Chapter 204

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Translator: Ryuma

Chapter: 204

Chapter Title: Lesson 40. No Alien Allowed - 4

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Centered on the flagship, the orc ships transformed into a meteor shower made up nearly half the fleet—easily over a thousand by sheer count.

A single large asteroid crashing into Earth would shatter the planet outright. A meteor shower of that scale? This wasn't something you could pull off just because you wanted Ban Yu-won.

Watching it, Ban Yu-won finally realized that the one who'd orchestrated this ploy—the Sogaju—and the constellation's will might not align.

'The Sogaju just gave the order without a second thought, but the constellation had different plans. And its goal... is still my sister! That meteor shower is aimed at her!'

Thanks to the Sogaju preparing the orc wave, the constellation had seized the chance to wield its authority.

So it had pretended to lend its power obediently, only to stab them in the back at the critical moment.

To the constellation, Ban Yu-won wasn't even worth noticing.

Whether they secured him or not, it had always planned to assault Earth on this massive scale from the start.

Using that meteor shower to kill his sister, or snatching her with some authority he didn't know about...

Either way, Earth was in dire peril.

"We have to stop it."

Reacting to Ban ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yu-won's instinctive mutter was the suspicious hooded self-proclaimed grandma, Nine.

"Guess I'll have to step in."

She raised both hands high, exuding an aura that brooked no argument, and mysteriously, part of the meteor shower plummeting toward Earth vanished outright, while the rest slowed dramatically.

With the help of his All-Reading Eyes and Origin Sword, Ban Yu-won barely discerned the space-related concepts woven into it.

Nine possessed the power to interfere with space itself!

'Not a single one of these Platinum Club members is ordinary.'

It was absurd.

No, how the hell had Yumina gathered people like this?

And why were folks like them rushing to Earth's aid as fan club Platinum members and reinforcements?

As the deepening mystery sent shivers down his spine, Nine let out a long sigh and stepped back.

"The followers of the Myriad Calamities are dead serious. Should've brought more relics."

"Each of those meteors holds the magical power and ferocity of hundreds of thousands of orcs. Even the constellation reinforced them, so blocking this much is more than we could ask for."

He still had no clue about Nine's true identity, but since she'd stepped up to defend Earth, Ban Yu-won bowed politely in thanks.

Then he took a deep breath himself before summoning Release in bike form, now somewhat recovered, and hopped on.

"I'll handle the rest."

"Master?!"

Lucelle rushed over in horror, but he held her off with one hand.

"Lucelle, you've already pushed yourself too far. Drink this and rest."

What he offered was his usual hot chocolate spiked with blood essence—a potent restorative.

It had top-tier recovery effects, but nothing compared to an elixir candy. Giving her this was as good as telling her outright not to fight anymore.

Lucelle stepped closer, her face defiant.

"If I eat Master's candy—"

"Sure, it's a miracle worker, but not immortality in a bottle. Recover, pour out all your strength again, and then there's no coming back. Rest now, Lucelle."

"I'll go too!"

"You handle those orc bastards."

Aneri jumped in spiritedly and was promptly assigned to deal with the remaining orc fleet.

In truth, with no plan for the meteor shower, Aneri had just wanted to show off her affection and loyalty. Secretly, she was relieved.

Ban Yu-won smirked, reading her perfectly, then gunned Release toward the meteor shower, thinking:

'Can I do this? It's mixed with physical matter.'

Ban Yu-won's innate authority made him exceptionally strong against enemy projectile attacks.

Anything that left its owner's hand—be it bullets or massive boulders—became independent concepts he could absorb outright.

But that was limited to raw matter. Fully formed magic or sword auras had their internal concepts owned and controlled by someone else, so he couldn't conceptualize them freely.

And this meteor shower raining down on Earth was unmistakably laced with the constellation's authority and the orcs' concepts...

'If it were real meteors, it'd be easier.'

The closer he looked, the more horrifying its construction became.

It wasn't just setting the orc fleet ablaze and slamming it into Earth.

The orcs in the orc wave were essentially dominated by relics infused with the constellation's power. It had used them to crush and meld countless orc bodies and ships into new meteor forms!

Most of the orcs sacrificed in the constellation's bold scheme were dead, but the survivors wailed in怨, resonating with the meteors—each one a massive living bomb.

'Not quite absorbing living beings' concepts... but this is different from blocking plain sword auras or magic.'

Still, if Ban Yu-won had a shot, it was that the constellation had clumsily mixed in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the wrong ingredients while crafting the shower.

And now, with his perfected Yu-won Arts and Origin Sword, he could interfere in others' domains.

Even against living bombs, he might steal their concepts.

And if he failed, he had a few backup plans, so this wasn't a suicide charge.

"Release, let's block that meteor shower!"

[Tch, fine.]

Release launched, reciting the line he'd taught her for atmospheric entry.

Cleaving through space unimpeded, she hurtled toward the shower like a barrier between it and Earth. Once stationary in orbit with the planet looming large below, Ban Yu-won glared fiercely and raised both arms.

[Borrowing Earth's power?!]

"Earthlings don't have that kind of juice."

All he could rely on was himself and his familiar's strength.

"Eve... Abyss!"

Kwajik.

It sounded like stones shattering.

In the midst of the constellation's massive meteor synthesis—built on countless sacrifices—Ban Yu-won's beloved familiars, impossible for anyone else to corrupt or control, rampaged right on cue. A chunk of the meteors split apart.

That crack grew rapidly, belting out a horrific roar that would've ruptured eardrums outside vacuum!

[Ahh, I feel sis! It's resonating!]

"Smash 'em all! Grind 'em to dust!"

Of course, they couldn't do it alone.

So Ban Yu-won poured every ounce of power he could lend them.

They smashed directly, absorbed concepts from within, and smashed meteors into each other.

Nearly ten percent of the constellation's grand magic unraveled in that instant.

"Now!"

If they weren't living bombs anymore, even Ban Yu-won had a turn. He unleashed his authority full throttle.

Golden magical power shot from his hands, turning to sturdy ropes that wormed through the shower, battering degenerated meteors and yanking out concepts!

Ban Yu-won's eyes flashed wide.

Mere scraps compared to the shower's immense scale, but he'd successfully extracted some.

If the constellation had descended in person, impossible—but this was a win in their power struggle.

Thanks partly to Yu-won Arts and Origin Sword, but more so, his pure authority had advanced a step.

'Can't make the whole shower vanish with this, but still...!'

Inside the red meteors, key balancing concepts sucked away, true collisions began.

Like a meticulously layered cocktail ruined by a single shake.

One corner of the perfectly controlled meteor shower crumbled, meteors slamming into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠each other for bigger blasts!

Naturally, the concepts Ban Yu-won yanked out only multiplied amid the chaos.

Some seemed oddly out of place here, but no time to nitpick—he'd sort them later.

—Shishit!

Of course, his rampage didn't last.

The shower accelerated, and suddenly Eve and Abyss were bounced out.

Eve, who'd been drill-shaped like Abyss, gleefully shredding from inside, reverted to her ragged snake form and flew into his arms.

"Good work, Eve. Holding off a constellation this well? You're amazing."

"Shit... shishit..."

Eve sulked at failing to stop it fully, but they'd wrecked about twenty percent.

Plus his authority took out nearly forty. Anyone knowing the constellation's power—even Union Academy—would be stunned.

"So... how do we handle the rest..."

—Guooooooh!

The massive red stars closed in relentlessly.

Distant, it hadn't felt real, but now thousands filled his view—each big enough to flatten his neighborhood—chest tightened inescapably.

'I've profited so far, but from here it's permanent expenditure...'

No choice.

Vowing payback against the Myriad Calamities followers and Prominence Clan later, he gritted his teeth and pulled a Code Core from his inventory.

The golden code string he grasped took forms of Death and Deification—

—Swaaaaah.

But right as he moved—

Part of the now-looming meteor shower hit an invisible line and couldn't approach, erased clean like rubber off paper.

One, then another.

The shower sped up, narrowing scope like it targeted him alone, but the suspicious shield annihilated them all.

"...Huh?"

No, it wasn't keeping them from him.

Ban Yu-won turned and knew.

Earth.

Earth gleamed in golden light, repelling the meteor shower.

Blocking the constellation.

Right then—unseen by him, but before every eye on Earth—a status window alert appeared.