Chapter 382. Nerpa (5)

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“Ugh…”

-Crash!-

Elis Valentine rolled on the floor after Kiriel kicked her.

‘This damned b****…!’

While she was focusing on the crystal, she had been caught off guard by an attack that rose up from beneath her.

Elis tightly clenched her teeth as she looked at the long scars on her body.

‘… I’ve used all the strength I’ve saved from my Trait as well.’

Her body wasn’t healing anymore.

Of course, her Trait was changing some of her pain to aid in healing, but it was no longer to the point of keeping her immortal like before.

A desperate situation.

The ground, which had once been filled with a vicious aura as it undulated in waves, had long stopped moving.

Of course, this wasn’t the best for her.

Since there was one less variable.

Variables disappearing meant that calculating the future would become easier.

And at this rate…

That girl would kill her.

At this rate, of course.

‘But I… am not alone.’

Elis thought of the soul fragment inside her.

Borrowing strength from Taehee hurt her pride, so she hadn’t used it up until now.

But this wasn’t the time to maintain her pride.

‘I must… survive.’

Elis smiled at Kiriel as she clenched her teeth.

-Oooooong-

She shook the soul fragment inside her.

A cross-dimensional signal.

‘Good.’

Elis saw that the soul fragment was working properly, and she spoke to Kiriel, waiting for her response.

“I… really did not want to use this. I will kill you as painfully as possible.”

-Kaduk-

Elis tightly clenched the spike in her hand that had been modified to inflict as much pain upon oneself as possible.

It was a spike made to use her Trait in the most efficient manner.

Various sharp objects like saw teeth and fish hooks were attached to it.

The spike had been a great help in her use of her Trait up until this point.

But unlike herself, who cannot feel pain, it would be a horrifying experience for Kiriel.

-Oooooong!-

‘Right, I have to blow it up as well.’

Kiriel looked at Elis who had stood up and was now on guard.

‘Damn… I was wondering why she wasn’t using it.’

Hansoo had told them…

To be careful of something that the siblings had called a soul fragment.

Kiriel had assumed Elis hadn’t received one since she hadn’t used it up until this point, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

‘My situation isn’t that great, either.’

Kiriel looked at the various parts of her body currently flowing with blood and frowned.

The Dragon God Armor had countless holes and broken parts.

And that spike that pierced through her armor was made in such a way that it took away a huge part of her flesh everytime it stabbed her.

Although she had the more advantageous situation, if Elis used her soul fragment then Kiriel would get killed no matter what.

‘Damn… Do I need to run away?’

Kiriel clenched her teeth.

She couldn’t do that.

Elis wondered why the attacks from Nelkipa’s skin had stopped, but Kiriel knew.

Enbi Arin.

She was suppressing the crystal.

The crystal that was radiating a terrifying amount of energy.

If that girl’s brother was at a similar level as her, then Enbi Arin would be in a bad state as well.

No, she might even be in a worse state.

And she was suppressing the crystal in such a state.

By herself.

‘Damn… Her body is going to overload.’

She could not let Enbi Arin take on that burden by herself.

Winning wasn’t the main priority.

If she ran away and Elis started to blow up that crystal, then the burden on Enbi Arin will become twofold of what it is now.

She had to drag it out as long as possible.

Kiriel clenched her teeth and tightly gripped the fang in her hand.

And Elis laughed at this sight.

“Hahaha! You want to fight?”

The soul fragment inside her was growing inside.

Proof that Taehee had received her signal.

And the next steps would be simple.

Taehee would give her strength.

And she would crush that damned b****.

Very simple.

There were some hurdles along the way, but this was it.

She just needed to go up afterward.

‘Taehee… Did she become even stronger? Well, it’s good for me.’

She was envious of Taehee who had climbed up to a level she couldn’t catch up to, especially when they had been at a similar level in the past. But she was happy about it at this moment.

Since she would soon attain that strength, allowing her to solve the situation.

But as Elis was smiling at the vibrating soul fragment inside her.

A change occurred.

-Oooooong!-

“Huh…? Uhhhh?”

Elis exclaimed in surprise.

The tremors inside her were calming down.

This only meant one thing.

Denial.

Taehee had denied giving her strength.

“What… Why?!”

Her disappointment was as great as her anticipation.

Elis was at a loss.

‘Damn… Did something happen?’

No matter how she and Taehee disliked each other, not lending her strength in a situation like this didn’t make sense.

That meant there was only one answer.

Taehee was in a situation where she could not lend her strength.

There was no other reason for Taehee to deny giving her strength otherwise.

But soon… Elis realized that there was an even worse issue.

‘F***.’

“Oh my. It seems that things aren’t going according to your plan?”

Elis looked at Kiriel who was walking towards her with a cold smile.

And she realized.

That this was her grave.

Her body was broken beyond the point of return, and she had lost her final ray of hope.

And her killer was raging with bloodthirst.

There was no way for her to survive.

‘… Did you make me struggle this hard just to get killed off in a place like this? Clementine, this goes against our promise.’

— Follow me. We will leave this hell of a place and… find our own promised land. Atop the <Noah>.

Noah.

The boat of their dreams that would take them to their land of dreams that Clementine had promised her.

But after losing all hope for the future, the reality she faced was crueler beyond anything else.

‘Shit… I hope you find a way up at least, Ares.’

Elis looked around at the vast empty plane around her, and then her eyes locked onto Kiriel.

Her expression was full of endless despair.

***

-Booooom!-

Hansoo charged at Melchizedek, which smashed him away and laughed.

“Hahahaha! I told you, you won’t be able to win!”

-Kachak!-

The area of the blue armor that Melchizedek had attacked cracked apart and made a strange noise.

But Hansoo ignored the force of the impact as he swung his hammer at Melchizedek.

But shockingly… Despite the hammer flying towards it like a meteor.

Melchizedek had no thoughts of resisting as it continued to smile and only focused on attacking Hansoo.

-Booooom!-

The Mjolnir smashed into Melchizedek’s body and made a huge noise.

The bright blue armor blew apart, revealing the flesh inside.

It shredded the Nerpa’s body as bones broke and muscles exploded.

A force strong enough to crush his organs and his heart.

Nobody would be able to laugh at a giant hole in their body, but Melchizedek did.

“Hahahaha! How many times is it now? Are you even counting?”

-Ssssss-

The hole on Melchizedek’s body was regenerating at an insane rate.

It wasn’t even absorbing the bits of flesh and blood around the body to heal.

It looked like the body was creating something out of nothing.

Flesh grew back, veins reconnected, and bones regenerated.

Like an immortal.

And Melchizedek looked at this scene with satisfaction.

‘Why do you think I gave up my previous immortality for this body?’

Although this body was needed, if the body itself was extremely weak and would become a factor that tied Melchizedek down in the upcoming war, then it never would’ve come here.

But it did.

For one reason.

This body provided an even better form of immortality.

‘Amazing.’

-Rumble-

Melchizedek smiled as it looked at the Nelkipa’s vast energy flowing towards itself.

Melchizedek’s previous body was a mechanical lifeform, but if all the systems and structures on top of Nelkipa were to be swept away, it was as good as dead.

But this body was different.

It continuously received all energy and matter from Nelkipa and regenerated itself.

As long as it was on top of Nelkipa and the Nelkipa was still alive, it could not die.

The battle against Hansoo proved this all.

No matter how similar their physical aspects are.

There was no way that Melchizedek, which had no battle experience before this, could beat Hansoo who had tempered himself through countless battles.

But not here.

Above the Nelkipa.

It was a god.

-Oooooong-

Nelkipa’s skin started moving up and down again.

And the cannons in the distance started to light up again.

Melchizedek laughed at this scene.

“Hahaha! It seems your friends at the crystals are finished…! What shall you do?”

If, in this already advantageous situation, they took back Nelkipa’s controls?

There was nothing else to talk about.

Melchizedek smiled,

“You don’t need to hate yourself so much. Even someone like you wouldn’t have been able to predict a situation like this. This is probably the first time anyone has seen an existence like me.”

‘Watch what I do… with this power.’

It would be a great scene once he put Hansoo inside a test tube and placed him on the highest point on Nelkipa.

An even better viewpoint for Hansoo.

Of course, it’ll only be his eyes that could move.

But at that moment… Hansoo chuckled as he said,

“How can it be a first?”

“Huh?”

Hansoo smirked and spat out.

“I’ve seen countless beings regenerate like a cockroach. Just like you.”

In the Abyss, there were beings that were even more like cockroaches than Melchizedek.

Beings who truly deserved the name ‘Immortal’.

But the one who had stood up tall in the end.

The one who smashed them apart one by one and descended the Abyss.

Was him.

And as he finished his words…

-Rumble-

… The thing he had been saving up until this point.

The thing he’d saved up by twisting all the muscles and mana inside his body started to squirm violently inside him.

— Yes. That. Do it. Squeeze your body. For every drop. Until it blows up.

The final seed inside Hansoo.

The consciousness stored within the Nine Dragons Strike shouted out in joy.

And with that shout…

-Booooom!-

… The thing he had been continuously spinning and charging around inside him quickly started to spread throughout his body.