CH 269

Name:D.I.O Author:Park geon
I shall liberate you from this place.

It wasn’t just the conference hall where the man’s voice buzzed in everyone’s ears.

“Mom! My teddy bear is making strange noises!”

“Why is the connector making weird sounds all of a sudden?”

“Honey. Don’t you hear a sound coming from the TV? It’s not even turned on, right?”

“What’s wrong with my radio?”

People from all over the world were experiencing a similar thing. The man’s voice rang out from the DIO connector, TVs, radios, PCs, electronic clocks, and even mechanical dolls, any electronic device that was capable of making sound. And right afterward, once the man finished speaking, the world fell into silence.

Except for a very few people who lived deep in the mountains, where there were no electronic devices nearby, almost the entire population of humanity was forcibly connected to DIO.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

“My God! I was in the middle of driving!”

“I was on a plane! Is it okay for me to be here?”

“No, wait… why can’t I log out!?”

Arriving at Starting, Merlin ignored the panic-stricken noises the users were making and headed straight for the Guardian Tower at the center of Starting’s central square.

“Dang, it’s crazy in here. The number of concurrently logged on users is 4.27 billion. Are there even a billion unlogged people left on Earth?”

As people entered DIO after suffering a forced log in, they found that they couldn’t log out. With such an abrupt log in, it was difficult to estimate how many casualties would have occurred in reality.

If a person who was driving suddenly connected to DIO, a traffic accident would have occurred in real life, and if someone who was cooking at home suddenly connected, a house fire would probably occur due to the unattended stove.

And that wasn’t all. Employees working in factories, soldiers on the frontlines, and pilots operating airplanes… Once these people were forcibly connected, the entire social system, which was operated by such people, would have spiraled into chaos.

“But why are they doing this? Do the Noblesse benefit by forcibly logging users into DIO?” Quiet Heaven asked as it landed on Merlin’s shoulder. Once Merlin realized what had happened on Earth, he hurriedly logged on to DIO.

Quiet Heaven, who was always logged into DIO, didn’t quite understand what had happened nor what this emergency meant.

“You can take care of these people, right?”

“Take care of these people? What do you mean take care of these people… wait, are you planning to…?”

“Yeah. These Noblesse guys seemed determined to go rogue. I guess they’re planning on ignoring Union Law.”

In an instant, Merlin reached the central square and approached the Guardian Tower.

All kinds of defensive barriers were installed around the Guardian Tower.

But these barriers were irrelevant to Merlin, who possessed Level 1 system access authorization.

“Immediately, activate the protection system…”

Boom!

However, the ground shook before Merlin could enter the Guardian Tower.

No, actually, to be precise, it wasn’t the ground that shook.

What was shaking was Dynamic Island Online, the entire world of DIO. In other words, DIO itself was shaking.

Crack!

A crack formed in the sky, and Starting’s blue sky started to glow red. The sky reproduction system, which had always performed its role without fail up to this point, was malfunctioning.

Crack!

Once more, the world of DIO shook, and soon, the cracks in the sky became clearer.

One could now start to see the pitch-black darkness of outer space beyond the sky. Quiet Heaven growled and shouted out.

“Taking such a drastic action without considering the repercussions… What kind of irresponsible act of bullying is this? This is no different than taking a crap on the Noblesse’s honor!”

Just like Merlin, Quiet Heaven noticed the Noblesse’s drastic decision and unthinkable course of action.

In the end, the Noblesse had given up on Earth.

The reason why most humans on Earth were forcibly connected was so that the Noblesse, through DIO, could steal their souls. After confining most of the users within DIO, they were attempting to move DIO, which was installed on the back side of Earth’s moon, to another location.

“Are they planning on treating us the same as DIO’s other NPCs and monsters?”

“This is completely different from that sort of exchange! This is a criminal act! They’re enslaving everyone without a contract or an agreement! They’re committing a crime for profit! Are they not concerned about the political aftermath and fallout?” Quiet Heaven screamed.

Merlin looked up at the sky once more.

Through the cracks in the cracked sky, Merlin could see blazing heat waves flowing around.

The transmitted aura from those heat waves was a very familiar kind for Merlin.

Merlin paused.

“No wait! Maybe this…”

“Huh? What’s the matter?”

Merlin, who was lost in thought for a moment, soon answered Quiet Heaven’s question.

“Hey, Quiet Heaven. What happens if the guy who’s currently attacking DIO doesn’t get full control over DIO’s system? Will another guy come to replace him?”

“No way. What the Noblesse are doing right now is a serious crime. Of course, it wouldn’t matter as long as they keep what happens here under wraps and don’t get caught, but that sort of outcome would be virtually impossible. Currently, various forces throughout the universe are paying close attention to DIO.”

However, the problem was that the Elohim and other Union forces couldn’t intervene and prevent the situation since they didn’t have authorization to access or control DIO’s system.

Moreover, if a Noblesse transcendent could steal DIO away before the other Union forces could react or do anything, the entire situation boiled down to a battle of speed to see who can take control over DIO the quickest. Although the other Union forces may criticize the Noblesse later on and gain political favors and power, from the point of view of earthlings, this eventual result would be useless.

“Then what if this overtaking attempt fails? What if the transcendent Noblesse that’s entering the world of DIO right now fails to gain control over the system?”

“Uhm… Merlin? The Noblesse aren’t idiots, so there’s no way they’re taking this action with a chance of failure. The being that’s entering is probably leaps and bounds more powerful than Mary, who was guarding the system control room. It’s true that you have the non-destructive setting placed on you, but system settings mean nothing to [external] beings…”

Merlin cut off Quiet Heaven mid-sentence.

“Don’t give me your take, just answer my question. What happens if the transcendent fails?”

“… Then, that’s it. If the Noblesse commit such a serious crime and fail in successfully executing that crime, they will have to give up DIO. Even though the Noblesse are the greatest force in the Union, the Noblesse will not be able to avoid a quarantine ruling.”

“Good.”

After hearing this, Merlin disappeared.

“Eh? Merlin?”

Quiet Heaven, who was left alone, looked around with a confused expression. Quiet Heaven could not find any trace of Merlin’s whereabouts.

***

Whoosh!

A rectangular golden object measuring 3,000 by 1,000 kilometers and over 100 kilometers tall could be seen hovering above the surface of the moon. And above this golden object, above the world of DIO, a red giant dragon was spewing out a blast of heat.

The world of DIO, which emitted golden light as if a gold bar was being neatly cut, resisted the external being’s heatwave by exuding intense defensive energy.

However, the defense only lasted for a short period, and soon, the space that was exposed to the heat wave gradually distorted.

[It’s quite strong. If I had to rely solely on my physical strength, it would have taken me more than a month to break through this thing.]

Behind Igniz, who was muttering under its breath, three pairs of wings could be seen, Igniz’s original wings and two additional pairs of wings.

However, what was more unusual was that the wings were not physical wings but were made of blazing heat waves.

Igniz smiled as it closed its eyes and felt tremendous power coursing through its body.

[Hahaha. Of course, it’s annoying that I’ve been sentenced to 300 years of imprisonment and isolation, but… it’s a different story if I can get my hands on a Numbering.]

Transcendent Weapon Number 734.

Muspelheim.

Muspelheim was the Transcendent Weapon that Igniz obtained in return for being Tan’s [throwaway knight].

Muspelheim was an item with a [number] attached to it, a number which could only be given out to the top 1,000 of all Transcendent Weapons that existed in the entire universe; hence, a Numbering.

Crack!

At that moment, the world of DIO’s ceiling, unable to withstand the heat Igniz was outputting, cracked. Soon, a gap was revealed.

It wasn’t a very big gap, and the defensive layers started to regenerate as soon as the crack appeared. However, Igniz had already changed into a human form and passed through the momentary gap.

Whoosh!

Muspelheim, which had taken the form of flaming wings, now took on the shape of a long staff, which was in line with Igniz’s transformation into a human.

Muspelheim, which was made by refining ancient flames, had no fixed shape, so it could be used as a weapon, armor, or even a part of one’s body. In other words, it could change seamlessly based on the needs and desires of the weapon’s user.

“Okay. Now all I have to do is go to the system control room or whatever and then… Huh?”

But at that moment, Ignis realized that something was wrong.

Its chest was hot and burning, as if it had been burned by something.

“What?”

Igniz looked down at its chest with a dumbfounded expression on its face.

On its chest was a handprint so clear that there was no room to deny its imprint.

However, what was even more shocking for Igniz was that the portion of its upper body that had been imprinted with the handprint had been torn off and blown clean away.

“Thank you so much for coming in human form. The moment you came into DIO, I knew you’d show an opening, but I was worried you’d be able to survive an attack with your tremendous HP bar… Thank goodness you came in human form. Anyway, thanks for making it easy.”

Merlin, wearing a red robe, appeared in front of Igniz.

Seeing Merlin’s eyes looking down at Igniz, as if looking at an insignificant thing, Ignis instantly exuded a murderous intent.

But, surprisingly, Igniz couldn’t output any power from its body.

“This… this… Ah? What’s going on?”

It was only then that Igniz realized that it had completely lost control of its body.

Even floating in the air was not being sustained with its own power.

The aura within Igniz’s body had completely collapsed.

And right at that moment…

Rumble!

A shockwave exploded behind Igniz’s back, and the blue sky behind it also shattered. In an instant, a huge hole was pierced in the world of DIO’s outer wall by the powerful force.

A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.

And through that hole, the outer space beyond the world of DIO’s outer wall was revealed.

Whoosh!

The air that filled Dynamic Island was sucked out, causing a turbulent strong wind to whip around the world of DIO.

However, the turbulent situation didn’t affect Merlin, Igniz, or their immediate surroundings.

Igniz felt its senses slowly returning.

However, the problem for Igniz was that the information that the returned senses gave it was unbelievably dire.

“This… no way… I’ve succumbed? So easily? Really?”

Merlin looked at Igniz, who was stuttering in disbelief, and brought out his jeweled sword, the Editor Blade.

“Thank you for being a participant in this very special day. And thank you for attending today’s celebration.”

“Special day… What the hell are you saying? What are you talking about?”

As Merlin continued to look at Igniz, who was puzzled by Merlin’s words, Merlin replied.

“It’s Independence Day, asshole.”

Merlin’s jeweled sword pierced through Igniz’s chest.

That was the last thing that Igniz saw before dying.