Chapter 79 - The Scavenger of the Fallen World (2)
Chapter 79 – The Scavenger of the Fallen World (2)
The Scavenger of the Fallen World (2)
The huge underground kingdom was collapsing. The moles ran away, screaming in fear. Fortunately, the Swallowing Fungus that had been draining their mana would no longer appear.
“My… my kingdom…!”
“Build a new one elsewhere.” He may have thought he built a kingdom, but really he had only excavated a shelter that was buried underground. Though, certainly, the Jijoo king’s ability who had joined the Hero Universe shouldn’t be underestimated.
“Wow…really, this whole facility is condensing into that terminal…the magic civilization of the people in this world was absurd. But it ruined them.” Meanwhile, Claire was examining the terminal that Kang Shin-hyuk was holding on the floor. The entire facility was condensing into that single point.
“It’s a problem because it won’t end with one facility. I don’t know if I can handle this.”
“Keep ahold of it; your sister will provide you with potions or whatever.”
“…Moles, this way.” Meanwhile, Shin Eunah was unfolding an intangible veil to protect the entire area with her magic. Kang Shin-hyuk and Claire, along with the moles, were all protected under her power.
-Vwoooom
A shield the size of a small city was created and maintained by her. It was an overwhelming sight that defied human power.
“The magic manifestation…it feels faster.”
“It’s faster?”
“Hm.” Shin Eunah had infinite resources, but her output and operation were a bit insufficient. However, her body had evolved by absorbing the artifact left by the humans of this world, and her speed and power had grown dramatically, filling in for her weaknesses. Claire had said that Shin Eunah couldn’t reach the top ranks yet, but that had quickly been proven false.
“The association will be surprised to find out.”
“I’ll hide it…rank 100th at most.” Shin Eunah stared at Kang Shin-hyuk as he held onto the terminal. Her eyes hid some deep emotion that he couldn’t read.
“Thanks to my junior, I’ll return stronger.”
“I didn’t know this would happen, so there’s nothing to thank me for…also, let’s wait. We’re not done yet.”
“Everyone, hurry up! Move under the shield!”
“The kingdom is collapsing!” The moles continued to move en masse to gather under the shield. By the time they had all gathered under it, the facility had already been condensed into the terminal. It became a lump of metal now as it still pulled at the benadelite from all over the world.
“It won’t be good to stay here.”
“I was thinking the same, let’s move.”
“Well, what do we do?!”
“Focus on living first!” Had Shin Eunah’s mana not been infinite, there would have been numerous casualties among the moles. Kang Shin-hyuk directed them in evacuating as she maintained the shield. Even if they couldn’t break through the ground, they still had the holes their ancestors dug.
“I have to reach the ground. Senior, maybe…?”
“It’s possible now.” After ensuring the moles had escaped, Shin Eunah reduced the shield to a sphere that enveloped just them. Then, flicking her finger, the shield began to float.
“I’m going to go faster.”
“What?!”
“Hold on!”
-Bang!
There was no time to shout as the sphere soared up with the three of them in it. It crushed through the dirt and veins of ore above them, pushing its way up. With his skill in martial arts, Kang Shin-hyuk was able to take to the center of the sphere and find his balance, but Claire was bouncing around a bit.
“Ahhhh! Be a bit more considerate!”
“Oh.”
“Ugh…” Claire managed to grab onto Shin-hyuk. Shin Eunah’s eyes narrowed as she continued to use her magic to form the sphere, although it was her fault that they were in this situation. Meanwhile, the agglomeration of the benadelite particles was still taking place. They penetrated through the protective film around the trio to absorb into the mass in Shin-hyuk’s hand. As the shield sphere rose at such a breakneck speed, the fog elongated behind them as it followed.
“We’ll be reaching the surface soon.”
“…Is it really okay?”
“It should be now that the driving mechanism behind the Fungus has changed.”
“Now!” The sphere roared upwards into the sky with one final bang; it stopped in the air about ten meters above the ground. Claire took a shaky breath and let go of Kang Shin-hyuk, who felt a tinge of sadness. Shin Eunah pouted at the two.
“Claire, weren’t you too eager to touch my junior?”
“Hey, that was your fault!”
“What about normally?”
“Normally…ah, how much do I usually do?”
“Hm!” The two attractive women argued meaninglessly, but Kang Shin-hyuk was focused on the benadelite particles still coming towards the mass in his hand.
“I’m trying to focus a little right now.”
“Sorry.”
“Sorry.”
The activity of the particles was accelerating even more, all of them gathering into one point. So far, it had only absorbed one shelter, but there were dozens of them all around the world. Waves of purple fog were surrounding the sky around them.
“You two. I think it would be better to back away from me. I think the absorption will become more intense.”
“Okay, Eunah, I think it would be better to give Shin-hyuk the floating magic.”
“I already have. Then, I’ll be waiting.”
“It’ll be over soon.” They left him alone in the air after Claire took Onyx to keep him safe. He let out a sigh of relief after confirming they had landed at a safe distance away from him. The flow of particles that had been suppressed so far was released completely.
-Shaaaaaa
His body was engulfed in a purple mist. Shin Eunah let out a scream as she watched it, but Claire calmed her down. They were gathering at the lump held in his hand with no concern for him: gathering and gathering. In the process, Kang Shin-hyuk began to realize something.
“It shouldn’t be like this…!” Now that he was pouring his spiritual power into the lump, he could grasp the transformation that the benadelite particles were going through. It was incomplete, even more so than the weapons that drove this world to destruction in the past.
‘Whoo…No, I can do this.’ He closed his eyes and focused on the flow of the particles around him. His eyes began to glow golden. The object in his hand wanted to be reborn into something. Golden hues began to mix into the purple.
‘I can’t do this alone.’ However, that alone wasn’t enough. His trait did nothing more than amplify and strengthen the particles. The formula was unfinished, so he activated his other ability to add to it. Which was metallurgy.
‘No anvil, no hammer.’ But he had the most important thing when crafting, and that was his mind. Didn’t he prove it when he made the claws that served as a terminal to the golem facility? Metallurgy wasn’t a skill about simply beating metal.
‘There…’ What was in his grasp now was a mixture of magic, not metal. It was surprisingly light in his grasp.
‘Start.’ He imagined the anvil in his mind, placing the lump on it and creating an imaginary hammer to strike at it. What would he put in each hammer blow?
‘What sort of heart did the people who perished have?’
They had wanted to be strong, strong enough to transcend godhood. As a result, they met their end, but he couldn’t ridicule their aspirations just because they had failed. He also had a desperate need for strength that drove him. There was no need to focus on complex concepts like ideology. He just wanted strength—the strength to be free from all restraints of incompetence. Spiritual power bloomed out from him, permeating into the magical particles. He felt connected to those who had wanted to make this armament long ago. He read their intent, brought their aspirations into reality.
He swung the hammer.
‘The strength to keep those I have.’
-Klang!
It was like the sound of a hammer beating iron rang out.
‘The strength to break down everything that stands in the way.’
-Klang!
Again and again.
‘The strength to stand alone.’
-Klang!
The hammer struck hard on the iron on the anvil.
-As expected, you are…
The administrator’s message appeared briefly before vanishing. Kang Shin-hyuk didn’t notice it at all. He just raised his hand and lowered it. The golden color that bloomed from him converged into the middle of the lump he held in his hands.
It exploded out with a momentum that filled the whole world.