Chapter 436
Chapter 436
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 436
Chapter Title: Opportunity for Revenge (8)
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“Adamantine Armament.”
As Shirone held Armang vertically and muttered, the blade instantly covered his body, transforming into an organic robe.
A cheer erupted from the Norr members.
Shirone was currently touring the units under the 2nd Command, unifying the rebel forces.
Today was the last day of his tour, and someone had expressed curiosity about his sword, which led to this demonstration.
In Heaven, swords were the exclusive domain of the Kergoins, so it was no wonder the Norr mages were perplexed.
*'Whew, this feels like some kind of performance.'*
The reputation of being the "Light of District 73" was certainly formidable.
At the very least, the response from those on the front lines was far better than that of the command headquarters.
-Focus point form altered. Unified signal system detected.
*'Huh?'*
Shirone narrowed his eyes at the information, something he had never heard before.
As he focused on the voice, Armang conveyed new information.
-User's cerebrum scanned. Synchronizing. Integration into a singular mental system proposed.
*'Ah, the Ultima System.'*
Whenever a significant change occurred in Shirone's mind, Armang's functions would adapt accordingly.
This was a natural development, as Armang's computational ability borrowed from Shirone's own brain.
-Designation: Ultima System. Upon integration into a singular mental system, duplication, transfer, and contract termination will be impossible.
-Awaiting user's decision.
*'Termination impossible? Is that even a thing?'*
It meant it would change from a contract-based object, which could be terminated at any time, to a soul-bound one.
A perfectly personalized weapon.
In a way, it meant possessing Armang completely, which wasn't a bad thing, but it required careful consideration.
*'Once it becomes truly mine, I won't be able to sell it.'*
Market price: four billion gold.
Of course, he wouldn't sell Armang for any price, but eliminating the possibility of a transfer for reasons other than money left a bad taste in his mouth.
*'What if I integrate it?'*
-Prediction impossible.
Armang couldn't find an answer to that.
It couldn't analyze what Shirone himself didn't know.
*'Either way, I have to do it.'*
Shirone set aside his reservations and decided to share the Ultima System with Armang.
If they could exchange information through a single signal, he would be able to feel Armang as if it were his own skin.
Future variables were nothing compared to his present desperation.
Since coming to Heaven, there was no tomorrow. Clinging desperately to any chance for enhancement was the rational choice.
-Constructing integrated mental system.
“Hahk!”
Shirone threw his head back, his chest arching open.
Armang's organic material tightened abruptly, constricting his body.
Dozens of tentacles shot out like thorns, moving erratically before swirling around him like a whirlwind, changing its form.
“Wooooah!”
The rebels watched Shirone with wide eyes.
The tattered-looking robe had transformed into a simple, neat one.
<Magic Sword Armang> Ultima Version (Functions Equipped: 0)
The ideal mage's robe from Shirone's mind had been perfectly realized, controlling the organic material down to its very ends.
*'Incredible. This is just like my own body.'*
If they had previously shared information through the medium of his brain, signals were now being exchanged in the realm of instinct, bypassing reason.
It was, quite literally, an integration.
Shirone's complex mind had been converted into simple signals and imbued into an object.
Thus, Shirone and Armang achieved perfect compatibility, connected down to the very nerve endings.
*'Two Ultima Systems…'*
Another entity capable of unifying and controlling all signals, whether from living or non-living things, had been born.
Even Shirone didn't know how this would function in the future, but one thing was certain.
“Nephilim! Lead us to victory!”
“Until the Light of District 73 becomes the Light of Heaven!”
As a piece of propaganda, the performance was perfect.
* * *
Galtomic, the Demonic Fusion Species.
A powerful species corresponding to Purgatory Hunt Rank S. It is a gel-type, amorphous being with no distinct form, but upon taking damage, it absorbs the Law of Malice to mimic a powerful entity.
The Galtomic currently cornering Armin's party had taken the form of a centaur, with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse.
Each time it swung its fists, black flashes swirled, and cliff-sized boulders were shattered to pieces.
A Rank-S creature was powerful enough to have no natural predators within a 100-kilometer radius.
Above all, the Galtomic's true value lay in its tremendous magical power, which allowed it to absorb Laws and convert them into its own strength.
“Krau! Krau!”
With a unique battle cry, the Galtomic leaped into the air and swung its fists like a tempest, devastating the ground as if distance itself had vanished.
Scattering in different directions, Armin's party began their counterattack.
As a blizzard spread and the temperature plummeted, Kuan and Etella surrounded the Galtomic.
Sword and fist moved in concert, a rhythm within a rhythm, and under the tempo of their seamless assault, the Galtomic staggered and crashed to the ground.
Armin cast a slow spell, and as the Galtomic was trapped in slowed time, Shina's Glacier Bombing fell upon its head.
The ground shook as the sixty-ton glacier crashed down.
From within the billowing mist of cold air, the Galtomic, mustering its last bit of strength, charged toward Shina like a centaur's spear.
Simultaneously, Kuan, flying in an S-shaped trajectory, appeared before Shina as if floating and began to spin.
Just as the vibrations from his ten rotations per second threatened to pierce their eardrums, Kuan's sword split the Galtomic in two.
*Fwoooosh.*
The force of Kuan's rotation reached Shina on the wind.
Combined with her freezing magic, the tip of her nose felt cold.
Shina had over ten defensive methods for surprise attacks, learned through experience, study, and training, but in a situation like this, the proper response was, of course, to offer thanks.
“Thank you. I'm safe because of you.”
“I was merely looking for an opportunity to land a counter.”
Shina watched Kuan's back as he cut his words short and moved away.
It was a fact she had come to understand even better since arriving in Heaven: he was a truly cold person.
It was fundamentally different from Shina's own coldness.
*'I'd like to have a deep conversation with him at least once…'*
Shina was becoming slightly interested in the swordsman named Kuan, but conversely, Kuan's self-loathing only deepened.
*'Damn it! I've completely lost my mind.'*
There had been no technical flaws in his strike against the Galtomic. The problem was his racing heart.
The thought that flashed through his mind at the moment of the strike was a desire for Shina to recognize his true worth.
This was an unfamiliar emotion for Kuan.
He had never once wanted to peer into someone else's thoughts.
But it was different now.
The desire to know how his actions were affecting her.
*'Get a grip. This is a battlefield, and it will be my grave.'*
“Shina, are you okay?”
Shina, who had been watching Kuan, immediately fixed her expression as Armin approached and turned away coldly.
“I'm not a child. I'll do without that kind of concern from now on.”
Etella mentally sorted out the emotional arrows of the three individuals, all pointing in different directions.
You couldn't say their teamwork was good, but perhaps a situation like this created a strange synergy.
*'Still, he's amazing, Mr. Armin.'*
The Galtomic was a creature powerful enough to rival any monster on the continent.
Of course, none of their hunts so far had been against weak foes.
Their continued success was due to the combined efforts of all four, but Armin's contribution was immense.
Crowd control provides fatal opportunities in battle. And Armin, currently in their party, was perhaps the world's most powerful crowd-control mage.
*'If we keep this up, we'll be able to get the factory running soon.'*
Just as Etella predicted, the guards at Yamaeng were murmuring when they arrived.
They had been skeptical at first, but the party was bringing in A-rank or higher creatures almost daily, to the point where even the hatred from the first day, when they'd beheaded a comrade, was fading.
Frankwein's lips curled into a smile after confirming the Galtomic's carcass.
“Impressive. I didn't expect you to find a strategy this quickly.”
They had never really thought about a strategy. Armin's crowd control was just that effective.
“Just asking out of curiosity, what elixirs did you get?”
Etella answered readily.
“Twelve White Elixirs, thirty-two intermediate Green Elixirs, and fifteen high-grade Red Elixirs.”
“That's a jackpot. You've worked hard, how about taking a short break? That's more than enough to live lavishly back on the mainland.”
Armin said.
“We're not here to play. The Feeding Demon Kuzen, the Photosynthetic Monstrosity Olkir, and the Armored Mineral Species Ringer. Once we hunt these three, our contract is fulfilled.”
“Of course. From then on, I'll give you an entire factory wing. You can make whatever you want.”
“We’ll be going now.”
As Armin's party left the room, Meatgun, who stood beside Frankwein, spoke.
“Still, isn't this too fast? Even the top hunters from the mainland take days to hunt a Galtomic.”
“It's probably because of that blind man. The others are useful, but he has a different feel to him. In terms of hunting rank, he's Triple-S or higher.”
Frankwein's instincts were animalistic, not just in business but in hunting as well.
“That's what concerns me. They could become an obstacle to Yamaeng in the future.”
“It's fine, it's fine. Does a merchant pick and choose his customers? Just send the carcass to Laceis. And don't forget the terms we offered.”
Meatgun looked as if he had more to say, but he eventually closed his mouth and left the room.
Left alone, Frankwein's mouth split into a grotesque grin.
*'Kekeke, turns out this was a much bigger game than I thought. Right, Laceis?'*
* * *
The Physics Machine flashed.
The glass tube dismantled, and Shirone, his biological fusion complete, shot out.
The Type-A clone, lacking an Ultima System, was clearly different from Type-B.
While it was still accepting specific traits without issue, a level of decay that couldn't be ignored had occurred, and its form was uncontrollable.
Shirone's body was covered in red scales, and smoke rose from one of his eyes.
It was the day of the comprehensive fusion using the carcasses received from Yamaeng. And it was the first time the traits of the Demonic Fusion Species, Galtomic, had been added.
“C-Commander! Look at these readings! They're incredible!”
The numbers on their self-developed magic measurement device were skyrocketing.
The Galtomic's magic amplification had combined with Shirone's incarnation, emitting an enormous amount of magical power.
As Shirone's magic exploded, the Akamai trembled.
Even though this Akamai was an enhanced version of the prototype, the power was enough to shatter its Antithesis.
KWAAAAANG!
As Photon Cannons fired in all directions within the lab, Laceis stared at Shirone with wonder in her eyes.
*'Ah, Shirone. You are so beautiful.'*
It was a demonic love.
A love devoid of any consideration for its object, composed entirely of possessiveness.
“Commander! We have to do something! At this rate, the lab will be…!”
The researcher's cry was drowned out by the roar of the Photon Cannons, but Laceis remained motionless.
As the fusion progressed, Shirone was approaching the pinnacle of living beings.
And all the data obtained here would be used to strengthen the Akamai.
“Hahaha. Well then, shall we start with our first kiss?”
Laceis's skin began to turn red. Her waist bent and elongated, and her vertebrae protruded along her back.
Her thighs became hard as rock, and the soles of her feet grew pointed like a reptile's.
“KRAAAAAAAH!”
A mixture of fire and lightning-laced smoke spewed from her mouth in a straight line, engulfing Shirone.
“Grrrrrrr!”
Shirone's body melted but regenerated in an instant.
It was the trait of the Infinite Cell Proliferator, Canser.
“Kyakakaka! Wonderful, Shirone! Don't you think so too?”
Shirone vanished using the ability of the Invisible Demon, Hororos.
Without the Ultima System, the instincts of various monsters were acting freely within his mind.
“He disappeared! Find him, quickly!”
The moment the researcher reached the scanning device, a suddenly appearing glob of mucus melted him.
“Aaarghhh!”
The ability of the Acid Venom King, Muusa.
A direct hit could melt even super-hardened metals treated with elixirs.
As the mucus hit the floor, toxic gas billowed up.
The researchers clutched their throats in agony, while Laceis raised a broad hand to block the mucus.
Her hand instantly melted away, exposing bone, and then even the bone crumbled like a spent matchstick.
“Kuhk!”
This was Laceis's limit as well.
If they fought any longer, the lab would be utterly destroyed, just as the researcher had said.
“Release the Akamai!”
A researcher on the verge of fainting crawled over and pressed the scanner.
Once Shirone's coordinates were confirmed, three more Akamai entered from the side walls and activated their Antithesis.
Blood vessels stood out in the eyes of the Akamai as they desperately held onto Shirone.
Despite this, Shirone continued to walk forward slowly.
The face of the monstrous Laceis twisted in disbelief.
*'To think that even four Akamai can barely restrain him.'*
It wasn't just because new traits had been added.
Through biological feedback, Shirone's potential was exploding.
* * *
For the first time since receiving the list from Yamaeng, Armin's party had hit a wall.
The creature that had them stumped was the Armored Mineral Species, Ringer, a Double-S rank hunt.
Height: two meters. Weight: fourteen tons.
It had four legs, but in a pinch, it would curl its body into a ball and roll.
Its high speed made it difficult to hunt, but the most serious problem was the carapace of grayish-white metal that covered its body.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
A path was carved wherever the Ringer charged, and everything in its way, be it trees or rocks, was obliterated.
Armin cast two different types of slow magic on either side of the Ringer. The conflicting time zones sent the Ringer ricocheting at tremendous speed.
*BANG! KWAKWAKWABANG!*
From a relativistic perspective, the attack should have been powerful enough to tear through steel bars, but the Ringer merely rolled around like a ball struck with a wicked spin.
“Whew, this is really…”
Even Armin had never encountered a creature like this.
If strength came in many forms, the Ringer was in a league of its own when it came to durability.
After confirming that Kuan's sword couldn't even make a scratch, Etella made a decision.
“At this rate, we won't catch it by sunset. Let's work together.”
Shina said.
“Brother, slow the Ringer down with your magic. I'll cast Absolute Zero.”
Etella thought that was a good idea.
“Then I'll finish it.”
After the brief meeting, they immediately put the plan into action.
As the Ringer slowed under the effect of the spell, Shina landed a direct hit with Absolute Zero, said to be the strongest of all ice magic.
“KIIIAAAAAAAH!”
Simultaneously, Etella charged in.
Thousand-Hand Thunderclap.
As Etella unleashed a flurry of uppercuts, her body created afterimages on the spot.
The finishing touch, a twin-palm strike, generated 68,000 interference waves.
*Kukukukukukung!*
The Ringer's curled body trembled heavily.
Five seconds later, a faint crack appeared on its carapace, and then the Ringer's body burst.
“Hoo.”
Etella collapsed, her face etched with exhaustion.
The most astonishing thing was its durability; even the ultimate technique of the Yin-Yang Wave Fist could do no more than create a hairline crack.
“That was monstrous. It was definitely Double-S rank.”
Armin agreed.
“If it hadn't been a wave-based attack, it would have been much harder to deal with. It makes me wonder. Why is Yamaeng collecting the carcasses of creatures like these?”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
At that moment, the sound of applause came from the forest.
Feeling a sense of foreboding, Armin's party turned their heads, and a long silence followed.
It was Cage B Team, whom they had met on the mainland. At their lead, Vice-Captain Horkin approached with his hands clasped behind his back.
“To think we'd meet again in a place like this.”
Etella said with a broad smile.
“I know, right? We must have been connected in a past life.”
“Your martial prowess is as magnificent as the rumors said. By the way... where is Gaold now?”
“Pardon?”
Seeing Etella feign ignorance without a change in her expression, Horkin's lips curled upwards.
“My apologies for not recognizing you then. Bishop of the Karsis Order, Lady Romi Etella.”
As if on cue, killing intent flared from every one of them.