BXBX NOVEL Chapter 421 Transition 2
"Isn’t it that man?"
Adelaia nodded. Pompeion hadn’t really been their enemy in the past. He had merely been one of many members of the tribe up top.
If the three clans hadn’t been fighting each other, the north would’ve long been conquered by them.
But one day, an empire rose up from beneath Pompeion at terrifying speed. Strange starships and all sorts of strange soldiers appeared at a constant rate, as the entire north was taken over by them. Their mistake was looking down upon this force that had grown at an exponential rate.
By the time they woke up from their mistake, the entire north had been united underneath him, and the three clans had to ally with each other to go against the newly risen Pompeion Empire.
But had been too late. They weren’t able to fight Pompeion’s ships, even with their elite ships, since their numerical advantage started turning slowly. On top of that, there was an even bigger issue:
"You wouldn’t know how terrified we were when we saw that monstrous strength," Adelaia thought of the Pompeion of the past and mumbled.
What had sent the three clan heads into despair hadn’t been the ships, but the strength of one person: Pompeion, an existence that treated Dragon God Soldiers like trash and ruled the battlefield.
Unlike the ships or the Dragon God Soldiers, who they could track, they couldn’t track Pompeion. Once he appeared, entire fleets were destroyed and cities were blown away.
The Neropa Union had been pushed to the brink of destruction because of Pompeion, but then, a mysterious man covered in blood came down from the north.
"Is he..."
"Yes, he is the one in the capital."
Usually, they would scoff at such an offer and ignore things like it, but the three clan heads had been looking for any chance to grab onto something.
They had been on the brink of destruction after all.
Even after throwing away their pride and uniting, they were being beaten down to death by the Pompeion Empire, and the clan heads knew what would happen if they headed out to the battlefield themselves. It was common sense that their heads would become the target.
Even if they managed to keep their lives, their fate would end up worse than if they were killed off, so they listened to the man and understood how Pompeion, the random leader of a small power from the north, was able to raise such a powerful force in such a short about of time.
And they laughed.
The one who had helped Pompeion was now helping them instead.
The three and the man made an alliance. The three offered to provide sanctuary from Pompeian, as well as research materials. Whilst the man offered them the technology.
As a result, they each found countermeasures for each other.
’What could he do?’
"Come with us. Victory is within our grasp."
The one who was behind Pompeion’s power was now behind them. Pompeion would continue to fall, and they would rise.
It was just a matter of looking at the current situation.
They had both used Relics, but one side’s barrier was fine, while the other side’s weapon had broken in battle.
"Mmm..."
As Mihee was lost in thought...
Toooong!
... A giant shockwave rushed past their bodies, a tremendous amount of energy.
Adelaia and Mihee both looked toward the capital out of instinct. The shockwave had come from there.
’What... What is this?’
Mihee frowned.
They were standing by the barrier at the outermost area of the Neropa Union, while the capital was at the center of the Neropa Union.
The shockwave had traveled half of the entire continent to reach them, and it still had the strength to continue on. It was way more than enough to destroy everything outside the barrier.
"... You told me he wouldn’t dare do anything?"
"..."
Adelaia Ron was at a loss as well. What was he doing? If she died, he would also die. That had been the contract.
’Insane bastard! Does nothing matter to him?’
That man was terrifyingly strong, even when he had arrived there and despite being covered in blood from head to toe.
He had shared a part of his strength under a contract. He had split up his soul in three, and handed a piece to each of the clan heads, establishing a contract that neither side could betray.
If the three of them died, then that guy would also lose his soul and become an empty shell.
If the man had been in a better situation then, he might’ve changed parts of the contract to be more in his favor, but he had truly been desperate. Therefore, the contract favored the three clans, but the man still accepted it.
But, what was he doing now?
Adelaia Ron felt the soul inside her and extended her hand toward Mihee while clenching her teeth.
"Come."
"Huh?"
"We need to go to the capital, right? What? Are you planning to continue fighting here?"
"... Damn."
Her words were right.
Mihee held Adelaia Ron’s hand, and they disappeared with a bright flash.
.............
As the shockwave rang throughout the continent...
Boooom!
... Hansoo swung his hammer, but the man standing in the center of the area didn’t even flinch.
No plans to stop it or dodge it, and the reason behind that was soon revealed.
Kakakakakang!
Huge noise reverberated from the energy barrier that was surrounding the Relic. The energy from the Relic was pushing Hansoo’s hand back.
’Oh?’
Paaajijijik!
The dark red energy and the Relic’s energy collided and created sparks. That’s when the man realized why Hansoo had been so confident: Hansoo was strong. However, sadly for Hansoo, the tremendous energy within the Relic was protecting its user.
The man chuckled at him.
"Don’t try anything stupid. No one can stop the purification that is about to happen."
He had failed with Pompeion, but he had succeeded here. The greedy clan heads had taken his soul fragments and thought that they had won, but that had been their limit. The thought that he wanted to remain alive had been wrong to begin with. It didn’t matter if he died.
The seeds had been planted already. If he succeeded in purifying this place, turning it into a fertile land, the seeds that he had planted would soon sprout. Then, his race would get a second chance, but not from scratch: with the Flame beneath the ground, and the Nelkipa in the sky as their base.
And to do that, everyone here needed to die.
’It’s all coming to an end...’
The man looked around at the energy protecting him and then turned to Hansoo.
"Well, this might be good for you."
If Hansoo still had had the resolve to save his entire race, then this would’ve been very bad since this land would become his own and the humans who would come up afterward wouldn’t be able to do anything.
’Well, no.’
There was a reason why he had rushed the plan. The man thought of the modified bodies of humans and looked at Hansoo.
In any case, Hansoo would have originally been in a bad position, but now, he just needed to leave everyone behind and climb up. What happened to the others didn’t matter.
Though the energy from the Flame was going berserk, Hansoo had more than enough skill to reach the elevator, or he could simply use the female human’s teleportation ability, a very simple solution.
Though he had been disappointed by Hansoo’s change, this was good for Hansoo overall.
’Lucky for him. To change like that right at this moment.’
"Get out of here! There’s no more space for you in this land."
Ooooooong!
The energy that was coming out from the Relic was becoming more chaotic by the moment, as if it was trying to release all the energy it had been saving up until that point.
The mana circuits on the ground were supporting the Relic as well.
"You... You set this up for this and not the barrier?!"
That amount of strength couldn’t come from the Relic alone, but the man didn’t reply. There was no reason to.
Hansoo whispered something to Kiriel.
’What is he doing?’
The man couldn’t hear what they were talking about due to the loud crashing of the energy waves, but suddenly...
Paaajijik!
... Kiriel, John Stone and Hansoo disappeared into white clouds, and the man looked with disappointment at the space where they had stood.
’... He really left, huh. I had other expectations.’
He had expected Hansoo to risk his life to pierce the barrier. If Hansoo really did put everything on the line, he might’ve gotten through. But as Hansoo ran away, disappointment and emptiness filled him.
’So, you were just like the others.’
Those who didn’t risk their lives would fail sooner or later. As he was about to smile at the thought of the three clan heads...
Whoooosh!
... White clouds appeared before his eyes...
’Huh..?’
... and Hansoo appeared from the clouds again, with something in his hand.
"You..."
While the man was at a loss for words, Hansoo chuckled and said, "Here. You seem to like this... take another."
Put!
Hansoo dropped the thing that was shining bright red in the man’s hands and then disappeared into the clouds again, with a cold smirk on his face.
’What the...! No! The Relic!’
But before he could even react...
Kuaaaaaa!
Booooooom!
... A tremendous Haetara that was multiple times larger than the ones before ripped the surroundings apart as it charged into the space where the man and the Relic were.