it wouldn't have been helping him like this.

Of course, Pompeion's question didn't receive an answer.

'He's like a bloody statue…'

Pompeion took a glance at Sangjin, who had been watching the barrier silently, and then refocused.

One attack left.

However, even if he finished the barrier this way, he wouldn't be able to rest.

"After I deal with this, I need to face him. So, I can only trust you to handle the rest."

As Sangjin nodded…

Oooooong!

… the tremendous energy that seeped out from the Relic under the emperor's control created a long spear within Gungnir.

And this time, the spear won.

Booooom!

The barrier that had been recovering was pierced, a giant hole punched through it. But, it didn't seem like they had a lot of time.

The barrier continued to regenerate, and the hole dwindled quickly. However, Pompeion didn't worry. From that point on, things wouldn't be his reponsibility.

"Hurry and go in!"

Whooosh!

Sangjin's shone a bright violet as he quickly flew toward the hole into the Neropa Union.

...…..

Boooooooooom!

"What the…? What's going on!" R-Gregorian Nell freaked out as he turned around to the huge noise.

The barrier that split the earth across and rose up into the sky now had a hole in it.

'…They pierced it?'

But, his shock only lasted a moment.

Kuuududuk!

Kuduk!

R-Gregorian Nell quickly turned around again to the sounds that occured behind him, and the thing he was supposed to watch over came into view.

At that moment, he realized that the pierced barrier wasn't the biggest issue.

He remembered his objective, so R-Gregorian Nell quickly activated his visor and shouted, "Damn! Emergency! Code Red! The strange life form has started to move! I repeat, this is not a drill! Code Red! The strange life form has started to move again!"

His objective: watch over the mountain-like monster and report the moment a changed occurred.

"Dammit! Respond!"

Kadududuk!

Roaaarr!

R-Gregorian Nell started to cry as he shouted while watching the moving mountain.

Chapter 417: A Step Towards Desolation (5)

Reincarnator – Chapter 418: A Step Towards Desolation (5)

Diiririk!

Dirrring!

Countless panels appeared in the air.

Of course, no one had expected the barrier to be pierced, and a grim expression fell on K-Adelaia Ron's face.

'… Pompeion, you were hiding such a terrifying weapon?'