Chapter 383. Nerpa (6)
-Boooom!-
The coiled up energy inside Hansoo exploded.
-Kadadadadak!-
The strength which he had been suppressing exploded out as it swept through his bones, muscles, and veins like a tsunami.
And at the same time…
-Tadak-
-Crack-
The lean muscles on Hansoo’s body expanded to the point where they seemed as if they were about to explode at any moment.
To the point where the blue armor made snapping noises.
And it was only for a moment.
-Kiiiiiing!-
The blue armor, which had been shocked at the sudden change of its owner, made a joyful noise as it started to suck out Hansoo’s energy at an even faster rate.
And the blue armor, which had expanded to fit the new body of the owner, expanded even more.
-Kadak-
The armor’s blue surface deepened in color to the point where it almost looked black.
Every part of the armor thickened as spikes appeared in some places.
His body had already expanded, but due to the armor also expanding in size, Hansoo’s size grew even larger.
His body growing almost to the point of looking as it did before he became a Transcendent.
“What the fuck…?!”
But even before Melchizedek could fully respond to this sudden change…
-Booooom!-
… A huge shockwave followed an equally huge noise.
The sound of Hansoo stomping off the ground.
“Shit…! Where?!”
Melchizedek saw Hansoo disappear from his position, and as he looked around to find him…
-Whoooosh!-
… It heard the sound of something cutting through the air at a tremendous speed behind it.
A speed that even Nerpa’s godly body could not respond to.
Melchizedek unconsciously covered his body with his arms.
Then…
-Booooom!-
“Arhak!”
… Melchizedek screamed at the powerful impact that had smashed it and slammed it onto the ground.
-Crack! Crackle!-
Melchizedek’s body, which had been healing every attack up until this point, could not respond to the damage quick enough as it cracked apart and tried its best to absorb the force.
“Aaargh!”
A pain that it couldn’t feel when it didn’t have a living body in the past.
It had set its pain receptors to the lowest setting because it didn’t want to feel such a thing, but that didn’t matter at all.
Despite reducing the pain receptors to that point, this pain was more than enough to make its body feel like it was shredding into a million pieces.
The feeling of its entire body demolished.
But Melchizedek soon realized it wasn’t just a feeling.
‘Ugh…’
One strike was almost enough to destroy half its body.
If it hadn’t guarded the attack with its instincts, then the damage wouldn’t have been limited to just half of its body.
-Ssssss!-
The survival instinct inside the Nerpa’s body activated as it started to gather the energy and matter from all around it.
And like magic, Melchizedek’s body started to heal up.
At an insane speed.
-Kacha!-
-Ssss-
Flesh mended, bones grew, and muscles healed.
The intestines grew back, and the spine restructured itself.
But despite this, Melchizedek fell into despair.
Because it saw Hansoo lifting up his hammer again above him.
‘No!’
-Boom!-
A storm of attacks started to land on Melchizedek’s body.
-Boom! Booom! Boooom! Booooom…!-
The surface of Nelkipa around Melchizedek tried its best to protect its owner, but it was all futile.
The armor that sprung up from below had turned into dust, allowing the shockwave to blow away the blue spears.
Like a piece of metal hammered down by a giant drop hammer, the surface of Nelkipa that was supporting Melchizedek shook like an earthquake as it got smashed apart.
‘Kuhuk!’
Melchizedek couldn’t even scream out loud.
Its vocal cords and lungs had long since smashed apart.
The Nelkipa was pouring in a tremendous amount of energy and matter to keep Melchizedek alive, but it was futile.
Melchizedek’s body was regenerating at an insane speed.
Fast enough to call it magic.
-Boom! Booom! Boooom! Booooom…!-
The speed at which Hansoo’s powerful attacks destroyed its body was even faster.
‘Fuck…! Fuck!’
The only thing Melchizedek could do… was defend.
-Kadadadak!-
The blue spears attacking Hansoo all rushed to cover Melchizedek’s body.
And the Nelkipa’s surface tried to pull Melchizedek into the depths of its body.
It had given up on fighting back. It was now entirely focused on defending and escaping.
Melchizedek chuckled as it looked at Hansoo while the surface of Nelkipa surrounded its body.
‘No matter how strong you are… there’s a limit!’
If Hansoo had been able to use that strength from the beginning, he would’ve done so.
There were probably limitations.
He was going berserk for a short duration or had to fulfill a certain condition within that time.
And from what it could see, it was both.
That strength was far beyond what Hansoo could wield.
And Melchizedek saw the origin of that strength.
The black strike that the dragons had created before.
Somehow, Hansoo had managed to cover his entire body with that power instead of using it in one attack.
There was no other way for Hansoo to have gained this much strength in such a short time otherwise.
And there should be a limit.
It seems his attacks also shredded his own body apart as well.
When this was all over, a deadly side effect would kick in.
This was Hansoo’s trump card.
As long as it could hold on, it would win.
‘Farewell!’
-Ssss-
Melchizedek chuckled at Hansoo as Nelkipa sucked it into its depths.
It was lucky.
If those people had still tried to suppress the sub-crystals, then it wouldn’t have been able to do anything and would have long been turned into a paste.
But thankfully, they had been exhausted.
‘… Ugh. For me to be stuck under such a dangerous situation despite having a regenerative ability like this.’
Melchizedek thought.
It had believed it would win with this strength.
So it had strode out to fight Hansoo.
To personally smash him apart.
But the result was this.
‘I’ll… Never drop my guard.’
Melchizedek thought as it looked at its almost fully regenerated body.
-Boom! Booom! Boooom!-
The Nelkipa’s skin was shredded apart at an insane speed, but the speed at which Melchizedek was being sucked in was much faster.
And even if its body fully regenerated, it would never fight Hansoo again.
It was a bit embarrassing, but it would hide inside and kill off Hansoo from there.
No matter how strong Hansoo was, if the Nelkipa attacked him for days and days, would he be able to hold on?
‘Nope.’
As Melchizedek chuckled…
-Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!-
… Its senses felt something.
No, within its connection with the Nelkipa.
A warning sound.
‘What?’
Melchizedek’s senses locked onto the object causing the Nelkipa to make the warning sounds.
‘… The fleet of flames?’
The Kalkuroun Fleet that was floating outside in space.
They were aiming their attacks towards it.
-Kiiiiing-
As Melchizedek saw the fleet ready their attack…
‘Presumptuous.’
… Melchizedek scoffed.
***
-Tatak! Tatatatatak!-
N-Aroel sighed as he took control of the internal system of the Kalkuroun fleet.
‘You’re probably thinking that it’s presumptuous, right? You… are correct.’
For them to have that amazing power of the flame, but could only create these toys.
Nelkipa could easily ignore their firepower at this rate.
There was no way a toy like this could pierce through the Nelkipa’s skin and deal a fatal blow.
Melchizedek knew this as well, which was why it had left the Kakuroun Fleet alone.
‘But with me here… the story changes.’
He changed everything.
That was why it had taken over this body to come here.
He could not let the thing that had taken over his body and his ship play around freely.
As N-Aroel smiled coldly and entered the commands…
-Kiiiiiiing!-
… The internal structure of the fleet changed.
The pyro engine that borrowed the strength of the flame.
The engine that was the basis of all the firepower on the fleet started going berserk.
Acting from the commands he inputted.
Like a prophet enlightened to the truth after receiving information beyond a human’s capabilities, the engines started to transform and evolve.
To an almost alien-like structure.
And the attacks of the fleet aimed towards a specific location.
A specific target.
‘Crystal.’
-Boooooooom!-
A huge ray of judgment slammed onto the Nelkipa from above.
***
-Ruuuuuummmmmmblleee!-
“Hah?!”
The giant strike that had descended from above.
Melchizedek, who had been hardening the skin around itself to defend against the strike, exclaimed out loud as it looked at where the attack had landed.
The target was not itself.
But the crystals.
The crystal on Nelkipa had overloaded and shut itself off from the fleet’s attack.
‘What the fuck…?! How can those insects showcase this much strength?!’
Melchizedek was at a loss since it was trapped within the Nelkipa which it had lost control over.
It knew more than anyone else about the level of the Angkara.
This was not something they could create.
At that moment…
‘… No!’
… An existence flashed past its head.
The owner of this body.
‘Nerpa!’
Melchizedek gritted its teeth.
It had been hit in the back by an existence it had completely forgotten about.
But the rage only lasted for a moment.
-Boom! Booom! Boooom! Booooom…!-
‘Ah… Fuck.’
Melchizedek sighed with despair as it felt huge shockwaves coming from outside.
It realized that this wasn’t the best time to concern itself with something else.
The energy that was smashing apart the Nelkipa to crush itself, a cockroach hidden underground.
‘… Damn. You’ve won.’
As Melchizedek fell into despair…
-Boooooom!-
… An attack combined from nine dragons swept through the area Melchizedek had been hiding inside.