Chapter 343. Refinement (2)
‘… What is he doing? That’s bothering me.’
Jack continued looking at Hansoo strangely.
For some reason, he was bothered by Hansoo’s hands.
But he didn’t show it, of course.
‘I’m not that much of an amateur.’
Jack thought.
He’d realized something after living with a trait that read a person’s emotions.
That a person needed to be slightly different inwardly and outwardly.
If their inside thoughts and actual actions were the same, then they lost the barrier that protected them.
Anyone would be able to read them and guess their next actions and thoughts.
And he had seen quite a lot of people fall into despair when that happened.
‘Oh well, I guess I’ll be friendly with you too.’
“Just a curious thought, why did you just leave? Is it because a weapon like that is useless once you’re that strong?”
He didn’t really like hanging out with other men, but there was no harm in becoming acquainted with someone as strong as Hansoo. And so he had asked.
He was a bit curious too.
As to why Hansoo had thrown away that weapon.
Hansoo shook his head.
“No, it’s not because of that.”
‘What the hell?’
As Jack frowned, Hansoo smiled and continued to speak,
“Do you know what Melchizedek wants?”
“… No. How could I?”
‘And how could you?’
Hansoo had said that the two of them had come from below.
How could such people know about Melchizedek’s thoughts?
He only knew one thing about Melchizedek.
If there weren’t any transcendents around, it would attack them without a single thought.
From what he’d heard, there were two transcendents that were leagues above others of their kind at the top of the 5th zone.
If they didn’t exist, then Melchizedek wouldn’t even have suggested an alliance in the first place.
‘Damn… Why did they go up?’
“He wishes to win this battle.”
“Against us?”
Hansoo shook his head.
He had been able to chat with Melchizedek in the past.
Before it had become violent.
When it had still treated humans favorably.
— I… I despise the ones who sent me here.
Hansoo looked towards the sky.
At a planet, which was countless times larger than this moon. It seemed tiny because it was so far from where they stood.
He looked at several other moons orbiting around the planet.
Moons with other races that wouldn’t have made contact with the humans if everything had stayed the same.
Melchizedek’s enemy was not the humans, but those who lived on that planet.
And this was probably why he’d asked for an alliance.
‘There is no point in wasting strength against the humans.’
But the current situation was now the exact opposite.
Melchizedek and the transcendents were at war.
And all the transcendents that used to be here had already gone up.
Which meant one thing.
One side had agitated the other first, and as a result, they had to fight with all they had.
And Hansoo could guess who had started this.
‘F***ing Clementine. It’s as if you’d die if you remained still.’
Kiriel asked again in confusion.
“Why did they attack Melchizedek? There’s nothing in it for them.”
At least the abyssal beings gave out crystals; there was nothing to gain from Melchizedek.
At least from what she knew.
But Hansoo smiled.
“Even if there’s nothing to take from the other… if your objectives are the same, then you’re bound to fight sooner or later.”
At that moment…
-Rumble-
… A huge earthquake had started, causing all nearby objects to tremble vigorously.
Jack and Kiriel looked around in shock.
‘What the hell is this?’
As if a heart was beating.
Vibrations started to occur in rhythmic intervals.
-Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom-
‘… Huh?’
The entire moon trembled to the beat.
As if something hidden inside was doing its best to escape.
At that moment, Kiriel thought of the excavation center.
The machines that were working crazily in an attempt to dig out the object that was hidden inside the moon.
Then-
-Rumble!-
A tremendous earthquake occurred, countless times stronger than the one from before.
“Ahhhh!”
“Uahh!”
Jack and the others tried their best to maintain their balance.
A normal earthquake wouldn’t really hurt the few of them who had transcended far past the limits of a human.
Since even an earthquake measuring a magnitude 6 would only feel like a train passing nearby.
But this was different.
It felt as if the entire land itself was going to flip over, and a huge bomb was about to explode beneath them.
And at that moment…
-Crack-
-Crackle-
-Clang-
The ground, which was mostly composed of solid metal, started to crack and split.
The barrier that was barely maintaining its shape in the sky was ripped apart, completely breaking down.
The entire colony that had been built upon the moon started to collapse.
The land itself was transforming.
As if something that had been rolled up was now stretching itself out.
‘What the fuck!’
Jack cursed inwardly. He’d managed to hold on by embedding his hands and feet into the metal.
-Cruunnchh-
-Swooosh-
The distant horizon rose up into the sky.
And the huge, but still round, moon started to uncurl itself.
Then-
-Boom!-
Something started to rise up from the city.
“Ahhhh!”
Everyone panicked at seeing the metal spikes rising up from the ground.
Well, they could only be described as spike-like.
These so-called ‘spikes’ were hundreds of meters tall and were spaced out every few kilometers or so.
Each spike almost resembled a small mountain.
-Rumble-
‘What in the world is going on?!’
Kiriel freaked out at the huge spike rising up in front of them.
It was like watching a mountain being born right before your eyes.
And how can the ground stay intact after a thing like this pops through it?
The countless artificial metal pieces that had covered the moon had all been shattered and shredded apart, and they were now floating up into the atmosphere.
Past the now broken-down barrier.
‘We’ll be flung off at this rate!’
As Kiriel freaked out from seeing her body rising alongside the spikes…
-Boom!-
“Hold onto this thing!”
… Hansoo smashed his hand into the rising spike and shouted to the people around him.
And everyone’s expressions brightened up.
‘Yes, that!’
Although the artificial metal plates may fly up, this spike wouldn’t since it had come from below.
Everyone brightened up, and they started to smash their hands into the spike as well.
-Crack!-
-Crunch!-
‘Damn… this is really tough.’
Jack frowned at the pain in his hand after attempting to smash it into the spike.
He’d thought he could easily hold on to it since Hansoo’s and Kiriel’s hands had gone through it like it was tofu.
‘Well, at least we’re safe for now.’
Jack sighed in relief as he hung down from the spike which was gradually slowing its ascent.
-Rumble-
After calming down, he was finally able to look around.
And this was an amazing place to do it since he was a couple of kilometers in the air.
‘Oh god…’
Jack freaked out as he looked around.
The city that they’d just been in had been shredded apart.
Of course, how could a city remain intact when the land beneath it had transformed and spread out?
Plus these spikes.
The force of these spikes rising up had caused all the remaining mass to fly up into the atmosphere.
Far past the now ripped-apart barrier.
-Rumble-
And in the midst of this chaos…
-Roaaaaarrr!-
… A huge roar rang out throughout the moon.
Well, throughout the moon-like ‘thing’.
Kiriel finally realized what the excavation center had been living on this whole time.
And exactly what they had worked so hard to dig out.
“… This isn’t a moon.”
“Yeah, it is a weapon though.”
A giant stingray-shaped monster had uncurled itself and was now flapping its wings, looking poised to traverse through space.
But it didn’t really look like a natural being.
If it were, then it wouldn’t have thousands of assault weapons attached to its back.
‘This… these aren’t spikes. They’re cannons.’
Kiriel was freaking out; she’d used Psychometry on the giant spike she was clinging to.
The hole at the top of this so-called ‘spike’.
And the artificial patterns on the interior walls of this cannon.
‘… Indeed. It is a weapon.’
Kiriel mumbled.
It was a weapon.
But it was not a sword or a gun like she’d initially imagined.
Hansoo mumbled to himself as he looked at the giant living weapon, <Nelkipa>.
‘This is just the beginning.’
The excavation center was digging at the wrong spot anyway.
That was merely this lifeform’s leather back.
They might find its muscles or nerves, but they would never be able to get to the core.
‘You need to dig for the head.’
Melchizedek and Clementine.
One of the two had succeeded in taking over the control tower of this living weapon.
Since the two would have warred with the other to take control.
He’d be able to figure it out pretty soon anyway.
‘Let’s see…’
The planet that Nelkipa had been orbiting, <Angkara>.
And another weaponized moon that was orbiting the planet, <Karakan>.
As Hansoo mumbled at the sight of the main planet and the few other moons…
-Roaaarr!-
… The stingray started to fly towards a particular direction.
Towards the bright red main planet, <Angkara>.
And Hansoo smiled bitterly at this.
‘I guess Melchizedek won.’
If it had been Clementine, then it would’ve headed towards the weaponized moon for him to take over the <Dragon God’s Armor>.
But the result was the exact opposite.
The Nelkipa was heading towards the main planet.
And Hansoo spoke out.
“Prepare for impact.”
“Huh?”
As Kiriel asked, Hansoo pointed towards the sky with a smile.
“This is just the beginning.”
‘They’re not going to just sit around and watch.’
Then-
-Rummblee-
From the surface of the main planet, <Angkara>.
Tens of thousands of small dots shone out as something shot out towards <Nelkipa>.
“… This is the real war.”
‘What Melchizedek truly wanted.’
“What the f***?!”
As Jack screamed…
-Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!-
… A giant flaming pillar struck the surface of Nelkipa.