Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Eagle Spirit
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The arena was still spewing black smoke. The Overseer looked down at it from the top of the tower where he resided and spoke.
“I feel like crying. But I can’t. Never have I regretted the lack of a physical body as much as today.”
It had been two hours since Claude had invaded the Saike Dimension and massacred the countless crowds in the arena.
The incident had turned the Saike Dimension into a living hell. Excited citizens poured into the streets screaming, and some even vented their frustration at the “Great Game” right in front of them.
“What a joke. The Great Game isn’t something you can opt out of just because you don’t want to play.”
Turning his head, he saw two figures wrapped in white bandages kneeling. One was intact, but the other was a mess with parts of its body missing.
“Analyst. Report on the extent of the damage we’ve suffered first.”
“Yes, Overseer. A total of 28,000 general citizen-class members were gathered in the arena. Of them, 12,039 were attacked and obliterated.”
“12,000...”
The Overseer covered the spot where his mouth would be with his palm.
This was an irreparable, grave loss. Saikeans, having obtained immortality, could not reproduce naturally.
On top of that, Saikeans themselves were the primary producers of the energy essential to their civilization.
Instead of bearing offspring, they produced and emitted energy akin to their own through emotional stimulation.
The emitters scattered throughout the city absorbed that released energy and converted it into resources.
From this perspective, the arena was no different from a massive power plant. Thus, the place the enemy had infiltrated was the Saike Dimension’s most critical strategic facility.
“Unbelievable damage. Five percent of our total energy production vanished in one go. The Nuclei of Immortality must be raging wildly.”
The Nucleus of Immortality referred to the pure energy left behind by deceased Saikeans.
It had no form and was invisible to the eye, but it was the very foundation of the Saikeans. Lacking life in itself, it couldn’t produce additional energy, but it was an indispensable resource for creating new Saikeans.
“We have no choice but to resume hunting the rebels. How many Nuclei of Immortality have we recovered so far?”
“That’s... we have none.”
“None? How can there be no Nuclei of Immortality?”
“We were bewildered at first too. The readings for the Nuclei of Immortality remaining in the arena showed zero...”
“That’s impossible.”
The Overseer stated flatly.
“The Nucleus of Immortality remains exactly where we perish. It cannot be destroyed by any attack. Except for Pure Magic.”
“......”
“But Claude didn’t use Pure Magic. So why did the Nuclei of Immortality disappear?”
If he could sweat, he would be drenched in a waterfall of cold sweat right now. The Analyst twisted its body with effort and projected a prepared image on one wall.
Flash!
“Please take a look at this.”
The footage was frozen at the moment Claude, who had swept through half the spectator stands, exited through the dimensional gate at tremendous speed.
Beep!
“This is the exact moment. Image analysis shows that all the Nuclei of Immortality left in the arena were absorbed into the sword Claude is holding.”
Hum!
The screen zoomed in, focusing on the sword in Claude’s hand. The Analyst glared at the blade glowing yellow and shouted.
“What nonsense is that!”
Crush!
In an instant, the Analyst’s body crumpled to the size of a head before returning to normal.
“G-Guh! Grk! Uwaaaagh! Sp-Spare me! Overseer!”
“Don’t be dramatic. You won’t die from that.”
The Overseer forcibly calmed his excitement and asked.
“But a sword? Isn’t it just a lump of metal made in a lowly dimension barely at tech level zero? How could a mere lump of metal absorb high-grade energy like the Nucleus of Immortality?”
“That’s...”
The Analyst, still convulsing in pain from its crumpled form, barely managed to respond.
“Comparing it to the final record left by Sponsor No. 1, the sword Claude is holding matches the one made by the Elf Lord.”
“The Elf Lord? The one Sponsor No. 2 let slip away. And?”
“That sword possesses an intricacy beyond our technology’s ability to replicate easily. We don’t know the exact mechanism yet, but it clearly has the ability to absorb high-dimensional energy like the Nucleus of Immortality.”
“What utter nonsense!”
Crunch!
This time, the Analyst’s body shrank to the size of a fist.
“Such a thing can’t happen! Does a lowly dimension like that possess the technology to handle the Nucleus of Immortality?”
“Kraaaagh!”
Once its body returned to normal, the Analyst thrashed about as if losing its mind. Sponsor No. 2, kneeling beside it, trembled in fear and bowed its head.
“Get out! I can’t even look at you!”
A door opened, and a green-bandaged Saikean dragged the Analyst’s body out. The Overseer glared at the now-alone Sponsor No. 2 and spoke in a low voice.
“That sword Claude holds now has absorbed a whopping 12,000 Nuclei of Immortality.”
“......Yes, Overseer.”
“Do you know what can be done with that many Nuclei of Immortality? We could create 6,000 new Saikeans. Of course, we’d need to capture 6,000 rebels alive first.”
“That’s correct. But...”
“But?”
The Overseer gripped Sponsor No. 2’s shoulder. Sponsor No. 2 writhed as if seizing and groaned.
“Ku, kueh, urk, heuuu...”
“Do you understand how I feel right now?”
“Ov, Overseer...”
The Overseer’s emotions continued to flow into Sponsor No. 2’s body.
It would have been better to suffer physical pain like the Analyst just now.
The Overseer was the being who governed the prosperity and survival of all Saikeans.
The immense burden he bore alone was far beyond what Sponsor No. 2, who had received its white bandage less than 200 years ago, could endure.
“Urrr, urk, Overseer, please...”
But where there’s giving, there’s receiving.
The pain and a portion of the madness Sponsor No. 2 had endured over the past month transferred to the Overseer’s body.
“Ho.”
The Overseer released its hand in surprise.
“Impressive. I thought no one in the world hated Claude as much as I did.”
“Ov, Overseer.”
“Even just a fraction of your emotions has multiplied the rage I’ve harbored toward Claude several times over.”
The Overseer personally lifted Sponsor No. 2’s body and asked in a heavy voice.
“Was Claude that loathsome?”
“Claude... Ku, Claude... Hehe, haha...”
“Pull yourself together. This is horrific. Just how much suffering did that bastard cause you?”
At that moment, Sponsor No. 2’s twitching body went limp.
“Hic... Ov, Overseer... I truly... I hate that guy so much.”
Sponsor No. 2 wiped at nonexistent tears and sobbed.
“I tried to kidnap the Elf Lord first, but he beat me to it... Even the Ice Worm Queen I targeted next, he smashed her by a hair’s breadth... Hic!”
“Hm. I received the report up to that point.”
“It was too agonizing. To fail so massively on my first mission. I could hardly bear it.”
“Yes. This was your first dimensional mission.”
“On top of that, I’d invested massive resources in advance for the Queen, and it all went to waste... Still, I sacrificed my own body and somehow secured two Arch Wizards, stuffing every bit of the new tech intended for the Queen into them...”
“I see, and in that process, you deployed Sponsor No. 1’s legacy?”
The Overseer asked in a gentle voice. Sponsor No. 2 nodded helplessly and cried.
“Hic! Y-Yes. I deployed the Shadow Dimension Device. It maximized Zectbaya’s power... No, I wasn’t in my right mind either. It was a dangerous item that could open a dimensional gate at any moment...”
“It must have been truly agonizing.”
Without transferring emotions, the Overseer simply patted Sponsor No. 2’s shoulder with his bare hand.
“I felt the horrific pain you endured.”
“Overseer! I’m truly wronged! This shouldn’t have happened. Every detail of the fusion body—no, Zectbaya—was calibrated entirely for Claude. None of his magic should have worked on Zectbaya. So how on earth...”
“Yes, you suffered greatly.”
The Overseer now patted both of Sponsor No. 2’s shoulders with both hands.
“It was tough, wasn’t it? I seem to have burdened you with too heavy a duty. When you’re just a single agent with a white bandage.”
“Hic...”
“This is all my mistake. Sponsor No. 1 performed so flawlessly that it clouded my judgment.”
“No, Overseer. It was all my failure...”
“Enough. Rest now.”
A smile spread across the Overseer’s face within the bandages. Sponsor No. 2 looked up at him with moved gratitude and nodded.
And then Sponsor No. 2’s body crumpled.
Crush!
Without using any other force, the Overseer began compressing Sponsor No. 2’s body solely with the strength of his hands.
“Guh! Overseer...”
Rip!
Its already damaged form shrank smaller than a fist in an instant, trapped in the Overseer’s grasp.
“You committed more than just failure.”
“Agh...”
“Who permitted you to use Sponsor No. 1’s legacy on your own? Because of you, 12,000 Saikeans were obliterated. Completely erased.”
Crunch!
The Overseer crushed Sponsor No. 2’s body even harder as it tried to regenerate.
Squelch!
Smaller.
Riiip!
Smaller and smaller.
At some point, the fingernail-sized lump, no longer even retaining the bandage’s shape, caught fire.
Sizzle!
And vanished in an instant.
Nothing remained. The Overseer dusted off his palm, staring at the spot where Sponsor No. 2’s last trace had disappeared.
“Hm, right here, about this spot?”
He then fired Pure Magic directly at that location.
Ziiing!
Transparent light sliced through the empty space and slammed into the opposite wall. The Overseer sneered and turned away.
“You were already ruined. No matter how precious the Nucleus of Immortality is, we can’t recycle a broken one.”
“Overseer!”
At that moment, a green-bandaged guard burst in urgently. The Overseer calmly turned to the guard and asked.
“What is it?”
“Didn’t you hear a loud noise just now? Wait, wasn’t Sponsor here...”
The guard stared at the empty space and paled.
“No! N-No! I must have misheard!”
“Get a grip. More importantly, bring the Arbiter here immediately.”
“Yes, understood.”
The guard saluted and dashed out. The Overseer lightly stroked his chin and turned back to the paused screen.
Claude.
There, Claude appeared like the incarnation of fire itself, leaping dynamically into the dimensional gate.
“That’s...”
Even the Overseer, who governed all, had never seen such a sight.
How was this possible?
“A human—a living being with flesh—fusing with the origin of an element.”
“Amazing” didn’t suffice.
This human named Claude had long surpassed the limits they themselves had abandoned.
“We can no longer evaluate it merely by strength or speed. A higher realm... Perhaps approaching the level of a Duelist?”
Duelist.
The final warrior sent out in a decisive battle that determines a dimension’s fate.
Of course, Duelists had rarely ever been deployed. Blocking a higher dimension’s invasion from a lower one was that difficult.
But if they succeeded.
And if their Duelist lost the final fight?
“We’d be obliterated, and that Ald Dimension would take our place. No...”
The Overseer ground nonexistent teeth and muttered to himself.
“It’s truly dangerous now. White bandages—White Class—won’t cut it. I need to consult the Arbiter and find a way. If necessary, deploy the Arbiter directly...”