Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: The Meriz Horde
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After finishing his conversation with Kaal.
Havel prepared to move inside the bus with Kaal.
"Don't move a muscle."
Kaal grabbed Havel's collar in a flash.
The moment Havel blinked.
The surrounding scenery had completely changed before he knew it.
It was some city.
A city devoid of any sign of life.
The city, overgrown with moss and thickets, looked utterly ruined.
At the same time, Havel sensed a massive shadow looming behind him.
When Havel looked up, there stood an enormous barrier.
"This is the barrier erected to prevent the dimensional beasts in Zone 1 from leaking out."
"So this is that place called Zone 1."
"Yeah, we crossed over via spatial transfer."
Kaal's spatial abilities were indeed extraordinary.
That must be how he'd managed to stay hidden all this time without his identity being exposed.
"I can't use spatial transfer from here on out. The Colony Lord would sense it."
With that, Kaal began distorting his own spatial field.
It was to evade the Colony Lord's detection.
"I could carry you on foot, but..."
"Nah, no need. I can erase my presence without that."
With those words, Havel's presence began to fade rapidly.
He'd always had such a faint presence that only someone like Kaal could detect it.
But soon, it vanished to the point where even Kaal's eyes widened in surprise.
It was indistinguishable from the natural surroundings, even right in front of them.
"...I'm relieved my gamble turned out to be such a strong card."
"You'll come to believe that heavenly luck has followed you your whole life."
"My whole life, huh."
Kaal chuckled briefly before starting to walk lightly.
"This should get us to the core without being detected."
Havel didn't respond to his words.
But he followed behind Kaal without asking more.
"Squeak, chitter."
Along the path Kaal and Havel took.
Havel encountered countless dimensional beasts in the ruined city.
The ones prowling the city streets came in all shapes and sizes.
From ones as small as rats.
To elephant-sized ones as big as buildings.
They each went about their lives in their own ways.
"The Colony Lord made all of these?"
It felt like every single one was a different species.
"Pretty much. There's this thing called a hatchery where he modifies the genes of animals living in this world and hatches them."
Havel clenched and unclenched his fist upon hearing that.
As if to say, why not just smash it to pieces?
Kaal tapped the ground with his foot as he passed a collapsed utility pole.
"I've smashed it a few times, but there are just too damn many.
They fill up almost the entire underground of Zone 1."
He apparently had prior experience destroying them.
"Even the ones I destroyed got rebuilt after a few days, so I gave up.
I even tried collapsing the ground beneath, but no dice."
That was why he opted to close dimensional gates instead.
It was far more efficient than wrecking hatcheries.
Complete elimination of the hatcheries was impossible until the Colony Lord himself was gone.
"Still, lucky for us. These guys can't detect my spatial distortion."
At that moment, Havel climbed atop a fallen utility pole and looked up.
"You probably shouldn't have said that."
"Huh?"
Kaal turned his head, following Havel's gaze with a puzzled expression.
Something soon reflected in his eyes.
Perched on a building was a creature with incredibly slender legs.
Its form was unmistakably close to human.
But the horn protruding from the back of its head.
And the helmet covering its entire face marked it as inhuman.
Moreover, it had razor-sharp blades instead of arms.
Grrrrumble—.
In that instant, six green eyes gleamed through the slits in its helmet.
Havel drew his sword the moment he saw it.
Triiing!
The resounding sword cry whipped up a sudden gust around them.
Havel locked eyes with the humanoid dimensional beast through his fluttering hair.
Kaal's eyes widened at the sight.
A chill ran through Kaal's entire body.
This one's oppressive presence was on a whole different level from the dimensional beasts he'd seen before.
Kikikikik! Clang!
The humanoid dimensional beast clashed with Havel, deflected his sword, and retreated.
Havel steadied his blade roughly and glared at it.
"...How?"
Meanwhile, Kaal was frozen in shock.
It had detected not just Kaal with his spatial distortion, but Havel too.
"These things must learn."
Kaal had said he'd smashed a hatchery once before.
The hatcheries must have expended energy repairing it.
So they'd evolved to prevent repeats.
If they couldn't detect Kaal, the hatcheries would keep getting wrecked.
"They made one specialized in detection."
And one more thing.
Kaal, who could destroy hatcheries again, was a spatial sorcerer.
So they created dimensional beasts capable of pursuing him.
And that was the humanoid dimensional beast before Havel's eyes.
'Meriz.'
Its movements just now.
They resembled speed-based abilities.
"This is..."
No dimensional beasts had possessed abilities until now.
For the Colony Lord, ability users were already under his control anyway.
No need to create ones that advanced.
But contrary to the Colony Lord's intentions.
A new variable named Kaal appeared.
The spatial ability user Kaal kept harassing the Colony Lord.
As a result, the Colony Lord deemed him a threat.
And ordered the hatcheries to create something to eliminate him.
Thus, the humanoid dimensional beast was born.
Realizing this, Kaal thrust his hand out immediately.
In that instant, a spatial slash extended from his grip and engulfed the Meriz.
Clang!
But the spatial slash, which shouldn't even be visible, was blocked by the Meriz.
Its blade clashed with Kaal's spatial slash unscathed.
Strong.
Kaal realized this one was markedly different from all previous dimensional beasts.
He also grasped just how much worse the situation had become.
"Havel, we need to take this thing out now."
Kaal realized how his actions had shifted the situation.
His reckless moves had provoked the Colony Lord.
Resulting in the birth of this horrific humanoid slaughterer.
If it reached civilian areas, a massacre would ensue.
It could lead to forcible occupation before terraforming even began.
"That'll be a hassle."
Havel said as he looked up.
Kaal belatedly understood the implication and raised his head too.
Kik—.
Geekgeek—.
On the road where no cars now ran.
Innumerable humanoid Meriz filled it, emerging to block their path.
Every one was on par with the first Meriz.
Kaal's face drained of color.
His abilities as a spatial sorcerer were top-notch, but.
He couldn't handle this many Meriz alone.
"No need for that face."
Havel raised his sword without a hint of fear.
"It's just a hassle. Not impossible."
"Kiiiiieeeek!"
In that moment, one Meriz charged at Havel again.
Moving at blinding speed like teleportation.
It closed in on Havel's face in an instant, thrusting its blade at his throat.
And just as Havel's neck was about to be sliced between the two blades.
Kaboooom!
A ferocious explosion rang out.
Kaal, unable to track the Meriz's movement with his eyes, whipped his head around.
There, the Meriz's face was caved in.
And Havel had extended his left fist—the one not holding his sword—to the side.
"Can you bind them so they can't escape?"
At Havel's question, the dazed Kaal snapped to attention.
He immediately raised his hand toward the sky.
Intending to seal off this space separately.
"I can."
That was enough.
A chilling smile crept across Havel's lips as he infused dawn energy into his sword.
"Then don't worry. I'll clean them all up."
It was perfect warm-up before facing the so-called Colony Lord.
The Colony Lord.
The humanoid dimensional beasts born from the hatcheries he created.
Meriz.
They possessed a wide array of abilities, just like human ability users.
Unlike infecting parasites into humans to grant abilities.
And reducing their reliance on modern weaponry.
These were pure killing abilities bestowed upon dimensional beasts.
The Meriz could be seen as superior versions of ability users.
And now, those Meriz.
Slash! Boom! Kaboom!
Were being massacred amid explosions and flashing sword strikes.
Amid the horde of pouring Meriz.
One man stood there.
A man with silver hair nearly white, whipping in the wind.
Havel Banpellyon.
His sword never paused for a moment.
And with every swing, another Meriz corpse piled up.
The Meriz were strong.
Average Grade 1 agent level by this world's ability user standards.
But before Havel, they were mere flies.
Countless ones slain by his swinging blade lay densely packed.
Soon, the corpses formed mountains.
Even the fearless Meriz hesitated at the sight.
'A monster.'
Abraksas—Kaal watched from afar, staring at Havel in horror.
As per Havel's words, he'd severed this space from the rest.
To prevent the Meriz from escaping outside.
Thus, in the isolated space, Kaal felt Havel's presence even more intensely.
He'd vaguely known Havel was strong.
An aura like that was a first, even for Kaal who'd observed countless ability users.
Maybe he could do it.
For his gamble to save humanity, Kaal had willingly chosen Havel as his card.
It was rare for someone this cooperative to enter through the dimensional gate he'd opened.
He'd brought Havel as a last resort.
But the scene before his eyes surpassed expectations.
'I planned to support him all the way to the Colony Lord.'
To think even that felt pointless now.
Amid the astonishment, conviction solidified in his eyes.
With Havel, they could defeat the Colony Lord.
He could surely save humanity.
It was then, as Kaal clenched his fists.
A shiver!
Goosebumps erupted on his arms.
The moment he looked up, there was a Meriz unlike the others.
Meriz bodies were normally pure white.
But this one had a pitch-black body, distinct from the rest.
The instant Kaal questioned it.
The mountain of Meriz corpses Havel had piled up began to twitch.