Chapter 359. Breeding City (2)

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“Hmm… Hmmm…”

As they made their way to the third floor, Kiriel made a strange expression as she touched various parts of her armor.

Noticing this, Hansoo asked,

“Is there an issue?”

“No… It’s just…”

Kiriel smiled awkwardly at Hansoo.

Dragon God Armor.

A revolutionary gear that allowed a normal person to fight on the same level as a transcendent.

She’d expected to become at least twice as strong once she equipped it.

No, even stronger than that.

Since she’d be able to use both her strength as well as the Dragon God Armor’s powers.

But the result was a bit different.

As a piece of armor, it was amazing.

The material, its efficiency, as well as the special options inside.

But the core thing was missing.

The energy that controlled the Dragon God Armor.

The ‘battery’ that powered the armor to the point that it could fight evenly against her was not included inside.

And it wasn’t like R-Korun Nell had a tremendous amount of energy hidden inside his body like herself, that’s what confused her.

‘Well… I could just use my own energy to power it.’

-Ssssk-

Kiriel stared at the armor that had started to glow as she poured energy into it.

Hansoo shrugged his shoulders.

“An internal battery is dangerous in such a dangerous weapon.”

Dragon God Armor.

A weapon that could turn the tide of a large-scale battle in an instant.

The Dragon God Armor received its energy through a transmission.

From the <Fire> within Angkara.

Then-

-Rumble-

The elevator stopped moving.

-Boom!-

And the sound of something exploding resonated from outside the still-closed elevator doors.

Hansoo spoke to Kiriel,

“Let’s go out.”

‘Hold on for just a bit longer, Enbi Arin.’

Hansoo thought as he glanced at Enbi Arin who was on Kiriel’s back.

***

-Rumble-

“Woah…”

Kiriel whistled at the scene as the doors of the Elevator opened.

She thought back to when the Fusion Reactor had gone through the Quantum Transmission.

‘If that explosion… if it occurred before my eyes, then this would’ve been the result, huh?’

Back then, she could only see a tiny, flashing star.

But seeing it happen right before her eyes, it was like an apocalypse.

-Rumble-

The machines that were apparently prepared to ambush them had all melted down from the Fusion Core explosion.

Kiriel heard Hansoo’s voice as she stared at the sea of flames.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes.”

Kiriel nodded.

It didn’t seem like they’d bought enough time.

Since she could already see the lights approaching from the distance.

‘There’s no need to get mixed up in something like that.’

The reason why they had blown up the Fusion Core was to buy this small bit of time anyway.

And as Kiriel activated her skill…

-Kiiiiing-

… The Dragon God Armor on Kiriel’s body activated with her skill, creating a transparent barrier around her and Hansoo.

The stealth barrier had been useful in the lower floors but was even stronger now, and it quickly hid their presences.

‘Nice. This is quite useful.’

-Kiiiiiing-

Her spinal area released a strange current of energy that enhanced her skill.

Kiriel smiled at this.

It was like acquiring a very versatile supporter.

Although she had to supply the energy herself, the result wasn’t half bad.

-Whooosh!-

The second the barrier surrounded them, Kiriel and Hansoo dashed off the ground and headed towards the metal city in the distance.

-Swoosh!-

Every step was hundreds of meters long, but Kiriel could only make an expression of discomfort.

‘… What is that?’

A strange fog surrounded the giant city.

Kiriel looked at the scene in front of her with disgust.

It didn’t look natural at all.

The fog remained undisturbed from the wind created as they ran; there was no way it was natural.

At that moment…

-Kiiiiing!-

“… Huh?”

… They felt a strange energy in the distance, above the fog.

Kiriel quickly raised her head and saw the objects floating outside the atmosphere.

‘… So that’s the fleet of flames. They’ve already arrived.’

She hadn’t noticed them because it was so far away, plus the giant city in front of her had taken up her full attention.

“Shouldn’t we dodge?”

The concentration of energy from above was not something they could ignore.

The direction of its attack was headed right for their location.

Well, it was aiming for the city, but the strength of such sheer firepower could easily sweep them away too.

Hansoo shook his head.

“If it could get easily swept away from that, it would have long fallen by now.”

Hansoo said leisurely, glancing between Aokan and the fleet above.

***

In the distance.

A massive amount of energy gathered in front of the flagship of the Kalkuroun Fleet.

Then…

— —–

… A laser beam cut across space and slammed down onto the planet below.

Although it didn’t release a sound, its speed and aura allowed one to estimate the power behind the attack.

The meteor-like strike of that beam was slower than the Photon Strike, but there was a vicious technology implemented onto this attack.

R-Particle Reactive Artillery.

A weapon filled with the R-Particle that reacted with all surrounding matter to quickly fold space.

A tactical weapon used to blow apart giant fortresses or the cores of small moons.

This weapon, which basically created a miniature black hole, turned everything within a 10 km radius into a singularity the moment it exploded.

But the moment the artillery shell entered the white fog surrounding Aokan, something strange happened.

-Chiiiii!-

The artillery shell quickly lost its momentum.

The attack, which should’ve turned everything within 10 km of the city into a tiny dot the moment it blew up, quickly fell to the ground.

R-Koronaita Nell mumbled as he looked at the artillery shell, which had cost as much as the yearly income of a large city, turned into a piece of metal.

“… It’s well-built. Whoever built it, they did a very good job.”

The ultimate weapon of electronics: it reacted to anything electronics-related and controlled it.

Neropa Union’s creation, <Mimir>.

Resembling a white fog, it covered a range of several dozen kilometers around Aokan and was made up entirely of nanomachines.

Unauthorized artificial weapons or systems would quickly lose their power and ability to function when they entered the fog.

‘… It really prepared well. Damned brat. What’s really hidden underneath?’

R-Koronaita Nell gritted his teeth as he looked at the giant city, now completely obscured as the fog thickened.

***

“…”

Kiriel frowned as she noticed that the giant fleet was unable to do anything.

It felt good to thwart the ones above, but she realized that the city before their eyes was not a simple one at all.

Kiriel asked Hansoo:

“Are we going to charge straight in?”

The giant metal walls of the city made it resemble a massive Pandora’s box.

A box that hid countless sorrows, but still attracted many with hope.

To gather crystals, they needed to deal with the Abyssal race inside the walls.

As well as Melchizedek’s forces.

Melchizedek knew their strengths.

And it would have definitely prepared for their arrival.

Hansoo nodded.

“Let’s go.”

“…”

Kiriel nodded at Hansoo’s words.

In order to attain the power to fight on the upper floors, they needed to raise their level in this place anyway.

If they could survive this, both she and Hansoo would at least become a step stronger.

‘Enbi Arin… If she could survive, then it would be a huge help.’

Kiriel clenched her teeth as she felt her mind calming down at the thought of saving a life.

She realized what she was truly feeling.

‘… It’s hard.’

There was no one who could help them.

The world was large, and there were so many enemies.

And there were only two of them.

She’d never truly experienced hardship throughout the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd zones.

Her abilities were quite good, and the rulers of each of those zones were human.

The 4th zone was alright as well.

Although there were many others stronger than herself, she had used her abilities to quickly rise up into a transcendent.

She had no long-term enemies as well.

But the moment she met Hansoo, everything changed.

Of course, she had enemies.

Except her enemies were spread around, preparing to flip the world upside down.

She just didn’t know who they were.

Hansoo and his comrades had been fighting them since a long time ago.

And they probably still were.

Melchizedek.

Clementine.

Beings that had the thoughts and the abilities to flip the world many times over.

And as she thought up to this point, Kiriel unconsciously blurted something out.

“If we keep fighting like this, will there ever come a day when we can smile with true happiness?”

It sounded like a complaint, but she felt like she needed to hear how Hansoo would answer.

If there was no light at the end of this tunnel filled with battles.

This whole fight might lose all meaning.

‘No… Does the tunnel even end?’

Enemies after enemies after enemies.

Go up, enemies.

Look around, enemies.

At this rate, she felt like her mind would end up exhausted even before her physical body could.

Hansoo smiled at Kiriel and asked:

“How were the lower floors?”

Kiriel replied instantly,

“Of course, they were much bett…”

At that moment, Kiriel came to a realization, and Hansoo continued,

“If we win, this place will become like that. I hope you liked how they were.”

And as she heard this, Kiriel felt a spring of emotions burst out from inside her chest.

‘… So that’s what they meant. When they told us that it was like hell.’

She’d deluded herself.

Things hadn’t gotten hard just because she went up.

The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th zones were originally all like this.

It was only that Hansoo and his old comrades had changed it.

Hansoo chuckled at Kiriel, mumbling as he thought of his old comrades who’d had to shoulder these kinds of jobs because of him.

“If you make bad friends, you will suffer. It’s not too late. There’s nothing really good… about having a friend like me, you see.”

Hansoo looked at Enbi Arin with a bitter expression and then gazed upwards.

‘I wonder… What are you guys doing now? Just wait a bit longer. There are a few things I need to smash apart before I get there.’

Hansoo’s bitter expression soon turned ice-cold as he stared at Melchizedek’s metal box.