Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Havel's Parasite Removal Experiment Declaration
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Ka'al naturally reacted with disbelief at first, wondering what kind of absurd nonsense that was.
But this was Havel.
The monster who had cleaved through even the human-type dimensional species Meriz in a single stroke.
Maybe, just maybe, he could pull off removing the parasite.
"...Yeah, it's worth a shot."
He hadn't tried it on Ka'al himself due to the risks involved.
But now, test material had walked right up to them.
There was no reason not to give it a go.
Ka'al and Havel turned to stare at White Swallow simultaneously.
"Wait, what are you planning to do?"
White Swallow's face gradually hardened.
He could sense an ominous aura emanating from the two men.
"Just stay still. I'll be quick."
"Ugh, uwaaaah!"
White Swallow screamed, his face draining of color.
But with the spatial restraints binding him so tightly, he couldn't flee.
And so, the moment he surrendered his head to Havel...
Calamity energy poured from Havel's body and burrowed straight into White Swallow.
White Swallow thrashed wildly at the bizarre sensation.
But Havel's Calamity pressed deeper regardless.
Havel scoured every inch of White Swallow's insides.
And at the core, he sensed what Ka'al had described as the parasite.
'No, this isn't a parasite at all.'
Havel's eyes narrowed subtly.
The so-called parasite filled White Swallow's body completely.
At this point, there was no distinguishing between White Swallow and the parasite itself.
Only someone like Havel could perceive it this clearly.
Anyone else wouldn't have even noticed.
'Now I see why he said the species itself had changed.'
As Ka'al had said, Ability Users were no longer human.
They were nearly identical to the dimensional species they fought against.
Removing the parasite at this stage was pointless.
Because removing the parasite meant removing the Ability User.
They had fused into one inseparable whole.
Havel pulled his hand away from White Swallow with a light tap.
He met Ka'al's gaze and shook his head.
Ka'al nodded with a wry smile, not having held out much hope anyway.
He too was infected with the parasite and already knew the truth.
"What do we do with this guy?"
Havel pointed at White Swallow.
Removing him wouldn't be hard if that's what they wanted.
Just lop off his head.
"I'll seal him in spatial confinement."
Ka'al flicked his hand once.
White Swallow's form was sucked into the void beyond space and vanished.
Havel watched the scene impassively before turning away.
"You're keeping him alive in case killing the colony's master stops the parasites in Ability Users, right?"
"Something like that."
Ka'al didn't deny it and started walking.
They soon reached their destination.
A massive pit yawned before Ka'al and Havel.
A colossal crater that had devoured a third of Zone 1's city.
Updrafts billowed from the pit stretching to the horizon.
Strong enough that a plane flying overhead might get caught and crash.
"That's why we have to check."
Ka'al stood at the pit's edge, a lonely smile on his lips.
"Here's hoping."
The day they slay the colony's master and the parasites don't stop...
Ka'al would make a choice for humanity's sake.
Until then, White Swallow lives.
Whatever the outcome, they'd know for sure when the time came.
"Let's go."
Havel didn't wait to hear more and stepped into the pit.
He casually walked down the near-vertical outer wall without a care.
Ka'al followed right after, descending effortlessly with spatial manipulation.
Flight was no issue for him.
"Incoming."
Havel spoke up in that moment.
Ka'al hurriedly assumed a defensive stance at the warning.
From below surged winged human-type dimensional species—Meriz.
Gripping spears, they unleashed torrents of electricity toward Havel and Ka'al.
Havel blocked with his hand blade; Ka'al warped space to deflect them.
But the Meriz didn't stop, pressing their assault relentlessly.
An endless barrage of electrified spears rained down like bombs.
Progress would be tricky like this.
Havel drew his sword instead of using his hand.
"I'll sweep them in one go."
Dawn energy gathered on Havel's blade.
Ka'al sensed the power and immediately put distance between them.
The moment Dawn fully enveloped Havel's sword...
He swung it toward the Meriz.
Banpellyon Style Dawn Swordsmanship
Dawn Sky
Beams of light shot forth, engulfing the Meriz.
The ones relentlessly hurling spears vanished in an instant, swept away by Dawn.
Dawn kept extending, seemingly reaching the pit's bottom...
But ahead of the advancing Dawn Sky stood a black Meriz with hands clasped together.
A zero-rank Meriz.
"Havel!"
Ka'al shouted belatedly upon seeing it.
Too late.
The unleashed Dawn Sky was wholly sucked into its grasp.
Havel's brow twitched once.
All of Dawn Sky vanished into its hands.
Havel recalled the myriad phenomena from a previous hierarchy.
This thing was definitely a Calamity species that devoured light.
But this black Meriz had more than that.
Dawn light swirled at the center of its palms.
The moment Ka'al felt a chill...
He realized what it was, a beat too late.
"It's a counter ability!"
With Ka'al's cry, Dawn light erupted from its hands.
It was unmistakably Dawn Sky.
An ability that absorbed the opponent's attack and flung it back.
The returning Dawn Sky rushed to engulf Havel and Ka'al in seconds.
Ka'al's vision seemed to freeze.
All he could imagine was being consumed by Dawn Sky and dying.
As he prepared to spatial jump...
Havel stood before it, sword raised.
"Taking what I gave and giving it back? How polite."
Havel gripped his sword like a club.
Dawn light began frosting his blade once more.
"Fine, you did a good deed, so I'll return it double."
Havel swung at the incoming Dawn Sky again.
Banpellyon Style Dawn Swordsmanship
Dawn Sky Counter
The instant Havel's Dawn Sky touched the black Meriz's reflected version...
Havel's side began devouring the Dawn light.
The emotionless black Meriz panicked and raised its hands hastily.
Havel's Dawn Sky was bearing down again.
Double the output of what it had swallowed before.
It desperately clasped its hands to struggle.
The Dawn Sky engulfing it started getting sucked into its palms.
Attempting another counter.
But even the black Meriz couldn't handle this.
Crack! Craaaack!
Cracks spiderwebbed across its body.
It couldn't contain the massive energy.
But failing to do so meant death.
The black Meriz grimly absorbed and absorbed more.
And the moment it fully contained it...
Its body half-shattered, it thrust out its hand.
Its eyes locked on Havel.
A look of triumphant confidence, as if to say it had succeeded.
But its face slowly hardened.
Havel was already frosting Dawn onto his sword again.
"Giving just one back would be no fun."
An evil smile curled Havel's lips.
"Geeeeek!"
The black Meriz screamed as it triggered its counter.
Havel's sword erupted with Dawn light simultaneously.
The area flooded with blinding radiance.
The clash of the black Meriz's Dawn and Havel's.
Amid it, the black Meriz raised its hand once more.
This was all it could do within the Dawn.
Havel laughed from beyond the light.
Yeah, you have to at least try that.
That's what he seemed to say.
Trapped with no escape...
The black Meriz forced itself to absorb more.
Each time, the cracks deepened.
Soon, Dawn light leaked from the fissures.
The black Meriz's eyes closed.
Sensing its end.
Unabsorbed Dawn Sky pierced through its body.
The Meriz swallowed its scream.
Fwoooooosh!
The moment Dawn lights consumed the black Meriz...
Its body disintegrated in the glow shortly after.
Havel, who had vaporized the black Meriz in an instant, turned to Ka'al.
"Why the scared face?"
"Just amazed."
They conversed while descending rapidly.
No time to waste.
Soon, they reached the bottom.
An endless hatching ground sprawled before them.
The entire underground space was filled with it.
"The colony's master is deeper. Let's go."
"Yeah?"
Havel raised his sword without following.
Ka'al wondered at the sight just as...
Dawn gathered on Havel's blade.
"...Havel, what are you doing?"
"You said it's below."
Then just go down as fast as possible.
Ka'al's face paled as...
Havel thrust his sword downward without hesitation.
Boom!
The strike shattered the floor with a crack.
Dawn light seeped through the fissures.
As Ka'al hurriedly levitated...
Dawn burst from the cracks, widening them.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
A deafening roar, and the hatching ground's floor collapsed entirely.
Hatching pods scattered as sticky debris.
Havel nimbly dodged and descended.
Ka'al followed in shock.
"That's too reckless!"
"Wiped out the hatching ground too, right?"
Havel ignored the jibe and landed.
He soon furrowed his brow.
"Ka'al."
"Yeah?"
Ka'al, arriving late, looked dumbfounded.
He couldn't believe his eyes either.
"It's empty."
The underground was vacant.
Traces of something having been there lingered.
But it had left long ago.
Ka'al stared blankly before slowly looking up.
His gaze reached the pit's top, and he muttered.
"...Havel."
His face was ashen.
"The colony's master seems to have gone to the city."
The colony's master had made the first move.