Chapter 365. The Buried Natives (2)
-Booom!-
“Damn! Are you sure this is the right way?”
“Ah…! Yes! Yes! Please just protect me!”
R-Zairon Nell frowned as he stared at N-Aroel struggling under his grip.
‘Was he usually this talkative?’
I mean, he understood.
The current situation wasn’t the best one to keep oneself calm.
-Booom!-
“Ahh!”
N-Aroel freaked out again as a giant explosion occurred next to R-Zairon.
The insectoids continued to swarm towards them from all directions.
And they couldn’t even see any of the 1st-level insects anymore.
They were all 2nd or 3rd-level, and sometimes one or two 4th-levels came out.
Basically, it was a field of insects.
“Ahhh!”
R-Zairon Nell ignored N-Aroel’s screams, ripping apart a 3rd-level insectoid and looking around.
He killed and killed and killed.
But the numbers did not decrease.
The speed at which the insects were filling up the place was actually faster than the soldiers’ rate of killing.
Monstrous breeding speed and powerful bodies.
“Kuaa… Ahhhh!”
-Booom!-
R-Zairon Nell gritted his teeth as he watched his subordinates barely killing off a 4th-level insectoid.
‘… We can barely kill one with five of us?’
R-Zairon Nell couldn’t even imagine what would happen if these things fell onto the main planet.
No matter how noisy this N-Aroel was, it was important that they needed to take him to the Quantum Transmission machine.
They could just break it once they reached it, but according to what they’d heard, its location was apparently the main lair for these guys.
It was not someplace where they’d crawl into willingly.
‘… To walk in there by himself. A maniac.’
-Boom! Boooom!-
R-Zairon Nell felt the shockwaves and explosive sounds in the distance and refocused his attention.
He was thankful anyway.
By charging into the insectoid’s nest and attracting most of their attention, that male alien had diverted quite a large number of their forces.
This was the only reason they had been able to push forward.
If it weren’t for that person in the distance, they would’ve long since died.
“Is it not done yet?”
A female’s voice rang out, one that didn’t quite fit the scene.
But nobody could ignore her voice.
-Crunch!-
‘What the fuck…’
One of the Dragon God Soldiers was at a loss.
She’d single-handedly killed a 4th-level insectoid that the five of them had barely been able to handle.
With just her tiny stature.
They had scoffed when they’d initially talked about these aliens.
Wondering how these barbarians could ever beat their advanced technology.
But seeing her with their own eyes, they realized what the meaning of a ‘monster’ was.
‘And… that girl is suspicious too.’
-Boom!-
The Dragon God Soldiers frowned at the woman hanging on the back of that woman called Kiriel.
Although the aura coming from her body was very faint and was right on the verge of disappearing, they could sense it.
That Kiriel and the woman on her back were the same types of creature.
Meaning that as long as she could survive and heal, another monster like Kiriel would be born.
Just like the one massacring the monsters before their eyes.
No, like the one who had drawn the attention of the majority of these insects in the distance.
-Smack!-
R-Zairon Nell smashed away a Quirae charging at him and thought to himself:
‘… Those things are too dangerous.’
Although these half-insect, half-humanoid creatures were monsters, that female who was ripping them apart with only her hands and a small dagger was no less of a monster.
There was never an eternal ally or an opponent on the battlefield.
Especially if the target was a barbarian like those things.
‘I should prepare.’
R-Zairon Nell sent a message with his brain waves to N-Aroel.
— Can you hear me? If you can, then move your thumb.
N-Aroel jolted at the sudden voice in his head but then moved his thumb as he felt the pressure of R-Zairon Nell’s hand on his neck.
If he didn’t follow R-Zairon Nell’s words, then his skull could get crushed at any moment.
And with something like the Dragon God Armor, breaking his skull was no harder than crushing apart a block of tofu.
‘Good.’
The moment N-Aroel responded, R-Zairon Nell started to dash and then sent another message.
— You said you could control the Quantum Transmission machine, right? Is it simply turning it on and off, or can you control it in detail? Such as location, target, and area? If you can, then move your second finger. If you can only turn it on and off, move your third finger.
N-Aroel pondered for a bit at the question and then moved his second finger.
‘Mmm…’
And R-Zairon Nell started to ponder when he saw this.
***
“What’s making you so sad?”
-Boom!-
Hansoo mumbled, smashing apart a 4th-level Quirae.
Their attacks had enough force to crack apart his blue armor.
But Hansoo ignored the impact and swung his Mjolnir again.
-Booom!-
Covered in the Nine Dragons Strike, the hammer smashed apart the Quirae’s head.
The Quirae’s body stopped moving and fell to the ground.
-Rumble!-
Hansoo frowned as he felt the Immortal Soul healing the damage he’d received from the Quirae’s attacks.
‘Just a bit… Just a bit more.’
This wasn’t enough.
His opponents were strong, yes.
Since they were continuously causing damage to his body.
The tide-like swarm of Quirae had been successful at causing damage to his body, but this wasn’t enough.
The declining rate of the Immortal Soul’s growth proved this.
The same level of stimulus and battle speed.
Unlike a battle that required tension and strength, it was becoming more of a chore.
As if the Immortal Soul was testing whether his stamina would run out or not.
But this wasn’t enough.
With only this much stimulus, his stamina would actually run out before the Immortal Soul could successfully evolve.
As a race that ruled over the 3rd floor of the Abyss, the insects’ strength was quite substantial.
But that strength was still limited.
‘I should be thankful that they didn’t eat the Abyssal beings when they grew up.’
-Boom!-
Hansoo continued to smash them apart and proceeded to his destination.
Kiriel would deal with the transmission.
But that was still just a part of the process as a whole.
This place was a forge.
A place that would temper their strength.
And they had to become stronger.
To solve everything above.
And… There was a solution.
Within the bodies of the ones charging at him, there were still traces of human genes.
If they had devoured both humans and the owners of the blue armor, but still had faint auras of humans lingering within them, then that only meant one thing.
That they hadn’t finished their evolution.
They hadn’t been able to fully erase those traces of humans and thus bring the full potential of the genes from the owners of the blue armor.
Since there was no need to keep behind the human’s genes.
He wasn’t sure before, but now he knew.
The natives of the blue armor was a race that was countless times stronger than humans.
So he knew.
‘They exist.’
If there were this many 4th-level Quirae swarming around, he was sure that they were inside.
Ones who had been successful in erasing the human genes and brought the genes of the stronger race to the limits.
He didn’t know if they were currently evolving or if they just hadn’t come out yet, but he was sure that they existed.
And at that moment…
— I was one hell of a guy, but you… you really are something else. Must you go this far?
… He could hear the voice of the <Immortal Soul>’s original owner inside the seed in his head.
Unlike the Pandemic Blade’s talkative owner, this person had been silently watching him the whole time.
And Hansoo didn’t respond to the man’s voice.
Since he didn’t have a chance to.
-Kachak!-
It wasn’t because of the countless 3rd-level Quirae around him.
Or the three 4th-level Quirae charging towards him.
Within a short distance of 1km, a mere few steps for a transcendent, there was a bright, blue hole.
Something was crawling out from it.
With a valiant aura and a steady speed.
Unlike the Quirae that were madly charging at him.
That tremendous pressure pushed down onto Hansoo.
“Found you.”
Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the being crawling out of the hole.
A different form than the 4th-level Quirae, who were bulky and covered with thick armor.
Although the Quirae had been the one to eat them, it had integrated so much with the owners of the blue armor that it looked just like them.
The traits of the owners of the blue armor did not simply affect them internally but had even turned their outer appearance.
Unlike the usual dark red shells, the gem-like blue armor on its body seemed made of beautiful crystals.
And this being, instead of charging at him like the others, simply stared at him while maintaining the tense atmosphere.
But of course, this didn’t last long.
-Boooom!-
A strange wave resonated out from Kiriel’s direction.
A wave that moved through the entire city.
‘Did she arrive?’
And at that moment…
-Booom!-
… As if they were having a final showdown before the arena disappeared, Hansoo and the bright blue creature collided.