Chapter 385: Angkara (1)
“Ha…”
Hansoo sighed as he looked at the cross before him.
‘Arin…’
A comrade who had fought with him until the end of his previous life.
‘I hope… you can finally rest well.’
Enbi Arin.
A comrade that had been out of the ordinary from the very beginning.
Most people had stood out from the ma.s.ses with their leaders.h.i.+p, brains, luck, or talent.
Without such distinguis.h.i.+ng characteristics, humankind would never have gained enough strength to reach the Temporal Crystal.
A hundred out of six billion humans.
Becoming strong from around the middle point was nowhere enough to reach that height.
They had to be ready from the very beginning and monopolize every method to become stronger.
So their comrades had climbed the Otherverse by following the paths of powerhouses.
But not Enbi Arin.
Enbi Arin had been a weakling when she arrived.
Her body was weak.
She did not have charisma or leaders.h.i.+p qualities.
Nor was she lucky.
The ones who had arrived with her were imprisoned criminals.
She had been dragged here while doing some public volunteer work at a prison.
And after being captured by those men who were full of hatred and lawlessness, she had gone through a lot of hard times.
Thankfully she had realized her Trait of Tainted Emotion and ripped apart everyone who had caused her harm, but the memories of those times continued to haunt her.
Since Enbi Arin had rarely spoken of it even in his past life.
‘…I guess your wishes have come true.’
He’d hoped that Enbi Arin would never accomplish her wishes.
But she had.
Hansoo looked bitter as he thought of the calm and comfortable expression Enbi Arin made as she died.
“…I came up because you called me, but I didn’t expect to see this.”
Ekidu.
Ekidu, who had controlled the humans with Karhal below, spoke in a bitter tone as she looked at the cross before her.
Enbi Arin.
She hadn’t known her for a long time, but it was enough to become friends and have trust in each other.
They had searched for Hansoo and fought for the humans during those two years of Hansoo’s disappearance.
Despite being the leader of the giant clan called The Cross, her dreams were very simple.
She was shocked at this, but she liked that about Enbi.
Since she had also fought for the village with a similar mindset.
And after hearing Enbi Arin’s scar from the past, these thoughts were further reinforced.
When they parted, they had wished for their dreams to come true, but to reunite like this.
‘…Dumbo.’
Ekidu looked at the cross in the middle of Nelkipa’s surface and then turned to Hansoo and Kiriel.
It felt like she would be trapped in this sadness if she didn’t change the topic.
This world was not kind enough to let them hide behind their sorrow.
Ekidu shook off most of the thoughts in her head and asked Hansoo:
“…Is it all over for this place, Hansoo?”
Hansoo nodded.
Melchizedek was gone, and Clementine’s forces were gone as well.
The only thing left were the few Abyssal beasts and a few hidden humans.
This was not enough to threaten those coming up from below.
Kiriel, who also had a sad expression, joined in on the conversation.
“What happened to the zone below?”
Ekidu smiled as she replied:
“It’s going well. The kids are quickly becoming Transcendents as well.”
Because they had no way to efficiently control the Transcendents in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd zones they didn’t make any, but the 4th Zone where Karhal and Ekidu resided was different.
Even if 1-Star Transcendents appeared, the 2-Star Transcendent Karhal could easily handle them.
Since he could control them, they just let them loose as well.
‘And… it doesn’t seem like we have the leisure to hold back from making them.’
—rumble—
Ekidu looked at the lightning surrounding the elevator.
The s.p.a.ce between the zones divided by the elevator twisted from time to time.
And due to this, it was causing countless bolts of lightning to crash around it.
A very unstable-looking scene.
Ekidu asked Hansoo:
“…How long do we have?’
She wasn’t very specific, but it was clear what she was talking about.
Time until the Abyss collapsed around them.
Hansoo replied in a heavy voice:
“Not much. Really.”
—rumble—
Hansoo looked at the elevator.
There really wasn’t much time.
Five months at most.
Maybe even less.
He had to unify and organize the seven zones before that.
Using that as the basis, creating as many Transcendents and preparing for battle.
Hansoo looked at Ekidu.
“I want you to take care of this place.”
Meaning he wanted her to receive the soul fragment and remain here.
Somebody needed to remain here to enforce the rules and lead the ones coming up after them.
Ekidu made a helpless expression and replied:
“Ugh. Fine, I guess I’ll be bored for a while. There’s really n.o.body else here.”
Ekidu shrugged as she looked at the bare plains.
A colossal creature.
If Hansoo and Kiriel left, she would be left alone.
‘I want to follow, but… it seems like that won’t be possible.’
They had both been 2-Stars up until recently.
But somehow Kiriel and Hansoo had crossed the wall in that short period of time and had become a step stronger.
The limits of 3-Star Transcendents.
If they had both remained below, then they would not have been able to become this strong.
They became stronger to meet the dangers they came across.
Ekidu thought of this basic rule of the world and shrugged her shoulders.
‘Well, I guess I’ll just be lonely and not bored.’
Ekidu thought as she looked at Hansoo.
There was a lot to do.
Even if she received the soul fragment, she needed to rise to the level of a 3-Star Transcendent in order to control and raise the ones coming up from below in an efficient manner.
Which meant she had to hunt the remaining Abyssal beasts and become stronger.
And unite the scattered humans in the 5th Zone.
‘What to do about this giant thing…’
Guooooooo!
Ekidu looked at the Nelkipa which had lost its owner, had its crystal broken and was now just aimlessly floating round s.p.a.ce. She asked:
“Can… can we not use this?”
Hansoo looked at the crystal for a moment and shook his head.
“No.”
‘It’s… quite damaged..’
Hansoo thought of the streak of light that had destroyed the crystal.
The Fleet of Flames.
Their goal seemed to be the same as his.
Destroying Melchizedek.
That was probably why they’d helped him.
But if they really wanted to help, then they could’ve attacked Melchizedek directly.
Since that would’ve been more efficient and a more sure-fire method than attacking the crystal.
But there was a reason why they attacked the crystal.
They had destroyed the main crystal and gotten rid of any possible control of Nelkipa.
‘If not for that… I would’ve kept Melchizedek alive and tried to use it.’
Melchizedek probably knew that as well and self-destructed.
If it could control the Nelkipa, its worth would’ve been much higher.
But since it could not control the Nelkipa anymore, its existence was basically worthless.
‘There’s still something suspicious.’
Hansoo thought as he looked at the melted-down crystal.
That power was not something the Fleet of Flames could make.
For the crystal that even he, a 3-Star Transcendent, couldn’t destroy with ease.
They had completely melted that crystal down.
If that much strength could’ve been gathered in the first place, then melting down Aokan as a whole was possible.
Or just destroy Melchizedek’s metal castle before it moved to another body.
But the Fleet of Flames had done so—they had melted the crystal.
Which meant one thing.
An outside force had come into play.
At that moment—
—Hansoo thought of Melchizedek’s enraged roar right before the Nine Dragons Strike had attacked it for the last time.
Nerpa.
The owner of the body that Melchizedek ate.
‘…So they interfered, huh?’
Hansoo looked towards the direction that the Fleet of Flames had disappeared to and shook his head.
They would meet soon.
Since they had to go up now too.
—kadak—
Hansoo gripped onto the marble that the fairy had given him as a present and looked towards Angkara.
……………………………………………
“Ahh… Land. It’s really been a long time.”
As N-Aroel was admiring the giant planet before his eyes, he heard an enraged voice.
“You… do you think you’ll be able to live after doing all this?”
The captain, R-Koronaita Nell, gritted his teeth at N-Aroel.
There was a limit to how many crazy actions he could tolerate.
For him to take over the entire fleet…
And R-Koronaita Nell had an inkling as well.
That only their outer appearances were the same and there was something else inside that body.
Something unlike them.
“You’re being confident now, but as soon as we arrive, your body will burn up from the power of the flame.”
And at those words of R-Koronaita Nell—
“Kehehehehehe.”
—N-Aroel smirked as he listened.
“You ungrateful vermin. You want to burn your owner with the gift we gave you?”
“Huh?”
N-Aroel chuckled as he said:
“Just as I said. The flame you wield… was originally ours.”
—boooom!—
The giant planet of flames, Angkara.
N-Aroel looked at the red light shooting up from the cracks between the continents in reminiscence.