CH 267

*** Independence Day ***

“Is there still no progress?”

The atmosphere in the room was tense. No, to be precise, it was heavy.

The air in the room seemed sticky, like they were surrounded by a viscous liquid, and if one didn’t have the strength to protect oneself, one might soon suffocate and lose one’s life in such an environment.

Buried deep in a sofa, Tan was visibly angry.

The problem was that this atmospheric phenomenon did not originate from an overwhelming and suffocating sort of momentum aura or pressure, but a [phenomenon] in which the physical air itself actually became viscous.

‘The effects are getting stronger and stronger…’

Tan wasn’t doing anything on purpose; it was just that he was in a bad mood, and the current phenomenon, which violated the laws of physics, occurred whenever his mood became dark.

Being able to have such an impact on the material world with just a change in his emotional state meant that Tan was at a different power level than before.

‘Has he regained his past powers? But how?’

Tan, who was called the [Demonic Dragon of the Apocalypse], was the king of kings, the top of the food chain; since birth, Tan belonged to the highest rank in the Noblesse.

However, his past crime was so great that he was punished and lost most of his powers permanently.

Melton, a Persian-looking cat with black fur and golden eyes, organized his complex thoughts and spoke out.

“Remote access is progressing, albeit slowly. Even though it’s frustrating and tedious, I advise that we wait and observe a bit longer…”

“You want to wait? How much longer?”

Melton felt the sticky air hardening, but his opinion did not change.

“Tan, you know very well that there’s no other choice. The Reaper Organization has already set up a special surveillance network, and the enforcers of Union Law have gone to work to build a case. Unless you’re planning on waging a war with the Nether world, you have to be careful.”

It was best to avoid colliding with the Nether world; although the Nether world was restricted and bound by all sorts of laws and agreements, it was widely known throughout the universe that the power level of the Nether world was only second to the Godly world.

And that wasn’t all.

Even though the Elohim were in the same Union alliance, they weren’t on good terms with the Noblesse; thus, the Elohim were always looking for an angle to embarrass and weaken the Noblesse. If word got out that the Noblesse did something wrong, the Elohim would pounce on the opportunity and drive the narrative to make it into something much worse.

“So, you’re saying that we should leave DIO alone? You know that the budget that went into making DIO is equivalent to half of the Union’s annual budget, right?”

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

The Noblesse, which can be said to be the backbone group within the Union, had spent a considerable number of resources to make DIO. The number was so astronomical that it would drain the blood of anyone who heard the figure.

It was enough resources and money to buy dozens of habitable planets, so if this investment was lost, even Tan, who held a high-ranking position within the Noblesse, wouldn’t be able to avoid responsibility or potential backlash. However, Melton soon shook his head.

“It’s not like we’ll lose control over DIO if we wait and let it run without oversight for a bit. Anyway, now that the Empress of Magic is dead, we’re the only ones who have the authority to operate DIO.”

Of course, even the Noblesse hadn’t yet gained full authority over DIO.

However, no matter how perfect the Empress of Magic’s firewall was, the Noblesse, which had the most great mages in the universe, were confident that they’d eventually gain control of the main system.

Time was the only issue, so there didn’t seem a need to fret.

“…!”

“…!”

But at that moment, Melton and Tan’s expressions hardened at the same time.

“Nonsense. How?”

Melton groaned at the incoming news.

DIO’s emergency mode was canceled. The impossible had happened.

It was already unthinkable that Merlin or Cruze could put DIO into emergency mode and block the Noblesse’s administrative access; however, releasing it after it had already entered emergency mode was a problem of a completely different dimension.

‘Does that mean he’s got Level 1 system access authorization? I never thought that could be possible… In the worst case, I thought he’d only be able to obtain limited privileges…’

Melton was at a total loss.

DIO’s system firewall was such a complex puzzle that even the many great mages within the rank and file of the Noblesse couldn’t crack it up to now, but how did a human, who had lived less than a few decades, disable it and access the main system? And in such a short period of time?

However, even in this unlikely situation, Tan wasn’t surprised.

No, actually, he got up from his seat with a chilling smile, as if something was going according to plan.

“Melton. Call Igniz.”

“You’re going to use Ignis as a throwaway knight? Igniz is a selfish criminal! There’s no way that Igniz would agree, and also…”

Melton passionately shouted, but Tan cut him off.

“Tell Igniz we’ll erase Igniz’s name from the Killing Division list and hand Muspelheim over to Igniz. Since Igniz has already been apprehended, we can’t stop the trial, but if we state that Igniz acted alone, Igniz will probably only face a 300-year sentence.”

“Tan?”

“Igniz will get a transcendent weapon in exchange for taking a break for 300 years, so, it’s not a bad deal. Igniz has no choice but to agree.”

Saying so, Tan closed his eyes. Soon, the space around him began to stir.

“Moreover, as you mentioned, Igniz is a selfish criminal.”

Soon Tan’s figure disappeared.

***

[Did you start?]

[Yes. But is it really okay for you to go alone?]

The video started, and Arthur’s figure was soon revealed. He left a strong impression on everyone on Earth after overthrowing Japan all by himself. The place where he was currently standing was a vast, open sea where one could only see the horizon wherever one looked. However, what was most surprising was that Arthur and a mysterious woman, who was presumably filming him, were standing atop the sea without any issue.

[Don’t talk nonsense. Take care of yourself.]

Speaking coolly, Arthur turned around. Unlike his usual outfit, which was light and casual, Arthur was currently wearing a white full plate armor that protected his entire body.

Like Eunhye’s DIO avatar, Arc, the armor covered his entire body. It was to the point that an observer wouldn’t be able to tell his gender, let alone his identity, even if the observer was someone close to him.

“It’s not one of my reinforced item creations, but the quality of Arthur’s gear… it doesn’t seem like any normal drop item either.”

“Is it a strong piece of gear?” Eunhye asked.

Merlin nodded his head. Merlin, Eunhye, and Youngmin were watching TV.

“I’m not totally sure because it’s a low quality video feed, but I think it’s an SS Class legendary item… but why is he wearing such a powerful…?”

Yongno grasped the mana waves emanating from Arthur’s armor and tilted his head in confusion. Arthur had already entered the transcendent realm, so no one on Earth could possibly contend against him. No, the reality was that Arthur could wipe out the entire Earth and beat every earthling on the planet, even if he fought against the whole world alone, so why did he need to wear such Legendary rated gear?

As a transcendent being, Arthur was strong enough, even with his earthling body, to take on anything and everything on Earth; moreover, there was no longer any need for Arthur to manifest to utilize his powers.

“Bro, maybe it’s his style, no? Based on the atmosphere, it seems that Arthur is leading the video shoot himself, so maybe he’s being mindful of how he looks.”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Merlin couldn’t understand why Arthur was wearing such powerful gear.

Arthur’s gear was a Legendary rated item; it was just below Divine Weapon rating status, so in some ways, it was more powerful than a newly created Master Weapon.

However, considering that there was a limit to the power that the Grotesque and Legion could use on Earth, as a transcendent being, even if Arthur went into battle naked, he would still be an overpowering figure that couldn’t be matched.

A naked Arthur could just protect his body with a self-defense technique, go into the enemy’s ranks at the speed of light, and wield his undefeatable sword to defeat his opponents.

Woong!

At that moment, in the video, Arthur’s Divine Weapon, Excalibur, dazzled and gave off an aura.

Among the hundreds of millions of internal energy users, only Arthur, who had acquired the attribute of light, could do this.

Suddenly, his figure became momentarily blurry.

Crack!

Along with a thunderbolt-like flash, a long trail of afterglow light was left in the empty air.

“He entered a subspace.”

“Moreover, he didn’t use magic. That’s probably what’s called the Dimension Terminal, which the Legion mainly uses to cross over to our dimension.”

The screen changed as Merlin spoke aloud. Arthur and the camera rushed through the gap in the cracked space.

Beep!

With a sharp warning sound, hundreds of mechanical soldiers and armored vehicles started pouring out, and countless artillery rounds and beam missiles were fired at him.

The firepower was so overwhelmingly strong that it could instantly wipe out an entire city, but Arthur calmly swung his sword.

Flash!

A wave of light seemed to radiate out, sweeping away all the Legion forces in front of him.

Hundreds of mechanized soldiers were swept away like autumn leaves after Arthur’s signature skill, Thousand Light, swept past them.

Flash!

And then, Arthur went directly into the thick of the enemy forces and wielded his sword of light; instantly, hundreds of Legion forces were rendered useless and became pieces of junk that scattered in all directions. The force of Arthur’s attack could easily wipe out a country or two on Earth. Observing this on TV, everything looked surreal.

“Damn, he’s amazing. It’s already scary how he’s able to create thousands of waves of light in an instant, but to control those thousand slashes one by one… his sword strikes are so perfect that whenever he sends out an attack, at least 500 individual Legion forces are wiped away in an instant.”

Youngmin was watching the unfolding scene on TV with determined and focused eyes. If Youngmin could, he’d probably enter the TV screen and observe Arthur’s handiwork from the battlefield. Perhaps many others around the world were looking at Arthur with the same, passionately burning eyes.

Whirl!

Then, with a heavy sound, like a giant motor turning, the subspace slowly began to collapse.

The high-ranking being, who had been constantly [producing] the mechanical soldiers, finally gave up on maintaining the subspace and revealed its existence.

“Hmm? Bro, what is that? It seems like something powerful-looking appeared, no?”

“Named.”

“Eh, Ms. Eunhye?”

“Eunhye?”

Youngmin and Yongno both turned their heads in surprise after hearing Eunhye, who had remained quiet, speak out with an expressionless face.

“They’re beings who have [perfected] their souls and received names.”

The Legion originated from an artificial intelligence that had gained self-consciousness.

Compared to living beings, the Legion were a kind of mutant species that possessed self-consciousness and questions about their existence, as well as spirituality.

Although their souls were fragmented and unstable, they were starting to sprout.

“Where did you get that information?”

“Well… I don’t know. I think I heard it from someone... but I’m not sure who.”

Yongno fell into thought for a while. Eunhye certainly wasn’t hiding anything from him.

If she was hiding something from him, she wouldn’t have acted so clumsily and spoken out.

‘Then… perhaps she accessed some erased memories?’

After thinking for a while, Merlin spoke to Eunhye.