CH 215

“Perhaps even this situation… was something induced by the enemy. To an extent, I thought the Noblesse would block this sort of thing, but on the contrary, I feel like they’re encouraging it.”

Yongno wasn’t doing his best to protect humanity; this was because he thought that humanity was an essential [material] for the Noblesse, so he wouldn’t have to try his best.

Planets like Earth, where spiritual pathways were blocked, were rare, even in the entire universe. And humankind on Earth, who had been cut off from mana for thousands of years, would greedily crave mana the moment they encountered it. Moreover, under these dire circumstances, beings would usually show a strong aptitude for magic once they gained access to it.

DIO’s users saw magic being used in-game, so they weren’t really surprised by its use; however, the way earthlings utilized mana and magic was a phenomenal occurrence that didn’t happen anywhere else in the universe.

For the Noblesse, which included many transcendents, it took an astronomical investment of money, time, and effort to create a system like DIO. In the end, the results substantiated the investment.

“Hmm. Hey bro, I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand. So, what you’re saying is… you’re saying that humans shouldn’t develop their tech and science too quickly, but the aliens are encouraging humankind’s rapid advancements in tech and science?”

“Yeah.”

Yongno’s assertive response caused Youngmin to frown. The driver, who was listening in on their conversation, also seemed interested in their conversation as he leaned back in his seat, but Yongno didn’t care.

“I don’t know, bro. Why shouldn’t Earth’s technology develop quickly?”

“Because…”

[Ting!]

Up in the sky, a huge cross-shaped airship appeared. Surprised, the Korean military used their secret weapon, Heavenly Bow, to emit a beam of light attack on the airship, but the attack was easily blocked by the defensive barrier that surrounded the airship.

[What the hell! What is that! Turtle Ship! Retreat immediately…]

Boom!

The airship attacked, landing a direct hit on the Korean battleship, Turtle Ship, which carried Heavenly Bow. Instantly, the Turtle Ship was destroyed. From the start, it was impossible for a battleship to maneuver and evade a bombardment attack originating from the sky.

“If the civilization level of Earth rises due to its abnormally quick advancement in science and technology… the tech limitations and restrictions the Legion have to operate under also get lifted. In other words…”

Yongno looked up at the sky with a stiff expression before continuing.

“If the fight is based on science and technology, humanity will never be able to defeat the Legion.”

As soon as he finished speaking those words, continuous explosions rang out. The sides of the airship opened and began firing a series of artillery fire downward.

“Since both bridges have been destroyed, cutting off all evacuation routes, the civilian casualty numbers will be enormous. With the plasma cannon, the military should have given priority to protecting the bridges.”

Yongno’s statement wasn’t intended to criticize the Korean military’s actions. If Yongno really put the people’s lives above all else, he would have endured any loss and manifested until he no longer could, just like what Arthur did in the past.

“What are you going to do? Free volunteer work?”

“Hmm. I’m not a hero though.”

“Then, are we heading back?”

While listening to Youngmin’s words, Yongno scanned the battlefield. He couldn’t find the slightest reason to sacrifice himself for the sake of the many people he didn’t even know.

Rather, Yongno was contemptuous of others, who he saw as ignorant and greedy. However, Yongno soon shook his head to shake off his current line of thinking and spoke up.

“I’ll take care of the ones that I can see right in front of me. That mech robot is a bit annoying. Merlin Emrys.”

Crackle!

A noise rang out from Yongno’s body. For an instant, his body blurred like a mirage, and soon, a new figure was overlaid onto his physical body. Yongno, who had been dressed in an ordinary business suit, quickly took on the image of a mage that wore a red robe and a wide-brimmed hat.

“Phew. I’m getting goosebumps. Bro’s perfection of internal energy and magic power are astounding. It still surprises me, no matter how often I see it.”

“I just developed what I was given. Anyway, since the general civilization level rose, I should try something new.”

The duration of Yongno’s manifestation was one hour. Moreover, since human casualties were taking place in real time, Yongno, no, Merlin called out for his flying shuttle without hesitation.

“Come out, Vimana.”

Ting!

However, contrary to expectation, what appeared was a single line of text.

The civilization level of the area you occupy does not match the flying shuttle’s level.

“You made it so good that you can’t even use it.”

Merlin’s flying shuttle, which he created by investing a huge amount of gem points, was incomparable to any other user’s flying shuttle. However, because of that, Merlin’s flying shuttle faced restrictions on its use. It couldn’t be summoned and used freely in areas protected by [rules].

“So, you still can’t use it, huh?”

“DIO’s flying shuttle isn’t something that reflects a specific scientific civilization development level, so I half expected that it couldn’t be used. Luckily, utilizing magic power and other superpowers is quite free from restrictions since they don’t really face any civilization level limit, as they can’t be widely distributed to the masses. Anyway… it’s probably not the right time for me to be so relaxed like this…”

After Merlin said this, a red aura rose from Merlin’s body. The magic power emitting from Merlin’s body completed a pre-prepared spell, and the completed spell soon caused a miracle phenomenon in the material world.

Crackle!!

The seawater surged upward and began to freeze.

Merlin was able to use all types of attribute-type magic, but his utilization of water-type magic allowed him to gain the maximum effect with the minimum amount of magic power.

“My God, what is that? Eh, an ice bridge?”

“It’s Merlin! A Master is here!”

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After seeing Merlin standing on the other side of the bridge, the gathered people cheered, but instead of responding and acknowledging their cheers, Merlin continued to build the ice bridge, which connected Yongyu Island and the mainland. After Merlin put his finishing touches on the ice bridge’s surface, making it somewhat rough to prevent people from slipping, the evacuating people crossed the space without hesitation.

‘I’ll have to rush in and attack at once.’

Of course, since all defensive barriers were based on blocking external magic from penetrating within, it was nearly impossible for Merlin to teleport directly into the enemy’s airship. Therefore, Merlin teleported to the top of the airship’s defensive barrier and raised his right hand into the air.

Bam!

The defensive barrier, which even blocked a plasma cannon attack, was shattered with a single blow, and soon, Merlin entered the airship.

However, he found that no one was inside.

[Intruder alert! Intruder alert!]

“Hmm. Since it’s a Legion airship, it runs on an automated system. Well, the airship is a mech machine in and of itself, so it would be a bit weird and funny if a mech robot was piloting a mech aircraft.”

Crackle!

An electric shock shot out toward Merlin, who broke into the airship and triggered the airship’s intruder alert system, but he converted the electrical energy into impact energy as he lightly deflected the attack onto the airship’s inner wall. Though the airship was fully automated, Yongno was able to move around and deflect the oncoming attacks since there was a wide-open space within the airship.

“Are they dumb? Electrical energy is easier to convert than any other type of energy.”

[Remove the intruder! Eliminate the intruder!]

“It’s so annoying that I can’t converse with such a rigid automated system. Since the airship’s objective is for terrorism purposes, I guess the producers didn’t feel the need to include a conversation function.”

The moment he took a step forward while muttering, Merlin’s body crossed space and entered the core of the airship. Of course, the core was also protected by a defensive barrier, but Merlin easily shattered the barrier with a simple attack and went inside the core area.

Bang!

The Irrational Hand Strike, which was ultimately developed by realizing the true meaning of ‘striking’, something that Merlin realized after seeing Lancelot’s stabbing, was the synthesis and final product of all of Merlin’s known skills.

It was a penetrating attack that penetrated defenses, a killing technique that inflicted a critical blow on an enemy, and a bombing technique that exploded like a bomb to inflict AOE damage.

The Irrational Hand Strike contained all of Merlin’s martial arts knowledge, so it was in some way everything and nothing at the same time. Even Great Strength Vajra Hand and Great Tantra Hand, which were said to be the strongest hand strike techniques in Buddhist literature, made up only a small part of Irrational hand Strike.

Woong!

The internal energy that supported the power behind Irrational Hand Strike was also beyond one’s imagination. Merlin’s internal energy capacity was only 20 years, but that very internal energy was amplified to 40 years in Mercury, and then 160 years after passing through Venus and Earth. In an instant, Merlin was able to output nearly 3 cycles of internal energy through the amplification of his original 20 years.

“And…”

The internal energy of 160 years was amplified to 320 years through Mars, the last planet within his No Living World system. His original power was doubled five times, totaling more than 5 cycles in the end; literally, his amplification and power output seemed like works from the heavens. Moreover, Merlin could output all this energy in one blow. This in and of itself, being able to emit the maximum internal energy capacity, even for a Master level user, in a single blow was something that defied all existing martial arts theory and logic.

Boom!

A single Irrational Hand Strike broke through all the airship’s defense systems and destroyed the airship’s mainframe system. The power of the Irrational Hand Strike was so powerful that the aftershock waves of power spreading out from the airship were visible from the outside.

Creek!

The airship, which possessed enough firepower to destroy a modern army’s entire defense system, started to fall from the sky. There was no damage to the airship itself, but it crashed because there was no system to control it.

“Unfold. Veil of Darkness.”

After Merlin quietly completed a spell’s chant, a huge darkness hid the airship, and immediately after that, the airship disappeared completely.

Merlin floated alone in the sky with his red robe fluttering about him.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Silver short spears flew out from within Merlin’s robe. The spinning short spears were shot out towards the other alien aircrafts flying in the sky and the mech robot soldiers on the ground.

It was a truly incredible speed of rapid fire; it seemed as though water droplets were splashing outward from a spinning wet top. However, what was more surprising was that, even amid the rapid fire that was shooting out spears faster than a submachine gun shooting bullets, Merlin didn’t miss a single shot.

“… Overwhelming.”

Many eyes watched Merlin as he shot out attack after attack. Many of the observers were agents belonging to the NIS, not military officials or war correspondents who recorded the battle situation whenever the enemy invaded.

[Didn’t you say that the firepower of the Heavenly Bow was overwhelmingly more powerful than a Master’s attack power?]

“That’s right. But… Merlin is different from ordinary Masters.”

Min Seung-Cheol, who had been a general NIS agent, quickly gained recognition for his abilities once he became a Master, which allowed him to experience an unprecedented promotion to become a managing director in one stroke.

Being a Master, he knew all too well just how terrifying a being like Merlin was. Merlin had reached such a high level that even a decent Master would easily be killed from a single blow by Merlin.

[Heaven above the Heavens… Are you using that childish phrase too?]

“I’m sorry.”

Seung-Cheol hastily apologized after sensing the person on the other side of the line voicing his displeasure.

He was a Master, but because he was a Master, Seung-Cheol knew that he couldn’t do anything alone.

Against the existing weapon systems on Earth, a Master was powerful enough to contend against an entire country, but that was only for an hour, as manifestation only allowed one to become superhuman for just an hour. For that one hour, Masters were omnipotent, but what would happen once the manifestation period ended?

Only in the state of manifestation was it okay for a Master to be hit by missiles, but once the manifestation was released, a Master could lose his or her life from a single pistol shot.

‘Also, the requirement of 10,000 gem points is too restrictive.’

The 10,000 gem points required to manifest was a truly fatal penalty.

Even Seung-Cheol, who had reached Level 11, was barely able to earn 10,000 gem points after working hard for about a month, real time.