Chapter 421. Transition (1)
“Stop playing around and go back. You don’t have a chance of winning anyway.”
K-Adelaia Ron had stopped for a moment and kindly told Mihee.
Mihee was a waste to kill.
‘If I can recruit her, it’ll be a huge benefit.’
At that rate, the Pompeion Empire would be over, which meant that she needed to prepare for the next stage, the fight against Ukatan Pael and Merrow Nell.
Of course, it wouldn’t be an issue if they could all stay together, but suspicion was a dangerous thing. Two other forces that had strength similar to her own… Living together under one roof with two parties that could try to take her neck at any moment?
Maybe while they had a common enemy, but once the Pompeion Empire was destroyed, the next target would be those two.
‘She would be a great asset then.’
K-Adelaia Ron thought to herself as she looked at Mihee, whose fighting spirit was still high despite defending against her flames.
-Rumble!-
One of the best options was to convince her without using any force. Of course, it would be even better if the other two clan heads got beaten to death. The two other clan heads getting hurt or dying would be the best scenario, but if the two other humans died or got injured, that would be good as well.
It would be even better if Samuel ended up hating Ukatan Pael and decided to join her forces. Any of those options would fall in her favor.
So, for now, the best method was to convince the girl in front of her.
At that moment…
-Chiiijijik-
… Intel about the newcomer from outside the wall got reported to her.
K-Adelaia Ron looked at Mihee and said,
“It seems your old friend is here… Isn’t this enough? It’s the one you always talked about.”
K-Adelaia Ron and Mihee’s normal relationship wasn’t half bad.
They were allies, yes, but they were both women leading large groups, so they had a lot in common. They had often talked about personal matters over a cup of tea on K-Adelaia Ron’s terrace, and though she had heard about a lot of different people, the majority of Mihee’s talks had been about two men: Sangjin and Hansoo.
K-Adelaia Ron stopped attacking and said with a smile,
“Come to me. If you can convince those two, why would I mistreat you? Instead, I would treat you better than anyone else.”
Mihee clenched her teeth.
‘… Really?’
She had imagined a situation like that. Though they had been split up like that, how amazing would it be if they reunited and climbed to the top together?
But, Mihee shook her head. Even if K-Adelaia Ron gave her word, not everything would be solved.
“… Even if you say so, I cannot trust that man.”
The one doing the planning wasn’t the three clan heads, but the man behind them. Even if K-Adelaia Ron was on her side, if that man’s opinion was different, then it wouldn’t matter.
K-Adelaia Ron laughed,
“Do you take us for fools?”
“…?”
“There’s no way we would be working with such a powerful man without countermeasures, right?”
***
As he swung the hammer in his hand, a black aura exploded from Hansoo’s hand.
-Boooom!-
“Ahhhhh!”
“Damn! Hurry! Please! I can’t stop him!”
Every moment Hansoo swung his hammer, the recovering protective around the city cracked apart, and Dragon God Soldiers were flung away.
The first defensive layer, which Hansoo had had to work a bit in order to destroy in the past, disintegrated in an instant, while the aura itself even damaged the second layer.
-Kaaadadak!-
The bright wires that made up the second layer became visible.
“Let’s go down.”
-Whoosh!-
Hansoo jumped down and started to run toward the location of the Relic. Kiriel looked at him with a confused expression.
“How are you right now?”
It looked like he had lost his memories, but at the same time, it looked like he still had them. He had changed too much not to have lost his memories, but he was acting similarly to how he had in the past as well.
Hansoo chuckled.
“It’s kind of funny, really. It seems the demons took the very important ones.”
As he thought back to everything, most of his remaining memories were related to one thing: battle.
He had fought and fought. He had trained on days when there had been battles to fight and then used that newly gained strength to fight others.
As long one was human, they would have memories of being with other humans, but the only things remaining were battles. The memories the demons had taken had been those fragile, yet happy, memories. If the demons really wanted him to go insane, they had done a good job.
Since the only memories he had left of humans were negative ones, if he needed something, he would take it. If he wanted something, he would kill for it. He would use the harsh reality as an excuse to crush others beneath his feet.
Those were the only memories he had left of humans, to the point that it shocked him that he had decided to save them in the past.
‘Well, it’s not half bad.’
No matter what, it seemed like he was a bit different now.
Hansoo made a strange expression in reaction to Kiriel’s worry and then checked out his own body.
‘Anyway, I really did become stronger.’
Hansoo felt the strength that flowed through his body as he thought to himself. He didn’t know what kind of fond memories he had had with people in the past, but he clearly remembered how much strength he had had in each battle.
That was very clear to him since battles were the only thing he could remember.
As to how different he was between now and then, it was a hard strength to achieve even if he had known about the future.
Now, he could even to this:
‘Let’s see.’
Hansoo stopped and looked at yet another barrier that had appeared before him. It was as if the Relic had realized that Hansoo had come for it, and it was hastily reinforcing its defenses.
Though its appearance looked like various random plates that had been melded together, its actual defensive properties didn’t look simple. He couldn’t even figure out how thick it was.
Hansoo touched the barrier for a moment while focusing in the depths of his heart, and then the five skills, the five seeds, started to squeeze out their powers.
-Rumble!-
A dark red orb surrounded his body. It carried the power of the Demon’s Gate, the Demonic Dragon Reinforcement, the Pandemic Blade and two other skills.
As the orb condensed…
-Rumble!-
… Hansoo walked forward.
It was nothing out of the ordinary. He was simply walking forward at a steady pace.
But, that was enough.
As the red orb’s surface touched the barrier…
-Chiiiiiiii!-
… The barrier that had been blocking his path melted away as if a hot metal ball had been placed against a block of ice.
It was slow, but steady.
Hansoo smiled contently and walked forward.
How long did it take?
-Chiiiiik-
A tunnel was formed as he reached a large area, and in the middle of that space, Hansoo saw the Relic that was shaking everything while sucking in energy. The man was holding it.
The man was easily controlling the energy that could easily tear the entire capital appart. It was their first time meeting, but he knew that the man was the one who made the fake Nerpa and triggered the situation back on Nelkipa.
Hansoo took a glance at the Relic in his hand and said,
“It’s my first time seeing you, but I’m sure you’ve seen me plenty.”
Though Hansoo was seeing the man for the first time, the man had to have been observing him for quite a while.
The man said as he stared at Hansoo,
“You’ve changed.”
“Yeah. Don’t look at me like that though. I’ve come here to kill you after all.”
He didn’t know what that man was planning exactly, but at the rate things were going, everything on his planet would die, including Hansoo himself.
The man said,
“I didn’t really hate you that much, you know.”
The man was lonely.
Even before he could overcome the sadness of his entire race having been eradicated as soon as he had been born, he realized he had to rebuild his race and civilization all by himself.
Maybe if all of that had been impossible, he would’ve easily given up, but their technology had advanced too far, and thanks to that, even the one remaining member of their race could eventually build it all back up.
The man shouldered the loneliness, sadness and the hopes of his race as he moved onward. Though his plan against Pompeion had failed, his work in the Neropa Union had succeeded beautifully.
And during that time, he had heard about a person, a person who carried a similar load on his shoulders: Kang Hansoo.
Well, there was someone similar to Hansoo who was even a step ahead: Clementine. But, Clementine’s aspirations were too small.
Happiness for those nearby? A joke.
On the other hand, Hansoo had met and exceeded all of his criteria.
Though the human race was as weak as bugs compared to his own, Hansoo’s goal of saving his entire race was the same as his own. Though they were on different sides, they had a lot in common.
Hansoo shook his head,
“Thanks for your high praises, but I’ve changed a bit.”
The man looked at Hansoo coldly.
“That’s the issue. Did you go in there just for this?”
Hansoo had become stronger, but the most important thing wasn’t strength. It was one’s efforts and their will to achieve their goals. There was a huge disparity between the power to make a billion happy and the power to make ten happy. If one’s goals were large, their strength would soon follow suit, but if one’s goals were small, then eventually, that being would stagnate along the way.
Hansoo’s goals had been large, and he had relentlessly chased after them, which was how he had been able to become that strong. But, to give up now?
His race, who could see into others’ souls, could clearly see what had changed inside of him.
“You dumb bastard! That strength should be used somewhere greater.”
Hansoo chuckled as he held the hammer.
“I don’t know how I came to chase after such a goal, but one thing is clear…”
“…?”
“… That I didn’t chase after that goal because of words like yours.”
Kiriel’s worries were better than the man’s, which was laughable, especially coming from someone that was trying to wipe out all living things on the planet.
“I know you have a lot that you want to talk about, but first, take a nap.”
-Booom!-
The hammer that had been in Hansoo’s hands flew toward the man.