《Grim Reaper in the Apocalypse: Reaping Immortals》 Chapter 1: Draft Altan calmed his beating heart. There was no need to worry. He reminded himself that he could overcome this if he just took one breath at a time. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Everyone here was also 18 years old like him, they were all feeling nervous too, probably. Nothing bad happened to the previous ones who went ahead of him. They were fine. The rest of the youths who hadn''t had their chance yet were all gathered sitting on the floor of a gymnasium, feeling the safety of the solid wooden deck underneath them. They felt awkward; they were used to the cold and damp ground. Aside from a few murmurs, everyone was as silent as they could be. They tried not to let the excitement disturb their visitor from another land. "Atlan of the Unclaimed Lands, step forward." The woman in front of them said. She had long curly hair and wore a black suit that covered her entire body in protective pads. She was the only one there with clothing that wasn''t tattered and dirtied. Atlan looked up at her and he couldn''t help but admire her beautiful face up on the podium. Even in the expanse of the gymnasium behind her, she kept everyone''s eyes on her. Her skin was as smooth as pearls and she emanated a sweet vanilla scent. Meanwhile, every youth looking at her smelled of soil and grime. Even though she didn''t look a few years older than them, she confessed that she was a hundred years old! That was the difference between people who lived in a God''s Territory and those who lived in the Unclaimed Lands. They lived in a place protected by a god. They were given health, safety, and abundance. They were given immortality. While people like Atlan and the rest of these youths could only fend for themselves in the wilds. However, with this Draft, they could change their destiny. They can break out of the Unclaimed Lands and live on a God''s Territory! Altan walked up to the podium. There was a large pill-looking contraption that the woman stood next to. It was as tall as her, about less than two meters. It was made of metal, yet there was wood and vines wrapped around the patches of the machine. "Ever since Gods descended into our reality and settled on their lands, they have given us humans everything we ever wanted. We are no longer a species struggling to find food or suffering from disease. However, it hasn''t been easy for Them. They have been plagued by these wicked Canzers, and They need soldiers to fight them." she roared. Some youths winced and cowered at the mention of Canzers. While some''s eyes gleamed in excitement when they heard the word ''soldier''. "Only humans can defeat these Canzers. They are called Saviors! This is your chance to become a Savior and hopefully become drafted by a God to join them in their territory." The woman''s words started a fire within everyone''s souls. They yearned for that paradise. "Saviors who live in a God''s Territory will be given power, wealth, and fame. They will give you an eternal life." These youths never even knew life past the age of twenty. Yet, there were those who lived for a thousand years in luxury. "As long as you help kill Canzers that threaten the sanctity of Gods, then you will be rewarded with anything you want." Now that the rest of the youths were fired up, the woman then looked at Atlan. "Let me inform you again of what would happen to you when you enter the Draft. Your mind will be transported to the Remedium, the dimension where the Gods reside. In this place, you will encounter monsters and beasts that you must vanquish." The woman pushed some buttons on her tablet, making last-minute preparations before another one entered the Draft. "The monsters come in batches. They will become more and more stronger with each batch. If you survive 5 batches of enemies, you can get an F-class LifeSkill. If you defeat 10 batches, you can get a D-class LifeSkill, and so on." LifeSkills were the powers that the Saviors used to kill Canzers. "The better class LifeSkill you have, the better chance you have of being drafted by a Town, or a City even." The bigger the place, the stronger the god, and the more prosperous it was for their citizens. Everyone hoped to be in a City, but they were more than satisfied with a Town. This time, she addressed everyone. "If you performed above normal and showed your talent, then you may be personally drafted by a God or maybe even multiple ones. They will personally visit you in the Draft," she added. "If that happens, don''t panic. They will be offering you lots of rewards including a unique Genus so that you can evolve your bloodline. If you''re feeling overwhelmed, just think about where you want to live. If you fear the water, then don''t accept the offer of the Seven Seas god." Realistically, there was no chance that these kids would perform above average. The poor lifestyle in the Unclaimed Lands did not cultivate talent. However, she still liked to inform these unfortunate juveniles about the intricacies of the Draft. Who knew, maybe there would be one transcendent talent here. "Atlan, was it? Are you ready to enter the Pre-Remedium chamber?" Atlan gulped, hoping to swallow his fear. "Yes, I think." The woman looked at Atlan and felt that there was something unusual about him. He wasn''t arrogant, nor was he frightful. Even though his demeanor showed fear, she could see a sense of steadiness and calm in his eyes. This was something she only saw with veteran Saviors. "What type of Savior do you want to become? There are two types: the ones in the front line and the ones in the back." the woman asked. Atlan answered without any hesitation. "The one in the backline." "Really?" The woman was surprised. Usually, most youths liked to be on the front lines and be in the thick of it all. Saviors who fought on the front lines were awarded the most. They were also the most renowned and celebrated in the lands. If they were going to fight, why not fight up front? There was no harm in it. After all, no one could die in God''s Territory. "Yes. I don''t like to see suffering. I hate blood. I''m a pacifist." Atlan said, calming his nerves. It was unusual to find such a youth. She looked over to the rest of the group and they all nodded their heads. Atlan was known for being a pacifist. He didn''t even eat worms and forced himself to live by eating grass. "No worries. Some Saviors can kill Canzers while staying in their homes," assured the woman. "Step inside." The large water tank-like contraption opened by itself. The Pre-Remedium Chamber was simply an empty compartment with nozzles placed in the cardinal directions: up, down, left, right, front, and back. Atlan stepped inside and faced the door. There was no glass window, leaving only darkness for him when the woman closed the chamber. And despite the confinement, Atlan felt safer. It reminded him of countless nights spent living underground. "Get ready. The Draft is about to start," warned the woman, her voice muffled. "Oh, and don''t worry about your injuries. This is just a simulation," she added before activating the chamber. TSHHHHHH The nozzles sprayed Atlan''s entire body with a strange violet mist that glowed even in total darkness. Even when he tried not to breathe it in, the mist seeped into his skin and mixed into his blood, intoxicating him into a hallucination. Atlan''s body went stiff, but his brain went into a deep sleep psychosis and forced his eyelids shut. When he opened his eyes again, the only thing he saw was an endless white space. He was standing, yet he could not see the ground. He was still wearing his tattered white shirt and old, ragged jogging pants. The horizon blended with the foreground, everything was white. ZINGG Atlan suddenly saw a holographic banner in front of him saying; [1st Batch of Monsters appearing in 3¡­2¡­1] After the countdown, a small ant suddenly materialized a few meters away from him. An ant. A literal red ant. It was so small. He wouldn''t have even noticed it if it weren''t for the holographic effect of the summoning. [Defeat the first batch of monsters to reach the next stage] The beauty''s words echoed back in his mind. ''If you survive 5 batches of enemies, you can get an F-class LifeSkill.'' An F-class LifeSkill was the most basic power that anyone could have. At most, it would only give you extra resistance against elements. Even a fur coat could give you more protection than an F-class LifeSkill. All Atlan had to do was crush this ant and he''d move on to the next stage. It wasn''t even moving. It didn''t even try to attack him. Yet, Atlan couldn''t bring himself to do it. He bent down and brought the red ant closer to his face. How could he kill such an adorable creature? Its little mandibles were tapping in happiness as it looked back at him. "No. I refuse," he declared. He put the ant back down. "I don''t like to see suffering. I hate blood. I''m a pacifist." The moment he did, the whole scenery changed. The world of vast whiteness was tainted by crimson red waves, propagating and conquering the purity of the white background. He now stood upon a cracked road, with boiling lava spurting out its crevices. A wall of hellfire covered the horizon, inducing fear and damnation. "You human¡­why have you not killed this pesky little animal?" Atlan heard a dark, low, growling voice behind him. But instead of answering the question, Atlan looked back to the demon that was waiting for him behind. He looked at it dead in its 666 eyes, with no fear, no trepidation, and no terror. He was deathly calm. "Are you a God?" The demon was a large worm-like creature ten times bigger than Atlan. Its mouth covered more than half of its face, with millions upon millions of layered hair-like teeth that circled its ''lips''. Beyond the mouth, complete darkness. Looking inside the mouth of the demon was akin to looking at an abyss that led directly down to the deepest depths of space. I am the God of Death, it said telepathically, its teeth clacking upon each other. Its 666 eyes looked like beads of blood above its mouth. The induced trypophobia gave discomfort to anyone who dared to lay its eyes upon the God. Each one of those eyes looked down at Atlan. Yet instead of cowering upon this gigantic creature, Atlan stood tall in defiance. The God of Death, Grim Reaper himself, was stupefied by Atlan''s lack of fear. His hideous appearance should have scared Atlan''s very soul into fright, unable to even utter a single word. Yet he did, mutinous gaze and all. And before the God of Death could try and threaten Atlan that he would suffer a fate worse than death¡­ Atland jumped inside its sinister and dusky mouth. "YOU DARE!!!!" Chapter 2: Essence The Grim Reaper didn''t think that the human would be so insane as to voluntarily jump into its mouth. Was he suicidal? But Atlan had a different thought. After all, this was an opportunity unlike anything he would ever get. The woman''s words echoed back in his mind. ''If you showed your talent, then Gods may personally visit you in the Draft. They will be offering you rewards including a unique Genus to evolve your bloodline.'' He knew that this was his chance to gain powers that he wouldn''t have gotten from the Draft. And as for the dangers¡­Atlan simply took the woman''s words to heart. She said, ''Oh, and don''t worry about your injuries. This is just a simulation.'' So, he dived right in without any hesitation. He didn''t know why he felt this urge, but it was the first thing on his mind when he saw the worm. He jumped head-first into the most dangerous place in hell. As soon as he was inside, he was enveloped by the absence of light. It felt like he entered an abyss. Atlan felt weightlessness in the darkness. He looked back yet he could not see where he came from. He was at the belly of the beast; there was no going back. "Insolent human! You know not where you are. Only death and suffering await you inside¡­" Yet he kept going. Atlan floated forward with nothing but confidence in his eyes. The chasm of darkness would have left most humans disoriented, confused as to which was up or down, seconds from hours, and end from the beginning. It would have made them insane, especially after floating with nothing but the deafening silence of shadows beside him. But Atlan persisted. The God of Death couldn''t believe it. He thought this human was nothing more than a coward afraid of death. After all, he couldn''t even get past the first batch of the Draft. Even the weakest of humans get past the 3rd batch. He should have been cowering in fear. Yet he still pushed himself deeper into the chasm. After an unknown amount of time, Atlan finally saw a red ant floating right in front of him. It was glowing with a white transcendence. "You have passed the test," lied the God of Death. "You have saved the ant from me." The Grim Reaper thought Atlan would finally stop his journey now that the ant was alive again. It must have been the reason why he braved the Grim Reaper''s jaws of death. But he didn''t. Atlan continued forward until he saw a bright white light in the distance. He moved closer until he was an ever-changing object. In one instance, it was a cube emitting neon blue lights from its edges. Then it changed into a golden eye. And next, it quickly morphed into a non-geometrical blob of meaty muscle. It was as if the 3rd dimension couldn''t fully manifest the majesty of this object. Atlan raised his hand, about to touch it when the God of Death roared at him. "STOP RIGHT THERE. Don''t move closer if you don''t want the ant to die." The red ant suddenly materialized beside the ever-changing object. Above it was the rotting hand of a demon, ready to squish it into nothing but smithereens. "You are a pacifist. Stop now or the ant dies along with you." For someone who touted himself as a pacifist, Atlan was paradoxically indifferent to the Grim Reaper''s threats. It was as if he didn''t care about the ant in the first place. Atlan raised his hand and continued to reach for the mysterious object. "CURSE YOU! If you touch that, billions would die and suffer!" S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But even with the God of Death''s guttural roar that shook the very fabric of space, Atlan persisted. When his hands finally touched the object, it changed into its final shape; A red apple. It was only then that the God of Death realized who he was dealing with. Atlan''s tranquil yet menacing demeanor in the face of the Almighty Divine God of Death was not something a coward could do. This human was not a lowly being whose weakness led him to fail the Draft. He was a wolf in sheep''s clothing! He was someone who gave the God of Death a taste of his own medicine, fear. "THE IMPUDENCE! You have reached far beyond your authority, human!" Atlan felt the bones in his body shake. But he didn''t care. He opened his mouth and said; "I don''t like to see suffering." He put the red apple between his teeth and took his first bite. A spray of misty red blood followed the crunch, enveloping the whole darkness. It was a bloodbath. The whiteness of his eyes and his teeth contrasted with the pure red blood dripping out of his face. Yet even with blood dripping down to his tongue, letting him taste the metallicness of it all, Atlan stayed uncaring. "I hate blood," he said as he took his second bite. As his front teeth reached the core of the apple, the whole thing disintegrated into a cloud of grayish-black smoke. The blackness of everything turned into tendrils that spiraled toward Atlan''s skin. The darkness spread towards his body like roots, reaching far away and digging deep into his flesh. "What have you done?! This is irreparable!" Atlan, knowing or not, consumed the God of Death''s very essence. All of His powers, His authority over death passed over to a human¡ªan insignificant little human. This was an unprecedented tragedy in the history of the universe. The Grim Reaper was helpless to undo this walking disaster. The black tendrils wrapped around Atlan''s body glowed a bright golden aura as it pumped divine magic in Atlan''s veins. The God of Death felt his powers weakening by the second, slowly transferring to the pesky little human. A God was beginning to perish. In his very last moments, the God of Death wondered how a human could be so brazen. Who would be so bold as to consume a God''s power? He wanted to know more about Atlan. He peeked through Atlan''s memories. And what he saw¡­amused him. "HAHAHAHAHA You are no fool after all. That woman told you that the Draft was merely a simulation. Your injuries¨Ceverything would be nothing but a dream in the Remedium. You used that to your advantage. You braved through hell knowing that you''d survive no matter what. You saw the opportunity as soon as I materialized my real body in this space. KUKUKUHAHAHAHAHA!" The God of Death couldn''t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. He underestimated Atlan. He was going to suffer an ironic fate of death, yet He couldn''t help but be charmed. After all, with His powers transferred over to this human, the world would soon turn upside down. An apocalypse would doom the world. When he thought about the implications this had for the other gods, he was filled with satisfaction and euphoria. "YES! Take my power! Only a killer masquerading as a pacifist could take those gods off guard." The God of death laughed once again. "Succeed where I have failed! Bring death and destruction to those wretched gods! Bring back the fear of death in their eyes! Kill them. Kill all the gods! And show those who have only lived with immortality that they, too, shall not escape from the clutches of death! Show them who you are. Who are you, Atlan of the Unclaimed Lands?" Atlan, with his entire body merging into the darkness, muttered under his breath. "I''m a pacifist." [10-star rarity God of Death Genus acquired] [Your bloodline has evolved to Grim Reaper of Souls] [Your soul has mutated to accommodate the consumption of souls] [You can now reap any death] [You have gained SSS class LifeSkill Death Physique] Chapter 3: Physique TSHHHHH The chamber opened just as Atlan regained his senses. With his eyes blurry, the first thing he saw was the long curly hair draped over the beautiful face of the woman. Behind her were the rest of the teens sitting in the gym looking on at him curiously. Atlan awkwardly got out of the chamber, stumbling as he did so. His leg muscles moved too fast than what he was used to. The first thing he noticed was the view. He seemed to have grown a few inches taller, matching the woman face-to-face. "How are you feeling?" she asked, simultaneously looking at him and the tablet in her hands. The technology allowed her to see the physical qualities of his body, but unfortunately, it couldn''t gauge his mental status. Many get exhausted fighting monsters nonstop, but most get traumatized from experiencing death. Atlan was different. Everyone got out of the Draft by dying; they failed to advance to the next batch. He got out by doing the exact opposite; he killed a god. "I''m fine?" He didn''t know the right response. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. How could he even explain the feeling of gaining dominion over all aspects of Death? He didn''t even remember much of what happened. Everything felt like a distant dream. "I''m guessing you did well. You were there for 30 minutes." Most candidates from the Unclaimed Lands lasted for only 10 minutes. Maximum. By lasting longer, he must have defeated more batches of monsters. In her experience, those who lasted that long gained C class LifeSkills. That would be mighty impressive. He could get accepted by a Village with that LifeSkill. "I didn''t do well. I didn''t even get past the first batch." The woman chuckled. It was a funny joke. DING The tablet finally finished its assessment of Atlan''s Draft. She expected to see the usual scores. F class to D class obscure LifeSkills that didn''t stand out. However, when she looked at her tablet, her eyes visibly widened. The measurements of his durability, physical strength, and musculature were off the charts! She couldn''t believe it. She expected to see this amazing score with talented kids in the Inner City trained by their Savior parents. But not of a kid like Atlan. She looked at it again, thinking that she saw it wrong, but it still displayed the same result. "This¡­this says that you have a B class LifeSkill!" Atlan frowned. Even in a half-asleep state, he seemed to have remembered his LifeSkill being more than B class¡­ Meanwhile, the rest of the teens in the gymnasium all gasped. They all looked at Atlan with eyes of amazement. Nobody expected that a gem would emerge from this ragtag group of teens from the Unclaimed Lands. A B class LifeSkill was enough to get drafted into a Town! He''d get to live in his own house! He''d get to eat delicious meals every day for free! And most of all¡­ He''d finally shake off his mortality! "Woah¡­I can''t believe Atlan''s going to get Drafted." "I want to get drafted too!" "Keep dreaming. Even all the other kids from before only got D class LifeSkills at the most." The rest of the teens were excited for Atlan. This was the best thing that could have happened for him. The woman, however, thought differently. They were underestimating his results! She knew that Atlan''s powers were more amazing than what they were giving him credit for. She faced him directly, matching eye to eye with him. "Close your eyes and focus on the burning feeling inside your heart. It''s hard for beginners to sense their Soul System, but you just have to concentrate¨C" "I feel it," answered Atlan. This surprised her. Usually, new Saviors were too weak to even feel their Soul System. They''d need a few days for their natural strength to accumulate. "That''s unusual," she commented. His Soul seemed to display an early strength equivalent to those with A-class LifeSkills. "Whatever. It must be different for Porters. The Soul System is a visual representation of your powers. Can you tell me what you see?" [Atlan] [Bloodline: Grim Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm "I see my name, my bloodline, my genus¨C" The woman interrupted him. "That''s good. Let me explain to you quickly what those are. What is a Genus? It''s the DNA of a species, it''s the very blueprint of your body. Right now you''re seeing one genus, the human genus. And because of that one genus, your Bloodline is a human. I said before, if a God deems you worthy, then they will give you an extra Genus. For example, if you were given a Mermaid Genus, you could evolve your bloodline from a human to a Merman. And once you have a different bloodline, you''ll have a chance of getting a Mutation." The woman thought her explanation was too complicated for a beginner like Atlan. So she didn''t expect him to understand it immediately. But surprisingly¡­ "The Genus changes your Bloodline and the Bloodline dictates your mutation," Atlan muttered. This greatly impressed her. Atlan looked over at his Soul system. He not only had the Human genus, but an extra one as well. He must have gained it when he ate that ''apple''. Since he got the God of Death''s Genus, his bloodline changed into the Grim Reaper of Souls. And because of his bloodline, he gained the mutation Gluttonous Soul. "What are the star ratings on the Genus?" he asked her while eyeing the 10-star Grim Reaper genus on his Soul System. "That''s the rarity of the genus. The human genus has a base 3-star rating; it''s one of the weakest out there. The higher the star rating, the rarer the genus. The rarer the genus, the stronger the mutation you can get. The mutation follows your genus ratings, so if you have a 4-star genus, you''ll get an equivalent 4-star mutation." Atlan nodded. "Hmm¡­so the rating system goes from 1 star to 10 star rating?" The woman giggled. "No, silly. It only goes up to 9 stars. You''ll only get a genus after you''ve proven yourself worthy of it. Usually, a God would give you a new low-rated Genus after 3 years of missions. You''ll only be given 6 stars and above genus from a God if you''re a proven hero with hundreds of years of experience in the field. So work hard and be patient, okay? Of course, it doesn''t hurt if you curry favor with the God first." He looked back at his Soul System and saw 10 stars depicted on it. He wasn''t wrong. Atlan stayed quiet about his true bloodline. Even if he told her the truth, she wouldn''t believe that he got a 10-star genus from a God. "Next, let''s talk about your LifeSkill. Does it say Physique on it?" Atlan nodded. Not only that, but it confirmed his suspicions that the estimation of his powers was wrong! It was SSS class! "Just as I guessed. You have a very good and very rare B-class Physique LifeSkill. Ordinarily, a B class LifeSkill will only get you drafted by a Town. However¡­because of your Physique LifeSkill, you have a unique job. You are a porter!" From her excited voice, Atlan guessed that this was somehow a good thing. But he was clueless as to what this exactly meant. "What''s a porter?" She saw his confusion and quickly explained. "I asked you earlier if you wanted to fight in the frontlines or the backlines, right?" Atlan nodded. "Well, those that fight in the frontlines need specialized equipment to fight different Canzers. Having Saviors carrying heavy equipment while journeying through the Remedium is simply too risky. That''s why we need Porters! They have Physique LifeSkills that allow them to have superhuman strength. With their powers, they can carry the heavy loads for the Saviors. They are essential in the success of a mission!" Despite her enthusiasm, Atlan didn''t see how good his job was supposed to be. "You''ll learn more about it later, but the thing that you need to know right now is¡­ You can be recruited directly by a City! Porters are rare, especially high-class ones like yours. You can pick any City in the world and they''d be happy to draft you in their territory!" That was a big upgrade. Usually, only A class LifeSkills tempted Cities into action. They wouldn''t draft anyone from the Unclaimed Lands for any less. Only now did the rest of them understand the hype and eagerness in her voice. They couldn''t believe it. Atlan was a transcendent talent that would soar to the high heavens. They never thought that he''d get a B class LifeSkill, much less a rare and in-demand job like a Porter. His incomparable prowess squashed their envious looks. His powers weren''t something they could even try to replicate. In their minds, he must have defeated batch after batch of monsters with ease. They didn''t know Atlan never even killed a single monster. Well¡­maybe one. Not only that, they were making a big deal about his LifeSkill being only B class. It was actually SSS class! The woman knew that the tablet analysis only went as high as B class, but she never even considered the possibility that he went above and beyond that. It was too unbelievable. Chapter 4: The Fall She then explained more about what made Porters special. "I remember you saying that you don''t like to see suffering. That''s not going to be too much of a problem. After all, you''ll be standing far away from the fighting. The only thing you have to do is haul their equipment. After that, you can just stand back and watch as the Saviors massacre the Canzers. It''s as easy as that!" One of the teens from the group raised his hand and asked a question. "Miss¡­if I have a different job, can I also be a porter? I don''t want to fight Canzers. I don''t want to die!" Some of the teens expressed the same fear. After all, they didn''t want to die just after they got drafted into a territory. The woman chuckled. She forgot she was dealing with clueless kids from the Unclaimed Lands. "First of all, you can''t. Porters are rare for that very reason. They have specialized powers that allow them to move quickly even while carrying tons of weight on their shoulders. Second of all, you don''t have to worry about dying, silly kids. In a God''s Territory, no one can die, even in the Remedium." They became even more confused. The concept of immortality was so foreign to them. Even Atlan wanted to know how immortality worked in a God''s Territory. She couldn''t blame them. They didn''t attend 3rd-grade history lessons like she did. "After the 4th order dimension crashed into Earth, Gods and Myths descended upon the world. These Gods, because of their power and majesty, could only manifest themselves as spirits who watch over and protect a territory. One of their spirits is called ANGELS. They are the species¨C" TING! BANG! DUG! Just as she was about to explain how immortality worked, loud banging sounds erupted from the ceiling above. It sounded like thousands of rocks hitting the roof. The gymnasium roof was an oval shape made out of metal, amplifying the ruckus from outside. The woman found this strange. There wasn''t supposed to be anything in the Unclaimed Lands. There was no rain, no hail, and no sandstorm. Her intuition told her to go out and investigate. "Urgh! Loud sounds!" "I can''t dig down to safety! I hate this wooden floor!" "Miss, what''s that noise?" She ignored the questions from the teens and walked over to the backdoor. The banging sounds got louder and louder the closer she got to the door. She hesitated as she grabbed the doorknob. She was used to bizarre events happening in the Remedium. But not in the real world. She didn''t even have the safety of a God protecting her in the Unclaimed Lands. This whole thing was completely unusual. Finally, she reminded herself that nothing bad could happen to her. She was immortal. She finally got the courage to open it. And just as she did, Atlan suddenly saw holographic words appear in front of him. [There is death near you] [You can reap the souls of the dead] His eyes widened. He and everyone else watched as the woman opened the door and walked outside. The light from outside shone through the backdoor, leaving a diagonal pillar of light inside the gymnasium. Her pace was measured as if she was treading on thin ice. The banging on the roof hadn''t stopped; it only got louder as she walked outside. From the open door, they saw the bleak gray sands outside in the Unclaimed Lands. It wasn''t anything different from what they were used to. As the woman took a good look at her surroundings, the commotion led her head to turn upwards. She followed whatever she saw towards the roof of the gymnasium. She was now facing towards the door¨Cher face clearly seen. Everyone saw her face change. Her calm and serene expression brought by her natural beauty was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and her eyebrows furrowed. She couldn''t take her eyes off what was happening in the sky. What could make her react like that? If it was something dangerous, she would have evacuated the rest of the teens immediately. But she didn''t. She stayed there stunned in silence. That meant that the disturbance was harmless. It must be mentioned that she was an inhabitant of a City. She was a bona fide Savior in her own right with a hundred years of experience. Yet even she didn''t know what was happening in front of her. The rest of the teens couldn''t take it anymore and dared to go outside too. Their curiosity got the better of them. Atlan was one of those people. He was intrigued by the words that lay floating in front of him. [There is death near you] The rest of the teens walked out of the gymnasium and onto the Unclaimed Lands. The familiar gray, colorless skies entered their eyes. However, just out of the corner of their eyes, they saw a glint of golden light come out of the sky. TIK! DUG! BANG! sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The knocking loud sounds from the roof led their eyes behind them. And what they saw¡­made them exhibit surprise not dissimilar to the woman''s expression. They were speechless. The desolate and empty skies of the Unclaimed Lands were replaced by white clouds, with golden rays of sunshine seeping out from the edges. These golden cumulonimbus clouds littered the horizon. And every second, thousands of miniature cavities appeared on the clouds as something fell from the heavens. They didn''t know what it was. She didn''t know what it was. But these things looked like humanoid specters with a golden aura surrounding them. If one looked closely enough, they''d see a halo on their heads. These ''things'' fell through the skies and landed everywhere. They landed on the gray sands and they landed on the gymnasium roof, creating those banging sounds. As it crashed into Earth, it disintegrated into golden particles that dispersed into the air. They couldn''t see what it was before it disappeared. The clouds moved closer to them. The falling objects landed near the woman just enough for her to see what it was. Her eyes, for a split second, glinted in recognition. That can''t be, she thought to herself. The woman''s mouth quivered. She tried to mutter out something, afraid that if she said it out loud, it would become true. She seemed familiar with whatever she saw. But she couldn''t believe it. She didn''t want to. "Angels¡­" Atlan heard her mutter those words. "What are Angels?" She kept looking up, but she answered his question. "Angels¡­angels are the invisible spirits that protect everyone inside God''s Territory. They are the hands of a God. Through them, they give life and blessings to Their citizens. They follow every citizen like a shadow. They save them from harm, from disease¡­from death. No matter where you are, no matter how severe your injuries are, an angel is there to inject you with life. Even in the Remedium¡­" She paused for a second, gulping her voice. She didn''t want to complete the thought. "Even in the Remedium, they prevent Saviors from taking their last breath." She kept looking up, her eyes trying to discern the things that were falling out of the sky. "They make everyone immortal?" Atlan tried to confirm. She nodded. "Yes." Atlan paused for a second. "What happens if Angels die?" She looked at him as if he was crazy. His words were incredulous. There was absolutely no possibility of angels dying. After all, angels are intimately connected to their God. They were immortality itself. "That''s not possible." She shook her head fervently as if she also wanted to convince herself. Atlan looked at her dead in the eyes. "But what if they do?" She didn''t answer. The implications of that possibility were more than what she could take. She didn''t want to imagine a world where angels died. After all, if angels died¡­ What would happen to their immortality? "Don''t worry. Angels will never die," she assured herself. And just as she said that, the bright golden rays on the clouds became duller. The pure white clouds dispersed into the dull and bleak sky. Those things stopped falling from the sky. Everything finally went back to normal. The woman smiled. This was good news. "See, I told you. Angels can''t die." She looked back at Atlan, but his eyes were unfocused. He was clutching his chest in pain. Atlan felt a strange pressure near his heart as if it was about to burst. His eyes got blurry. The call of unconsciousness got louder. The last thing he saw was a new set of words in front of his eyes. [You have witnessed the extinction of Angels] [10-star rarity Angelic Genus acquired!] [Your Bloodline has evolved to Angelic Reaper of Gods] [You have reaped the deaths of 10,000 Angels] [You have gained 1,000,000 Upgrade points] [You have gained 10,000 experience] [Lightspeed Angel Wings body mutation acquired!] [You have gained SSS class LifeSkill Cherubic Retribution] Unbeknownst to him, Atlan''s soul reaped all of the thousands of angel souls inside his very own. But this was far too much for him to take in one go. His body shut down to accommodate his new powers. Chapter 5: Specialty Atlan felt the shaking of the ground as he opened his eyes. When he came to his senses, he saw that he was in the back of a moving vehicle. It was the same truck that the woman came in when she visited them for the Draft. It was shaking as it traversed the mounds of gray sands in the Unclaimed Lands. Atlan lay on the horizontal seats alone, with just the woman on the other side. She was looking far out the window, observing the desolateness of the Unclaimed Lands. Her long curly hair obscured her emotions. Atlan massaged his head. Receiving those messages felt like being hit in the head by a giant rock the size of his fist. The only thing he remembered was seeing the apparent extinction of angels. After that, he passed out. "What happened?" he asked out loud. She turned towards him and her expression turned into relief. She seemed to show genuine care for him after seeing him fall suddenly into unconsciousness. "It''s really good that you''re feeling better now. I thought you wouldn''t wake up till you''re in the hospital." "Where am I?" She showed a smile that brought out the natural beauty of her lips. "This is a military convoy on the way to Genesis City. It''s the place where I''m from and¡­It''s the place where you''ll live!" Atlan looked confused. Why was he suddenly going to this Genesis City after passing out? "Congratulations!" she clapped. "You have officially been Drafted by Genesis City!" She congratulated him and he smiled at her awkwardly in return. "Oh¡­hehe¡­cool." The woman chuckled to herself. Most teens who got this incredible news would either weep from joy or shout in excitement. She never saw someone only say ''cool'' after being drafted by a City. But although Atlan might seem indifferent, he was celebrating on the inside. He got Drafted! By a City, no less. He was living the dream of most of the inhabitants of the Unclaimed Lands. He was living the dream of those who wanted to live forever. But how could Atlan celebrate? He was still too shocked at seeing the angels die off and fall from the sky. He was still filled with questions in his mind. What happened to the Draft after he passed out? What happened to the extinction of angels? And why did she look okay even after that bizarre rainfall of dead angels? She was acting as if it never even happened. "Now that you''ve been Drafted, you''ll live in Genesis City where food and wealth are abundant." He interrupted her. "What happened to the draft?" "I immediately ordered a trip back to the City the moment you passed out. I can''t have our star recruit getting ill now, can I?" She looked at him like a diamond in the rough, like a treasure she found in the woods. I can''t wait to brag about drafting a B class Porter to my friends, she thought. She couldn''t risk losing such an amazing prospect in the Unclaimed Lands. She made the decision to return to Genesis City where Altan could receive the proper healing he needed. After all, he was officially a citizen of the City. He was entitled to immortality. "What happened to you?" she asked him. Atlan wanted to know that too. "I don''t know." He closed his eyes and recalled the feeling of the burning sensation near his heart. He tried to locate where his Soul resided. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) He did see the extinction of angels. This proved it. He also noticed that he got another 10-star genus. Not only that, his bloodline changed because of it. He was now an ''Angelic Reaper of Souls'' As for what that meant, he didn''t know. "Miss?" She looked back at him fondly. He wasn''t a kid from the Unclaimed Lands anymore, he was a future comrade. "Call me Lizzie." "Lizzie¡­can you tell me more about LifeSkills?" She nodded. They were still about a few hours away from Genesis City, so now would be a good time to get him up to speed with Savior lingo. She raised her hand and showed two fingers. "There are two kinds of Saviors in this world." Atlan answered, "The ones in the front line and the ones in the back." She smiled and nodded. She appreciated the fact that he was so attentive. "Yes. The ones in the front lines have a specialty called Vanguards. They are the ones who fight the Canzers in the Remedium¨Cthe dimension where the Gods body resided." Atlan looked at his Soul System and saw that one of his LifeSkill had a specialty of a Vanguard. "Under that specialty, you''ll see your job. For Vanguards, the usual jobs would be the Tanks, the DPS, the Mages, the Scouts, and even the rare Porter job like yours!" Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution Atlan looked at his Soul System. Unlike most people, he had two different LifeSkills. From what he knew, Saviors only get one. He didn''t know if that was good or bad. After all, he''d have two realms to advance. He didn''t even know how he got another LifeSkill. People only acquired LifeSkills through the Draft. However, he inadvertently acquired this second LifeSkill after he witnessed the extinction of angels. His powers seemed to derive from reaping deaths, or more exactly, Souls. That begged the question. Will he get more LifeSkills in the future if he reaped more deaths? He didn''t know the exact criteria for acquiring powers. Did he only get LifeSkills after witnessing an extinction? Or was it because he reaped 10,000 souls of the same species that he was able to acquire a genus and a LifeSkill? He didn''t know. Atlan looked back at Lizzie. He wanted to know more about LifeSkills. "You said there''s another specialty besides the Vanguards¡­Lizzie," Atlan added awkwardly. "Yes. The second specialty is called Operators. They are the ones that stay behind in the real world while the Vanguards fight in the Remedium. They are the ones in the backline" Atlan was confused. "They don''t enter the Remedium to fight Canzers?" "No. Their job is different. They kill Canzers using machines or concoctions specially made to exterminate Canzers. Exterminating Canzers doesn''t just mean killing all of them. Sometimes, you have to purge their very lair so that they don''t respawn. That''s the job of Operators. I can''t really go into detail because it''s not my specialty. I''m sure they''d want to brag about themselves, so just ask anyone you meet later." This was very informative for Atlan. However, it didn''t fully unveil the mystery of his Soul System. After all, there was a third Specialty for him. "There are only two specialties? Vanguards and Operators? That''s it?" "Yup. Those are the only ones." Atlan looked at his first LifeSkill. Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique This was a new speciality. GLOBAL. How am I supposed to know what this is when I don''t even know the first two basic specialties? Not only that, it had a new job. A God. How could that even be considered a job? But no matter how curious he was about his LifeSkill, he couldn''t ask Lizzie. He would have to find out more about this LifeSkill on his own. "I see you''re wondering about your Power Realm," she misunderstood the confusion on his face. "Everyone starts out in the 1st stage Student Realm at first. Then, as you kill more Canzers, you get more experience. With 1000 experience, you can advance to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm, and so on until the 9th stage. After that, you can advance to the Pre-Internship Realm. But that''s too far into the future. You''ll have to accumulate experience by going on missions in the Remedium." Lizzie looked at Atlan and saw that he was even more confused than he was before. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Is there something you don''t understand?" Atlan kept his focus on his Soul System, but he forced out a response. "No." "Then what is it?" Atlan looked at the words in front of him. "It''s nothing," he lied. [Available Experience: 10,000] Chapter 6: Grass "Is there any other way I can gain experience?" Lizzie gave him a warm smile. "I appreciate you wanting to become stronger. But unfortunately, there''s no other way to get experience other than to do missions in the Remedium, killing Canzers and all that." This made Atlan even more surprised to see that he already had 10,000 experience even though he hadn''t done anything yet. From what Lizzie said, Saviors only gained exp from defeating Canzers in a mission to the Remedium. How do I have this? I don''t even know what the Remedium is! I haven''t even seen a Canzer yet¡­ The only explanation would be the powers he gained from the God of Death. A faint memory resurfaced in his mind. This was what he saw before he exited the Draft. [Your soul has mutated to accommodate the consumption of souls] [You can now reap any death] It made sense. After all, he did see an extinction-level event, with thousands of angels dying and falling from the heavens. He reaped their deaths and gained experience from it. That''s the power of his mutated soul. Atlan looked at the Soul System and saw a black expanse with thousands of blue wisps that gathered into one giant ball akin to a sun. They vibrated like atoms, reorganizing themselves so fast that they looked like they were teleporting. This was the physical manifestation of Experience in his Soul System. Off to the side, there were two empty planet-sized transparent spheres that orbited each other. They looked like glass balls with nothing but darkness inside. The first planet had barely visible designs of horrified skulls, melting into each other. The second planet had a pattern of wings and a halo stamped all over the sphere. He didn''t have to guess to know that these two planets were his LifeSkills. He remembered what Lizzie said to him earlier. Using experience, you can advance to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm, so on and so forth until the 9th stage. Could he advance his LifeSkills now? He had enough experience¡­ With this thought, Atlan decided to test it out. Using the innate knowledge and instincts in his mind, Atlan ordered the thousands of blue wisps to swarm his two planets. And with just a thought, the blue spirits flew through the darkness and entered the empty spheres, filling it up as the wisps coagulated at the core. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) [Available Experience: 8000] But even though he still had a ton of experience left, the wisps refused to enter the planets anymore. The LifeSkill created an invisible barrier that prevented Atlan from advancing it to the second level. Why can''t I advance? How do I break through? If she found out that he advanced through to the peak 1st stage of the Student Realm in just a few seconds, she would implode from shock. Everyone sane would. Even talented A class LifeSkill Saviors took at least a month to advance that fast. And that''s if they rushed through mission after mission to accumulate experience. Not only that, he advanced through two SSS class LifeSkills! He couldn''t directly ask Lizzie if there was a reason he couldn''t advance to the 2nd stage. She would be suspicious as to how a kid like him knew about this ''barrier'' when he hadn''t even gone through one Remedium mission yet. "Um¡­so as long as I get enough experience, I can advance through to the 9th stage in one fell swoop?" Lizzie looked at him and thought for a second. She was deciding whether it would be wise to tell all of this to a new Savior and burden them with things they didn''t need to know till months later. However, she decided to reveal it to him. "You aren''t supposed to know this yet, but to advance in the next stage¡ª" BEEP BEEP Her words were interrupted by an alarm from the truck. A green overhead light rotated on the roof like a lighthouse. Atlan didn''t know what was happening, so he looked towards Lizzie. He wanted to know if this was an emergency. But on the contrary, Lizzie seemed happy and excited. She opened the blinds on her window as she searched for something in the distance. In the wide region of gray sands of the Unclaimed Lands, there was a small patch of green on the horizon. Her eyes glinted when she saw the city in the distance. She looked over towards Atlan and pointed in the horizon. "That''s Genesis City! We''re finally here!" She seemed even more excited than Atlan, who was supposed to be jumping in joy from finally breaking free from the dangers of the Unclaimed Lands. She looked at him and said, "Are you ready to become an immortal?" Her words were casual and full of enthusiasm. Seeing a curly-haired beauty with a full smile on her face would have made most men unable to resist smiling. Atlan would have smiled too, if it weren''t for what she said. Are you ready to become an IMMORTAL? If it was back then, he would feel like he could walk on air from joy. He would no longer have to worry about death each and every day. But she seemed to be forgetting something. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What happened before I passed out," he asked her curiously. "Why aren''t you more excited about this?" But he kept her eyes on her with all seriousness. So, she relented and answered his question. "Nothing much happened after you passed out. I postponed the Draft for the other kids and quickly ordered the truck to take us back to the City." But that wasn''t the answer he was looking for. Atlan asked her again. "Why?" he asked, subtly prodding for more information. She looked at him confused. "Why what?" "Why did you go outside? What happened before I passed out? Why did you show that worried look on your face?" Atlan wanted her to recall the moment when they all saw the angels fall from the sky. He wanted her to acknowledge the fact that the Angels died. They were extinct. And according to her, Angels were the very reason why humanity was blessed with immortality. And if they were gone, so was everyone''s eternal life. If so, then why did she say that he was going to be an immortal? But she didn''t seem to get his words. If his subtle wording didn''t work, then he decided to ask her straight up. Point blank. "What happened to the Angels?" It was only then that she finally understood Atlan''s strange behavior. She smiled and waved off the seriousness in his tone. "I thought you forgot about that. But it''s nothing to worry about, really. That was my fault. I said something that wasn''t true. I thought those were angels too, so I blurted it out without thinking. But after you passed out and I carried you to the truck, I contacted Savior HeadQuarters back in the City and they said that it''s nothing more than a misunderstanding. Those things were just a result of an unexpected solar activity from the Sun. They said it was something about magnetic storms and solar flares, but I didn''t understand it. It''s kind of like the Aurora Borealis." Atlan''s jaws dropped. He couldn''t believe what she said. Unexpected solar activity? She seemed to believe it wholeheartedly, and Atlan would have believed it too¡­ Except for the fact that he gained a Genus from the extinction of the Angels! That was enough evidence for Atlan to know that the excuse was bogus! He looked at Lizzie, but she didn''t seem like she lied to him. She was clueless. It finally made sense why her behavior made a quick turn. It made sense why she didn''t mention anything about ''that'' incident. It was because she dismissed it as nothing more than a bizarre weather event. She didn''t know that it was the actual extinction of Angels. And for all Atlan knew, he was the only who knew this fact¡­ "Don''t worry about that stuff anymore. We''re finally here!" She looked eager to return home. Atlan looked out the window and saw that the city was inside a giant transparent blue dome that encompassed the whole territory. And on the outer layer, before reaching the ten meter walls of the City, there was a field of grass and meadows. The military truck rolled towards the dome, leaving the Unclaimed Lands. This transparent barrier prevented dust and gray sands from entering inside. Atlan opened his windows and smelled, for the first time, the air of fresh greenery. "You don''t have to worry about Angels. They''re still present, giving life to every living thing and being in this territory." Atlan put his head over the window and looked down on the supposed eternal lands. In the midst of healthy, green grass, he saw brown blades sparsely scattered through the plains. They looked dead. "Everything here is immortal!" she proclaimed. "Trees, plants, flowers, and even all individual blades of grass live in perpetuity." Atlan looked at the words in front of him. [You have reaped the deaths of simple life forms: grass] x62 [You have gained 6.2 experience] Chapter 7: Entry Well, that was false¡­ Even though Genesis City was supposed to be a place where even simple life could live forever, Atlan witnessed the death of grass. A simple life form it may be, but it was still a life nonetheless. Inside this dome of protection of Genesis City, there wasn''t supposed to be any kind of death. Lizzie even said so. This was another form of evidence to the theory that Angels really did go extinct. However, the people of Genesis City either refused to believe it''s true and continued their ignorance. Or¡­ They could have purposefully kept this information under wraps. Who knew the chaos that could unfold once people found out that their bubble of safety already popped like a balloon. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. For now, Atlan was the only one sure of this fact. Should I be happy? Atlan wondered. After all, he did get more powerful with more deaths¡­No. I don''t like suffering. I hate blood. I am a pacifist, he reminded himself. The truck continued its journey through the (decaying) meadows and towards the reinforced steel walls of Genesis City. Atlan saw towering buildings made out of metal and clay popping up out of the walls, with varying architectures. He also saw black spires throughout the City, going up to a sharp point. The truck stopped just a few meters away from the giant wooden door that was almost as tall as the wall itself. Atlan found it weird that the entrance to the City itself was made out of wood instead of steel like the rest of the walls. "This wall is made by an Operator, you remember what they are, right?" He nodded. "The Saviors in the backline." She chuckled. "Yeah, some of them don''t only fight Canzers, they can also contribute to the City itself. A group of Operators constructed this entrance that can literally root intruders into place. They wouldn''t even be able to take a step inside the city." "There''s intruders?" "Of course, there are." She looked proud of that fact. "This is a magnificent City! Anyone would want to live in this paradise. There are some citizens from smaller Towns and Villages who try their luck to get inside. But, most of our intruders are those from the Unclaimed Lands." Atlan went silent when he heard that. Even though he had never done that, nor seen anyone do it, he wasn''t surprised. There were a lot of desperate people wanting immortality. "Now, let''s go inside and you''ll finally see the beauty of a City!" She took out her high-tech tablet and inputted the proper protocol when returning from the Unclaimed Lands. It was basically just a formality to confirm her identity as a citizen. Usually, it would only take a few seconds and the verification would go through. Lizzie frowned. "Why isn''t the entrance open yet?" The tablet in her hands kept showing her an error, saying that the system was unable to verify her identity. This is weird, she thought. Just then, a smaller door to the side of the main entrance opened. Two men came and approached the truck. The two soldiers wore the same skin-tight black uniform as Lizzie. Except, they had more padding all over their bodies. Lizzie got out of the truck and walked towards them. "What''s the problem?" One of the two soldiers, the skinnier and taller one, saluted towards her by bumping his chest with his fist two times. "I''m sorry, Miss Lizzie. The Entrance System''s been having an error ever since that solar storm hit. No one''s been able to properly enter the City ever since. The merchants have been giving us a hard time about it, but what can we do? We''re not Operators¡­and you know how they get when we try to rush them." The soldier was exasperated, with his eyes sunken in and his hair disheveled. Lizzie thought that this was unusual, but an expected outcome from that freak weather event. However, Atlan, who knew the truth about this solar event, thought differently. Is their entrance system related to Angels? It was possible¡­ Atlan did remember Lizzie saying that Angels followed every citizen like a shadow, never leaving them alone. Is that their way of verifying their identity? Through the invisible angels that followed them? Although it was just a guess, Atlan felt that it was close to the truth. "Is there an E.T.A. on the hotfix? It''s already sunset and I really need to get our new recruit to his dorm. He''s a B class prospect as a Porter." The two soldiers never even spared a glance at Atlan before. He was a kid from the Unclaimed Lands. How talented could he be? They even thought he was part of a charity work, like adopting unfortunate kids from the Unclaimed Lands. But when Lizzie mentioned his class. Their eyes changed into one of amazement. It was rare to find someone with a B class talent, but it was even rarer to see that he had a job as a Porter! Their temperament changed. "It''s estimated that the error will be fixed in a few hours, but if you really need to enter, then we can bypass the system to open the door." "That would be ideal," she thanked them. And with that, the two soldiers went back to their post and used their authority to bypass the main entrance. They manually pushed the door from the inside and the giant door opened with ease. Of course, this wasn''t advisable to do when the visitor was an unknown and unverified person like a foreign merchant. That would get them court-martialed. But since it''s only Lizzie and the genius prospect, they decided to let them pass. Soon enough the two giant wooden doors swung open, creaking from the friction in the ground. It only opened just enough for the truck to be able to pass properly. "Thanks, guys!" Lizzie copied their salute and bumped her fist in her chest two times as she passed the guards. When the truck finally passed through the gate and onto the main City, a whole new world opened up to Atlan. Chapter 8: Mutation He was used to the bleak and gray sands of the Unclaimed Lands. He was used to mounds of nothing but dust and an endless horizon in front of him. Now, he saw buildings that towered the skies in the distance, he saw homely houses built by happy people, and he saw structures and constructs made for the sole reason of empowering culture. "Genesis City is structured like a layered circle so that each street, each subdivision, and each house will be accessible to everyone. Do you see that white palace in the distance?" Down the road, which led straight to the center of the very city itself, was a giant white palace made of marble and limestone. It was majestic. "Each main road, like the one we''re on, leads directly to the center of the City, the Savior HeadQuarters!" As the truck moved forward, Atlan noticed that the main road had three lanes on each side. However, the truck was only on the very outskirts of the road. The vehicles that took the majority of lanes in the road weren''t vehicles at all. They were horses! These horses had great, silky manes and had unnaturally different colors. Some had horns, some had six legs, and some were abnormally large. "Oh, those are mounts," explained Lizzie. "Our preferred method of transportation here is mutated horses like those. I''ll show you mine later." If she could, Lizzie would have used her horse to traverse the Unclaimed Lands instead of this lifeless vehicle. It was at this point that Atlan noticed that as they got closer and closer to the center, there were more and more humans with vastly different features. There were some with pointy ears and pointy noses and some had tentacles for hands. Those people were living their daily lives, tending to their houses or working their jobs, with strange body parts as if it were normal. Are those mutations? "You''ll get used to seeing those. I told you before that a different bloodline will get you a mutation, right?" He nodded. "See that guy over there with that strange thing over his forehead?" On the side of the street was a man in his thirties directing traffic. Everything about him looked normal except for a dangling brown ball attached to his forehead. "He has a mutation of a 2-star Anglerfish. That thing on his head lights up in the dark so it''s easier to see in the night. He must have worked 10 years to get that mutation. But it all worked out now because he''s the main traffic enforcer of this district. Mutation serves as an integral part of this City. With better work, you''ll get the chance to have a mutation. And with a mutation, you''ll get a better job and the cycle continues." Atlan looked at his Soul System, specifically, his mutations. [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings He had two 10-star mutations, which was considered an anomaly because Lizzie, and presumably the rest of the world, only recognized 9-star rarity as the peak. And unlike the rest of the citizens he saw brandishing their mutations with pride, he saw no indication of wings in his back. I understand not having a physical manifestation of my mutated soul, but why don''t I have my angel wings? He had to ask this to her in a very subtle way. "If I get a mutation, will my body also change?" "That depends. If you have a 4-star mutation and below, you can''t hide your mutation. But if the rarity is high enough, you can hide the mutation but still get the benefit of its effects. If you touch a seemingly normal woman and it feels like you touched a hot kettle, then she probably has the lava skin mutation. But that has a 6-star rarity, so you probably won''t find them in the crowd." Atlan subtly put his hands over his back, trying to feel if there was any kind of bump in it. But he didn''t find any. "This is a bit embarrassing, but I have a confession to make," Lizzie said as she brushed her curly hair away from her face. "I''m a half-feline." The moment she said that, cat ears suddenly flopped up from her curly hair. It was bright red on the outside and white on the inside of her ''ears''. A red tail shyly came out of her back. "Oh¡­" "Yeah, I was fortunate enough to get a 5-star Feline Genus a while back. And now, I got these lil things," she said as her ears wiggled alternately. "Can I ask why? What''s the use of a mutation?" S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lizzie smiled. "I''ll show you." Her pupils turned vertical as she looked outside the truck. She then pointed to a woman out in the street carrying a paper bag filled with bread and vegetables. "Look at her. She''ll fall on the street in three¡­two¡­one¡­" And just as she said, the woman suddenly tripped because of a small rubber ball that rolled towards her. "My feline mutations allow me to hear and see things better with an enhanced reaction time. I heard those kids in the street arguing and being careless with their rubber ball. Then, I saw the slight decline in the streets and judged that the ball would roll towards the woman. I saw all of those in a split second." Atlan noticed that she still had her cat eyes. He wondered whether her observation powers got stronger because she showed her mutations. "Is there a reason why Saviors would even want to show their mutations? Shouldn''t they keep it hidden?" "Manifesting mutations in reality boosts the power they give. Because I manifested my mutations, my senses are extremely enhanced to the point where I can hear and see everything within a 100-meter radius around me. If I don''t show my mutation, the radius lowers down to about 10 meters. Mutations are like an extra muscle¨Cjust like a bicep. Your muscles will be stronger if you flex rather than if you don''t. The downside is: you''ll get tired easily if you keep flexing." Chapter 9: House If she has the powers of a cat because of her mutation, then what would my Angel Wings give me? Because he was limited in what he knew about Angels, he couldn''t figure out what kind of powers it could give him. Is it empowering me right now? Just like Lizzie''s feline mutations, Atlan should have a diminished power inside him constantly active. Even if he didn''t bring out his Angel Wings, he should be under a boosting effect. As for what that was, he was clueless. "But what about those who have 4-star mutations? You said that they always have their mutations active and they can''t retract it like¡­you¡­?" "Low rarity mutations are different. The powers they have are much weaker. They suffer the side effects of always having an active mutation." The truck finally stopped when they reached their intended destination. Atlan didn''t notice it but they were currently at the center of the City, full of the hustle and bustle of thousands of people both mutated and not, going about their days. "Everyone''s hurrying home, with the sun setting and all." Lizzie got out of the truck and stretched her body. At this point, she already hid away her feline mutations, but her stretching looked strangely familiar to a cat. She looked back at Atlan and asked teasingly, "Are you not going out?" He awkwardly scooted through the backseats until he finally reached the door. Before he took his first step outside, he realized this momentous occasion. He took a deep breath and finally took that step. "How are you feeling?" He looked around. The first thing he noticed was that he was surrounded by healthy people. They didn''t suffer from malnutrition. They didn''t have that sunken look on their face. The buildings around him were made of all kinds of metals with creative architecture. It was better than seeing nothing but gray sands. But that wasn''t the most striking thing he saw. In front of him was the full majesty of the Savior HeadQuarters. It had elevated footsteps, and he saw hundreds of people walking in and out of the palace. Most of those were wearing either blue or green skin-tight suits with protective padding. The whole place was painted white, with gold embellishments on the edges, giving it a pure and holy feel around it. He was amazed at its enormity. Even the main gate was larger than anything he had ever seen. And even though the total area of the HeadQuarters was insignificant compared to the vastness of the Unclaimed Lands, Atlan felt as if this building was even more immense than the desolate gray desert. "I remember when I was a child and finally got to visit this place. How nostalgic. It''s something else, isn''t it?" "Yes¡­it''s amazing." Lizzie smiled. "Well don''t miss it too much. You''ll be spending hundreds of years in that place, you''ll end up sick of it." "Are we going there?" "We''ll go there tomorrow. It''s too late in the day and no one will be there to attend to your official registration. I''ll show you to your apartment first!" Lizzie guided Atlan through the streets of the City Center. On the way, Atlan was able to see mutations close up. He was amazed at how integrated those alien body parts were to everybody. "Your apartment house is provided to you by the City itself as part of your signing bonus. Since you''re a B class Porter, you''ll have a better bonus than others." Lizzie walked while simultaneously explaining stuff to Atlan. She skillfully navigated her way through the crowd even when she was looking backward. Benefits of having feline instincts, I guess. No matter how much he tried to listen to her, Atlan couldn''t help but let his eyes wander. There were food stalls selling all kinds of food. "Try our hot chip challenge! It''s to die for!" Kids were running around everywhere, playing and fighting at the same time with no supervision. "Hahaha, I''ll cut you with this knife if I catch you!" Everyone he saw was acting with no thoughts behind their actions. They were taking risks with no regard for their safety. Why would they? They had the security of God''s grace behind them. They all thought they were immortal. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Should I tell them? He pondered before shaking off the thought. "Keep up! We''re almost there," shouted Lizzie a little bit further up ahead of the road. Atlan then walked a little bit faster to catch up to her. "Are you that excited? You didn''t have to run." Was I running? I was just walking¡­ Soon enough, the two of them walked to the end of the busy street and onto the residential area reserved for Saviors. "Are they always like that?" asked Atlan as he looked back at the children poking each other with dangerous knives. "Oh, yeah," she said proudly. "There''s a lot of foot traffic on that street because it''s in the City Center. People go there to have fun and relax, including some Saviors. You should see them when it''s festival time. It gets crazy." A bunch of super-powered humans getting crazy with no regard for safety? Sounds¡­crazy. "We''re here. This is your house." Atlan saw a single-floor modern house complete with a backyard and a white picket fence. It was in the midst of a full neighborhood of houses similar to each other. They walked inside the unlocked house and Lizzie gave him the full tour. It had a decent-sized living room complete with a couch facing the TV, a separate bedroom all to himself, a bathroom equipped with a shower, and a kitchen. It was everything he needed to live by himself for a thousand years if needed. But Atlan didn''t know what to do. He lived in the Unclaimed Lands where everything was made out of gray sand. He didn''t even know how to flush a toilet. Lizzie saw how overwhelmed he was and explained the uses of every machine in the house, including how to turn on the lights. It took less than half an hour for Atlan to get the gist of everything. "That''s about it. You better take a sleep now and prepare yourself for tomorrow morning. You''ll have to show off your skills in the training center in front of everyone, so reserve your energy, okay?" Atlan nodded. "Thank you." She smiled. "No problem." And just as she was about to close the door behind her, she finally remembered what she was trying to say before she got interrupted. "Oh, I forgot to answer your question." "What?" "You asked me earlier if you can advance through the LifeSkill stages continuously with enough experience." "Ah¡­yes. Can you elaborate?" Lizzie nodded. "If you have enough experience, you can''t simply advance to the next stage. You need to head over to the Remedium so that you can advance. Only in those places can you get the power to break through to the next stage. After that, you''ll need a consolidation period where your power realm will start to settle into the next stage." Atlan took her words and etched them in his mind. He wanted to ask more, but he refrained. "Thank you again." She smiled and waved him goodbye before leaving his house. A few minutes after she left, Atlan lay on the wooden floor and closed his eyes. He contemplated. It turned out that the reason why he couldn''t advance to the next stage was because he wasn''t in the proper place. The Remedium is a place where the God resides¡­is there something special in that place? Since he didn''t know where that was, Atlan couldn''t do anything about it. He would just have to be patient and wait till Lizzie told him more about the Remedium. He closed his eyes and focused on his Soul System. And as he did so¡­ [You have successfully advanced through the 1st Stage Student Realm of your SSS class LifeSkill Cherubic Retribution] [Consolidation period: 12 hrs: 59 mins: 50secs] His consciousness slowly faded into the darkness as he slept on the floor. Chapter 10: Battle suit Atlan awoke and immediately sat up. He looked around, trying to feel the safety of the soft gray sands underground the Unclaimed Lands. Shit! Did I sleep on the surface?! But when he realized that he wasn''t in the Unclaimed Lands, he heaved a sigh of relief. He looked around and saw bright rays of sunshine seep through the window sills in his new house. He still wasn''t comfortable with anything, so he ended up sleeping on the floor. The bed felt too soft; it was too comfortable. He then remembered about his advancement to the next stage of his LifeSkill. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ªConsolidating the 2nd Stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª2hrs : 30 mins : 12 secs Surprisingly, he was able to advance to the next stage of his LifeSkill. I thought I could only advance in the Remedium. According to Lizzie, Saviors could only advance their powers in the Remedium. Is this because my skills are SSS class-rated? Or is it because of my 10-star genus? But then why couldn''t I advance back in the Unclaimed Lands? Atlan already tried to advance back then, but nothing happened. He only advanced once he entered Genesis City, a God''s Territory. But why did only my Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill advance? Why didn''t my Physique LifeSkill advance with it? It has enough experience¡­ Atlan could only guess that it had something to do with the mysterious specialty it had. There should only be two specialties: Vanguard and Operator. There wasn''t supposed to be a third one called GLOBAL, with a job such as a God. He then looked at the consolidation period and saw that he still had a few hours left till he fully advanced to the 2nd stage. Should I test out my skills? DING DONG A bell rang inside the house followed by a knock on the door. "Good morning, Atlan. Are you ready for today?" Lizzie opened the door and walked inside. She was wearing a green version of her skin-tight suit with padding. "Why are you sitting on the floor? Whatever, you better hurry up and take a shower." "Are we going to the HeadQuarters?" he asked her as he got up off the floor. "Yes, you''ll be tested on your physical capabilities. After that, you''ll be able to take on missions according to your skill level. Now go and put this on." Lizzie handed him a suitcase. "This is your battle suit." Atlan opened it and saw the same green skin-tight suit with paddings that she was wearing, neatly folded into the case. He quickly went over to the bathroom and took a shower. After ten minutes, he came out with steam coming out of the bathroom. He was wearing his first battle suit. She was surprised to see how natural he looked with it. The green skin-tight suit fitted well with Atlan''s body, making him look like a full-fledged Savior. He slowly stretched his body, feeling the suit expand and retract along with his movements. It felt very comfortable, like a second skin. "It''s nice," he commented. "Good. You''ll be wearing that for most of the time, so tell me if you''re uncomfortable and we can change it. Are you ready?" Atlan took a deep breath and nodded. "I''m ready." The two of them walked out of the house and onto the streets. They followed the road back to the way they came yesterday, moving past the busy morning streets of the City Center. As they walked, Atlan noticed that people were looking at them with lingering eyes. When he looked back at them, they nodded at him with a very thankful smile. "It''s because of your battle suit," Lizzie explained. "The people here are very thankful to Saviors like us. We keep the peace in the City and make it a comfortable place to live in." Only now did he feel the responsibility of wearing the suit. He thought it was just another piece of clothing. He didn''t know it was a symbol that people looked up to. As they got closer to the Savior HeadQuarters, he saw more and more people wearing battle suits like him. But they didn''t all wear green ones like him; some of them were blue. "The color of your battle suit distinguishes your LifeSkill specialty. Green battle suits are worn by Vanguards. They have more defensive paddings for more protection in the Remedium. It''s a little heavier, but Vanguards generally have better strength than their counterparts. Blue battle suits are worn by Operators. Theirs might look simple but don''t underestimate it. They have complex circuitry and mechanisms embedded deep into the fabric. It''s kind of like their toolbelt to help with their work." Atlan''s green battle suit looked simple and crude compared to some of the ones he saw others wearing. The older Saviors he saw were on their mounts, with strange weapons slung on their backs. He also noticed that their battle suits had symbols on their shoulders. Lizzie tapped his back. "Don''t worry. You''ll get your epaulet once you advance." S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan and Lizzie walked up the stairs and reached the main lobby of the Savior HeadQuarters. As soon as he stepped foot inside, he immediately saw a large electronic map of Genesis City just behind the reception area. Some specific parts of the map had disturbances, like a rock dropping on a still pond. "Good morning," Lizzie said to the receptionist. She wore a blue battlesuit, which meant that she was an Operator. "Good morning. What can I help you with?" Lizzie pointed towards Atlan and said, "I''m here to register him. I already recorded it yesterday, so it should be in the system by now." The receptionist looked through her computer and saw that Atlan only had a B class LifeSkill. But when she saw his job, her face completely changed. "Wow! You''re a B class Porter! That''s great news. Your registration is complete, you only need to finish your assessment today and you''re all good! Just follow Miss Lizzie over to the testing center. Good luck, Savior!" The receptionist bumped her fist on her chest two times, and Atlan awkwardly returned the salute. Chapter 11: Training hall Lizzie led Atlan through the elevators to the side of the reception and picked the 2nd floor underground. DING Once the elevator door opened, Atlan saw a strange swirling black barrier in front of him. It looked like a viscous water dyed with a very potent ink, but the chaos in its waves defied every physical law. "Come follow me," Lizzie said as she walked towards the barrier and disappeared to the other side. Her entrance disturbed the swirls and emanated through the barrier. Atlan raised his hand and touched the black barrier and felt no different than if he was touching air. His finger created a small wave that slowly dissipated. Once he knew that nothing bad happened to him, he got the courage to step through to the other side. And when he stepped over, his jaw dropped. He was back on the reception floor! In front of him was the same reception desk where he registered his identity. Opposite that was the large entrance of the main lobby of HeadQuarters. He even saw the crooked chairs and potted plants decorated around the room. Everything looked the same, down to the minute details. It was devoid of any people, but nothing changed¨Cexcept for one thing: the color. The original lobby was made out of pure white marble, exuding a sense of righteousness that perfectly encapsulated the responsibility of Saviors. However, the flooring, the ceiling, and the magnificent white walls of the room were changed into a black color, with the marbling turning into white. Everything changed into its opposite color. White turned into black. Black turned into white. The natural green color of the potted fern plant on the corner turned into a bright purple color. The blinking red light on top of the elevator turned into a baby blue color. Everything was in their negative color. "Welcome to the Remedium!" Lizzie said. Lizzie was the only one who maintained her original color, wearing her green battle suit. He looked down at his body and was relieved to see that he looked normal and wasn''t affected by this weird, reality-bending effect of the Remedium. "This is the Remedium?" "Technically, yes. But this is just a recreation of the Remedium so that we Saviors have the chance to hone our skills while outside of missions." "Why are we back at the reception area?" Lizzie spread her hands. "The Remedium is the dimension where the Gods reside. This whole city, Genesis City, is under the protection of one God named Genesis. By going to the Remedium, we can enter His body and His body is the City itself, so it mirrors reality." Atlan frowned. He looked at his surroundings and felt uncomfortable. This is his body? "Canzers are the sickness in a God''s body and they manifest as monsters inside the Remedium. It is our job as Saviors to kill these Canzers and keep Him healthy." Lizzie then walked over to the main entrance of the lobby and walked outside. Atlan followed suit, with his steps filled with carefulness. Once she opened the door, Atlan saw the majesty of Genesis City once again. The dense buildings of different architecture remained, but their colors changed into something unfamiliar. The whole sky turned reddish brown. There were other Saviors down the steps, talking and relaxing as they conversed with each other. Beyond them were the wide three-lane streets, except there wasn''t any mount or vehicles running around. Instead, there were Saviors using swords and spears to strike at straw human targets. "Oh, it''s been a while, Lizzie!" A few of the veteran Saviors greeted Lizzie as she went down the steps. Everyone was familiar with each other, given that most of them were hundreds of years old. "How''ve you guys been?" She greeted them back. One of them was bald and had an epaulet on his shoulders that indicated: 4th stage Student. "Who do we have here?" the man sized up Atlan. "My name is Neuman the eighth, what''s yours?" Neuman VIII held out his hands to Atlan and he accepted it. The two men met hands, and for a moment, Atlan felt a slight increase in pressure with the handshake. "Atlan." He didn''t think much of it and simply returned the effort. The bald man''s eyes went wide. "Strong! Looks like we got a tiger over here." Lizzie chuckled when she realized Neumann''s little test. "He''s a B class Porter. Of course his physical strength would be good." Neumann''s eyebrows raised. But he still didn''t understand how such a small kid could show such power. "But you don''t understand how strong¨C" "PORTER? Finally!" A young man who looked just a few years older than Atlan, interrupted Neuman''s words. "You don''t know how long we''ve been waiting for a new porter. The other one was recruited by a different City and the last one''s already too powerful to join beginner missions." "Don''t overwhelm the newbie, Wemby." Neumann reigned in his friend. "Is my job really that rare?" Wemby nodded his head fervently. "Yes! You''ll definitely feel the difference later. You''ll be drowning in Mission requests. You''re practically the only one that we low-level Students rely on to be our Porter." Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan didn''t know how to feel knowing that. More missions meant more deaths. More deaths meant getting more powerful, but it also meant seeing more suffering. Neumann saw the expression on Atlan''s face. "I know you''re from the Unclaimed Lands, but don''t worry. Let us handle all the killing and all you have to do is watch how we massacre those Canzers. And you don''t have to worry about death. Angels will always keep you and everyone else safe and sound." ¡­that wasn''t comforting¡­ "What are we waiting for? Let''s go on a mission now!" Wemby said, running up the stairs. Lizzie got a hold of his arm and stopped him in his tracks. "Wait, Atlan still hasn''t finished his test." "Aww¡­" Suddenly, Neumann got an idea in his head. "You know, we were just about to have a little competition within everyone here. Why don''t Atlan join us?" Wemby immediately protested. "Are you crazy? Most of us are in the 2nd stage and even some in the 3rd stage! It''s unfair for someone who barely just got his LifeSkill. He won''t stand a chance! Do you want him to fail his test?!" Chapter 12: Flag competition "I think he''ll surprise us," commented Neumann, but Wemby remained unconvinced. The gap between 1st and 3rd stage was massive, not to mention the fact that Atlan gained his LifeSkill only a day ago. It''s the difference between a newborn child and a walking, talking toddler. But Neumann VIII, with his 150 years of wisdom on this Earth, thought it would be a good idea to go ahead with it. Lizzie thought it would be an interesting sight, but she still asked Atlan if he was okay with it. After all, this competition would decide whether he got higher-class missions or not. The more high-classed missions Atlan participated in, the faster he''d gain experience, literally and figuratively. "What do you think? Do you want to join their competition?" Atlan didn''t even think for a second before he agreed. "Yes. I want to see what I''m capable of." "That''s the spirit!" Neumann was overjoyed. Ever since he felt the strength of this new kid, he felt like he was more capable than he seemed. My fist still hurts after that handshake. Wemby shrugged. "Whatever. Just because you''re a beginner doesn''t mean I''ll go easy on you. I plan on dominating the competition. But since you''re Porter, I''ll help you out if you need it. Good luck, man!" Wemby walked towards the streets where other Saviors were practicing their skills. He started to stretch and warm up his body for the competition. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Each week, we Saviors in the Student Realm have a little competition between us to decide who is more capable. This isn''t just some playtime for us. The results of this competition are sent directly to HeadQuarters, where they can judge if we have what it takes to take on harder missions." Neumann guided Atlan down the steps, explaining why the Saviors all around them looked serious. "We''ve been missing a proper Porter for years, so a lot of other Saviors took it upon themselves to pick up the slack. Wemby over there has a job of a Scout, but he sometimes moonlights as a Porter when needed since he has the speed to keep up. That oval-headed guy with a shield and a spear has the job of an infantryman. He hates being a Porter, but we force him to since he''s pretty fast." Neumann introduced Atlan to the rest of the Saviors who he was supposed to be competing against. They all had varying jobs on their LifeSkills, but they were all competent in their speed. From the symbol on their shoulders, Atlan saw that most of them were in the 2nd stage, with some like Wemby and the oval-headed guy being in the 3rd stage. In total, there were about 25 Saviors that Atlan was competing against, all much more experienced than him. "Feeling nervous?" Lizzie asked. He shook his head. "I''m looking forward to it." "Good!" Neumann then pointed to the horizon of the City, towards the towering walls in the distance. "Your goal is that wall. At the start of the competition, you''ll see shining red flags pop up around the street. They''ll either be at the top of houses or in a hidden and secluded street somewhere. Your job is to get to those flags before the others get to them first and bring them to the finish line. The Savior with the most flags at the finish line will win this competition and be given a gracious reward from the HeadQuarters." Atlan gulped and looked at his competitors. Unlike them, he was a complete stranger in the City. He didn''t know the streets by their name like them. I just have to look for the shining flags. It doesn''t matter if I don''t know my way around the City. "Once you''re ready, join your competitors in the street." Atlan walked down the steps and blended himself into the group. He positioned himself at the very back of the pack. This would be disadvantageous in a race, but Atlan wanted to see his seniors'' tactics and try to incorporate them with his own. They''re all facing in different directions? The first thing he noticed was that each Savior positioned themselves to run towards different parts of the City. The oval-headed guy faced back toward the HeadQuarters, which seemed completely counterproductive. Some faced slightly away from the wall and aimed toward the houses and buildings along the street. Atlan was the only one facing directly towards the road up the wall. Isn''t the fastest way towards the flags is by going straight? Wemby walked back and positioned himself beside Atlan. "A little advice for you, my friend. You better take height first." "Why?" But before Wemby could reply, Neumann shouted to the group from above the stairs. "The competitions will start on 3¡­2¡­" Wemby then looked towards Atlan and said, "You need to take advantage of gravity or else you''ll lag behind." "...1! GO!" Atlan had no chance to ask more questions from Wemby. The competition already started and the rest of the Saviors already accelerated towards their paths. Out in the distance, Atlan saw a column of glowing red flags that led straight toward the wall. In the midst of the white roads and black buildings, the bright red waving flags in the middle of the street immediately caught his attention. He immediately started running towards them. These flags looked the easiest to capture, yet none of the other Saviors chose to run in a straight line like Atlan. They all chose to jump to the top of the buildings and get the flags up there. I have no time to contemplate. I just have to get those flags! After just a few seconds of running in the middle of the street, Atlan finally grasped his first red flag. Back at the top of the stairs, Lizzie asked Neumann why none of the other competitors copied Atlan''s strategy. It seemed like it was the easiest route. Neumann saw Atlan pick up his first flag and slow down. "He must be noticing by now." "What is it?" "Those aren''t normal flags. They each weigh about 100 kilos each. Just that one flag will slow all of them down by almost half their original speed." Atlan observed the flag in his hands and slowed down his pace on purpose. Neumann thought it was because of the weight. On the contrary¡­ I got the flag just like that? It''s this easy? Why aren''t they capturing the flags like me? Atlan barely even felt anything from the flag. Chapter 13: Speed The rest of the competitors didn''t follow Atlan''s strategy. They quickly climbed to the roofs of the buildings to get some height. It didn''t take them long after climbing to get their first flags placed at the chimneys and roofs. Their speeds got visibly slower, with the flags on their belt weighing them down significantly. They struggled with their jumps from building to building as they chased that bright red flag in the distance. Some of them kept themselves on top of the buildings even with the equivalent of three hundred kilograms weighing them down. These Saviors were either at the 3rd stage or near the peak of the 2nd stage. Most of the competitors, after getting two flags and having 200 kilos weigh them down, felt their speed slow down to the point where they couldn''t bridge the gap between the buildings. They were forced to jump down. But this was still part of their strategy. They used the weight of the flags as an accelerator to speed them diagonally down the streets, giving them a boost in speed. Soon enough, there were some already running towards Atlan''s tail. But, surprisingly, they couldn''t catch up to Atlan, a newbie who was only at the first stage. They wanted to pass him by so they immediately used their LifeSkills. Their entire bodies glowed in different colors. One of the men raised his hand and thrust it forward shouting, "Wind-cutting Spear Thrust!" His body surged forward, his hand spearing through the air and creating a frictionless running space for him. He was able to catch up just behind Atlan. The rest of them used their LifeSkills to keep their momentum while carrying hundreds of kilograms worth of flags. Atlan, at this point, already picked up his third flag and was on his way to pick up the fourth. He had no trouble picking them up because everything was lined up for him nicely in the middle of the road. Fourth flag picked up! It was at this point that the Saviors behind Atlan were sweating and laboring hard with each stride. They pushed their bodies and powers to the limit. Yet they couldn''t surpass Atlan. He kept running at the top of the pack, picking up flags along the way. Why isn''t he slowing down? He''s got five flags! That''s five hundred kilograms! Is he really at the first stage? No way, man! I''m only at two flags and I can''t even keep up. How''s that possible? I''m near the peak of the 1st stage! They couldn''t believe that they were losing to a kid who was only at the beginning of the 1st stage Student Realm. Even if he was a Porter, they should still have the advantage in strength. They should be able to keep up with him at the least! Then, just as Atlan picked up his sixth flag, someone landed beside him from one of the buildings above. "Wow! Six flags. That''s impressive!" Wemby praised Atlan when he saw him leading the pack. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "With that much, you''ll be able to secure third place easily! Good luck, man!" Wemby then used his B class Scout LifeSkill ''Rope Gain''. A brown string made out of fiber and hemp shot out of his palms and tied itself to a lamppost in the distance. With one pull, Wemby was able to propel himself forward, taking the lead from Atlan. But his reign wasn''t long. Another guy from the top of the buildings finally landed down. It was the oval-faced guy, whose natural speed coupled with gravity allowed him to surpass Atlan. He then raised his arm as if he was wielding a shield. He activated his B class Infantryman LifeSkill called ''Shield Thrust''. His stationary pose of holding a shield suddenly moved forward, as if he was gliding down the street. The only thing left behind was a blurry image of his pose. Soon enough, he was able to overtake Wemby. The two of them were head to head, bumping shoulders with each other in a bid to take the lead from one another. The rest of the competitors knew this would happen. Those two were at the 3rd stage of the Student Realm; it was natural for either of them to be the winner. Although Atlan was impressive, the difference between 1st stage and 3rd stage was far too large. Atlan already had six flags under his belt. It was enough to get third place, a very admirable show of talent and prowess. At least, that''s what they thought. He must be running out of steam by now¡­ But Atlan wasn''t going down without a fight. He saw that both Wemby and the oval-faced guy had 8 flags each, and they were going to get more soon enough. I want to win. Atlan stopped jogging. He started to run with all his might. For the first time since he acquired his powers, Atlan let go of the beast hidden inside his body. He pushed his leg muscles even harder, letting it burn and strain. The rest of the competitors were stunned and awestruck when they saw Atlan accelerate at much higher speeds. He was leaving them all in the dust! They all thought it was already impressive for Atlan to keep up with them. But they didn''t think that he''d be able to speed up and try to outrace the two 3rd stage competitors. Atlan didn''t have to worry about getting flags, so he ran as fast as he could to catch up to the two leaders of the pack. Meanwhile, the two at the top of the pack weren''t paying attention to what was happening behind them. They thought they only had to worry about each other. Wemby jostled the oval-faced guy, as they both went for their ninth flag. Everything was normal until they suddenly felt a slight vibration from behind. They wanted to look back and see what was happening, but they couldn''t take their eyes off the flag. The two of them extended their hands to try and reach for the flag first. Their hands pushed each other as they reached for the staff. Wemby was about to take the lead, but then he saw something incredulous. He saw a third hand suddenly snatch the flag right under their noses! Both of their jaws dropped as they suddenly saw Atlan run forward ahead of them with the flag in his hands! They couldn''t believe what they were seeing! They thought he would be exhausted and weighed down by now. But instead, Atlan sped up even more! That wasn''t his fastest speed?! Atlan quickly took another flag in the distance, making his total the same as them. They all held the same eight flags, with the same weights. Wemby didn''t want to do this, but he couldn''t let a 1st stage novice beat someone like him at the 3rd stage. He had his pride to protect. He activated his frog legs mutation, turning his thighs thicker but his foot thinner. On his next stride, he squatted down and gathered the power in his legs. With one burst of motion, he soared through the air and landed just beside Atlan. The oval-faced guy didn''t want to be left behind either and also used his Minotaur mutation. His extremities, his arms and legs, turned larger and hairier like that of a horse''s legs. With four legs running in total, he sped up and ran beside Atlan. The three front runners saw the final flag in the distance. At this point, the two of them were gasping for air, their thighs burning and their strength on their last leg. They used all their energy just to keep up with Atlan. Yet unbelievably, they saw Atlan gaining distance from them. HE WAS STILL ACCELERATING! Wemby and the oval-faced guy were helpless as they watched Atlan effortlessly speed past them and take the last flag for himself. Atlan crossed the finish line. Chapter 14: Impressive All of them were gasping for air, with Wemby laying on the ground and letting his legs cool off. He couldn''t believe what he saw. How was it possible that a 1st stage Student was able to speed past two Saviors who were in the 3rd stage? That was absurd! Sure, Atlan had a Physique LifeSkill perfect for running while carrying heavy weights. But that still wasn''t enough explanation as to how Atlan overpowered the combination of a speed LifeSkill and a mutation working together. Were Porters that impressive? Or was it just Atlan''s innate talent? "Ha¡­ha¡­.that was amazing. You¡­you''re so much faster than me. I almost can''t believe it." Wemby forced himself up and congratulated Atlan. How embarrassing would it be for him if he stayed lying on the ground while Atlan stood tall barely even catching his breath? "Thanks. That''s the first time I''ve ever run that fast. It''s¡­freeing." The oval-faced guy walked over to Atlan and held out his hand. "Oliver. Congrats." Atlan shook hands with the guy and was happy to finally know his name. "Looks like he''s really impressed with you. He even gave you his name!" Lizzie and Neumann both walked over to Atlan and congratulated him on his very unexpected win. Lizzie was very proud of Atlan. She was the one who recruited him, and she felt a fraction of his achievements as her achievements. Neumann, on the other hand, was speechless. He knew that Atlan was strong, evidenced by his strong grip, but Neumann didn''t think that Atlan would be able to beat two of the fastest 3rd stage Saviors head to head. "You won this competition fair and square." Atlan finally let go of the flags in his belt, and a slight earthquake emanated from the crash. After a moment, the flags disintegrated into particles and disappeared. "Looks like we have a very reliable Porter in our midst. We''ll be relying on you for most of our missions, and I hope you show that amazing power of yours in our adventures." The rest of the competitors all approached Atlan and congratulated him. They introduced themselves to him, in the hopes that he would be the Porter in their missions. If they had a teammate like Atlan, they could be sure that their missions would go smoothly. Everyone returned to the HeadQuarters and they relaxed on the steps and conversed with each other. Atlan learned that most of them were older than 100 years old. "Believe it or not, I only started this Savior business 25 years ago. At that time, I never thought I had the talent to fight Canzers. So, I postponed my Draft. I never bothered with it because I was content with my life. But everything changed because of my daughter. She participated in the Draft as soon as she could and it turned out that she had an A class LifeSkill! She rose through the ranks, and I felt alienated from her. In an attempt to understand her better, I did my Draft to become a Savior and the rest was history." Neumann had a very noble reason as to why he became a Savior. Atlan found it interesting that even at more than a hundred years old, Neumann was still able to make life-changing decisions like a kid trying to find his way. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Meanwhile, people in the Unclaimed Lands barely even live past the age of 20¡­ Must be the effect of immortality, Atlan thought. "I''m not like old Neumann the eighth over here," Wemby teased. "I didn''t start my Savior journey till I was only a hundred years old. I was a regular old noodle shop owner but after 80 years, I got tired of it." Wemby and Neumann both started late in their years. But it still took them a significant amount of time to advance through the stages. 20 years might seem like a blink to them, but to Atlan, it was a whole lifespan. "Does it take that long to advance through the stages?" Neumann and Wemby had a shared self-deprecating laugh. "If you''re like us plebs, then yeah it''ll take you tens of years to advance. One of the reasons why we''re stuck in this stage is because there are a lot of Saviors with the same job as us. We''re a bit overpopulated. And there are barely any missions that are suitable for low-level Saviors like us. We only get about 3 missions a month in a good year. So, it''ll take us years to accumulate experience." Wemby patted Atlan on the back. "But you have talent. You''ll be getting more and more missions in the future. And last I heard, there''s been a surge of missions ever since the Solar Event. So, it''ll be easier to get experience now more than ever." "Oh yeah, have you guys heard about that Solar Storm? I heard it''s been messing up some of the systems in the City," one of the Saviors commented. "Oliver, you''re the oldest out of all of us. Has this ever happened before?" The infamous oval-faced guy who was sitting on the railing of the stairs all by himself spoke only one word. "No." "Either way, I know it''s bad to say this, but I''m glad there are more missions. More experience for us. Who knows. Maybe after this, there''ll be a drought." "And lucky for you, newbie! I think that you''ll be able to advance to the second stage in just a month!" Atlan remained silent as they talked about the ''fortunate'' Solar Event. Knowing the ominous reason behind it, he couldn''t celebrate quite as well as those guys. Should I tell them? Would they even believe me? Lizzie saw the worried expression on Atlan''s face and felt partially responsible. She was the one who put those thoughts of Angels and extinction in Atlan''s head. She regretted ever saying those words aloud when it wasn''t even true. Those things that fell from the sky weren''t angels. It was a weird solar event, nothing more. So, she subtly changed the conversation. "You did quite well in the competition," she praised him. "But I suggest that you don''t activate your LifeSkill all the time. You get tired easily, right? Atlan''s mouth opened in shock. "It''s like a muscle. You have to deactivate it to recover from the strain," Lizzie added but Atlan wasn''t listening. Wait. I have to activate my LifeSkill? Chapter 15: Activate? Atlan didn''t know that he had to activate his LifeSkill in order to use it. He always thought it was a passive power, something that was always active. But now that he thought about it, those Saviors he competed against all used their LifeSkill. Their bodies glowed in a different light as they activated their powers. This meant that he won against all of them only by his sheer physical prowess. His muscles were the only factor in his speed. If he was already that fast in his base form, what would happen if he used his LifeSkill? He couldn''t even imagine it. The problem was¨Che didn''t even know how to activate his LifeSkill. He couldn''t even ask his question out loud. How would they react if they found out that Atlan never used his LifeSkill at all during the race where he defeated two Saviors in the 3rd stage Student Realm? They would freak out. They wouldn''t believe it. And if Atlan showed them the truth, then they would wonder and doubt if his skill was only B class. "Lizzie. I had a little bit of trouble activating my LifeSkill a couple of times during the race. Is there a reason for that?" Lizzie nodded. "It''s normal for beginners like you to feel difficulty in using your LifeSkill for the first time. I''m surprised that you were able to use it in the first place. That last sprint of yours when you activated your Physique LifeSkill to overtake both Oliver and Wemby was a sight to behold. Porters truly are a different breed. It looked like you were just running harder." I didn''t use my LifeSkill¡­I was just running¡­ "Is there a way to master that?" "Yes. You just need to reach deep down your Soul System and¡­um¡­I don''t know the right words for it, but it''s sort of like turning on a switch in the dark. At first, you''ll stumble and miss the switch. But if you do it enough times, you''ll hit it and know the general direction of the switch. Do it more, and you''ll be able to navigate through the darkness and turn the switch on anytime you like." Atlan looked at his hands and frowned. "I just have to practice and hope that I''ll activate it?" "Yeah. it''ll be easier for you the next time since you already got a feel for the switch during the competition." "...yeah¡­" BEEP BEEP BEEP Suddenly Lizzie''s wrist started to blink in a red light. She looked at it and saw that she was being summoned. "What is it?" "It''s HeadQuarters. I have been selected for a mission." "Already?" commented Neumann. "You just completed a mission last week and just came back from the Unclaimed Lands." Lizzie helplessly smiled. "It can''t be helped. That Solar Event upped the frequency of missions." She looked towards Atlan and apologized. "Sorry, I''m going to have to leave you in their care while I finish this mission." "You don''t have to feel sorry for him. We''ll take good care of him," Wemby said as he held Atlan by the shoulders. "Should I go home?" "No. It''ll be beneficial for you to stay here and watch more competitions among other Saviors." "Yes. You''ll get to see your very first Canzer. Some of our damage dealers are having a little competition to see who can defeat the most Canzers," Neumann added. Canzers? I''ll finally get to see what they are? BZZ BZZ Lizzie''s wrist buzzed again as it warned her to prepare for her upcoming mission. "I have to go now. Congrats again, Atlan!" She walked up the stairs and back towards the elevator that led back to the real world. She waved everyone goodbye before entering the door of the HeadQuarters. "Want to spar?" Wemby asked Atlan. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Stop it, Wemby. Let the newbie rest." "Can you tell me more about Canzers?" "Oh, what''s this? Is our newbie getting excited to see those sweet, sweet experiences? You want to go on a mission that badly?" Wemby poked his ribs and teased him. Atlan waved his hands trying to solve the misunderstanding. "No, no. I''m just a little bit curious." "Don''t worry, kid. All of us have felt the same way before. It''s fine. I''ll teach you everything you need to know on how to kill a Canzer." Neumann lightly punched Wemby''s head. "He''s a Porter. It''s not his job to kill Canzers. That''s ours." "Hehe, but the newbie seemed like he wanted to know." "I don''t need to know how to kill Canzers. I want to know if there are different kinds of Canzers and all that. Are they all the same?" Wemby raised his chin all proudly. "If you want to know that, then I can tell you." Neumann had to intervene quickly before Wemby spread more misinformation. "Wemby, you don''t know anything about Canzers." "You don''t?" Atlan asked. How can they kill Canzers if they don''t even know anything about them? "Others don''t like to admit this, but in truth, we Vanguards don''t have to know anything about Canzers. All we have to do is kill them. As for knowing what kind of Canzers we''re facing and how to deal with them, that''s the Operators'' job. Lizzie told you about the two different specialties, right?" Atlan nodded. Vanguards fought in the Remedium, on the frontlines. Operators stayed in the real world. "Well, the Operator''s job is to find the Canzer''s location, find out what type of Canzer they are, and know how to deal with them. Then, once they figure all that out, they send out an order in the HeadQuarters and they find suitable Saviors to finish the job. You saw Lizzie get a mission, right? That means that a group of Operators found her unique set of skills suitable to defeat the Canzers. It''s a well-oiled machine where every Savior, whether they are Operators or Vanguards, contributes equally to keeping the City safe." Wemby felt that Neumann''s explanation was a little bit too unbiased. "The only thing you have to know about Operators is that they''re standoffish, arrogant, and think they''re better than everyone else." Chapter 16: Competition "Don''t mind him." "It''s true though. Those Quills don''t do anything but order us around. If you even try to talk to them about mission placements, they''ll ignore you like a ghost." Neumann felt helpless as Wemby let out his frustrations. Although he didn''t necessarily deny the words of Wemby, it still wasn''t right to bash the other party in front of a newbie. "Quills?" "It''s what we call them, those Operators. They''re called that because the only thing they do is stay in their offices and write, hence Quill." Atlan didn''t know that there was a sense of friction between the two specialties. And by the looks of it, there was a deep-seated frustration pent up from one side rather than the other. "They call us something too," Neumann added. "They call us Vanguards as Knives. After all, according to them, that''s all we''re good for¨Cas blades. They diagnose the Canzers we''re fighting, they are the ones who think up a solution, and they''re the ones who decide which Savior fights the Canzers¨C" Wemby couldn''t help himself and finished the thought. "We''re just mindless tools that cut wherever they want us to cut. We''re just the knives of a ''magnificent'' surgeon." I didn''t know the dynamic between the two was so strained. But if what they said was true, I can see how they would feel underappreciated. "Let''s stop the talk here," Neumann saw that Wemby was getting worked up again. Just then, the doors at the top of the HeadQuarters opened wide. "Looks like the stars of the show have arrived." Neumann was glad that they arrived so early. If they didn''t, then Wemby could get so worked up he''d start a fight with the Quills again. "Who are they?" asked Atlan. They all wore green battle suits, which meant that they were all Vanguards¨Cor Knives as others liked to call it. He also noticed that they had weapons slung behind their backs. Wemby, Neumann, and the rest didn''t have any weapons on them. But this new group had it. "They''re here to see who can kill the most Canzers under a time limit in an intense competition. And unlike us old folks, these are real talents. Even though they''re so young, they''ve already surpassed us at the 3rd stage and above. And to answer your question, this particular group of Saviors are the Damage Dealers, they are the ones that actually fight the Canzer head-on with their LifeSkills." "You guys don''t fight Canzers?" "We do. We can fight Canzers in a pinch, but that''s not our job. Wemby''s a Scout, which means he''s running around and distracting the enemy. I''m a Tank, so I just soak up the damage and protect my team. Oliver is an infantryman, which means he can deal and take damage. But that means he won''t be good at both." Wemby then pointed to one guy whose green battle suit was altered to have a hoodie. The hood obscured his eyes. "That guy''s already at the 3rd stage but he''s only been doing this for 10 years. He''s a mage, which means he can deal AOE (area of effect) damage to a large group of Canzers. I think he''ll win this week''s competition because mages have an inherent advantage at dealing with lots of Canzers." There were a lot of jobs within the group. There was a sniper, a rogue, an assassin, and other jobs whose main responsibility was to damage the Canzer in lots of different ways. The group of ''geniuses'' walked down the steps and had an aura of seriousness around them. Even though they were part of the same group, there was a sense of competition between them. As they all walked past Atlan and the group, everyone''s eyes subconsciously went toward the young woman at the very back of the line. Even within the group of geniuses, she had an air of superiority that could not be ignored. In the Remedium where black is white, and white is black, her straight golden hair seemed to have an inherent glow that further attracted everyone who had eyes. "Woah¡­I didn''t think she''d join the competition. Atlan, forget what I said about them being talented. She is the real talent. She''s a recruit from overseas. Our City snatched her away from a Metropolis by offering her more benefits, the most important of which is a rare Genus. She joined us just a few days ago, and she''s already causing quite a ruckus. She''s the real deal. She has an S class LifeSkill with a DPS job!" Atlan watched as the girl walked down without glancing at anyone. She looks young. She looked to be the same age as him. One representative of the group walked over to Neumann and greeted him by saluting. They both bumped their fist on their chest two times as a sign of respect. "Sir Neumann. How''ve you been?" The man had a great head full of brown hair down to his waist. "Been doing good, Zonald. It''s surprising you got her to join the competition." Zonald sighed. "You don''t know how much I had to pester her. That kid doesn''t listen to anyone¨Ctypical golden child and all that. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The only way I was able to convince her was when I said that the prize for the competition would be a mission to the Remedium. The kid''s enthusiastic, I''ll give her that." Even though Zonald was exasperated from dealing with an aloof girl like her, there was a hint of pride on his face. After all, it wasn''t every day that he got to mentor an S class talent. Wemby couldn''t take it anymore and dragged Atlan to face Zonald. "Have you met our newest recruit? He''s a B class Porter!" Zonald and the rest of his group stopped and looked at Atlan. Even they knew the importance of a Porter, especially since there was a lack of one in the Student Realm. The only one who didn''t bother to look was the girl. "Not only that, he was able to beat all of us in our competition! He''s able to beat two 3rd stage Students in a fair race, with mutations and all that while just being in the 1st stage!" Everyone''s eyes were filled with amazement and awe when they heard that. Meanwhile, the girl and Atlan finally saw eye to eye. A competitive fire lit up in her eyes. Chapter 17: Damage dealers After a moment, she retracted her gaze. She flicked her hair away from him and continued to practice her sword stance. "That''s amazing! He''s able to do that at just the 1st stage? How long¨C" "He just got drafted yesterday." Zoland''s jaws dropped, and so did everyone in the group who considered themselves geniuses. Even they didn''t think they could accomplish that feat when they just started out. The innate talent it took to do that was out of their grasp. And if they found out that Atlan hadn''t even used his LifeSkill to do it, they''d probably fall from shock. "Hear that Yasmine? We have a transcendental talent over here," Zoland said out loud, purposefully egging her on. He knew that she was a competitive one who wanted to outshine everybody. Swish swish Just like he predicted, Yasmine increased the intensity of her sword stances. "We gotta go now and start the competition or else she''ll be having a fit." Zonald said goodbye to Neumann and the rest before going down the steps and onto the streets. When Zonald left, Atlan asked Neumann what kind of competition they were going to have. "It''s just like the Draft. They have batches of Canzers coming at them. The more Canzers they kill, the better." Wemby butted in. "You know the drill. You must have killed dozens of monsters in your draft, mister B class" Atlan simply laughed and didn''t answer. Once everyone was gathered, Zonald faced the street and explained the rules of the competition. "Okay. Each of you is assigned an area you''re going to protect. Canzers are going to be swarming you. Most kills win, got it?" Once everyone nodded their heads, Zonald signaled to everyone, "3¡­2¡­1¡­GO!" Once the countdown ended, the competitors all took their spots. Some stayed on the streets and some took spots atop the buildings. They chose whichever place they could leverage their skills. Soon enough, large insect arthropods the size of a human torso came crawling out of the sewers on the curb. Its layered chitinous exoskeleton gleamed an azure blue color. Under its torso were three pairs of thin, spiky legs that allowed it to traverse any terrain. The few ones stopped and waved their two antennae around, trying to sense their target. Then, tens of these monsters spread around and chose their prey evenly. All 20 competitors faced 5 Canzers each, giving them the same difficulty. "Those are Canzers?" Neumann nodded. "Yes. Technically. These are the watered-down versions of the real thing. It''s not that we can''t capture a live specimen of Canzer, it''s more that we don''t want to. It''s way too dangerous to play around with. Some Operators tried to do it, but it always ended in disaster." Atlan looked at the monsters that crawled towards the competitors like a tsunami. "Don''t underestimate them. They can still do real damage, that''s why a lot of Saviors use them as practice. Of course, it''s way better to fight real Canzers, but like I said, a mission is hard to come by. Well¡­was hard to come by." Despite being overwhelmed by these monsters, the competitors didn''t panic. They all had their tactics to deal with the assault. The hooded mage chose the perfect spot for his LifeSkill. He positioned himself at a choke point in the street. The monsters had to squish themselves at a very thin gap between the buildings to get to him. With one chant: "Cone of Fiery Rage!" A tornado made out of flames erupted from his palms and toward the group of arthropod monsters. In just mere seconds, he was able to burn their shells black, heating their innards till death. [You have reaped the death of simple creatures: Pseudo Canzers]x5 [You have gained 25 experience] Atlan was surprised to see that he was able to reap the deaths of these monsters. This Gluttonous Soul mutation is like a cheat! It wasn''t that Atlan was ungrateful, but it seemed unfair of him to benefit from their hard work. The other competitors continued to defeat those monsters batch by batch, and Atlan gained experience from all of them. [You have reaped the death of simple creatures: Pseudo Canzers]x20 [You have gained 100 experience] Out of all the competitors, there was one of them who moved with grace and strength. She skillfully used her sword to cut any Canzers she saw coming towards her. For her, this wasn''t a competition. This was practice. She let some monsters come near her, only for her to use her reflexes and skills to dodge them at the very last second before she used the tip of her sword to skewer her prey. As the competition went underway and batch after batch of Pseudo Canzers were killed, the difficulty slowly rose. The monsters grew wings that allowed them to lunge towards the competitors at surprising speeds. Not only that, their heads grew a sharp beetle''s horn that could cut through concrete. The sniper who used a gun to kill the monsters started having difficulty as the monsters learned how to fly. He lost his high ground. Soon enough, he was enveloped by the monsters who threatened to skewer his body. "I give up!" he shouted just as he was about to get hit in his stomach. Just then, the Pseudo Canzers around him stopped in their tracks and stopped moving. The sniper was safe. "Unlike what Wemby tried to tell you, Operators aren''t that bad. Without them, we wouldn''t be able to have this safe training ground. They are the ones that created this and programmed all its functions," explained Neumann. Wemby indignantly crossed his arms. "Hmph. Maybe just a little bit." Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As the competition continued, more and more Saviors dropped out. Soon enough, it was just the mage and Yasmine left competing. The arthropod monsters continued evolving each batch, with their exoskeletons getting harder and harder to penetrate. The mage''s weakness was soon discovered. They were great at dealing damage with a lot of enemies at once, but they couldn''t concentrate that on a single enemy. Unable to kill the monsters with just one casting of his skill, the mage was soon overwhelmed with angry monsters. The smoke emitted from their burning exoskeletons sent a very frightening image to the mage. "I quit!" he said. The only one left standing, as expected, was the transcendent talent with the S class DPS LifeSkill. She had no trouble piercing through the exoskeletons that the mage had trouble with. Everyone watched with amazement as she handled these monsters with ease. Her talent in the sword was truly a sight to behold. "What an insane talent!" praised Neumann. He looked at Atlan and said, "Do you know that she''s the same age as you?" "Really?" No wonder she looked as young as me. "From what I heard, she was able to reach the 2nd stage of the Student Realm just two weeks after her Draft! Can you believe it?" Just then, Atlan saw a few words pop out in front of him. [Consolidation period over] [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] "I can''t believe it¡­" Chapter 18: Solid "How many batches have there been? Wait! She''s already fighting Canzers at the 3rd stage Student difficulty when she''s only at the 2nd stage?" The swarm of monsters coming her way was designed only for those in the 3rd stage Student Realm. She wasn''t supposed to be able to stand a chance against these! A one-stage difference in the Canzer''s difficulty was a chasm that almost none of the other Saviors could surpass. Yet she was able to do it. The fact that she was still able to survive was impressive enough, but the fact that she was still striving on without quitting meant that she was trying to go to the next batch. She wanted to try and reach the 4th stage difficulty! Unfortunately, the difference in the Canzer''s hard shells and her thrusting prowess was too hard to overcome. Not to mention the Canzers getting smarter as the other monsters learned from the deaths of their comrades, she was getting too overwhelmed. Her graceful movements turned sloppy and forced as she tried to exert more power. This led to gaps in her sword stances that the Canzers were able to exploit. The weaknesses in DPS were seen in her battle. She might be good at dealing tons of damage to one enemy, but she''s vulnerable to a swarm of them coming her way. She tried as hard as she could, but she still fell short of defeating the final batch of monsters that came her way. She wasn''t able to even touch the feet of the 4th stage Student difficulty. "I¡­lost¡­" She knelt on the street, devastated at her lack of power. But for the rest of the spectators and the competitors who knew how difficult the feat she showed, they all clapped at her with amazement. She truly showed the difference in having an S class LifeSkill. She was able to defeat Canzers a whole stage above her strength! But that wasn''t enough for her. As soon as she heard that there was another beginner who was able to beat Saviors two stages higher than his own, she vowed to break his record. Unfortunately, she underestimated the difficulty in doing that. "Why are you so down? You won!" Zoland went over to Yasmine and comforted her. "But I didn''t get to the 4th stage¡­" she muttered. Zoland looked back at Atlan and realized that she was competing with him. He underestimated how competitive she was. "Haaa," he sighed. "You kids are so impatient. Don''t worry. You''ll get your chance to outshine him some other time. You''re an S class talent, you''ll get better much faster and much further." Meanwhile, Atlan looked at his Soul System and saw his new advancement. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª2nd stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 2000) [Available Experience: 12,131.2] Atlan saw the planet in his Soul System that corresponded to his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill. The blue wisps that gathered at the very core of the planet were now completely solid. It had stabilized into a firm and well-grounded foundation for his LifeSkill. In comparison, his Physique LifeSkill planet was still filled with vibrating wisps, with no sign of it ever congealing into one solid piece. He also noticed that he could advance his Vanguard LifeSkill to the 3rd stage of the Student Realm immediately. I have enough experience, so why not? He gained a total of 4000 extra experience just from reaping the deaths of the Pseudo Canzers in the competition. With just a thought, he was able to command 2000 wisps by the side of his Soul System and flood the second layer of the planet until it couldn''t take any more wisps. An invisible barrier prevented the wisps from overpopulating the second layer. And as soon as the core filled up, another set of words popped up in front of him. [You have successfully advanced through the 2nd Stage Student Realm of your SSS class LifeSkill Cherubic Retribution] [Consolidation period: 47 hrs: 59 mins: 50secs] S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan only had to wait for 2 days until he fully consolidated his power to the 3rd stage Student Realm. If anyone found out that he was advancing through the stages like this, they would lose their minds and curse the gods for their unfairness. Atlan''s way of getting experience by just reaping the souls of the dead was nothing more than an overpowered cheat. As amazing as it sounded, Atlan didn''t like that he had to see the death and suffering of a lot of living beings just to get stronger. Just as he said that, he suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a little twitch, a very minute movement from one of the Pseudo Canzers that lay frozen on the streets. One of its thin cockroach legs moved by a quarter inch. He didn''t know if it was because of his enhanced physique or because of his attentiveness, but he saw it as clear as day. "Okay, this week''s competition is over and I think we saw two of the best performances ever. And it was done by two beginners at that! Let''s give them a round of applause!" Zoland faced all the Saviors in the Remedium and started clapping, and all of them followed in turn. All of them were rejoicing for the recruits. They were more than happy to welcome these overwhelming transcendent talents in their midst, especially a capable Porter like Atlan. CLAP CLAP CLAP Atlan secretly turned towards Neumann and whispered to him. "What happens to those monsters?" When the contestants couldn''t handle the monsters anymore, they quit the competition, and the monsters were forced to stay still through some sort of invisible mechanism. "Oh, are you talking about the twitching? Those Canzers are still alive, but they are being forced by the Remedium itself to stay locked in place." "What happens to them?" "They stay there till they die. Don''t worry about them. They won''t be able to move again. They''ll rot in place." Atlan looked at the frozen Canzers and felt¡­pity. Those poor monsters were suffering. He didn''t like suffering. He didn''t like blood. He was a pacifist. I need to kill them, he thought. Chapter 19: It’s mercy Atlan couldn''t bear to live with the thought that those monsters lived the rest of their pitiful lives suffering in place without being able to do anything. While the rest of the Saviors were congratulating both him and Yasmine, Atlan ignored all of their applause and headed down the steps toward the battlefield. Everyone wondered where he was going. "Atlan?" Neumann shouted towards him, but he didn''t seem to hear it. "Where are you going?" He walked the streets filled with the corpses of the fallen Pseudo Canzers. Some were burned to crisps, some had been decapitated, and most died from cuts and pierces from blades. He ignored all of them; he already reaped their souls. He walked towards where Yasmine positioned herself in the competition. He saw a group of blue monstrous arthropods about the same size as his torso, all facing the same direction. They encircled the spot where Yasmine stood in place. Green blood was splattered everywhere. Her blade was like a paintbrush that used the corpses of monsters as her canvas. But these groups of Pseudo Canzers were different from the corpses around. These had their mandibles spread wide open and ready to bite their prey. Some even had their wings open and ready to fly. These Pseudo Canzers were still full of life, yet they lay there frozen in time. Even though they didn''t move, he saw them struggle to find freedom¨Cto find life. He had to free them. He had to relieve their suffering. It was his responsibility. He saw a wooden sword in the ground. It was one of those practice swords that the Saviors used to practice their skills on straw dummies. He picked it up and used both of his hands to grip it on its handle. He raised it above his head and explosively brought it down towards the monster below him. CRACK The monster''s carapace cracked into pieces from the force, but unfortunately, it wasn''t enough to kill the creature. Atlan continued to bash the sword to the Pseudo Canzer''s head, with green blood splattering on his face. But he didn''t care. He didn''t stop until he saw the words in front of him; [You have assisted in killing a Pseudo Canzer] [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [You have gained 15 experience] Wemby shouted towards him. "Atlan, you don''t have to do that. You won the competition! Let the loser do all the dirty work!" "He''s right. Let Wemby do it!" Zoland shouted back. "Hey! I''m in second place!" Zoland shrugged. The burden of cleaning up the Pseudo Canzers usually ended up being the responsibility of those who lost the competition. This wasn''t a hard rule, but an unwritten one that they all followed. It''s also one of the reasons why the rest of them were so competitive. It''s fine if they didn''t win, but they couldn''t be last place. Nobody wanted to do it because it was a tiresome job that could last hours upon hours of hard work. It would take time away from their break and their training. And the fact that they didn''t get any experience from it gave them even less incentive to do it. It was also tradition for the beginners to have their first day involve cleaning up the Canzers. However, when they saw how talented and capable their new Porter was, they all unanimously decided to let Atlan free from this responsibility. It was the reason why they didn''t mention anything about cleaning up the Canzers to him. But despite that, Atlan voluntarily did the dirty work nobody wanted to do, seemingly out of nowhere. It was a very noble and respectable sacrifice that the veteran Saviors appreciated. Their impression of Atlan improved drastically. They were pleased to know that even though he was a transcendent talent, he was still humble enough to show respect to his seniors. They appreciated the fact that Atlan didn''t feel that it was beneath him to do this dirty work. "What a kid! Our new Porter is truly someone to behold." "He''ll be popular among the veterans. I''m sure he''ll be invited to missions all the time." "See that? I taught him that," Wemby lied. Of course, the others quickly saw through it and berated him. Unlike Atlan, Wemby was one of the guys who always wanted to shirk away from the dirty work. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan continued to find more poor Canzers that needed the release of death. [You have assisted in killing a Pseudo Canzer] [You have reaped the death of simple creatures: Pseudo Canzers] x3 [You have gained 45 experience] But on his last kill, the wooden sword suddenly snapped in half. It didn''t shatter into a thousand splinters. It split in half. This was because Atlan had no experience holding a sword at all. Nobody even noticed that he was holding onto it wrong. Instead of using the sharp edges of the sword, Atlan was instead using the flat part of the blade to smash the head of the monsters! Not only that, the Pseudo Canzers he was killing were from Yasmine''s last failed batch. It was close to the 4th stage difficulty. This meant that he was able to kill a Pseudo Canzer at almost the 4th stage difficulty with just his brute strength. If he used the blade, he''d be able to easily kill it in one strike. Atlan felt a sudden tap behind him. He was surprised to see a brand new wooden sword held out towards him. He was even more surprised to see that it was Yasmine who gave it to him. "Congrats," she said while looking away from him. "I''ll win next time." And before she left, she gave him one piece of advice. "Try to pierce through the boundary between its carapace and its wings. It''s their weak point." She didn''t notice that Atlan''s grip on the sword was completely wrong. After that, she quickly left and walked back up the stairs of the HeadQuarters. Atlan appreciated her gesture and kept it in his mind, but he didn''t know what she was talking about. I''ll win next time? We didn''t compete in the same competition¡­ But since she already left, he couldn''t ask her about it. He took his attention back to the matter at hand. He looked at one of the Pseudo Canzers in front of him and coincidentally, it had its wings spread open, ready to fly and pierce its prey. Unfortunately, it was frozen in time. He followed her advice and used the tip of his sword to pierce through the small gap between the monster''s hard shell and underbelly. His eyes widened as he felt it easily slip through the defenses and stab its innards, instantly killing it. [You have killed a Pseudo Canzer] [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [You have gained 20 experience] [You have gained a 1-star Genus Pseudo Canzer] [You have gained an F class LifeSkill Mucus Spray] Chapter 20: More? Atlan couldn''t believe what he saw. He not only gained another Genus, but he also got another LifeSkill. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ªConsolidating to 3rd Stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 47 hrs : 40 mins: 32 s ¡ªMage: (F) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) [Available Experience: 10,191.2] Does any death give me Genus and LifeSkills? It''s not just because of extinctions and killing a God? The only Genus and LifeSkills he acquired were from those two very dramatic and once-in-a-lifetime events. He thought he''d only get Genus and LifeSkills from those kinds of circumstances. He didn''t think he''d get it from just killing one monster. Sure, the Genus only had a 1-star rarity while the LifeSkill was only F class, but the fact that he was able to acquire them was groundbreaking in and of itself. He was already an anomaly because he had two LifeSkills, one of which had a specialty that wasn''t supposed to exist at all. Now, he had two jobs in the Vanguard Specialty. A DPS and a Mage. Can I get more? Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan knew he was being greedy, but he couldn''t help but think of the possibilities. He walked towards the next poor soul who was just waiting to be released from their eternal suffering. I''m not killing them, I''m freeing them, he reminded himself. He kept doing the dirty work, killing the blue monstrous arthropods that were frozen in place. He had trouble wielding the sword properly at the start, but he got better and used the edge of the blade now. He kept Yasmine''s words to heart. He kept targeting their weak point. Pseudo Canzers who had their wings open were easy to kill. He only had to place the tip of the blade in the right position and push with minimal strength. [You have assisted in killing a Pseudo Canzer] [You have reaped the death of simple creatures: Pseudo Canzers] x13 [You have gained 195 experience] However, not all of them had their weak points exposed quite easily. Some were frozen in their defensive positions, defending from the attacks of the Saviors that tried to kill them. They were harder to kill. His novice way with the sword hindered his killing¨Cno, the liberation of the monsters trapped in their suffering. He had to spend minutes trying to wedge his sword in the weak points. Most of the time, he missed and nicked the carapace of the monster. He remembered how Yasmine skillfully pierced through the monsters with ease and grace, with each strike as precise as her steps to avoid the other monsters trying to hit her. He was far from her skill. Very far. But he couldn''t help it. He had never held any kind of weapon before, much less a sword. Am I just that bad? Or maybe I just need a different weapon¡­ As he dealt with the rest of the Pseudo Canzers, he was disappointed to see that it didn''t give him any additional genus or LifeSkills. He didn''t know if that monster was just different, or if the acquisition of the Genus and the LifeSkill depended on some type of luck. "Hey, Atlan. Are you finished over there?" Neumann called out to him. "You''ve been doing that for hours, kid." Atlan finally looked back and saw that most of the Saviors had already left the Remedium. The only ones left were him, Neumann, Wemby, and Oliver. He didn''t even notice that the time passed. "Sorry. I got too absorbed." "Newbie, it''s good that you''re so enthusiastic, but it''s good to relax too man," Wemby said and Oliver agreed. "We should go soon. Those Quills are going to get ticked off when they see the Remedium still open this late," Wemby added. "It''s bad if we stay in the Remedium?" "It''s not bad that we stay in the Remedium. It''s bad that the Remedium stays open because we''re here too long. If we stay here for another day or so, there''s going to be some adverse effects in the real world. We''re gonna get more than a reprimand if that happens." Atlan didn''t know that keeping the Training Hall open would be so bad. He was planning on staying here and killing more monsters, but that''s not possible. He then noticed that there was just one more Pseudo Canzer left still standing. He was going to kill it and then leave. "Can I come back here tomorrow?" "Look at our newbie, all excited," Wemby commented. Neumann nodded. "Yes. you can¨Cit''s highly encouraged especially since you''re going to receive your reward in a week." Reward? Wemby saw Atlan''s head tilt and laughed. "You won the competition, man. Of course, you''re going to get a reward, kukuku." "I don''t know if you will consider this a reward, but this is something that all of us envy and want. Next week, you''re going to be assigned to a mission in the Remedium¨Cyour very first." Atlan didn''t know how to feel about that. "Don''t get worried, newbie. Your first mission is going to be very easy, just in the 1st stage Student difficulty. And you don''t have to fight the Canzers. Your teammates are going to be the ones to do that. The only thing you need to do is be a Porter. If something bad does happen, the worst thing that could happen is just a little bit of injury. Never fear. The Angels are always there to save your life." ¡­that wasn''t comforting at all. Atlan subconsciously raised his sword and stabbed the final Pseudo Canzer that was still left alive. It easily slipped past its carapace and pierced through its innards, killing it instantly. [You have killed a Pseudo Canzer] [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [You have gained 20 experience] [You have gained an F class LifeSkill Mucus Spray] [You have two of the same LifeSkills. Do you want to fuse them?] [Upgrade Points required: 1,000] Chapter 21: Porter "Atlan, you coming?" Neumann and the rest of them walked up the stairs of the HeadQuarters. Atlan stayed at the bottom of the stairs, still looking at the words in front of him. He slowly caught up to them as he tried to understand everything. [You have the two same LifeSkills. Do you want to fuse?] [Upgrade Points required: 1,000] First of all, he unexpectedly gained another LifeSkill from killing the Pseudo Canzer. This proved that getting that kind of benefit was luck-based. Is a Genus rarer than a LifeSkill? It must have also been the reason why he didn''t get a Genus this time. He also gained the exact same LifeSkill as before. When he looked at his Soul System, he saw the same two brown, transparent planets beside each other. ¡ªMage: (F) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) ¡ªMage: (F) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) According to the words, he was able to merge these two LifeSkills into one. As for what the effect would be, he didn''t know. The only way he was going to know was to find out. And even if fusing the two LifeSkills were somehow adverse to his progress, then he wouldn''t feel that regretful. These two LifeSkills were only F class. He wouldn''t be wasting much. The problem was that merging these two required something called Upgrade Points. Wait a minute¡­ Atlan massaged his head and tried to recall his memories from the day before. Aside from getting 10,000 Experience from reaping the extinction of the Angels, Atlan seemed to have remembered gaining something else. Because he passed out before seeing the words, his memory had been all messed up since. It was only now that he remembered it. [You have gained 1,000,000 Upgrade Points] All this time, he obtained a million Upgrade Points from reaping the extinction of Angels! He just forgot about it. He looked down at his Soul System and saw geometrical objects: triangles, squares, and polygons gathered together into a giant fuzzy ball. The blue wisps represented his current Experience Points. The red geometrical objects represented his Upgrade Points. And even though his Experience points were much fewer than his Upgrade points, both of them had roughly the same volume sphere like an asteroid. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was only possible because the red shapes of his Upgrade Points were much smaller than the blue wisps, almost microscopical. When he decided to fuse the two F class LifeSkills, a thousand of the red shapes suddenly shot out into a string towards the two LifeSkill planets. The string of Upgrade Points then wove the two planets together tightly. The mysterious force from the glowing red shapes pushed the two LifeSkills together until they overlapped. And as the planets got pushed further into each other, an opposite force from the planets tried to resist the union of the LifeSkills. Fortunately, the strength of the red shapes was enough to finally push the two together. The union resulted in a large shockwave that destroyed the string of red shapes. It disintegrated into nothing after completing its job. [You have fused the two LifeSkills] ¡ªMage: (D) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) The result ended up changing the LifeSkill''s class from (F) class to (D) class! This was a feat that would leave the entire world in an uproar if they found out. As far as Atlan knew, there was no way for a Savior to change their LifeSkill''s class. If someone got drafted with a (C) class LifeSkill, then that would be their class forever. The class of a LifeSkill either made or broke a person''s dream of entering a God''s Territory. Those in the Unclaimed Lands who got drafted with an (F) class LifeSkill had no chance to ever step foot into a City or a Town. They would die in the Unclaimed Lands. But somehow, Atlan could do it. He successfully turned a worthless LifeSkill into something that could get accepted into a small village. That could be the difference between living for ten years or living a hundred. The implications of this burned a fire in Atlan''s imagination. Can I keep upgrading LifeSkills till they all turn into S class? SS class? Or maybe even SSS class? "Woah! That was close!" Neumann grabbed Atlan''s shoulders before he bumped into someone who was in a hurry. Atlan looked around and noticed he was back at the reception area of the HeadQuarters. Not only that, his surroundings returned to their normal color. The walls and flooring turned back into the pure white marble that he saw the first time. Unknowingly, he already left the Remedium and was back in the real world. He was so absorbed in looking at the Soul System that he didn''t notice it at all! And he almost bumped into someone by the looks of it. "Sorry." He quickly apologized. He looked up and saw that the man he almost bumped into looked a little bit older than a middle-aged man, with side-shaven gray and pepper hair. The man also wore the same green battle suit that Atlan was wearing, but it had more modifications as well as medals and ribbons adorned around his chest. "It''s fine, hahaha! The young man was clearly too absorbed in his Soul System. I was like you once. What''s your name, young''un?" "Atlan¡­sir." "My name is Garuun. I hope to see you defending the City in the future. But for now, I''ll have to carry the burden. So, you''ll have to excuse me as I go do my job." Garuun, without a second word, left the HeadQuarters with the rest of his team. As they opened the doors, Atlan was able to see a glimpse of the City and its outskirts. A large billowing cloud of smoke enveloped one of the districts in the distance. Garuun and his team all mounted their horses and took off in that direction. "Hmmm¡­the symptoms must be serious. They''re bringing out the big guns," commented Wemby. "Who was that?" "That''s Garuun and his team. They''re all in the Specialist Realm. That''s three realms above us. He''s also like you. He''s a Porter." Chapter 23: Quinto "Good morning, newbie!" Wemby was the first one to see him. "Good morning," Atlan replied. "Did you sleep well last night?" asked Neumann. "I did¡­" S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He nodded in satisfaction. "That''s good. My daughter made sure to keep her health in good shape, and that''s what allowed her to become a better Savior. You should follow her lead so that you can become stronger and advance through the stages in a breeze." "But don''t advance too fast or else we''ll have no Porter again." teased Wemby. "He''s kidding¡­partially." "Um.." "What is it?" "Why is that still here? I thought those Saviors already took care of it?" He pointed at the bigger cloud of smoke enveloping almost two districts at this point. Neumann and the others didn''t look concerned. "That''s normal. Sometimes, it takes a day or two to completely purge the Canzers." "Don''t worry. The rest of the soldiers already evacuated all of the residents affected. Come on, let''s go back to the Training Hall!" Wemby raced up the stairs to be the first one to enter the Remedium. The rest of them quickly followed suit. Atlan took one last look towards the clouds before he entered the HeadQuarters. Soon after that, they were back in the strange negative-color Remedium Training Hall where they could practice killing as many Canzers as they could. There were already a lot of Saviors inside, practicing their skills separately or with groups. "Look at them practicing team drills. That''s very important to us Vanguards especially since each mission is team-based. The tanks will protect the support and the DPS, the scouts will distract the Canzers, and so on." They put themselves through different scenarios inside the Remedium City. They tried to fight in a secluded street with little to no space to use the AOE of mages. They also tried out some formations in case they had to fight out in the open with no natural defenses around them. And finally, some of the Saviors got permission from HeadQuarters to summon Pseudo Canzers so that they''d be able to practice their skills on a real enemy. After they quit the drill, Atlan would come up and finish the frozen monsters for them, and they happily let him do so. Since they were the ones who requested the drill, they were responsible for disposing of them. But since Atlan volunteered, the burden on them lessened. It was a win-win scenario for all parties. They all thought Atlan was just a naturally good guy who wanted to help everybody free of charge, but they didn''t know that he was earning lots of experience from doing it. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x149 [You have gained 2,235 experience] He gained a respectable amount of experience throughout his whole day of mercy killing the Pseudo Canzers. And in all that time, he was only able to get one LifeSkill copy. [You have gained an F class LifeSkill Mucus Spray] [Since you already have the same LifeSkill in a higher class, this LifeSkill will turn into a fragment] [You cannot level up a fragment] [Needs one (1) more F class Mucus LifeSkill fragment for fusion] He also advanced his Mage LifeSkill to the third stage just before he started the grind for more LifeSkills. At the end of the day, he had 35 hours left. [LifeSkills] ¡ªMage: (D) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 35 hrs : 58 mins: 30 s ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 1x F class fragment He needed another F class fragment to turn both of them into a D class LifeSkill. If he was able to do that, then he could merge the two D class LifeSkills and turn them into a C class LifeSkill! However, the allotted time for the Training Hall already passed. They weren''t allowed to stay anymore because they were going to close the Remedium for safety reasons. "Why didn''t we see Garuun and the other Saviors in the Remedium?" asked Atlan as they waited in the elevator back up to the real world. "Because that''s a different dimension. Each Canzer that pops up inhabits a different dimension. It''s hard to explain and understand because it involves the 4th dimension, and we humans simply can''t get a grasp of that naturally. Just think of it as each Canzer and symptom being a different space in the Remedium." "I''m starving! Let''s go eat something at the cafeteria." Wemby massaged his stomach and begged for the others to join him. Oliver and Neumann would have rejected the invitation, but since they hadn''t had a proper meal with Atlan yet, they decided to join. "You''re gonna love the food here, newbie. They have everything you can think of!" Wemby couldn''t praise the food in the cafeteria any higher. Atlan remembered that he hadn''t eaten anything for at least two days now. Fasting for long periods was normal in the Unclaimed Lands, but this was the first time that Atlan didn''t feel hungry. He felt full. He felt satiated. Neumann guided them through the large campus of the Savior HeadQuarters and Atlan felt like he entered another city. It had a dedicated building for a full garden and forest, it had buildings only for Saviors to relax and unwind, and it even had luxurious housings for those who wanted to sleep inside. Each person he saw wore their respective battle suits, either green or blue. However, in the countless number of groups they encountered, Atlan never saw a green battlesuit talking to one who wore a blue battlesuit. The Quills and Knives kept to themselves. The Operators and Vanguards didn''t interact much with each other. ¡ª------ While they were walking, Atlan saw something out of the corner of his eye. There was a discreet hallway that exuded prestige and exclusivity. It had a red velvet walkway and intimate lighting. But judging from the barrier that blocked anyone from entering, this wasn''t a place where anyone could just enter. "What''s that?" Atlan asked. "That''s the Hall of Heroes. It showcases the best Saviors in the history of Genesis City." They all took a slight detour and let Atlan take a look at the Hall of Heroes. On the very end of the hall, there was a large picture of a robust man who looked to be the very embodiment of strength and confidence. "That''s the legendary Quinto Kindle. The First Savior¡­" Chapter 24: Cafeteria "The First Savior¡­" The old man had messy, laid-back white hair like that of a lion''s mane. His aggressive smile could not be hidden by the bushy white hair on his jaws. Just by looking at this painting, Atlan felt as if he was being stared down by the real thing himself. "He was there when the first gods descended on Earth. He was there when the first humans interacted with the Mythical Beings. He was there when they struck the accord. Ever since that agreement, humans were given immortality and power in exchange for the extermination of Canzers." Atlan couldn''t fathom how ancient those times were. It was hard to imagine people still alive today who witnessed that monumental pivot in human history. Back then, the Unclaimed Lands were still habitable¡­ "He must be an amazing guy." His image was placed in the very middle of the hall with golden lights shining down on it. He must have been an amazing guy to get that sort of treatment. "Yes, he was¡­" Neumann''s tone seemed to be one of sadness and melancholy. Atlan wasn''t expecting that sort of emotion from all of them, especially since Quinto seemed like such an amazing guy. Did he die or something? Why did it feel like he had a tragic fate? "What happened to him?" Wemby sighed. He was the one most disappointed with what happened to the First Savior. He grew up idolizing the guy. "Nothing happened to him. It''s just¡­the thousands upon thousands of years of living an immortal life must have taken a large toll on him¨Cmentally." "He became insane," Neumann clarified. "Insane? How? Aren''t there supposed to be no disease or illness in a God''s Territory?" "It''s not that simple. He was born in an ordinary world and only grew up in the now, immortal world. His brain developed differently, I guess." Atlan looked at the image of Quinn''s exploits sketched at the bottom of his name. It showed great feats of strength, killing Canzers left and right with his bare hands. It showed him giving hope and peace to the citizens, symbolically becoming the First Savior. It was hard to believe that such a guy would succumb to mental illness. "Where is he now?" They all look dejected. "He''s out there in the streets, living the life of a derelict hobo. He''s been spouting all kinds of stuff¨C theories that don''t make any sense at all and have no basis for truth. Everyone tries to ignore him now, choosing to ignore his current form to preserve the awe-inspiring image they had of him years ago." S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What was he saying?" Wemby shrugged. "You know, the usual conspiracy theories. He thinks that aliens are among us and that the other overseas gods take surveillance on him. He even thinks everything is just a simulation." Neumann shook his head. "He''s been much more vocal now ever since that solar storm hit, saying all kinds of incredulous stuff. It''s best to ignore him when you come across him." "Come on, let''s get going to the cafeteria before I lose my appetite talking about this." Wemby led them back towards the cafeteria, and Atlan took one last look at the Hall of Heroes before he followed them. ##### The cafeteria was a big room filled with long tables and seats perfect for eating and socializing at the same time. Atlan and the others had to wait in line to get their chance to pick out whatever dish they wanted to eat. "Ooh! Try the beef wellington, Atlan. You''ll love it." "Um¡­which?" Wemby picked up the food for Atlan and put it on his large tray. Atlan was from the Unclaimed Lands. The choice for meals there was either worms or mold and if they were lucky, some mushrooms. He didn''t know any of the foods in the selection, so he just copied whatever they picked. Once they filled their trays with colorful foods that just looked like a mash of ingredients, Wemby led them to an empty table. Atlan noticed that both Quills and Knives were dining in the same hall, but not together. He hadn''t seen a blue battle suit mingle with a green one yet. "Oh, look Atlan. It''s that blonde S class genius." Wemby pointed towards a beautiful blonde-haired girl sitting in the middle of a table filled with other girls. Even when she was mingling with women who were much stronger than her, she still had an air of superiority that she did not lose. "She''s quite popular, eh?" Even though she had barely been in Genesis City for a few days, she already integrated herself quite well. "That''s Barbara, a mage in the 5th stage Student Realm. Looks like she wants to mentor the blonde genius. Hmmm¡­and that''s Petra the sixth. Her family has a long line of Saviors, and she''s considered to have a good future like her mother. Looks like she wants to have the genius as her friend." Wemby quickly analyzed the situation. The women around Yasmine were either her seniors or elite girls from prestigious families her age. They knew that Yasmine would someday become a bigshot in the future, so they were trying to ally themselves with her early. "Oh, look at those boys. They''re trying to hit on her, but they keep getting rejected back and forth!" Yasmine was popular among the novice Saviors her age. But of course, she didn''t even spare a glance at them. Her friends quickly shooed her suitors away like an impenetrable fortress. "Yasmine, don''t entertain those boys till you''re at least 50. By that point, you''ll see which one is talented enough to be worthy of you." The other girls agreed. "But if you were to choose, who would you pick? Would you pick the cute guy, the famous guy, or the talented guy?" "Oh come on. No one here''s worthy of her, right?" Yasmine kept silent and whipped her blonde hair away from her hair. From the corner of her eye, she saw a normal-looking youth sitting at a table on the other side of the room. He was awkwardly trying to eat his food with his friends laughing at the side. He was holding a fork in his whole hand and stabbing the peas on his plate. She wouldn''t forget that black hair and dark eyes¨Cthe one who transcended the competition with his talent, the one who she couldn''t overcome. "I have to go practice." She left the cafeteria, leaving her friends speechless. Chapter 25: Target After they finished eating food, they all went their separate ways and went home. Atlan immediately went to sleep and looked forward to the next day. He hoped that he would get another fragment. #### Just like yesterday, after taking a shower and putting on a new battlesuit, Atlan quickly made his way back to the Savior HeadQuarters. Just like before, his three friends and mentors were there waiting for him. Atlan didn''t dislike the monotony of his daily life, but there was something that bothered him still. When he walked up the stairs of the HeadQuarters, he still saw the plume of smoke in the distance overwhelming a huge chunk of the City. It had grown even larger this time. He was even starting to wonder if his residential district would get affected at this point. Even after two days, the Symptoms still haven''t cleared. This meant that the Saviors still hadn''t finished off the Canzers that were wreaking havoc in the Remedium. When he mentioned this to Neumann, he also found this weird. They all thought that it would be over in just one day. But despite the abnormality of the situation, they didn''t panic. Nobody did. In their eyes, the situation would soon resolve itself given more time. Everyone went into their same life without knowing that the Angels they relied on to be immortal had long gone extinct. Atlan was the only one who knew that fact. But he couldn''t do anything to change it. The only thing he could do was to make himself stronger bit by bit. For his first goal, he wanted to turn his F class Mage LifeSkill to an S class one. However, that would take a lot of LifeSkill fragments to accomplish. When he went to the Training Hall Remedium and continued to ''clean up'' their messes of Pseudo Canzers, all of them wondered how he could keep doing the same things over and over again without getting bored. But for Atlan, doing this for an eternity was infinitely better than doing nothing and dying in the Unclaimed Lands. And by killing the same monster over and over, Atlan was getting used to locating their weak points much more easily now. Even his sword skills were improving at a very fast rate. Unlike before, he wasn''t stumbling and missing his sword thrusts anymore. As long as he knew where he wanted the sword tip to go, he could accurately hit it without a problem. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Of course, he also earned a lot of experience from reaping all the deaths. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x169 [You have gained 2,535 experience] However, he failed to gain a single LifeSkill fragment this time. Thankfully though, his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill finished its consolidation period and finally advanced to the 3rd stage. Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª 3rd stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0 / 3000) And since he had enough experience anyway, he decided to upgrade it to the 4th stage immediately. Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6 days : 23 hrs With everything settled, he went back home. As he lay in his bed, he closed his eyes and tried to feel the LifeSkill planets in his Soul System. During his spare time throughout the day, he kept trying to activate his LifeSkill by ''reaching out'' to it and to try and harness its powers. But, it was easier said than done. It felt like he was trying to materialize a giant hand that could hold the LifeSkill planet comfortably in the palm. Whenever he tried to visualize it, he would barely be able to make a hand large enough to grasp the planets. And when he did, the moment he tried to move it, it would disintegrate into nothing but smoke. It was a process of trial and error as he tried to find out the best way to activate his LifeSkill. He didn''t lose hope, though. He was willing to work hard and find a way to finally activate his LifeSkills. He closed his eyes and readied himself for another hard day tomorrow. #### The next day, Atlan was glad to see that the cloud of smoke that ravaged a huge chunk of the City was gone! It seemed that the Saviors finally triumphed against those Canzers. He remembered Garuun, the Savior with the same job as him. He wondered what kind of contributions he made to the success of their mission. When he walked up the steps with Neumann and the others, he noticed that they looked a little bit concerned. "HeadQuarters have been weird since this morning," Wemby muttered. "I agree. They''ve been really silent." Even Oliver, the man of few words, couldn''t help but agree with him. "Why?" Atlan wanted to know what happened. "Usually, once a mission this severe is completed, the HeadQuarters would immediately send out a welcoming parade for the Saviors. It gave a chance for the Saviors to feel appreciated for their hard work, and it also showed the normal citizens that the heroes would always be there to protect them. But now¡­radio silence. Nobody has even seen anyone from the triumphant team ever since." Did something happen during that mission? But since Atlan couldn''t do anything about it, he tried to put it to the back of his mind. They all entered the Training Hall again, with their minds heavy with thoughts. Atlan sat on the steps of the Training Hall Remedium, watching all of the other Saviors practice their LifeSkills on straw dummies. His mind was filled with questions as he tried to juggle his thoughts about the weird situation with the HeadQuarters and his problem with activating his LifeSkills. As he was subconsciously watching a mage Savior create a bullet made of vines and thorns, he suddenly saw something that made him wake up from his stupor. He thought the mage missed his shot, but then the bullet suddenly curved and hit the dummy on the side of the head. Wait¡­what if my SSS class Cherubic Retribution needs a target to activate? Chapter 26: Mucus spray Atlan went over to Wemby and asked him a simple question. "Why did that mage''s attack suddenly curve towards its target?" "Oh, that''s because his skill probably has a tracking mechanism, so even if his opponent is wildly moving, his attack will still hit them." "So if it doesn''t have a target, then he wouldn''t be able to activate his LifeSkill?" Wemby shook his head. "Not necessarily. He can still shoot out his magical projectiles anytime he wants, even if it''s towards nothing but air." He then raised his hand in the air and demonstrated it to the newbie. "See? I don''t have a target in my mind right now." Just then, his hands glowed a royal blueish color until hemp rope burst out of his palms and shot towards the red sky of the Remedium. It went straight up, slowed down, and fell back to the white ground. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I can still activate my LifeSkill without a target. But if I try to target that lamp post¡­" Wemby raised his right hand, guided by his left, and aimed at the stop light in the intersection of the street. He promptly activated his LifeSkill again and this time, the rope shot towards the post and wrapped itself into a knot. With one tug, Wemby shot towards the stop light until he was able to squat just over the top of the pole. "If I have a target in mind, I can also do that," he shouted back towards Atlan. Wemby used his powers again and maneuvered through the air back beside Atlan without much problem. "Any more questions?" "...Do you know if there''s a LifeSkill that can''t activate without a target?" This time, Neumann was the one to answer. "Yes. My tank LifeSkill allows me to imbue protection to the teammates I target. Without anyone to target, my LifeSkill can''t activate." Neumann raised his hands, which suddenly glowed in a reddish maroon glow. He aimed his hands at Wemby and suddenly, a spherical bubble materialized to cover Wemby''s entire body. And without a warning, Neumann punched the bubble, surprising both Wemby and Atlan. His punch was so strong that it sounded like a large elephant stomping on the ground. "Woah! Uncalled for," complained Wemby in the transparent bubble. But even with Nuemann''s full-powered punch, the bubble barely even wobbled. Atlan guessed that it could withstand the force of a couple more punches before it started to crack. But with this demonstration, Atlan finally found the reason why he couldn''t activate his LifeSkill. It was because he wasn''t thinking of a target! He always tried to use his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill, just for the sake of activating it. He just wanted to see if he could manifest it, so he wasn''t thinking about actually trying to hit anything with it. This led him to be unable to activate it at all. He desperately wanted to try and activate it now that he knew the root of the problem. First, he tried to activate his Mucus Spray. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the brown planet in the distance. Ever since he upgraded it to D class, the pattern on its surface changed to be more complex, having streaks of black everywhere. A giant hand materialized in the dark space of the Soul System. He took great care to make sure that it didn''t dissipate like last time. Thankfully, all those practice sessions paid off as he was able to keep the integrity of the giant hand. He maneuvered the hand to go over to his Mage LifeSkill. And now, the moment of truth came as the hand slowly grasped the planet in its palm. And the moment the giant hand closed and enveloped the whole planet, Atlan suddenly felt a strange power flow from his veins and towards his hand. He opened his eyes and saw that his hands were glowing a slight brown hue. If he continued to hold the planet, the LifeSkill would activate! He quickly stopped himself when he realized where he was. Neumann and the others were still talking beside him. They would definitely notice it. As he let go of his grip on the LifeSkill planet, his hands stopped glowing and he felt the strange power retract back to his veins. He wasn''t sure that this Remedium was safe. Neumann said that this Remedium was built by the Operators from the HeadQuarters. This could mean that they''re surveilling the whole place at all times. Even though that possibility wasn''t that realistic, Atlan still didn''t want to risk it. He couldn''t show his other LifeSkills here. And even in the real world, he had to be careful. This was a place that lied to everyone and kept the extinction of the Angels a secret. What would happen if they suddenly saw Atlan display angelic powers? Atlan could practice his Mucus spray, but he couldn''t show any hint that he had angelic powers. "I want to go to the bathroom," Atlan said. "I don''t think I''ll make it up back to the real world." Wemby, of course, made fun of the newbie. "Kukuku¡­as long as your poop isn''t nuclear, you can drop it anywhere you like. Don''t worry, I''ve done it a hundred times before." Atlan quickly went down the steps and jogged to the very edge of the city in a discreet corner just in the middle of two houses. When he was sure no one was looking, he activated his mucus LifeSkill and successfully replicated his previous attempt. His hands glowed until he felt it become filled with power. After a second, a spray of black goo flowed out of the palm of his hands like an intertwined spider''s web. The spray spread out as it traveled out his hands, enveloping a large conical shape in front of him. The Mucus Spray slammed on the walls and stayed there. It enveloped the whole wall about 4 meters tall and 4 meters wide. When he touched the black goo, he found that it wasn''t as sticky as he thought. However, when he tried to pry it off the wall, it took him a tremendous amount of effort to take it off. Chapter 27: Genus After a few more tests, Atlan was able to figure out that his D class Mage LifeSkill was a power that could entrap enemies using an inherently strong adhesion. After activating his Mucus Spray a couple more times, he was able to familiarize himself with activating the LifeSkill. It took him two seconds in total to use it: one second for preparation and materialization of the giant hand in his Soul System, and one second for the wind up of powers in his hands. Even though it was slow now, he saw that with more practice, he could cut down that time to maybe less than a second. After a few minutes, he returned. Wemby didn''t forget to tease him about doing his first ''business'' in the Remedium. Apparently, it was quite normal during long missions. The whole day unfolded just like any other. Saviors summoned Pseudo Canzers, and Atlan cleaned up the kills for them. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x 87 [You have gained 1,305 experience] It was a slow day and not a lot of Saviors practiced their skills, which was why Atlan only got 87 reaps. It was also unfortunate that he was unable to get another fragment to upgrade his Mucus LifeSkill. But on the other hand, his swordplay got better, which was commended by the other Saviors who watched him kill the Pseudo Canzers for hours. On the other hand, the consolidation period for his Mucus LifeSkill finally ended. ¡ªMage: (D) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª 3rd stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0/3000) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 1x F class fragment [Available Experience: 8,766.2] He quickly advanced it to the 4th stage, [You have successfully advanced through the 3rd Stage Student Realm of your D class LifeSkill Mucus Spray] [Consolidation period: 6 days : 23 hrs] He went home and slept. He hoped that he would get better luck tomorrow and finally advance his Mucus LifeSkill to the C class, if that was even possible. ### His day started like any other. He went over to the Training Hall Remedium and helped the other Saviors clean up their kills. However, on his very first kill, he suddenly saw a set of words pop up in front of his eyes. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [You have gained 15 experience] [You have gained 1-star Genus Pseudo Canzers] After a long drought, he finally got another Genus! At this point, he wasn''t even hoping to get another one of these. He had killed hundreds of Pseudo Canzers over the span of a few days, yet he never got another Genus. He gave up on it thinking that it was just a one-time thing, unlike the LifeSkills. But as it turned out, he could get another Genus! [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [You have two of the same Genus with the same rarity. Do you want to fuse the two Genus?] [Upgrade Points required: 1000] [Available Upgrade Points: 999,000] He was surprised to see that he could also fuse Genuses! If merging two LifeSkills resulted in advancing its class, then what would result in the fusion of two Genus? Will it become a 2-star rarity genus? Atlan looked at his Soul System and saw two spiraling helixes representing his two 1-star Genuses. The two helixes were made up of a structure that looked like a twisted ladder made up of strange dark blue blobs that resembled the color of the Pseudo Canzers. Once he ordered the fusion of the two helixes, the fuzzy sphere made out of red geometrical objects spurt out a straight line of squares, triangles, and polygons toward the Genuses. These were his Upgrade Points, and they wrapped themselves around the two double-stranded helixes and squeezed them closer together. It forced the two together until the two helix ladders merged and fused into one single structure, with more complex colors and more defined patterns on the very helix itself. [You have successfully merged the two Genus] [You have obtained 2-star Genus Pseudo Canzers] When Atlan looked at his Soul System, he saw that his bloodline remained as the ''Angelic Reaper of Souls.'' According to Lizzie, the Genus dictated what kind of bloodline a person had. When he obtained the Grim Reaper Genus, his bloodline changed to the Grim Reaper of Souls. When he obtained the Angel Genus, his bloodline once again changed into the Angelic Reaper of Souls, which incorporated the two essences of his Genus. However, when he obtained the 1-star Pseudo Canzer genus, the bloodline remained the same. Even when he upgraded it to 2-star, it still didn''t have an effect on his bloodline. He turned towards Neumann and asked him. "Can I ask what mutation you have?" "Sure. I obtained the 4-star Armadillo Mutation. You can''t see it because I''m wearing my battle suit, but the entirety of my back and chest has changed into an Armadillo shell." Neumann stretched the collar of his green battle suit and showed Atlan that his entire chest up to the collarbone had changed into a hard collagen material with a dark brown color. "That means that your bloodline has changed into an Armadillo?" "Kukuku, armadillo man!" Wemby teased. "Yes. My bloodline has fully changed into an Armadillian." "What if you get a 1-star Genus? Will that change your bloodline?" He shook his head. "A lesser or inferior Genus won''t change your bloodline." Atlan paused for a second. "What if you have the same genus rarity?" "Your bloodline will change into which one is the more dominant. Not all the Genus in the same star rating are equal. Some are better than others." "They won''t change your bloodline into a mix of both genes?" Neumann laughed and shook his head. "I wish, but no. If you have a Genus of a whale and a bull, you''re going to be the whale." Then why did my 10-star Genus mix in my bloodline? S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 28: (Bonus chap) Old man Is it because they''re 10-star? Unfortunately, he wouldn''t be able to ask anyone about it. Atlan was a little bit disappointed to know that his bloodline wouldn''t change until he had better Genus. Until he was able to make the 2-star Pseudo Canzer genus into a 10-star rarity genus, it wouldn''t be able to affect his bloodline for now. This also meant that he wouldn''t be able to get a mutation from them. Thankfully though, he was already satisfied with two 10-star genus making his bloodline into something completely unique. The day continued with the usual and the god of luck must have been watching over Atlan because near the end of today''s session, he was able to get another fragment! [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x77 [You have gained 1,155 experience] [You have gained F class Mucus Spray LifeSkill fragment] [You have two of the same fragments with the same class. Do you want to fuse them?] [Upgrade Points required: 1000] Atlan immediately used the points to fuse the two fragments, and it resulted in an equivalent D class fragment. ¡ªMage: (D) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6 days : 01 hrs ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 1x D class fragment [You have an equivalent class fragment of LifeSkill. Do you want to fuse the two?] [Upgrade Points required: 3000] Atlan used the Upgrade Points in his Soul System to fuse the two LifeSkills until it resulted in a new and better class. He looked at his Soul System and was satisfied with what he saw. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (2-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 5 days : 23 hrs ¡ªMage: (C) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6 days : 01 hrs ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 1x F class fragment [Available Experience: 6,766.2] [Upgrade Points: 993,000] He went home that day and went to sleep. He preferred his life to be very monotonous because it gave him enough time to become stronger. If he could stay in this place for a thousand years and only kill Pseudo Canzers, then he would be satisfied with that life. He would be as patient as he could be and turn his Mage LifeSkill Mucus Spray into a very respectable S class power. He also hoped that he would be fortunate again to gain another genus from the Pseudo Canzers and turn them into 10-star rated genuses. He was curious to know if it would change his bloodline just like the other two. However, he had to go on his very first mission in the Remedium, which was due in a week. He only had 4 days left to get as strong as possible. ### The next day, Atlan walked out of his house with a little bit of a pep in his step. He was starting to get used to this kind of life. He had a house and a bed he could sleep on, he had all the kinds of food that he could eat every day in the cafeteria, and he had friends who would help him and give him advice on everything. He got familiar with the optimistic and happy faces of everyone he met on the streets. However, when he walked towards the usually busy streets in the City Center, he noticed that fewer people were walking by than normal. And when he reached the busiest street in the district, he couldn''t see any sign of people anywhere he looked. He saw a lot of unattended stalls with the grill still burning chicken skewers, he saw a jewelry store open with no guards, and he even saw half-eaten lunches on benches. What happened? Atlan continued walking the path toward the Savior HeadQuarters until he finally saw other people. He saw them at the end of the street, all looking towards something in the front of the HeadQuarters itself. Hundreds if not thousands of people were squeezing themselves as they tried to go to the front of the crowd. He walked faster, wanting to know what the commotion was all about. When he finally reached the main road that led to the HeadQuarters, he was surprised to see that almost the whole City was packed closer to this scene. The roads were filled with people. Mounts had nowhere to go. Barely anyone could move. He walked closer and put himself at the very back of the crowd. He raised his feet to try and see above the tall heads in front of him, but he couldn''t see past them. With no other choice, Atlan pushed himself between the gaps. He had to see what was happening. With his enhanced strength, he was able to jostle his way further up the crowd. If his physique wasn''t so sturdy, he would have been crushed by the sheer amount of people around him. As he got closer, he was able to hear the jeering of the crowds. And amongst those noises, he was able to hear a passionate plea within them. "Please, please! Please listen to me!" The voice seemed to come from an old man. He was hoarse, yet he still tried to shout at the top of his lungs towards the crowd. But no one was receptive to his words. They ridiculed him. "Ha! Why would we listen to you? Your words don''t mean anything." "The lies you spout are worth less than the clothes you wear." "My ear hurts from hearing all your bare-faced lies." But despite the negative reaction from the crowd, the old man persisted in convincing them of his words. Atlan finally pushed through the crowd close enough to finally see who this old man was. The first thing he noticed was the man was balding, with white hair sparsely attached to his head in small patches. He didn''t seem to wash it as it was filled with grime and oil, dirtying its original white color. Surprisingly, the man still had a white beard on his jaws, but it was so long that it reached the bottom of his feet! The old man wore tattered brown pants, with holes and stains all over the hems. He didn''t wear any shirt, and it showed how malnourished and decrepit he was. His stomach was caved in, his ribcage showed in his torso, and his eyes and cheeks were so sunken that it almost showed the full shape of his skull. I feel like I''ve seen him before¡­ The old man didn''t stop his struggle to make the citizens of Genesis City heed his words. "We should prepare¡­ prepare¡­ PREPARE! The Apocalypse¡­it''s coming!...Death is Coming!" Chapter 29: Warnings !!! Atlan was surprised to hear the old man mention an apocalypse. All this time, the citizens of Genesis were unaware of the precarious situation they were in. None of them knew that their immortality disappeared the moment the angels fell from the heavens. They still believed that it was just a simple solar event from the sun. He always refrained from telling everybody this because he knew that no one would believe him. They would label him as nothing more than a liar. He was surprised that this old man knew about the apocalypse and was actually trying to warn the rest of the citizens. And as he guessed, they were treating his words as nothing more than fiction. They were berating and insulting him all because he dared them to open their eyes to the truth. "Please! Don''t you see?! Immortality is an illusion!" The old man, in his desperation, grabbed ahold of one of the citizens in his collar. He didn''t like that. He pushed the old man to the ground with such force that the old man crashed his head on the pavement. Ptooh, the man spit. "Don''t grab me with your dirty hands, you decrepit old fool!" The old man held his head as he felt red blood trickling out of his forehead. There seemed to be a moment of clarity in his head, where his eyes turned clear and his expression turned serious. But it soon melted away after a few seconds. Atlan looked at the crowd and saw that none of them were helping the old guy. Even though he was hurt, no one was moving to give him aid. Everyone was just watching this scene unfold with an indifferent expression. Why are they all just watching? Atlan wondered. It was even more weird that almost all of the citizens of the City were there to watch all of this. Is the old man someone important? "Excuse me, do you know who that is?" Atlan asked someone beside him but instead of answering, the man just shook his head in disappointment. "It''s best if you don''t know, kid." S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The old man picked himself back up and pointed at the sky. "Don''t you see? The smoke¡­where''s there''s smoke¡­there''s fire¡­" However, when everyone looked at where he was pointing, they saw that there was nothing there but the sky and the buildings beneath it. "You''ve gone senile. There''s nothing there!" Everyone ridiculed him, but when Atlan looked at where the old man was pointing, he noticed that it was the place where the huge plume of smoke appeared a few days ago. Is the old man talking about that? According to Neumann, it was a result of a Symptom because Canzers were causing destruction in the Remedium. It persisted for three days, but it was soon solved by Garuun and his team of Saviors in the Specialist Realm. "What more lies are you spouting? Alien conspiracies? Flat earth? Ha! This is the reason why no one takes you seriously." The old man didn''t seem to hear the insults fired towards him. He didn''t even seem to register anything around him. He looked like a deranged man who was spouting nonsense. Perhaps, it was the reason why no one was taking his words seriously, even if it was the truth. "They fell¡­they''re dead! They''re dead, I tell you!" The old man went on his knees and put his hands together into a praying position. Then, he looked up and wept at the tragedy he remembered. He''s talking about the fall of angels¡­ As Atlan heard more about the old man''s lies, the more Atlan was convinced that he wasn''t insane. He was probably even more sane and lucid than most of the people who ridiculed him. "Why is no one taking him back to the care center?" "It''s such a shame to see him like this." "What a tragedy¡­" Atlan continued to squeeze himself towards the crowd until finally, he was able to shove himself at the very front of the crowd. And as soon as he did, the old man looked in his direction. They made eye contact. Atlan finally got a good look at his features and a glint of recognition flashed in his eyes. He recognized this old man! Meanwhile, the old man was surprised when he looked at Atlan. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He looked at Atlan from his feet to his head, and even further beyond his stature. No one was seeing things like him. He saw the truth of the world. And what he saw from Atlan¡­frightening. Black tendrils made out of the very darkness of space itself were spreading out of Atlan''s body like roots. The blackness branched away from Atlan and connected to each and every person near him. Nobody was safe. No one saw it but him. Nobody knew that they were in the proximity of the maws of death. And when the old man looked up above Atlan, he saw a melting pot of deranged skulls and horrified deaths flowing out of his head. This seemingly normal youth was the personification of his very fear; he was death itself. The old man''s heartbeat sped up to a thousand times per second as he started to palpitate. He was experiencing a nightmare that he could not wake up from. His heart pumped faster and faster, much more than what his fragile body could take. Terror and trepidation forced his heart to beat until, finally, it stopped. His heart no longer worked. And in his last moments, he uttered the words; "Death hath come¡­" The old man flopped on the ground, his body quickly turning cold. Atlan stayed frozen in place until someone grabbed him by his shoulders and broke him out of his stupor. He looked back and saw a familiar face. He recognized that long curly hair anywhere. It was Lizzie. She gave him a concerned look. "Are you okay?" Atlan paused for a second and couldn''t utter the words at the tip of his tongue. He was distracted by the words in front of him. It gave him mixed feelings. [You have assisted in the death of Quinto Kindle] [You have reaped the death of the ''First Savior''] [You have gained 10,000 experience] [10x Booster trait acquired!] [SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire acquired] Chapter 30: Quinto I can''t believe it¡­ [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (2-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [Trait] ¡ª 10x level booster [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4 days : 23 hrs ¡ªMage: (C) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 5 days : 22 hrs ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 1x F class fragment ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0 / 1000) [Available Experience: 17,921.2] [Upgrade Points: 993,000] He couldn''t believe that the emaciated old man who was spouting about the apocalypse was Quinto Kindle, the First Savior. Those words that flashed in front of him confirmed his suspicions. From the first time he saw the old man, he felt that he was familiar; Atlan felt like he had seen him before. But because he was so far away from the man, he couldn''t remember it. Only when he pushed himself deeper within the crowd and finally reached the very front of the commotion did he finally get a good look at the old man. Gone was the luscious lion''s mane white hair on his head. Gone were the fierce and unrelenting expressions in his eyes. Gone was the arrogant and aggressive smile on his face that intimidated everyone who looked his way. What''s left of him was just skin and bones. He was nothing but a husk of his old self, with his face barely resembling his glorious days. "Oh come on, old man. Stop pretending." "He''s so dramatic." "Will someone wake him up please?" They didn''t know he was dead. Why would they? Immortality was still embedded in their brains and the concept of death was so foreign to them that they hadn''t even thought about it all. Coupled with the fact that they distrusted everything Quinto did, they simply believed that he was faking his ''illness''. After a few minutes, some of the people in the front of the crowd walked over to Quinto''s body and shook him to try and wake him up. They noticed that he was cold to the touch. They found this weird. And just as they were about to voice out their doubts about the whole situation, a few of the soldiers standing by forced themselves through the crowd. They then prevented anyone from coming near him anymore as they transported his body elsewhere. "Okay, folks. The show''s over. He needs to be taken care of." Most of the crowds dispersed when the soldiers intervened. However, the few people who touched the cold corpse of Quinto lingered for a few seconds, with doubts flashing in their eyes. However, they quickly shook their heads and threw away the thought forming in their mind. Quinto passed out, nothing more. "Hey, are you okay?" Lizzi looked at Atlan with a worried expression. She saw the absent-minded look on his face. "Yeah¡­it''s just¡­that was the First Savior. That was the Quinto Kindle." She sighed. Just like everybody who watched everything unfold, she was also disappointed with what happened to him. She still remembered the days when she idolized the legends told about his exploits. "It''s such a shame what happened to him. He''s become a crazed old fool. He used to be the symbol of hope and strength in this City and the whole world, but now¡­" She didn''t want to speak about it anymore because the more she thought about it, the more she regretted the circumstances. "He must''ve been so powerful¡­" Atlan muttered. He looked at his Soul System and the powers he gained from reaping the very First Savior¡ªthe man who lived for thousands of years accumulating strength. He gained another LifeSkill, which had the job of a sniper. Surprisingly, it was SSS class rated. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was the first time he had ever heard of someone else having a SSS class rated LifeSkill. The best one he had ever seen was Yasmine, but she was already considered to be a transcendent talent with a very bright future. But the fact that Quinto had this LifeSkill meant that there were others with SSS class LifeSkills out there. Atlan immediately upgraded this LifeSkill to the 2nd stage. [You have successfully advanced through the 1st Stage Student Realm of your SSS class LifeSkill Apocalyptic Hellfire] [Consolidation period: 12 hrs: 59 mins: 50secs] Getting the SSS class LifeSkill was already a tremendous reward in and of itself, but that wasn''t the only thing he received when he reaped the death of Quinto. He looked at his Soul System and saw that he gained a Trait. [Trait] ¡ª 10x level booster What''s this? "Lizzie, do you know something called Trait?" Lizzie tilted her head and thought for a second. But, in her hundred years of life, she hadn''t heard of something called Trait. "Sorry, I don''t know. Why do you ask?" Atlan waved his hands. "It''s fine. I just thought I heard someone talk about it. I must have misheard them." Lizzie didn''t question it any further. After a few seconds of silence, Lizzie suddenly jolted as she remembered something that she was supposed to say. "Oh right! I forgot to tell you why I''ve been looking for you." "What''s wrong?" "It''s something that''s going to rid your mind of what happened." Lizzie guided Atlan up the steps of the HeadQuarters. When she opened the door, the first thing he saw was a few Saviors with green battle suits gathered around the reception area. They all had youthful faces, and he didn''t recognize any of them¨Cexcept for one. For some reason, Neumann was among the youthful group of Saviors. Once Neumann saw Atlan walking with Lizzie towards him, he waved his hands. "What are we doing in the HeadQuarters?" Atlan asked Lizzie. She smiled. "You remember your prize for the competition, right?" "Yes. My reward is a mission in the Remedium in a week." "Well, good news. Something happened and your schedule has moved up!" "When?" "Now!" Chapter 31: Preparation Atlan couldn''t hide the surprise from his face. "Are you happy? Your first mission is only at a 1st stage Student difficulty." Happy is not the right word. When he first found out about his mission in the Remedium, he wasn''t that surprised. He knew that he would eventually have to do his job and go to his first mission. He was given a very gracious one-week period where he could prepare for the mission. Atlan took full advantage of this and killed as many Pseudo Canzers as he could. By doing so, he was able to advance his Mage LifeSkill to C class. And he was even able to get another Genus and advance it to 2-star. It had only been 4 days since then, and he thought he''d have 3 more days to practice. Turns out he didn''t. Fortunately, though, he was able to acquire another SSS class LifeSkill from the unfortunate tragedy earlier. If people found out that his SSS class and his C class LifeSkill were at the 3rd stage Student Realm, they would feel that he was overqualified. This mission was only intended for beginners at the 1st stage Student realm. Yet Atlan had two LifeSkills, which is already a cheat itself, in the 3rd stage difficulty. And the fact that he was a Porter made this extremely interesting. He wasn''t even going to be fighting the Canzers! "Your teammates are right there." She pointed at the youthful group in the reception area. "They are also beginners like you." When Atlan and Lizzie finally arrived at the reception area, Neumann introduced Atlan to the rest of the group. "This here is our star porter, Atlan." Everyone''s eyes gleamed when they finally put a face to the man they had heard so much about. "I can''t believe you''re only in the first stage like us!" "You were able to defeat two 3rd stage Students in a race! How did you do that?" "Even though we''re the same age, you''re so much better than us already." "I''m glad someone as capable as you is our porter." Everyone greeted him with praises and compliments. Even though all of them were roughly the same age, they all looked at Atlan as if he was a senior they deeply respected. Atlan was a little bit overwhelmed with their enthusiasm. He didn''t know how to respond to them, so he looked towards Neumann for help. However, Neumann just winked at him and nodded his head. He hyped up Atlan to the rest of the team so that they''d quickly integrate him into the group. The best part was that Neumann didn''t have to lie. All of Atlan''s achievements were true and weren''t embellished at all. His plan worked as they all got along well. "Hello¡­I''m Atlan," he greeted them. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They then introduced themselves one by one and told him about their respective jobs. The oldest out of all of them was a man who was 20 years old, and he had a C class Pugilist LifeSkill. The others were younger than him, about 18 and 19 years old. One boy had a D class Archer LifeSkill, the other had a C class Tank LifeSkill, and the last boy had a D class Scout LifeSkill. The only girl in the group had a C class Stun Wizard LifeSkill. Atlan noticed that all of them had LifeSkills lower than A class. This meant that these groups of youths were natives of Genesis City; they were born here. If they weren''t, then they wouldn''t have been able to enter Genesis City in the first place. "This time, there''s seven of us that are going on this mission," said Neumann, taking the lead. "You''re joining us?" Atlan was surprised because Neumann was at the 4th stage of the Student realm. "Yes. In beginner missions like these, there is always a veteran present to help the newbies. Don''t worry, I won''t interfere with your first mission. I''m only going to act if it becomes dangerous." The other newbies were relieved to hear that Neumann was going to be their guardian angel for their first mission. It was reassuring to know that a veteran would be there to cover for their mistakes. "Sir Neumann," greeted the receptionist from behind him. Neumann turned around and replied to her. "Is the Canzer Report ready?" The receptionist smiled. "Yes. The report just came down from HeadQuarters." She handed him a thin stone tablet about 8 inches wide and 12 inches long. Atlan got a glimpse of the stone tablet and saw letter carvings etched into the very stone. Neumann saw Atlan''s curious look and explained. "This is a Canzer Report. This is compiled by the Operators who monitored the Symptoms manifested in the City. It details where the Symptom is, what type of Canzer we''re dealing with, and the equipment needed to defeat them." "Why a stone tablet?" Neumann chuckled and the receptionist answered it for him. "It''s supposed to symbolize that the Canzer Report is final. It''s etched in stone. There are a lot of Vanguards who second-guess the orders of the Operators. Hmph. Knives should stay knives. They shouldn''t have foul mouths." Looks like the two specialties really don''t get along¡­ Neumann awkwardly let out a forced laugh. He understood both sides and knew that both Knives and Quills had their flaws. Some people understood that, but there were also a lot of people who hated the other side regardless. Wemby and the receptionist were two sides of the same coin. "Ahem," the receptionist coughed. "Anyway, we have already packed up the special equipment for the mission. Please pick them up." Neumann walked over to the receptionist''s office and took out a colossal backpack that could easily fit three people together. It must have been extremely heavy because he had trouble with the weight and had to drag it out of the reception area. "This is your job, Atlan. You''ll have to carry this into the Remedium." The rest of the youths in their team gasped when they heard that. They knew the strength of a Savior in the 4th stage Student realm. And if Neumann had trouble picking that up, then it would be unbelievable for a 1st stage youth like Atlan to carry it through the Remedium. "Are you kidding sir? Atlan''s impressive but that''s impossible¡ª" Their complaints were quickly silenced. Atlan walked over to the backpack, casually picked it up with just one hand, and slung it over his back. He secured the straps to his chest and looked at everyone expectantly. "So, when are we going?" Their mouths went agape. Chapter 32: 2nd Street They were all surprised at seeing Atlan pick up the tons of weight on his shoulders like it was as light as a feather. He didn''t even look like he was struggling at all. "Woah¡­" "As expected of a Porter¡­" Neumann and Lizzie chuckled to themselves because they found the youth''s reactions amusing. They reacted the same way that they did when they first saw Atlan show his strength. "Okay, now that we''re ready, let''s depart," said Neumann as he led the group out of the HeadQuarters. "Where are we going," asked Atlan. Neumann showed him the stone tablet with the engraved Canzer Report. "This says that the Symptom appeared in the SpringField District, specifically the 2nd street." Lizzie added, "They''ll get there by their mounts. But because the equipment you''re carrying is too heavy, we''ll go there by truck." Atlan saw that the youths, along with Neumann, all mounted their horses parked by the side of the street. "Those are presents from their parents. Usually, a beginner like them can''t get access to those mounts as of yet," Lizzie said. Atlan someday wanted a mount of his own. But it seemed that it was unnecessary since he was a Porter carrying hundreds of kilograms on his back. Unless his horse was a colossal monster, then it wouldn''t be able to hold his weight. They all departed and went through the streets of the City, getting away from the City Center and towards the middle layer. The mounts were at the front, and the truck was following them from behind. "You aren''t nervous about your first mission?" asked Lizzie. "Not that much." She smiled. "That''s good. This mission has a 1st stage Student difficulty, which means that it can be completed by a group of novices in the 1st stage. And with Neumann with you to assist, there''s nothing to worry about." Atlan smiled and didn''t say anything further. He watched as the truck traversed through the streets of the City and through a small bridge that separated the inner and middle layers of the City. Along the way, he saw a sign on the street that said,
That''s the location of the symptom¡­we''re close. SpringField District was made out of tightly packed residential apartments that were all about two or three floors high. Some were abandoned and some had living residents, but all of the apartments looked to have aged a lot. There were chipped paints, broken windows, and leaking sewers all around. These houses weren''t as good as the houses near the City Center. The roads also got thinner, just enough for the truck to pass by. As they got closer, Atlan saw soldiers guiding residents out of their houses, whether they wanted to or not. Finally, the group of horses at the front of the truck stopped as they finally reached their location. Neumann and the youths dismounted and walked forward. Lizzie and Atlan followed suit after he put the massive bag on his back. A group of soldiers barricaded the whole 2nd street of the district, preventing anyone from coming in or out. In the very middle, there was a large circular construct that was as tall as two humans. Inside the circle was a portal made out of black swirling liquid, just like what Atlan saw at the elevator in the HeadQuarters. This must be the portal to the Remedium, thought Atlan. Suddenly, Atlan felt a shaking on the ground. It was an earthquake. He thought something was wrong, but when he looked around and noticed that none of them were panicking, he calmed down. "Let''s keep this brief. As you all felt just now, the Symptoms are getting worse." Neumann turned around and faced the youths. "We are facing a Destruction Canzer called the Deiztruphia." Neumann then gave specific instructions to the youths to help them in their fight. Meanwhile, Atlan whispered to Lizzie. "Destruction Canzer?" "They''re one of the two types of Canzers. Destruction Canzer specializes in durability and ruination. This means that their symptoms usually involve some kind of destruction around the City." Atlan looked ahead beyond the portal and saw a glimpse of the apartment houses on the other side. He was surprised to see that most of the buildings were leaning on one side or the other. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the walls of the buildings were melting like hot wax! The balconies on the second floor were drooping down. The glass windows, instead of breaking from collision, deformed like wet clay. Bricks, cement, and stone buildings lost all their toughness and melted like hot lava. And because those walls were starting to lose their integrity, the apartments leaned to one side and crashed. And since the buildings were so packed, the destruction created a domino effect that toppled every building in the street. "That''s the symptom?" She nodded. "Yes, and if the Canzer isn''t killed, it could get worse or spread to other places." "If we kill the Canzer, will those houses return to normal?" "Unfortunately, no. The damage is already done. But don''t worry, we have Operators who can rebuild houses in a matter of hours." At this point, Neumann finished his orientation with the youths. They already knew the theory behind teamwork and all that, but he made sure to remind them to stick to what they learned. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Then, he walked over to Atlan and told him what he needed to do. "Atlan, your job is simple. You stay behind the backline carrying that equipment. And once we defeat the Canzer, I''m gonna order you to take out the bag and put it down on the ground. After that, you don''t have to worry as the equipment activates on its own. Once everything''s over, you pack up the equipment back into the bag and we go home. Easy." Atlan nodded and took all of Neumann''s words to heart. His job was very easy. "Okay, let''s go and finish your very first mission!" DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Chapter 33: Beat Atlan felt a slight thumping rhythm in the ground, as if there was a drum that beat beneath the ground he stood on. He looked forward and had the feeling that the thumping was coming from the 2nd street, where the symptoms were. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He felt it again. "Do you feel that?" "Feel what? It''s probably just an effect of the symptoms." Lizzie didn''t feel what Atlan felt. "Okay, are you all ready?" asked Neumann. The five youths all raised their weapons in the air and cheered on this momentous occasion. This was their first mission. "Hey kiddo, don''t get too worried. You got this. Good luck." Lizzie patted his back and smiled at him. "Thanks." "Now go and beat some Canzers!" she shouted to get him hyped up. Atlan awkwardly raised his hand and uttered, "woOooOh!" Lizzie couldn''t help but laugh at seeing Atlan''s awkward war cry. Atlan was very intelligent and capable most of the time, but Lizzie found it endearing that he had a very awkward side to him sometimes. Neumann led the rest of the youths and entered the black portal in front of them. They quickly disappeared into the Remedium as soon as they stepped foot over the portal construct. Atlan was the only one left behind. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Strengthening his resolve, Atlan stepped forward and entered the Remedium. As soon as he walked inside, he immediately saw the strange inverted colors of the Remedium. The sky was orange, the cement on the ground turned white, and the reddish brown apartment houses all turned sky blue. He wasn''t that surprised when he saw this scene; this wasn''t different from the Training Hall Remedium. However, there was one thing completely different this time. The texture of everything turned into fibers as small as strings intertwined along one direction. Everything was made up of these threads: the roof, the railings, and even the graffiti painted along the walls. And each of these fibers twitched and squirmed sporadically within five seconds. It gave Atlan the impression that he was inside the muscle of a living being. "Be careful," warned Neumann to the team. He led the way and was the first one to see the problem. There were neon green puddles of goo all around the street. Atlan and the others watched as the slime from atop the roof dripped down onto the sidewalk below. The mysterious green goo seeped into the small gaps of the intertwined fibers and as soon as the fibers twitched, they suddenly snapped in half as if the force from its normal spasm was suddenly too much to bear. The fibers soon lost all its luster and no longer squirmed. "The Deiztruphia will continue producing these green biles if we don''t kill it soon. More destroyed fibers mean more destruction in the real world." "How will we find it?" asked Atlan. Neumann looked back at him and said, "We''ll know when it''s near." The group continued to walk through the streets cautiously. The youths were already in their positions, with the C class Tank at the front of the C class Stun Wizard, the D class Archer, and the C class pugilist. The D class scout positioned himself away from the main group and walked a little bit further by himself. Neumann was at the very front guiding everyone while Atlan was at the very back. Finally, after walking for a few minutes, the group came across a secluded back alley of two apartment buildings that were destroyed by green goo all around it. The fibers that made up the walls and the fire exit that led up to the 4th floor of the apartment building were all destroyed and frayed. This place no longer spasmed and twitched like the rest of the street. It looked lifeless. "This is the place. This is its lair," whispered Neumann. He signaled everybody to watch their steps as they traversed through the narrow pathway leading to the Canzer''s den. Neumann peeked out from the corner and saw their target. He carefully signaled for the others to take a look as well. The Deiztruphia Canzer was a creature that walked on all of its four legs, covered with short black fur. Its hind legs were much bigger and more muscular than its front legs. On its back was a hard shell or carapace made out of green honeycomb chitin that protected its torso and its shoulders. The weirdest part of its body was its head. It resembled the shape of a human, yet there were no eyes, no nose, and no ears. There was only a mouth in the middle of its face. Its long and wide tongue lay out of its mouth, dribbling green goo on the ground. The Canzer hadn''t noticed them yet. It sprawled its legs on the floor like a dog relaxing on a hot day. But it didn''t know that there was a group of Saviors positioning themselves to attack its peaceful slumber. "Attack!" Neumann shouted. The D class Archer was the first to move as he activated his LifeSkill, empowering the tip of his arrow to have billowing flames. The arrow flew through the air and landed directly on the Canzer''s head, sinking till the tip was fully embedded into the Canzer''s skin. KYAWWOOOOO, it screamed. The pugilist took this chance to close the distance. He jumped on the garbage bin to the side and used it as a jumping pad up to a balcony. With his pugilist LifeSkill, his arms twisted like screws as he jumped down towards the Canzer, drilling through its forearms. Violet blood spurted everywhere. The Canzer roared and flailed its large tongue everywhere, flinging green goo everywhere. The tank proved his worth as he raised his shield and created a 2-meter by 2-meter holographic shield. The green goo splattered out the shield, protecting the wizard. With the Canzer active and conscious of its attackers, it stood on its two hind legs and flailed its front arms and tongue in a defensive move. The scout looked at the stun wizard and saw that she was casting her spell. He quickly activated his LifeSkill to distract the Canzer. He shouted, and the visible sound waves traveled toward the Canzer, getting its attention. While it wasn''t paying attention to her, the Stun Wizard used her LifeSkill and a ball of ice appeared on her palm. She grasped it in her hands and flung it towards the Canzer. It landed on its hind legs as the ice spread through its thick fur. No matter how much it tried to, it couldn''t move it anymore! The five youths moved with perfect teamwork as they successfully ambushed the Canzer and did as much damage as they could at the start of the battle. Violet blood oozed out of its body and pooled underneath. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Chapter 34: Heal The scout tried to attack the Canzer while it was in its frozen state. However, sharp claws suddenly came thrashing down towards him. "Argh!" He didn''t expect to see the Canzer recover from the ice in its body so fast. Three gashes appeared on his torso, staining his green battle suit bloody red. The pugilist was caught off guard too. He tried to use his twisting tornado punch again and dealt a heavy blow to the head, but the Canzer suddenly spat out green goo toward him. He thought he''d be able to duck away from it, but he didn''t account for the green goo''s unpredictable splash pattern. The acidic liquid splotched on his left shoulder and a little bit on his neck. Smoke came out as the acid burned away his battle suit and skin. The tank panicked when he saw this. He quickly rushed over to their side and put up his shield. "Are you okay?" The tank tried to save the scout and the pugilist, but that was a mistake. He forgot that he was the only one standing in the way between the Canzer and the Stun Wizard. GYAOOO The Deiztruphia Canzer noticed the lone woman in front of it. It roared and got on all fours. It dug its feet into the fibers on the ground and used them to charge toward the Stun Wizard at fast speeds¨Cmuch faster than what they could all react to. The Stun Wizard was dazed as she saw the Canzer rush towards her. In her panic, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen. SHINGGG Just when she thought that she''d have a thousand kilograms of force slamming on her body at top speeds, a holographic bubble suddenly appeared around her body. The Canzer collided head-first into the bubble and was repelled away, unable to break through. The collision disoriented the Canzer as it stumbled and crashed into the trash bin. "Stop panicking," Neumann shouted to the youths. "Just do what you all practiced. You don''t have to worry about your injuries." Neumann''s reminders broke them out of their stupor. In the midst of all the excitement and nervousness, the group forgot their respective roles in the fight. They got too impatient and that led to mistakes and injuries that could have been easily avoided. "Let''s group up!" shouted the tank. They all nodded as they slowly backed away from the stunned Canzer and used this time to recenter themselves. "I''ll protect the stun wizard and the archer." The tank reminded himself to protect the most vulnerable. Because of his mistake, the stun wizard was almost knocked out. "I''ll have to aim for its legs now." The archer tried to save both the scout and the pugilist, but because he aimed for the head, his shots missed. He got too ambitious. The pugilist took a deep breath and forced himself to be patient. His injuries reminded him of what would happen if he tried to attack at an inopportune moment. The stun wizard remained silent and forced herself to calm her nerves. Yet, her hands still shook from that terrifying experience. "Scout! Are you okay? Can you continue?" asked the tank. The scout held his bleeding torso and forced himself up. He gave his team a smile and a thumbs up. Now that they knew the consequences of their carelessness, the group became more careful. The Canzer got up from the trash bin and roared at the teens. They steeled themselves and got into their respective positions, just like they practiced. Atlan watched as the group started to work like a well-oiled machine. They stopped acting by themselves and started to communicate their moves to one another. This led them to cover for each other''s downtime. The scout, the tank, and the stun wizard all worked together for defense and distraction. Whenever the Canzer tried to attack their group, they would stun or distract it enough for the others to escape. Meanwhile, the archer and the pugilist took that time to deal as much damage to the Canzer when they found an opening. Slowly but surely, their gears got going and they settled on a safe rhythm in their battle against the Canzer. After half an hour of fighting, the Canzer couldn''t keep itself standing anymore. It limped as it tried to use its front legs to move closer to its attackers. The combined attacks from the archer and the pugilist injured the Canzer''s extremities to the point of crippling them. Atlan thought that the battle would soon be over. "It''s not over yet," muttered Neumann beside him. "What do you mean?" Neumann pointed at the Canzer. "All Destruction Canzers have a special ability¡­like that." Just then, he saw the arrows embedded in its four legs start to fall out till the wounds closed. The twisted fur and skin it suffered from the pugilist''s Tornado Punch LifeSkill turned back to normal. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The injuries on the Canzer''s body started to heal! It was at this point that the Canzer fell on the floor and covered its body with its large shell. The youths had no way of penetrating through it. The large tongue on its head peeked out of the shell and shot out green goo up the air like a fountain. No one could approach it unless they wanted to burn their bodies in acid. In just a few more minutes, the Canzer would return to normal and their hard work would all be for naught. Why aren''t they panicking? Is this normal? "Atlan. It''s time!" Neumann patted him on the back. "Put down the bag on the floor." Atlan had more questions, but he knew that this wasn''t the time for it. He immediately took out the large boulder-like bag on his back and put it on the floor. He undid the straps on the bag and let the whole thing unravel. Layers upon layers of fabric laid down on the floor like a carpet until a shiny metallic cube showed itself. This cube was twice as tall as a normal person, and it had intricate wavy and curvy lettering etched onto the very material. As soon as it finished unraveling, its edges suddenly glowed a bright yellow light. "Step back," said Neumann. "It will activate by itself." Just then, the cube suddenly floated up in the air until it was towering over them 10 feet in the air. KUSHHH A grid-like pattern emerged on its surface, separating the whole thing into 27 smaller cubes. And after a few moments, it all flew away in different directions in the sky. It didn''t stop until it encompassed the whole Remedium in a dome. The cubes glowed and shot out glowing lines that connected each cube. A small shockwave emanated from the ''dome'', signaling its completion. Nothing physically changed, but Atlan looked around and felt the difference. It felt like the air got heavier. Why does this feel familiar? GYAOOOO The Deiztruphia Canzer suddenly trembled the same moment Atlan felt the air change. Its whole body spasmed as if it were being electrocuted by lightning. It couldn''t help but extend its arms and head out of its shell. Atlan noticed something then. The Canzer stopped healing! The bruises in its body returned and the cuts on its body let out violet blood again. "Destruction Canzers can keep regenerating as much as they need. That construct prevents them from healing." Neumann muttered. "How?" He shrugged. "I heard it''s something about their weakness. It has something to do with Angels." Atlan was surprised. Canzers have a weakness against Angels? Chapter 35: Back Atlan finally figured out why that feeling was so familiar. When he felt the air change, he felt a part of himself resonate with it. After all, Atlan''s bloodline was part Angel. He was the Angelic Reaper of Souls. And if that construct was somehow part Angel, then it would make sense why he could feel it. He found it interesting that Canzers seemed to have a weakness with Angelic powers. Will my SSS class Cherubic Retribution work on them? he wondered. Fortunately and unfortunately, he wouldn''t get a chance to use it. But he found it fascinating to know that Operators could somehow harness a power similar to Angels. This made him intensely curious about how constructs were made. How were they able to use an angel''s power? Was it a replication? Operators are much more complex than I thought. He didn''t have much knowledge about what Operators did and what made them so special. However, his encounter with this construct left him more curious to know about this second specialty LifeSkill. "Operators make constructs that specifically target and weaken Canzers. You bring that construct with us. And that helps us Vanguards kill the Canzers and purge them from the Remedium. Do you see how important your job is now? You are the link between the two specialties." Atlan nodded. Without that Construct, he could see them eventually getting dead tired from constantly fighting a regenerating Canzer. "Usually, we set up the construct early in the fight, but I wanted to teach the youngsters a valuable lesson." Atlan looked at the youths and saw them heave a sigh of relief when they saw the weakening Canzer. It had no more energy to even fling green goo towards them. "Don''t get complacent," warned Neumann. "Kill it now or will I have to deprive you of that honor?" They all gathered and watched as the archer notched a flaming arrow in his bow. He took a deep breath and shot it accurately in the Canzer''s forehead. THUMPP The Canzer finally stopped moving. Its long tongue lay lifeless on the pavement. And for good measure, the pugilist punched the arrow deeper into the Canzer''s head till it came out the other side. The Destruction Canzer was dead. Mission completed. "We did it!" They cheered. The scout and the tank jumped in celebration while the rest slumped on the ground, exhausted from the fight. After half an hour of hard fighting, they finally vanquished the Canzer. They didn''t come out of it unscathed though, as they all gained numerous injuries on their body. But it was all worth it in the end. They would gain experience from this fight. [You have reaped the death of a Canzer: Deiztruphia] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [You have gained 2000 experience] Atlan didn''t think he''d get that much experience just from this mission. He didn''t even do anything; he just stayed in the backline and watched everything unfold. His mysterious trait, the one he gained from reaping the death of the First Savior, turned out to be a tremendous gift of luck. It was able to multiply his experience by 10! He was already getting a ton of experience just by reaping any deaths he came across. He only got a small amount of experience from that, but this trait would make him have an excess of it. He didn''t hate it though. "Congratulations on completing your first mission," Neumann clapped. "I know it''s been hard, but I commend you all for finishing it in just half an hour." They all celebrated this win by giving each other a round of applause. The youths thanked Neumann for his protection and his much-needed advice during the fight. If it wasn''t for him, they weren''t even sure if they could have defeated the Canzer. They also thanked Atlan for his part, which made him feel awkward. He did the least out of all of them, but they still appreciated him nonetheless. "What happens now?" asked Atlan. Neumann looked up at the sky and said, "Now, the god will send down his rewards for our mission. He''ll give all of us experience points equally." The youths rejoiced when they heard that. The reason why they worked so hard for this mission was because they needed the experience. They all waited patiently for something to happen, but nothing did. Ten minutes elapsed, yet there was no sign that the god would send down the rewards. "Why haven''t we gotten the experience yet?" "Isn''t there supposed to be a pillar of light that comes down and blesses us with rewards?" "It''s supposed to come down immediately after we defeat the Canzer though¡­" They all looked towards Neumann and gauged his expression. He had a steady face to prevent further fear from the youths, but on the inside, he was panicking. In all the years of his experience in the Remedium, he never saw a delay this long. Something''s wrong, Neumann thought. He looked back at the stone tablet and rechecked the Canzer Report. It said that there was only one Deiztriphia Canzer present in the Remedium. The mission should be over. Yet it didn''t. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Atlan heard it again. This time, it was getting louder and more intense. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM It''s getting closer! Atlan panicked. "I think we should leave." The rest of the youths were a little bit reluctant with this as they wanted to get those experience points. They already killed the Canzer; they deserved the rewards. And if they left now, this would put a stain on their records. But, they all agreed that it was better to retreat now. If there was something they knew, then it was better to be safe than sorry. The Remedium was always unpredictable. The youths all got to their battle stances and walked back from where they came. This time, Neumann was on his toes. He stayed close to the youths. After a few minutes, they could see the black portal swirling in the distance at the end of the street. They were close home. The youths relaxed a bit, feeling the safety of seeing the portal. But then Atlan noticed something. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM The thumping was coming from the direction of the portal! "Run!" warned Atlan. But it was too late. The ground quaked until the fibers on the ground came loose. They felt helpless as the ground that they stood on caved in and they felt the weightlessness of free fall. Chapter 36: Tunnels Atlan faintly remembered the figures of Neumann and the rest of the teens flailing around as they fell into the same chasm as him. When he opened his eyes again, he seemed to be in a different space. No one was here with him. He stumbled on the wall beside him and felt the texture of wet, slimy, brick in his hands. Moss seemed to grow on this wall. Judging from the fibers he felt from the wall, he knew that he was still in the Remedium. He felt it strange that he could feel the texture of moss on bricks even though the walls were made up of fibers intertwined with each other. He noticed that everything in this place looked white. This meant that the real-world equivalent of this place must be dark and dim, the exact opposite of the tint he was seeing right now. He pinched his nose. The acrid and pungent smell of decay hit his senses. He didn''t think he''d smell this scent again after he left the Unclaimed Lands. From the distance, he heard the faint sounds of water dripping and echoing around the walls. When he looked to the side, he saw that there were running water-like fibers on the channel down a step below. On the other side, he saw a wall similar to the one he was on now. And spaced out evenly along the wall were small alcoves where torches gave out a small blue flame. He looked around and saw that he could either only go forward or backward. This place seemed like a winding narrow tunnel underground. He wasn''t familiar with this place. When he looked backward, he faintly saw a dead end with iron grates preventing him from going back. With no other choice, Atlan decided to walk forward. He needed to find the exit. He needed to reunite with Neumann and the others. He wanted to know if they were safe. Since they all fell from the same place, Atlan guessed that they were also in the same narrow winding tunnels as him. If he kept walking forward, he would eventually run into them. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He walked for minutes on end, with his steps faintly echoing in the tunnels. Eventually, he heard scurrying in the distance. His eyes lit up when he thought he was hearing the footsteps of his team, but his expression soon turned grim when he heard four sets of stomps in the distance. This wasn''t from a human. This was a creature who walked on all fours. Is it¡­ Atlan''s guess, unfortunately, turned out right as he soon saw a figure in the distance, frolicking on the liquid-like flowing fibers down steps. It had short black fur, walked on all fours, had thicker and muscular hind legs than the front legs, a hard shell on its torso, and a human-like head with nothing but a mouth and a large tongue that dripped green goo. It was a Deiztruphia Canzer. It hadn''t noticed him yet, but it was walking towards him slowly. If he didn''t do anything, it would eventually notice him and attack him. He quickly decided to turn around and try to escape from the Canzer. However, when he looked back, he suddenly saw a different tunnel than the one he walked away from! There was now an intersection that led to the left and right tunnels. The worst part was that he heard two other sets of hooves clopping from the intersection. His guess turned out correct too as two other Deiztruphia Canzers meandered their way towards him. He was surrounded by a place that didn''t follow the rules of physics. I have no other choice. I have to fight. Atlan knew the difficulty that his team went through just to fight one Canzer. It took five 1st stage Students just to kill one of them in half an hour. And they had a lot of trouble killing it too. They came out of the fight exhausted and injured, barely beating the Canzer. They also needed the protection of a 4th stage Student like Neumann. Fighting one Deiztruphia Canzer was a hard task for a lone man like Atlan. It seemed impossible to fight all three at once. However, he reminded himself that he wasn''t just like any other Savior. He had unique powers that could help him overcome this difficult task. He had four LifeSkills in his repertoire. Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ªMage: (C) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage Two of them were at the 3rd Stage Student Realm, and he had three SSS class LifeSkills. He watched his team''s fight with the Canzer and knew of its attack tendencies. He knew that it liked to spout green acid goo on its enemies or charge at them if they were at a distance. If he got surrounded by a spray of green goo from both sides, he wouldn''t be able to escape it. So, he decided to disable the two Canzers behind him first. Thankfully, he had his Mage LifeSkill: Mucus Spray, which was a sticky substance that could immobilize the two of them and give him a chance to fight one of them head-on. GYAOOOOO The two Canzers behind finally took notice of his presence. They screamed to the top of their lungs and it echoed through the tunnels and reached the Canzer in front of Atlan. This alerted it of his presence. I have no other choice. The two Canzers used their muscular legs to charge towards him at fast speeds. Fibers from the ground burst as the Canzers ran through them. One of them jumped up to the curved ceiling and used its claws to run upside down! This left Atlan no chance to escape. GRAOOOO The lone Canzer in front of him growled, and Atlan could hear the gurgling sound of green acidic goo on its throat. It was planning to attack. Chapter 37: (Bonus) Plan Atlan kept his eyes on the Canzer in front of him. He tried his best to calm his nerves as he heard the other two Canzers stomping at the ground and running towards him at top speeds. Those two were still ways away from him. But the immediate threat to his life right now was the gurgling Canzer preparing to spout acid towards his face. TSHHOOO Just as he thought, the Canzer pointed its large red tongue towards him, and a straight line of green goo shot towards him at fast speeds. Atlan saw the goo coming towards him with crystal clear clarity. He knew where it was going and he knew when it was going to hit him. After that, dodging was easy. He bent his back and let the green goo fly past him. He was glad that the Canzer decided to spray it out in such a perfect flow that it came out like a straight line. Atlan felt his heart beating. Unbeknownst to him, there was a slight smile on his face. When he moved his body like that, he felt very free. It felt like he had full control over his body and he could move it any way he wished as long as he could think of it. Why couldn''t they dodge such an easy attack? Atlan wondered why his team wasn''t able to duck away from the slow attack. They had to rely on the Tank''s shielding LifeSkill to defend themselves from the acid. DUG DUG DUG But this was no time to ponder. Atlan looked back and saw the two Canzers from the ground and from up the ceiling lunging at him with their sharp claws. He looked around and saw the recess on the wall, where the torch glowed a bright blue flame. He quickly ran towards it and used the alcove to jump sideways, perfectly dodging the two claws coming for his throat. The two Canzers tumbled and splashed on the free-flowing fibers on the bottom step, unable to keep their balance after their attack failed. Atlan rolled to the side and landed perfectly. He was a natural at this. But the Canzers didn''t let him have a second of reprieve. The lone Canzer charged towards him the moment he landed on the brick flooring. The Canzer pounced toward him, but it didn''t use its sharp front claws to attack. Instead, it gurgled its throat again, preparing to spit out acid at Atlan in point-blank range! Atlan didn''t want to smell the scent of his own burning flesh, so he quickly scooped up the liquid-like fibers flowing from down below and threw them toward the Canzer''s head. The Canzer spat out a mist of green goo towards Atlan, but it was stopped by a swathe of fibrils. TSHHH These fibers had the same consistency as water, and Atlan''s quick thinking allowed him to create a blanket of water to shield him away from the misty spray of green goo. Atlan crawled back away from the Canzer to give himself space. This barrage of attacks from the Canzers led Atlan to realize that it wasn''t ideal to fight three Canzers at the same time. Even though he could dodge their attacks, it would only be a matter of time till they were able to take advantage of their numbers. Atlan decided to use his C class Mucus Spray to disable the Canzer''s movements. He looked at his opponents and saw that all three of them were getting ready for a full frontal attack. He reached down his Soul System and created a giant hand that grasped the brown planet LifeSkill. Because he practiced it so much, he was able to manifest it quite quickly. His hands glowed a brown light as the magic filled his veins. He felt his palms getting hotter as the Mucus Spray manifested in reality. Now, he just waited for the perfect time. He wanted to catch all three at the same time and immobilize them all. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Two of the Canzers lunged at him from both sides of the wall, using it as their springboard to strike at Atlan and mince his body into pieces. Atlan quickly rolled forward and let himself fall to the shallow water-like fibers down below. This saved him from their dangerous claws, but the third Canzer already shot out its acid towards where he landed. He copied his tactics from before and stomped his feet on the ground, creating a wall of water as a barrier to protect from the acid. After that, he looked back and saw the two Canzers in a line towards him. It was the perfect chance he was waiting for! A spray of black web-like strings shot out from his hands and spread out in a cone until it encompassed both Canzers into a bind. The two Deiztruphia Canzers fell on the floor struggling and flailing their bodies as they tried to get rid of the black web-like strings that stuck to their bodies. His plan worked! However, it wasn''t a permanent solution. He saw that slowly, the Canzers were able to tear through the webs with their brute strength. I need to use this opportunity to deal with the one remaining first. Atlan faced the lone Canzer and saw that it was preparing another straight line of acidic goo towards him. It didn''t learn its lesson that Atlan was too fast for the attack to hit him. As the shot of neon green acid came towards his face, Atlan ducked down and immediately lunged towards the Canzer at his top speed. The Canzer was left stupefied when it saw Atlan suddenly appear in front of it. Atlan had a two-step plan. First, he was finally going to activate his SSS class Physique LifeSkill to push the Canzer on the wall and disorient it. Then, at long last, he would activate his SSS class Cherubic Retribution to finally kill it. After all, he learned that Canzers, at least the Deiztruphia Canzer, had a weakness against Angel power. He had a feeling that his LifeSkill would be able to kill it. As he reached an arm''s length away from the Canzer, Atlan activated his Physique LifeSkill. He easily manifested a giant hand that covered the black, skull-filled LifeSkill planet. Black shadows emerged from his whole body and enveloped him with flames of total and utter darkness. He looked like a being who emerged from the emptiness of space. But despite it, Atlan didn''t feel much different. He closed his fist and punched the Canzer''s torso protected by its hard chitinous shell. He was going to punch it and cause the Canzer to slam on the wall and disorient it. However¡­ CRACK Atlan''s eyes went wide when he saw the Canzer''s shell crumble into a million pieces as his hand pierced through it, turning its inside into mush. Chapter 38: (Bonus) How strong? Atlan felt the warm violet blood flow down from his arms. He was stunned in silence. He retracted his hands as the Deiztruphia Canzer fell lifelessly on the ground. It had a large hole in its chest, with broken pieces of its shell everywhere. He looked at his hands and saw the black flames surrounding the outline of his arms. This is my Physique LifeSkill? When he first activated his LifeSkill, he found himself no different than he was before. He didn''t feel powerful and he didn''t feel protected; he just felt as if there was a slight change in his skin that was barely noticeable. But since it was a Physique LifeSkill, he knew that it would somehow empower his physical strength to the point of being able to lift thousands of kilograms of weight while running without any problem. Since he could already do that without the help of his LifeSkill, he was already much stronger than normal Porters. His original plan was to use this Physique LifeSkill to disorient the Canzer. This would allow him to use its weakness against Angel powers by activating his Cherubic Retribution. However, he didn''t think that he''d be able to kill the Canzer with it in just one strike. [You have killed a Canzer: Deiztruphia] [You have reaped the death of a complex creature] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 5000 experience] He looked down at the corpse of the Canzer and saw its violet blood pooling beneath his feet. A full team of 5 Saviors at the 1st stage student realm took them half an hour to kill a Canzer like this. And they must have spent years training to perfect their teamwork to take down this Canzer in their fastest time. He saw them struggle and suffer injuries trying to kill an ambushed Canzer. Yet Atlan killed the same Canzer with just one move. Not to mention the fact that he was fighting 3 Canzers at the same time before he performed the killing move. So this is the power of a SSS class LifeSkill. What''s surprising about this fact was that his Physique LifeSkill stayed at the 1st stage Student realm. This meant that Atlan could solo a mission meant for a team of 1st stage Saviors with just a 1st Stage LifeSkill. That was absurd. Does this mean that my other SSS class LifeSkills are just as overpowered? It was a possibility that its SSS class was a huge factor in this impossible feat of strength, but it could also be because of its mysterious specialty and job. Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm GYAAOOO! One of the Canzers trapped in his Mucus Spray finally shook itself loose. It charged towards Atlan and leaped up, trying to use its two claws to slice Atlan''s body into two. If this was back then, Atlan would have immediately dodged away from the attack. But he realized he didn''t need to. These Canzers didn''t seem to be too intelligent. If it was, then it would have noticed that one of its comrades already had a fatal gashing wound on its chest. It would have noticed the terrifying aura around Atlan and immediately ran away. His whole body was engulfed in a tame black flame that contrasted with the white walls of the Remedium. The Canzer didn''t care as it tried to pierce through Atlan''s body with its claws. He raised his hand and met the Canzer''s bladed paws. And for a brief second, his entire body was engulfed in a billowing, raging black flame. The two collided. And Atlan felt no resistance at all as he destroyed the Canzer''s front limb with sheer brute force. The claws couldn''t compete and were cracked into pieces, unable to penetrate through Atlan''s tough physique. But Atlan didn''t stop there. He continued to follow through with his punch until he reached the Canzer''s head. And in one fell swoop, he thwacked it back into its shell forcibly, destroying its neck and skull. The Canzer toppled over the ground, with one of its arms broken and mangled while its head was smashed back into its shell. It lay there, dead. [You have killed a Canzer: Deiztruphia] [You have reaped the death of a complex creature] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 5000 experience] Just like that, he killed another Canzer in one move. He couldn''t believe the kind of strength that his Physique could give him. He was glad that he didn''t show his real skills in the real world because this feat of strength would definitely catch their attention. This was no mere B class Physique LifeSkill, it was SSS class! He didn''t want anybody to know about his true strength. Thankfully, everybody already thought that he had already used his Physique LifeSkill. They didn''t know that it was just his natural strength. Just then, Atlan heard a gurgling sound from the only remaining Canzer. It couldn''t free itself from the Mucus Spray no matter how much it tried, so it decided to use its green acid goo to kill Atlan. A single line of green bile came towards Atlan. This time, he didn''t dodge. He let it hit his chest. And as soon as it did, the acid simply disintegrated into a mist. The black flames around his body created a protective layer that prevented any of the green goo from dissolving his battle suit. The Canzer was surprised that its greatest strength was ineffective against a human. Just then, it saw Atlan walk forward. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It tried to scurry away from him, but the adhesive from Atlan''s Mucus Spray prevented it from getting far. As a last resort, the Canzer spat out a fountain mist of green acid towards him. But it didn''t work. Atlan squatted beside the Deiztruphia Canzer and muttered; "Let me free you from your suffering." Atlan raised his hand and brought it down the terrified Canzer''s head, squashing it into nothing but a mushy mix of violet blood, skull fragments, and flesh. [You have killed a Canzer: Deiztruphia] [You have reaped the death of a complex creature] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 5000 experience] Atlan was satisfied with knowing the strength of his Physique LifeSkill but he couldn''t help but wonder how strong his angel powers were. How strong was his 3rd stage SSS class Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill? Chapter 39: One more? Neumann opened his eyes and saw the white brick walls beside him. He looked to the side and saw water-like fibers flowing on the channel below. The sewers? But that''s impossible¡­ He looked around and knew that he was still in the Remedium, yet the location completely changed. They were supposed to only be in the 2nd Street of the SpringField district. Yet, now he found himself at the bottom of the very city itself. This was unheard of. In all the years of experience he had with being a Savior, he never had an anomaly like this. The worst part about this was that he knew that he wasn''t the only one trapped in this place. Those newbies weren''t equipped to handle this kind of trouble. And he was especially worried for their porter. Atlan was the only one in the group that wasn''t trained in any kind of self-defense. The others trained for years and years to have a basic capacity to keep themselves safe from the dangers of the Remedium, but not Atlan. I blame myself. Neumann knew that he should have hurried the group out of the Remedium as soon as the rewards from the mission got delayed. But things escalated far too quickly. He didn''t expect the floor to suddenly collapse like that. I need to find them. It was his responsibility as the veteran of the group to make sure that all of them came back safely to the real world. During times like these, Neumann was trained to keep his head cool at all times. He was supposed to remind himself that Angels were there to save anyone from death. Yet why do I feel uneasy? Neumann walked the winding tunnels of the sewers, following the flow of the water. It took him a few minutes till he suddenly heard the sounds of water splashing and echoing in the distance. "Kyaaa!" He heard a girl scream and Neumann immediately sprinted towards the sound. That sounded like their Stun Wizard. He didn''t care if his footsteps echoed through the tunnels as he quickly turned the corner. Shock crossed his face as he saw two of the youths slowly crawling away from a Deiztruphia Canzer with its tongue dripping green goo on the ground. Another one? That''s impossible! The Canzer Report indicated only one! Those reports were supposed to be completely accurate, yet Neumann was looking at another monstrous Canzer right in front of him. The Stun Wizard and the Scout both had horrified faces as they saw the Canzer slowly walking towards them. The scout held his injured chest tightly. When he tried to run away from this new Canzer, his wound reopened and blood seeped out of the bandage. The stun wizard was fairly better off, but her whole body was frozen in fear. Terror took hold of her thoughts of running away. GYYAOOOOO The Canzer screamed and raised its claws to finally kill those two humans. But just as it was about to hit them, a bubble of safety suddenly appeared and protected them at the last second. The Canzer''s claws bounced off and it was thrown back from the repulsive force. "Are you guys okay?" Neumann put his hands on both of their shoulders and felt their cold shaking bodies. They were scared witless. "Help us!" screamed the stun wizard with dried tears on her cheeks. Neumann nodded. "Let''s go! It won''t be long until the Canzer catches up." He took the scout''s arms and put it over his shoulder as he helped the guy up. Then, without looking back, they quickly ran away from the Canzer. The two youths felt a little safer when Neumann found them. They thought they were saved. But they didn''t know that Neumann himself was panicking. This group of novices was only capable of defeating one Canzer. They were far too exhausted and injured to fight another one, especially since fear took hold of their hearts. Not to mention the fact that the team was separated from each other with no certainty of finding each other. In the worst-case scenario, Neumann and these two youths would have to fight the Canzer by themselves. This was bad because they didn''t have any damage dealers. With the Canzer hot on their tails, the three of them ran as fast as they could through the tunnels. They ran and ran until they saw something in the distance. The stun wizard was overjoyed when she saw the other three people in their group! It was the tank, the archer, and the pugilist. "Hey! We''re over here¨C" It was then that Neumann saw the terrified look on their faces. He saw bloody cuts around their battle suits, he saw arrows lodged around the walls, and he saw violet blood on the floor. This was a sign that a battle took place. No way¡­another Canzer?! S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And just as Neumann feared, on the other side of the three youths was another Deiztruphia Canzer. It had cuts and bruises along its body, but it was still as vigorous as it was before. It looked even more aggressive now. The Canzer was about to attack again, targeting the archer. However, Neumann noticed that the tank was heavily panting and could barely keep himself standing. The tank was too exhausted to use his LifeSkill! He couldn''t protect the archer anymore. Neumann knew that this was a critical situation, so he ran ahead. A bubble appeared on his feet as he used it as a launching pad to save the archer. Just as the Canzer lunged its arms towards the archer, Neumann arrived just in time as he put himself between the two. With swift and technical movement, he grabbed the Canzer''s arms and used them to put the Canzer on his back. Using its weight, Neumann threw the Canzer backward. It flew through the air, with its shell scraping the curved ceiling of the sewers. It landed a long way back and hit the other original Canzer running towards them. It gave them enough time to help the injured and run away together. "Run!" he shouted at them. #### Meanwhile, a large figure was looking down and watching the puny humans run away from the two Canzers. It had a sinister smile on its face. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Chapter 40: Ecstatic Neumann and the five youths ran as hard as they could, blood oozing out of their injuries and exasperated breaths coming out of their mouths. The feeling of having two Deiztruphia Canzers running on all fours and charging toward them was something that could make the bravest of souls feel a tingling on their spines. But despite how fast they were going, the Canzer''s top speeds were far too fast for them to run away. Neumann had to stay on the backline and protect the newbies from the Canzer''s dangerous claws. He would send out protective bubbles to the team whenever the Canzer was about to attack them. Thankfully, his LifeSkill was enough to repel the attacks just enough for them to stay safe for a short time. "Look! It''s the exit!" All of them looked forward and finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the sewers, there was a rectangular door that glowed a bright white light. The newbies immediately thought they found the exit from this maze. They thought that this exit led back to the surface. Neumann, however, was more skeptical. He had a feeling that this was a trap. His gut told him to stay away from this door. However, they didn''t have any choice. It was either go back and fight the two Canzers or go towards the light. Even if it led to another tunnel in the sewers, it was much better than having to face 2 Canzers all at once. The youths used the last spurt of their energy to run through the end of the tunnel. They gasped for their breath as they stumbled through the entrance. Their eyes were full of hope. But instead of seeing the sky, they looked around and saw a large dome-like area with large pipes hanging out near the top of the ceiling. Water-like fibrils fell from these pipes and filled a small pool in the middle of the room. Their expectant looks were soon crushed when they realized that they were still in the sewers. They were mortified. Their bodies refused to move. They were still in this hellhole! Neumann cautiously looked around the room and surveyed it for any enemies. He kept his eyes peeled and his ears open. Fortunately, the only thing he heard was the dripping sound of water falling from the pipes echoing in the dome-like chamber. He was glad he didn''t hear any gurgling sounds anywhere in this place. The next thing he looked for was any exit. Unfortunately, unless they could fly and reach those pipes at the ceiling, there weren''t any doors around. When he looked back, he was surprised to find that he was staring at a blank exposed brick wall. The rectangular opening they came from disappeared! This is bad. Even though they were safe from the two Canzers, Neumann had a feeling that they got themselves into a much more dangerous place. "Haahaaa¡­I want to go home!" "Sir Neumann. Isn''t there a rescue party coming to save us?!" "GUuuAaaa" The stun wizard vomited. Neumann had no answer for them. He didn''t even know if HeadQuarters knew that something wrong happened with this mission. It hadn''t even been two hours since they started. Nobody would think anything was wrong till the mission lasted for half a day. "Don''t worry. They must have sent out a rescue party by now." Telling the truth now would only affect the morale of the group. He needed them to shape up. Just then, they suddenly felt the whole place rumble. Each of the fibers that made up the whole Remedium vibrated with mad intensity. Neumann remembered this feeling. The same thing happened when they all fell through to the sewers! He braced himself, thinking that he''d fall through another chasm. But that didn''t happen. Instead, the large pool in the middle suddenly opened up, leaving the water-like fibers falling through the dark chasm. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Neumann''s heart palpitated when he saw a figure suddenly float up from the dark chasm in the middle of the dome. This creature stood upright. Its entire body was covered with a light brown layered armor with thousands of spikes covering its body. Behind it were two edged wings that looked like it was ripped straight out of a giant cockroach. Its bodily features had an eerie similarity to a human. It had five fingers on each hand and it had toes on its feet. It was complete with ball joints as its knees and shoulders. It had a broad and robust head, with pure small white eyes and a prominent snout as its nose. Perhaps the strangest similarity it had to a human was the uncanny arrogant smile on its face. It looked down at Neumann and the others like they were mere inferior fodders. Neumann''s hairs stood on end. This was a Canzer. And not a normal one at that. What''s happening?! Multiple Deiztruphia Canzers and now a new one emerges from out of nowhere?! This was beyond an anomaly. This was a disaster. Before Neumann could even react, he suddenly saw the strange Canzer disappear from up in the air and appear right in front of him. His eyes widened and he immediately covered himself with his LifeSkill tank protective bubble. However, the Canzer just smiled at him. It raised its fist and punched through the bubble. CRACKKK With just one punch, Neumann''s Tank LifeSkill burst into millions of pieces. His eyes widened as he realized something. That can''t be! Even the Deiztruphia Canzer couldn''t make a dent in his bubble. Yet somehow, this mysterious monster was able to destroy it with just one punch. Neumann was left speechless when his only source of defense was treated like paper. The worst part about it was the Canzer''s face. It smiled. It understood the fear in Neumann''s eyes. It enjoyed it. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Neumann could barely keep himself standing. The Canzer then looked back and saw the terrified faces of the youths. Their hearts were gripped with fear. It walked towards them. The archer felt his stomach churn. The dread led him to relieve himself, creating a pool of urine under him. The Canzer saw this and its face turned into an even twisted expression. It was ecstatic! Chapter 41: Anticipation "*#!%*@_($#(>@)(&#{}|{?<" The Canzer muttered out unintelligible sounds. It was a combination of gurgling and knocking sounds, completely different from the standard human language. Neumann''s eyes went wide when he heard this. This Canzer was sapient! If it had the mental capacity to talk, then it could communicate with other Canzers. This was a large leap of intelligence compared to the Deiztruphia Canzer. It was like comparing a monkey to a human. Before Neumann could even react, the Canzer appeared right in front of the Scout and kicked him into the wall. Everyone heard his back break. The scout vomited blood before falling into unconsciousness. The pugilist, alarmed, immediately activated his LifeSkill, twisting his fist into a drill toward the monster. Yet the Canzer simply tilted its head to the side and dodged the attack, leaving the pugilist very vulnerable. The tank wanted to protect the pugilist. But he was too exhausted to activate his LifeSkill. He had to save his teammate. He put himself between the Canzer and the pugilist, holding his shield in both hands. Suddenly, the tank felt tremendous force and his metal shield suddenly deformed with a fist-shaped hole piercing through the middle. The force was too much for him to bear as he fell back, taking the pugilist with him to the other side of the wall. They couldn''t keep their consciousness. With three down, the Canzer looked towards its next victim. The Archer''s hands trembled as he failed to notch an arrow in his bow. He was helpless as the Canzer took the bow right from his very hands. The Canzer used the bow to slap the Archer down. The wooden bow splintered into a million pieces, some lodged directly into the Archer''s chest. His ribs shattered, blood dripping down his battle suit. It was clear. This was not a Canzer that no 1st stage Student team could ever hope to beat. Neumann couldn''t believe the situation they were in. They had no hope of ever overcoming this ordeal. It was an impossible situation. "(\\*%?>@&|}" The sapient Canzer kept talking to the scout, berating him with a smile on its face. The Canzer knew it was the strongest out of everyone here. It knew that it was superior to everyone. It approached the stun wizard and she fell into a fetal position. "{#{#{#{#{#" the Canzer laughed. It found the stun wizard''s cowardice amusing. Neumann gritted his teeth and shouted towards the Canzer. "Begone you monster!" Even if his words and actions were ineffective against the Canzer, he still had a responsibility to these youths. If he had to sacrifice himself to save them, then he would. But instead of getting angry at him, the Canzer simply looked at him with indifference. It knew that Neumann could do nothing to it. Neumann was only a tank and he was far too weak to stand a chance against the Canzer. But that didn''t mean that he wasn''t going to do anything about it. He raised his arm and created a concentrated bubble around his fist. He concentrated it to the point that his bubble turned opaque. The Canzer stayed still and let him prepare his strongest attack. Neumann knew that he was being underestimated, but he didn''t care. His whole fist was now covered in a white pearly bubble made out of the strongest material he could muster. He punched the Canzer, putting all of his weight on his fist. He didn''t care if he was vulnerable to a counter-attack. He only wanted to induce the strongest attack possible. The Canzer smiled and let the punch hit its chest. The bubbled fist hit the strong light brown bio armor of the Canzer. But nothing happened. Neumann''s face twisted when he realized that his strongest attack didn''t even make a dent in the spikes on its armor. His strength was wholly inadequate to save themselves from this new threat. The Canzer then showed its back on Neumann and continued to walk towards the newbies. He couldn''t let that happen. Neumann wanted the Canzer''s attention all to himself. He couldn''t let those newbies suffer. "You ugly beast! Torment me instead!" "Bastard! Stop ignoring me or are you too weak to even destroy my defenses?" "Just wait, you monstrosity! The strongest Saviors are just minutes away from bursting into this place and killing you into smithereens!" Neumann was throwing all kinds of insults towards the Canzer in the hopes of getting its fury directed towards him. And surprisingly, that last one seemed to garner a reaction from the Canzer. It looked back at him with a curious expression. "That''s right!" bluffed Neumann. "Saviors are coming! And they''ll kill you with no mercy!" For a second, the Canzer seemed to recognize the word ''Savior''. Neumann thought that the Canzer would get angry. But then it started to laugh out loud, with its wings flapping in excitement. "{#{#{#{#{#" The Canzer looked at the humans in front of it. It looked up beyond them, but no matter how much it tried to find what it was looking for, it simply could not find it. The Canzer could not see the winged creatures with halos on their head. Those beings used to stand behind each human that came to the Remedium and protect them from harm. Those beings were the only things that prevented humans from meeting their dooms. They were the only things that prevented total Canzer domination. But now, they''re gone. These humans no longer had those ''Angels'' protecting them. They were finally vulnerable. Without those angels, Canzers were finally free to do whatever they wanted. This excited the Canzer so much that it couldn''t hide its euphoria. The Canzer''s wings flapped in a rhythmic pattern, creating soundwaves that reverberated through the ground. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Neumann didn''t know what was happening. He didn''t know how he evoked this kind of reaction from the Canzer. He wanted to infuriate it, but instead, it looked exhilarated! He then watched as the Canzer showed its hands toward him. It opened its fists, showing all five fingers on its left hand. Then, it showed two fingers on the other. Neumann was confused. The Canzer suddenly pointed towards Neumann, then it folded one of its fingers. It pointed at the Stun Wizard, and it folded the next finger. It pointed at the Archer and folded the next. This continued until the Canzer counted down to all six of them in the room. The Canzer only had one finger left still standing. Neumann furrowed his brows trying to understand what the Canzer was trying to say to him. Wait¡­ It was then that he realized something. There was still one more person missing from their group. Atlan was still somewhere out there! The Canzer saw Neumann realize this fact. It smiled and finally folded its last finger. It knew that Neumann was trying to protect the newbies. And it wanted to see the suffering in his eyes as he killed all of them one by one. Its goal was clear. It was going to kill Atlan. Neumann rushed towards the Canzer in his anger. Atlan was the only person in their group who couldn''t protect himself. He stood no chance to fight against this sapient Canzer who could even destroy his protective bubble. Unfortunately, the Canzer was far too fast for Neumann to react. A hand suddenly pierced through his stomach. "Guhhh" Neumann spat out blood as his knees weakened and he fell to the ground. He was helpless. He watched with hazy eyes as the Canzer floated in the air and went back down the well it came from. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The smile on its face indicated its anticipation of torturing another helpless human. Chapter 42: Horrified Atlan walked through the winding tunnels for minutes on end, yet he hadn''t seen anyone yet. It was as desolate as the Unclaimed Lands. At this point, he wouldn''t mind a visit from a few more Deiztruphia Canzers. Now that he knew how powerful his Physique LifeSkill was, he was more inclined to fight Canzers. He closed his eyes and saw the large LifeSkill planet with melting horrified skulls plastered all over the surface. It didn''t take him long to manifest a giant hand to grasp this planet in one hand. Practicing his C class Mage LifeSkill Mucus Spray turned out to be a very good use of his time as he was able to transfer the knowledge of activating that LifeSkill to his other LifeSkills. As long as he knew how to create that giant hand, he could activate any of his LifeSkills any time he wanted. However, he was still limited by his inexperience as he still took a second to activate his powers. Just then, he suddenly heard a very familiar sound. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM The ground trembled subtly, yet Atlan could feel it reverberate in his bones. He had been hearing this sound since the beginning. He heard it outside the Remedium, he heard it inside, and he heard it again just as they fell through the chasm. He kept his eyes peeled and his center of mass low. He already manifested a giant hand in his Soul System, ready to activate his Physique LifeSkill at any second. He knew that whatever produced this sound was something even greater than the Deiztruphia Canzer. Atlan stopped in his tracks. He felt the air get heavy. He looked back and suddenly saw a strange new creature leaning casually on the walls. It had a smug smile on its face, with its snout turned up. This monster was completely different from the animalistic Deiztruphia Canzer he faced before. Immediately, Atlan knew he was facing his greatest enemy as of yet. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This Canzer or whatever it was, looked like a complete monster yet it acted strangely human. It was uncanny. It then pushed itself off the wall and walked towards Atlan with an arrogant stride. Their eyes met. It was looking intently at Atlan''s face, observing the expressions on his face. It wanted to see the despair and terror that those humans displayed back then. It wanted to see him suffering from fright. Yet, somehow, Atlan kept his expression neutral. He was looking back at the Canzer right in its bright pupil-less eyes with no fear at all. The Canzer frowned. How dare this puny human look at him dead in the eyes? He was but a mere ant in front of a god-like power like the Canzer. Atlan should be looking down and crying in fear! It suddenly spread its wings, making it look much larger than before. It flapped its wings once, and it suddenly disappeared from its original position. Its fast speed made it seem like it suddenly teleported behind Atlan. The Canzer wanted to see the despair in Atlan''s face the moment he realized that he couldn''t even see the Canzer''s movements. The Canzer wanted to see Atlan''s face morph into one of horror as he finally understood their difference in strength. Yet, Atlan kept his face cool. The Canzer finally understood why. It was because Atlan was too terrified to even show his fear. Atlan must be imagining the horrors that he would face against the Canzer. It smiled. It wanted to break Atlan until he finally showed that delicious emotion called fear. It suddenly took out something from its back. Then, it showed it to Atlan with a devious grin on its face. Atlan''s eyes widened when he saw it. It was a torn piece of green battle suit. Wet blood dripped out of the fabric, still fresh from wherever it took. The Canzer provoked him. It wanted to show what happened to the rest of his team. It wanted to show what would eventually happen to Atlan. There was no escaping. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Its excitement led it to flap its wings into a rhythm. It flew through the tunnels, showing off its tremendous speeds and strength. Each time it reached a wall, it would kick it off and induce a shockwave in the tunnel. It bounced everywhere, showing its strength and speed that was unmatched. It wasn''t long before the fibrils in the walls and floor were destroyed by brute force. Meanwhile, Atlan had his head down. He muttered to himself. "I hate blood. I''m a pacifist¡­" The Canzer didn''t know what Atlan was saying. It laughed to itself, thinking that Atlan must have been begging for mercy. "You cause suffering¡­I hate suffering." Atlan kept muttering things to himself that the Canzer couldn''t understand. Finally, the Canzer couldn''t take it anymore and wanted to see blood come out of the puny human''s mouth. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Its wings flapped and it bounced from the curved ceiling and surged towards Atlan at its fastest speed. It had its arms and fingers extended forward, intending to skewer Atlan''s stomach. The Canzer''s smile grew wider when he realized that Atlan wasn''t even paying attention. He kept his head down. It saw this as a sign of surrender. Sharp nails were about to pierce Atlan''s stomach. The Canzer prepared itself to be bathed in a spray of blood and meat. Yet just as its attack was about to hit, Atlan''s body suddenly disappeared right in front of the Canzer''s eyes. The Canzer''s eyes widened. It didn''t know what happened. From its perspective, it looked like Atlan disappeared out of thin air. Then, it felt the air turn heavy. It felt an invisible pressure envelop its body. It felt a tingling sensation on the back of its neck as if a horrifying monster was about to catch its tail. The Canzer looked back and saw Atlan. Its hands immediately shook. The spikes along its armored body started to vibrate. This only happened when the Canzer felt like it was facing a predator much stronger than itself. When it looked at Atlan, it was horrified to its very core. Chapter 43: Chase But before it could even react, Atlan disappeared. The Canzer suddenly felt an intense force on its chest, something it had never felt before. Its strongest defense, its multi-layered chitinous chest armor with thousands of spikes around it, easily cracked into a million pieces from Atlan''s punch. It was too much for the Canzer''s armor to bear. Violet blood spurted out of the cracks, and the Canzer was propelled back at fast speeds, with its body skipping through the water-like fibers like a flat stone. Its body crashed through multiple ledges, with the Canzer unable to control itself due to the sheer force of Atlan''s punch. Finally, after hundreds of meters, it crashed into the wall. The smug look on its face was nowhere to be seen. Violet blood flowed out of its forehead. "!@$">$(*" It couldn''t believe what happened. Wasn''t this puny human supposed to be a weak creature it could kill with just a flick of a finger? He looked as weak as those humans he met before. So, how was he able to muster terrifying power that could even crack the defenses of a Canzer like itself? The Canzer looked down and saw its chest caved in, violet blood still spraying out into a mist. It winced in pain. Step¡­step¡­step¡­ The Canzer had no chance for reprieve as it suddenly heard footsteps coming towards itself. It wasn''t fast, yet it caused the Canzer''s face to contort into panic and fear. Atlan''s strength was unlike anything it had ever seen but that wasn''t the most frightening thing about him. From the distance, it could see Atlan walking through the winding tunnels of the sewers. Behind him were a pair of white wings, with thousands of ethereal feathers layered upon each other. Even in the white brick walls of the reverse-colored Remedium, these wings seemed to glow and shine as if the heavens itself shone a ray of light over them. The Canzer''s mouth quivered as it struggled to say the words; "@^&[-\\" It recognized it as Angel Wings. Its face turned into a mix of confusion and fear. Angels were supposed to be dead. They were supposed to be extinct. Yet, why did this human suddenly have the wings of an Angel? It was impossible. Atlan looked back and felt the Angel Wings on his back. It was connected to him physically, with extra bones connecting his shoulder blades and his wings. He could feel his veins pumping blood into the wings, bringing it to life. He didn''t know how he was able to activate his mutation but now that it was, he felt the world turn slow. The air around him felt like water. He could move up or down and move forward or backward without much effort at all. He was the master of his own space. He flapped his wings, and they followed his command as if it were truly part of his body. It feels like controlling a third arm. The moment the mutation manifested in reality, I feel as if the wings had always been a part of me. Although he could control it with basic functions, he knew that he couldn''t exert fine control over it just yet. It was like a numb arm. He could still feel it and close his fist like normal, but he just couldn''t exert as much strength as he could. Meanwhile, the Canzer stood up, with its cockroach wings flapping awkwardly. In its panic at seeing Atlan slowly walk toward itself, it flew back and crashed into the walls. It wanted to leave. It was scared witless once it saw those angel wings behind Atlan. The very reason why the Canzer infiltrated this place was because it was so sure that Angels were gone. They no longer protected the humans. Yet, somehow one was able to return and give its wings to a mere human. The Canzer flapped its wings and flew through the winding tunnels of the sewers at top speeds. It zoomed through the different tunnels, making sure to keep moving in different directions to escape from that human. The Canzer''s chest slowly healed and mended itself back into its original shape. The cracks patched themselves quickly, preventing any more violet blood from flowing out. In just a matter of a few seconds, the Canzer''s injuries were completely healed. This was one of the innate powers of a Destruction Canzer. Yet, the Canzer still tried to escape away from Atlan. It didn''t want to feel that awful pain from one of his punches. And even though its body was fully healed, its chest twitched in pain whenever it remembered that moment of Atlan, with his wings fully open, punching its chest. It had to return home. It had to tell everybody that the Angels returned! Only that way, he would gather reinforcements and kill this anomalous human. He had to be killed. Otherwise, the complete domination of Canzers could never be fulfilled. The Canzer resolved to escape. However, it suddenly felt a tingling sensation at the back of its neck. And before it knew it, an extreme force punched it on the back, cracking its spine. "$(@\\_#" The Canzer spat out violet blood. It couldn''t understand how Atlan was able to keep up. The Remedium was supposed to be a maze for humans. He wasn''t supposed to find his way here! The Canzer pushed on with escaping, even with its back bent and its body beaten. Within a minute, the Canzer''s body healed and it finally thought it got rid of Atlan''s tail. Yet, without fail, Atlan would suddenly come behind the Canzer and beat it bloody. This cycle continued, with the Canzer unable to get rid of the pesky human. At this point, the Canzer found itself at the very end of the tunnels that led to an open space filled with large open pipes, leaking out water-like fibers everywhere. But before it could get comfortable, Atlan suddenly came from behind and ripped the Canzer''s wings right out of its back. "!(#U%)" It couldn''t understand how Atlan was able to do it. How did he find the Canzer? He should be lost in the sewers! Atlan looked at the large cockroach wings in his hands. It vibrated subtly, slowly losing its powers. dum¡­dum dum¡­dum Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Unbeknownst to the Canzer, the signature beating pattern of its wings was the very reason how Atlan could locate it in the Remedium. Chapter 44: Begone The Canzer''s pained cries echoed through the chamber. It scurried away from Atlan, with its back dripping violet blood after its wings were brutally ripped out in one smooth move. It couldn''t escape anymore. It would take at least 10 minutes for the Canzer to regenerate new wings. It crawled away until it had its back against one of the large open pipes intersecting in the middle of the room. It was finally cornered, with no way to escape. If it knew that Atlan had Angel wings, the Canzer would never have tried to attack him. It would have finished off the other humans and escaped away before Atlan could find the exit. However, how could it have known that Atlan was a freak of nature who had tremendous powers that could even destroy its armor? "@($!&%" It shouted at Atlan, baring its fangs towards him. But no matter how hard the Canzer tried to intimidate the young man, Atlan continued to walk towards his prey with casual steps. The Canzer glared at him, gathering its anger into energy. It reminded itself that Atlan had no way of killing it. "{#{#{#{#{#" the Canzer laughed. Atlan had none of the strange equipment that Saviors used to kill Canzers. Without those, he wouldn''t be able to kill the Canzer; it could continue to regenerate its injuries infinitely. The puny human would eventually lose energy and show his weakness after a few more hours of fighting. At that point, the Canzer could kill Atlan. It was a battle of attrition, and it was something that the Canzer would win. "(@%*$&" The Canzer pointed towards the healing cracked armor in its chest. It was telling Atlan that his attacks would be useless against a Destruction Canzer''s regenerative properties. The more it thought about it, the better it felt. So what if the human had Angel wings? It didn''t mean that he had the powers to kill a Canzer. He would need that strange cube they came with, and that was lost in the Remedium the moment they fell into its trap. It got cocky. The Canzer walked over to Atlan, thinking that the human realized the futility of his efforts. Unfortunately, he didn''t. Atlan punched the Canzer in the throat, and the Canzer immediately spat out violet blood. It tumbled back, coughing and heaving for air. But Atlan didn''t let the Canzer free. The moment it landed on the floor, Atlan straddled it and started to give it a barrage of punches directly on its face. His face was painted violet from the carnage. The Canzer tried its hardest to put up its arms and defend itself from the rain of intense jabs on its head. This didn''t seem to work out all that well as violet blood continued to spurt out of its injuries. Its snout was continuously mangled and broken. Atlan''s whole body was filled with dark flames. His SSS Grim Reaper Physique was going on overdrive as he squeezed the planet in his Soul System as hard as he could. He wanted to kill the Canzer once and for all. Since he was able to kill those Deiztruphia Canzer by gutting its innards and smashing its head into smithereens, then Atlan guessed that he just needed to kill the Canzer faster than it could regenerate. However, his 1st stage Power realm showed its lack of strength. He wasn''t able to deal enough destruction on the Canzer for it to die fast enough. He could see the Canzer''s cracked skin start to glow and close up before he could truly mangle its body beyond belief. The Canzer finally regenerated enough of its energy to kick Atlan from the back and free itself from the straddle. It quickly dashed away from him and jumped up the pipes. But before it could get away, Atlan flew up with his Angel wings and kicked it back down the floor. The Canzer coughed up violet blood. "@(%*^" sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It couldn''t believe that Atlan was still as powerful as before! He wasn''t tired at all. Other Saviors would be exhausted from using their LifeSkills by now. But not Atlan. The dark flames on his body never wavered from his skin. With no other choice left, the Canzer chose to fight. The Canzer raised its hands in the air as its whole body faintly glowed a red tint. Power came from its stomach and flowed like roots from its armor to the tips of its human-like fingers. Every last energy reserve on its body was being used for this one attack. Its body stopped regenerating. The Canzer''s body started to deteriorate quickly as it sacrificed its own body to fill up the power in its fingers. This was its final resort. It wanted to kill the puny human now, even if it meant injuring itself to this extent. The Canzer taunted Atlan. This would be his last day. The Canzer could keep regenerating and keep using this final attack as many times as it could. "(#*@&)" I am unkillable, it implied. Atlan would be stuck in this place, unable to kill the Canzer. It laughed maniacally, feeling that in the end, it would eventually kill this human. Atlan looked at the Canzer. With a calm voice, he said; "Are we using our trump cards? Because I''ve been waiting to use mine." He looked down deep within his Soul System and released his grip on the Physique LifeSkill. He looked at the planet beside it, the one colored gold and white with wings and halos stamped all around. Finally, with his target stationary, not even moving a single inch, Atlan could finally grip the planet with his hands. With his mind focused on the Canzer, Atlan finally felt the power flow through his veins. His whole body glowed a golden light. The Canzer felt as if it was gripped by the holy light coming out of Atlan''s body. It couldn''t believe it. The Angels have once again descended. That was impossible! How could a human have the powers of an angel?! Atlan had to die. The Canzer was resolved to sacrifice its own life to destroy this walking calamity. The tips of its fingers glowed magma hot. But before it could muster up enough energy, Atlan moved. He raised his hand and pointed at the Canzer as if he was a God. "Begone." A pure white cloud materialized out of nowhere. And not a second later, golden lightning struck the Canzer accompanied by a blinding light. After a moment, the light dimmed and showed the frozen body of the Canzer. Its whole body was ashen gray. It soon disintegrated into dust. Chapter 45: Rewards [You have killed a sapient Canzer] [You have reaped the death of a complex creature] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 10,000 experience] [You have gained C class Mage LifeSkill Chitinous Spikes] Atlan fell on his knees, completely exhausted. His Angel wings folded behind him and disappeared into nothingness. He couldn''t keep using his mutation even though he wanted to. Throughout that whole fight, his adrenaline was working overtime and keeping his whole body afloat. His whole body was screaming at him, but the dangerous situation he was in prevented him from taking even a small break. If the fight lasted longer than that, then he didn''t know what would have happened. The giant hand he created in his Soul System was already starting to disappear before he used the last spurt of his strength to activate his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill. He lay on the ground and looked at his hand. He couldn''t believe the power he mustered from that SSS class LifeSkill. With just one move, he was able to disintegrate the Canzer without any problem at all. Is it because my LifeSkill is related to Angels? From what he knew, Canzers seemed to have an inherent weakness against Angels. The cube he carried into the Remedium resonated with his Angel genus, which gave him the idea to use his Cherubic LifeSkill as his trump card. Luck played a part in his win. After all, if the Canzer hadn''t used its final resort, then it wouldn''t have stood still. Only then was Atlan able to target the Canzer with his LifeSkill. Because of his inexperience, he needed at least two seconds to hone in his focus on his target. He would have used his angel LifeSkill earlier if his opponents weren''t such speed demons. They were all aggressive and pounced toward him, leaving him no room to focus and target the LifeSkill on them. Although his LifeSkill had a massive weakness in that he needed a static and stationary target to use it, he still felt assured knowing that it could kill a monstrous Canzer like that. [You have two LifeSkills for the same job. Do you want to fuse the two?] [Upgrade points required: 12,000] [Experience points required: 20,000] Atlan couldn''t believe his eyes. He quickly looked at his Soul System. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ªMage: (C) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ªMage: (C) Chitinous Spikes ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Student ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage [Available Experience: 43,921.2] [Upgrade Points: 993,000] Atlan didn''t even notice it, but he had two LifeSkills with the same job! And from the looks of it, by sacrificing a few upgrade points and a few experiences, he could merge the two LifeSkills. Was this possible? Atlan wanted to know if other people could do this. However, he quickly realized that he was the only person who experienced this unique situation. He was probably the only one with multiple LifeSkills in his Soul System with the same job. It cost him 12,000 Upgrade points and 20,000 experience points to merge the two. Atlan thought the price was too steep, especially in the experience department, but when he thought about it, it became a little bit more tolerable. He could earn as many experience points as he could just by reaping the deaths of everything around him. And with his mysterious trait that was somehow able to multiply his rewards by 10, he would earn back that exp in a small amount of time. The upgrade points, however, were a different story. Although he had almost a million of these points, he didn''t know a way to replenish them. He would have to wait until he witnessed another extinction-level event with his eyes before he got another batch of Upgrade points. So, he was glad that it only cost him a small amount of Upgrade points. With his decision set in stone, Atlan fused the two LifeSkills. The red geometrical objects and the blue wisps in his Soul System immediately encircled the two Mage LifeSkill planets. A string of blue and red lines orbited the two planets and slowly forced the two to crash into one another. The Chitinous LifeSkill was an empty planet devoid of any layers, while the Mucus Spray had three layers with solidified blue cores. This represented the difference in power realms between the two. Atlan finally figured out why the fusion also required experience points. It was because the Chitinous Spikes LifeSkill needed to have an equal power realm with the Mucus Spray LifeSkill. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Did it double the cost of experience points because it skipped through the consolidation period? The cost of upgrading a LifeSkill from the first stage to the 4th stage cost about 10,000 exp. But the cost for it now took 20,000 exp. Can I skip the consolidation period of a LifeSkill if I just pay twice the amount of experience points? Atlan quickly shook off the thought. Whenever he upgraded a LifeSkill to the maximum experience points it could take, an invisible barrier would always appear and prevent the blue wisps from entering the LifeSkill planet. DUGGSHHH The two LifeSkill planets finally crashed into each other and crumbled into large chunks. But it didn''t stop there. The strings continued to push the two together until chunks from one planet united with each other. The pressure from the strings was so strong that the chunks glowed a bright red and turned into lava. And because the chunks finally turned into a liquid form, they easily merged into the other. With the guidance of the strings, it quickly formed into one giant planet. [The two Mage LifeSkills have successfully combined into one] ¡ªMage: (C) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage Atlan was satisfied to know that he could merge two LifeSkills and combine the powers of both into one skill. But it seemed that it wasn''t the end of that. [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your LifeSkill fragments by 10] [You have received 10x F class Spiked Chitin Spray fragments] [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your Genus by 10] [You have received 10x 1-star Sapient Canzer Genus] Chapter 46: 10x rewards Atlan was flabbergasted when he saw this. It could already be considered a lucky outcome for him to receive a LifeSkill and especially a Genus with just one kill. But it seemed he underestimated how good his mysterious trait was. It took him three whole days of spending at least 8 hours in Training Hall Remedium killing off hundreds of frozen Pseudo Canzers just to get 2 LifeSkill fragments and one Genus. It took him a long grind. However, his 10x booster trait seemed to have multiplied his rewards ten times, giving him ten of each. He was so surprised that he couldn''t even move. Just like that? I get 10 LifeSkill fragments and 10 Genuses? [You have 10 of the same LifeSkill fragments. Do you want to fuse them?] [Upgrade points required: 5000] [F-class fragments required: 4] Atlan paid the cost and used the Upgrade points to gather the ten asteroids that rotated around his Spiked Chitin Spray. ¡ªMage: (C) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 5 days : 09 hrs ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 10x F class fragment The mix of red geometrical shapes that represented his Upgrade points suddenly came out in a line out of their fuzzy ball. It rounded up four asteroids and forced them together into an amalgamation of all four. And like a lasso, the string of upgrade points threw the large asteroid into the LifeSkill planet. The asteroid burned up in the planet''s atmosphere until it crashed into the surface. The shockwave from the crash reverberated throughout the planet and fundamentally changed its surface. A cloud of smoke made from the particles of the fragments suddenly spread out and enveloped the whole planet. In a few moments, the fog settled down and created new, complex patterns on the surface of the LifeSkill planet. The surface was now inundated with black vines with sharp spikes all wrapping around its stem. ¡ªMage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 5 days : 09 hrs ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6 x F class fragment B class¡­ Atlan couldn''t believe that he was able to upgrade his new Mage LifeSkill to B class so easily. He thought he would have to grind more missions and kill more Canzers to get more fragments, but who knew that his Trait would save him a lot of time? If he had two more F class fragments, then he could combine all eight and get a B-class fragment, which he could use to upgrade the LifeSkill to A class! In just one mission, he was able to obtain a power that anyone would be jealous of. A (B) class LifeSkill was considered to be above average and had a bright future ahead of them. Atlan immediately wanted to test out his new skill. It''s a shame that there''s no more Deiztruphia Canzers lying around. I want to see how effective this LifeSkill is in binding them. If others heard him say that, they would vomit out blood. They already thought that facing one Deiztruphia, let alone two, was already a disastrous situation. But for Atlan, they were nothing more than fodder. His SSS class Physique allowed him to kill them with just one hit. The C class version of the Mucus Spray could only contain the Deiztruphia Canzers in 10 seconds at most. But what about this B class LifeSkill? What will be the effects of mixing the two Mage LifeSkills into one? Atlan closed his eyes and concentrated on manifesting a giant hand. He was still exhausted beyond belief, but he was able to briefly create a hand to grasp the planet with spiked black vines surrounding it. If he was in a real fight, he doubted whether he would be able to activate his LifeSkill. But thankfully, he had all the time he wanted to focus. His hands glowed a brown light until he felt the power flow through his veins. Now! Black vines exploded out of his hands and spread in a cone in front of him. The vines flew through the air but couldn''t find any target. They soon fell to the floor due to gravity. Surprisingly, Atlan saw that some of the vines stuck to the walls on the side. He walked forward and touched one of the vines. It was as thick as a finger and was as tough as steel. He touched the spikes and felt it prick his fingers. If his Physique wasn''t so strong, then he would bleed from touching these spikes. He tried to pry it off the wall and found that he needed a lot of strength to do so. It was much stronger than his Mucus Spray. Overall, he found the improvement in his LifeSkill to be satisfactory. He reckoned it would be able to trap a 1st stage difficulty Deiztruphia Canzer for more than 20 seconds. Not only that, it would receive further damage from the spikes as it tried to free itself from the trap. This is superb! With this binding LifeSkill, I could have enough time to focus on a target and activate my Cherubic Retribution. The biggest drawback of his SSS angel-based LifeSkill was its hard activation. He needed a lot of time to focus on the target and they needed to be staying in one place all the time. He wouldn''t be able to use it on a Canzer that was running around all the time. But with this LifeSkill, he could trap them in one place and allow him to kill them with a taste of angel power. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to get more fragments. Can I use the Mucus Spray fragments to upgrade this new LifeSkill? After all, it is a product of the combination of the Mucus Spray and the Chitinous Spikes¡­ Atlan would have to find out about it more after he got more fragments. For now, he put his focus on the next bout of rewards. [You have 10 of the same Genus. Do you want to fuse them?] [Upgrade points required: 11,000] [8x 1-star Sapient Canzer Genus] SOUL SYSTEM: [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª10x (1-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (2-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [Trait] ¡ª 10x level booster [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ªMage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6x F class fragment ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage [Available Experience: 43,921.2] [Upgrade Points: 976,000] Chapter 47: Savior has come Atlan quickly paid the price and fused the 10 Genuses he acquired. He saw the Upgrade points once again pull themselves in a line out of the giant fuzzy ball made out of mixed geometrical shapes. The red string wrapped itself to the eight helixes. Then, the Upgrade points tightened their grip on the Genuses until they collapsed under the pressure. What was left of the Genus were listless threads. But then, due to the innate magic found in the Upgrade points, the threads suddenly found themselves vibrating and getting attracted to each other. It didn''t take long until one fiber smacked into the other, and it continued until it all gathered into a vertical stack of strings. The red geometrical shapes then covered the stack of genus fibers, twisting and turning it into a familiar shape. The listless fibers then wrapped with each other and formed a rope. It didn''t take long until it was morphed into its final shape. It was now a full-fledged helix. [Genus] ¡ª2x (1-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (2-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (4-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel Hmmm¡­I got a 4-star genus now but it''ll be useless until I could upgrade it to 10-star and have it change my bloodline. And just as he said that; [Canzer Mother Tongue mutation acquired!] He got a new mutation! From what Atlan heard, this was a very rare occurrence that only happened once every ten years. Usually, people would receive a mutation as a blessing from the god, but rarely, people get mutations naturally. [Mutation] ¡ª (4-star) Canzer Mother Tongue ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings Atlan suddenly remembered something. Wait, a tongue mutation? Didn''t Lizzie say that 4-star mutations manifest in reality and can''t be hidden?! He quickly put his tongue out as far as he could and tried to see if something changed. But from the tip of his tongue, he couldn''t see anything different from before. He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn''t know what he would do if he suddenly got an enlarged tongue that dripped out green goo everywhere. I wouldn''t be able to explain my way out of that one. Atlan decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being before he got home. Only once he saw himself in the mirror and saw nothing wrong with his tongue would he start talking again. For now, he zipped it. With everything settled, Atlan started to walk. He needed to find the exit. It didn''t take a few steps until; DRRRRGGGGGG Suddenly, he felt the whole place shake. He had to put his hands on the wall to balance himself. This new development forced him to remember; I''m still in the Remedium. I can''t get careless. After a few seconds, the rumbling stopped and Atlan could finally breathe again. He didn''t know if another Sapient Canzer would suddenly appear again and fight him. He didn''t know if he had the energy for another gruesome fight. But when he looked forward, he suddenly saw that the entire room changed. He fought the Sapient Canzer in a large room with large pipes intersecting one another. However, once the earthquake stopped, he suddenly saw himself back in the winding tunnels he was originally in. He didn''t even notice it change! Not only that, he saw that the tunnel in front of him led to two very different paths. On the right was a staircase that led up to a place where sunlight beamed down. On the left was a staircase that led further down, with the darkness shrouding it in mystery. Atlan walked over to the right path and looked up. About a hundred steps forward, he could see an opening that led to a place with orange skies and fresh air. After being trapped in the winding tunnels for what seemed like a whole day, Atlan would recognize that scenery anywhere. This was the path that led outside! If he walked up that path, then he would finally escape this place. He could go find the portal and go back to the real world. However¡­ Atlan thought back to the torn piece of battle suit that the Sapient Canzer showed him. It was bloodied. And if the Canzer could escape and get that, then it wasn''t hard to guess that Neumann and the others encountered the Sapient Canzer before him. Are they still alive? He had a choice. He could escape now and return to the real world. Or, he could go down the other path and search for his team, who could all be dead by now. He had no guarantee that he''d be able to escape this place after he went to the path that led down. These tunnels changed randomly, and he didn''t know if he''d get the chance to leave again. Atlan kept his head down. I¡­I don''t like to see suffering. I hate blood. I''m a pacifist. Atlan walked down the path enshrouded in darkness. He walked down step by step, with no hesitation in his feet even though he couldn''t see anything. His footsteps echoed through the nothingness, reminding him that he was getting further and further away from the exit. ### The Stun Wizard lay in the fetal position, with tears running down her already dried cheeks. She closed her eyes, hoping that she''d soon wake up from this horrible dream. Yet she didn''t. She still heard the horrible groaning from her teammates. They screamed in pain. That¡­that strange Canzer¡­the monster who assaulted their team out of nowhere¡­was gone. It left. Ironically, she wished that the Canzer didn''t leave at all. The torment of having the seconds pass by and expecting that monster to return and torture them was a different kind of hell she didn''t want to experience. But after minutes passed by, it didn''t return. Get a hold of yourself! This¡­this is your dream¡­you need to get up! She forced herself to open her eyes. She had to find a way out of this place. She forced herself up, with her eyes hazy from tears. She tried to walk, but her weak knees trembled and forced her to stumble forward. She fell on the floor and felt something wet on her hands. She looked at it and saw blood dripping down her hands. She finally saw who was lying on the ground in front of her. It was their guardian, the one who was supposed to be their safety net. Mister Neumann lay on his back, bleeding with a hole in his stomach. His eyes were hazy and staring out to the ceiling. BLUERGHH She vomited again. Seeing blood and guts firsthand from a live source was different from seeing it in videos and on cadavers. They didn''t teach her about the smell. Step¡­step¡­step¡­ Just then, she heard footsteps ringing out of the dome. She immediately thought of the worst. That monster returned. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain. But it didn''t come. Instead, a warm hand touched her shoulders. When she opened her eyes, she saw the blurry figure of a man reaching out his hand to help her. There was only one thing in her mind. A savior has come. Chapter 48: Return The soldier almost got the highest score in his cellphone''s racing game. His face showed his determination, moving his whole body left and right as he dodged meteors coming towards his car. Guarding an ongoing mission in the Remedium was a fairly boring job. The only thing he had to do was stand near the portal and wait until the Saviors finished their jobs. Then, he would assist them with whatever they needed. "Oh come on!" Unfortunately, that last level was just too hard to overcome. He wanted to get another game in, but his watch suddenly beeped. It''s already been an hour since the Saviors went inside the Remedium and judging from previous missions, he judged that the mission was almost finished. After all, it was only a 1st stage Student difficulty mission. It usually only took one hour. However, time passed by and no one came outside. It''s now two hours since they entered. Then, three. Then, four. At this point, the soldier was very worried. He wondered if something had gone wrong with the mission. But that can''t be¡­it''s only a beginner mission¡­ He would have reported this to the HeadQuarters but when he looked around towards the affected area, he saw that the symptoms already stopped. The walls no longer melted like wax and no more buildings were toppling like melted ice cream. This meant that the Saviors already killed the Canzer. However, they still didn''t leave. Just for safety, he was going to request for backup. I don''t care if I get scolded for a false report. This is getting weird. But just as he was about to call, he suddenly heard the sound of water rippling. Somebody went out of the portal! He looked back and saw a youth with black hair and black eyes come out of the Remedium. The soldier recognized him to be the Porter of the group. The soldier looked down and his eyes widened. The youthful Porter was holding a bleeding man in his arms! It was Sir Neumann, the veteran Savior who accompanied the novices. His green battle suit was soaked in blood and his eyes were cloudy and unresponsive. Most of all, his guts and intestines were coming out of a large hole in his stomach! "What happened?!" the soldier screamed but the porter didn''t answer. He simply put Neumann on the floor. Just then, another person came out of the portal. It was the Stun Wizard. She held her shoulders, shivering from the cold and trauma she experienced. She saw the soldier and begged, "Call for help! Please!" The soldier was overwhelmed. He couldn''t take his eyes off Neumann, who was still bleeding on the floor. "O¡­okay¡­I''ll¡­I''ll call!" He quickly dialed on his phone and issued an emergency. In just a few moments, reinforcements would come. "What happened?" S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The stun wizard muttered under her breath. "The Canzers¡­there''s more¡­the report was wrong! There was another one¡­a different monster!" The soldier gasped. From what he could piece together from her words, it seemed like the mission was wrongly estimated. There were more Canzers than what was reported. And what''s worse, there''s another type of Canzer inside that they didn''t prepare for. "This is a disaster. Okay, I''ve already reported this to HeadQuarters. Wait here and they''ll come and save the others¡ªHey! Where are you going?!" The soldier was surprised when he suddenly saw Atlan walk back to the Remedium. What is he doing?! Doesn''t he know that there are stronger Canzers inside? "Miss, don''t you dare go too." Thankfully, the stun wizard didn''t seem to have any thoughts of going back inside. The soldier bit his lips as he paced back and forth. After the stun wizard explained to him what happened inside, he couldn''t help but worry for the porter. After all, things were much worse than he thought possible. The appearance of a new Canzer, one that showed intelligence, was far too much than what a 1st stage student team could face. Even if the team could fight the new Canzer, without the proper equipment from the Operators, the Canzer would continue to regenerate its injuries. It would be an unwinnable situation. Just then, Atlan came out of the portal with two bodies slung over his shoulders. This time, it''s the Scout and the Archer! They were bleeding and groaning in pain. After putting them down on the floor, Atlan came back to the Remedium to get the others. The soldier couldn''t believe it. Even after knowing that there were dangerous Canzers in the Remedium, Atlan still braved the unknown and went to save his teammates. It was a very noble and heroic action. His impression of this youth skyrocketed as the soldier respected his bravery. The stun wizard watched Atlan re-enter the Remedium with a calm look on his face. Even after she warned him that the monster was aiming to kill him, Atlan still went back without any fear in his eyes. None of them knew that the Sapient Canzer was already done and dusted. It was already killed. There were no more monsters he had to worry about in the Remedium. But that didn''t mean that it was safe. After all, Atlan had no idea if the Remedium could suddenly change its layout randomly and trap him inside forever. Back then, when he went down the shrouded path, he saw himself in a large space with a domed ceiling. He saw his teammates sprawled all around, either unconscious or groaning in pain. He helped the stun wizard and Neumann and they walked back from where he came. Luckily, the layout didn''t change and he was able to go up the stairs back to the surface. The exit was coincidentally just a few steps away from the portal. Now, he had the tank and the pugilist on his shoulders. He walked back up to the surface and suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eyes. It was the backpack he carried at the start of the mission. Chapter 49: Ludicrous Finally, the reinforcements were dispatched. They were all 3rd stage students who were hastily put together for this emergency. Their job was simple: they just had to go and save the beginner Saviors from the Remedium, and nothing else. They were expressly told not to meander off or try to fight the Canzer. They were told nothing about the situation. When they arrived at the scene, they were surprised to see that there were a lot of soldiers crowded around the portal. Once they dismounted from their horses and went forward did they finally see the gruesome sight of a pool of blood. The soldiers were stuffing white gauze around Neumann''s stomach, but the blood still kept gushing out. The leader then saw the Stun Wizard sitting in the corner with a blanket over her shoulders. She was the only one still conscious. "What happened?" the leader asked her. "How did you all fail a simple beginner mission?" The 3rd stage Student reinforcements were told nothing about what happened during this mission. They only assumed that something went wrong due to human error. Although it wasn''t normal, there were instances of novices failing their first missions. They simply thought this was also the case. The Stun Wizard looked up at the reinforcements, and they all saw the dried tears on her cheeks and her sunken eyes. It looked like she had gone through hell. The original soldier who witnessed everything firsthand answered for the Stun Wizard. "They didn''t tell you?" "Tell us what?" "According to her, their mission went just as planned. They killed the Deiztruphia Canzer in just under half an hour." The reinforcements were surprised. Killing a Canzer in 30 minutes was an impressive feat, even by their standards. "Then why didn''t you all leave?" This time, the Stun Wizard answered hoarsely. "We¡­we tried to. But then¡­the floor fell and we ended up in the sewers!" "The sewers?! That''s impossible!" She didn''t argue. "We encountered two more¡­two more Canzers¡­" They all sucked in a cold breath. It turned out they went through a disastrous situation. No one expects a group of 1st stage Saviors to defeat two Canzers at the same time! "But that''s not even the worst part¡­we saw a monster¡­a new Canzer¡­one that could talk." Everyone gasped. A Sapient Canzer. Even though the reinforcements were 3rd stage students, they didn''t dare think they could defeat a monster that complex, especially without specialized equipment from the Operators that could disable its regeneration. Their hearts pumped with anxiousness once they realized they had to go to the Remedium with the threat of a Sapient Canzer looming over their heads. These novices had to fight a Sapient Canzer? They can''t even make a scratch on its armor. And even if they can make it bleed, it''ll just regenerate to full health in a few seconds¡­ Just the thought of it was terrifying. "We''re here to help. We''ll save your teammates. There are four of them inside, right?" S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Umm¡­" the soldier said awkwardly. "What is it?" "There used to be four that came out, but the porter came back in." "What?! That''s dangerous! Why would he come back?" The Stun Wizard replied, "Because he''s a savior! He saved me and he''ll save the rest." When they heard this, they couldn''t believe it. The person with the least experience in fighting, the person with no abilities to fight against Canzer, was the one who braved the Remedium to save the others. This wasn''t a porter''s responsibility. Yet, he still took it upon himself to do so. "Even when I told him that¡­the monster¡­was targeting him, he still went ahead." Now, they couldn''t attribute his actions to ignorance. He didn''t do this because he didn''t know the dangers, he braved it despite the dangers. The reinforcements couldn''t admit to themselves that they would still enter the Remedium if they knew that a dangerous Sapient Canzer was targeting them. They especially wouldn''t be coming back multiple times to save other people. And Atlan did it despite being only a Porter! "There''s no way, right?" "Are you sure you are all seeing it right?" "Why would a porter do that?" The whole situation was so ludicrous that they couldn''t believe it. They thought that she was suffering from delusion caused by trauma. She must have imagined a fictional heroic porter so that she''d be able to feel good about their horrible situation. "It''s true!" the stun wizard insisted. However, it was hard to believe. Without anyone to corroborate her story, they were disinclined to take her words as fact. "Don''t worry, miss. We will do our best to save your teammates." Just then, the portal rippled once again. Everyone watched as Atlan came out of the Remedium carrying two more people, the Tank and the Pugilist on his shoulders. Not only that, he carried a gigantic bag on his back! Atlan casually put the two unconscious guys down near the other soldiers so that they''d be given the help they needed. Then, he put down his equipment bag and the whole ground shook from the sheer weight of the baggage. The 3rd stage student reinforcements all looked at Atlan with their jaws dropped. They couldn''t believe that this youthful porter was the heroic Savior that the stun wizard claimed him to be! Not only that, he did it while carrying a thousand kilograms behind his back! Atlan took one big breath. "First mission complete!" Then, he raised his hand and shouted a war cry. "WOOOO!" Now that he was safe, all the adrenaline in his body finally ran out. Atlan passed out on the floor, completely exhausted. "Help him!" The soldiers and the reinforcements quickly went over Atlan and made sure that he was safe. They treated him with respect and admiration. After all, he was the heroic porter who went above and beyond what he was asked to do, all because he wanted to save his teammates. He garnered everyone''s respect. If they knew that Atlan killed three Deiztruphia Canzers all at once, then they''d feel their hearts stop for a moment. And if they knew that he killed the Sapient Canzer, then they''d simply drop on the floor from shock and disbelief. Chapter 50: Blue After a few hours, Atlan finally woke up. He opened his eyes and immediately saw an intricate painting of heaven on the ceiling. It depicted a serene view of humans wearing pure white robes and calm smiles on their faces. It induced calmness in anyone who saw it. Judging from the correct colors on the painting, Atlan judged this to be the real world. Thankfully, he wasn''t in the Remedium. He sat up and saw that he was in a small room with tall, vaulted ceilings. Off to the side, he saw sunshine gleaming down from stained glass windows with designs of a maidenly woman praying with both hands. Unlike the modern architecture he saw in the City, this place seemed to be made from ancient Gothic materials and designs. The pillars on the corners were made out of stone and lime, with intricate carvings of men and women fighting monstrous creatures. Where am I? Just as he thought that, the door suddenly opened and in came a woman that Atlan immediately recognized. It was Lizzie. Her eyes widened with relief once she saw Atlan awake. She immediately lunged towards him and gave him a big, warm hug. Atlan was speechless. He didn''t know what to do with his hands. He was going to put his hands and hug her back when she muttered something in his ears. "Thank god you''re alright." Atlan didn''t know what god had to do with it, but he didn''t say anything else. Then after a few moments, she immediately pulled away from the hug and grabbed his shoulders with a stern look. She seemed pissed, which left Atlan utterly confused. First, she hugged him very tightly and then she was angry. I didn''t even do anything. "Do you know what you''ve done?" "Uh¡­" "That was a very dangerous stunt you''ve pulled during your mission. If I was there, I would have knocked some sense into your head." Ah. Lizzie was talking about the very heroic and very stupid action of Atlan going back to the Remedium and saving his teammates. "I had to help. I didn''t want them to suffer." S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lizzie put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. She was ready to give him a big lecture on not risking his life in the Remedium, but how could she reprimand him for such an admirable reason? Even she was impressed with his valiant efforts. Yet, it was still an unnecessary risk for him. There were other Saviors tasked with the retrieval of the survivors in the mission, and Atlan didn''t have to put that burden on his shoulders. He shouldn''t have. "Even so. You broke protocol." "I didn''t know anything about that." She massaged her head. "And that''s my fault. I should have taught you better. Anyway, it''s especially important for you to not risk your life." "Why?" "It''s because you''re the only low-class Porter we have. What if you get trapped in the Remedium and we can''t find you?" Atlan raised his eyebrows. "We can get trapped in the Remedium?" She sighed. "Yes. It''s rare, but it happens. The last time it happened was 300 hundred years ago, and the Savior was trapped for 5 years." Judging from the way the tunnels in the Remedium changed without warning, Atlan guessed that being lost in the Remedium was possible. However, he didn''t think that it had already happened. He re-evaluated the risks of the Remedium in his mind. If things could change in the Remedium at the drop of a hat, then it was much more dangerous than he thought. Their mission was only supposed to be a simple one. They only had to kill a Deiztruphia Canzer and go home. Yet, things happened so fast that none of them could react quickly enough. "What about Neumann? What about my team?" She gave him a terse smile. "They''re fine. Neumann took a lot longer to recover, but he''s already up and running. Your other teammates have recovered well too. The Scout is the only one still unconscious and stuck in his bed." Atlan heaved a sigh of relief. "You did a good job. If you hadn''t acted so quickly, their condition would have been much more critical." They all did their jobs. They killed the Canzer. But, who could have expected that things would go so wrong? "What happened?" he asked her. Lizzie sat beside him in the bed and shook her head. "Nobody knows. HeadQuarters have been working overtime to try and figure out how, what, and why things escalated to such difficulty. As of now, they''ve come up with nothing." "This hasn''t happened before?" "No. In the entire history of Genesis City, a Canzer Report has never been so thoroughly wrong." Even though no one knew what happened, Atlan had a guess. It probably has something to do with the extinction of Angels. Weird things have been happening ever since they fell from the heavens, but nobody ever correlates it with the Angels. After all, they don''t even believe it happened. Atlan looked at Lizzie and saw that she had no idea about it at all. Even though she was there to witness them falling to the ground first-hand, she still believed the City''s words over her own eyes. "Have you heard what happened to them?" she asked him. Atlan slightly nodded his head. When he rescued the Stun Wizard, she told him all the things they went through in the sewers. She told him about the two Deiztruphia Canzers as well as the dangerous Sapient Canzer. She warned him that it was coming for him. "That was really dangerous. You''re lucky that the Sapient Canzer didn''t find you. I''m getting chills just thinking about it." Of course, nobody knew that Atlan already felled that monster. Nobody thought he''d have the power to even hurt the Sapient Canzer, much less actually kill it without disabling its healing factors. "What happened to you after you fell?" asked Lizzie. But just as he was about to answer, the door suddenly opened. A woman suddenly came in without warning. Atlan looked at her body and was surprised to see the color of her garment. She was wearing a blue battle suit. She was an Operator! Chapter 51: Questions This was the first time that Atlan saw an Operator up close and personal. He observed her battle suit and saw that her garments had small lights weaved along the threads, making it look cybernetic. The woman had straight black hair down to her waist and thin eyes that were accentuated by her narrow glasses. She walked over to Atlan with a tablet in her hands. "Good morning, Atlan the Porter," she said as she walked over opposite him. He looked at her and said, "Good morning. Are you a Quill?" Lizzie immediately felt embarrassed when she heard him say that. "What is Wemby teaching you?! You shouldn''t say that out loud." The Operator waved it off. "It''s fine. I don''t feel offended by it. It depends on the person whether Knives and Quills are both terms of endearment or insults. I see no hate in his eyes, only curiosity." She then walked over to Atlan and gave him her hand. "My name is Pterina Pterodinus and I am an Operator, or as you call it, a Quill." Atlan shook her hand and after, she took a chair and sat down in front of him. "I''m here to ask you some questions about what happened to the mission." He looked towards Lizzie and saw that she nodded her head. "Just tell her what happened. Neumann and the others were already questioned the moment they woke up." With how disastrous the mission could have been, the Savior HeadQuarters were doing everything they could to learn more about what happened. Atlan imagined that the Quills got the brunt of the blame; they were the ones in charge of surveying the symptoms and figuring out the parameters of the mission. They should have known better. "Can you recount what happened when you all stepped foot in the Remedium?" Atlan quickly told the truth about what happened during that time. He told her about them finding the Deiztruphia Canzer''s lair, and he even told her in great detail how they defeated it. However, he didn''t tell her about the weird thumping pattern he heard during the mission. After all, it turned out that it came from the Sapient Canzer itself, and he wasn''t supposed to know anything about that. Pterina took notes and nodded at Atlan''s answer once she cross-referenced it to the other''s answer. They all generally told the same thing, which meant that it was the truth. "Then, we waited for ten minutes for something. Neumann said that a ''blessing'' was supposed to come." S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lizzie and Pterina nodded. "Yes. After a successful mission, the god would give out the rewards for completing the job." "The fact that ten minutes elapsed and it still hadn''t appeared meant that the mission still wasn''t completed. The veteran Savior should have escorted you all out sooner. Go on." Atlan then recounted the moment when they decided to go back. "We were just a hundred meters away from the portal when all of a sudden, the floor caved in and we fell into an abyss." Pterina''s eyes then got narrower as she listened intently to his words. This was the very crux of the problem. This shouldn''t have happened at all. "When I opened my eyes, I suddenly saw that I was in a winding tunnel." "And what happened after that? Did you walk forward, or did you walk back? Did you encounter anything?" The truth of the matter was that Atlan did encounter three Deiztruphia Canzers all at once. However, he couldn''t tell her that. Nobody would believe that a 1st stage student porter like him could survive an onslaught from three different Canzers all at once. Even a team of 1st stage students had trouble fighting against just one. They would surely get suspicious if they knew he defeated all three. So, Atlan lied. "At first, I stayed still. I didn''t know where I was, so I didn''t move that much. But when I knew that I had to move to find the exit. So, I walked forward, making sure not to make any noise." At that moment, Atlan suddenly saw something flash in his eyes. [Unauthorized probe detected] [Lie detection denied.] So this is an Operator''s LifeSkill¡­ Pterina''s blue battle suit glimmered a faint violet light as she activated her LifeSkill. The edges of her pupils glowed white as she tried to discern truth from fiction with Atlan''s words. She had a job as an ''Inquisitor'', with the LifeSkill Truth Detection. She was able to see through a person''s blood flow, perspiration, heartbeats, and breathing which helped her judge the authenticity of their words. She could even see how much of a person''s words were lies. She would know if they were subtly putting lies in their truthful words. There were a lot of suspicious instances in Atlan''s story. According to what they knew, the sewers were teeming with Canzers. It was unlikely that Atlan didn''t encounter at least one Canzer. And all of his other teammates found each other in the tunnels. He was the only one they didn''t see at all. No one knew what he did. No one could corroborate his story. But since her LifeSkill didn''t notice any lies in his words, she continued the questioning. "And they all said that the Sapient Canzer left the room to search for you. Did you encounter it?" Atlan shook his head. "No. Thankfully, I didn''t see it." When Pterina looked at Atlan, she only saw tranquility in his body. There was no turbulence in his breathing, no increased palpitations in his heart, and there was no nervousness in his voice. He wasn''t lying. This did not surprise the Inquisitor. After all, if Atlan did encounter other Canzers, then his body would be brought back to the real world mangled into different pieces. "That''s all the questions I have for today. Thank you." Once she got what she needed, she inputted everything she heard on the tablet to record it. She then thanked Atlan and Lizzie for their time and she turned to leave. Before she closed the door behind her, she looked at Atlan with a determined face. "Don''t worry. We''ll get to the bottom of this. We will make sure that this doesn''t happen again." Chapter 52: Nuns Atlan wiped the cold sweat off his eyebrows. That was close¡­ He was a little bit caught off guard by this interrogation which didn''t seem like an interrogation at all. Perhaps, that was intentional. Pterina was able to make him feel comfortable with her as if he was just conversing with an old friend. He didn''t think that she''d use her LifeSkill to try and see through his lies. I should have known better, he thought to himself. After all, it was not hard to guess that a disaster as large as that one would garner the attention of the HeadQuarters. They''d stop at nothing to find out the truth about what happened. Thankfully, his powers pulled through. Pterina didn''t see through his lie because Atlan had full control over his own body¨Ca side effect of having SSS class Physique LifeSkill. He didn''t show any perturbations in his body as if he was telling the truth, which she believed. He didn''t know what he would have done if they found out he lied. Would I try to explain the truth? Would I try to bury my lies with more? He shook his head. He didn''t have to burden himself with these things. "Are you okay?" Lizzie asked him. He nodded his head. "I''m fine." "She might have jogged up bad memories to you, but it''s all for a good cause. Once they find out the reason why that anomaly happened, then they could prevent it in the future." Atlan guessed why it happened. And he knew that they wouldn''t be able to solve it. Things would continue to escalate until they''re all forced to realize that Angels died, and so did their immortality. "If you''re not feeling fine, we can postpone the ceremony." S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He looked at her, confused. "What ceremony?" "Well, even though you all technically failed the mission, HeadQuarters recognized all of your efforts and have deemed that the mission be considered a success! You guys did kill a Canzer. And with a successful mission comes a reward. Since you guys weren''t able to get it in the Remedium, it will be given to you guys here, in this church." Atlan looked around the room and finally realized why this room was full of designs depicting heaven. "So this is a church¡­" Churches were the heart of any God''s Territory. This was where the citizens gave their thanks and worship to the God for Their blessings. "Yes, this also the place where Saviors get their injuries taken care of. Nuns and priests call upon the Genesis God to give blessings to those who have suffered. Neumann needed a lot of blessings; his injury was quite severe. Thankfully, you didn''t have any. You just passed out due to exhaustion." Atlan remembered the gruesome sight of Neumann bleeding out, with his innards out in the open. He wondered how they were able to heal such grisly injuries. "Are you ready to go?" Atlan thought for a second and then nodded his head. He wanted to know what this ''blessing'' was supposed to be. "Let''s go," she said as she led the way out the door. When Atlan came out, he saw a hallway with rooms lined up similar to the one he was in. When he looked up, he saw a tall ceiling with more intricate paintings drawn in. He saw women walking around with elegant steps. They wore simple white tunics down to their ankles and a veil on their heads that covered their hair. Nuns, Atlan guessed. As they walked past an open door, Atlan took a peak and saw a nun sitting on the bed and praying to an unconscious man. Suddenly, a white light beamed down from the ceiling and immersed the man in a holy light. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and showed a serene expression. He saw first hand how a nun ''healed'' an unconscious man. Did they do the same to me? And even though most of them were busy doing their jobs, they couldn''t help but take a sneak peek at Atlan when he walked by. Their eyes showed amazement as they whispered to one another. "It''s that porter¡­" "He''s so young!" "How blessed is he¡­" Lizzie saw the confused look on Atlan''s face and she couldn''t help but chuckle. After such heroic acts, didn''t he expect such praise from other people? "Your name has spread far and wide, Star Porter. I don''t think I''ve ever come across anyone who didn''t hear about the courageous porter who risked his life to save his teammates. You''ve made a splash with your first mission." Atlan didn''t think that they''d react this way. He just simply did what he thought should be done. He hated suffering, and he couldn''t bear to live with the thought that he didn''t help his teammates when he could. "Was it that impressive?" "Of course!" she screamed and her voice echoed through the walls. She gave the nuns a silent apology once she realized she had broken the silence and serenity of the church. "You went back even though multiple Deiztruphia Canzers were roaming through the Remedium. Nobody would have done that, not even Saviors stronger than you. After some investigation, it was deemed that the mission was actually in the 3rd stage Student difficulty! You braved through the Remedium, saved other Saviors, and survived through it all¨Cwhile you were only a 1st stage Student!" That''s a 3rd stage student difficulty? Atlan awkwardly let out a laugh. Even though she apologized for raising her voice, Lizzie couldn''t help but praise Atlan with a booming voice. He wondered how surprised she''d be if she knew that he soloed a 3rd stage Student difficulty mission. "HeadQuarters have been telling everybody about your story. They want you to become the silver lining in this terrible situation. They''re hailing you as an extraordinary talent with a bright future. You''d definitely be given more missions later." Knowing that missions could suddenly escalate for the worse, Atlan didn''t know if this was a good thing or not. They finally stopped walking when they came across grand entry double doors that led directly to the main church. Lizzie opened the door. Chapter 53: Blessings in church The doors opened and the first thing he saw was a golden statue of a man with two faces, each facing in different directions. This man had a thick beard and stern eyes, wearing nothing but a leaf in his crotch. On his right hand was a key that had a long shaft and two bits of different sizes at the end¨Ca key reminiscent of ancient times. And on the other end of this key was a circular clock that kept ticking without any mechanisms powering it. Is that the Genesis God? Atlan and Lizzie walked down the path and he saw rows of pews on the left and right side of the church. He looked up and saw more paintings of heaven in the ceiling, this time with the two faced man in the center of it all. Even the stained glass windows to the side showed a depiction of this man in different ethereal poses. "The Savior appears!" A few people stood up from the top right pew and greeted Atlan. He was surprised to see that it was Neumann and the rest of his team, all looking at him with smiling eyes. He expected to see them barely standing from the injuries they sustained. But instead, they all stood with no bandages, no crutches, and no sign of scratches on their bodies. They looked as healthy as ever. How is this possible? "It took you long enough, Atlan. We''ve been waiting here for a long time." Neumann walked over to him and grasped his shoulders. Atlan felt power from him, power he didn''t expect from a man recovering from a fatal wound in his stomach. "You''re fine?" "Of course I am!" The tank couldn''t help himself anymore and gave Atlan a bear hug. "Thank you! Thank you, man. Without you, we would have been stuck there in pain." sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan was still confused, so he wasn''t able to react. "You''re smothering him." The pugilist pulled the tank away from Atlan. "I''m just so thankful to him," the tank said. "You''re a real one." The archer patted him on the shoulders and gave him an approving nod. The Stun Wizard slowly approached him with her head down. She had her hands behind her back, concealing something that she was embarrassed about. "This¡­this is just a thanks¡­thanks¡­" The Stun Wizard pulled out a red box with a neatly wrapped white ribbon on top of it. Her face was tomato red as she gave it to him, avoiding eye contact with him. Is this box something to be embarrassed about? Why did she give it to me then? "It''s just some cheap chocolate I found somewhere. It''s nothing special¡­" Atlan had no idea about the ways of women. He didn''t notice the passion and care she put into conveying her feelings for him in the form of the gift. And if he had Pterina''s LifeSkill, he would have known that she was lying about it being ''nothing special''. He would have seen her heartbeat increase the moment she caught a whiff of his scent. "Thanks," Atlan said as he put away the box. Everyone seemed very thankful for Atlan. Without him, they would have been waiting in agony for hours on end in the Remedium. After all, HeadQuarters didn''t even know something was wrong until he came out of the portal with an injured veteran in his hands. "Are you all ready to be blessed?" Someone from the other side of the altar spoke out. Altan saw a bespectacled man wearing an ankle-length white garment with long sleeves walk towards the group. He noticed that the man had a narrow strip of cloth around his neck that hung down on the front, with the design of the god''s two faces on each side. "This is Reverend Fifty Seventh. He''s the main priest of the church." Lizzie introduced the holy-looking man. "Please, call me Fifty-seventh." The priest then walked over to the center of the altar and addressed everyone. "I''m glad that I''m the one able to give out the blessings to such wonderful people. Are you all ready?" Atlan was the only one who didn''t know anything, so he quickly raised the question. "What are we supposed to do?" The priest gave him a small smile. "The Genesis God will beam down his rewards onto all of you. You''ll gain more life and more experience." "If you have any questions about how to use your experience, you can ask me," Lizzie whispered to him. "Do not worry. I will guide all of you through this magical experience. The only thing you need to do is to stand and accept the grace from God." The rest of his teammates gleamed with happiness once they heard that. This was the first time they''d ever get experience, so their excitement was palpable. They thought they''d failed their mission, so getting rewarded like this was a blessing for them. "I''m so excited to get stronger!" "Yes! This is my first step to greatness!" "Aren''t you excited¡­Atlan?" the Stun Wizard asked him with a slight blush on her face. "I''m excited too," he lied. Neumann gave him a slight nudge. "I''m sure you''ll be given lots of experience this time. You''ve done a great job." "We get different Experiences?" "Usually, everybody gets the same experience. But, sometimes, the God gives out extra to those he deems have done a great service¨Clike you. Oh, look. The priest''s starting." Atlan saw Reverend Fifty-seventh take out a golden key from his pocket, the same one that the statue on the altar had, but a bit smaller. He then raised it to the ceiling and closed his eyes. The priest muttered something under his breath, but Atlan couldn''t hear it. Suddenly, a beam of light came down from the ceiling towards them. Atlan noticed that the beam coincided with the center of the Genesis God''s painting. Atlan''s eyes widened as he saw blue wisps come from out of nowhere and descend towards the group. This was Experience, manifested in reality. Soon enough, those wisps separated into smaller wisps and came down and landed on their foreheads. [You have received 10 experience] Once everything settled down, the beam of light disappeared. "Yes! 10 experience!" "Woohoo!" "I didn''t think I''d get this much from our first mission!" The youths celebrated their rewards, and the Stun Wizard turned towards Atlan to celebrate with him. However, she was surprised to see that he was glowing white! [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Grim Reaper Physique LifeSkill to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] Chapter 54: SoulTime His SSS Physique LifeSkill finally advanced to the 2nd stage! However, he didn''t expect his whole body to suddenly radiate a dim light. Practically everybody''s eyes were on him. "No way¡­" "That fast?! I can''t believe it." Lizzie walked up to him with amazed eyes. "You advanced to 2nd stage Student¡­after just one mission. Wow¡­" The reason why she and everyone else were surprised was because Saviors usually took months if not years to get to the 2nd stage Student realm. Only the most talented could do it earlier. For example, Yasmine with her S class DPS LifeSkill, achieved this feat only one week after she was drafted! And from what Lizzie could remember, Atlan was also drafted exactly one week earlier. This meant that Atlan was equally as talented as an S class genius hailed to be the next great Savior in the City. It could even be argued that Atlan was much more talented than her. After all, Yasmine achieved this after two missions in the Remedium, all in one week. While Atlan achieved it in just one mission. CLAP CLAP CLAP Reverend Fifty-seventh clapped his hands in wonderment. "Amazing! God has deemed you worthy enough to give 1000 experience points just from that one mission. As expected. Your heroism has been rewarded." Everyone''s reaction was a mix of amazement and disbelief. They never thought that he would be blessed this much. The Genesis God must have been really impressed with Atlan. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, Atlan knew that that wasn''t the case. He only received 10 Experience! The God wasn''t the reason why he advanced; he already had enough experience to fill it up multiple times. The problem before was that it didn''t advance even if it was filled up with 1000 experience. Is being ''blessed'' by a God a requirement for me to advance my Physique LifeSkill? This guess wasn''t without merit. After all, his LifeSkill had the job of a God. Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ªConsolidating the 2nd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 12 hrs : 59 mins : 27 s But the most alarming thing about this was that his whole body glowed a white light when he advanced! Everyone saw it with their own eyes. "Why did my body glow?" Lizzie answered him. "That''s normal. Everybody glows like that when they advance to the next stage." Atlan was relieved to know that his case wasn''t abnormal. However, he wondered why his previous advancements showed no physical manifestations. When he advanced his SSS class Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill, it didn''t show anything on his body. The same was with his other LifeSkills. Is it because of my Physique? Does it hide the other advancements? But no matter what, he wished that it would stay the same. It would be weird if they suddenly saw his body glowing every time he advanced one of his LifeSkills. "Congratulations!" Lizzie gave him another big hug. Soon after that, Neumann and the rest of his teammates gave their praises to him. They weren''t envious at all, because Atlan proved himself to be a commendable Savior. "I can''t call you Newbie now. You are a full-fledged Savior!" Neumann saluted him by bumping his fist two times in his chest. Atlan awkwardly returned the salute. "Thanks¡­" TICK¡­TOCK¡­TICK¡­ Just then, Atlan suddenly saw something change in his Soul System. He closed his eyes and focused on it. In the dark expanse of his Soul System filled with large planets, asteroids, blue wisps, and red geometric objects, he suddenly saw something new to the side. Just beside his LifeSkill planets, he saw a large construct completely made out of glass. This object was made out of two triangular bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck. And inside this thing were cascading grains of sand, slowly pouring from the top to the bottom. This was an hourglass. [SoulTime] ¡ª40 yrs : 110 d : 20 hrs : 09 min : 01 s "What''s SoulTime?" he asked out loud. Lizzie, completely expecting his question, answered immediately. "Simply put, it''s your lifespan." But this left Atlan confused. He thought everyone was ''immortal''. And If everyone was considered immortal, then they shouldn''t have lifespans to begin with. "I don''t understand." This time, the priest answered. "Well, child. Being immortal doesn''t mean that your lifespan is extended infinitely. It only means that you can''t die. For example, I have a SoulTime of more than 500 years. Even if that is a long time, it is still a finite amount of time. If I don''t do anything and God doesn''t intervene, then I will die in 500 years. However, people like us who live in God''s embrace are given extra time, or SoulTime, to extend our lives. Saviors not only get Experience from doing missions, they also get SoulTime. Normal citizens get blessed with SoulTime for their services towards the City." Atlan was still hazy about the whole thing. "But what about Angels? I thought they were the beings that made everyone immortal." Neumann explained. "If people live a normal life, then their SoulTime ticks normally. However, accidents happen and we Saviors risk our bodies and lives in the Remedium. Each hit, and each injury that we sustain corresponds to a large chunk of decrease in our SoulTime. A simple cut could correspond to a 1-hour decrease in SoulTime. And a critical injury in your heart could decrease your SoulTime to less than 10 percent of what it was originally. When I got mutilated, my SoulTime decreased to dangerously low levels. They estimated my SoulTime was only 30 minutes left." "What if your SoulTime turns to zero?" "That''s where the Angels come in. They follow every person in this City like a shadow, and during times when a person has only a few minutes left in their SoulTime, the Angel injects them with more life, more SoulTime, making them virtually immortal." The priest nodded, feeling that Neumann''s explanation was accurate. Atlan finally figured out the reason how Angels and immortality worked. It turned out that Angels were more like emergency medical officers, rather than immortal beings who gave out immortality to everyone. He then looked at his Soul System. He only had 40 years left, which was a significant improvement to the 20-year-old expected lifespan of those in the Unclaimed Lands. But when he inspected his SoulTime, he noticed something extremely weird. ¡ª40 yrs : 110 d : 20 hrs : 09 min : 01 s ¡ª40 yrs : 110 d : 20 hrs : 09 min : 02 s ¡ª40 yrs : 110 d : 20 hrs : 09 min : 03 s It was ticking up! Chapter 55: Invited Instead of ticking down like normal people, Atlan''s SoulTime was instead going up! This meant that he was getting more life as time passed by instead of losing it. This is definitely not normal. Is it because of my Physique LifeSkill? Is it because of my bloodline? Either way, he wasn''t mad at this power. He was an actual immortal. If he did nothing and lived a normal life, then he would live forever, and even extend his lifespan as he got older! Neumann also told him that each injury corresponded to a decrease in SoulTime. His increasing SoulTime meant that Atlan had the equivalent of regeneration powers! This was especially helpful in missions to the Remedium. He dared not tell this to other people. And even if he did, would they believe him? The women would envy him because he had the ability to get younger as he got older. "Do you understand SoulTime now?" Lizzie asked. Atlan nodded yes. "Saviors only see their SoulTime after they advance to the 2nd stage, so they only find out about this fact later," Lizzie explained. "It''s also the reason why veterans, usually tanks like me, are needed in beginner missions. Newbies don''t know how much SoulTime they lose when they get injured, so they get a bit reckless thinking they have more," Neumann added. Lizzie looked at her watch and saw the time. "Oh, we should continue our conversation outside. Mass is going to start soon, right Reverend Fifty-seventh?" The priest nodded. "Don''t worry, you can take your time." Then, he turned towards Atlan and clasped his hands. "Once again, I congratulate all of you, especially our star porter. Unfortunately, I won''t be able to join the celebrations as I have a lot of stuff to attend to. If only I could delegate praying, hahaha." The priest congratulated them before saying his goodbye and going back to the side door. "You see your SoulTime now? What does it look like?" "How much time do you have?" S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The excited youths couldn''t help but crowd over Atlan and ask all sorts of questions. Neumann had to reign them back in. "Guys, don''t be rude. You can''t expect someone to give you sensitive information when he doesn''t even know your names." They all felt embarrassed and quickly introduced themselves. "I''m Semi," the tank said, grasping Atlan''s hand with both hands. "Call me Pacman," said the pugilist. "Robin''s the name." the archer introduced himself. The last one was the Stun Wizard, and Atlan felt like he saw steam come out of her ears, but he must have just imagined it. "...Tryna," she tried to shake Atlan''s hands, but she wasn''t looking at him so she missed quite a few times. It took Semi''s help for her to shake hands with him. Atlan finally knew everyone''s name¡ªexcept for one. Someone was missing from the group. The Scout was nowhere to be seen. "What happened to our scout?" They all gave him a sad but optimistic smile. "He''s still recuperating from his injuries. They said that he got dangerously close to emptying his SoulTime," Pacman said. Atlan was confused. "Can''t the priest bless him with more SoulTime?" Neumann sighed. "They are¨Cthey did¨Cbut he''s still unconscious as of now." Suddenly, Atlan had a bad feeling. What if¡­ What if his SoulTime went to zero? Without the Angles, the scout''s SoulTime wouldn''t be injected with more life as it ticked down to zero. He''d be dead. "Where is he?" "He''s in intensive care in the church, which prohibits any visitors. We''ll just have to wait until he wakes up. He''ll be really jealous once he learns that we got our Experiences before him," Semi joked to lighten the mood. Atlan wasn''t sure that he was dead. If he was dead, I would have sensed it. "Anyway, let''s change the subject. We''re having a small party tomorrow evening to celebrate. It''ll be a big gathering of all of us in the Student Realm. You should join us, Atlan." "No offense to sir Neumann, but you really shouldn''t be hanging out with old people like him. All the people there will be our age." Neumann grunted, but he didn''t argue. He agreed with them that Atlan needed to socialize with people his age. "You''ll get to see a lot of new faces there. Everyone will be there! Geniuses, Young masters, and most importantly, some chicks!" Tryna, the Stun Wizard, elbowed Pacman once he mentioned other girls to Atlan. She could be quite aggressive when she needed to. "I''ve never been to a party before." Pacman put his shoulders over Atlan and whispered. "That''s fine. With your talent, I''m sure there''ll be some beautiful girls lining up over you¨COW!" "You should¡­join us¡­," Tryna said shyly, her arms still embedded in Pacman''s ribs. Since they were inviting him with open arms, Atlan decided to join them. Of course, he had no idea what to do at a ''party''. From the stories he heard, he was supposed to get ''wasted'' or whatever that meant. He''d have to ask Wemby later. "Sounds interesting. I''ll join." The youths, especially Tryna, shouted in happiness when they heard that. "Okay, plan your party some other time. It''s time for all of you to return home," Neumann said, herding the youths out of the church. "See, Atlan. Old men like Sir Neumann hate seeing us young folks having fun," Pacman said jokingly. "Ahem¡­under 200 years old is still very young." Soon, all of them were on their respective mounts out near the entrance of the church. The youths all said goodbyes to Atlan and reminded him of the time and place for the party. They all went on their own ways escorted by Neumann, who gave Atlan a small wave goodbye. Atlan and Lizzie entered her truck as she escorted him back to his house. While inside, Atlan asked her a question. "Will you be at the party?" She chuckled. "That''s only for young''uns like you. I''m old," she said as she tucked her curly hair in her ear. Atlan muttered under his breath. "You look young though¡­" Chapter 56: Altercation The truck moved through the streets of Genesis City at a steady pace. Atlan looked through the windows and noticed that they passed by the 2nd street of the SpringField district, the same place where the mission took place. He was surprised to see that the houses were already fixed and upright. There was no debris on the streets, the houses had fully refurbished paint, and people were walking out of their houses as if nothing happened. He was surprised to see how fast everything was cleaned. Lizzie said that the City had Operators who could rebuild houses within hours. What more can they do? It seemed like the Operator specialty was more diverse than he thought. They could see through lies, create massive structures instantly, and even target the weaknesses of Canzers. Soon enough, the truck parked just in front of Atlan''s house. Lizzie bid him goodbye and congratulated him again for his accomplishments. In just a few days, she saw him soar through the heavens with his talent. She was very proud. Atlan walked back to his house after Lizzie departed. Just as he slumped on his comfortable bed, he suddenly saw new words pop up in front of him. [Consolidation period over] [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª 2nd stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª (0/2000) Atlan tried to activate this LifeSkill back in the Remedium, but he saw that he couldn''t do it. Since it had the job of a Sniper, Atlan guessed that he needed a gun or something with a projectile to activate it. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He remembered that time when he was practicing in the Training Hall Remedium and saw a Savior with a sniper job. He had this strange elongated tube with many attachments on it, and with just one flick of his finger, a powerful explosion shot out of the barrel and hit the Pseudo Canzer. Just like his Cherubic Retribution which needed a target to be able to activate, his Apocalyptic Hellfire needed a medium to be used. However, he didn''t know how he was going to get a gun. Heck, he didn''t even know how people get their weapons. They never told him this because he had no need for them; he was a porter. Maybe I could ask Wemby and the others later. I could just make the excuse that I want to get a sword for self-defense. Atlan quickly put the required experience in his LifeSkill and advanced it to the 3rd stage. [You have successfully advanced through the 2nd Stage Student Realm of your SSS class LifeSkill Apocalyptic Hellfire] [Consolidation period: 47 hrs: 59 mins: 50 secs] He looked down at his body and didn''t see the glowing light seep out of his body like last time. This proved his guess that he''d only show his advancement if his Physique LifeSkill was the one that advanced. This was beneficial to Atlan because he didn''t want others to know about his myriad of LifeSkills in his Soul System. And before going to sleep, Atlan snacked on the strange thing called ''chocolate''. He quite liked the mixture of sweet and bitter flavors he tasted. With everything settled, Atlan closed his eyes and went to sleep. ### The next day, Atlan woke up to another advancement. [Consolidation period over] [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Grim Reaper Physique LifeSkill to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª 2nd stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(2000 / 2000) Atlan tried to put more experience into this LifeSkill, however, just like before, a strange invisible barrier prevented him from overfilling it. And even though he filled it with blue wisps, the LifeSkill planet refused to coagulate into another solid layer. He couldn''t advance to the 3rd stage. Do I need to get blessed with experience from a God to advance it again? Atlan found this a bit disappointing because it meant that he would have to finish missions and get ''blessed'' with experience before he could advance it to the next stage. Can''t I just advance it with my regular experience? I''d even be willing to pay twice the cost¡­ If other people heard his thoughts, they''d go green with envy. He was complaining about his ''slow'' advancement even though it took other Saviors months or even years to accumulate enough experience points to advance to their next stage. But since he couldn''t do anything about it, he would just have to wait until he got another mission. He got out of his house and walked towards the Savior HeadQuarters. The party wasn''t until this evening, so he had a lot of free time this morning. His first order of business was to get some advice from Wemby and the others about what to do at a ''party''. They''d probably have a lot of experience with mingling and socializing with others. As for the rest of the day, he''d pass the time by killing some more Pseudo Canzers in the Training Hall Remedium. When he turned the corner and saw the magnificent building of the HeadQuarters, he saw that fewer Saviors were walking up and down the steps. He didn''t even see Neumann and the others anywhere. They''re probably inside, Atlan thought. But just as he was about to walk up the steps, he suddenly heard a commotion to the side. There was shouting. Aggressive shouting. He turned his head and saw three people arguing near a secluded corner. He was going to ignore them, but his enhanced eyesight caught a familiar face. Wemby? One of the guys arguing was Wemby. Atlan got curious and walked over towards them. As he did, he noticed that Wemby and another person he didn''t know were arguing with another person wearing a blue battle suit! Wemby and his acquaintance were having some disagreements with an Operator. All three parties were angry. Wemby stayed on the sidelines, but the Vanguard and the Operator were having an intense argument, with their faces beet red. These two looked like they were just about to throw hands. Atlan couldn''t help but approach the group. "What''s happening?" Wemby saw Atlan and immediately wanted him to back out. He knew that a fight was about to break out and he didn''t want the newbie to get hurt. The Operator with the blue suit saw Atlan approach and immediately hissed at him. "Stay out of this, you Knife." The other person, the Vanguard with the green suit, also frowned when he saw Atlan approach. "Don''t interfere in other people''s business, kid. Or else this Quill''s not the only one who''s going to know the strength of a 2nd stage Student like me." Atlan ignored their words. The only thing in his mind was; They look like they''re about to hurt each other¡­I hate suffering¡­ Chapter 57: Knives V Quills "Don''t call me a Quill, you Knife!" the Operator grumbled. The ''Knife'' snickered. He wanted to anger the ''Quill'' and make him do the first move so that he''d have the excuse to retaliate. The Vanguard was just waiting so that he''d be able to teach the pretentious Operator a lesson. He didn''t want a nobody like Atlan to interfere with this. The Operator couldn''t help but be angry at the Vanguard. Knives were always arrogant and disrespected the Quills any time something happened. And if things did go well, then they wouldn''t get the recognition they deserved. So, the Operator wanted to show them that ''Quills'' were just as equal in strength as the ''Knives''. While the Vanguard was laughing to himself, the Operator lunged towards him with a straight right jab right down to his face. He was surprisingly agile with his movements, leaving the Vanguard surprised at the attack. However, the Knife''s experience in the Remedium taught him to react well. He quickly raised his left hand, guarding against the attack. And without a second later, he arced his right hand and counter-attacked with a right hook straight to the Quill''s ribs. The Vanguard smiled. He saw the panic in the Operator''s eyes. Quills were not good with hand-to-hand combat like the Knives. They were mere pampered office workers. But unexpectedly, the Quill''s left hand suddenly and skillfully tucked itself on his side, protecting the Operator from the hook. "What?!" The Operator smiled. "Hmph. Haven''t you seen Cybernetics installed in a battle suit before?" He then performed a perfect roundhouse kick straight to the Knife''s face. The Vanguard backed away with confusion in his face. "The A.I. chip in my battle suit has learned from the best Martial Artists in the City. With just one thought in my brain, I can become a black belt in ancient Taekwondo!" The Knife frowned. He hated Quills even more. As expected, they cheated their way into becoming strong and just reaped the rewards from the hard-working Vanguards who risk their SoulTime in the Remedium. He couldn''t lose this fight. He rushed towards the Quill. Fighting against regenerating Canzers taught the Vanguard to never let his opponents even have a moment to relax. The Knife ran around the Quill, using the tight space around them to jump from wall to wall. The Operator couldn''t keep up with his movements. With each step on the wall, the Knife got higher and higher. He had no fear of falling and even had his eyes focused on the clueless Quill. The Operator couldn''t keep up with the Knife''s movements, leaving him disoriented. It was a moment of weakness. The knife took advantage of this and jumped down with his hands clasped together, intending to smash the Quill''s arrogant head. The Operator had no idea what was happening, but his blue battle suit suddenly emitted a white color as his AI chip recognized the threat. His body performed a near-straight back kick, clashing with the Vanguard''s clasped hands. The two stumbled back from the force. The Quill''s cybernetic battle suit made up for the guy''s lack of fighting skills. "Tch." But the Vanguard didn''t give up. He looked around and used the environment to his advantage. The Quill was breathing heavily when, all of a sudden, he saw a pot of plant coming towards his face. His computer chip reacted for him, performing a roundhouse kick to sweep the pot and its soil away from his face. But when he looked around, he didn''t see the Knife anywhere. His body automatically turned to the side and saw the Knife''s fist coming toward his face. The Quill''s battle suit had no control over his face, so he couldn''t react to the attack. The punch rocked the Quill''s entire head to the side. The Vanguard thought he won, but he was caught off guard when he felt a crushing pain in his ribs. He looked down and saw the Quill''s leg kicking him just below the armpit. The Operator''s battle suit automatically kicked the Vanguard''s ribs. "Kuh!" Both of them spat out blood. They looked at their Soul System and saw that they lost about 10 days'' worth of SoulTime from that attack. Their anger for each other burned even harder. They couldn''t believe that they let themselves be injured by a Knife/Quill. They should be the superior! To prove that, both of them decided to use their real powers. The Knife''s body glowed a red tint as four meteors suddenly appeared and rotated around his fists. This was his DPS LifeSkill, Crashing Meteor Punch. Meanwhile, the Quill''s entire battle suit suddenly vibrated and buzzed as streaks of electricity erupted from his entire body. Even though the use of LifeSkills out in the public was forbidden, their desire to satiate their anger overcame their reasoning. "Darn it! They''ve gone insane!" Wemby bit his lips. "Atlan, let''s report this so that it doesn''t escalate¨C" But he was talking to no one. Atlan wasn''t there. Wemby was horrified to see Atlan standing in the middle of the two fighters with no regards for his safety. What is he doing?! He could get hurt! The Vanguard and the Operator both saw Atlan stand between them. The Knife scoffed. He couldn''t believe that a youth like Atlan was arrogant enough to think that he could stop a high class Savior like him. Didn''t Atlan know that he was a talented A class DPS talent that advanced to the 2nd stage in just two months? "Your loss, kid! I''ll beat both of you into a pulp!" he said as his meteors rotated faster around his fist. He charged towards Atlan and the Quill. Meanwhile, the Operator charged up his electricity into the maximum voltage. "Ha, You filthy Knives! Know your place!" The Quill rushed towards Atlan and the Knife. Atlan, with two Saviors coming right towards him with their most powerful attacks, simply raised his head. He didn''t look worried at all as they both charged at him with intense hatred. "Why can''t everybody be a pacifist like me?" he lamented. The Knife raised his fist high up in the air, ready to pummel both Atlan and the Quill in the ground. He thought he''d finally see fear and regret in Atlan''s eyes. Instead, Atlan turned around and faced the opposite direction! He didn''t even spare a glance at the Vanguard and treated him as if he was nothing but air. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He couldn''t believe this! He was getting disrespected by both the Quill and this youngster! This was unacceptable! His meteors rotated even faster around his fist, increasing the force of his punch. You don''t even turn around to face me? We''ll see how you feel when I smack the back of your skull! He jabbed his right fist towards Atlan''s face, with his meteors increasing the speed and force of his punch. But just as his attack was about to hit the naive youth, Atlan suddenly tilted his head and dodged the Vanguard''s attack. !!!! The Knife couldn''t believe it. And without even turning his face, Atlan raised his right hand and caught the Knife''s attack, stopping it in its tracks. Atlan looked back to the horrified Knife and said; "I''ll deal with you later." Chapter 58: Spreading pacifism The Vanguard couldn''t understand what happened. He looked at his right hand and saw that the original four meteors that were rotating around his wrist now became only three. He used up one of the meteors in his attack, which meant that his punch should have destroyed any defense it came across. So then how did Atlan catch his fist? Did I misfire my LifeSkill?! He quickly withdrew away from Atlan, jumping back until he could feel the walls against his back. He reached down deep in his Soul System and tried to figure out why his Crashing Meteor Punch didn''t pack as much power as he thought. Atlan shouldn''t have been able to catch his attack. Meanwhile, the Quill looked at Atlan, who was walking towards him with an indecipherable look on his face. The Quill took the initiative and rushed towards Atlan. His blue battle suit buzzed with high-voltage electricity arcing through the air. With the momentum he had, the Quill jumped up and did a side-kick aimed directly at Atlan''s chest. But surprisingly, the unknown youth simply turned his whole body away at the very last second. The Operator didn''t think that Atlan had the reaction skills to even see through his attack. But he did. How? That''s a kick from a taekwondo master! With his back to Atlan, the Operator was vulnerable to any attack. Atlan raised his hand and positioned it to grab the Operator''s shoulders. Ha! The Quill''s battle suit was charged with enough voltage to incapacitate 2nd stage Students and even some in the 3rd stage. It was an impenetrable defense that deterred any attackers. The Operator smiled when he saw Atlan grab his shoulders. He couldn''t wait to see Atlan''s entire body shuddering from a thousand volts coursing through his body. But the smile on the Operator''s face faded once he felt Atlan tighten his grip on his shoulders. Huh?! How''s he able to touch me? He looked at Atlan''s eyes and saw that it was filled with clarity, as if the electricity coursing through his body didn''t affect him. That''s impossible! Atlan''s entire body should be fried inside out by now, with his muscles seizing and unable to move. The Operator thought that his battle suit malfunctioned, but then he saw electricity arcing through Atlan''s body, and one even streaked through his eyes. He was getting electrocuted! Yet, why did it seem like he wasn''t affected at all? "Hurting will only cause further suffering," Atlan said. "??? What are you talking¨C" The Operator didn''t know what Atlan was talking about. But then, he suddenly felt a sharp, cramping pain in his stomach that took all the breath out of his lungs. Atlan gave him a swift punch in the gut that made his brain feel hazy. As a man who hadn''t been through a lot of physical training, this was the first time he felt true pain. It was excruciating. The Quill fell on his knees and passed out in a fetal position. If he didn''t know what suffering was, then he certainly felt it then. Meanwhile, the Vanguard looked at Atlan with confusion with a tinge of fear in his eyes. He started to wonder who he was facing. Was this unassuming youth actually an S class Tank talent? Atlan then turned towards him, and fear gripped his heart. The Knife shook his head and tried to focus. He reactivated his LifeSkill again, with four meteors floating around his fists. This time, he''d make sure to keep his grip on his LifeSkill so that it wouldn''t misfire again. He rushed towards Atlan with both hands in front of him. With double the power of his LifeSkill, there was less chance of Atlan getting lucky and avoiding the full brunt of his meteoric punch. This was a punch that could disorient a 1st stage difficulty Canzer! He used this power to deal tremendous amounts of damage to a Canzer and kill it with his team in just under half an hour! Atlan should be feeling the heat by now. As the attack came towards him, he should have been trying to find a way to escape. But instead of running away, Atlan stood still and only muttered a few words. "I''m only spreading pacifism," Atlan reminded himself. He wasn''t causing violence, he was stopping it. And with that resolution, the Vanguard''s double meteoric punch whistled through the air, leaving only a trail of embers behind his fists. And instead of slowing down, his attack seemed to get faster and faster as it reached Atlan''s chest. This was the last moment to escape. But instead, Atlan closed his eyes! He tried to remember how the Operator moved his body. He recalled how his waist moved to efficiently muster as much power as he could to his legs. And as he visualized it, Atlan moved his body in turn. He raised his left leg and left it bent, until at the last moment, he flicked his foot directly at the Knife''s ribs. "GUAAHH!" The Vanguard felt a few of his ribs crack, leaving him gasping for air. His whole body was cast aside till he crashed onto the wall, unconscious. He didn''t even know what happened. He didn''t see Atlan''s swift kick because it was covered by his own two fists! With just a few moves, Atlan knocked both the Operator and the Vanguard unconscious. Wemby''s mouth was wide agape. He was left speechless. Is this how powerful a Porter really is? Wemby knew the Vanguard personally, and he knew that the guy was an experienced fighter in the 2nd stage Student realm. That meteoric punch of his could take out 1 year off a person''s SoulTime! Yet Atlan tanked that punch like it was nothing. Not only that, he knew that the Quill''s electric battle suit was used to paralyze some criminal Saviors. It wasn''t something that anyone could just shrug off. Yet Atlan did. Here he was worried that Atlan would get accidentally injured, not knowing that he should have been worried for the other two! Atlan walked back to Wemby. "Wow! You beat those guys bloody." Atlan tilted his head and looked confused. "I''m a pacifist¡­" Wemby was speechless. Is he serious? S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 59: Go to market? "Woah! Did you guys see that? Who is that?" "Wait! I think it''s that famous Porter!" "You mean he''s that one? He''s heroic and he''s also good at self-defense? What a package!" A small crowd gathered near the corner where the fight took place. They all saw Atlan dismantle both of those Saviors with just a few moves. Almost all of them knew about the hot story of the Porter''s brave actions of saving his fellow teammates. However, only a sparse few recognized who Atlan was. And by now, people also found out that Atlan was part of an elite group of geniuses who were able to advance to the 2nd stage Student realm in just one week! That was a kind of talent that could not be replicated just by anyone! They were all surprised to find out that Atlan was also good at Martial Arts. Even though his moves were crude, his insane reaction speeds and robust physique allowed him to overcome those flaws. They knew that a Physique LifeSkill was good, but they didn''t know that it was that good. He took that electrical charge like it was nothing! "Excuse me." Someone pushed themselves through the crowd and walked towards Atlan and Wemby. She had her hands on her waist and a stern look on her face. "What do you all think you''re doing?" Atlan was surprised to see that a crowd had gathered around him. Not only that, Miss Lizzie was also there with an angry look on her face. What did I do this time?! Lizzie glared at both of them, but she especially scowled at Wemby. "Are you fighting with the Operators again? Wemby, I can''t believe you! And now, you even influenced Atlan in your schemes!" Wemby raised his hands innocently. "I didn''t! Even though I wanted to fight, I held myself back! And the newbie is the one who acted by himself, don''t blame me!" He quickly threw Atlan under the bus. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Lizzie had her hands on her waist and scrutinized Atlan. But he just shrugged. "I was advocating for pacifism!" Lizzie looked back and saw the unconscious bodies of the Vanguard and the Operator. That was being a pacifist? She sighed. "I know that you wanted to stop them from fighting, but you didn''t have to do it by yourself. You could have reported to the HeadQuarters and they''d be stopped by other Saviors. Once again, you put yourself in danger. Even though it seemed like you took that without wincing in pain, I know that you lost a lot of SoulTime from that." Lizzie, Wemby, and everyone else who witnessed Atlan fight against the two Saviors all saw him take electric damage from the Operator''s battle suit. That would have been enough to incapacitate 2nd stage Students. They all thought that Atlan used his Physique LifeSkill to resist the paralyzing effect of the electricity. But even so, they all believed that Atlan must have lost a lot of SoulTime from that attack. It only looked like it didn''t affect him because he was brave and lionhearted. But in truth, Atlan didn''t have to do anything. His SSS class Physique LifeSkill just advanced to the 2nd stage, and it enhanced his natural body defenses by a large margin. He truly felt nothing from the electricity that tried to fry his body. When he looked at his SoulTime, he didn''t lose any time at all. [SoulTime] ¡ª40 yrs : 111 d : 04 hrs : 16 min : 49 s He even gained a day in his SoulTime because a day has elapsed from when he gained his SoulTime. But they didn''t know that. If he told everybody the truth, they would quickly wonder how he was able to defend against two Saviors who were both in the 2nd stage Student realm. After all, he was only a Porter. He wasn''t a tank who had tremendous defenses around their body. "You must have lost about a month from that, right?" Lizzie asked, disappointed. Atlan nodded his head and didn''t say anything else. "I can see how he was able to return to the Remedium to save his teammates. He doesn''t care about his SoulTime!" "I wish I had that courage. I don''t even get into sparring sessions because I don''t want to waste SoulTime." "He''s the star porter. He''s going to get a lot more missions and get rewarded with a lot more SoulTime. He''ll probably get blessed with more than a year from his next mission." "Ahem!" Lizzie looked at all the onlookers. "Why don''t you guys make yourselves useful and bring those guys to the church, will you?" The crowd quickly dispersed and some carried the Operator and the Vanguard away into their mounts. They need the help of the nuns to wake up from their unconsciousness. "Sorry Lizzie. I just get so angry at those Quills, especially after that debacle with the newbie''s mission. How could they not know that there''s a Sapient Canzer there? Neumann lost a lot of SoulTime from that." Wemby sighed and shook his head. He blamed the Operators for this disaster that affected Atlan and Neumann, two of his friends. If the Quills did their job properly, then Atlan and Neumann wouldn''t have had to suffer during a routine mission. How could he not get angry? "Why were those two arguing?" Atlan asked. "Well, he''s actually my teammate for my next mission and we were given a Canzer Report from the Operators. But how could we trust that report? Who knows if they made a mistake again? So, we both tracked down the Operator and asked him if he double-checked the symptoms. Of course, typical Quill, he immediately scoffed at us and ignored us. And that''s when the argument started." Lizzie shook her head in disappointment. The Operators have been in hot water ever since that disaster with the newbie mission happened. This created further distrust and disrespect from both specialties. She wouldn''t be surprised if this wasn''t the first fight that happened this morning. "Anyway, I have to go and prepare for my mission and just hope that everything goes well. Ugh. Those Quills have one job. One job!" Wemby tried to put his anger behind him. "Oh, and I forgot to congratulate you, newbie. I knew you were going to be a transcendent talent." Wemby gave him a smile and a pat on the back. "Just keep doing what you''re doing, newbie. Oh, and I''m gonna still keep calling you that even if you surpass me, okay?" With that, Wemby called his mount and left the HeadQuarters. Ah! I forgot to ask him how to ''party''. Just as he was about to shout towards Wemby, Lizzie suddenly took his hands and dragged him to her truck. "Atlan, come with me." "Where are we going?" "We''re going to the armory market." She poked his chest. "I''m going to get you some good armor. You can''t just waste your SoulTime like that." Armory market¡­a place to buy armor, swords, and¡­guns. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 60: Meeting a blacksmith "What can I get from there?" "There''s lots of armor, weapons, and miscellaneous gadgets in the Armory Market." Atlan was intrigued. Ever since he obtained the SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill, he couldn''t wait to try it out. Unfortunately, unless he had a weapon that could fire projectiles, his LifeSkill wouldn''t activate no matter how hard he tried. But if he could buy a gun¡­ "Come on! It''s not like you have anywhere to go anyway. The Training Hall Remedium is closed for the time being." "Closed? Why?" "HeadQuarters shut it down until they find out the reason why things went so wrong during your mission. The Vanguards didn''t want to enter knowing there was a risk, and the Operators didn''t want to get blamed if something bad does happen. So, they closed it. In fact, all non-essential Remedium portals are banned right now. People can''t go to the Remedium unless it''s for a mission." Atlan was planning on killing a few Pseudo Canzers in the Training Hall, but it seemed his plans would have to be scrapped. And unless the Angels returned and things went back to normal, it looked like Atlan wouldn''t be able to farm more Pseudo Canzers for now. "Where do we go?" With nothing else to do, he relented and joined Lizzie to the market. The truck strolled through the streets and away from the City Center down South. On the way, Atlan saw a lot of new architecture and large buildings unlike anything he''d ever seen. It didn''t look like these structures were meant for humans to live in as smoke and steam billowed out of multiple chimneys on the roof. "This is Masamune District, the industrial heart of Genesis City." Atlan''s eyes widened as he saw a hill in the distance with a large crater on the top. Smoke and bits of magma spurted out of the opening every few seconds. It wasn''t just a regular mountain, it was a volcano! This volcanic mountain was surrounded by large, blocky buildings, with large pipes interconnected with each other and eventually all leading back to the volcano. "Mount Infernal looks larger than life, doesn''t it? Without that volcano, we won''t have the power to light our homes, we won''t have water to pump from underground, and we won''t be able to produce food to sustain us. That is where the City''s energy is mostly generated. It is a vital part of the City and we cannot let the Canzers destroy it. That''s why this District has its own Specialist Saviors on standby, ready to go whenever a Symptom appears." Specialist Saviors were three realms above those in the Student Realm like Atlan. It goes from Student, to Pre-Intern, to Intern, and then to Specialist. Atlan saw that almost every house, every building, every street, and even TVs had small pipes that connected to the main pipe and back to the volcano. She wasn''t lying when she said that this volcano powered everything in this City. No wonder they need Specialist Saviors to protect this district. After a few more minutes, they reached the armory marketplace. The truck turned a corner and the large buildings of this street blocked his view from Mount Infernal. When he looked around, he saw an abundance of people walking and inspecting the wares of stalls and stores on the side of the street. Even in the truck, he could still hear the passionate bargains from buyer to seller. The sellers would brandish polished swords and throwing knives to a group of interested buyers, and the customer would throw out a counteroffer of some kind. When he looked at the people buying, he noticed that most of them had distinctly foreign faces, with some being taller, more slender, and had a more bulbous nose than the people he saw in Genesis City. But the buyers weren''t the only special humans he saw in the street. In all the stalls that they passed, almost all of them were managed by dwarfs¨Chumans with a short and stocky stature. They all have the same dwarf mutation? In every district he visited, he always saw a mix of mutations around. Even if people had the same cat mutation, not everyone would have cat ears or tails¡ªsome just had whiskers on their faces. But in this district, the dwarves all had identical mutations. "We''re here," Lizzie said as the truck came to a stop. She then pointed at the building where armor sets and swords were displayed in glass cases on the front. "You''ll have a large selection of armor you can pick out from his store. I''ve been loyal to this place ever since the owner gave me personalized katars and daggers." Lizzie parked the truck in one of the designated spaces beside the building. Atlan noticed that this store was one of the few buildings with parking spaces for both mounts and vehicles. This place must be special. Lizzie entered the shop ahead of him while Atlan looked up at the carved wooden sign at the front. Indirect descendant? What does that mean? Atlan walked inside the shop and immediately, the smell of oil and charcoal hit his nose. And even though it was muffled, the sound of banging metal resounded through the walls and filled his ears. Don''t they get deaf from that? he wondered. CHIME A single dwarf tinkering on his workbench turned to look at who entered his store. And when he saw Lizzie, he immediately dropped what he was working on and greeted her. "Oh, puellula Lizzie! It''s been a while." The owner had curly black hair and a long bushy beard. He was wearing dirty overalls and a white t-shirt underneath with multiple greasy hand marks near his pockets. "What brings you here? Have my claws done you well? I hope you''re not going to tell me that you lost them in the Remedium again." "I''m doing good, Custodire. It''s been doing me well but I''ve been having trouble with grip on my claws¨Cah! That''s not why I''m here. I''m here for another business. I''m hoping that you''d be able to give this new guy better protection. He''s quite careless with his SoulTime." She gestured at Atlan to come and she introduced the dwarf to him. "This is Miss Custodire. She''s my trusted blacksmith." S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She? Atlan was caught off guard. He would have never thought that the bearded dwarf was a woman. Granted her beard covered half of her face, he didn''t see any hint of femininity on her. She was even more muscular than most men he saw in the City. "What? Never seen a beautiful dwarf like me before?" she said, but Atlan didn''t react. Custodire looked at Lizzie. "What''s wrong with him?" "He''s never seen a dwarf before," she explained. "He''s from the Unclaimed Lands." "I see. Well, nice to meet you kid. I''m Custodire. You''ll never see a more beautiful dwarf like me, so be thankful." She offered her greeting and Atlan, after finally shaking off his surprise, shook hands with her. "I''m Atlan." His eyes widened when he felt a strong pressure crushing his hands. Chapter 61: Custodire This was the first time that Atlan actually felt pain in his hands. Even when he crushed the hard outer shell of the Canzers he fought in his first mission, he never felt even a tinge of pressure from it. But now, he felt like his bones would break if he didn''t stiffen his grip. Atlan had to use his real strength, with no reservations, just to survive the monstrously strong grip of this unassuming dwarf. Little by little, he felt like he was getting the upper hand in this tussle. Custodire''s eyebrows raised as she felt an equal pressure clasping her hands. She was just testing this little cub to see how he''d react, but she didn''t think that he''d be able to withstand her strength. She quickly changed her evaluation of this youth. "Strong body¡­" she said with a smile. "Okay, that''s enough, Miss Custodire. You can''t bully newbies like this anymore. You''re in the Specialist Realm!" Custodire let go of her grip on Atlan and crossed her hands on her chest. "I was just playing around. And it looks like this little cub right here is no newbie at all. He''s pretty strong." Atlan took a deep breath as he took back his hand. She''s a Specialist? That''s three realms above me! No wonder she could crush my bones. "You''re a Specialist?" he asked her. Custodire smiled and raised her bushy chin. "That''s right. I''m an Operator in the Specialist Realm. That means I can create decent weapons and armor that Specialists can use. But I can create even more magnificent armor for newbies like you." Atlan was misled by her attire. She wasn''t wearing the blue battle suit that Operators usually wore, so he thought that she was just an ordinary human. He didn''t think that anyone would ever guess that she was a Savior, much less an elite one in the Specialist realm. Just how strong is she? He couldn''t even fathom the strength of someone three realms above his own. "So, Atlan. What stage are you in right now? 7th? 8th?" "2nd stage," he muttered. "2nd stage Pre-intern? Not bad." Lizzie chuckled. "No, Miss Custodire. He''s only in the 2nd stage Student Realm." "What?!" She couldn''t believe that a mere 2nd stage Student was able to withstand her grip. At that stage, Saviors were barely even superhuman. Yet, the strength he displayed was far above the level she expected. Lizzie saw the look of surprise on her face and she couldn''t help but chuckle. This was also the reason why she wanted to introduce Atlan to her¨Cshe wanted to see the old dwarf get tongue-tied. "And that''s not all. He only advanced to the 2nd stage yesterday. One week after he got drafted. After one mission." Lizzie''s words of praise were filled with pride. Custodire had to lean on the full metal armor next to her as she processed this information. She was a well-sought-after blacksmith with a high-class clientele filled with young masters and geniuses from prestigious families. However, this was the first time she saw someone as talented as this youth. In her opinion, he even surpassed those arrogant youths with S class talents! "What''s your job?" "Porter." She sucked in a big breath. Although being a porter was a good job, she couldn''t help but feel that Atlan''s talents were being wasted. If he had a DPS or Tank LifeSkill, he could easily become one of the premier talents of the City that could even compare to big Metropolises overseas. But she didn''t dare overlook a porter''s importance. They braved the Remedium with no fighting skills to protect themselves, which was why protective gear was so important for porters like Atlan. Custodire finally understood why Lizzie brought him here. She sized up Atlan''s body and got his measurements just from one look. "Well, why don''t you take a look around my wares and tell me if you have anything you like." She pulled a lever on the wall and the sword displays on the side suddenly made way for shiny, metallic armor displayed in stands. "What do you like?" Lizzie said as she surveyed the armors with him. Atlan was a little bit overwhelmed. There were different kinds of armor, and all were different from one another. Some protected only his chest, some were complete down to the shoulders, and there was even one that looked like it was made of glass. He didn''t know if shiny metallic armor was better than those that had a matte finish with a leathery texture. Should I go big and bulky? Or is minimalistic better? "Which one do you think I should choose?" he asked Custodire. As the expert in all things armor, she''d have the best eye for these things. The dwarf nodded and quickly chose the armor at the very front of the selection. It was made out of a black, shiny material, with prominent shoulder guards and gilled designs on the torso. It looked the most complicated out of all the armor. "This is the Eclipse Bayou, an indirect Masamune original." What''s that? Custodire saw Atlan''s confusion and quickly explained. "An indirect Masamune original means that it is made by a blacksmith with an indirect lineage to the Masamune Family. I am one such blacksmith, so anything I make is an indirect Masamune original." "Masamune Family? Isn''t this district also called the Masamune District?" The dwarf nodded. "Yes. This district got its name because almost all of our residents are a part of the Masamune Family." "Are all of you part of one big family?" "Yes. Didn''t you notice that almost all of our blacksmiths and vendors in this place are dwarves? That''s because we all have a bloodline that is part dwarf due to our lineage. Some of us are more connected to the main lineage, and some are further removed. Since I am from a side branch of the main Masamune family, all of my blacksmith works are labeled as an indirect Masamune original. Those that are 2nd removed from the main family can only call their works as 2nd removed originals, and so on." Atlan was surprised to find out that an entire district was dedicated to just one family. He also didn''t know why being further removed from a family was considered bad. But the fact that only one family had a monopoly on an entire blacksmithing district meant that they must be really good at it. He looked at the Eclipse Bayou armor in front of him and knew that it was technically a good armor. Atlan even estimated that it could withstand the claws of the Deiztruphia Canzer for a few attacks at the least. However, it just didn''t feel right for him. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was a simple chest armor made out of iron. It had dents and scratches all around, and it was even rusted in most places. However, a strange feeling in his gut compelled him to get it. Chapter 62: Plain chestplate Atlan walked towards the rusted chest plate that was buried under scrap metal. Lizzie and Custodire both thought that Atlan would be impressed by the Eclipse Bayou, but instead, they saw him walk toward the junk box. Then, he dug through some scrap metal until he saw the dented and rusty chest plate. "That''s completely worn down. Don''t you want the Eclipse Bayou? It''s the best you''ll find here," Lizzie added. Custodire''s eyebrows raised as she realized what Atlan had his eyes on. "I suggest you pick something else, kid. That piece of thing is picky with its owner." Lizzie was surprised "Wait, that piece of junk is semi-sentient?" The dwarf nodded, but she didn''t elaborate any further. Semi-sentient equipment were weapons that had enough consciousness to choose their own wielders. If a blacksmith had a high enough power realm, then they''d have the power to imbue such intelligence on their work. As an Operator in the Specialist Realm, Custodire had the power to create semi-sentient equipment¨Cbut only with Specialist level weapons with high-class Canzer materials. She couldn''t do that to lower-leveled equipment, like that rusted chest plate that Atlan was looking at. This meant that it was probably created by a blacksmith that was above the Specialist realm, making it extremely rare and high-quality. This equipment was passed down through her family, and through the generations, many have tried and failed to subdue the armor. Even geniuses hailed as once in a millennia talent couldn''t woo the stubborn old chest plate. It ended up being nothing more than junk in Custodire''s smithy. But now, it seemed that Atlan wanted to try his luck. Custodire considered Atlan as an impressive talent, but she didn''t think he''d be enough for the picky old armor. If Atlan wanted to try his luck, then she wouldn''t stop him. Atlan bent down and reached for the armor. But just as he was about to pick it up, someone suddenly shouted behind him. "Wait a minute young man. I saw this first!" A man with a tall, slender build and a bulbous nose rushed in front of Atlan and prevented him from picking up the armor. Judging from the I.D. strapped on his neck detailing his name and original residence, everyone immediately guessed that this man was a tourist. He was just a window shopper in this smithy when, all of a sudden, he heard from Custodire herself that the junk rusting in the corner was a semi-sentient weapon! He wanted it for himself. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lizzie frowned and shouted at the man. "Hey!" But the tourist didn''t even spare her a glance. His eyes were only locked into the rusted chestplate in front of him. He frowned for a second, feeling as if the chestplate was nothing more than junk. But, he trusted the dwarf''s words more than his eyes. So, he knew that this piece of junk was more valuable than it seemed. "I''ll get this, dwarf." Custodire didn''t respond and simply crossed her arms. "You can''t just take it. Atlan got to it first," Lizzie erupted. The tourist harrumphed. "Ha! Do you know how much trouble I went through just to enter this forsaken trashy City? Your useless soldiers prevented me from entering for three days! It was horrifying! I could see the Unclaimed Lands just outside the bubble. Who knows what could have happened to me? And the only thing that your useless City told me was that your ''system'' was down due to some solar interruption. Bah! Trash City, I tell you. I''ve been to better Cities and even some better Villages." The tourist couldn''t help but spill out his grievances to them. He felt like he deserved compensation for all the suffering he felt from that ordeal. He should at least get a semi-sentient armor from this City before he departed. But just then, he saw Atlan move to the side and pick up the rusted chest plate. How dare this kid?! "Get your dirty hands off that! That''s mine!" The foreigner quickly tried to pry the chestplate away from Atlan''s hands, but his eyes widened when he felt like he was trying to move a mountain. What? Is he a statue or something?! He couldn''t even make the chestplate budge. He tried to grab the wall for better leverage, but he still couldn''t even make it move an inch. His face contorted hideously as he tried to exert as much force as possible. Atlan looked to the side and saw the foreigner. Huh? When did he get here? He was so focused on the chest plate calling to him that he didn''t even notice the foreigner at all. Only when he saw the suffering on the guy''s face did he finally notice him. He wants it? Then he can have it. Atlan let go of his grip, and the foreigner fell to the ground with the chestplate in his hands. At first, he was extremely happy that he finally got the semi-sentient armor in his hands. But then, he suddenly felt as if a thousand elephants were pushing down in his chest. Kughhh! His lungs deflated from the force making his ribs smaller and smaller until they cracked. He couldn''t breathe! With a horrified face, he looked at them with a plea for help. "Haa¡­he¡­lp¡­." Custodire sighed and went over to the foreigner and kicked the rusted armor away from his chest. The foreigner heaved breath after breath, feeling a sharp pain in his chest with every inhale. He was injured! Anger welled up. He blamed them for intentionally harming him. He readied his mouth to spit out insult after insult to everyone in this city, but before he could even spit out the words, Custodire grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the smithy. With one smooth movement, she quickly threw the foreigner out into the street and closed the door behind her. "Hmph. You can''t even carry the chestplate. And you think it''ll accept you? Darned foreigners¡­" She rubbed her hands on her overalls, walked over to Atlan, and saw him trying to pick up the armor. She wanted to warn him. Those that the armor rejected would get injured at the very least. "I''ll tell you what, kid. I''ll custom-make an armor for you instead of that¡­" Her words trailed off as she saw the rusted chest plate in Atlan''s hands suddenly split from the sides and envelope Atlan''s whole torso. It accepted him?! Chapter 63: Free She couldn''t believe that the rusted chestplate accepted him. After thousands of years doing nothing but rejecting Saviors left and right, this mysterious chest plate chose a 2nd stage Student Porter like Atlan. It had the chance to go for geniuses and young masters who are now powerful beings in their own right, but instead, it chose this unassuming youth. "See, even that semi-sentient armor recognizes talent when it sees one." Lizzie beamed in joy. Atlan looked down and saw that the rusted chestplate fit him perfectly. Then, he suddenly felt his green battle suit vibrate and squirm as it suddenly turned into a liquid-like substance that enveloped the rusted chest plate like a new coat of paint. He looked at the mirror to the side and saw that the chest plate was completely under the battle suit, showing only the edges and the general shape of the armor. "The armor is now completely integrated into your battle suit¡­" Custodire explained half-heartedly, still trying to process what happened. Atlan moved his arms and twisted his body, feeling completely flexible even through his armor. He even jumped up and down to test how it would fare. The dwarf couldn''t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. That rusted iron chestplate was supposed to be at least a thousand kilograms yet Atlan was moving like it was just a simple leather armor. With everything moving smoothly, Atlan nodded in satisfaction. Even though he had the SSS class Physique LifeSkill to protect his body from most injuries, he knew that he couldn''t activate it in front of other people for fear of them finding out about his secret. So, it would be better to have extra protection for his body during times when he''s with other people. "How do I pay for it?" Lizzie chuckled. "You don''t have to pay for anything, silly." "What?" S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Yeah. Did you forget where you are? This is a God''s Territory. We are given food, water, and everything else in abundance for free. We don''t have to do anything else. The City gives us everything we need to live in eternity." "Even this armor?" Atlan could understand getting food, water, and housing for free in a God''s Territory. But he didn''t think that he would get armor and weapons for free without paying for it at all. "You''re a 2nd stage Student, right?" Custodire then pointed at the rows of swords on display near the entrance. "That means that every weapon, armor, and equipment that is rated in the 2nd stage Student is free for you to take!" Atlan was stunned. "You just create your works and then somebody could just take your wares for free?" Custodire nodded. "Yes. That is the magic of God''s Territory. Everything is free for everyone to take. Of course, if you want extra, then you could barter other items or other services to them for a fair price." "But how do you earn anything?" Custodire smiled. "Since you''re a 2nd stage Student, then I presume that you already know about SoulTime, right? In exchange for giving our services to the City and its people, the Genesis God himself would bless us with rewards. For normal people, they''d get SoulTime. For Saviors like us, we get experience and SoulTime both. And if any of us does the City an incredible service, then the God could give us extra Genus to evolve our bloodline." So that''s how immortality works in a God''s Territory. In exchange for their services, the God would give His citizens more SoulTime so that they''d live forever. "But what if you don''t do anything? What if you just laid in bed for the rest of your life?" Lizzie answered. "Well, you''ll eventually run out of SoulTime." "...and they die?" "Nobody runs out of SoulTime," Custodire said. "If you just performed even a small thing like watering plants or sweeping the streets, then you can get years of SoulTime. And there''s a program in the City that gives odd jobs to those who need SoulTime." "Remember when we talked about Angels and how they inject SoulTime into a person whenever their SoulTime gets dangerously low? Well, that''s not for free. Those that get saved by Angels need to work off those SoulTime that they were given." Atlan contemplated for a second. "What if after they get saved from death, they don''t do anything to pay it back?" Does the City leave them to die? Both Custodire and Lizzie went silent for a second, their faces solemn as if they remembered something tragic. They thought of the same person. "Usually, delinquents who refuse to give service to the City are kicked out. They''re given one last blessing of SoulTime, enough to live for 50 years, and sent them out to live in the Unclaimed Lands. However, there was one exception. Do you remember that old man from before? Quinto Kindle, the First Savior?" Atlan scratched his chest as remembered that day. He died. And Atlan gained another SSS class LifeSkill and a mysterious thing called ''trait'' after he reaped his death. "Well, he hasn''t done anything for the City for a long time now. He''s been wandering the streets, refusing to contribute to society and just spouting nonsense. But since he''s the First Savior, the citizens couldn''t just kick him out to the Unclaimed Lands. Even though he''s just a decrepit old man now, he used to be the symbol of hope and peace in the entire world." Atlan went silent for a few seconds to process all that information. It turned out that immortality in God''s Territory had to be earned through service and work. Everyone worked hard to get blessed with more SoulTime from God. And if they didn''t, then they''d get kicked out to the Unclaimed Lands. Is that what happened to my parents? Were they delinquents who got kicked out of a God''s Territory? Atlan could barely remember anything from his time in the Unclaimed Lands. In that place, he''d have to live day by day, wondering if it would be his last. There were no memories to remember, only suffering. "Are you alright?" Lizzie walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulders. "Don''t worry. You''ll get more SoulTime as you perform more missions. You don''t have to worry about getting kicked out back to the Unclaimed Lands." He was very thankful for Lizzie. She was the one who welcomed him into this world. "Thanks." Lizzie smiled. "Are you ready to go? We can''t bother Miss Custodire any more than this. She has a lot of orders to fulfill." Atlan faced the dwarf. "Thank you for the time." Custodire waved it off, but there was a smile on her face. "It''s nothing, kid." After saying his thanks, Atlan and Lizzie walked out of the smithy. And just as he was about to leave the door, he suddenly remembered something. Atlan ran back to Custodire. "What is it kid? Do you need something else?" Atlan nodded. "Can I have a gun?" Chapter 64: Gears and spice Atlan looked at the slingshot in his hands. The Y-shaped frame was made out of wood while the elastic band tied around the top edges was made out of natural rubber. Unfortunately, he couldn''t get a sniper from Custodire. She said that those kinds of weapons needed a permit from the Savior HeadQuarters to prevent not just anybody from getting access to such dangerous weapons. Unless he had a LifeSkill that needed guns or projectile weapons, he wouldn''t be able to obtain a gun anytime soon, much less a high-caliber sniper. They said that a gun could take out 90-95% of a person''s SoulTime with a well-placed shot. Letting some normal person buy a gun would just be too irresponsible. But since Atlan made some excuse about wanting some kind of protection for himself, Custodire made an exception and forged for him a new slingshot that he could use while on missions. Although a lot less powerful than a gun, the slingshot''s rubber was made out of some special material that could withstand even Atlan''s greatest physical strength. And with more power he put in, the faster the projectile shot out. Another good thing about this slingshot was that he could use any ammo he could find. It could be a rock, a pellet, or even a pencil. As long as it fits in his slingshot, he could turn it into a high-speed projectile. Although a gun does highly explosive damage, they were limited to the amount of ammo they bring during missions. Once they run out, then they''d be as useless as sitting ducks. "Did you like Miss Custodire''s gift?" asked Lizzie. Atlan nodded. Even though it was made out of wood, Atlan saw that it could withstand a lot more pressure than what was normally possible. Is it because she''s a blacksmith in the Specialist Realm? She must have imbued this slingshot with some magic that allowed it to have stronger tension in the bands. "You must have made a good impression on the old dwarf. She doesn''t just custom-make weapons for anyone. Even her high-class clients have to wait for months or even years before they can request something from her. Experience the journey with m_vl_em_p_yr How does it feel to have an Indirect Masamune Original in your hands?" "It''s good. I think." Because Custodire was from a side branch of the Masamune Family, any weapons or armor that she made herself were immediately labeled as an Indirect Masamune Original. Although he didn''t know what that meant, according to Lizzie, any weapon with that label was considered a treasure. The truck continued to stroll through the Masamune district, with Lizzie showing Atlan the different stalls and buildings with a lot of enthusiasm. "Since we still have a lot of time till your party, I''ll show you some of the good food spots in Masamune district." Lizzie and Atlan toured through the malls of the Masamune District on foot. At noon, they went to a large establishment made out of intertwined gears. The smell of spices and hot steam emanated from the building even before they entered. There were a lot of people inside, eating hot soups out of bowls fashioned from curved gears. The restaurant''s name ''Gears and Such'' proved to be true as even the spoons, forks, and utensils were made out of gears. Even the table was a giant gear. Lizzie ordered for him because he didn''t know anything about it. She asked him if he liked spicy or not, and Atlan said whatever. That turned out to be the wrong answer because when Atlan tasted the noodle soup and felt the spice hit his nose, he almost did a spit take. Lizzie almost tumbled out of her chair laughing. After recovering from the spice and drinking lots of water, they left the restaurant and she led him to the park where there were a lot of people basking in picnics under the shade of the trees. Dwarf children played, standing on each other''s shoulders and pretending to be a tall human. Next, they went back on the truck and it led them towards the Infernal Mountain. It turned out that the volcanic mountain wasn''t just a place where energy was harvested, it was also a popular visitor spot. There was a slow railcar installed in the mountain where people could enter and see a view of the City from one of the highest vantage points. It was quite popular as Atlan and Lizzie had to wait almost an hour in line to finally get their turn. When the car finally moved up, Atlan immediately saw the wide expanse of the City. He could barely even see the people down below and even the buildings looked small. He always wondered how birds felt like seeing things from up above, and now he knew. It gave him perspective. There was a lot more of the City he hadn''t explored yet, and he couldn''t wait to see everything. Now, he understood why people craved immortality. He wanted to live for a long time and see more of the City. There were lots of other Districts with vastly different architectures and cultures he was excited to see. It made him wonder about the other Cities and the whole world; what would they look like? "It''s amazing, isn''t it?" "It is." Once the railcar did a lap around the volcano, the ride was over. By now, the sun was setting and the street lights were starting to light up, courtesy of the energy generated from the volcano. The two went back to the truck and made their way to the City Center. Atlan requested to be dropped off near the place where the party took place. "Have fun with your party!" "Thank you¡­for today¡­" S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She smiled. "You''re welcome. I had fun too. Don''t get too crazy over there, alright?" Atlan nodded. As the truck moved through the streets, Lizzie put her head over the windows and waved at Atlan. He reciprocated and smiled at her. He was very thankful for her because he wouldn''t have been able to experience today if it weren''t for her. Even though she wasn''t getting anything from helping him all this time, she still took her time to make him feel accommodated. "Oh! Atlan! It''s me, Pacman!" Atlan saw the pugilist leaning on the light pole. He waved at Atlan and walked over to him. Even though it was supposed to be a party, Atlan didn''t see any sign of everyone. Even the whole neighborhood was very quiet. "Where''s everybody?" "They''re already inside." Pacman led Atlan through the streets and to one secluded corner where a single door was installed on the other side. The pugilist knocked on the door with a distinct pattern and waited for a few seconds. Then, the door opened. Atlan and Pacman walked forward until they saw two men in black suits guarding a circular construct in the middle of an empty room. Inside this circle was a black shimmering liquid suspended inside. "Where is the party again?" Atlan asked. Pacman smiled. "It''s in the Remedium!" Chapter 65: Party entry Atlan was surprised to find out that the party was inside the Remedium. He didn''t even know how that was possible. However, he was looking at the black shimmering liquid inside the portal in front of his very eyes. It was real. That was the same portal that led to the Remedium. "I thought that the Remedium is only open during missions?" Pacman shook his head. "This is kind of like the Training Hall. That''s in the Remedium too, but it doesn''t have any dangerous Canzers running amok. We can go in and out of there without a mission. That is what we call a Pocket Remedium. The Training Hall is a public Pocket Remedium, which means that anybody can access it if they want to. However, there are also private Pocket Remediums. These places are rewarded by the Genesis God to a certain family or a person if they have proved themselves worthy of it. Usually, only heroes are given private Pocket Remediums, which in turn benefits their descendants and continues their good lineage. People can practice their LifeSkills there safely. For us, we can only practice in the private Pocket Remedium like the Training Hall. But those Saviors from elite families have their own Pocket Remedium where they can practice in secret. Usually, they have private tutors guiding them even while they are very young. This gives them an advantage during their Draft because they can kill more monsters in the simulation and get better class LifeSkills. Ugh¡­it is quite unfair. If you''re born into a good family, getting an A class LifeSkill is all but guaranteed. Anyway, the party we''re going to is arranged by one such lucky young master. He has opened up their private Pocket Remedium where we can party to our heart''s content." How prestigious does a family have to be to have their own Pocket Remedium? Atlan was quite jealous. If he had his own Pocket Remedium, then he could practice using his LifeSkills anytime without having to worry about other people finding out. He could also kill as many Pseudo Canzers as he could and farm experience points that way. "Are you ready? Let''s go!" Pacman held Atlan''s shoulders and dragged him towards the portal. But before they could step in, the two bodyguards with black suits prevented them from going in. "I''m sorry. We can''t just allow anyone to go to the party. Young master''s orders." Pacman frowned. "What do you mean? My name is on the invite list and I just came out of the Remedium to bring a friend." "You are fine." The bodyguard pointed at Pacman. Then, he pointed at Atlan and said, "But you are not. You''re not invited." As the one who invited Atlan, Pacman was very embarrassed. "Why not? They said we could bring a plus one! There''s five of us and we only brought one guest." "Sorry. This party is called ''The Gathering of the Stars''. If you''re not one, then you''re not welcome." Find adventures at m v lem|p-yr Pacman scoffed and looked at the two bodyguards with derision on his face. "Don''t you know who this guy is? He''s Atlan. The Porter." And once they heard that, the two bodyguard''s eyes immediately widened. Of course, they knew about the story of the porter who braved back to the Remedium to save his teammates. Not only that, but it turned out that this porter was extremely talented too. He advanced to the 2nd stage in just one week! A third bodyguard immediately came and smacked the other two. "We''re sorry we didn''t recognize you. Please, go inside. The party will be pleased if you grace them with your presence." They bowed their heads toward Atlan and apologized. Pacman held his head up high as he guided Atlan to the portal. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Ha! Look at how they changed their attitudes." Atlan didn''t care much as they both stepped into the portal. The black swirling liquid trembled as both of them entered the Remedium. When Atlan opened his eyes, he saw the familiar negative color of the Remedium. White turned to black, blue turned to orange, and green turned to red. Immediately, Atlan heard the sounds of talking, laughing, and giggling. When he looked around, he was surprised to see at least hundreds of youths, all about the same age as him, mingling and talking with one another. This was a large mansion that could house a hundred people just in the living room by itself. In the front, just below the 115-inch flat-screen TV, there was a large group of people sitting in a circle. They looked on in anticipation as the bottle spun in the middle. Off to the side was an infinity pool that looked out into the City. Both men and women were swimming and playing around with a ball that seemed to be made out of a coconut husk. The women were wearing two-piece bikinis to show off the curves in their bodies while the men only wore shorts to show off their muscles. Further back was the kitchen where food and drinks were served. People there munched on food while talking to each other about their respective first missions. So this is a party¡­ Atlan didn''t know anybody from this place, so he felt extremely out of place. He didn''t even know why they found spinning bottles and swimming in water fun. However, from the looks on their faces, they seemed to be having the time of their life. "I''ll go look for the others. Stay here," said Pacman. Soon, he left and walked up the stairs to the 2nd floor where more people were lounging around. Atlan stood by the entrance, awkwardly waiting by himself. He didn''t know what to do. He regretted not asking Wemby about what to do at the party. Should I try talking to other people? Atlan walked through the crowd, with everybody ignoring him. They didn''t know him, and he didn''t know them. And then, in the chaos of the talking and laughing around the room, he suddenly heard someone muttering beside him. "Humans¡­like¡­pain¡­" Chapter 66: Understanding gibberish Atlan looked around but he couldn''t find the source of that muttering. Everyone was either laughing or talking loudly about some gossip. He found it weird that he still heard that small whisper even with the rest of the party drowning out any sound that wasn''t bellowed out. "Humans¡­like¡­pain¡­" It was coming from the side. He immediately looked at where the sound came from and saw a few people lounging on the couch with smiles plastered on their faces. They seemed very relaxed. Too relaxed, even. And unlike the rest of the groups here, these people weren''t talking with each other. They were all either looking at nothing but the air or had their eyes closed with a smile on their faces. They seemed extremely happy, but Atlan didn''t know why. He walked over towards them and saw strange black isopods attached to their hands. And as he got closer, Atlan noticed that these isopods were moving! They were wiggling around while firmly attached to the back of their hands. There were also black veins rooting outwards from the ''infected'' area where the isopod resided. One of the guys saw Atlan approaching and immediately welcomed him with a smile on his face. Atlan noticed that the guy''s eyes were red, as if he hadn''t slept in two days. "Yo! Welcome to the party, man. Want a hit?" The guy took out an isopod from his pocket and gave it to Atlan. When he looked at the underside of the creature, he found it was still alive! It had about a hundred small legs and had a very hairy underbelly, with millions of small ''fur'' spiking out. Is this a Pseudo Canzer? Now that he got a closer look, he was pretty sure that this was a Pseudo Canzer. It was a little bit different than the one he saw in the Training Hall, but he guessed that it was a different species. To test this out, Atlan took the isopod in his hands and crushed it with his bare hands. KRUUKKKK [You have killed a Venunum] [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 50 experience] Just like he thought, the isopod was a Pseudo Canzer. However, the guy was horrified to see Atlan waste such a perfectly good Venunum. "Aw, man. Why''d you waste my hit?" Brought to you by m-vl_em|p,yr Atlan was confused. "Am I not supposed to kill it?" The man shook his head vehemently. "Are you kidding me? This thing''s hard to catch. You don''t kill it, you just put the Venunum on top of your hand and let those stingers sting you. And once it latches onto you, it will pump poison into your veins." Atlan was horrified. "What?! Why? If you get hit by that stinger, don''t you lose your SoulTime because you get injured?" The man smiled. "That''s the point, my guy!" He looked around and noticed that almost everybody in the party had at least one Venunum attached to the back of their hands. There were even some that had it on their chest and their backs. He was the only one who didn''t have any. And while they were being stung by those Pseudo Canzers, everyone had smiles on their faces. They were having fun! But how could they like this? They''re getting injured and losing their SoulTime! "Why?" "Because it feels so good! That feeling of having your veins burning gives me such a euphoric feeling. Ummm! It really gets me going, you know." "Aren''t you worried about your SoulTime?" The man waved off Atlan''s concern. He didn''t seem to be bothered at all. "It''s fine, man. We''re just having fun. We''re only spending the SoulTime that we got from our missions, so we aren''t losing any SoulTime. And SoulTime isn''t that hard to get. You get a year minimum from completing just one mission, so sacrificing a few days for a little bit of fun for a few hours is a small price to pay." Atlan still couldn''t understand it. "What if your SoulTime runs out?" "I''m only losing about a minute every second like most of the people here. But, some hardcore guys put so much Venunum on their bodies that they lose an hour every second, but I don''t do that. They probably have a lot of SoulTime they inherited from their lineage, but I don''t have that. If I had a thousand years of SoulTime, I would put so much Venunum in my body that you won''t even see my skin!" Atlan was horrified once he learned that. Is he telling me that every single person in here is losing a minute of their SoulTime every second? That means they''re losing two and a half days every hour! And for those hardcore guys who are losing an hour every second, that means that they''re losing about 150 days of SoulTime every hour! Almost half a year! Insane! "Humans¡­like¡­pain¡­" Then, he heard the isopod in the guy''s arm suddenly talk! Atlan''s eyes widened and he looked at the guy to see if he heard that. But it looked like he didn''t. Atlan was the only one who heard the little isopod talking. Wait a minute¡­that''s not human language. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. When he looked at the Venunum, he saw that its little mouth was moving and scratching against its mandibles, creating a squeaking sound. It wasn''t any human language. Yet somehow, Atlan was able to understand it. I remember now! I obtained a mutation. Atlan looked down on his Soul System. [Mutation] ¡ª (4-star) Canzer Mother Tongue ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings And just as he remembered, he got a mutation when he defeated that Sapient Canzer. He didn''t understand it back then, but now, it seemed that a tongue mutation meant that he would be able to understand the language of that species. I can understand Canzers? This meant that in every mission from here on out, Atlan would be able to hear what the Canzers were saying. Chapter 67: Funny guy "Are you okay?" Atlan spoke to the Venunum, but it didn''t react to anything he said. It continued to squirm like normal. Looks like I can''t talk to it. He thought that he''d be able to communicate with the Canzer, but it seemed like his mutation was only limited to understanding their language for now. Unless he''d suddenly grow mandibles and mimic the squeaky sounds that the Venunum made, then they wouldn''t understand anything he said. "So? Do you want a hit or not?" The guy offered him a new Venunum, but Atlan shook his head and refused. He didn''t want to waste his SoulTime. Even though he was regenerating SoulTime by the second, he opted to save those instead because he knew that the Angels wouldn''t be there to save him when it nears zero. All the people here at the party thought that the Angels would still save them from death, but that was a faulty assumption. If they truly knew that they weren''t immortal anymore, he wondered if they would still be so carefree about their SoulTime. I would have warned them, but they would label me as a liar and a lunatic. "You''re missing out, man. But if you don''t want one, then there''s more for me!" sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The guy took the isopod back to him and quickly attached it to his chest. And once it did, venom quickly spread through his veins. It hurt just enough for it to turn into pleasure. Even though they''re hurting, they''re not suffering. That''s weird¡­ Atlan quickly walked away from them and walked through the party. Pacman and the others still weren''t there, so Atlan decided to walk around the mansion some more. He wanted to see what other people did at a party and try to see if he could make friends with them. But as he walked around, he was disappointed to find out that most of what they talked about were things he didn''t understand. They all grew up here in Genesis City, meaning they all had the same experiences that they could all relate to. They talked about their training before they got drafted, and how they were forced to eat only broccoli and chicken breast every day. If Atlan told them about how he''d be lucky if he found any mushrooms in three days of digging and scavenging for food in the Unclaimed Lands, then he''d surely bring down the party. With nowhere else to go, Atlan went out to a secluded balcony near the stairs. He was finally alone and the sounds of the party were muffled behind him. He looked out into the white night sky and the black moon up above. If the Remedium wasn''t so dangerous, Atlan would have liked to spend his time alone here because of the serenity. "Oh, sorry. I thought nobody was here." The balcony door opened and someone came in. Atlan was surprised to see that familiar golden hair come inside. It was Yasmine, the S class DPS genius. This time, she had her blonde hair tied up in a bun. "Can I stay here? Every other room is occupied and I really want some peace and quiet." Atlan nodded. She walked up to him and leaned on the railing beside him. Atlan caught a whiff of her floral and sweet perfume. It was subtle, but with his enhanced senses, he smelled it clearly. Discover the saga at m-vl-em-pyr Both of them stared out into the distance, with the view of the desolate Genesis City around them. They stayed silent and just enjoyed the moment. Yasmine took a big breath and relaxed. After being bombarded by girls wanting to talk to her about some girly stuff and boys wanting to be ''friends'' with her, Atlan''s silence and indifference towards her was a welcome change. He didn''t try to hit on her like every other guy in the party. There were even some guys who tried to give her Venunum to try and get her defenses lowered, but she refused them. Canzers were supposed to be their eternal enemy, yet here they were letting it inject venom right into their veins. She would never let herself be injured by a Canzer, even if it was just a scratch; her pride wouldn''t let her. She was probably the only one in this place who wasn''t intoxicated with losing their SoulTime. But when she peeked at Atlan, she was surprised to see none on his body. "You don''t have any Venunum?" Atlan looked at her and shook his head. "No. I don''t want to lose my SoulTime. It seems like a waste." "I agree one hundred percent." Yasmine faced him. It was only now that she noticed how tall he was. He was a head taller than her! And his body was well-built compared to others, with his muscles clearly showing in his green battle suit. Must be because of his Physique LifeSkill, she thought. "Honestly, I wonder why I even went to this party. Even though I''m surrounded by other people, I don''t feel like I belong." Yasmine sighed. "I feel you. Unless they''re mushrooms or worms, I don''t feel like I belong too." Yasmine stifled a laugh. "Ah, I remember now. You''re from the Unclaimed Lands." "Yup. And you''re from a Metropolis overseas, right?" Yasmine nodded. "My culture is very different from here. We prioritize strength over anything, so instead of partying, we had royal rumbles where everyone fought till exhaustion or unconsciousness to practice their skills. It''s a place where strength ruled supreme and everything could be settled with a fight." "Hmmm¡­sounds like a miserable place full of suffering. I think I''m grateful to the Unclaimed Lands now." She smiled. "That place honed my skills and sharpened my sword. Now, I''m determined to become the best Savior in the whole world and prove to them that I can become strong even without their training." Yasmine then looked Atlan in the eyes. "But it seems I''ve moved away from them far too late. Their teachings have seeped into my very bones. I feel like I could understand someone better if they attacked me rather than if they had a conversation with me." "True! I feel like I could understand Canzers better than people." Yasmine covered her hand and laughed. I didn''t know he''s such a funny guy. Chapter 68: Poisoned thoughts The two spent the next few minutes chatting about how different Genesis City was compared to their original places. Yasmine talked about her home, called Leontopolis. It was larger than a City, which meant that it was more abundant than Genesis City. But it also meant that competition was fiercer. She talked about how she was trained with the sword as soon she could walk, which was considered quite late in their culture. She was a gladiator whether she liked to or not. Atlan didn''t have much to talk about because all he remembered from that hazy time in the Unclaimed Lands was digging through an endless tunnel underground. All he remembered was that there was a lot of sand, gray hot sand. "Sounds like you had it rough¡­sorry, that was an insensitive joke." Atlan waved off her concern. "Yeah. It was a real battle." Both of them laughed at their bad attempt at humor. If anyone heard them make jokes about their traumatizing past, they would feel that it was inappropriate. However, for them, it was therapy. It wasn''t every day that they could talk with someone that they could relate to. "Now, I''m considered a genius." Yasmine sighed. "I proved my worth, but at what cost? Everyone who comes up to me talks about how great and talented I am." Atlan understood that feeling. Even though everyone was nice to him and praised him for his accomplishments, they never really talked about anything else. They put him on a pedestal, separating him from everybody else. He thought he was the only one who felt that way, but he was surprised to know that Yasmine was feeling the same. "Everyone talks about how great you are¡ª" "--But not how you are." Atlan finished her thought. Yasmine looked at Atlan and realized that Atlan was probably the only one who understood her. Every other genius that she met were arrogant young masters who inherited their strength from their family. But now, she met someone else who could share her experiences in coming up from the bottom. Unlike the others, Yasmine came from a family with no Saviors. But through hard work, she was able to show off her strength in the Draft and earn an S class LifeSkill. She looked at Atlan and felt her defenses lowering. It was at that point that she realized that she had been talking with a boy alone for 20 minutes! She didn''t even notice the time pass. Never in her life did she think that she would enjoy talking to someone she didn''t know at all. It made her think. Maybe, she could finally have a real friend. Maybe she could finally open up to somebody and have a real connection with them. She opened her mouth, about to say; Let''s be friends Find the next installment on m-vl-em|p-yr But she stopped herself. She moved millions of miles away from her home to become the best Savior this world had ever seen. She promised herself that she''d stop at nothing to achieve that. Her only focus should be on getting strong and defeating her rivals and enemies. Pull yourself together, she reminded herself. Yasmine quickly turned to leave without saying anything else. Atan was surprised to see her suddenly turn cold. They were both enjoying the conversation, so he didn''t understand why she would suddenly want to leave. He grabbed her hand and refused to let her go. Yasmine stopped in her tracks but she didn''t turn to face him. "I don''t have time for friends¡­for boys¡­" she muttered. Atlan kept her grip on her wrist. "If not friends, then how about a companion?" He then grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards him. "How about a playmate? A buddy? A pal?" Yasmine''s face was turned away from Atlan. And if one looked closely, one could see a slight blush on her cheeks. "Hmph. Smooth talker. I bet you say that to your other friends," she said with a bit of a smile creeping on her face. Atlan smiled back when he saw that she was starting to warm up to him again. She noticed that Atlan''s hands were warm. It was a cold night, and his grip on her shoulders was warm enough to keep her whole body hot. Hmm? Why is my face feeling hot too? Suddenly, images of training and swords coming towards her flashed through her mind. It was a wet blanket that forced her whole body to turn cold. The smile disappeared on her face. She turned rigid. Her training taught her that attachment to anybody was poison. It would spread through her body, making her moves slow and her reactions sluggish. It was killer. And Atlan seemed like the kind of person that could poison her whole thoughts. He could make her hesitate. She already decided that she would someday leave Genesis City once she advanced to the next power realm. She couldn''t get attached to anyone here¨Cnot even friends, and especially not Atlan. She was sure that if she became friends with Atlan, it could turn into¡­ "I''m sorry. But I¡­I don''t know¡­" She shook off Atlan''s grip and turned away. She grabbed the door and quickly left the balcony. Atlan was stunned. First, she was friendly and nice. Then, she suddenly turned cold without any warning. She turned to warm, cold, hot, and then icy cold the next. I don''t understand women¡­ Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He walked out of the balcony and back into the party but he couldn''t see any sign of her anywhere. She must have already left. Atlan put his hands on his waist and sighed. I failed to make another friend. Hahh¡­What am I doing wrong? The boy was oblivious to everything the girl was feeling. If he didn''t charm her so much, then he could have probably been just friends with her. However, Yasmine judged him to be a man who could someday become more than friends. That thought terrified her so much that she quickly left to prevent Atlan from breaking her walls any further. Atlan was the hunter and she was the prey. And if the prey couldn''t find any way to defeat the hunter, then the best way to prevent being hunted was to run away. Chapter 69: Just? "Woah! Where did you get that?" Discover untold stories at m_vl_em_p_yr "That''s the genuine deal, right?" In the middle of the mansion was a man with long golden hair down to his shoulders. He was standing on the table in the living room so that everyone could see what he was holding. Everyone watched as he brandished a black short sword with intricate designs of dragons carved onto the very blade itself. Even from afar, everyone could see the quality and value of this weapon. It must have been created by a maestro of the smith, with hands that could turn coal into diamonds. But this wasn''t the only treasure that the young master had. His whole battle suit was clad in different armor and accessories that others would have considered excessive. Even his ears were protected by custom-made earrings. Atlan, with his enhanced eyesight, saw a familiar mark of a hammer on the hilt of the short sword. It was the mark of the Masamune family. "Of course, this is real. Who do you think I am? Don''t you know who threw this party?" The young master then turned and looked Atlan in the eyes. Both of them made eye contact. This wasn''t a coincidence. The young master focused his gaze on Atlan, who was on the outskirts of the crowd gathering around him. He could have noticed somebody else, but he didn''t. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hey you!" he gestured at Atlan. "Do you think just anybody can have this? This is a 2nd removed Masamune Original!" "I wish I had that!" "I heard that there''s a 500-year waitlist to get a weapon like that." Everyone was awed when they heard that. A 5th removed Masamune Original was already considered quite a treasure. But the young master had a 2nd removed Masamune Original! This meant that the blacksmith who forged that weapon was a dwarf who was related to the main Masamune family by only two degrees! The further removed a dwarf was from the main family, the more diluted their skills were. Being only two degrees away from the main family meant that the famous Masamune blacksmith skills were preserved. The young master must have had a good connection with the Masamune family to be able to request a custom-made weapon from a 2nd-degree Masamune dwarf. Atlan tilted his head. Do I know him? He didn''t know why the blond-haired guy was targeting him when they didn''t even know each other. He was starting to think he was really bad at first impressions. First Yasmine bolted away from him, and now he was being targeted by some guy he didn''t even talk to. In truth, the young master saw Yasmine come out of the balcony with Atlan. He even saw that the two of them were bonding and flirting away with each other for a few minutes. This was infuriating for the young master. He tried to court Yasmine, the most beautiful girl by far, but she only ended up ignoring him. When he tried to talk to her, she would only answer with one-line responses and a face full of indifference. He accepted that she simply didn''t want to be bothered. That would have been fine. However, imagine his surprise when she suddenly saw him talking and laughing with an unknown guy at his party! Why did she choose a random, run-of-the-mill, second-rate guy instead of a genius young master like him? He was born into a good family that could give her all the benefits that she''d need to nurture her talents, yet she instead chose to spend her time with a nobody. It didn''t make sense. "Who are you even? Why are you at this party?" asked the Young Master. Atlan pointed at himself. "Me? I''m a porter." The young master snickered. "You''re just a porter?" He shook his head. "Ugh. What are those guards doing? Why did they let a mere Porter into this place? I told them not to let just anybody in. This was supposed to be an exclusive party for geniuses and stars like me, not some insignificant ant like you." He looked at everybody and saw that they were all looking at Atlan. "What do you think, everyone? He''s bringing down the party, right? I think we should throw¨C" Before he could finish his sentence, some of the people erupted towards Atlan. "Oh my god! You''re that porter?" "Dude! I thought they were all just kidding about you. But you''re real?!" "You were so brave and heroic! Weren''t you afraid about that Sapient Canzer hunting you down?" Everyone started to crowd Atlan. The Young Master was stupefied to see that everyone turned away from him and now crowded Atlan like he was the star of the party. Almost everybody at the party heard the stories about the new heroic porter. And those that didn''t know, were quickly thrown into the loop. When they heard about this story, they were all horrified to learn that the beginner mission had multiple Deiztruphia Canzers and even a dangerous Sapient Canzer. The difficulty jumped from a 1st stage to a 3rd stage student difficulty. If they were in the same position, they didn''t know what they would have done. They definitely wouldn''t have returned to the Remedium to save their teammates. The fact that Atlan was only a Porter with no fighting ability made this story even more impressive. "Why did you go back to save them?" Atlan was overwhelmed with everyone''s eyes on him, but they were all anticipating his answer. So, he just told the truth. "I didn''t want my team to suffer." Everyone was silent for a moment to take it all in. "Woah¡­" "You''re so brave. Do you have a girlfriend?" "Hey! You think that he''s going to go for you? I saw him first!" The Young Master couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Everybody was throwing themselves to that nobody, to that Porter. He didn''t know why everyone seemed to think that the guy was so impressive. He was only a porter! He didn''t kill any Canzers and was only a burden to the rest of the team. "I don''t see why he''s so impressive," the Young Master clicked his tongue. One of the guys looked back at him and answered. "He''s also a genius, you know. He advanced to the 2nd stage Student after that one mission! They said that it had only been a week since he was drafted!" The Young Master''s jaws dropped. Chapter 70: Who are you? He''s that talented? That''s absurd! He''s only a porter! What a waste of experience. The Genesis God could have given all of that experience to someone who would actually use it to kill Canzer. Now, it''ll just be stuck to a guy who was only good as a baggage carrier! But somehow, it looked like he was the only one who thought that. All of the other people here praised and lauded Atlan as if he was equal only to Yasmine with her S class DPS talent. He shouldn''t even be discussed with the likes of her! "Hmph. I would have advanced that fast too if I was given that same mission! So what if they had to fight multiple Destruction Canzers? So what if they had to fight a Sapient Canzer? I''m sure that I would have been able to kill all of them with my skill!" No matter how much he tried to shout towards the crowd, they only had eyes for Atlan. They didn''t even notice him anymore. He couldn''t believe this! He was the one who invited everyone and let them into his family''s Pocket Remedium, and now they were ignoring him for some porter. They should have all been giving their thanks to him instead of embellishing Atlan''s overhyped achievements. The Young Master consoled himself by reminding himself that no matter how much Atlan was praised, he would never be able to get a 2nd-degree Masamune Original like him. The Young Master was only able to get his short sword because his family had a long line of Saviors that contributed greatly to the safety of the entire City. Atlan didn''t have that. And from what he heard from everyone, Atlan was only a poor kid from the Unclaimed Lands. "Wait, aren''t you a porter? Why do you have a slingshot in your belt?" A few of the people who were near Atlan noticed the wooden slingshot in his toolbelt. As far as they knew, porters only needed armor for missions because they didn''t have the fighting capacity that most Saviors had. "It''s for self-defense," Atlan explained. Everyone accepted his reason. "Makes sense. I would want a way to protect myself too, in case those Quills messed up their Canzer Report again." They would have dropped the subject there, but a few sharp-eyed people noticed that the quality of the slingshot exceeded that of what they expected. It was made out of dark wood, and polished to have no holes or imperfections. And the bands on the top looked like it was even imported from overseas. But most of all, they all noticed the ''hammer'' symbol on the handle of the slingshot. "No¡­is that¡­is that an¡­an INDIRECT MASAMUNE ORIGINAL?!" Atlan scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess." Once someone noticed, everyone went into an uproar. They had never even seen an Indirect Masamune Original before. But somehow, Atlan was able to have a custom-made treasure just hanging on his toolbelt as if it were a normal thing. "No way!" "How did you get that?!" "There''s no mistaking it. That emblem cannot be faked. It''s a real Indirect Masamune Original!" Even the Young Master couldn''t help but want to take a look at this weapon. He refused to believe it. His father wasn''t able to get an Indirect Masamune Original even after 500 years of service in the City! And now, he was being led to believe that a nobody porter who came in from the Unclaimed Lands somehow got it after just a week! That was absurd! S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Who would give this to you?" Experience the adventure on m|vl_em|p_yr Atlan didn''t expect everyone to be surprised that he got an Indirect Masamune Original. He thought it was just a normal piece of equipment made from a normal blacksmith. But judging from their reaction, it seemed that he was underestimating Custodire and her skills. "I don''t know if you guys know her, but her name is Custodire." "CUSTODIRE? No way! She''s one of the premier blacksmiths in the Specialist Realm! How did you get a powerful Savior like that to create a Student level weapon? And a slingshot at that?!" Atlan didn''t know what to answer. Although she was in the Specialist Realm, he didn''t think that Custodire was anything special compared to the other blacksmiths. But now, it seemed that she was more revered and respected than he thought. It made him think. If Lizzie was able to introduce him to someone as famous as Custodire, then he might have been underestimating her as well. Come to think of it, I don''t know what realm Lizzie is in¡­is she even more powerful than I thought? He decided to ask Lizzie later. Meanwhile, the Young Master finally jostled his way through the crowd and was able to face Atlan. He looked at the guy and saw that Atlan was much taller and well-built than he looked from afar. It made him intimidated. But he shook his head and cursed at Atlan. How dare this porter steal my spotlight! This is supposed to be my night, and yet he suddenly comes out of nowhere and hogs everyone''s attention. Doesn''t he know who I am? Practically everyone here knows who my family is! We own an entire street! And just as he was about to speak up, Atlan spoke up first. "I''m sorry, who are you again?" The Young Master was tongue-tied. He didn''t think that Atlan would target his greatest insecurity. It felt like his psyche shattered into a million pieces. The Young Master heard everyone laughing and jeering at him, making fun of the fact that all of his achievements and accomplishments were nothing more than a side-effect of his family''s prestige. He looked around and saw everybody''s eyes on him. This was what he wanted in the first place, but now, he hated it to the core. It felt like everyone was looking at him while he was naked. "Kugh!" Unable to take the embarrassment, the Young Master quickly left the crowd and bolted. Meanwhile, Atlan stood there not knowing what happened. He wasn''t trying to embarrass the guy, he just really didn''t know his name. Chapter 71: Olympus "Who was that?" Atlan asked the person near him. "That''s Obek, from the Orioness family. He''s the one who organized this whole party. This Pocket Dimension is usually only reserved for family members, but he made an exception for this party." Atlan was right. He didn''t know who that guy was. So why is he so mad at me? he pondered. He shrugged and let the matter fall to the back of his mind. ### Meanwhile, Obek sulked on the corner of his own mansion. He couldn''t believe the shame and embarrassment he suffered because of that porter. And everyone still liked Atlan instead of him! Is everyone still high from the Venunum? Otherwise, they wouldn''t think a porter was more important than a normal Savior, right? However, no matter how much he tried to tell everyone the truth, they still clung to the idea that porters were unsung heroes who deserved all the praise and attention that they were getting. But how can I show them that porters are useless? Just then, he suddenly heard the portal shimmer from behind the main entrance of the door. Ah! Did they finally come?! And just as he hoped, the door opened and nine new people came inside the party. As soon as they stepped foot in the Remedium, it felt as if the air changed. They brought with them the air and bravado of champions¨Cof geniuses with no equal. Everyone looked at the newcomers with curiosity in their eyes. It was quickly apparent to Atlan that these were not local people. Just from their attire and their strangely chiseled faces alone, Atlan already painted them as foreigners from another land. These people all wore long white tunics fastened at the shoulder and a green sash over their shoulders signaling their specialty as a Vanguard. Obek quickly got off his feet and greeted the newcomers. "Welcome, welcome, to my humble abode! I know it''s not like the Parthenons back in Olympus, but I hope you guys make yourselves comfortable." Once they heard Obek''s greeting, the rest of the party whispered amongst themselves. "Olympus? Does he mean the Olympus Mountain Ranges? Is he talking about the biggest Metropolis in the entire world?!" "No way! I can''t believe they came all the way here." Olympus? What''s that? His question was soon answered as Obek immediately faced the crowd and introduced his guests. "Ladies and Gentlemen, as you all have guessed, these wonderful people here are from the great mountain ranges of Olympus! If you don''t know what that is, then you must be living under a rock. Worry not, I will tell you. Olympus is a God''s Territory ruled by the Almighty Zeus and has several other subgods under his territory. All the citizens of this territory have been given the grace of multiple gods! Mutations galore! And these people are not just anybody. They''re one of the top geniuses as well! They visited Genesis City to socialize and exchange pointers with some of us. If you want to see what a true genius looks like, then you don''t need to look further than these nine people right here." Of course, he didn''t forget to take a dig at Atlan, implying that he wasn''t a true genius like these foreigners. Even though it wasn''t patriotic, Obek would rather take the side of a foreigner than a lowly porter. "And most of all, I welcome the venerable S class genius in the 4th stage Student realm blessed by Zeus himself, Razer Wrekton!" A man with a blocky face and a double chin walked forward and shook hands with Obek. "Pleasure to be here, my friend. I hope you welcome me and my brethren here in your abode. We aim to become stronger by learning more about the world. This is the 5th City we''ve visited and I think that you guys could put up a challenge against us. I hope we can exchange pointers." Obek maintained a straight face, but on the inside, his hands were getting crushed from Razer''s handshake. He forgot. Razer was infamous for being a man who did not hold back his strength no matter the opponent he faced. "Haha! It''s my pleasure!" Obek quickly pulled away his hand before he broke his bone. I still need him to humiliate that porter and teach him what a real genius looks like! "There''s been a lot of talk here about talent and whatnot, but I think it''s better if you show them what real power looks like, Razer!" The double-chinned man laughed. "I''m a bit embarrassed when you put me on the spot, but I will oblige only to introduce myself properly to the party." Razer then raised his hand and closed his eyes. All of a sudden, the girls saw a few strands of their hair stand up as if a thunderstorm was about to strike. And if they listened carefully, they could hear the air sizzle. BBBZZZTTTT! Lightning enveloped his right arm until it turned into a giant halberd! The air cracked and rumbled as the lightning halberd roared at everyone watching Razer. "This is one of the blessings bestowed upon me by my God¨Ca mutation called Righteous Halberd of the Skies!" Atlan was surprised. That''s a mutation? I thought mutations just change body parts to look like other species, but they can also become weapons? The people at the party finally understood the majesty and genius that was Razer Wrekton. "That''s so powerful¡­his mutation is already as strong as some LifeSkills!" "He practically has two LifeSkills under his belt! That''s unfair!" Obek was overjoyed to see that everyone finally realized the difference between a fraud genius like Atlan and a real prodigy of the heavens like Razer. And the best part about it was that that wasn''t Razer''s only mutation! "If you think that''s impressive, then you should wait until Razer shows you his next mutation!" Even though Razer had no intention of showing his second mutation to others, Obek''s words sent out a curious frenzy among everyone around him. As a visitor from another land, he simply couldn''t refuse the request. "If you insist, then I hope that you all brace yourselves." Razer took a big breath and simply opened his mouth and silently mouthed a few words. It wasn''t until a second later that everyone heard a resounding voice echoing through their skulls. Submit sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That word sunk into their brain and occupied their every thought. Try as they might, everyone felt their bodies defying their instinct. Soon, they felt their heads fill with pressure, making them feel the worst headaches of their lives. "See?! That''s the power of a tongue mutation! Word of the All-Father!" Almost everyone held their heads in pain. [Unauthorized domination detected] [Word of the All-Father denied] Find adventures at m v lem|p-yr "Now that''s a real genius! How does it feel being oppressed?" Chapter 72: Gathering competition Obek looked at Atlan and noticed that he wasn''t reacting the way he was supposed to. He still stood there silently, as if he wasn''t affected by Razer''s tyrannical mutation. Pretending to be strong, are you? Hmph. Soon, you''ll see the difference. He thought that Atlan was simply making it look like he wasn''t affected by Razer''s words. The thought that Atlan somehow resisted the oppressive words of Razer never even showed up in his mind. After all, Obek knew that the ''Word of the All-Father'' mutation was nothing less than a 7-star mutation! That meant that Razer also had a 7-star genus that changed his bloodline into a demigod under Zeus'' lineage. And he was not the only one who thought that. Even the nine geniuses from Mount Olympus saw Atlan''s stoic face as nothing more than a mask to hide the pain and suffering in his mind. Not even they could stand there unfazed by Razer''s mutated attack. Razer was also a 4th stage Student, and from what they knew, he was the person with the highest power realm in this entire party. So, Atlan couldn''t have possibly resisted the attack. Stay updated with m-v le-mpyr They didn''t even know that Atlan was a porter. If they knew, then they would be more convinced that he just pretended to be unaffected by it. Of course, Atlan''s Physique was able to counteract Razer''s oppression quite easily. He wasn''t even thinking about it anymore. Atlan was more curious about the fact that Mutations could be so different. Just like what other people said, they were more like LifeSkills than normal body part mutations. "We can''t just let them be the only ones to show off their strengths, right? It is only appropriate that we return their kind gesture and show off how strong we Genesians are! I''m happy to announce that the ''Gathering of the Stars'' will soon commence!" As soon as Obek said that, the whole party erupted in an excited frenzy. They seemed to know what that entailed, while Atlan remained clueless. "I can''t wait to see who wins!" "That Razer guy is pretty strong. I think he''ll win. And even the boys and girls next to him all look like strong contenders." "Hey now. You can''t discount our resident genius. Yasmine is also an S class genius that can hold up her own against someone like him." "Either way, I''m excited to see what''ll happen!" Judging from the reactions beside him, Atlan guessed that there was going to be some kind of competition between the Olympians and the Genesians. Razer did say that he visited this City to exchange pointers. Does that mean that in the other Cities they''ve visited, they also had some sort of competition with the others? "Since they have nine of them representing the Olympus Mountain Range, I have also picked out the nine geniuses in our City to compete." Obek then took out a list from his pocket and started to say the names of the people he enlisted to compete against the foreigners. "First of all, we have Yasmine Sayed! She is an S class DPS at the 3rd stage Student realm!" Everyone''s eyes were pulled to the side as Yasmine walked down the stairs with a cold expression. She didn''t greet anybody and simply stood opposite Razer, glaring at him with a competitive spirit. Competing against such geniuses was the only reason she agreed to join the party. But try as she might, she couldn''t help but sneak a glance at the unassuming boy at the edge of the crowd. Focus! she reminded herself. "Next, of course, is me: Obek Orioness! As I am a Paladin with the Genesis'' God''s grace, it is only natural that I become one of his representatives in this competition." Even though nobody in the party considered Obek as a viable candidate, they couldn''t very well argue with him. After all, he was the one who arranged this whole thing. "Next¡­" Obek continued to bring out the names of other people in the party. Once they heard the names, everyone was relieved to see that they were actual geniuses who could stand a chance against the Olympians. They joined the list not because of their family name, but because they were talented in their own right. "I think we stand a chance here¡­" "Yeah, but it all depends if we can overcome Razer¡­" It was a mixed bag of Saviors, all of whom were in the 3rd stage. Obek was the only one in the 2nd stage. There were two berserkers, one DPS (Yasmine), two rangers (an archer and a gunslinger), a paladin (Obek), a warrior, and a monk. There was just one spot left. One of the men with a one-handed sword stepped up, expecting Obek to say his name. However, everyone was suddenly surprised to hear that Obek changed the last participant. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "There''s been a change of plans. I didn''t think he would come, but now that he''s here, I think we should give him a chance. Let''s give it up for that Porter over there!" Obek pointed directly at Atlan with a devious smile on his face. This was the only way he could think of to finally put that porter back in his place. In this competition, Atlan would undoubtedly be crushed and left behind by much greater geniuses than himself. Obek imagined him stumbling cluelessly in the competition, becoming completely useless. And because of Atlan''s horrible performance, the Olympians would break away and win the competition. Everyone would be humiliated and they would finally put the blame on the useless porter who couldn''t do anything. Everyone waited in silence for Atlan''s response. Of course, he could refuse to participate in the competition, but that was also in Obek''s plan. He would simply berate Atlan for being a coward and label him as a false hero. "Wait, he''s only a porter? I don''t think it''s appropriate for him to join. No offense to the guy, but this competition is a high-stakes battle between damage-dealing Saviors. We won''t hold ourselves back and use the full extent of our LifeSkills. We can''t endanger the SoulTime of such an essential Savior." One of the women with brown hair on the Olympian side spoke up. Chapter 73: Cheers "We''ll be tussling with stronger Pseudo Canzers in this competition. We can adjust our strength, but those monsters are programmed to attack anyone they come across," she added. Once she said that, everyone in the room silently agreed. Even though Atlan could be considered a genius in terms of advancing his power realm, that did not mean that he could fight Canzers. That was simply not the skill set of porters. At least, that''s what they thought. But then, nobody expected Atlan to suddenly speak up. "Hmm¡­I''d like to join." Good! I can''t believe he joined, Obek rejoiced. "Great, then come here and meet your opponents!" Stay in the adventure with m-vl-em,py-r The Olympian girl simply shrugged when she heard that the porter would join. She already warned him about the dangers, and it was his decision if he still wanted to participate. She, and the rest of her team, would not be holding back their power just because they were going against a porter. "Let''s move to the arena!" Obek guided the contestants outside the mansion and Atlan was surprised to see a large structure made out of stone and concrete right in the middle of the City. Atlan was sure that he never saw a structure this big back in the real world. "As you can see, my family enlisted the help of some architect Operators to make this colosseum into our pocket Remedium! Amazing, isn''t it? It''s the perfect place for our competitors to compete to their heart''s content!" It turned out that Pocket Remediums didn''t have to completely mirror the outside world. Operators could create anything they wanted in the Pocket Remedium, especially a large structure like this. "I can''t wait to see who''s better: Yasmine or Razer!" "Seeing the fight in this place pumps up my blood!" The Colosseum had an intimidating black color in the Remedium that only served to intensify the upcoming competition. "Spectators, please find your seats while we competitors enter the arena!" It looked like this was not the first time people went inside the Colosseum as they had no trouble finding their way up the stairs and into the balconies that oversaw the large oval arena below. There were about a thousand spectators in the crowd, all eager and waiting for the competition to start. Atlan followed the others onto the tunnel just below the arena. "Our competition is divided into two stages," Obek explained. "First, we will have to show off our skills to subdue these Pseudo Canzers." Obek pulled down a lever and a few indentations in the wall of the arena suddenly submerged into the floor. After a few seconds, Atlan heard the sound of hoofbeats crashing on the floor. Dust rose from the soil as the footsteps intensified until four-legged monstrous creatures suddenly emerged from the sides. They all charged out of their dark prisons with anger and fury. But try as they might, they couldn''t leap past the bars around the arena. These Pseudo Canzers all had a similar torso and legs to horses, but their heads were a completely different variety. Atlan saw a gorilla''s upper body connected to the horse''s torso, a dolphin in a horse''s body, and one just had a chicken''s head. There were lots of different animals, but there were plenty more monstrous creatures that didn''t resemble any animal that Atlan knew. There was one thing in common with all of them: their chitinous armor. Every horse Pseudo Canzer was protected by some sort of armor. Some had it on their whole body, some on just their chest and head, while some just had it on the legs. "Hmm¡­they look fast," one of the Olympians commented. "Yes! Precisely. These Pseudo Canzers are specifically designed to mimic mounts. For the first part of the competition, each of us is going to subdue one of the monsters. Careful not to kill it though, as you will need them for the next stage. After you have all gotten your respective mounts, then you will attach them to your chariots. Now, comes the real challenge. With your mounts and your chariots, we will race around the City walls and do one lap. The first to cross the finish line is the winner!" Everyone looked confident. Yasmine and the other Genesians already practiced for this event a few days ago. The Olympians had experience with this competition too as they competed and won against other Cities before they arrived in Genesis City. Atlan was the only one still clueless about everything. And unlike most of them, he didn''t even know how to ride a mount. Of course, Obek didn''t give him a chance for any practice at all. He already felt that it was generous to tell Atlan the rules of the competition. "There will be no fighting during the first stage of the competition." "Agreed," Razer said. "It''s already too risky to fight against other Saviors while fighting monsters, even if they are only Pseudo Canzers." Obek then smiled. "But for the second stage, it''s no holds barred. You can fight against others, you can kill their mounts, you can destroy their chariots, and you can even injure them to the point that Angels have to save them. Everything is allowed." Just you wait, you porter. Joining this competition will be a mistake that you will never forget. I''ll bleed your SoulTime. Atlan took a deep breath and readied himself. Unlike everybody here, he couldn''t just use all of his powers. He would be limited to only using his physical strength. That was a major handicap. But Atlan wasn''t completely without any weapon. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He looked at the slingshot in his hands with anticipation. As long as he put all of his strength into winding up the slingshot, he reckoned that he could create serious damage. "Are you guys ready?" Obek''s question proved to be useless as he saw the intense look on everyone''s faces. Yasmine, in particular, had her eyes on the prize. She was already considering which mount was the fastest. "On my count¡­3¡­2¡­1¡­GO!" Everyone rushed out of the tunnel and into the arena. Atlan ran with them but quickly halted his steps once he was in the arena. While hearing the cheers and the shouts around the arena, Atlan heard a cacophony of words coming to his ears. "Humans¡­run¡­" "Eat¡­humans¡­" "Weak¡­." Chapter 74: Blinders Atlan observed all the Canzers in the arena and he could see their eyes start to register the humans. With every bark, every purr, and every roar, these Canzers spoke out their inner thoughts without reserve. And without a doubt, all Canzers displayed hostility to everyone. ''Attack¡­human¡­'' Atlan heard the snort of one of the Canzers with a bull''s head and a horse''s torso. And just as it said, it charged toward the brown-haired Olympian girl with its horns ready to pierce through her. "You look fast enough. You''ll serve me well," the brown-haired Olympian muttered as she backflipped just before the bull-horse Canzer landed its horns on her chest. ''Where¡­human¡­'' The bull-horse skidded on the ground, creating dust underneath. It looked around, when it should have looked up. If it did, it would have seen the brown-haired girl glow a bright white light on her palms. "Oh! I know her! She''s Sola! I heard that she''s an A class blessed by Apollo himself! I think she could go for the top 3!" Sola ignored all the cheers towards her and focused on the Canzer below her. "Brightest Day!" she shouted as she activated her LifeSkill. Soon enough, a bright light beamed down and targeted the bull-horse''s eyes. It tried to close its eyes, but it couldn''t escape from the blinding effect of Sola''s LifeSkill. ''Gah!...hate¡­humans¡­kill!'' It flailed its horns around as it jumped up and down and rotated in a circle. This would have deterred most attackers from approaching, but not Sola. She landed on the side and quickly used her acrobatic skills to jump and somersault, twisting her body two times in the air. Surprisingly, this skill allowed her to swiftly dodge the bull''s wild horns. Sola landed on the bull''s torso and straddled it with her legs locked in its underbelly. The Canzer exaggeratedly jumped its body to the side in an attempt to get rid of its attacker, but her grip allowed her to keep still. At least, for a little while. So, she activated her LifeSkill again, manifesting burning hot light from her palms. Then, she started a flurry of slaps toward the bull''s head. With each hit, the bull''s skin got seared and burned from the hotness of the light produced from her palms. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The bull-horse roared in pain. ''Hot!...no¡­human¡­kill!'' With no regard for its safety, the Canzer rushed towards the edge of the arena. It ran at top speeds, intending to crash into the wall and squish the puny human riding its body. But before it could even reach the wall, Sola took out something from her pockets made out of thin strips of leather and two rectangular cups. It was horse blinders! But this didn''t seem to be ordinary blinders as it had cybernetic lines glowing from the two cups. Sola quickly and skillfully attached the blinders on the bull-horse''s head. ''No¡­human¡­no¡­enslavement¡­'' And as soon as it clicked in place, the Canzer suddenly stopped running and skidded in place. It stood eerily still. It no longer had its wild and ferocious temperament that hated humans to the core. ''...'' Atlan was surprised to hear nothing but silence from the Canzer. Those blinders can control the minds of Canzers? Those horse blinders were an integral part of the competition. According to Obek, they were specifically made by Operators to control those Centaur Canzers into being a steed for a chariot. Without it, the contestants can''t expect them to run in the race. Atlan was once again impressed by the handiwork of Operators. They always created equipment that made the impossible possible. "Wow! Even if I don''t want to root for her, Sola''s really impressive! She''s the first one to subdue a Canzer." "As expected from someone in Mount Olympus. They truly are a different breed." Sola pulled the reins on the blinders and guided her new mount towards the exit. The walls suddenly submerged underground, letting her exit the arena. Everyone watched as she picked the first chariot in line. Being the first one to subdue a Canzer had its perks as she was able to choose the golden chariot with the best durability out of everything in line. The next one would choose the silver chariot and the next would choose the bronze. The worst one was only made out of wood. She fixed the reins before quickly whipping the Canzer''s back. The bull-horse pulled the chariot out of the arena and onto the race track that led to the outskirts of the City. With a big lead, she has a chance to cross the finish line first. "Come on, Genesians! What are you doing?!" "You guys can do it!" "I wonder which of them will be the first to join Sola. Our only hope is Yasmine¡­" The rest of the competitors, mostly the Saviors from Genesis City, had bad luck when it came to subduing the Canzers. There were a lot of skittish ones escaping the moment a Savior approached them. But some stronger and more resilient Canzers were too wild to put the blinders on properly. The Olympians on the other hand showed their training and skill as they were able to struggle against their targets with much more success. If a Canzer was too wild, then they would use their LifeSkills to injure them and hinder their escape. And if it tried to attack them, they would dodge at the very last second with graceful movements that could only be attained through years of practice. "Yes! Go, Yasmine! She''s finally showing off her LifeSkill!" The rest of the Genesians in the crowd cheered once they saw Yasmine unsheathe her sword. She put the sword in front of her and closed her eyes for a second. And with a big breath, she muttered; "Draconic Inferno of Swords, heed my will." Read more chapters on m-vl-e-mpyr Her sword erupted into a billowing fire that soon morphed into a swirling fire dragon that embraced her sword. She then faced her target, a Canzerous Horse that was made out of nothing but white bones. With one slash, the dragon roared out of her sword and flew towards the Canzer. ''Strange power¡­human¡­dangerous'' The Canzer leaped forward to dodge her attack, with the dragon''s flames barely grazing its bony tail. But how could it have expected ten more dragons coming towards it? Yasmine didn''t hold back her LifeSkill powers anymore as she assailed her target with a myriad of sword slashes, each launching a flaming dragon that left embers behind its wake. Chapter 75: Bet a thousand The Bone Canzer Horse had no way left to escape. It was soon engulfed in angry dragons, burning its wild and arrogant temper. What''s left of the Canzer was nothing but charred bones. It lay on the ground with its legs bent, too tired to even pose in a defensive position. It suffered too much from Yasmine''s attack and it needed a lot of time to regenerate from its injuries. But Yasmine didn''t have any time for that. She quickly took out the blinders from her tool belt and attached them to the bone horse''s head. And with it, the Canzer was forced to stop recuperating and stand up to obey her commands. Yasmine didn''t care if the Canzer still hadn''t recovered. She was going to push it till it died from its wounds if it meant winning this competition. She pulled on the reins and quickly left the arena. "Tsk." She was disappointed to find the golden chariot already taken away. This meant that someone was already on the track with a large lead behind them. But since she was second, she got the silver chariot which was the second best out of everything in the lineup. Before she left the arena, she looked back towards the arena, her eyes quickly glancing around to find someone in the crowd of Canzers and Saviors. She didn''t want to admit it, but she was looking for him. I''m only looking¡­but she quickly slapped herself. What are you doing? Get on the track, now! She quickly whipped the Canzer and it raced out of the Colosseum at top speeds. She reminded herself to always look forward, not back. She had a goal to accomplish, and no one could get in her way. Meanwhile, at the arena, the rest of the spectators all went silent in awe and disbelief. Everyone''s eyes went towards one man in the middle of the arena. Razer Wrekton, arguably the strongest and most talented one out of everyone in this room, was standing still with one monstrous Horse Canzer in front of him. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He wasn''t doing anything. He was just standing still. But that wasn''t the strangest part about this. The Canzer in front of him, instead of charging and attacking the human in front of it, was actually kneeling towards Razer! It had its front legs bent on the ground, and its head was bowing towards him in deference. This was unbelievable. Every Canzer in the arena had a wild and arrogant attitude against the humans. They attacked humans they considered inferior to them, or they fled away from those they considered superior. However, this particular Canzer was kneeling in front of Razer! Find adventures at m v lem|p-yr It was offering its head for him to take¨Cfor him to take control. Nobody ever thought that this was possible. This could only be explained through Razer''s domineering mutation that could even make other humans want to submit to him. "I can''t believe this¡­" "He subdued a Canzer without even using his LifeSkill¡­" "There''s just no hope. He''s going to win this competition¡­Wait! Look at that!" Just when they thought that Razer was going to subdue the kneeling Canzer in front of him, they all suddenly saw a new Canzer, a horse with a gorilla''s upper body, come rushing toward him. "He''s not looking at the Canzer!" "Is he going to get hit?!" But their guesses turned out completely wrong. The Gorilla-Horse Canzer rushed past Razer and charged toward the kneeling Canzer instead! Banging its chest like a drum, the gorilla-horse then grabbed the kneeling Canzer and threw it towards the crowd! The unfortunate spectators were horrified to see a monstrous Canzer coming right towards them. Even though they were Saviors in their own right, they were caught off guard and could only disperse away before they were buried under this monster. Thankfully, the Pocket Remedium''s safety mechanism froze the Pseudo Canzer in the air right before it went over the arena. "Whew! That was close!" "I thought I''d lose twenty years of SoulTime from that." "Wait, what happened with Razer?!" Once the chaos from the accident subsided, everyone looked over to Razer. Surprisingly, the Gorilla-Horse Canzer was now kneeling in front of Razer! It turned out that this Canzer wasn''t trying to attack Razer. Instead, it only wanted to be the one to have the honor to be Razer''s steed! It was unbelievable. Canzers were lining up and competing against each other to offer themselves to be subservient to Razer! Who else had the transcendent talent to do that? Without any more delay, Razer attached the blinders on the winning Canzer and chose it as its mount. With calm and unhurried steps, he went over to the exit and picked the bronze chariot for his vehicle. It didn''t take him long to fix the reins. "Chase them," he commanded. His Canzer answered by drumming its fists on its chest and roaring towards the track. With the strength of its legs, it started accelerating at speeds unlike anyone had ever seen. It was much faster than Yasmine or Sola''s mounts. "There he goes! I reckon he''ll easily take the lead from Sola." "No doubt about it. I''ll even bet you 20 Venunum for it." "Stop cheering for the enemies. What about our Genesians? I''ll take that bet and put 50 Venunum for Yasmine to take home the win." Finally, after adjusting their strengths and strategies, more and more competitors subdued their Canzers. The Olympians had it easier, but the Genesians didn''t let them have the lead for long. Slowly, more and more competitors raced through the streets with their chariots. The spectators could only watch the race through the large screen floating at the top of the arena. They all saw LifeSkills thrown around everywhere as they all tried to sabotage each other. Meanwhile, there were only 2 people left in the arena: Obek and Atlan. They were the only two people in the 2nd stage Student realm, so everyone already expected them to be at the bottom of the pack. "Hmm¡­who do you think will be in last place?" "Listen, as much as I respect our Star Porter, he simply just doesn''t have the power to contest with the other competitors." "Are you willing to bet on that?" "Yeah. I''ll give you 1000 Venunum if the Star Porter finishes even in the 2nd to last place." Chapter 76: Giraffe-Horse Atlan observed everything with sharp eyes. He saw how the Olympians used their agility to skillfully maneuver their target into a position where they could leverage their strengths. But that wasn''t the only thing he saw. He was able to familiarize himself with everyone''s LifeSkills. He was especially curious about those Olympians because they had powers he never even thought possible. They used their mutations in tandem with their LifeSkills with such smooth coordination that Atlan was able to find new ideas on how he would use his multiple LifeSkills in the future. He was so honed in on absorbing all of that information that when he finally got a hold of himself, there were only two of them left in the arena. Realizing this, Atlan immediately went back to the entrance of the arena and took out one of the blinders in the chest. Without this, he wouldn''t be able to control a Canzer and command it to drive the chariot. And once he was ready, he looked around the arena to find a suitable Canzer. Which one should I choose? That skinny Grasshopper-Horse looks fast, but it doesn''t seem as durable. That Armadillo-Horse has a lot of protection, but it''s really slow. When he looked up and saw the racing chariots on the screen, he saw a lot of sabotaging and fighting among the competitors. It was quickly apparent that targeting an opponent''s Canzer mount was the most effective way of advancing through the placements. It didn''t matter if your mount was slow, it only mattered that others were slower than you. Atlan would have gone for the Armadillo-Horse because of its defense, but he was already at the bottom of the pack. Defense wouldn''t matter if he couldn''t even catch up to the others. The ideal mounts were a good balance of speed and defense. However, the good ones were already taken by other people. His only choice was to find the speedy ones and simply defend it himself. And just as he walked around the arena, he noticed a peculiar Canzer in the middle of the pack. Every Canzer in the arena was a little bit tamer compared to when the competition started because there were only two people left with them. But, when he listened to their grunts and barks, he figured out that they were still cautious. ''Human¡­defense¡­'' ''Move away¡­shadow¡­disappear¡­'' ''Kill¡­approach¡­'' Everything he heard was in line with those sentiments¡ªexcept for one. ''There''s still humans here¡­the two of them look weak¡­'' Surprisingly, this one had more coherent language than the rest of the Canzers! All of the Canzers he heard only spoke about one to two words, but this specific Canzer was somehow able to construct complete sentences! He honed in on the Canzer and saw it lounging in the middle of a pack of Canzers. This one had a very long neck, with irregular brown spots among whiter skin. This one had a giraffe''s head! Then, Atlan noticed that one Cow-Horse Canzer got a little bit too close to the intelligent Canzer''s space. The Giraffe-Horse grunted, ''Stay away from me¡­I won''t repeat it twice¡­'' Experience the unknown on m_vl-em,py-r Usually, an altercation like this would result in a fight between the two monsters. But instead, the Cow-Horse bowed its head and quickly retreated away from the intelligent Canzer. Once it realized its mistake, it begged for forgiveness. ''Apologies!....no kill¡­please¡­.'' This was extremely weird because the Cow-Horse was much bigger and looked much stronger than the Giraffe-Horse. Atlan reckoned that if a fight between the two broke out, most people would assume that the Cow-Horse would come out on top. But judging from its reaction, it looked like Atlan was wrong. This Canzer was different from the rest. It was special. Could it also be faster than the rest? With no other alternative, Atlan decided on his steed. ### Meanwhile, Obek Orioness kept his eyes peeled as he looked for a specific Canzer amongst the crowd of monsters. He was getting antsy. The longer he waited, the further away the others would be. The only thing consoling him was the fact that the porter was still in the arena with him. Kugh! I have to find it quick or else they''ll think that a mere porter is better than me. Come on! Where are you? He was looking for a Canzer with a giant fly as a head. It would have green compound eyes and little wings on the back of the horse''s torso. He was the only one who knew that this particular Canzer was specifically altered to be faster than normal and have a mild and submissive temperament. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to subdue fast Canzers like the Olympians, so he cheated. Tampering with the Canzed''s programming was the only way he could find a mount that he could easily subdue but still be fast enough to compete with the rest. "Aha! There you are!" Obek rejoiced. Now that there were fewer Canzers on the field, he was finally able to spot that perfect mount. All he had to do now was subdue it with his paladin LifeSkills. "Gatekeeper''s Authority," he shouted. His whole body glowed golden as he channeled the LifeSkill given to him by the Genesis God himself. He took out the 2nd removed Masamune Original short sword from his toolbelt and used it to stab at the ground. With his powers, magic traveled from the ground toward the inattentive Fly-Horse Canzer. It looked around, confused, as the ground trembled underneath it. The Canzer was like a deer in headlights as a smooth wall made out of soil suddenly emerged around it. And as it tried to jump over the obstacle, it found that the wall was constructed just enough for it to be insurmountable for the Canzer. "You can''t run away from me," Obek smiled. He ran towards the encirclement, and the walls magically parted ways for his body to pass through easily. Soon enough, he was inside with the Canzer. With one swift move, he saddled the Fly-Horse with no resistance whatsoever. It didn''t even utter a single cry as Obek put the blinders on its head. And just like that, Obek gained his mount. The walls submerged back into the ground as he made his way to the exit with a proud smile on his face. He looked back at Atlan and shook his head in derision. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Is he an idiot or what? Why would he go after that Giraffe-Horse? It''s lethargic and barely even moves! Whatever. It''s not like he could subdue stronger Canzers anyway. Chapter 77: How did human know? Atlan carefully approached the Giraffe-Horse Canzer. It was sitting down in the soil, with its eyes closed and its defenses lowered. But once Atlan took one step closer to it, it suddenly opened its eyes and observed Atlan. It took the Canzer one second to analyze him. Read the latest novel on M-VL-em|p,yr ''Weak¡­'' With no perceived threat, the Canzer closed its eyes and went back to its nap. Atlan used this opportunity to finally test out his slingshot. This was the first time he would ever use this kind of weapon, but he knew the basics of how it worked. He simply needed to put ammo in the bands and stretch it before letting it go. But without any prior experience, Atlan didn''t know if he''d be able to do it. He looked at the ground and saw a small pebble the size of a fingernail. He quickly put it in the middle of the band and pinched it before stretching it back. With the Canzer''s body as his target, Atlan released his grip on the bands and the stone flew towards his target. However, the pebble soon lost its power in the air and failed to even reach the foot of the Canzer. The Canzer still kept its eyes closed. Hmmm¡­so that''s how the trajectory works, Atlan thought. If he wanted more power, then he could have simply stretched the bands in the slingshot further. The bands had a lot more to stretch and he had a lot more strength to show, but he chose not to. His first shot was only a test for him to find out how the trajectory of his bullet curved in the air. He only used the lightest of his powers. And because of that, he was able to figure out the base parameters of the slingshot. He was able to guess exactly how much power he needed for his next shot to land properly. He picked up another pebble and shot it out with a lot more strength than before. This time, the pebble blasted off towards the Canzer at fast speeds. The trajectory this time was almost in a straight line. In just a moment, the pebble hit the Canzer''s body. However, its chitinous armor protected it from any harm. I was aiming for the head but it landed on its body¡­I need to put the ammo directly in the center of the pouch or else it will deviate from what I''m aiming at. Now that he got a handle on how the slingshot worked, Atlan felt confident that he''d be able to use it in a fight. He just needed proper ammo now. Pebbles wouldn''t do much damage even if Atlan used all of his strength to wind it up in the slingshot. It would simply explode upon impact and have no piercing power. Atlan then looked down at the ground and saw the thin layer of sand and dust over the solid ground and got an idea. If there was one thing he learned from spending years underground in the Unclaimed Lands, it was that the ground became much harder as they went further below the surface. He learned early on that the pressure exerted at those bottom depths condensed the ground to such degrees that the sand became as hard as stone. With enough pressure, grains of sand can become rock solid. Atlan kneeled on the floor and used his full strength to punch the ground, creating a crater below. The whole arena trembled for a slight moment, surprising even the intelligent Canzer. With his fist submerged, he then pulled out as much chunk of the ground as possible. He now held a handful of soil in both hands. And using all of his physical strength, he pushed the two chunks together into a ball. Small chunks crumbled out of his hands, but the majority of the soil was retained in his hands. He then cupped his hands and pushed it even harder. Slowly, his hands deflated and deflated until he felt a solid ball in his palms. Atlan opened his fists and saw an uneven brown pellet that was a hundred times smaller than the chunk it was originally. But one was not enough. Atlan continued to create more pellets from the ground until he created ten ammo that he could use to fight the Canzer. Each one was faster to make and rounder than the previous ones. With everything ready, he put the first ammo in the slingshot and aimed at the Canzer. His left arm was outstretched and his right hand pulled the band back to his shoulders. With one eye closed, he targeted the Canzer''s body. THWATT The pellet whistled through the air at dangerous speeds. The Giraffe-Horse didn''t even have the time to open its eyes as it spurred out of its sitting position and dodged out of the dangerous pellet. However, it couldn''t get away from the attack fast enough as the pellet grazed past its long cheeks and took away the chitinous armor with it. Violet blood pooled out of the injury. The Canzer now stood on its toes, with its back arched, and its body flared. It was alarmed. It almost saw its life flash past its eyes with Atlan''s attack. ''This human''s dangerous¡­really dangerous¡­really dangerous¡­'' Atlan took out another pellet and readied it in his slingshot. This time, the Canzer regarded him with full alert. It couldn''t be careless, especially with that strange pellet Atlan used. After all, it was able to crush its chitinous armor with ease. If Atlan hit the Canzer with that pellet, it would surely pierce through the other side. ''I''ll attack him close¡­it''s humans weakness'' The Canzer didn''t want to let Atlan have the time to shoot out another one of those pellets, so it charged toward Atlan with dizzying acceleration. A cloud of dust erupted behind it. But just before the Canzer could even come close to Atlan, it suddenly felt danger as it heard that terrifying whistling sound come from his slingshot again. The Giraffe-Horse was forced to jump to the side and abandon its attack to dodge from another pellet. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The ground from where the Canzer dodged suddenly exploded into dust and debris as Atlan''s attack landed on the ground. ''The human''s fast, but me is faster¡­dodge to the left and right to confuse the human¡­'' It used its fast legs to run towards Atlan from the left. The Canzer saw the human stretch his slingshot for another shot. Once it was sure that Atlan was going to release his grip, it suddenly decelerated and dashed in the opposite direction. It thought that it could finally approach Atlan with this trick. Unfortunately, a sharp pain suddenly emerged from its hind leg as Atlan''s pellet pierced through its body and out near its tail. ''Pain!...How did the human know?!'' Chapter 78: Cloud of dust The Giraffe-Horse was frustrated to no end. The Canzer observed the human''s eyes and saw that it was very slow in capturing fast movements. This meant that it was faster than what the human could even process. Yet somehow, he seemed to be able to hear its thoughts on what it was going to do! Not only that, but his strange weapon was somehow able to penetrate through its armor like it was nothing! As far as it knew, the human simply used the ground as his weapon. ''Human only used dusty soil¡­no way it''s strong¡­'' The Canzer used all of its intelligence to find a way to defeat this human. The best way was to get up close and personal to his frail and weak body, but his weapon prevented the Canzer from even getting close. So, it decided to ask for some help. ''Hey you!¡­Attack the human¡­'' The Giraffe-Horse grunted and stomped the ground to get the other Canzers to his attention. The Ant-Horse felt horrified when it realized that the Giraffe-Horse was talking to it. There was no hesitation in its moves as it quickly sneaked behind Atlan and readied its sharp mandibles to cut the human in front of it into two. This would have been the perfect sneak attack. If only it got rid of its habit of speaking its mind, then Atlan wouldn''t have been able to anticipate its attacks too easily. Just as the large upper body of the Ant Canzer brought down its mandibles towards Atlan''s neck, he suddenly ducked and moved to the side. The Ant-Horse was already surprised that Atlan was even able to dodge its attacks. So, it was even more shocked to suddenly see him grab its head with one hand, using its mandibles as his handle. With a proper grip, Atlan suddenly twisted his waist and whipped his left leg towards the Ant-Horse''s front leg. Experience the magic at m-vl-em-pyr ''PAIN!'' it squeaked. But that wasn''t the end. As soon as Atlan''s foot landed on the floor, he didn''t hesitate to launch another kick right into the exact spot where his attack landed. ''KAGGH!'' The Canzer couldn''t help but tremble and lose its footing. It couldn''t believe the power the human generated from his feet. Just one of his kicks broke its chitinous armor into multiple pieces and bruised its flesh instantly. That would have been enough to disable the Cnazer''s movements. But Atlan wasn''t done. He continued to unleash a fury of kicks toward the Canzer at the same location with precision and accuracy. He targeted the horse''s front leg, specifically its elbow and forearm. The frightening thing about this was that Atlan''s kicks were getting more and more powerful as if he was getting better and better with each kick. ''Feet shoulder-width apart. Pivot back foot. Maintain balance. Bend the knee. Snap the kick.'' Atlan only saw taekwondo from one fight. Yet, he''s somehow able to completely absorb the essence of the martial art. His observation skills could not be topped. But his SSS Physique Skill also contributed to this because he was able to completely transfer his theoretical knowledge into his physical body. His body coordination allowed him to do whatever he wanted to do with perfect control. At this point, the Ant-Horse could no longer stand by itself. It whimpered in pain. It was suffering. He had to kill it. He stomped the ground, creating a dust cloud that obscured himself and the Canzer. With one swift move, he grabbed its head and twisted it in one clean motion. Nobody knew what happened. Almost all of the spectators were looking up at the screen and watching the exciting race instead of the arena. They didn''t even know that there was still someone inside. And if anybody was still watching Atlan, they wouldn''t have seen anything because of the dust and chaos all around the arena. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 100 experience] Once the dust settled, the Ant-Horse lay on the ground, not moving a single inch. The Canzer didn''t have a pool of blood underneath it, so it was easy to mistake it as simply relaxing and trying to recuperate. After all, how easy was it to kill a Canzer in just one move like Atlan? Almost impossible. However, the Canzers knew that their brethren died. No one was more surprised than the Giraffe-Horse. It couldn''t believe that the weak human was able to kill a Canzer as easily as that. ''Impossible¡­how''s human so strong?'' But it didn''t have time to wonder as it saw Atlan prepare another bullet in his slingshot. A shiver ran down its spine. The Canzer thought that it would be able to defeat Atlan once it was able to close the distance. But that couldn''t be more wrong. It looked like the human was even more dangerous up close! It immediately backed down, creating a large space between it and the human. But it was terrified to see Atlan calmly aiming his slingshot at wherever the Canzer fled. He wasn''t even moving! He just stood there, menacingly. ''All of you!...attack the human!'' the Giraffe-Horse bellowed. Unfortunately, every Canzer in the arena witnessed the Ant-Canzer suddenly die in front of the human. Even if they weren''t that intelligent, they still had a sense of self-preservation. If they tried to attack the human, then it was easy to guess what would happen to the rest of them. The Giraffe-Horse clicked its mouth in dissatisfaction. ''All of you!...human can''t kill all!....kill the human!'' Even though the Canzers didn''t want to attack Atlan, the Giraffe-Horse''s words compelled them to do so. It was as if they couldn''t defy its orders. Soon enough, the rest of the Canzers pawed the ground like a bull waiting to charge. None of them wanted to act first. So, they kept charging up their legs to try and build up speed and momentum before they attacked the human. The whole arena shook as all the Canzers stomped the ground. And as every Canzer did so, a plume of dust and smoke started to cover the entire arena. It was at this point that the Canzer realized its mistake. It couldn''t see anything in the cloud of dust! S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 79: Subdued "Woah! What''s happening in the arena?" "Wait. There''s someone still in there?" "Yeah, the Star Porter still hasn''t subdued any Canzer yet." "Hmm? Then where is he?" The cloud of dust obscured vision from the spectator stand. Nobody could see anything. The only thing they heard were hooves beating on the ground, rushing and charging towards something. But where that was, nobody had any idea. In any other case, this would have been completely in the Canzer''s favor. The cloud of smoke would have prevented the human from knowing where the Canzers would come from next. However, the Giraffe-Horse couldn''t forget that human''s sharp eyes. It was the kind of gaze that could somehow pierce through even the deepest of armor, as if he could see through any of its vulnerabilities. The Canzer believed that the human could somehow see it even in the cloud of dust. ''No! That human is human¡­he no see in the dark¡­'' But the Giraffe-Horse wasn''t the only one who was panicking. The rest of the Canzers in the arena didn''t have the mental capacity to think further than what they saw. Dread began to set in. What if the human was going to kill them? One such frightened Canzer couldn''t help but charge towards the unknown. It thought that the terrifying human was behind it. So, it tried to run away from him as fast as possible. But it didn''t know that this would start a chain reaction that would further spread fear and chaos to others. Once the other Canzers heard hooves stomping in terrified undertones, they all started panicking even more. And when faced with a do-or-die situation, these horse-like Canzers chose to flee instead of fight. The cloud of dust obscured everything even further as the Canzers started to run around everywhere. Canzers were bumping into each other and bumping into the walls. The whole arena was in an earthquake. The Giraffe-Horse looked around, but it couldn''t see anything. It calmed itself down. There was no way that the human would be able to find it in all of this chaos. Just then, it suddenly saw something coming towards itself at fast speeds! It quickly moved to the side. Terror set in its bones as it thought that the human was somehow able to target it amid this smoke. Experience the best from m|v|l|e|mp|y|r But then it realized something. This was no projectile. This was a Canzer''s body coming towards the Giraffe-Horse at fast speeds, cutting through the smoke until it crashed into the wall behind. The Giraffe-Horse looked at the Horse Canzer and saw a single injury in the middle of its torso: an imprint of a human''s knuckles. ''Not possible!...'' But then, the Canzer heard more and more bodies crash through the walls in a similar manner. The whole arena shook from the collisions. ''No way!...that human is a monster¡­must run away¡­must run away!'' It ran along the walls, hoping to find an exit out of this arena. It finally realized that there was no way it was going to defeat the human. His punch sent a Buffalo-Horse from one side of the arena to the other! But then, amid the dust, it suddenly saw a silhouette of a human in front of it. No, this was no silhouette. It was the human exactly! But now, there was a strange black fire that surrounded his whole body. This was the first time that the Canzer fully understood the strength of this human. Death has come for it. The Giraffe-Horse immediately used its long head to hit the ground and cause more dust to obscure the human''s sight. And then, it immediately turned around. But when it looked up, it suddenly saw something impossible. For a brief second, it saw holy wings appear on the human''s back. ''Impossible!...Angel wings¡­'' But in the next moment, the human disappeared from the Canzer''s sight. It made the monster doubt its own eyes. It even wondered if it was starting to hallucinate because of all the chaos that was happening in the arena. This Canzer was so stunned and shocked from having a brief encounter with Angel Wings that it didn''t even notice that Atlan was already straddling it on its back. With one swift movement, Atlan attached the blinders on the Canzer with a satisfying click. Soon enough, the rest of the other Canzers stopped their rumbling. They were either too injured to stand due to crashing against other Canzers and the walls too much, or they simply realized that the human was no longer there to threaten them. After a few moments, the dust finally settled and everyone could finally see what happened. "I hope the Star Porter is alright." "Don''t worry. If things get too dangerous, the Pocket Remedium has a safety mechanism that freezes all the Pseudo Canzers in place, remember?" "Wait a minute, it''s him!" More and more people soon saw the image of Atlan guiding the Giraffe-Horse through the arena. They were all surprised to see that the Canzer had blinders on, meaning that Atlan finally subdued a Canzer! "I can''t believe it!" "How did he even subdue a Canzer? A porter''s LifeSkill is only supposed to give him the ability to carry heavy weights, right?" "I heard from others that our Star Porter has another talent. He''s a fighting genius!" But even with that explanation, the rest of the spectators still couldn''t believe it. If Atlan was able to subdue a Canzer with just his physical strength and his martial arts prowess, then he was even more impressive than people were giving him credit for. Atlan finally exited the arena and went over to the last chariot left. Unlike the others that were made out of strong metals, this last chariot was only made out of wood. It was as brittle as a rundown carriage. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Impressive as it may be, he probably can''t catch up to the others with that shoddy chariot." "It''s unfortunate, but yeah, his mount doesn''t seem to be as fast either." "But let''s clap for his efforts. It''s mad impressive that he''s even able to do this as a porter¡ªWAIT WHAT THE F¡ª" Chapter 80: Tight corner As soon as Atlan fixed the reins on the chariot, he immediately whipped the Canzer forward. They watched as Atlan''s chariot raced out of the Colosseum and onto the racing streets at blazing speeds. His wooden wheels barely even touched the ground as the Giraffe-Horse Canzer rocketed through the air. "Holy! How is he so fast?!" "That''s twice as fast as all the other mounts! How did no one discover this Pseudo Canzer?" "That doesn''t matter now. I just can''t believe how lucky our Star Porter is! I think he has a chance to pass the others!" Stay tuned with m,v le,mpyr It was so fast that even the invisible camera that fed the video to the screen in the Colosseum was left in the dust. It took a few seconds before it was able to calibrate Atlan''s speed and finally focus the camera onto him. When the rest of the spectators looked at the Giraffe-Horse Canzer, they didn''t see any speedy qualities about it. It didn''t even have as much chitinous armor as the other Canzers still in the arena. So, when they saw that Atlan subdued this one, they all thought that it was one of the weakest Canzers out of everything. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They thought that Atlan was forced to use this steed because it was the only one that he could catch. But they couldn''t be more wrong. It turned out that this Giraffe-Horse was the fastest out of every Pseudo Canzer in the competition! It was so fast that if Atlan had subdued this monster earlier, then they wouldn''t have any doubts whether he would win the competition. They were sure that if Atlan got to the race first, then he would be able to do a lap before the others could even get onto the track. And even though he started so late, some still believed that he had a chance to win the whole thing! "Go Porter! Look, he''s not going to be last. He''s already catching up to the last in the pack!" The one who bet 1000 Venunum on Atlan placing last went silent. He was upset that he would lose the bet, but if he saw Atlan finish first, then he wouldn''t even be mad at that point. He watched as Atlan got ready to overtake a chariot. The guy in second to last place was a Genesian with a B class Monk LifeSkill. He was dealt a bad hand and subdued a very slow Canzer. So, he knew that he didn''t have any chance to compete for a podium finish. He consoled himself that he wasn''t going to finish last. However, it looked like he celebrated a little too early. He suddenly heard intense hoof beats behind him, even making his chariot tremble and wobble. When he looked back, he was surprised to see someone suddenly hot on his tail. That was impossible! From what he saw just a few moments earlier, there wasn''t anybody behind him. He even thought that the last guy couldn''t subdue a Canzer and just gave up in the arena. But then, he suddenly saw Atlan piercing through the air like a rocket to catch up to him. He was alarmed. Not to mention the fact that Atlan looked like he teleported behind him, he found that Atlan and his Giraffe-Horse mount were only moments away from overtaking him! The Giraffe''s upper body had its long neck outstretched forward like a lance. It speared through the air and created less air resistance for the chariot, allowing it to go to speeds he didn''t even think possible. The man was so shocked that he forgot to do anything. He just stood there, holding onto the reins of his steed, letting Atlan go past him. Now, Atlan was in 17th place. But he didn''t stop there. The Canzer zoomed through the track, speeding past district after district. He was fast during the straight part of the race, but the next part had a sharp turn to the right which already claimed two chariots. If he didn''t slow down for this part, then his chariot would surely crash through the apartment building like the unlucky two from before. His chariot was made out of wood. With just one crash, his whole chariot could splinter into a million pieces, giving him no chance to continue the race. "What is he doing?! Why is he not slowing down?" "You''ll crash into pure steel, my man! Slow down!" But instead of slowing down like the rest of the competitors, Atlan kept going towards the corner at the Canzer''s top speed! They all thought that Atlan lost control of his steed, but then, they saw him suddenly climb out of his chariot and jump towards the Giraffe-Horse Canzer! He stood upright as he grabbed the Giraffe''s mane and pulled its head up. Then, with one hand on the Giraffe''s head and the other on its torso for stability, Atlan bent its neck to the side just at the moment when the road turned a 90-degree angle. "There''s no way he''s going to¡ª" Everyone in the arena watched with their jaws dropped as the Giraffe''s head suddenly caught onto one of the lamp posts on the side of the street. As their momentum pushed them forward, the chariot suddenly rotated about the lamppost while floating one meter in the air. The Giraffe''s head was caught onto the pole! With their speed almost completely preserved, Atlan''s chariot turned the corner and bounced on the streets. Everyone watching this couldn''t believe the guts and ingenuity behind this move. Who would have thought to use a Giraffe''s long head as a way to pivot through a sharp turn? Nobody. Atlan then jumped back down to his wooden chariot and continued directing the Canzer around the obstacles in the street. Some of the other competitors could never pull a stunt like Atlan did, so they were forced to slow down their chariot to a crawl and safely turn to the right. However, this cost them a lot of speed¨Cspeed that was hard to recover because of their Canzer''s slow acceleration. So, they were simply dumbfounded when Atlan''s squeaking chariot rocketed past them with no warning whatsoever. With just that one move, Atlan was now in 12th place. Chapter 81: Paladin pauper Obek felt confident that he could get to the top 5 if he just continued this route. He didn''t need to compete against the top geniuses like Razer and Yasmine because he knew that he would never be able to contend against them. The best part about this was that he didn''t need to attack other competitors to gain the lead. His Canzer was already fast enough for him to overtake a lot of the other competitors. Of course, no one knew that this mount was a cheat he procured specifically for this competition. It was the perfect blend of speed and defense. But there was still a weakness that Obek could not overcome. His chariot was only made out of plastic. He wasn''t that worried because if they tried to attack him, then he would simply use his LifeSkill to defend himself. Case in point, Obek just passed an Olympian in 10th place, and the guy wasn''t happy with that. He immediately used his eye mutation called Medusa''s Gaze'' and aimed it at Obek. His eyes turned vertical as a beam of gray, stony light came towards the chariot''s wheels. If this attack hit, then the wheels would turn into stone and quickly slow him down. However, Obek was prepared. He used his LifeSkill ''Gatekeeper''s Authority'' to summon a detachable plastic barrier that protected his wheels. Haha! See you later, loser! Obek continued to create distance between him and the others. He could already see the 9th placer in the distance and in just a few moments, he''d be able to overtake him too. But then, he suddenly heard a scream behind him. "Kagh! How?! My chariot!" He recognized it to be the voice of the Olympian man he just passed. What''s happening? Obek was tempted to look back, but he stopped himself. He didn''t have to worry himself about losers like them. He just needed to keep his eyes on the road. But then, he suddenly heard hooves beating on the ground. He felt the trembling in the chariot. This was unusual. Not only that, the vibrations were getting stronger and stronger as if someone was catching up from behind him. Did that Olympian somehow get faster? He was about to look back, when all of a sudden, he saw a chariot run in parallel with his own. The chariot then crashed into his side with paint scratching against paint. Whose this insolent little¡ª His eyes suddenly widened when he saw who was riding the chariot. He couldn''t believe it. It was the porter! Atlan, even after starting the race so late, was somehow able to catch up to him after all this time. Obek thought he was dreaming. His brain tried to immediately think of a logical reason for how this was possible. Did he find a secret shortcut? No, if there was, I would have known about it. Maybe this isn''t that porter¡­ But no matter how much he tried to deny it, the real thing was right in front of him. It shouldn''t even be possible. All the fast Canzers were supposed to be already taken by the other competitors. So, even if Atlan was somehow able to subdue a Canzer, then he should have only gotten the slowest of the bunch. Yet somehow, Atlan''s steed was able to match his speed perfectly! Obek was sure that the Giraffe-Horse wasn''t supposed to be this fast. And even if Obek accepted the fact that Atlan somehow found a fast steed, that still didn''t explain the fact how he was able to go past the other competitors. Even he, a paladin with a defensive LifeSkill, had trouble passing those mutation-freak Olympians! "How?!" Obek screamed. He couldn''t believe that even now, a mere porter was stealing his spotlight. Feeling the rage and anger finally explode inside him, Obek took out his short sword. This piece of weapon was a 2nd removed Masamune Original that could cut through steel with ease. Even with a porter''s enhanced physique, he wouldn''t be able to defend against it. He climbed out of his chariot and charged towards Atlan. His black short sword aimed directly toward Atlan''s carotid artery with precise aim. He was trained with the short sword all his life; dealing with an unarmed and inexperienced civilian like Atlan should be a piece of cake. But somehow, the porter''s reaction proved to be fast enough to defend. Atlan moved his head away and used his left hand to swat Obek''s hand away. However, Obek was no pushover. He kept pushing his short sword towards Atlan''s neck. But that wasn''t enough. Obek then punched Atlan''s liver to disorient him and weaken his defense. Even if Atlan had armor to protect him, Obek''s martial art allowed him to transfer the force to the inside and rattle the very organ instead. Atlan used his other hand to defend, which Obek expected. Obek found an opening and repositioned his short sword towards Atlan''s legs in an attempt to cripple him. In response, Atlan slid his legs away just in time. But this led him to have an awkward position in his own chariot, which Obek was ready to exploit. Atlan''s legs were outside the chariot, with Obek occupying the majority of the space. He was in the perfect distance between Atlan, making his short sword still effective but giving no chance for Atlan to defend with his arms. If he did, then Obek would simply slash it instead. With every slash, Atlan was forced to move his body in awkward positions. He maneuvered his body through the small space in the chariot, even dangling off to the side at one point. It was quickly apparent that Obek''s skills and techniques with the sword were miles better than Atlan''s. The porter''s skills were almost non-existent. But no matter how much Obek tried, he couldn''t even make a scratch Atlan''s body. Somehow, he was always able to move his body at the very last second. If it weren''t for his reflexes, then Obek was sure that Atlan would be filled with cuts by now. No more! I''ll show you how to properly mix martial arts with LifeSkills! Obek lunged at Atlan again as he tried to slash his legs. This time, Atlan was forced to use his fists to guard against Obek''s hands and prevent the blade from reaching his skin. "Gatekeeper''s Authority!" Obek screamed. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His shortsword suddenly pierced through the air and his blade disappeared into nothingness. The next thing Atlan saw was a blade suddenly appearing from out of nowhere and aiming directly towards his chest. This is the difference between elites like me and paupers like you! Stay ahead with m_v_l_e_m_p_y_ Chapter 82: Knocked back Obek smiled when he saw his short sword come toward Atlan''s chest. Even though Atlan''s reaction speeds were impressive, he couldn''t react to the point-blank blade that ''teleported'' directly to his body. This was one of the secret abilities of his LifeSkill powers. As a direct descendant of the Orioness family, he had the honor to be bestowed upon one of the powers of the Genesis God himself. As long as he was blessed by God, then his paladin powers would allow him to create passageways that could teleport his blade from one place to another. Since he was only in the 2nd stage Student realm, he could only create passageways that were extremely near his body. Fortunately for him, he didn''t have any trouble approaching Atlan. With his short sword piercing through Atlan''s chest, Obek was sure that he would finally beat the porter. Surely, he could finally prove their uselessness. However, he felt an insurmountable resistance before he could even pierce through Atlan''s battle suit. TINGGG "WHAT?!" His short sword simply couldn''t penetrate through Atlan''s simple armor. That was unbelievable. His weapon was supposed to have a quality that couldn''t be compared! It was made by a 2nd removed Masamune blacksmith! Both Atlan and Obek were supposed to be in the 2nd student Stage. This meant that the weapons and armor that they could get were made for their power level only. Unless Atlan had a chest plate even better than a 2nd removed Masamune Original, then there was no way it could have repelled his short sword! Unfortunately for Obek, Atlan did have something better than that. He would probably jump away from his chariot if he knew that Atlan had a semi-sentient armor. "That''s not possible!" Obek shouted. He retrieved his sword and attacked Atlan again. But this time, Atlan skillfully dodged away from his stab, just barely letting it skid against his chestplate. This made Obek even more confused. Just a few seconds earlier, Atlan couldn''t even move properly from his attacks. He had to contort his body in inefficient ways that were full of holes and vulnerabilities. This showed Atlan''s inexperience in martial arts. However, his dodge showcased something completely polished. He didn''t move much of his body from the attack and he made sure to cover any vulnerabilities in his stance. This dodge was taught to Obek as a perfect counter to the Orioness swordsmanship. And somehow, Atlan learned it. "I learned a lot from your moves," Atlan muttered. What? Obek couldn''t understand anything anymore. If he had been paying attention to Atlan''s eyes, then he would have seen how the ''useless'' porter observed his every movement with an intense gaze. Atlan wasn''t just dodging. He was analyzing all of Obek''s sword moves. Atlan observed how he carried it with his hands, how he positioned his legs to attack, and even how he breathed in tandem with the sword. His observant eyes caught all of those and quickly found a way to perfectly dodge his attacks. Atlan found it quite easy since Obek only used the most basic of moves, partially because he thought that he was dealing with an inexperienced guy like Atlan and because he was fighting inside a bumping chariot. Of course, Obek didn''t know any of that. So, he tried to go back to his foundation and performed a simple sword art that consisted of a combination of sweeping the sword towards the ribs and then ending with a chop from the head down to the torso. But with just the first slash, Atlan twisted his body to the side and immediately lunged towards Obek. with one swift move, Atlan punched him in the face. THWACK Obek''s head felt his whole world turn as the punch stunned him into near unconsciousness. His SoulTime immediately lost an entire month! Even a huge gash on his chest would only cost about 15 days at most. He couldn''t believe how heavy that punch was. And if he knew Atlan was still holding back, then he would have vomited out blood. Why? Well, Obek was about to find out. Atlan raised his right hand and stretched it out. If Obek was fully conscious right now, then he would recognize that Atlan was trying to copy his sword stance! And instead of using a short sword, he was using his hands! Atlan wanted a practice buddy to play with! That''s why he didn''t knock him out. With his eyes closed, Atlan remembered in perfect detail how Obek positioned his body. And in his imagination, he was able to put himself in Obek''s body as he tried to attack Atlan. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. When he was finally ready to attack, he did the simplest of moves. Atlan slashed his hand towards Obek''s ribs. Yet Obek only saw a blur in his vision before he felt his ribs break. He lost 10 days of SoulTime from that. The pain made Obek conscious for a second as he tried to protect himself. His training proved its worth as he was able to raise his sword, trying to parry Atlan''s attack. However, a bump in the road caused the chariot to jump in the air and land back down, disorienting Obek even more. He couldn''t keep his defensive stance as he stumbled back. The disturbance should have disrupted both fighters. But instead, Atlan was able to land awkwardly on the chariot, with one leg on the ledge and one leg on the seat. He was able to keep his balance! Atlan didn''t waste any more time as he used his hand and stabbed Obek right in his shoulders, effectively crippling his arm and forcing him to let go of his precious short sword. 8 days of SoulTime lost. And with one last move, Atlan kicked Obek right in the chest, caving it in and crushing his ribs into his lungs. He lost 20% of his SoulTime because of this internal injury. The force launched Obek out and right back into his own chariot. Not only that, the momentum from his crash finally separated the two chariots. Obek thought that he finally got a second of reprieve. But instead, Atlan took out a pellet and aimed his slingshot at the chariot. He pre-aimed his shot forward, expecting it to curve back. After taking a breath, Atlan let go of the pellet as it shot out towards the Fly-Horse Canzer carrying Obek''s chariot. Find joy at m-vl_em|p,yr Surprisingly, it hit the Canzer''s large body, causing it to whip its head to the right. And due to the force, the blinders were knocked off its head. Chapter 83: Trapped The Fly-Horse skidded to a stop as it finally regained its autonomy. It clacked its mandibles in happiness, finally feeling freedom after those horrid blinders took away its independence. It looked around and saw the chariot it was bound to and quickly cut it off. Then, it saw Obek, the culprit responsible for its slavery. Meanwhile, Obek lay on the chariot with blood pouring down his face. The pain he felt from his body aching from the inside and out couldn''t be compared to the mental damage he got from fighting Atlan. His lost SoulTime could always be recovered, but his psyche and pride were completely destroyed. That can''t be fixed. It was only now that he realized how strong that porter was. That immense strength couldn''t be explained just by his physique LifeSkill. It was simply too domineering, as if all the strength he had paled in comparison to Atlan''s power. Their power should only be equal to each other given that they were both in the 2nd stage Student realm. Yet, Obek''s severe injuries proved that comparing power realms was useless. And that wasn''t even the worst part. He found out the hard way that just because someone had no damage-dealing LifeSkill, didn''t mean that they couldn''t fight. Atlan was a genius. There was no other way to explain it. In just a minute of fighting, he was able to dismantle Obek''s whole fighting style as if it were a Jenga tower. After exchanging just a few moves, Atlan was able to calculate what moves he was going to make next and dodge accordingly. Not only that, Atlan was able to completely copy his fighting style too! It was truly absurd. Obek was completely and utterly defeated, outclassed in every way. Find the latest on m.v.l.e.m.p.y.r He watched Atlan''s fading figure in the distance. With how fast he was going, Obek was now certain of it. Atlan purposefully fought him to show him the difference in power between them. His Giraffe-Horse was the fastest Canzer Obek had ever seen. And with how easily he overtook the others, Obek was sure that Atlan could have easily just slipped past him and avoided the whole fight. But instead, he purposely slowed down and engaged in a fight with Obek. For what reason, Obek didn''t know. Did he want to show me how foolish I was in thinking I was better than him? Or did he simply want to fight someone to further learn more fighting styles? Maybe even both¡­ "I''m useless," Obek muttered to himself. Just then, he suddenly heard mandibles clicking in front of him. He saw the Fly-Horse Canzer looking at him with menacing eyes. It wanted revenge, and it wanted it now. Obek had no energy left to compete in this competition anymore. He didn''t care if he lost, he just wanted to go home and recuperate from his injuries. "I give up," he said. It was at this point that the Pseudo Canzer should have frozen in place. It should have stopped moving entirely. But, then Obek was surprised to see the Canzer still moving towards him. Its mandibles were clicking even faster than before as if it was excited to finally enact its revenge. "I give up! Stand down!" he shouted. But nothing happened. He was horrified to find out that the Canzer somehow resisted the Pocket Remedium''s rules. It shouldn''t be able to move! "Stay away!" Obek crawled away from the Canzer. The fear was making him forget about the aching pain of his injuries. He found his back against the chariot. He was cornered. He tried to grab his short sword but was alarmed to realize that the sword had fallen when he was fighting Atlan. He quickly forced his body to ignore the pain and vault over the chariot. But the Canzer was like a shark that smelled blood. It followed his blood trails, with its steps getting faster and faster as it got near him. Obek got up to his feet and started to run away. He limped as he tried to separate himself from the anomaly as far as possible. But it didn''t work. He heard its hooves go from a trot to a sprint until he could feel its breath on his neck. Terror took hold of his heart as he thought he was going to get mauled by this Canzer. But just as its mandibles were about to chomp down on Obek''s head, a gray, stony beam of light suddenly shined towards the Canzer. The Fly-Horse was hit directly in its face, with it immediately turning into stone and spreading all over its body. "Are you alright?" The Olympian from before saved Obek just in time. Obek ran towards him. "What''s happening?!" It was at this point that he realized that the Olympian was holding his arm in pain. The man was injured, and not from racing the chariots. The Olympian shook his head. "I don''t know. The moment those blinders came off, all of our mounts suddenly lost control. And they can''t be frozen. Somehow, the safety mechanism in the Pocket Dimension malfunctioned." "Is that even possible?" As far as Obek knew, this never happened. Pseudo Canzers always froze whenever they were about to cause fatal damage to anyone in the Remedium. "As it turns out, it is." "What are we going to do?" The Olympian looked forward and still saw the other chariots still racing ahead. They were all too focused on the race to even notice that something was wrong. "We should cancel the competition and warn Razer about this. It''s getting weird." Obek immediately agreed. But there was just one single problem. "How?" Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Olympian went silent. They didn''t know how they were going to convey this to the other competitors. They were too far away. And since they were all in last place, they had no chance of catching up to the others to try and warn them. "Let''s leave the Remedium first and report this to the authorities." Just then, they heard rumbling come from the Colosseum. Both of their eyes went wide when they suddenly saw about a thousand more Horse Canzers running towards them at top speeds. They were trapped. Chapter 84: String bound [There is death near you] [There is death near you] [There is death near you] Atlan lost his focus on the race as he saw the words in front of him. It didn''t stop. It just kept popping up in his eyes like an endless scroll. His intuition told him to look back toward the Colosseum. However, he couldn''t see past the skyline. The tall buildings in the City obstructed his view from the Colosseum. Despite seeing nothing but a peaceful and serene street behind him, he knew that there was something wrong. He was sure of it. And if he closed his eyes and tried to block out the sounds of chariots rumbling and rattling as they rolled on the street, he would hear a faint thunderous mix of roars behind him. A part of him wanted to go back and reap all of those souls. But upon further thinking, Atlan shook his head. If something is wrong, then I should warn the others. Judging from how many ''deaths'' I''m sensing, then whatever''s coming at us is in numbers even I can''t count. And since I can''t use my LifeSkills out in the open, I''d need the others to fight with me. And the only way to do that was to go forward and warn them of whatever was coming towards them. He could hear it. And it was getting closer and closer to them. He whipped his mount to go faster. Out in the distance, he saw a large group of competitors in the street, about seven of them. From his enhanced vision, he saw that there were 5 Olympians and 2 Genesians. What was weird about the five Olympians was that they weren''t trying to race against each other. Instead, they occupied the whole length of the street and blocked anyone from passing them. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was one of their tactics to prevent the other Genesians from coming close to their top racers. I''m in tenth place right now. If I pass them, there will only be three people left to surpass¡ªNO. I''m here to warn them about the crisis. With his Giraffe-Horse running at full speed, it didn''t take long until he was able to catch up to the group. Meanwhile, the two Genesians became more and more frustrated at the Olympians. Even though their horses were faster than them, they couldn''t go forward because they were using dirty tactics to block the road. Trying to squeeze past the Olympians was no easy task. Their seamless coordination allowed them to put as little space between each chariot without risking crashing between them. Not only that, their LifeSkills threatened to destroy anyone coming close to them. The two Genesians were just about to give up, when all of a sudden, they heard an intense rumbling behind them. And before they could even turn around, they suddenly saw a new chariot arrive in the middle of them. When they saw that his uniform corresponded with the Genesians, they were relieved. And when they looked at who was able to catch up to them, their eyes widened when they realized that it was the porter! They didn''t expect him to be able to keep up in the top 10. Heck, they didn''t even expect him to subdue a Canzer at all. Not only that, they realized that his chariot was the wooden chariot reserved for the last one to subdue a Canzer! This meant that Atlan worked his way up from last place to 10th place! They considered their mounts to be fast, but even they didn''t think that they could have overcome that gap in such a short amount of time. How fast is his steed?! Even the five Olympians up front couldn''t help but look back at the newcomer. When they saw his face, they didn''t recognize him. He wasn''t one of the geniuses that they knew from Genesis City. One of them finally recognized him. "Hey! It''s that porter!" The rest of the Olympians couldn''t help but take a good look at Atlan once they heard that. They simply couldn''t believe that a porter was able to subdue a Canzer by himself without any damage-dealing LifeSkill to help him. If he had a higher realm, then it would have been more believable. But from what they knew, the porter was only in the 2nd stage Student realm. They respected Atlan for his efforts. However, their eyes turned unfriendly once they saw his chariot advance towards them as if he wanted to overtake them. Atlan opened his mouth, about to say something to them, when all of a sudden, he saw an Olympian''s body glow a faint green. "Avian Conjuration!" he shouted. White liquid flowed out of his hands and floated in the air. Using some hand signs, the white liquid slowly turned into two sharp-taloned doves. These doves flew up in the air in a helix until they reached the apex of their flight. Then, they slowed to a stop. And as gravity pulled them down, they sped up towards Atlan like a rocket. They had their sharp talons armed and ready to maim their target. "Slow down your chariot to avoid it!" screamed one of the Genesians towards Atlan. They almost lost their chariots from that attack. Unfortunately, one of the Olympians already moved. She stretched her arms toward Atlan''s wooden chariot and shouted; "Adriane''s String!" A golden rope sprung out of her left hand and attached itself to Atlan''s chariot. And with her Olympian strength, she tied the rope to her chariot, preventing Atlan from retreating his chariot to safety. At this point, he would surely get hit in the chest. They all thought Atlan would defend himself, but he didn''t even try to do that! Discover stories at m,v l''-NovelFire Atlan simply looked over the railings and grabbed the golden rope from the woman''s LifeSkill. The Olympian laughed to herself when she saw that. "You won''t be able to destroy a manifestation of my LifeSkill. Didn''t they teach you about Savior basics? I''m a 3rd stage Student while you''re only at the 2nd stage which means that you won''t be able to overpower me. So unless you''re in the 4th¡ª" But before she could say anything further, she saw Atlan snap the rope with his bare hands. Her frayed golden rope lost all its luster. She looked at him. He was holding the two ends of her rope with a casual indifference. Chapter 85: Warnings Exhaustion hit her as she fell to her knees. She had never seen her rope break like that before, especially not from someone a stage below her. Atlan completely threw her basic knowledge about power realms and LifeSkills out of the water. The only way that she could rationalize this situation was if Atlan had a LifeSkill greater than S class. But if he had, then he would have been hailed all across the globe as an apex genius. She guessed that Atlan couldn''t have a Physique LifeSkill more than B class. This made her even more confused. She had an A class LifeSkill, which meant that her LifeSkill should have resisted the strength of someone like Atlan. Who is he? she wondered. The two Genesians behind Atlan were also amazed at his incredible feat of strength. However, they didn''t have the time to question it. The two missile doves were still homing towards his body at whistling speeds. And it looked like Atlan didn''t even have any intention of dodging it at all. "Look up! It''s going to hit you!" The Olympians finally thought Atlan would be out of the race. At this point, the two doves rotated in a helix mere inches away from his chest. But instead of dodging, he just stayed still and let it hit his armor. And the most incredulous thing happened. The sharp-taloned doves made by a 3rd stage Student Olympian with an A class talent suddenly burst into nothing but feathers as soon as they hit Atlan''s chestplate. "WHAT?!" The Olympian couldn''t help but express his disbelief in a shout. They all looked at Atlan and saw that his chest plate had no scratches or dents anywhere. It was as if his doves were nothing more than air. Even his green battle suit was as pristine as it was before with no holes. What is his chestplate made out of?! Did he steal that from Hephaestus'' armory?! The Olympians would have never thought that a mere porter would have armor with such quality. But now that he knew this, then he wouldn''t make that same mistake again. The Olympian conjured another pair of doves in his hands and threw them in the air. And just like before, the two doves reached the apex of their flight until finally plunging towards their target, talons first. But this time, the man ordered his doves to target Atlan''s face. That was the only part of his body that was not protected by any defensive equipment. Atlan looked up at the two doves in the air. And with his imagination, he was able to put the image of the previous attack with the attack now. He found that their trajectory, speed, and momentum were exactly the same as before. With a plan in mind, Atlan took out his slingshot and used his condensed rock pellet to shoot toward the birds in the sky. Unfortunately, the pellet went wide to the left and was a little bit short from the bird''s position. 4 pellets left¡­I need to adjust my strength and account for the wind resistance¡­thankfully, I know where the birds are going¡­ He put another pellet in the pouch and stretched the rubber to his shoulders. Atlan then waited and took a deep breath. The timing needs to be perfect¡­3¡­2¡­1¡­ The Olympian thought that Atlan''s attempt to shoot his birds was a fruitless endeavor. After all, his birds were made out of his 3rd stage Student powers. Only an equivalent power from a 3rd stage student could destroy them. THWACK Atlan let go of the slingshot and it rocketed towards the doves at a strangely equivalent speed. The Olympians were startled to find out that the rock pellet was going straight towards the doves in perfect alignment. Somehow, the porter was able to aim perfectly straight! How?! Tsk. It doesn''t matter. There''s a reason why my LifeSkill has two doves. It''s fine if he takes out one of my doves, he won''t be able to reload for a second time to try and hit the last dove. PTOOOO An explosion of white feathers filled the air, and nothing more. Unfortunately for the Olympian, it seemed that Atlan wouldn''t need another pellet. Both of the doves were taken out with Atlan''s well-timed shot. He was able to thread the needle at that moment where the two doves perfectly coincided with each other in Atlan''s view. Atlan hit two birds with one stone. Both the Olympians and the Genesians were dumbfounded with this ''lucky'' shot. Even though Atlan was a porter with no LifeSkill to help him with sharp shooting, he was able to somehow beat the odds at the perfect time to defend himself from the doves. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And before anyone could even process this, Atlan picked up the frayed rope from the girl''s LifeSkill. With all of his strength, Atlan pulled the girl''s chariot towards himself, surprising her and everyone watching him. Even the Canzer pulling her chariot could not overcome the pulling force from Atlan''s grip. She was alarmed. She didn''t expect to suddenly be in close contact with Atlan, especially after he showed his explosive physical strength. Her LifeSkill offered her no help with close-contact fights, so she was helpless as Atlan moved closer toward her. "Listen to me, something is coming!" However, she didn''t understand what he was saying. She was expecting him to fight her, but instead, he simply shook her shoulders to get her attention. "What?" "There''s something wrong in the Colosseum. And it''s coming towards us." However, when the woman looked back, she couldn''t see anything out of the ordinary. Why would she? She didn''t have Atlan''s acuity to feel the slight reverberations in the ground. "Let her go!" One of the Olympians thought that Atlan was trying to hurt her. He took out the gigantic spike maul hammer from his back. "Hammer Cycle!" he shouted out his LifeSkill and struck the air with his weapon. His hammer hit an invisible wall that glowed a faint golden glow. But he didn''t stop there. He continued to pound this invisible wall with his hammer, and the wall glowed brighter and brighter until it manifested as a golden cone. Find more to read at m_v l|-NovelFire And with this last strike, he would catapult this cone towards Atlan. However, an unexpected bump in the road forced him to misplace his shot. He hit the hammer to the side and it deviated from his original target, Atlan. Surprisingly, the golden cone shot toward the girl''s mount. The attack grazed the top of its torso. The cone passed by her steed, but unfortunately, it somehow took the Canzer''s blinders with it. Chapter 86: Continue the track As soon as the blinders got taken off, the Canzer mount immediately shook its head and roared continuously, as if it was letting out all of its frustrations from being enslaved. For other people, they could only hear a simple howl like that of an animal, but for Atlan, he heard a completely different thing. ''We long¡­to belong....We long¡­to belong...We long¡­to belong¡­'' For some reason, the Canzer was repeating those words with zealous intensity. He thought that it would get angry and try to kill the human who tried to enslave it, but instead, it was repeating this strange phrase without any regard for the humans around it. It didn''t even try to get out of the reins constraining it to the chariot. Atlan could understand the words, but he didn''t know what they were saying. Without any context, he wouldn''t be able to understand what it meant. Does this have anything to do with the strange disturbance behind us? If he understood what they were saying, perhaps he''d know what these Canzers were planning. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Look out! It''s a curve!" One of the Olympians looked ahead and saw that there was a sharp bend in front of them. If they missed this curve, then they would plummet down a cliff with only concrete roof tiles to slow down their fall. This wasn''t as easy as the curves from before and had no lamp posts to pivot around. All of the competitors commanded their mounts to slow down and follow the curve. Unfortunately for the girl, she didn''t have any control of her steed because it didn''t have its blinders on. "I can''t control it!" she shouted in panic. Her monstrous Horse Canzer was neighing and shaking its head vigorously as if there was something wrong with its brain. It couldn''t see that they were heading straight for the steel railing! "Quit the competition!" one of the Olympians warned her. The only way to save her from this predicament was to forfeit the competition. That way, the Canzer would be frozen in place and the chariot wouldn''t have to crash tens of meters down the cliff. No matter how much she still wanted to compete, the girl knew that without the blinders, she wouldn''t be able to control her steed. She would have to leave it up to her other teammates to make sure that the Olympians won this competition. "I quit!" she shouted. But unfortunately for her, the Pocket Remedium didn''t seem to hear her. "I forfeit! I quit!...why isn''t it stopping?!?!" No one could explain why the Pseudo Canzer wasn''t freezing. This was supposed to be the foundational safety mechanism of a Pocket Remedium. This was what assured the Saviors that they would be able to practice fighting against Pseudo Canzers safely without having to worry about things going too far. The implications of this were nothing more than disastrous. The Pseudo Canzer wouldn''t stop even if the Savior practicing with it was fatally wounded. It would continue to fight the Savior, whittling down his SoulTime near zero. But they couldn''t think about the long-term implications of this. They had to worry about it right now. The girl''s chaotic Canzer pulled her chariot towards the right¨Ctowards the cliff! And since Atlan''s chariot was right next to hers, his was also pulled towards the railing. Their chariots rumbled, with her steel frame rubbing against his wooden chariot. His wheels splintered bit by bit. If this continued, then they would both tumble over the railing and fall into the cliff. And with Atlan''s wooden chariot, it would surely break into pieces upon crashing. "Gahh! Don''t worry Porter! We''ll help you!" Thankfully, the two Genesians pulled up right beside Atlan and pushed his chariot back to the left, guiding them into the curve and preventing them from falling off the cliff. Atlan nodded towards the two to signal his thanks. Then, he turned towards the girl Olympian. She was in distress. She kept trying to shout towards her Pseudo Canzer, but no matter what, it wouldn''t freeze in place. Atlan had no choice but to go over to her chariot and shake her out of her stupor. "Get a hold of yourself!" He then picked her up from her legs and threw her over to her Olympian teammates. "Catch!" The Olympians were alarmed when they suddenly saw their teammates being thrown towards them while their chariots were running at full speed. Thankfully, one of them was able to catch her safely. "Now do you guys see the problem?!" Atlan said. They witnessed first-hand how the Canzer defied the laws of the Pocket Remedium. It wasn''t hard to guess that their mounts would also lose control and refuse to freeze once its blinders were taken off. At this point, they were no longer thinking about the competition. This problem was far too disconcerting. They finally made way for Atlan and the other two Genesians to advance and move closer to them. "What are we going to do?" the guy with the hammer said. "We should go back and report this to HeadQuarters," answered one of the Genesians. "Then I think we should go back to the colosseum immediately." "Yeah. I don''t like this." Most of the group decided that it would be better to turn back immediately. But Atlan disagreed. He still felt the subtle rumbling from behind. He had a feeling that there was trouble coming towards them and it was coming towards them fast. And if they went back now, then they would only go head to head with whatever was running after them. "No. We should continue running the track." "Why? It''s better if we return now and escape the Pocket Remedium." Atlan didn''t know how to explain the feeling he was getting from behind them. Read exclusive adventures at m_v-l''-NovelFire But just then, they all finally felt the ground beneath their chariots trembling. This wasn''t an earthquake, it felt like there was a stampede behind them. Fortunately and unfortunately, Atlan didn''t have to explain to them why going back was a bad idea. They all looked back and were horrified to see thousands of rabid Horse Pseudo Canzers running towards them at full speed. Chapter 87: Warn the others "What is that?!?!" "Horse Pseudo Canzers? But why are they coming towards us?!" "I don''t remember there being that many!" The horde of Pseudo Canzers were numbering in the thousands. Their collective hoofbeats were making thunderous rumbling that could make even the bravest of Saviors weak in the knees. The Olympians and the Genesians who participated in this competition were no mere Saviors. They were the cream of the crop, geniuses with the potential to be the top Saviors of their field. They were powerful enough to kill Pseudo Canzers with ease but even they couldn''t help but break a cold sweat when they saw how much they were dealing with. They would have to fight a thousand Pseudo Canzers each to defeat the horde. And the fact that these Canzers were immune to the ''freeze'' made this even more bone-chilling. They could imagine being torn to pieces by the Canzers and watching their SoulTime get slashed instantly in half, and even then, they wouldn''t stop. They would keep mauling the humans to no end. The hammer-wielding Olympian raised his weapon and used his LifeSkill again. He continuously hit the air ten times until the invisible wall turned into a golden cone. With one last hit, he launched it towards the horde of Canzers. It crashed into one of the Dog-Horse centaurs, destroying its head completely and launching it to the back of the horde. However, even with his strength, he only killed one out of thousands of other Canzers. A new one emerged from behind and quickly replenished the front line. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzer] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 50 experience] Atlan saw that and knew that even he would have trouble dealing with this horde of monsters alone. "What are we going to do?!" Panic and fear emanated from those words. They didn''t know what to do. Thankfully, someone spoke up. "We go forward," Atlan said. "We continue running this track. This whole path circles the whole City and the finish line will take us back to the Colosseum." Atlan then looked back at the horse Canzers running towards them. Slowly but surely, they were shortening the distance between them. "By that point, we''ll have hopefully lured the Canzers away from the Colosseum and we can go back to the portal." The Olympians and the Genesians listened to Atlan''s words intently. They didn''t discount his words because he was a porter. He already showed them that he could stand his ground amongst all of them and even come out on top. "I agree. That''s the best plan we''ll ever make," one of the Olympians agreed. "As expected of Atlan, our Star Porter!" Hope filled the eyes of one of the Genesians. "If only you had a damage-dealing LifeSkill, then you would be the undisputed genius of our City!" The Olympians silently agreed. If Atlan had an offensive LifeSkill, then they could even imagine him coming head-to-head with Razer Wrekton. Of course, they didn''t know that Atlan had other LifeSkills, he just couldn''t show them to others. He also had an Angel Wing mutation, which gave him a fraction of a speed boost even when it wasn''t manifested in real life. This was what allowed him to dodge attacks, seemingly at the very last moment. "Atlan," the Olympians would never forget that name from here on out. "Since you have the fastest mount out of all of us, you should go ahead and warn the others." "Yes. You need to warn Yasmine too!" "Razer, Yasmine, and Sola. We need the strengths of all three of them. They''re the only ones that can kill these hordes of Canzers. Especially Razer. You must warn him that we are all in trouble." Atlan nodded his head and agreed. And before he left, the Olympians expressed their thanks. "Thank you, Atlan. You''re the only one that can do this." "I''m sorry for attacking you earlier." Then, the girl Olympian opened her mouth to try and say something to Atlan, but she stopped herself. In her heart, she wanted to summon her rope and attach it to Atlan''s chariot. She felt that out of everyone in this competition including Razer, Atlan was the only one who could make her safe. But she couldn''t. That would be selfish. So she just said her thanks to his fading figure instead. "...thank you¡­" Atlan was already ahead of them, with his Giraffe-Horse Canzer rocketing through the track. He was so fast that he already left them all in the dust, surprising them even more. ### Yasmine was in 2nd place, with her Bone Horse Canzer running at full speed towards one goal: Sola. The Olympian blessed by Apollo''s light was in first place throughout this whole competition. Her steed was relatively fast, but her greatest advantage was her golden chariot. The vehicle was a marvelous work of art that not only boasted form but also function. This chariot barely even creaked as it rounded tight corners. Its suspension also allowed it to remain steadfast as it ran over bumps and small obstacles that would have otherwise slowed down other chariots. Yasmine knew that she wouldn''t be able to beat her in speed, so she instead opted to slow her down. Read latest chapters at m_v-l''e-NovelFire She raised her sword and the blade suddenly erupted in a billowing flame. With her LifeSkill activated, she thrusted her sword forward, releasing a soaring dragon with a body made out of pure fire. With its wings outstretched, it glided easily toward Sola''s chariot. But the Olympian wasn''t going down without a fight. She activated her LifeSkill too, with her palms glowing a bright white light. She put both hands together and aimed towards the flaming dragon. With her target in perfect view, she released a tremendous amount of energy in her palms, recoiling her body to the edge of her chariot. The beam of light hit the dragon in mid-air. What resulted in this collision was a shockwave explosion that knocked both women back to their seats. Since they were both in the 3rd stage Student realm, their powers were completely equal and canceled each other out. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 88: Sola V Yasmine "You''re very good. Probably even better than me," Sola admitted. Even though Yasmine was younger than her by a few years, she was already at the same level as her. Sola knew that Yasmine had an S class LifeSkill, but she still thought that her experience and wisdom would be able to overcome the difference in LifeSkill class. As it turned out, it only evened the odds. "You''re not so bad yourself," Yasmine said, her eyes still full of fire. Sola sighed. "It''s such a shame. Why did you reject our offer? You could have been drafted in our Olympus. Hera would have been more than happy to bestow upon you powers and mutations never before given to anybody else. Instead, you refused. You chose this City in the outskirts of the world. Genesis City is far too small for the likes of you." Yasmine was so talented, which was why Sola found it even more of a waste for her to reject Olympus'' offer. Sola simply couldn''t understand why she would let go of the chance that others risk their lives for. "I have my reasons." "Whatever they are, it''s not enough. I''ll show you what you missed by rejecting us. I''ll show you the superiority of Mount Olympus!" Sola activated her mutation and manifested it in the real world. Her lower body immediately ballooned into thrice her waist, even morphing her white tunic into the striped colors of black and yellow. Not only that, two bulbous masses grew out of her forehead that soon turned black and replaced her eyes. Two antennae covered with tiny hair spurted under her new compound eyes. Sola turned into an apian mutation, turning her into part human, part bee. "Because of my talent, Apollo has deemed me worthy to be given a 7-star Apian Genus, turning my bloodline into a 7-star Apian Woman. I received two mutations: my compound bee eyes and my Queen Bee abdomen!" Because her genus had a 7-star rarity, then her mutations would also be in the 7-star rarity. Suddenly, Sola''s black and yellow striped bulbous abdomen trembled as she produced something in her stomach. She then opened her mouth and regurgitated a golden liquid substance. "Honey shower!" she shouted as she sprayed the unknown liquid toward Yasmine. Even without knowing the properties of this ''honey'', Yasmine knew that it would be dangerous to let it hit her. So, she turned her blade and used the flat part of her sword. With her swordsmanship, she ''fanned'' the air using her flat blade by swinging it continuously in a circular pattern. This created a strong wind current that burst forward, diverting the honey spray away from her and her chariot. Yasmine decided not to use her flaming dragon LifeSkill because she didn''t know if the honey was flammable. She didn''t want to risk it exploding towards her and slowing her down. Unfortunately, this led a few drops of the honey to rain down on her and her chariot. As soon as it hit her battle suit, the honey started to eat away at the fabric and threatened to spread to her skin. Yasmine immediately cut the infected fabric with her sword, saving her from further harm. When the sword interacted with the infected torn battle suit, it quickly slid away without much traction. It landed on the edge of her chariot and glided away. It was at that point that Yasmine realized that the ''honey'' was more than an acidic liquid. It was also a lubricant, making things incredibly slippery. Yasmine immediately realized the threat that this ''honey'' possessed. "That''s right," Sola smiled. "My honey has a special property that makes things that it affects have almost zero friction!" In any other context, this ability would be considered a little bit less useful than an acid; it didn''t have that much of a damage-dealing capacity. However, this competition wasn''t just about inflicting damage, it was also a race. And if this ''honey'' somehow got onto her chariot''s wheels, then it would virtually kill her chances of ever winning the competition. With zero friction, the wheels would have no traction on the ground. The wheels would continue to spin in place instead of rolling on the ground. This would have been fine on a straight track because the mount would simply push the cart forward but the last segment of this race had a lot of curves and turns that needed a lot of brakes. And with a slippery wheel, that would be impossible. "Get ready to be covered in honey, honey!" S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Sola then spat out a few hexagonal cubes made out of beeswax. It wasn''t hard to guess that these ''bombs'' were filled with honey that would explode out the moment it hit something hard. Explore more at m,v l''e-NovelFire.net She threw out two honey bombs down on the ground¨Cone on the left and one on the right side of the street. As soon as the bombs hit the ground, the hexagonal wax suddenly split open and bled out, creating puddles of honey in the street. If Yasmine continued to charge forward, then her chariot would run over the honey, effectively infecting her chariot with lubricant. She had to do something. "Don''t underestimate Genesis City. There''s a reason why I chose this place." Yasmine finally used her mutation. The Genesis God gave her a Door Genus, which turned her bloodline into a Gatekeeper. Even though it was only a 5-star Genus, Yasmine accepted it because of the mutation that came with it. Her mutation was a 5-star Feet mutation called ''Stepping Stone.'' The soles of Yasmine''s feet suddenly turned as black as the expanse of space, with specks of white stars littering around it. "Just because you have a rarer Mutation than me doesn''t mean you''re better. It''s about how we use it." Yasmine then stepped into the air and was surprisingly able to take a foothold as if there was something solid in the air. But she didn''t stop there. She kept running up in the air until she was looking down on the surprised face of Sola. Chapter 89: Slow down Even though Yasmine could have gotten much better mutations from the offerings of better Gods, she knew that all she needed was her sword and her LifeSkill. She didn''t need anything else; it would only detract from her training with the sword. So, she chose a mutation that would push her swordsmanship to the next level without interference. Enjoy new chapters from m-v l''-NovelFire.net She would finally show the fruits of her training. Yasmine jumped one final time in the sky, with her sword coming from the bottom and rising to the top. Her blade erupted in a red flame and gave her the boost she needed to perform a somersault twenty feet in the air. As she did, the flame in her sword created a circle around her body. Sola could see the formation of the dragon in Yasmine''s sword, slowly gaining its wings and scales with great quality. Yasmine''s dragon could only be contained to her blade while swinging her weapon. So she would be forced to throw out the flaming dragon because she reached the limit of her swing. The longer her swing, the more powerful the flaming dragon became. Her swing was very brief on the ground, which limited the development of her dragon, and subsequently, its intensity. But she didn''t have that limitation up in the air. She could perform a continuous swing by rotating in the air and extending her swing with each twirl. She rotated her body two times, creating a long bodied snake-dragon that rotated around her sword. This attack was much more powerful than what she could contain. Any longer and the fire could seriously burn her skin. Finally, she stopped turning and landed in the air, with her sword swinging down with fury. ROAAARRR The flaming dragon had enough time to develop vocal nodes. It growled like a newborn crying after their birth. It had a long torso like that of a snake with scales that glinted gold red even with flames all over its body. It slithered across the air and finally landed on the street, burning the puddles of honey asunder. Unfortunately for Sola, pure honey was very much flammable, and with the intense fire from the dragon, it quickly disintegrated into nothing but a brown spot in the street. It didn''t end there. Even after turning the honey into mist, the flaming snake-dragon was still intact. Its matured development allowed it to continue soaring towards its next target: Sola. The Olympian woman was caught off guard. She underestimated the mutation from the Genesis God, thinking it had no use on the battlefield. She couldn''t be more wrong. She quickly rubbed her hands on her large, bulbous abdomen. Slowly, a strange darkish-yellow substance came out of her glands. When she wiped this strange substance in the air, it quickly hardened and stayed in place! This was a magical beeswax! With frantic movements, she created a hexagonal cube around her body to protect her from the incoming flaming dragon. It was a testament to her skills and training that she was able to create a defense in such a short amount of time. However, it seemed she still underestimated Yasmine''s strength. As the flaming dragon hit the defensive wax, it immediately started to catch on fire. It wasn''t long before it started to char and melt, creating holes in Sola''s protective encasing. It wasn''t long until Sola''s entire chariot was engulfed in a fire that rose to ten feet in the air. She was forced to slow down, finally giving Yasmine the chance to go into first place. Yasmine stepped into the air and redirected her body to fall perfectly back into her chariot. She didn''t waste a second as she took control of the reins and whipped her Bone Horse Canzer. She watched her chariot pull beside Sola''s burning chariot. But that wasn''t enough. Yasmine continued to push her mount to the limit until she started to pull away. "Finally¡­first place!" she shouted. Joy and happiness filled her face, with the competitive frown nowhere to be seen. But it seemed that she wouldn''t be able to celebrate for long. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She suddenly heard an intense beating of drums and hooves behind her. She didn''t have to look back to know that Razer Wrekton, the genius of Olympus, was hot behind her tail. His Gorilla-Horse had both speed and power, using its strangely long arms to run on the ground and increase its speed. It used all four horse legs and the Gorilla''s arms to slowly take first place. Yasmine frustratedly took out her sword and slashed it towards him. A familiar flaming dragon erupted from her sword, with this incarnation being a lot smaller and with a less intense fire. Razer didn''t even mind this attack. He simply used his hand to slap away the dragon as if it was a measly fly. Yasmine bit her lips. The flaming dragon created from this slash was far from the majesty of the one she created earlier, but it still wasn''t something that could be handled using their bare hands. Yet, Razer did. He proved her efforts to be futile under immense strength and talent like his. Yasmine kept her head down. She knew that she would eventually lose out to him because the difference in their power level was too far away. She dreaded it. Even though they both had S class LifeSkills, Razer was at the 4th stage Student realm while Yasmine was only at the 3rd. But she thought she''d at least have a chance to beat him and win first place. However, his casual attitude towards her attack proved that her dream was mere folly. Then, Razer opened his mouth. Slow Yasmine felt her head spin as that word echoed in her mind. And despite her head feeling like it would slip, she still tried to wrestle control of her own chariot. Unfortunately, even though the Canzer had its blinders on, Razer''s ''Word of the All-Father'' mutation still overpowered it and commanded her mount to slow down. Yasmine was helpless as she watched her chariot decelerate. All that effort to gain the slightest bit of lead was gone in an instant all because of one word. "Nothing personal, Yasmine. But we must prove the superiority of Olympus with this competition. I will win, no matter what it takes." To ensure their victory, Razer raised his fist and punched the air. The air compressed at his knuckles and created a shockwave that traveled towards Yasmine at the speed of sound. The blast knocked off the blinders in her Canzer. Chapter 90: Hot to the touch Yasmine was surprised by this sudden attack. She thought that Razer would try to attack her, not her mount. She was just winding up her flaming dragon in her sword but the shockwave already knocked off the blinders in her steed. It was too fast for her. She finally realized the gap between them even if it was only a one-stage difference in power realms. Even though it looked like the gap was close, Yasmine felt like she was looking at a deep abyss that she could never cross. The blinders! Yasmine broke herself out of her stupor and realized that the blinders got blasted out of her mount. Now that Razer took care of his only competitor, he quickly pulled forward and took first place. Yasmine didn''t want to let him go that easily, but she reminded herself that without those blinders, she wouldn''t be able to control her Canzer. The moment that she couldn''t catch it out of the air was the moment that she lost the race. She would be forced to watch others pass by her as her mount refused to pull the chariot forward. She couldn''t let that happen. Even though the chariot was still going forward at fast speeds due to the momentum, Yasmine jumped and tried to reach for the blinders passing by her. She slowly inched forward with her outstretched hand. But then she realized that at the rate the blinders were going away from her, she wouldn''t be able to catch it unless she jumped out of the chariot. Yasmine didn''t hesitate to push herself out of her chariot, when all of a sudden, she saw another hand reach for the blinders and catch it in mid-air before she could even grab it! Their hands touched. She looked up and her heart skipped a beat. How is he here? Riding his chariot, with his short black hair flowing freely in the air, Atlan grabbed the blinders and smiled at her. "Excuse me, miss. I think you dropped this." Atlan grabbed the reins and moved his wooden chariot closer to her silver chariot. He moved it close just enough for their wheels to barely graze past each other. Yasmine felt the reverberations in her chariot and it broke her out of her dazedness. She almost thought she was dreaming. How else would she see Atlan, a porter, up in 3rd place right next to her? This would have meant that he was able to fight through the other geniuses from Mount Olympus and come out on top. But that''s impossible, right? After all, a porter didn''t have any fighting capabilities. "Hey Mine. Make sure to not lose this again. The Canzers are malfunctioning and they can''t be controlled. There''s already a horde of thousands of Canzers running behind us. Just make sure to run the track and go back to the Colosseum as fast as possible." Atlan''s mouth was saying a lot of words, but Yasmine didn''t understand anything he said after he called her ''Mine.'' People always called her Yasmine, or maybe Yas, but never Mine. It was just a name, but somehow, the way Atlan said it made her heart skip a beat. It made her feel as if her name was much more special than it was. Her body turned hot but it wasn''t caused by the manifestation of her flaming dragon. She even looked at her sword to confirm. So why do I feel so feverish? Is something wrong with me? "Are you alright?" Atlan moved closer to her. And there it was again. Yasmine felt her heart skip a beat. Anger welled up inside her. The warrior inside her was furious at Atlan. He was so much more talented than what she thought, threateningly so. She was even more intimidated by his talent than Razer! Perhaps it was because he was a porter who was able to transcend his limitations that made her feel that he was so much better than her. That couldn''t happen. The competitive side within her couldn''t let herself admit that someone was better than her. She wanted nothing more than to strangle him. But at the same time, there was a part of her that felt like she would overheat just from the fact that she was touching him. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There was a part of her that thought that maybe¡­ No! Yasmine snatched the blinders off his hands and turned her head away from him. She didn''t want him to see how beet red her face looked.. "Thank you. Now, get out," she said coldly. She must still be upset that she lost against Razer. Atlan didn''t think that she was mad at him. After all, he didn''t even do anything wrong. He even helped her stay in this race by giving her the blinders. But now that she knew about the looming threat of the Canzers, she would stop competing and start worrying about how to get out of this Pocket Remedium. He didn''t know that she didn''t listen to anything he said. And it was all because he suddenly thought up a nickname for her. With nothing left to say, Atlan whipped the reins and ordered his Canzer to run forward. There was just one more person left he had to warn, and it was the person that everybody thought was the strongest person in this Pocket Dimension. Yasmine watched his chariot rocket out ahead of her with no trouble whatsoever. She couldn''t even catch up to him even if she controlled her mount again. Just then, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Sola and her golden chariot race next to her. Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net She had her eyes on Atlan and it looked like she was going to chase after him. Yasmine immediately raised her sword and created a flaming dragon. This time, the dragon seemed to show an angry expression. It soared through the air towards the unsuspecting Sola. The Olympian woman quickly used her mutation and created a protective wax around her to protect her from the fire. "Calm down. I''m not here to continue the race. Didn''t he tell you what''s happening?" Yasmine was about to say something else when she heard the sounds of thousands of hoofbeats running through the streets. She looked back and finally saw the horde. Chapter 91: Better to show Atlan''s chariot raced forward, wasting no time to catch up to the lead. "Razer. There''s something wrong," Atlan said as he pulled up his chariot beside him. The man blessed by Zeus looked at Atlan with a strange expression. He studied him for a few seconds before replying. "There is: a porter is able to catch up to me." And before Atlan could say anything else, Razer suddenly punched his right fist forward and tucked his left hand, creating a powerful twisting force in his body that produced a stronger punch. A powerful shockwave boomed through the air and reached Atlan at the speed of sound. Most Saviors like Yasmine wouldn''t even be able to react to this, but somehow, Razer saw Atlan''s eyes recognize the threat and follow its trajectory as if he was seeing it with clarity. The shockwave hit Atlan''s chestplate, which dispersed some of the force. However, there was still enough power from that punch that transferred over to Atlan''s body and pushed him away from his wooden chariot. Atlan quickly turned rigid and lowered his center of mass. His feet slid against the wooden floor until his ankles hit the small ledge of the chariot door. Somehow, he was able to keep himself steady. Razer''s eyes went wide. He was a 4th stage Student while the porter was only at the 2nd stage. The two stage difference was supposed to be an insurmountable wall like heaven and earth¡ªespecially with Razer''s S class LifeSkill. Atlan should have been easily thrown out of his chariot. His Physique LifeSkill shouldn''t have been enough to save him from Razer''s attack. It was too heavy. This shouldn''t be possible, thought Razer. He didn''t know that Atlan''s Physique LifeSkill was actually SSS class rated. Of course, even though Atlan had a better class LifeSkill than Razer, that two stage difference between them should have put Razer above him in strength. However, Atlan didn''t only have his Physique LifeSkill. He also had two other LifeSkills also in the SSS class, and one in the B class. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan''s other LifeSkills gave him a slight boost in his physical strength even if he wasn''t actively using them. It was a passive buff that pushed Atlan''s physical strength above that of Razer despite their two stage difference in power realm. It also helped that Atlan had a semi-sentient armor that could withstand Razer''s power. He also had the Angel Wing mutation, which helped him resist being pushed off the chariot. It didn''t just give him a speed buff, it also gave him a slight resistance in being knocked back. Razer had no knowledge of any of those, so the only explanation he could come up with was that Atlan was just lucky. So, he decided to push Atlan''s luck to the limit. He punched the air multiple times, creating multiple shockwaves that came towards Atlan continuously without any break. If one punch wouldn''t knock him off, then how about a hundred? But instead of trying to defend against the hundreds of attacks, Atlan instead chose to pull the reins and charge forwards! It was a sensible decision that saved his chariot from getting obliterated. Atlan knew that his wooden chariot was very brittle. He knew that one punch from Razer would destroy it into a million splinters. With the threat of the horde coming towards them, Atlan couldn''t risk his chariot getting blasted into pieces. Razer stopped attacking once he saw Atlan accelerate even further. He was dumbfounded. He didn''t think that Atlan''s mount could speed up any further, but it turned out that it was still holding back! He didn''t know how to process the fact that Atlan had to slow down his mount just so that he could go face to face with him. It was an insult to his face. How did he subdue this beast? Razer looked at Atlan''s Giraffe-Horse centaur and couldn''t help but admire its beauty. It was the perfect combination of speed and defense, which was excellent in both aspects without any discernible weaknesses. He looked at his own Gorilla-Horse. Explore more stories at m,v l''-NovelFire.net During the first phase of this competition, he used his tongue 7-star mutation ''Word of the All-Father'' to summon the strongest and fastest Canzer in all of the arena. They were compelled to do so. And the one that heeded his call was none other than the Gorilla-Horse that he used now. It turned out that his steed wasn''t the best one he could have gotten. It was the Giraffe. But for some reason, it didn''t get summoned by his ''Word of the All-Father''. The only way to explain this was that the Canzer was probably strong enough to resist his authority. The strangest part about this was that the superior Giraffe-Horse was somehow subdued by Atlan¨Ca 2nd stage novice porter. He wasn''t supposed to even be fighting against Canzers. His job was more of a support rather than a damage-dealer. How did he do it? This made Razer intensely curious about Atlan. He felt something he hadn''t felt in a long time: competitiveness. He wanted to fight Atlan with all of his strength! Unfortunately for him, it seemed that Atlan had no intention of fighting with him, especially since he knew that the horde was coming to kill all of them indiscriminately. Atlan took out a pellet from his pockets and aimed his slingshot towards Razer''s bronze chariot. He took his time and properly adjusted his aim. At this point, he got enough experience from using this weapon that he was confident that he would hit his target, especially since Razer had no intention of dodging. "It''s better to show you," Atlan said as he stretched the band to his shoulders. Razer knew what Atlan was trying to do. So, he opened his mouth and activated his mutation ''Word of the All-Father''. Stop. Atlan would feel that word invade his brain and make him subconsciously agree to the order. And even if he was able to resist, he would still feel an intense headache that would make his aim as shaky as a ship on sea. However, even after two seconds passed, Atlan showed no sign of feeling a headache. Atlan fired his slingshot and the condensed soil pellet accurately hit the Gorilla-Horse''s head and knocked off its blinders. Chapter 92: Repeat the words The Gorilla-Horse shook its head as it felt its autonomy return to its body. It beat its giant hands on its head trying to wake itself up from its stupor. Razer witnessed as his loyal mount swayed back and forth, taking his chariot with it. But he couldn''t even think about his Canzer going wild because all he could focus on was Atlan''s defiance. Atlan wasn''t affected even though he used his ''Word of the All-Father''. That was impossible. After all, it was a mutation with a 7-star rarity¡ªit was supposed to have authority and dominion over all humans with a lower bloodline than him. Is he just that good of a shot? Razer shook his head. Atlan was a porter. He didn''t have a sharpshooter LifeSkill that helped him shoot with insane accuracy even in the face of a disturbance. He started to list out the explanations for how Atlan did it. Does he have a greater power realm than me? But as far as Razer knew, the Genesian porter was only a 2nd stage Student. And for Atlan to resist the ''Word of the All-Father'', he would have to be two stages higher than Razer, which was the 6th stage. Atlan wasn''t that strong. The only other explanation Razer could think of was¡­ Does he have a better bloodline than me? That was the only way that someone could perfectly resist a mutation that was given to him by the All-Father, Zeus. Only those with a Genus greater than 7-star rarity could have the authority and superiority to ignore his words. That was the one weakness of this mutation. Even if Razer was one realm higher than someone, as long as they had a higher rarity bloodline, then they would be able to resist the ''Word of the All-Father.'' The only problem with this theory was that Razer would have to believe that a mere porter had an 8-star rarity Genus. Even he, a genius S class talent from the Metropolis full of Gods and Goddesses willing to give out powers, was only given a 7-star Genus in his Draft. They said that he would have to prove that he was a True Hero or perform the 12 labors for him to gain a better Genus from Zeus himself. So, it was hard to believe that a Porter was able to prove himself as a hero so early in his career. Wait¡­there''s one other possibility. "Are you from the Unclaimed Lands?" Razer asked. Atlan looked at him and didn''t know why he was asking. But, he still answered truthfully. "I am." I knew it! Since he''s from the Unclaimed Lands, he probably stumbled upon an Abandoned Territory. That''s where he got the 8-star Genus! An Abandoned Territory was a place that was once inhabited by a God but was abandoned due to some circumstance. Usually, it was because a God subordinated themselves towards a more powerful God and moved to their Territory. Usually, the remnants of this abandoned territory were filled with powerful treasures and relics that were abandoned by their citizens. But, the gods themselves could also leave behind an inheritance for others to take. Hephaestus once had his own territory but moved back to Olympus thousands of years ago. I heard that some scavengers found an 8-star Genus from the Abandoned Territory! "What did you find there? Whose did you find?" Razer asked Atlan. But Atlan just tilted his head. "I don''t know what you''re talking about." Razer scoffed. He expected Atlan to lie because most scavengers who found an Abandoned Territory tend to keep it a secret so that they could get all of the treasures for themselves. "Don''t worry, I won''t steal it." "What are you talking about?" Atlan was truly clueless, but Razer still thought that he was bluffing. "Whatever. I''ve never faced someone like you before. Star Porter, how apt. Fighting you is more exciting than fighting those other geniuses who claim they''re superior." Despite Razer putting all of his attention towards Atlan, Atlan was instead focusing on Razer''s Gorilla-Horse that was going out of control. It was hitting its chest out of frustration, howling at nothing but the air. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Close!...Close!....Long to Belong!....'' It was spouting the same nonsense as the horde of Canzers behind. Atlan was starting to piece together that these monsters wanted to get somewhere together. However, he didn''t know where that was or why they were doing it. He wanted to talk to the Gorilla-Horse and interrogate it for information, unfortunately, his ''Canzer Tongue Mutation'' only allowed him to understand them, not speak with them. ''AWU AWU!'' The Gorilla-Horse ran towards the buildings on the sidewalk to try and crash Razer''s bronze chariot. But even in the face of danger, the Olympian man didn''t seem to worry about it. "I can''t wait to exchange punches with you!" screamed Razer. It was only then that he finally looked towards his chaotic mount. He opened his mouth and used his ''Word of the All-Father''. Submit to the reins As soon as the Canzer heard those words in its mind, it suddenly stopped shaking its head and returned to being a loyal steed. Atlan heard its repeated cries turn silent as if it no longer had the capacity to think. It was impressive that Razer could still control his mount even though all Pseudo Canzers were malfunctioning. It was a testament to how powerful he was. Of course, using that many words put a strain on Razer''s mouth and shut him up for a few minutes. If he could speak, then he would challenge Atlan to a duel. So, Razer simply started the duel rather than ask it. Razer took the reins and steered it towards Atlan. His Canzer obediently followed the reins and crashed itself towards Atlan''s Giraffe-Horse. The bronze and wooden chariots crashed into each other, with the wheels scratching each other and slowing the chariots down. Atlan moved the chariot aside to cushion the blow. It was clear that Razer wanted a showdown between the two of them, but Atlan knew that this wasn''t the best idea especially since they were getting chased by thousands of manic Pseudo Canzers that couldn''t be frozen. They needed to conserve their strength to fight the Canzers, not fight each other. Razer knew that Atlan wanted to avoid a confrontation, so he strained his tongue further by secretly commanding his Gorilla-Horse to attack the Giraffe-Horse and prevent it from speeding away. Since the ''Word of the All-Father'' emitted no sound, this would have gone unnoticed by Atlan. Unfortunately for Razer¡­ ''Attack¡­Giraffe¡­" His own mount repeated his words. Discover stories at m,v l''-NovelFire.net Chapter 93: Defend yourself Atlan quickly took the reins and controlled his mount. The Gorilla-Horse lunged its two long, muscular arms toward the Giraffe''s long neck and tried to strangle it. But before it could even get close, the Giraffe suddenly whipped its long neck towards the Gorilla and smacked it away. "Tsk!" Razer''s chariot almost toppled over. Atlan''s reaction was far too fast to even be called a reaction. It was as if Atlan knew what would happen before it even happened! Atlan read his moves like a book! Now that his plan failed, Razer had no other way to close the distance between them. If he couldn''t get close to Atlan, there would be no way for him to attack him. If he used his shockwave punch, Atlan would simply rush forward and dodge the attack easily. That Giraffe-Horse''s acceleration was no joke! It frustrated the Olympian that he couldn''t simply have a straight-forward duel with the porter. His burning curiosity for Atlan''s strange powers made him want to forgo the race entirely and simply attack the guy after the whole thing was over. Of course, he couldn''t. He had to win this race so that Olympus would be happy with his deeds and hopefully give him a better Genus. Meanwhile, Atlan tried to warn Razer about the oncoming horde behind them, but the guy couldn''t stop for a second and kept trying to attack him. He ordered his Gorilla-Horse to pester the Giraffe-Horse to no end, even flinging street dirt to try and distract them. But any time they got too close, Atlan would use the Giraffe''s long neck to push them away. His Canzer''s chitinous armor proved to be superior between the two of them as the Giraffe suffered no injuries in its head even as the Gorilla tried to punch it back. They continued at a stalemate until they finally came to the last segment of the race. This part had a lot of curves and zigzags, so they had to focus on the track or else they''d find themselves crashing into the railing and falling off into the cliff below. But just as Atlan concentrated on the curve in front of him, he suddenly saw a familiar string of words appear in his eyes. [There is death near you] [There is death near you] [There is death near you] Atlan immediately looked behind him. Did the horde already catch up to us?! But when he looked back, he couldn''t see any sign of frantic Horse Canzers running towards them. He only saw the small figures of Yasmine and the others trying hard to catch up to them. Enjoy exclusive content from m-v l''-NovelFire.net If I didn''t sense the horde, then what did I sense?...Don''t tell me¡­ As their chariots turned the corner, Atlan was able to see a glimpse of the Colosseum atop the buildings. Everything looked normal at first, with the Colosseum''s columns and arches visible even in the distance. However, Atlan saw multiple figures darting back and forth through the windows as if they were shadows in the dark. Those were Canzers! He could even see some horse-like figures climbing atop the Colosseum and falling to their deaths. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Damn¡­it looks like even the Colosseum is filled with Canzers. I thought we all lured them out of there¡­things are much worse than I thought. "Razer! Look at the Colosseum. There are wild Pseudo Canzers out there already! And there are thousands more behind us! This is no time to fight against each other!" But despite Atlan''s words, the Olympian man was too battle-hungry to even believe his words. "Why are you chickening out in our fight? Don''t worry, I won''t beat you too bad." Atlan turned furious. "I''ll destroy your ego later. There are even more important things to do." The hairs on Razer''s arm stood up as soon as he heard Atlan''s provoking words. This was the first time the Olympian genius ever felt disrespected like this. It made him angry and amused. He would have laughed it off if he heard it from some other genius, but instead, he heard it from the one person he didn''t expect to have the courage to say that: a porter. Razer wouldn''t have thought that Atlan could spit out such poisonous words. Even though Razer started the whole thing, he was the one provoked instead. His hunger for blood grumbled even harder. The Genus he received from prideful Zeus couldn''t sit still once it heard Atlan''s arrogance. "Then show me! Show how you''ll destroy my ego!" Razer roared. Atlan thought for a second and realized that he wouldn''t be able to knock some sense into Razer until he literally knocked some sense into him. Liked it or not, he would have to fight him and show him what he wanted to see. "Fine. I''ll hit you one time. Do your best not to get blasted away." Razer almost scoffed at Atlan''s joke. But once he saw his serious face, he realized that Atlan was not joking. He, a porter, was confident that the man two stages higher than him and had an S class LifeSkill wouldn''t be able to handle a single punch. It stoked Razer''s competitiveness even further. "Fine! Do your worst." Razer commanded his steed to run alongside Atlan. The two of them were now in melee range, just enough for them to fight fists to fists. "Defend yourself well. I don''t want to see you suffering." Razer gritted his teeth and held in his anger. He didn''t have to say anything. Only when Atlan felt his own hands breaking as he tried to punch him would he finally learn the difference between the two of them. "I''m punching in three¡­two¨C" "Just punch me already!" And just as he requested, Atlan brought his right hand from his hips and up towards Razer''s gut, twisting his hips for maximum force. It was the simplest attack, with no other effect on his body. Atlan''s punch was a little bit faster than Razer thought, but there was nothing special with his attack. Just as Razer thought, Atlan would only hurt himself if he thought that his punch would even injure a single hair on his body. Chapter 94: Satisfied? The punch was normal at first. Razer felt that it was no different from a normal punch he''d expect from a porter. For a millisecond, he was disappointed. He anticipated a lot from Atlan but it turned out that he was expecting the impossible from him. But just as he was getting comfortable with the punch, he suddenly felt it accelerate at an insane speed in its follow-through. Atlan''s fist already hit Razer''s gut, but instead of slowing down, it suddenly generated an intense power in such a short amount of time. Razer felt a sharp pain in his abs. The suddenness of this change shocked him so much that he forgot to breathe as he tried to analyze what happened. For the first time in a long time, he felt the wind knocked out of his body. His body flung backward and he landed back on his seat, with the momentum pushing his bronze carriage away from the wooden chariot to the opposite side of the street. Cough. Shock filled Razer''s face as he spit in his mouth and saw his own blood. His hands shook. He never thought that he would get injured from a single punch, much less someone from a porter! He looked down at his Soul System and saw that the hourglass that symbolized his SoulTime suddenly poured out tons of sand. He lost 50 days from that punch! Razer looked back at Atlan and saw him still in his punching position. There was nothing special in his fists. How is that possible?! sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Olympian couldn''t understand how Atlan''s seemingly normal body generated a power that could delete 50 days of his lifespan in one attack. He didn''t know that Atlan secretly used his SSS Physique LifeSkill at the very last second of that punch. Atlan knew that he couldn''t show his LifeSkill so openly, so he decided to activate it at the very last second¡ªjust at the moment when his punch would land. To do this, Atlan generated the giant hand and hovered it around his skull-filled LifeSkill planet. He found out that activating his LifeSkill for only a fraction of a second was easier than he thought. It was simple. He just had to imagine a weaker hand that was phasing in and out of existence so that it would only have enough power to touch the planet for a moment. However, he messed up the timing and only activated the LifeSkill when the punch already landed. This diminished the punch''s power as its momentum weakened when it hit Razer''s stomach. That meant that the attack Razer felt was only a weakened version of Atlan''s real LifeSkill punch. Given that Razer didn''t specialize in defense, he was still in the 4th stage Student realm. He wasn''t supposed to get injured by someone in the 2nd stage. This was only made possible because of Atlan''s mysterious SSS class Physique LifeSkill as well as the strength buff of the other LifeSkills. Ptooh. "I feel like I''ve been hit by a truck," Razer said, holding his stomach as the pain still lingered in his mind. "What did you do? Do you have relics on your body? Do you use any special weapons or armor?" The Olympian man simply could not believe how Atlan did it. Even if Atlan and he were fighting normally, Razer would have to be wary of that punch. "Are you satisfied now?" Atlan asked. Razer wiped the blood off his mouth. "Are you kidding? This is just the beginning. It''s my turn now!" Just then, their chariots finally turned the last corner and they were finally onwards to the last straight track back towards the Colosseum. There were supposed to be banners and spectators cheering them on after their arduous and grueling race in this competition. There was supposed to be a finish line that led back to the Colosseum itself. But instead, they only saw another horde of Horse Canzers waiting for them. Even the Colosseum itself was crawling with Canzers. As soon as the first ones saw the chariots racing in the distance, they immediately got into a frenzy and ran toward Atlan and Razer at fast speeds. Find your next read at m_v l|e-NovelFire.net This time, Atlan didn''t have to say anything as Razer finally noticed them. "What''s this?" "It''s what I''ve been trying to tell you. The Canzers have gone rogue." Both of them slowed their chariots to a stop. Razer couldn''t help but curse his bad luck. This disaster happened just at the right moment when he was about to fight someone he found to be of equal strength to himself. This was a rare occasion. All of the people he had ever fought were people much older and had stronger power realms than him. He had never felt challenged by his peers, especially someone much younger than him: he was usually too powerful for them. But Atlan was the exception. Razer felt like the porter was the only one who could challenge him and push him to the limits. The thought of Atlan beating him excited him even more than him winning! He wanted to go all out and fight Atlan right here and right now, but his sensible responsibilities stopped him from doing such idiotic actions. The looming threat of the rogue Pseudo Canzers prevailed over his desire for a fight. Then, they suddenly heard the sounds of multiple chariots coming towards them from the corner. It was Yasmine, Sola, and the others. They finally caught up to the two leaders of the race and were surprised to find them stopped in the middle of the track. They still worried about the horde of Canzers behind them so they wondered why the two stopped running towards the portal. Only when they passed the two of them did they finally understand. There was another horde in front of them. Their shoulders slumped as they realized that there was no escaping this disaster. The rabid Pseudo Canzers encircled them with no way out. They''d have to kill for their freedom. Chapter 95: Aren’t you joining? "By the Gods! Why are there so many Pseudo Canzers?!" "I thought we could leave if we went back to the Colosseum! There''s even more monsters there!" "Why is this happening?!" They had no answer. None of them had ever experienced this kind of disaster before. The only one who went through a different but similar situation was Atlan. He also experienced an anomaly in his very first mission. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Sola didn''t know much, but she offered her guess. "The Pocket Remedium itself is malfunctioning. It spawned more Pseudo Canzers than what was programmed." "Can a Pocket Remedium break like that? I''ve never heard of any situation where thousands upon thousands of Pseudo Canzers are spawned out of nowhere with no way to freeze them." The Olympian woman went silent. Just because she knew how they spawned, didn''t mean that she knew why. She was just as clueless as the rest of them. This time, Yasmine was the one to speak up. She could see that everyone was starting to lose hope, which would only detract from their ability to fight. Experience more tales on m v|l e''-NovelFire.net "Either way, we have to work together to kill them all if we want to get to the portal." This gave them a bit of hope now that they had a clear objective to follow. If they worked together and fought their way towards the Colosseum, then they could have the chance to go back to the portal. It wouldn''t be easy, but it was still better than to stay here and do nothing. "Isn''t it better to stay here and wait for reinforcements?" Sola asked. "The concentration of Pseudo Canzers is larger there. We might not even make it inside the Colosseum before thousands of them swarm us. Surely your HeadQuarters have already noticed that something is wrong." The Olympians trusted Sola, so they were more inclined to follow her suggestion. Meanwhile, the Genesians had no confidence that reinforcements would come before they exhausted themselves fighting an endless horde of monsters. After all, they heard that the reinforcements didn''t come until hours later when Atlan was in a similar situation. He had to be the one to rescue his teammates himself. But before everybody could argue on what to do, they all suddenly felt the ground tremble and shake. They knew what this meant. They all looked back in horror as the horde of Horse Canzers finally caught up to them. Their hooves chaotically stomped on the ground with such ferocity and intensity that they were sure that they would lose 90% of their SoulTime if they got trampled by them. "Draconic Inferno of Swords!" Yasmine shouted. She didn''t waste any more time as she jumped up the steps in the air until she was more than 15 feet in the air. And just like before, she somersaulted forward, creating momentum and time for her dragon to develop in her sword. Her swing turned into two full turns, giving enough time for her dragon to grow longer and burn more intensely. Just as she was about to hit the ground, she launched her dragon towards the horde. GROOAAAA, the dragon screamed. It slithered through the air and finally hit the first line of Pseudo Canzers. The unlucky Horse monster suddenly burst into flames upon contact, turning even its bones into a liquid. But the flaming dragon wasn''t satisfied with just one Canzer. It continued to pierce through the horde until it killed 10 Canzers that stood in its way. It was an impressive feat for her to kill 10 of them in just one attack. If this was any other situation, the rest of them would cheer and congratulate her for her strength. Unfortunately, they soon saw that the horde had many other monsters that could replace the ones it lost. After a few seconds, it seemed as if Yasmine didn''t kill any Canzers at all. "Let the monsters witness your glory, Divine Apollo!" Sola raised her hands and pointed her palms at the horde. "Brightest Day!" Two pillars of light beamed down from her hands towards the chaotic Canzers. Those hit by this light felt as if they looked at a thousand suns, leaving them blinded. The heat from this attack was so hot that their eyes melted to the back of their skulls and incinerated their meat down to the bones. With those two pillars, Sola killed 12 Canzers easily. Seeing the two women destroy those Canzers gave hope to them all. The Genesians and the Olympians settled their differences and started to bring down all of their powers towards the horde. Beams of power, lightning, fire, wood, water, and all other kinds of elements rained down upon the horde, killing them layer by layer. They didn''t have to care about tactics or strategy, they simply unloaded all their LifeSkills into the Canzers indiscriminately. It was freeing for them, as this was the first time that they could really go all out without having to worry about planning their moves. Soon, a cacophony of groans came out of the horde. Canzers were dying at a faster rate than what they could replenish. This prevented the horde from advancing towards the group, even pushing them back inch by inch. "Don''t worry guys! I''ll handle the front." While everyone was handling the horde from the back, Razer took it upon himself to handle the monsters coming from the Colosseum. With just a simple command from his ''Word of the All-Father'', the Canzers in the front all slowed to a crawl. This created a stampede behind, with Canzers getting killed and trampled by their own comrades. Razer couldn''t wait any longer and rushed to the front of the line. With a huge smile on his face, he raised his fist and brought it down towards the Canzer in front. BOOOGHHH The concrete below exploded, pushing tens of Canzers up in the air. But that wasn''t the end. He readied both his fists and unloaded multiple fast jabs that created shockwaves that killed any Canzers unfortunate enough to be near him. "HAHAHAHA! Witness how a Berserker goes berserk!" Razer then looked back. "Aren''t you going in on this? You''re missing out on all the fun, porter!" Atlan was the only one who stood still. He looked at the ground with an incredulous face. [You have reaped the death of Simple Creatures] x481 Chapter 96: Reaping while standing [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have received 24,050 experience] [You have gained D class Scout Skill: Thermal Vision] [You have gained 20 F class Thermal Vision LifeSkill fragments] [You have gained 10 (1-star) Pseudo Canzer Genus] Atlan felt his own body heat up as he reaped the deaths of all the Pseudo Canzers around him. As they all unleashed their LifeSkills and decimated the horde, Atlan gained more and more experience from the carnage that ensued. Bits and pieces of Pseudo Canzer flesh flew everywhere. And from that, he seemed to have gained another LifeSkill! He knew he''d get a lot of experience, but he didn''t know that he''d also get LifeSkills and Genuses. From what he experienced in the Training Hall Remedium, he thought gaining those rewards was very rare. After all, he only got 2 LifeSkills after assisting hundreds of Pseudo Canzer kills. But it looked like he was wrong. It turned out that the probability of gaining Genuses and LifeSkills was just too small if he just reaped a death without doing anything. The sheer number of deaths he reaped this time was simply too much that he still gained something even if the odds were extremely small. He looked at the LifeSkill and saw that the job was a Scout. Although it was only in the D-class, Atlan had no problem with it because the LifeSkill came with multiple other fragments! Atlan got the Thermal Vision LifeSkill multiple times and all of the extras quickly turned into fragments that he could use to upgrade its class. He also gained another Genus from the Pseudo Canzers. As expected, he only gained 10 (1-star) Genuses from it. These were rarer to get than LifeSkills, so Atlan only got one out of them from all those Canzer deaths. With how much he got compared to how little he did, Atlan was tempted to get into trouble in the Remedium more often. All he had to do was stand in the middle of the chaos and watch as the reaping counter went up. He had more experience than he knew what to do with! [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª2x (1-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª10x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (2-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (4-star) Sapient Canzer Enjoy exclusive content from m-v l''-NovelFire.net ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª 2nd stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(2000 / 2000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ªMage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6x F class fragments ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage ¡ªScout: (D) Thermal Vision ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0 / 1000) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 20x F class fragments [Available Experience: 66,181.2] [Upgrade Points: 965,000] And just as he expected, he was given a chance to merge all of those fragments and upgrade the class of his new LifeSkill. [Do you want to merge all of your fragments?] [Upgrade Points required: 36,000] [Fragments required: 16] Atlan quickly saw the geometrical shapes of the Upgrade Points do their job and string the meteor fragments towards the LifeSkill planet. It wasn''t long until he finally saw the result. ¡ªScout: (A) Thermal Vision ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0 / 1000) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments Testing it out, Atlan grabbed this newly formed planet with a giant hand and he immediately saw the world around him turn into a different color. The humans all emitted a bright yellow light inside their bodies, indicating their internal body temperature. The harder they used their LifeSkills, the brighter they burned in his eyes. The Pseudo Canzers on the other hand was completely the opposite. The core of their bodies all emitted a dark blue color, meaning that their bodies were extremely cold. No matter if hot or cold, Atlan could distinguish a Canzer from miles away just from the dark blue spot in his vision. And if the walls were thin enough, he could see through the walls and know if there was someone there. He understood why this was a good LifeSkill for Scouts. They were usually the ones ahead of the group, so they would be the first one to see the Canzers, giving them the initiative advantage. Next up was his Genus. [Do you want to merge all of your 1-star) Pseudo Canzer Genus?] [Upgrade Points required: 10,000] Atlan watched as the Upgrade points once again pulled themselves into a string and wrapped the helix structures into one small group. It soon demolished them and reformed them into a much more refined helix form. [Genus] ¡ª1x (4-star) Pseudo Canzer Atlan wanted to immediately test out his new LifeSkill, and unfortunately, he would soon have that chance. The Saviors had now all been throwing their LifeSkills for at least ten minutes without any break at all. Exhaustion was painted on their faces. Atlan could see with his Thermal Vision LifeSkill that their bodies were starting to cool down, meaning they didn''t have enough energy left to keep using their powers. It was now quickly apparent that their job composition was less than ideal. Their most talented fighters were not suited for this kind of battle. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Yasmine and Sola both had the DPS job. Razer had the Berserker job. Both of those jobs were really good at focusing their damage for overall better power and destruction. If they were fighting a single Destruction Canzer that was a thousand times stronger than these Pseudo Canzers, then they could easily dispatch it with their LifeSkills. Unfortunately, they were dealing with a horde. These Pseudo Canzers were easy to kill, however, there were just too many of them. Yasmine and Sola''s LifeSkills were extremely inefficient when dealing with a large group like this. Being a berserker was better, but Razer wasn''t enough to fight off every single Canzer. They needed a Mage. They had overall less power than the DPS and the Berserker, but they could target a large group like these Pseudo Canzers. Unfortunately, none of them was a mage. Because of that, they were exhausted just minutes after the fight started. It wasn''t long before the horde was closing in on them from both sides. Chapter 97: Being bait Atlan knew what to do. "Run as fast as you can," Atlan said to everyone. Explore more stories with m,v l''e-NovelFire.net "Where are we running to? They have us surrounded!" Just then, Atlan suddenly jumped up towards the railing and used it to boost himself up one of the houses. Then, he clapped. CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP "Come get me, you monsters!" Atlan''s shout reverberated through the buildings and reached the rabid Canzers. The monsters whipped their heads towards the sound of his voice and immediately ran towards him. They were even crazier than they were before as if they found him to be better prey than the rest of these humans. He stayed on top of the roof, waiting for the Cancers to gather below him. He even let some of them climb up towards him, letting them think that they would soon be able to feast on him. But at the very last second, Atlan jumped back and created space between him and the Canzers. This led the monsters to be even more deranged as they chased Atlan not knowing that this was all a part of his plan. And as more Canzers chased him, the more Canzers followed behind thinking there was another group of humans there. Soon enough, the rest of the Saviors visibly saw the horde of Canzers lessen to the point that they could finally see the road beneath them. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What is he doing? Why is he sacrificing himself for us?" "Does he have another way out?" "Why?" The rest of the Olympians couldn''t understand why Atlan would put himself at risk for all of them. They would understand if Atlan did it to protect his family or his friends, but they all barely even knew each other. "He''s our Star Porter¡­" "That is a true hero¡­" The Genesians shouldn''t be surprised; this wasn''t the first time that Atlan did this. They already heard about Atlan''s heroic deeds, but it was another thing to witness it firsthand and be the recipient of his bravery. Some of them even thought that his story was exaggerated by others. Only when they saw him do it again did they finally understand. He was a hero. He didn''t even hesitate. As soon as everyone was on their ropes and the Canzers were about to overwhelm them, Atlan immediately acted as if there was no debate in his mind. It was even more confusing once they all realized that Atlan was only a porter with no skills to protect himself. Does he have no care for his SoulTime? They could all guess what would happen to him once those Canzers caught up to him. He would get wrangled into bits and pieces of flesh until there was nothing left of him but blood and bones. He would lose 99% of his SoulTime and get saved by the Angels until reinforcements arrived and brought back his blood to the church for healing. Then, he would experience an arduous recovery period where he would regenerate from a single blood cell taking years upon years until he finally returned to his old self. By then, he would be more than 100 years in debt to the City, meaning any missions that he did from then on would be halved as it automatically paid off his debt. Of course, they didn''t know that Angels were already extinct. No one would be saved if their SoulTime went to zero. If they knew that Atlan was risking death by doing this, then they would owe him more than their lives. Yasmine, on the other hand, felt a prick in her heart when she looked at Atlan''s fading figure. She didn''t know what to feel. She was angry at him for doing this, but she couldn''t help but worry for him. She wanted to run after him, but by doing that, she would invalidate all of his efforts. The rest of the people stuck here wouldn''t be able to go to the Colosseum without her help. I''ll get you back for this, Yasmine said in her heart. "Let''s go! I''ll lead you all out of the Remedium even if I have to incinerate the whole place myself!" The rest of them were still dumbfounded by Atlan''s heroic sacrifice. It was the kind of thing that the Olympians only heard about in legends like Hercules and Achilles. But once Yasmine shouted at them, they realized that they were still being surrounded by Canzers. This was the only chance they''d get to finally go back to the Colosseum and out the portal. They had to go. They all mounted their chariots and raced forth, with Yasmine and Sola leading the way. They had to kill the Canzers before they could even approach their chariots because they needed to protect the blinders. Without that, their mounts would turn into rabid Canzers and try to attack them. It was at this point that Sola noticed that Razer didn''t come with them. "Razer! What are you doing?" But instead of looking at her, Razer looked to where Atlan disappeared. "You think you can have all the fun to yourself, porter?" Razer jumped to the opposite side from where Atlan disappeared. "The one with the most kills wins, got it?!" Razer shouted at the top of his lungs, making sure that Atlan heard it even in the distance. His booming voice attracted a lot of Canzers that soon converged on his location. Just like Atlan, he led them away from the main group and helped clear the way. ### Atlan darted from street to street, with the Canzers running towards him at top speeds. They stumbled and trampled on each other just trying to catch this one human, but he seemed to always be one step ahead of them. Atlan looked to the side and saw a large building with a closed roof. This was where he wanted to go. He led the hundreds of Canzers toward the shopping center. He smiled. This was the place where he could finally go all out. Chapter 98: Warehouse Others might have thought that Atlan was doing them a favor, but in truth, he simply wanted to have time for himself to practice his own LifeSkills. He wanted to test his mettle against such a large horde of Canzers where he didn''t have to worry about others finding out his secret. Don''t get it wrong, Atlan wanted to save them from suffering by ''sacrificing'' himself, but he also wanted to practice at the same time. It was killing two birds with one stone. Once he was inside the shopping center, he looked around and saw different mall outlets open with mannequins displaying the latest trendy outfits. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He went through the fast food section, the outfits section, department stores, and even a pet store. Just then, he ran past one large outlet to the side with the name; He was going to run past this store, but something caught his eye. Just further up inside the store was a single aisle that sold industrial hardware such as lathes, milling machines, and presses. And one of the things they were selling was these ball bearings of all sizes. They were selling steel balls. Perfect! Atlan thought. He quickly took a turn to the right and entered the store. Once inside, he opened up his Soul System and manifested a giant hand that grasped one of his LifeSkill planets with a muddy surface with black streaks. This was his Mage LifeSkill. ¡ªMage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage Once it was grasped in the giant hand, Atlan felt the power coursing through his veins. He quickly looked behind him and saw the horde of Canzers about to catch up to him. A black cone of webby strings shot out of his palms and spread out in front of him until it covered the double-door entrance of the hardware store. This spray of black webs was as thick as a finger with multiple thorns around it. Atlan estimated that it could hold a single Pseudo Canzer for about 20 seconds to break through. But a horde of them? Probably 2 seconds at most. So, he grasped his LifeSkill planet again and shot out another burst of webs that reinforced the blockage at the entrance. That wasn''t enough, so Atlan shot out another one in succession. He wanted to continue doing it more, but he found that the giant hand he manifested couldn''t grasp his LifeSkill planet anymore. The plant turned translucent and was imperceptible to touch. Atlan saw that the planet was slowly but surely gaining its color back, but it would take at least three seconds for it to come back fully opaque. Find your next read at m_v l|e-NovelFire.net It turned out that he couldn''t perpetually use his LifeSkill. It would need a cooldown after it was used three times continuously. But he didn''t have time to wait. The first line of Pseudo Canzers ran towards the chitin spray headfirst, bulging the webbing but stopping them completely. ''Hurt!....pain¡­,'' the Canzers screamed. They wanted to push forward, but the spikes along the webs cut through their armor like it was cheese. And the further they pushed themselves forward, the further the spikes embedded themselves onto their bodies. They would have stopped there and recuperated for a few seconds, but the Canzers behind them had no care for their well-being. The horde pushed forward, trampling those that got stuck in the chitin spray. Atlan knew that he didn''t have enough time, so he quickly grabbed a handful of steel balls and pocketed them in his toolbelt. It was at this point that the horde finally broke through the webbing and ran towards him at full speed, heartlessly stepping on their comrades till they died. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x8 [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 400 experience] Atlan looked to the side and saw an ''employees only'' door to the side. He quickly ran towards it, with the Pseudo Canzers hot on his tail. Some of them couldn''t stop their momentum because of the slippery tiles of the store, so they crashed onto the aisles of the store. This gave Atlan enough time to go out and run through the thin hallway that led to another room. Once the Canzers reached the door, they were soon caught in a jam. The hallway was only wide enough for two Canzers at most and these monsters weren''t exactly the most patient of beasts. They tried to squeeze through the tight passage, which further caused traffic behind them. Atlan went out the other side and saw that he was in a large open space with tons of boxes and wooden pallets around. This seemed to be the warehouse of the Hardware store where they stored their inventory. He activated his new LifeSkill, Thermal Vision, and saw the dark blue spots beyond the door. The Canzers were still having trouble passing through the hallway. This gave him enough time to prepare. He took out the steel balls in his toolbelt and squeezed fifty of them together into his palms. His whole body was engulfed in a black flame as he activated his Physique LifeSkill. It gave him the strength to easily condense the steel balls into one single pellet. He continued to create pellet after pellet, with a total of 5 super-condensed metal balls. This was much stronger than his condensed soil pellet, which withstood much greater strength for his slingshot. Now that he could activate his Physique LifeSkill, his slingshot power increased multiple times! Just then, the door suddenly burst open as the first batch of Canzers finally reached the warehouse. They looked around the room, smelling that human''s distinct smell. They all looked up and saw him standing atop a tower of boxes and crates. More and more Canzers continued to run out the door, slowly filling the room like a tide. It wasn''t long before there were hundreds of hungry, rabid, Pseudo Canzers beneath the tower of boxes that Atlan stood on. They trampled on each other trying to reach up towards him. Atlan activated his Spiked Chitin Spray and shot it toward the only exit in the room. He didn''t want them to run away. He set his eyes on the fiery planet in his Soul System and finally grasped it with his giant hand. ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage Chapter 99: Sniper Atlan raised his slingshot and aimed it down. He stretched the bands to his shoulders and beyond, using all the strength he had with his Physique LifeSkill. The rubber bands trembled. It glowed a slight green tint as it transformed Atlan''s power into potential energy, storing all of his strength in the bands. Now that he used the maximum strength he had to prime the slingshot, Atlan let go of his Physique LifeSkill. Your next chapter awaits on m v|l--NovelFire.net Atlan finally grasped the Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill in his giant hand. The super-condensed steel ball suddenly erupted in a bluish-green fire. He could feel the power in his hands transfer to the steel ball in his slingshot, imbuing it with more magic. Atlan took a deep breath, exhaled, and finally released the slingshot. THWATTT A single thin line of bluish-green fire instantaneously appeared from Atlan''s slingshot and diagonally down to the floor. The Canzers didn''t even notice anything different. The pellet disappeared into the ground, leaving nothing but a pellet-sized scorching hole in the tiles. That''s it? Atlan thought that there would be more to a SSS class LifeSkill. He didn''t know if the condensed metal pellet got destroyed or not because he couldn''t see where it landed. He had to use his Thermal Vision LifeSkill to follow the heat dissipated by the shot. As he did, a clean bright yellow line that led down to the ground caught his attention. And once he followed where it went, his eyes went wide. Deep underground, there was a billowing yellow bulge erupting from the bottom to the top with an insane thermal energy! It wasn''t long before it reached the surface and burst out in an explosive manner, killing about a hundred Pseudo Canzers from the discharge alone. The eruption further sent out tiles and concrete rubble outwards accompanied by a furious bluish-green fire that brought out an intense heat around it. The Canzers that got lucky and avoided the explosion were soon overwhelmed by a fire that made their violet blood boil from the inside. It wasn''t long before their skin and chitinous armor burned and liquified, leaving nothing but a charred corpse below. Not only that, small embers fell like ash from the air. Those that underestimated this wisp of bluish-green flame ended up having their whole bodies engulfed in a fire that consumed all of their flesh and blood. Strangely enough, the heat wave caused by the pillar of bluish-green fire killed more Canzers than the original explosion. If Atlan didn''t have his Physique LifeSkill, even he would feel the scorching hot air. He watched as more and more Canzers fell victim to his ''sniper'' attack. With just one move, he killed almost half of the Canzers in the warehouse. It turned out that he used too much power in his slingshot. Because he used his Physique LifeSkill to leverage more power, the pellet ended up penetrating through tens of meters underground until it finally exploded into a fire that led back to the surface. If he used less power, then the condensed metal pellet would have exploded upon impact with the ground, killing more Canzers from the get go. ''Human¡­dangerous¡­.must kill¡­'' sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Must kill¡­.human¡­'' ''Kill¡­together!'' The surviving Canzers felt threatened by Atlan''s power. If they were fighting him alone, then they wouldn''t have the courage to attack him right after he showed such destructive abilities. But they knew that they still held the advantage with their numbers. And they were smart enough to know that they couldn''t let Atlan stay comfy atop his box of towers shooting down his Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill. Another shot would decimate them and they''d lose the advantage. They couldn''t let that happen. They frantically climbed up the wooden boxes. The Canzers no longer trampled on each other, but helped each other up. The threat of the single human forced them to cooperate. Those that were strong like the Panda-Horse or the Bear-Horse offered themselves to be at the bottom and become the foundation for their climb. Those that were nimbler like the Monkey-Horse and the Spider-Horse climbed atop and tried to reach for Atlan''s feet. With their coordination, it wasn''t long before some of them finally had the chance to bring the human down for them to feast on. The Octopus-Horse was the first one to finally reach the top. It used its tentacles to sliver sneakily towards Atlan''s ankles. If it was able to get near him, then its suction cup would cling onto him and never let go. But just as it was about to grab his ankles, the tower of boxes suddenly swayed back and forth. The climbing Canzers caused the whole structure to be unbalanced until it leaned to the side. The tower of boxes slowly fell, with the Canzers falling with it. The Canzers weren''t entirely unhappy with this. If the tower of boxes fell, then so did the human! Yet none of them saw that happen. The Canzers expected him to fall right into their maws, ready to be devoured, but as they closed their mouths in anticipation, they chomped on nothing but air. Suddenly, the air got heavier. It was as if the wind itself was choking them, preventing them from breathing. It squeezed their ribs and pushed it into their lungs. The Pseudo Canzers felt a chill in their horse spines. There was a horrifying creature above them that emanated danger down to their very bones. They saw a blinding white light from up above. And once they looked closer, they saw that it was only the human hovering in the air. But behind him was something they never thought possible. It was Angel Wings. The power emanated from those feathery wings was something that threatened the very being¡ªthe very core of the Pseudo Canzers. They were in the presence of their natural predator. The centaurs directly below Atlan froze in fear. They couldn''t even breathe. Those at the outskirts of the monster wave felt a weakened effect of the Angel Wings, so they were able to retain their senses. They slowly backed away. And once they did, they started a chain reaction that caused further panic and fear amongst the Pseudo Canzers. The monsters ran away from Atlan with dread written all over their faces. They kicked those behind them, they bit those around them, and they bulled their way forward with no regards for camaraderie and solidarity. Chaos reigned in their minds. ''NO!...ANGELS¡­FEAR!'' In their panic, they ran towards the wall to try and burst through it. But they couldn''t. And in their desperation, they tried to climb the walls of the warehouse, not realizing there was no way out except from where they came. And those lucky ones that figured out the door was stuck from the webbed Spiked Chitin Spray. Chapter 100: Do you understand me? Atlan hovered above the terrified Pseudo Canzers. They trampled and ran over each other as they tried to get as far away as they could from his Angel Wings. They were scared to death. He moved forward, and the Canzers pushed themselves into a corner opposite him. He was like a dog herding sheep. He carefully guided the lost and horrified Canzers toward the corner of the warehouse. Those at the back quickly jumped over those in the front in a bid to be the one farthest away from him. They didn''t know that it didn''t matter. They would all die anyway. Atlan raised his slingshot and aimed it at the mass of monsters. This time, he didn''t use his Physique LifeSkill to store energy in the bands. He manifested a giant hand to grasp his Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill once again. And just like before, a bluish-green fire erupted in the super condensed steel ball, growing larger as the magic flowed out of his body and into the slingshot. He knew from experience that his accuracy improved if he released his shot while he exhaled. A line of fire appeared as soon as he let go of the slingshot. And almost instantaneously, the ground from where he aimed exploded into a great big ball of bluish-green apocalyptic fire. In less than a second, all the groans and terrified cries of the Pseudo Canzers turned into the sounds of burning chitin and flesh. Smoke and ash filled the air as the fire consumed all the bodies of the monsters instantly, turning all of them into blackened carcasses that turned into ash with one gentle breeze from the air. [You have killed a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x392 Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have gained 50 F class Thermal Vision LifeSkill fragments] [You have gained 30 (1-star) Pseudo Canzer Genus] [You have gained 39,200 experience] Just like he guessed, he got more LifeSkill fragments and Genus from killing Canzers instead of just reaping their deaths. He gained more experience and rewards even though he killed less than the deaths he reaped earlier. Atlan took a deep breath and lowered himself back down the rubble-filled floor of the warehouse. He retracted his Angel Wings immediately. He was a little bit tired. Using his mutation felt like he was performing push-ups with his ''wings muscle'' every second he flapped his wings to move and fly. It was exhausting. Lizzie wasn''t lying when she said that mutations were akin to extra body parts. He could do 100 pushups with his ''angel wing muscle'' which corresponded to about 100 seconds of continuous exertion of his angel wings. If he was flying at full speed, then he would only last 100 seconds. But if he took his time and barely hovered in the air, then he could last much longer. Atlan also felt that his ''angel wing muscle'' got stronger every time he used it, just like a real muscle. He was incentivized to keep using his mutation as much as possible, but he was limited to where he could show off his strange mutation. [Do you want to merge all of your fragments?] [Upgrade Points required: 140,000] [Fragments required: 48] Atlan let the Soul System handle all of the upgrades and witnessed the Upgrade Points do their magic. It wasn''t long until the Thermal Vision LifeSkill planet was upgraded into a new class. ¡ªScout: (SR) Thermal Vision ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0 / 1000) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6x F class fragments Atlan was surprised to see that his Scout LifeSkill was now in the SR class! He never heard of anyone having a LifeSkill greater than S class, but now he surpassed it just by upgrading it through all of the LifeSkill fragments he got from reaping the Pseudo Canzer''s death. Atlan quickly upgraded this LifeSkill to the 2nd stage. [You have successfully advanced through the 1st Stage Student Realm of your SR class LifeSkill Thermal Vision] [Consolidation period: 12 hrs: 59 mins: 50secs] Now, he was given the chance to merge all of his newly acquired Genus. [Do you want to merge all of your (1-star) Pseudo Canzer Genus?] [Upgrade Points required: 46,000] Nothing changed this time as the Upgrade points created another helix structure that was much more intricate than the one before. [Genus] ¡ª1x (6-star) Pseudo Canzer [You have gained the (6-star) mutation Pseudo Canzer whisperer] Atlan gained a new mutation from this new Genus. He wasn''t surprised. Now that his Pseudo Canzer genus was in the 6-star rarity, it had a higher chance of spawning a mutation. Whisperer? Does it mean that I can whisper to Pseudo Canzers? Your next chapter awaits on m v|l--NovelFire.net He immediately wanted to try it out. Fortunately, there were still a few ones still left alive that got stuck in his Spiked Chitin Spray near the door. Their bodies were full of scratches and cuts as they got entangled deeper and deeper into the thorned web. They struggled, but it was useless. Atlan approached them. These Pseudo Canzers just witnessed their brethren get incinerated into ash and dust with just one shot. Not only that, they couldn''t forget that time when they saw this human suddenly sprout Angel Wings on his back. Suffice it to say, they were petrified to see him approach. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his tongue. He tried to bring out his new mutation. To be honest, Atlan didn''t know how to bring out a mutation. He was only able to use his Angel Wings because he already accidentally activated it during his first mission. After that incident, he was able to feel his new ''angel wing muscle'' in his back and he could summon it whenever he wanted. However, he didn''t know how to do that with his new mutation. It was like trying to move your sixth finger when you only have five. It was like trying to open your third eye when all you''ve ever had was two. He tried to replicate the sensations he felt when he activated his Angel Wings. He remembered it clearly. First, his shoulder blades turned numb and a prickly feeling appeared on his skin before the Angel Wings sprouted out of his body. Trying to transfer that feeling to his mouth, he suddenly felt the same numb and prickly sensation in his throat. He focused on it and tried to push it even further. After a few failures, Atlan finally produced a sound in his throat that didn''t sound human. It sounded Canzerous. ''Do you understand me?'' The Pseudo Canzer in front of him seized. It couldn''t believe that the human was speaking their language. It couldn''t handle the stress and died from the shock. [You have killed a simple creature] [You have gained 100 experience] Chapter 101: Melt The Canzers felt their artificial hearts sieze when they understood Atlan''s words. It was unsettling. They didn''t expect the human to suddenly produce a sound that only Canzers could make. They couldn''t even understand how that was possible. Atlan didn''t automatically know their language. He was still thinking in terms of human language, but using his new mutation, it got translated to something that a Pseudo Canzer could understand. ''I assume you all understand me.'' Now that they all saw him speak the same language again, they finally believed that a human could speak their language. ''How human¡­.'' ''Not¡­possible¡­'' They tried to squirm out of the sticky web they were stuck in. They didn''t even care that their bodies were getting mangled and cut from the thorns on the webs. They only wanted to get away from the human abomination as far away as possible. He had Angel Wings, he had untold power that could kill hundreds of Canzers in one shot, and now he could speak like one of them. He was more of a monster than the Canzers. ''Why did you all go crazy and attack humans? How did you all spawn without permission? How did you resist the power of the Pocket Dimension?'' Atlan unloaded all sorts of questions on the Canzers. Those questions weighed on his mind for a long time but he had no way to find out the answers. Now, he had the chance. Who better to answer his questions than the culprit themselves? ''Don''t¡­understand¡­.'' the Deer-Horse replied. Atlan forgot that these Pseudo Canzers were not all that intelligent. They had the IQ equivalent of a regular monkey who had no complex conscious thoughts, only their instincts. If they were afraid, then their groans and cries would show their fear. But they wouldn''t understand why they were afraid. ''What do you know about Angels?'' And as soon as Atlan mentioned that seemingly taboo word with Canzers, they suddenly jerked away from him as if their mere name was enough to strike fear in their hearts. Atlan had a guess that everything wrong that had been happening in the City had something to do with the extinction of Angels. But he couldn''t prove it. ''Angels¡­scary¡­'' ''Fear!....No angels¡­no more¡­.'' Judging from the reactions he garnered from the Canzers that saw his Angel Wings, he guessed that Canzers were deathly afraid of Angels. They were even more afraid of Angels than humans. Atlan tried to process his thoughts. If they were afraid of Angels, does that mean that Angels were fighting the Canzers before they went extinct? Or is it because Angels were the beings that revive humans and make them immortal? The fact that the Canzers knew about Angels meant that they saw them. Humans couldn''t. Angels were invisible beings that hovered above the humans at all times and injected them with SoulTime whenever their life was in danger. ''Did the angels fight you?'' Unfortunately, the Pseudo Canzers had no other thoughts other than fear whenever Atlan mentioned the Angels. It was possible that they truly knew nothing about Angels other than they were dangerous, or they simply couldn''t talk about them because they were too afraid. Since the conversation wasn''t going anywhere, Atlan decided to ask a different question. Discover stories with m,v l''e-NovelFire.net ''We long to belong¡­what do you mean by that?'' The Canzers looked at Atlan and his words seemed to evoke a forgotten feeling within them. He saw the quick change in their expression from deathly fear to fearless zealousness. ''We long¡­.to belong¡­'' ''We long¡­.to belong¡­'' ''We long¡­.to belong¡­'' It was as if he awakened them by saying those words. They couldn''t stop the ritualistic repetition of those words even if he tried to intimidate them. They kept repeating those words to no end. Something will happen. I''m sure of it, Atlan thought. It had something to do with the words ''we long to belong.'' But he couldn''t ask anything to the Pseudo Canzers because they continued to recite those words mindlessly. With no other choice left, Atlan closed his eyes and focused on his shoulder blades until he felt that familiar numb and prickly feeling on his back. It wasn''t long before pure white wings unfolded behind him accompanied by a heavenly glow. As soon as it appeared, the air got heavier and the Canzers woke up from their stupor. The fear of the angels brought them back from those crazy thoughts. ''What does that mean?!'' Atlan shouted to them. He didn''t know if intimidation worked on the Pseudo Canzers. They could very well be too afraid of the angels to even speak, but Atlan hoped that they would be threatened enough to tell the truth. Almost all of the Pseudo Canzers felt their throats tighten as the pressure prevented them from even taking a single breath. This left them unable to talk or even think about anything. Atlan thought that he failed. Fortunately, there was one Pseudo Canzer with a strong willpower who was able to overcome the suffocating pressure of Atlan''s Angel Wings. It was the Chimpanzee-Horse. It opened its mouth, with its jaws still shaking and stuttering from fear, and uttered a high-pitched screech. As soon as Atlan heard it, his Canzer Mother Tongue mutation immediately translated it into his mind. ''It''s¡­it''s¡­it''s coming!'' Atlan took a deep breath and asked, ''What''s coming?'' The Chimpanzee-Horse kept shaking its head, as if it was struggling inside. There was a mental barrier inside its brain that prevented it from saying anything about ''that'', but at the same time, the threat of Angel power intimidated it into telling the truth. It took the Canzer a solid minute of mental struggle, shaking and knocking its head with its fists, before it finally spoke up. ''Wer¨C'' The Chimpanzee''s head exploded into a mix of violet blood, brain matter, and skull pieces. Atlan''s face was painted with blood, but his expression didn''t change. He kept his eyes open and stared at the headless body of the Canzer, hoping that it would continue what it said. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Unfortunately, it was dead. It couldn''t say anything else. And before Atlan could question the other Canzers, he was surprised to see that the rest of the Canzers trapped in his Spiked Chitin Spray exploded into violet blood. But it didn''t just end there. He felt the air change. He looked around and saw the burned corpses on the floor suddenly melt into a strange brown liquid that flooded the whole warehouse. Chapter 102: Coagulate Atlan was speechless. He unfolded his Angels Wings and hovered above the shallow flood of brown liquid flowing everywhere. He didn''t know if this strange fluid was toxic or not, so he went with precaution and landed on a tall box to the side. He squatted down and observed the liquid. And as soon as he took a whiff of its smell, a musky and earthy scent hit his nose. He could only attribute this odor to smelly dogs he saw loitering the streets in Genesis City. He was worried that the flooding would get higher and trap him inside, but it seemed he worried for nothing. He looked down and saw the flood recede at a relatively faster pace than when it arrived. This was strange. The only exit to this warehouse was the exit door in front of Atlan, which would not explain how it was able to leak out at such a fast pace. The flooding receded to the point where Atlan could see the tilings on the floor. It surprised him to see that the liquid was flowing out of the tiny, almost microscopic gaps in the walls. And the liquid wasn''t flowing, it was moving! If it behaved like a normal liquid, it would flow out in all directions. But this fluid wasn''t normal. It leaked out only to the north-facing wall. It was as if it was attracted by something out in the distance. Atlan activated his SR class Thermal Vision LifeSkill and saw the brown liquid turn into a cool blue color. This meant that the liquid was cold, ice cold, which was very typical of Canzers. As he looked around, he was surprised to find that he was able to see through walls with his Thermal Vision much further than he thought. He could even see the other Pseudo Canzers out of the shopping mall with much more clarity and variation in their body temperature. So this is the difference between A class and SR class¡­ Back then, he couldn''t see past thick walls and far distances. But because he upgraded it to SR class, it was as if he gained a vision that could see through everything. He followed the direction of the flowing liquid as he flew with his Angel Wings out of the warehouse. He made sure to just barely hover above the liquid to make sure that no one saw him. And using his Thermal Vision, he was sure that there were no witnesses to his secret power. With his enhanced vision, he saw the cool-blue liquid flowing from all over the place. The warehouse wasn''t the only outflow of the brown liquid. He saw streams of liquid flowing out from houses, gutters, and the streets as it all pooled towards the north. He returned to the main track and saw all the corpses that Yasmine and the others killed. It all turned into a brown liquid as well. SPLAT!...BOOM!....SPATUNK! The sounds of fleshy explosions caught his attention. Behind two buildings on the other side of the street, he saw multiple Pseudo Canzers blow up into a brown mist that soon pooled together and flowed towards one place. The liquid all converged towards the Colosseum! He squinted his eyes. He faintly saw a convergence of heat signatures near the base of the Colosseum. He recognized them. Yasmine and the others were already near the entrance of the Colosseum but they didn''t enter it. No, more like they couldn''t. He moved forward and saw that the liquid moved faster and faster as they got closer to their destination. Atlan retracted his Angel Wings and used his legs to keep up with their speed. If he used his mutation, he would risk getting seen by the others. Running through the streets as fast as he could, he finally came close enough to see everyone''s expressions. Razer, Yasmine, Sola, and the rest of the competitors stood frozen as they looked in front of them¨Ctowards where the brown liquid was converging. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Everyone watched as the strange fluid pooled into two stumps that grew upwards. It wasn''t long before everyone realized that these weren''t stumps, they were legs! Rudimentary toes formed outwards, similar to humans, but the nails had sharp claws at the ends. The liquid flowed up the legs, slowly filling in the gaps and creating more volume as it grew bigger. They had to look up. Even though it was already the size of a human, it still wasn''t finished forming the legs. They dreaded the eventual size that this monstrosity would turn into. It wasn''t long before the torso and two arms formed, which was as long as the legs. Its back was hunched and had strangely human muscles, with pecs, abs, and delts featured prominently on its body. But as the strange brown liquid covered more and more of its body, it started to develop thick and prickly fur that covered every inch of its bare skin. As the liquid flowed up to its stump of a head, it grew more and more fur around its neck like a mane. Its head grew more and more complex, gaining a prominent snout like that of a dog''s, but with sharp fangs on the front that were almost as long as a human''s torso. It formed pointy ears on the top of its head, like that of an alert canine. More and more liquid flowed up from its body and covered its entire head in the same black fur that contrasted the vastly white color of the Remedium. Continue your journey with m|v-l''-NovelFire.net Finally, the brown liquid molded into two drops that settled atop its prominent snout, creating eyes that slowly gained clarity and consciousness. Everyone held their breaths as its black eyes suddenly turned red as if it finally awoke from its long slumber. Its scarlet eyes looked down at the humans below. Even though they were Saviors in their own right, they couldn''t help but get weak in the knees when this towering monster as tall as a two-story building looked down at them as if they were puny ants. It opened its large snout and looked up at the sky, towards the black full moon up above. ''AWOOOOOO!'' Chapter 103: Herculean punch The surviving Genesians and Olympians looked at the wolf-like monster with trepidation in their hearts. They thought that fighting against thousands of Pseudo Canzers was already bad enough, but it turned out they underestimated the severity of this disaster. "What is that?!" "No way¡­no way¡­" "I can''t fight anymore!" Most of them were already dead tired after fighting through the horde of Canzers on their way to the Colosseum. They weren''t like Yasmine or Razer who were talented enough to still have the energy to fight. They were talented, but they weren''t special. They could barely even activate their LifeSkills anymore. Yasmine didn''t waste any time as she unsheathed her sword and launched another flaming dragon at the wolf-like monster. It immediately hit its torso and burst through the other side, creating a scorched and burned hole. The others regained their strength when they saw that. It looked like this monster was weaker than they thought. They didn''t hesitate any longer. They used the last of their strengths to bring out their LifeSkill powers and kill the wolf-like Canzer. A myriad of attacks landed on the Canzer''s body, with each hit pushing the monster back. Their combined attacks took large chunks out of the wolf monster''s body until it was completely mangled beyond recognition. It couldn''t even do anything as it fell on its knees and crashed to the ground. But strangely enough, it didn''t bleed violet blood like typical Canzers. It simply died as if its body was completely empty. "Yes!" they screamed in exhaustion. "We can go back home." But despite celebrating, they didn''t move forward. They all realized that Yasmine, Razer, and Sola, the three most talented and strongest people in their group, still held their battle stances as they faced the Canzer. A sense of dread filled their hearts. And just as they feared, they suddenly saw more brown liquid come out from the corner. The sewers and gutters overflowed with brown liquid and flowed toward the mangled body of the wolf monster. The brown liquid trickled up towards the monster''s burns and injuries, filling it up with new meat. It wasn''t long before the Canzer regained its energy and used its long arms to prop itself up, leaving only claw marks on the ground. But before it could even recuperate for a second, Sola glowed a bright light as she concentrated her power on her palms. A solid beam of scorching hot light landed on the Canzer''s body at the speed of light. Her attack was like a spotlight as it used the concentrated heat of the sun. Its fur immediately caught on fire and easily spread out towards its whole body. The standing wolf-like monster flailed its arms around trying to extinguish the fire, but Sola kept her palms facing the monster, not letting it escape away from her beam of light. All its fur burned, leaving nothing but its naked skin in contact with the fire. It wouldn''t be long until its innards were cooked and charred. Everyone thought that the Canzer would finally die now that its entire body was blazing in a billowing fire. But it didn''t. They were horrified to see brown liquid flowing out of the walls and onto the monster''s feet. The liquid crawled up and extinguished the fire, making its fur as good as new. Your next chapter awaits on m v|l--NovelFire.net ''AWOOOOO!'' The howl sent a shiver down their spines. A thought crept into their minds. What if we can''t kill this monster? What if we can''t go home? And in their darkest moment, the man who they considered to be the strongest person in the group finally moved. Razer Wrekton was a genius from the Olympus mountain ranges. They all saw him kill hundreds of Pseudo Canzers all by himself! If there was anyone that could kill this wolf-like monster, then it would be him. He was their Savior! Kneel He opened his mouth and used his ''Word of the All-Father'' mutation to command this Canzer to submit to him. A sense of hope glimmered in everyone''s eyes as they saw the Canzer fall to its knees, unable to resist Razer''s words. It struggled, but it could not break through from the dominating words that came from Zeus the All-Father. BZZZZTTTTT Golden lightning and electricity enveloped Razer''s hand, slowly forming a tip at the end of his hand. This was his second mutation called ''Righteous Halberd of the Skies''. He barely used this mutation in the race because he needed to fight at close range for it to be effective. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lightning streaked out of his arm as if it couldn''t wait until it devoured its next prey. Razer didn''t make it wait long as he jumped up and struck his halberd right in the middle of its chest. ''AWOOO'' it cried in pain. Electricity coursed through every part of its body, invading the veins and using it to deliver its electricity. Razer intended to boil its body until all the liquid in its body turned into nothing but mist. He hoped that this would prevent it from recovering from its injuries, but he was surprised to find out that he couldn''t burn the liquid. It was much stronger than him. Then I''ll divide and conquer, Razer thought. He retracted his electric halberd as he fell to the monster''s feet. Wasting no time, he went for its legs and slashed it with his mutation. He targeted the joints and he dismembered it with ease. And he didn''t stop there. He jumped up and with each thrust, he crippled the monster till it separated into its limbs. The arms fell, followed by its torso, then its head. He knew that the brown liquid would soon piece the Canzer''s body back together, so he finally used his 4th stage Student LifeSkill to destroy the monster beyond what it could regenerate. His arms grew twice their size, with his biceps ballooning in volume. "Herculean Punch!" he shouted. He struck down on the Canzer''s separated leg. A shockwave exploded around them as soon as his enormous fists hit the monster''s fur. Everyone steadied themselves as a huge gust of wind followed Razer''s punch, sending street rubble flying everywhere. When they regained their senses, they saw a large crater from where Razer stood. The leg was nowhere to be seen. But he didn''t stop there. Razer jumped up above the rest of the Canzer''s body parts. He smiled as he stretched both of his arms behind him like wings. Then, he unleashed ten more full-powered punches that created increasingly intense shockwaves that sent everything flying away. Chapter 104: No use Dust and debris filled the air as Razer''s barrage of punches destroyed everything around him, leaving only a large crater where the street used to be. The entire intersection was destroyed, with the edges of the buildings crumbling and turning into rubble. All the other Saviors braced themselves from the shockwave alone. If the aftereffect was already that destructive, then they couldn''t imagine being the recipient of his furious fists. The Olympians praised their genius. "Wow! As expected of the man blessed by Zeus! His fury hath no bounds!" "I knew he''d be able to pull through! That''s our genius!" "I must admit as a Genesian, he''s very impressive!" Once everything settled, Razer stood in the middle of the crater with his arms turning back to normal. He unleashed his strongest attack onto the Canzer hoping that he would destroy it beyond molecular level. SLOSH Unfortunately, the sound of a very viscous liquid dripped from the walls and caused their hopes to fall with it. Their faces full of triumph were soon replaced by despair. Some couldn''t help themselves and fell on their knees. "No way¡­it''s a lie, right?" They saw the strange brown liquid gather into the center and molded into the strangely humanoid body of the wolf-like Canzer. It kept piling up upon one another. It didn''t stop. It was as if the liquid was coming from an endless pool that appeared out of nowhere. Seeing the Canzer reform its own body multiple times like this sucked out the life of everybody. "How Is it¡­." "No way¡­.how?!" They couldn''t help but hold their breaths when they saw the toe stubs forming on the legs of the Canzer. It was humongous! Just the big toe itself was already towering over a human! The monster was growing bigger! S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It already developed at the height it was before, but now, it wasn''t even half done with the legs! It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that the full form of this beast would be more than thrice as tall as the one before. The full form of the Canzer towered over every building in the streets. It must be mentioned that this district was only a few blocks away from the City Center. The buildings here were towering skyscrapers with some of them reaching almost a hundred floors! Yet the wolf-like Canzer still towered over all of these buildings like it was a miniature copy. ''AWOOO!'' Discover hidden content at m,v l''e-NovelFire.net Once the wolf got back to its form, it howled at the moon and caused a shockwave that escalated into an earthquake. Razer raised both of his arms and protected his head from the wind. The smile on his face disappeared. He looked up and felt his own body begging him to leave. His instinct wanted to escape! Just from the sheer size of this Canzer alone, he knew that it was not something that he could defeat so easily. It wasn''t just because of its colossal size, but also the fact that even if they somehow defeated this monster again, it would probably grow stronger and larger than it was before. It was only now that all of them were certain. This was a real Canzer. This wasn''t a Pseudo Canzer created by humans for practice. This was the genuine thing that threatened even the Gods. Sola looked up. "It''s a Destruction Canzer. it will keep regenerating with no limit." Destruction Canzers were one of two types of Canzer and they have the unique ability to regenerate their injuries endlessly. Human Saviors would only feel exhaustion if they tried to fight a Destruction Canzer with no breaks. That was the reason why Operators were needed in tandem with Vanguards. An Operators'' construct was specifically made to counter a Destruction Canzer''s regenerative ability. Only then would the Vanguards be able to kill the Canzers. Unfortunately for Razer and the others, they had no such construct. After all, this wasn''t a mission. They didn''t plan to fight against a Destruction Canzer when they entered this Pocket Remedium; nobody did. Just as they were all realizing the magnitude of this disaster, the Wolf-like Canzer moved. It raised one of its arms, showing its sharp claws that protruded out of its thick fur. The claws were as large as a semi-trailer truck. A single strike could obliterate a mountain¡ª-they dreaded to imagine what it would do to a human. "Run!" Sola and Yasmine shouted at the same time. The rest of the Saviors were too stunned to move and only started to back away once they saw Sola and Yasmine backing away. Then, it happened. It was almost instantaneous as it brought its claws down towards Razer. The Olympian genius already manifested his ''Righteous Halberd of the Skies'' as soon as he saw the Canzer move. But he was still too slow. He was caught off guard when the giant claw ''arrived'' just in front of him with no warning at all. He couldn''t even see what happened, not even a blur. Razer''s body flew outwards like a rocket, crashing through multiple buildings. His momentum didn''t stop until he went through an entire district of skyscrapers. Everyone went pale. Sola and the rest of the Olympians couldn''t believe their eyes when they looked at the bloodied and bruised body of Razer. He had glass shards, rubble, and blood all over his body as he crashed onto the wall. He had a moment of strength as he looked around, but lost consciousness soon after that. Sola''s entire world tumbled. Razer was the strongest one out of everyone, yet he was taken out with just one hit. "Get a hold of yourself!" Yasmine pushed Sola forward as an entire top chunk of the buildings plummeted towards them. Small rubble fell like rain. The Canzer''s claws sliced through the buildings like it was cheese. "It''s no use¡­" Sola muttered. "What are you talking about? We just have to work together and kill it!" "No¡­that''s not something we can kill¡­its difficulty is beyond us." "How difficult?" Yasmine asked. Sola took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. "The Specialist realm¡­" Chapter 105: Why destroy? Atlan looked at the colossal Canzer in the distance. He witnessed how it got bigger and stronger with each death it experienced. He saw a constant flow of brown liquid flowing towards the Canzer even though it hadn''t experienced any injury as of yet. Everyone was already too terrified to look at the Canzer. They didn''t notice that it was still getting bigger and bigger through the constant flow of brown liquid that flowed from the buildings. Perhaps, it was for the best. If they knew it was still getting stronger, their will to survive would disappear. Atlan was the only one who witnessed everything and still felt a sense of calm. Even though he saw how easily Razer got disposed of, he never lost hope. Even if it was apparent that this was not an enemy that they could defeat. It was far too strong and it was still getting stronger each second. He could see himself injuring the colossal Canzer with his SSS class LifeSkills. Using a combination of his sniping ability ''Apocalyptic Hellfire'' and his ''Grim Reaper Physique'', he could at least hurt the Canzer from afar. And if it got close, Atlan would use his ''Angel Wings'' mutation to run away. Enjoy exclusive content from m-v l''-NovelFire.net He couldn''t get caught by those claws. Even with his enhanced durability, he knew that he wouldn''t last a second if he was slashed by those claws. But as much as he tried to think up of a way to hurt tbe Canzer, he would only end up delaying the inevitable. It could regenerate all of its injuries endlessly, while he would be exhausted just an hour into the fight. I can''t fight it. I need to find a way to survive. Thankfully, he still had a trump card under his sleeve for when things truly got too dire. His 3rd stage Student DPS LifeSkill: Cherubic Retribution was derived from Angel Power, and from his brief experience in dealing with Canzers, they all seemed to have an aversion to everything Angel related. This LifeSkill could perhaps be the solution he would need to survive that colossal monster. Just then, he suddenly saw the colossal humanoid wolf disappear into a blur. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision and saw the cold blue streak left behind by the Canzer, leading his eyes to where it went. He followed the streaks and it headed straight towards two Saviors trying to run away. They stumbled through the streets, hoping that they would run far enough into safety. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He saw their body heat signatures and immediately knew that these two were inadequate to deal with a threat like the colossal Canzer. The inside of their bodies were a dim yellow, meaning that they were already too exhausted to use their LifeSkills to defend themselves. And within a split second, Atlan suddenly saw their heat signatures disappear. It was replaced by a gigantic foot as cold as ice. Atlan barely even saw a blur. Just like that they turned into a pool of blood and mush. [You have reaped the death of a Sentient Being: Human] x2 [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have received 1,000 experience] This was not the first time Atlan saw human death; there was plenty of it back in the Unclaimed Lands. But this was the first time he saw something so bloody. Most deaths he saw were from malnutrition and dehydration; they looked like they just went to sleep. Strangely enough, Atlan didn''t feel sorry for them. They died so fast¡ªtoo quick for them to even register the fact that they died. They didn''t suffer. "Oh Gods! Look what they turned into!" "I don''t want to be like that! I don''t want to lose my SoulTime!" "It''s fine¡­it''s fine¡­Angels will save them. We just need to return their blood back to the church and they can recuperate! In fact, I think they have it easy, they don''t have to suffer in this hell¡­" Atlan didn''t let go of his gaze at the Canzer. He was the only one who knew that death meant death. There was no going back. ### Yasmine gritted her teeth and looked at Sola. "We can''t let it go rampant. We''ll have to work together to kill it." "Didn''t you hear me? We can''t!" "Are you giving up?! I''m not! I will fight till the end of my SoulTime." And just like she said, Yasmine launched flaming dragons after flaming dragons. These physical manifestations of her LifeSkill soared through the air and hit the colossal Canzer''s legs, barely burning one of its furs. But she didn''t care. She kept swinging her sword endlessly without a break. Her sword glowed bright red from the constant heat that the dragons emanated. Even when her right hand turned too exhausted to even lift her sword, she simply used her left and continued launching attack after attack. She was relentless, yet no matter how much she tried, the colossal monster treated her as nothing more than air. This frustrated her competitive blood to no end. ### Atlan surveyed the whole surroundings with his SR class Thermal Vision. It was easy to keep an eye on the Colossal canzer as its dark blue internal body temperature contrasted well with the white background of the Remedium. His Angel Wings was ready to spring out as soon as he saw the Canzer run towards him. But just then, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something he shouldn''t have. Out in the distance, he saw a couple of blue heat signatures. They weren''t human. And upon closer inspection, Atlan noticed that these were Pseudo Canzers! I thought they all died and merged into the giant Humanoid Wolf? Not only that, these Pseudo Canzers seemed to be pushing something away from the fight. Atlan ran atop the buildings from roof to roof until he landed on a building directly on top of the Centaur monsters. They didn''t notice anything strange and kept hauling something behind them. Atlan squinted his eyes and recognized what they were pushing. It was a chariot! Not only that, it was Yasmine''s chariot. Why are they doing this? Through his enhanced senses, he realized that these unintelligent Pseudo Canzers were reciting something under their breaths. He closed his eyes and ignored all the sounds of glass breaking and concrete turning into rubble all around the Pocket Remedium. ''Destroy¡­chariot¡­.destroy¡­'' Atlan didn''t know why they chose to destroy chariots right in the middle of all the chaos. Back then, they kept repeating, ''they long to belong'', which Atlan found out to mean that they wanted to become part of the colossal Humanoid Wolf. But these words didn''t make any sense. Why do they want to destroy Yasmine''s silver chariot? Chapter 106: Weakness Atlan didn''t know why these Canzers would choose to destroy a silver chariot of all things. He looked around the Pocket Remedium and saw no sign of other Pseudo Canzers present in the Pocket Remedium. Everything had been turned into that brown liquid and joined their brethren in the colossal humanoid wolf. It was as if they existed solely for the purpose of destroying this one single chariot. It was way too suspicious. Atlan jumped off the ledge of the building and landed directly on the front of the Pseudo Canzers. There were three of them, one was Owl-Horse, the other had a chameleon''s upper half, and the other an Opossum centaur. They all jumped in surprise when they saw a human suddenly appear in the middle of their route. ''Human!...fear¡­'' ''Leave¡­camouflage¡­.'' ''.....'' The three Pseudo Canzers all had different reactions. The Owl-Horse turned its head 180 degrees away from Atlan in fear and slowly backed away. The Chameleon-Horse tried to camouflage its whole body to the surrounding, but only its top half turned translucent. And the Opossum-Horse simply tried to play dead in front of him. Its horse legs tapped its backfoot in nervousness. Atlan eyebrows turned uneven when he saw these three weird Pseudo Canzers. They weren''t the smartest out of the bunch, and they especially weren''t the most aggressive ones. He was ready for a physical confrontation between them, but they didn''t even try to fight him. They already feared him even though he hadn''t even used his Angel Wings to intimidate them yet. ''Why are you trying to destroy the silver chariot?'' Atlan asked in their language. The Owl-Horse''s eyes dilated in surprise. None of them expected to suddenly hear a human speaking their language! This made them extremely confused as to whether Atlan was a comrade or an enemy. ''You¡­is¡­me?'' ''Part¡­of¡­us¡­.'' Atlan didn''t know what to say. ''Yes?'' As soon as he said that, he saw them heave a sigh of relief. He could see them lower their defenses to him as if he was truly a part of them now. The Opossum-Horse finally stopped playing dead and welcomed their newcomer. ''You¡­scare¡­I'' S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Sorry about that,'' replied Atlan. He still felt incredibly weirded out that he was having a full-blown conversation with Pseudo Canzers as if he were friends with them. They moved closer to him, and Atlan had to resist the defensive urge to hit them all in the throat and knock them out in one go. Find adventures on m_v l|-NovelFire.net He restrained himself. He still needed to know what they were trying to do. ''Why do you want to destroy this chariot?'' His words sent out a jolt of fear in their eyes. They immediately walked and pulled the chariot forward without saying another word. Atlan noticed that as they moved forward, they were getting further and further away from the colossal Humanoid Wolf. Is this related to that monster, Atlan thought. ''Weakness¡­silver¡­must¡­destroy¡­'' Weakness? Atlan''s eyes widened. Do they mean that Pseudo Canzers like them are weak against silver? No, that doesn''t make sense. If they were weak against it, then they wouldn''t go anywhere near it. It was then that a thought popped up in his mind. He pieced together the facts he observed throughout this whole ordeal. The appearance of these Pseudo Canzers was the first clue. They were the only ones left alive. Judging from their zealousness towards becoming part of the colossal monster, Atlan guessed that the Humanoid Wolf was their leader. It could command them to sacrifice themselves to heal its wounds or reform its body to become as tall as a mountain. This meant that the Canzer had full control over all the Pseudo Canzers. Then it must mean that the appearance of these three Pseudo Canzers was no mere coincidence. They were summoned here for a very specific reason. And that reason was to dispose of Yasmine''s silver chariot. Next, Atlan thought about why they would specifically target Yasmine''s chariot and not the others. If they simply wanted to get rid of the best chariot, then they should have gotten Sola''s golden chariot which had a much better durability than the silver chariot by a long shot. And they didn''t choose it because it was Yasmine''s. It was a coincidence. After all, she only rode this chariot because she was the second one to subdue a Pseudo Canzer. Then it must be because it was made out of pure silver. And if these Pseudo Canzers were summoned to get rid of the silver chariot away from the colossal Canzer, then there was only one conclusion that he could come up with. ''Is the giant humanoid wolf weak against silver?'' he asked them. When they said that, they nodded their heads fervently and tried to get rid of the silver chariot even faster than before. The quicker they finished the mission, the faster they could go back into the colossal Canzer. And by doing a great service, then it would give them more benefits than the others. Atlan finally understood why the Humanoid Wolf chose to use these Pseudo Canzers. If it wanted the fastest one to get rid of the Canzer, then it could have summoned a Cheetah-Horse to do its bidding. But it knew that by doing so, it would garner the attention of the humans. Like Atlan, they would find it suspicious. It chose these three centaurs because they were the sneakiest out of the bunch. ''Faster¡­faster¡­faster¡­'' ''Strange¡­.why no¡­fast?'' ''Push!....push!'' The three Pseudo Canzers used their hind legs to push the chariot away even faster, but they soon found it to be as heavy as a mountain. They couldn''t even move it an inch! "Thanks for the information," Atlan said in his human language. The three of them didn''t even know what happened. They were decapitated in an instant. Atlan couldn''t let them get rid of such an advantage. Now that he knew that the gigantic Humanoid Wolf had a weakness against silver, then this chariot would come extremely handy in his survival. BOOM! Just then, everyone''s eyes were suddenly pulled towards the entrance of the Colosseum. Everyone''s exhausted expressions slowly turned into one of relief once they realized who finally arrived. Chapter 107: Helpers come Atlan heard an explosion near the Colosseum. He immediately jumped up the balconies of the high-rise apartment complex beside him, slowly making his way toward the top of the building. Once he was up, he saw the Colosseum up in the distance. A large plume of smoke bloomed near the entrance and obscured the reason why it exploded in the first place. He activated his SR class Thermal Vision and saw the world change color depending on their internal body heat. He squinted his eyes and saw seven figures walking forward. Judging from their internal body heat, they were human! However, these people had brighter and hotter bodies than normal. They were practically glowing. He compared them with the other saviors below and saw that they were like a dim lamp compared to the brightness of the sun. These people were on a completely different level. Even the colossal Humanoid Wolf couldn''t help but turn its gigantic head towards these newcomers. And if Atlan saw it right, the wolf''s fur suddenly stood up as if it was alerted of a threat. ''AWOOOO!'' it howled. The dust and smoke settled. These seven new figures showed themselves in the Pocket Remedium. They all wore a green battle suit like the rest of them, but they had more distinct badges and pins on their chests. Just from their stature alone, one could see the confidence and strength they exuded like a light. Sola fell on her knees. She could finally breathe. "They''re finally here! The reinforcements!" Yasmine, on the other hand, was conflicted. She was relieved that they were finally saved from this hell, but this meant that she could not get rid of the source of her insecurity. Even with her strongest attack, the colossal monster treated her as nothing more than an ant. She barely even burned its fur! She looked at the reinforcements and recognized them. "Specialist realm Saviors¡­when will I get as strong as them?" Even though Specialists were three realms above her, she couldn''t help but compare herself to them. As much as people lauded her as a genius, she knew that she couldn''t hold a candle to these people. "We''re saved!" "Praise the gods!" "I want to leave!" sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The rest of the Saviors trapped in this Pocket Remedium finally peeked out of their hiding spot. In truth, the hundreds of spectators in the Colosseum all had to find their hiding spots in the Pocket Remedium. And even though they couldn''t kill any of the Pseudo Canzers by themselves, they were all Saviors in their own right. They were able to barricade themselves into safety. They barely even uttered a single breath to prevent the Canzers from sensing them. "Delinquents! Fear no more. I have come to kill this giant Destruction Canzer and stop its rampage of symptoms in the City." At the center of these seven new figures was one woman who exuded energy and vigor unlike anyone else. She took control of the situation in an instant and put hope into the eyes of all these suffering victims of this disaster. Even in the midst of these Specialist Saviors, her aura towered over everyone else. Atlan almost had to avert his eyes from how bright she looked in his Thermal Vision. ''AWOOOOO!'' The Humanoid Wolf got on all fours and charged towards the Specialists. The entire Pocket Remedium shook, with some of the damaged high-rise buildings plummeting to the ground from the vibrations alone. Enjoy exclusive adventures from m-v l''-NovelFire.net It then opened its giant maws and chomped into a tall clock tower, separating it from its metal foundation like it was nothing. Its sharp canine teeth tore through it like it was butter, with no obvious bending or destruction from the cut. It was as if a giant knife sliced through it. With the top of the clock tower in its jaws, it whipped its head back and threw the sharp-tipped tower towards the Specialist Saviors. Even with the entire top half of a building hurling towards them, the Specialists didn''t utter a single cry. The woman in the front simply took out her giant one-handed sword and put it in between them and the tower. Atlan thought that she would use her immense strength and skill to slice the tower into nothing but dust, but surprisingly, she didn''t even move her blade. She kept it in front of her as the tower''s sharp tip came towards her and her team. Ten meters before it could even come close, Atlan was surprised to see the tower suddenly split cleanly into two, with the two halves diverging away from the Saviors. Atlan didn''t even see anything happen with his Thermal Vision! It was as if the tower just naturally split in half. The tower exploded into metal wreckage and debris as they crashed into the Colosseum behind the Saviors. But it seemed that the tower was merely a distraction from the Canzer as it suddenly appeared in front of the Saviors with its two furry hands ready to slice everything in its path into a mince. Atlan barely saw a blur as the Canzer brought down both of its hands towards the Specialist Saviors. With how fast and how big the monster''s claws were, Atlan doubted whether he would be able to dodge away from this attack even if he used his Angel Wings mutation. But then, its two hands suddenly stopped in mid-air. And if one squinted their eyes, they would see two small figures hovering in mid-air as they caught the claws with their weapons. What Atlan saw next were blurry figures darting back and forth in the air, clashing metal with chitin claws. It looked as if the giant Humanoid Wolf was fighting a high-speed fly. Everyone was watching this fight with admiration and surprise. For some of them, this would be the first time they saw Specialist Saviors use their immense powers to fight a Canzer. However, Atlan''s eyes moved towards the entrance of the Colosseum. Only three people were fighting the colossal Canzer. The other four were left behind! It wasn''t hard to guess why they weren''t fighting alongside the others. The four of them propped up a large bullet-like object on their shoulders. Judging from the strained expressions on their faces, Atlan guessed that the object they were carrying was extremely heavy. So heavy, in fact, that it took four Specialist realm Saviors to carry it! But that wasn''t the most surprising part. Atlan looked at the luster of this object and compared it with the chariot. They were the exact same thing! This large bullet was made out of pure silver! Chapter 108: Heavy construct This was not a coincidence. There was no way that these Specialist Saviors brought a gigantic silver bullet into the Remedium just for nothing. They were going to use it to kill the colossal Canzer! Did they know that this gigantic Humanoid Wolf was weak against silver? That''s the only explanation. And as he observed this large bullet, he was surprised to feel a faint resonance with it. It was as if there was a part of himself in that object! His shoulder blades turned numb and prickly as the Angel Wings inside him squirmed. It also felt that brief resonance with the object, and it wanted to reunite with that feeling. There was no mistaking it; there was a tinge of Angel power in that bullet! That object was made out of silver and had Angel power within it. Those were good reasons to believe that the large silver bullet they were carrying was an Operator''s construct. These objects were specifically made by Operators to disable and counteract a Destruction Canzer''s regeneration ability. That object was the reason why Saviors were able to defeat a Canzer that healed their injuries infinitely. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Does this mean that all Canzers are weak against silver? I know that Canzers are weak against Angel power. Of all the monsters I came across, all of them had an adverse reaction when they saw my Angel Wings. But now it''s clear that silver also plays a part in killing this colossal monster. But if all Canzers are weak against silver, then shouldn''t all weapons used by Saviors be made out of silver? Does it mean that only this particular Canzer is weak against silver? If that was true, then Atlan found the work of Operators a lot more interesting. If Canzers all had different kinds of weaknesses, then that meant that an Operator''s job entailed them finding out the Canzer''s weakness. Atlan wanted to know how they knew that silver was effective against this colossal Humanoid Wolf. Did they encounter this specific Canzer before? And if they did, then how did they know about its weaknesses? Did they go through trial and error? He only found out about that monster''s silver weakness because he understood the Pseudo Canzer''s language. Do they also understand Pseudo Canzers? After all, they were the ones who designed this Pocket Remedium and created them¡­ No matter how much Atlan wanted his questions answered, he wouldn''t be able to figure out the truth until he questioned the Operators themselves. ''AWOOOOO!'' The colossal Humanoid Wolf howled at the black moon and thrashed its claws around its body, slicing skyscrapers beside it and sending rubble and glass shards everywhere. But no matter how much it tried, it couldn''t get rid of the pesky humans flying around its body. Three Specialist Saviors worked in tandem as they attacked the humongous Canzer with great coordination and synergy. Atlan barely saw their moves, but he was able to see the remnants of their powers through his Thermal Vision. One of the Saviors attacked the body, and the other two defended against the claws. Even in the air, they moved with swift fluidity, creating depth in their attack formations. The only reason why the others were able to see the Specialist Saviors fighting the Canzer was because of the huge gashes and burns that appeared all over the Canzer''s body. There were times when huge chunks of the Humanoid Wolf''s body got taken out without any sign of a cut at all. Their impressive show of power raised the hopes of the survivors witnessing the fight. However, try as they might, they couldn''t overcome the Canzer''s regenerative ability. With each injury and wound it sustained, brown liquid flowed from the streets and replenished the Canzer''s growing body endlessly. It was clear that they needed the help of other Specialist Saviors if they wanted to kill this Canzer. After all, there were only three of them attacking the Canzer! Usually, a group of five or six Saviors was needed to fight a Canzer like this. However, the other four people were stuck carrying the large silver bullet through the streets. Usually, an Operator''s construct was carried by a porter like Atlan. After all, it weighed hundreds or thousands of kilograms at a minimum. If a normal Savior were to carry this in the Remedium, then they would be too burdened to traverse the dangerous terrain. That was why porters were needed. They had the proper LifeSkill to still be agile even if they had tons of weight on their shoulders. Those four Saviors weren''t porters. As far as Atlan knew, porters were very rare in the City, which was why he was warmly welcomed when he was drafted here. The only other person he knew who was a porter was Garuun, who was also in the Specialist realm. Why isn''t he here to help them? Atlan pondered. Because there was no porter, four Saviors were needed just to haul the very heavy silver bullet into the Pocket Remedium. And because of that, they couldn''t contribute to the fight. "Is it ready?" the leader of the Specialist Saviors flew towards the four Saviors carrying the bullet. "Yes. We''ll install it ASAP." Once they saw that the Canzer was in the construct''s effective range, they put down the silver bullet in the ground. The construct crashed onto the street, destroying the concrete on the ground and creating a small crater below it. They didn''t have to do anything else. The construct activated itself as strange curvy lines appeared on the surface of the silver bullet. It glowed a golden light that Atlan recognized to have the same ethereal glow as his Angel Wings. The rounded end of the silver bullet suddenly floated up and aimed itself at the rampaging Humanoid Wolf in the distance. The Canzer was still too preoccupied with dealing with the two Specialist Saviors flying around its face to notice that a bullet was aimed directly at its chest. "Good. I''m getting tired of this. Once its regeneration is disabled, we can finally get serious," the leader of the Specialist Saviors stretched her body. Even though they were slicing buildings in half and crushing steel structures like it was nothing, it turned out that they were still holding themselves back! Why would they waste energy if the Canzer was going to regenerate anyway? Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net Chapter 109: Bullet chance Atlan watched the large bullet intently. He was drawn in by the emanating Angel power within it. The resonance between his bloodline and this silver bullet was getting more and more intense with each second as the construct finished its preparation. It wasn''t long before Atlan felt the power peaking outside the bullet which was almost bursting at the seams. After a few seconds, the flat end of the bullet erupted in an invisible power that launched it toward its intended destination within the Canzer''s body. The power was so strong that a shockwave exploded behind it, causing dust and smoke to litter the air. The colossal Humanoid Wolf was fast, but it couldn''t evade such a surprise attack. It looked down towards the source of the explosion and immediately felt the instinct to dodge. But it was already too late. The silver bullet lodged itself in the Canzer''s chest before it could even think about trying to escape. ''AWOOOO!'' it cried in pain. It tried to claw the silver bullet out of its chest, but it only served to push the bullet deeper into its body. The Canzer felt weak. Its canine-like knees trembled as it felt the poison spreading inside its body. The cuts and lacerations all over its skin were no longer regenerating as fast as it wanted. It tried to cling to the skyscrapers to prevent itself from falling, but its strength proved far too powerful as the buildings crumbled upon contact and soon fell with the Canzer. DUGSHHH It thrashed around and clawed its way back up. It knew that it couldn''t let the humans have the advantage in this fight. If it was going to survive, then it would have to kill those pesky humans. "This is where you die, filthy Canzer." The leader of the Specialist Saviors raised her one-handed sword and aimed it at the colossal Humanoid Wolf. ''AWOOO!'' The Canzer got on all fours and mimicked an actual wolf. It ran through the skyscrapers, shrugging off metal and glass shards around its body. It opened its jaws prematurely and a strange red ball of energy suddenly appeared on top of its tongue. The Student realm Saviors watching the whole fight unfold couldn''t help but shudder at the pressure that the ball of energy emanated on the ground. Just from the vibrations and the ''heaviness'' of the attack alone, they knew that it could destroy an entire district into nothing but a crater. If this was aimed at Atlan, his only escape would be to use his Angel Wings and soar up in the skies. But even then, he didn''t know if he would survive the explosion afterward. The leader of the Specialist Saviors kept a cool expression on her face even though the red ball of energy was aimed straight at her face. She raised her sword. Atlan''s eyes widened as he saw a manifestation of a giant sword taller than the colossal Canzer appear above her. It was the same one-handed sword that she used, down to the dings and scratches sustained from years and years of use. And with his Thermal Vision, he saw that this giant sword was glowing hot red! He had to avert his eyes and deactivate his Thermal Vision before his eyes turned blind. "Judgment," she uttered. At the same time, the colossal Canzer opened its jaws wide and let out a beam of blackish-red ball that sped through the air. It headed straight for the Specialist Saviors. This red ball was accompanied by black lightning that streaked through the air and burned everything in its path. A building was grazed by this red ball and it immediately got enveloped by black lightning that disintegrated everything into mere dust. Everyone held their breaths as this ball of destruction headed straight for the Specialist Saviors. With a casual move, the leader of the Saviors simply brought down her one-handed sword towards the ball. The giant manifestation of her sword hovered in the air and copied her actions. With one simple swing, her blade met the red ball of destruction. The two powers, one emanating an intense heat like the sun and the other exuding the coldness of the depths of space, battled against each other in a bid for supremacy. Black lightning tried to invade the sword, but its intense heat and glowing power burned any attempt it made. However, it wasn''t long until the sword started to cleave through the red ball of energy. It bulged as the pressure and sharpness of the blade forced it to split in half. "You can never overpower me, Canzer." The ball let out its concentrated energy outwards like a popped balloon. It lost out any power it had to try and contest against the giant sword. Its black lightning gradually became tamer until it dissipated in the air. The sword, instead of slowing down after slicing the ball of destruction, sped up and increased the power in its strike! A blue crescent made out of water and ice suddenly appeared on the tip of the giant sword. The Canzer was thoroughly unprepared for this moment. It never thought that the human would be able to destroy its attack in half so cleanly. Not only that, the sword still had enough energy to launch a counter-attack towards the Canzer! The colossal Humanoid Wolf skidded through the streets and immediately ran back the way it came. However, the giant water and ice crescent launched out of the blade and soared through the air. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Canzer wasn''t fast enough to outrun this attack. The crescent hit its back, sending the Canzer flying through the air kilometers away from its original location. Enjoy new adventures from m-v l''e|-NovelFire.net The powerful slash created a two-meter deep gash on the streets from the center of the City all the way toward the walls where the Canzer crashed. The attack was so powerful that it sent out a gust of wind akin to a tornado. Some of the spectators of the fight felt their feet leave the ground just from the wind alone. They hung onto buildings and lamp posts to keep themselves anchored. Atlan covered his eyes as the gust of wind washed over him. He couldn''t believe how powerful Specialists were. A single attack caused untold destruction around the city. But even with that power, Atlan gazed at the Canzer out in the distance and was surprised that it was still alive. There was a large gash on its back showing bone and flesh but it still clawed the walls trying to prop itself up. However, its injuries were far too severe for it to stand up. The other Saviors would weep in despair once they saw that the Canzer was still alive. But not Atlan. It''s still alive¡­this is my chance! Atlan jumped down the building and landed right next to the silver chariot. Chapter 110: Condensed silver From his previous experiences, he knew that he''d get more experience and better odds of getting LifeSkills and Genuses if he participated in the death of a creature. It was better if he killed or assisted in a kill than simply reap the death of a creature without doing anything. And this Canzer was no simple creature. It was a monster that was probably realms higher than the Student Realm, judging alone from the fact that Yasmine couldn''t even burn its fur. Not only that, the Saviors that came in to rescue them were exuding strength that Atlan couldn''t even fathom. Reaping the death of this creature would surely bring untold rewards to Atlan. But wouldn''t it be better if he got more? If he could make it bleed a single drop, he guessed that his rewards would increase even more. The only problem with this was how he would do it. Atlan knew that if he used just his strength, he might not even pierce through the colossal Canzer''s skin. At that point, he didn''t know that it would count as participation. But he had something up his sleeve; he knew its weakness. If he used it against the Canzer, then he had a chance. Silver would be its downfall. Atlan was sure it would work. He saw it firsthand when the silver bullet pierced through the Humanoid Wolf''s chest. He looked around with Thermal Vision and saw no one near him to witness this. He activated his Physique. Black flames erupted out of his skin and surrounded him with the blackness of space itself. He felt his power multiply at least twice his original strength. He grabbed the ledge of the chariot and saw it bend to the shape of his fingers. Without much pressure, Atlan tore out a piece of the silver chariot and held it in his hands. He knew that this wouldn''t be enough so he kept on plucking chunks out of the silver chariot and onto his hand. Once it had turned into a small mound, Atlan began the compression process. With his other hand, he started to squeeze all of the silver chunks together with ease. Some of them bulged out, so he used his body to prevent them from turning into a flat shape. He needed a small pellet that could fit in his slingshot. The silver shape got smaller and smaller as he increased the pressure, to the point that it almost fit the size of his palms. He used all of his strength to squeeze the element tighter until he couldn''t push it any further. He cupped it in his hands and rolled it in his palms to smoothen out any hard edges. He learned early on that pellets flew further, faster, and more accurately if they were made out of a uniform shape. The more spherical it was, the better he could control where it would hit. Soon enough, he made a solid ball of silver smaller than an egg that fit perfectly in the palm of his hands. Atlan jumped up the balconies and used it to climb up to the roof of the apartment building. Up in the distance, he saw the edges of the walls of the city. The colossal Canzer used the top of the walls to try and prop itself up, but its back muscles and joints were much too damaged to gather strength in its body. He put the silver pellet in his slingshot and aimed it up and toward the Canzer. His target was too far for him to gauge how to aim his pellet accurately. There were a lot of things he needed to consider: curve, power, and most importantly, wind resistance. Taking a deep breath, Atlan stretched the bands to his shoulders and aimed them at the colossal Humanoid Wolf. He activated his Physique LifeSkill, allowing him to stretch the bands even further. The bands glowed green as the power from his Physique transferred into potential energy. Atlan wanted to use his Sniper LifeSkill, but it would be too obvious. Everyone would want to know where that explosion of bluish-green projectile came from, and it would be easy to trace it back to his location. But if he just used physical strength to launch this silver pellet, it would go unnoticed. He let go of his grip and the silver pellet launched out of his slingshot instantly. It soared through the air, gaining height above the black clouds of the Remedium until finally coming back down at an even faster speed. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, it didn''t hit the Canzer as Atlan hoped. It went wide to the left and needed a little bit more power for it to reach its target. The wind blows from the right¡­more power¡­.curvature¡­.speed Atlan knew that he wouldn''t be able to hit this shot from the start so he wasn''t disappointed. Instead, he observed everything he saw about how it deviated from his original trajectory and figured out why that happened. With all of those parameters in his head, Atlan knew that he had to counteract the wind by aiming toward the right and increasing more of his power by a little bit. He knew how to hit his target. Atlan jumped back down and immediately took more chunks out of the silver chariot. It didn''t take long for him to create another silver pellet that was even more condensed than the previous one. He spent more time polishing it and making it more spherical to make sure that it wouldn''t deviate like it did before. But just as he finished his pellet, he suddenly heard screaming from all around him. "Oh no! Run away before they catch you!" He immediately used his Thermal Vision and saw that the surviving Saviors were suddenly running away from the Colosseum. Discover stories with m,v l-NovelFire.net He looked at where they were running away from and noticed that more people entered the Pocket Remedium without him noticing. There were at least a hundred of these people, and they all had the heat signatures of normal humans. From their uniform, Atlan figured out that they were regular soldiers, not Saviors. The uniformed men ran through the streets with their batons ready. They tried to catch those who were running away. "Stop now, delinquents. You are all in violation of the Genesis City code. No one is allowed to go inside the Remedium unless sanctioned by the HeadQuarters. You are all under arrest." Chapter 111: Catch em At first, Atlan didn''t know why they were running away. Didn''t they want to be saved? But when he heard the soldier''s voice, he finally understood why. It turned out that they didn''t want to get caught and thrown into jail. Lizzie told him that all non-essential Remedium travel was forbidden as long as the HeadQuarters still hadn''t figured out why anomalies kept happening in the Remedium. However, Obek Orioness didn''t care about that and continued to host a party in their Pocket Remedium. He thought that the possibility of an anomaly happening was slim to none, that''s why they didn''t care about stepping into the Pocket Remedium. But as it turned out, they should have heeded the HeadQuarter''s warning. Something bad did happen. And now, there were people dead. Pseudo Canzers rampaged through the streets until a colossal Humanoid Wolf appeared and caused even more mayhem. All of the surviving spectators that hid around the city for safety as well as the competitors both Genesians and Olympians, all ran away from the soldiers like they were Canzers. They knew that if they were caught, they''d be punished with an insufferable fate. The Olympians may get a slap on the wrist, but the Genesians would get the full brunt of the consequences. The soldiers ran in threes as they cornered the delinquents. Their batons buzzed as electricity flowed and streaked out in the air. Everyone ran away from those batons, but one unfortunate man tripped from the rubble in the streets. He was already injured trying to run away from the Pseudo Canzers, so he couldn''t escape fast enough. The soldiers mercilessly hit their batons on the injured man. Electricity coursed through their veins and disabled his autonomy. He couldn''t move. He couldn''t even gather any energy in his Soul System to try and use his LifeSkill. Not that he would. Fighting back would get him deeper into trouble. The soldiers tied him up and carried him back towards the Colosseum. Atlan looked around and saw at least twenty delinquents already imprisoned. The Olympians, on the other hand, turned themselves in and the soldiers made sure not to use any force towards them. They were given express instructions to not lay a finger on these visitors. More and more soldiers flooded the streets in search of more delinquents to catch. Experience tales at m v|l e''-NovelFire.net Meanwhile, Atlan looked at the silver pellet in his hands. He knew that this would be his last chance to hit the colossal Canzer. He didn''t hesitate. He put the pellet in his slingshot and aimed up at the sky. He kept the parameters of the environment in his mind, making sure to account for the distance, the air resistance, the wind, and also the curvature of the pellet''s trajectory. This time, he wouldn''t miss. He let go of the pellet in his slingshot and it soared through the air and pierced through the black clouds. Atlan didn''t even look at where it was going. He looked away. He knew that all of his calculations were correct. Just then, he suddenly heard footsteps coming towards him. "Hey you! Surrender now and we won''t have to electrocute you. Trust me, it''s better if you give up now." Three soldiers appeared from the side of the street and slowly approached him. Not only that, he also noticed three more pairs of footsteps behind him in stealth. They had him surrounded. Atlan didn''t move and kept his hands down. It didn''t seem like he was going to resist arrest. This made the soldiers feel at ease. They were going to catch him. Even if he tried to run, he would only find another three soldiers behind him. Atlan didn''t feel that worried. But just then, he felt a warm touch grasp his hands accompanied by a floral scent that filled his nose. He looked back and was surprised to see a familiar golden-haired girl holding his hands. "Yasmine?" But her only reply to him was; "Run." With only that warning, she dragged Atlan towards the buildings in front of them. She used the sword in her other hand and sliced the door into multiple pieces, allowing them to pass through the building and onto the other street. "Stop! You''ll only make this worse for yourselves!" The soldiers tried to catch up to the two, but how could they compare to the speed of the S class genius Yasmine and the Star Porter Atlan? S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With their full speed, Yasmine dragged Atlan through the buildings as they evaded capture by the soldiers. Atlan felt the warm touch of her hands. She didn''t let him go even as they ran. "Why were you just standing there? Don''t you know that if they catch you, they''ll still taser you and bring you in?" Atlan didn''t know anything about it. "The punishment for a crime like this is a blacklist. You won''t be considered for a mission for months or even years! And with no Training Hall Remedium, you''ll stagnate in your training." She looked back at him with cute annoyance in her expression. She was going to reprimand him for such indifference towards a punishment. But when she looked back at him, she only saw a smile on his face. "Were you worried about me?" A red tint appeared on her cheeks. She immediately looked forward and let go of his hands; she didn''t want him to feel her body heat up when she looked at him. "N¡ªno, I wasn¡ªI was not!" She wanted to strangle him for thinking such things, but that would only put them face to face. She couldn''t handle being so close to a rascal like him. It was too¡­intimate. But just then, Atlan grabbed her shoulders and stopped her in her tracks. He pulled her closer to him and she could feel his body on her back and the warmth he exuded. Her entire face turned tomato red. She wanted to scream at him for moving too fast, but he simply put his hand on her mouth and held her even closer. Chapter 112: Lacking construct Atlan pointed towards the corner where two more soldiers came with their batons ready to electrocute delinquents. They almost got caught. Thankfully, Atlan saw them with his Thermal Vision and stopped Yasmine from showing herself in the street. Yasmine held her breath as Atlan held her mouth. They stayed in close proximity until the two soldiers turned the corner and disappeared. "That was close," Atlan muttered. He looked at her with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" Atlan could practically see her heart beating out of her chest. He didn''t think that she would be this nervous about almost getting caught by the soldiers. The punishment for this crime must be harsher than I thought. Of course, the reason why she was nervous was because of him. This was not the first time she had someone close to her body because she frequently practiced wrestling and other sports. But this was the first time it felt too close. Their sweat was practically mixing! She quickly pulled herself away from him. She ran forward without even looking back, leaving Atlan confused as to what he did wrong. ### Find adventures on m_v l|-NovelFire.net The Specialist Saviors all floated over the body of the colossal Humanoid Wolf. It struggled to get up and crawl away from the humans. Now that the other four were unburdened by the weight of the construct, they finally joined the fight. But it seemed that the fight was already over before they could even have the chance to show their strength. "I was all worked up for nothing!" "Just when the soldiers finally herded the delinquent kids, I thought we''d finally get the opportunity to practice." "I almost want these kids to start another party again so that we can come and kill some Canzers. Having a ban on Pocket Remediums is making me itch!" They all looked over to their leader and saw that she was looking down at the colossal Canzer with a serious expression. They thought that she''d be celebrating this easy win by now. Instead, she kept a hard grip on her one-handed sword with an intensity she only reserved for missions. "Ninth? Is something wrong?" S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Ninth, the leader of the Specialist Saviors, didn''t take her eyes off the Canzer as she replied to her team. "Look at its shoulders." The colossal Canzer had a gaping wound on its back from its right shoulder down to its waist. The laceration was so deep that they could see the creature''s spine from up above. They didn''t see anything wrong with it. "Are we supposed to see something?" But Ninth saw something. "That wound was longer." It was only when they floated down and got a closer look did they finally see the problem. There was a small stream of brown liquid flowing from the ground and trickling up the shoulders of the giant Canzer. These droplets got absorbed by the Humanoid Wolf''s injuries and slowly replenished its destroyed flesh. It was slow and it wasn''t enough for the Canzer to recover to its full strength any time soon, but the fact that it was still regenerating was very disconcerting for all of them. This wasn''t their first time dealing with Destruction Canzers. They knew that once the Operator''s construct was launched, then the monster''s regeneration capabilities were completely disabled. But this particular colossal Humanoid Wolf was still clearly healing its injuries! This shouldn''t happen at all! "But how?!" "The construct is still embedded into its chest. It shouldn''t be regenerating!" "Ninth, what''s happening?" The leader of the Specialist Saviors took a deep breath. "The Operators made a mistake. The construct is missing something." "Oh my gods!" "What''s been happening with the Quills lately? They seem to be messing up more often than not." Ninth held her hand up and stopped the slander. She knew that the Operators had no malicious intent with their mistakes. Weird things had been happening ever since that solar event, and even the top Operators had no idea why this was happening. And blaming them for their shortcomings won''t stop the problems. "They didn''t have time to prepare properly," Ninth explained. "HeadQuarters rushed this mission because there are kids trapped here that need our help." "But still¡­how are we going to kill this Canzer if it keeps regenerating?" Ninth took a deep breath and answered. "We keep killing it. Tell the soldiers that they need to inform HeadQuarters about this. We need the Operators to solve this fast." Just then, they suddenly saw the buildings around them shake. ''AWOOO!'' Surprisingly enough, the colossal Canzer regained enough strength to finally stand up by itself. It buried its claws onto the walls and used it to prop itself up. Its entire body was shaking as it forced itself to keep its back straight and howl at the black moon. "Damn. It recovered." "Ninth, permission to go all out?" The leader shook her head. She could feel that there were still some kids hiding around the buildings trying to evade capture. Unleashing all of their powers would surely destroy the city even more and bury the unfortunate kids under tons and tons of rubble. They can''t use their real strength. Using a fraction of their power was already a disadvantage by itself but it seemed that the Canzer gave itself an even bigger advantage to top it all off. "Umm¡­guys? You have to look at this." Slowly but surely, they all saw the Canzer grow larger as more and more brown liquid flowed up its body. It was gaining more and more strength as the time passed. "We have to kill it now before it gets any bigger!" "Let''s just go all out! Those kids are delinquents anyway. They deserve to lose their SoulTime." Ninth held on to her sword as she tried to think up a solution to stop this Canzer from getting any bigger. She could feel it. It was getting stronger and stronger by the second, slowly catching up to their collective strength. She had no choice. She had to break protocol and command her team to let loose before things got too dangerous. But just then, out of the corner of everyone''s eyes, they suddenly saw a thin line appear in the sky and headed straight towards the Canzer. Ninth enhanced her eyes and looked at what it was. Her eyes widened. It was a silver projectile. Chapter 113: Hubris This silver projectile was almost microscopic compared to the sheer size of the colossal Humanoid Wolf. It was almost imperceptible. But the sharp eyes and instincts of the Canzer allowed it to see the oncoming projectile with ease. It looked at the puny humans below and saw that it came from none of them. If it was, then it wouldn''t have been this weak. The Canzer followed the trajectory of the silver bullet as it arced through the air and knew that it was headed straight for its head. Even though it was fast, for Canzers and Saviors of this level, it was as slow as a snail. The power behind it was almost non-existent as it lost most of its power just traveling at such great distances. There was no magic or special power bestowed on the projectile, just pure brute strength. The Canzer almost couldn''t believe that the humans thought that this pathetic attack would even scratch its majestic body. It wouldn''t even get past a single fur. Distraction, the Humanoid Wolf thought. This was a mere parlor trick from the humans to draw its attention away from them. The Canzer kept its focus on the Specialist Saviors below. They might be puny, but they packed quite a punch. However, when it looked at the humans, it saw that they were also looking at the projectile coming towards the Wolf''s head. It wasn''t even going to pay attention to such trivial matters. But then, as the projectile rocketed towards its head, the Canzer realized that this projectile was no mere rock. It was made out of silver! As small as it might be, silver was the bane of its existence. Its fur shot up in panic as the Canzer tried to dodge away from the projectile. But it seemed to have forgotten the weakness of having a gigantic body. It may possess untold strength, but that comes at the cost of agility and speed. The silver pellet shot through the gap between its eyes and its skin, embedding itself deep inside its skull. The Humanoid Wolf froze in place. It had its arms up in the air, stuck in the moment where it tried to swipe away the silver projectile from its face. Everyone watched as the Canzer''s colossal body fell backward like a statue that was pushed over. The monster could do nothing as it fell on its back right on top of the walls. The ground shook as its gigantic body crashed on the ground, sending rubble flying everywhere. But in the midst of all the metal crashing and concrete exploding, a single crack resounded throughout the Pocket Remedium. The Specialist Saviors all had their jaws wide open as they looked at the listless body of the Canzer. There was no mistaking it. The monster was dead. It''s spine was split in half! They couldn''t believe what happened. The energy and pressure they were feeling from the Canzer were gone entirely as if they never existed in the first place. It wasn''t recovering nor was it regenerating. It was dead. "What just happened?!" "I don''t know¡­" "Ninth, did you do something?" She shook her head. Everyone looked at each other and none of them admitted that they used their powers. But somehow, the Canzer was dead. It made no sense. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "That means that it''s the silver projectile that killed it," Ninth muttered in the silence. "Ey, ey, no way!" "That''s simply not possible." "We all saw what it was. Even if it was made out of silver, it didn''t have enough power to kill a Canzer of that level. That was a Specialist-level Canzer, you know!" But Ninth was sure that it was the silver pellet that dealt the final blow to the monster. It somehow did enough damage to the Canzer and caused it to fall to its back and break its spine in half, killing it instantly. "We injured it to the point of near-death, but it was the silver projectile that caused its death. It used the brown liquid to make itself bigger and stronger instead of healing its injuries thinking that it can kill us first before we can kill it. What a stupid move." Everyone accepted Ninth''s explanation, but it still didn''t explain how that silver projectile could cause the Canzer to stumble in the first place. Its fur and hide were too thick for such a weak projectile to penetrate through, even if it was through the vulnerable gaps in its body. Just then, one of the soldiers called out to the Saviors above. "An Operator is here to see you," he said. Ninth looked back and saw a bespectacled black-haired woman wearing a blue battle suit flying towards them. Unlike the Specialist Saviors, she used the rockets on her feet to fly. "It''s an honor to meet the Inquisitor, Miss Pterina," Ninth greeted her. Pterina Pterodinus was the Operator who questioned Atlan when he awoke in the church. "The honor is all mine, Ninth, but we don''t have time to chit-chat. I''m here to deliver the new Canzer Report. However, the new construct is delayed and will be delivered a short while later. You will have to fight the Canzer for a little while longer." Pterina handed the stone tablet to Ninth. It was only then that she noticed that all seven of them were looking at her with a weird expression. "Why is no one fighting the Canzer?" she asked. "Because it''s dead." Your next chapter is on m v|l-e''-NovelFire.net "Dead?! How?" "That''s what I''m trying to find out," Ninth said as she looked at the stone tablet in her hands. The Canzer Report indicated that they were fighting against a Destruction Canzer with a species of a Werewolf. This was what they received from the previous Canzer Report, but that was clearly missing something. The previous report didn''t account for the Canzer to be a subspecies of a giant. The way to disable a Werewolf''s regeneration was through a silver bullet to the chest. However, this was no normal Werewolf Canzer. This was a Giant Werewolf Canzer. And the weakness of a Giant was their hubris. This meant that in order to defeat a Giant Werewolf Canzer, then they would have to fire the silver bullet to its chest while it underestimated them¨Cwhile it was arrogant and prideful. Her thoughts pulled back to the silver projectile and pieced together the truth. The Canzer died because it underestimated the silver projectile! Chapter 114: Ninth name Ninth couldn''t believe it. Was it pure luck? Or did whoever fire that projectile know about the Giant Werewolf''s weakness? They must have known that it was weak against silver since they used it as ammo. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She followed the projectile''s trajectory and saw that it came from the City Center. It was fired from an incredibly long distance! No kid at the low Student stage could ever have the strength to pull that off. The only ones that could even have the strength to do that were either that kid Razer from Olympus or Yasmine. However, none of them had LifeSkills that related to projectiles. She didn''t even sense any power from the silver pellet at all. Whoever fired it off used only their pure brute strength! She couldn''t believe that anyone would be that accurate without the use of a LifeSkill. But they did. She wanted to know who this person was. "Ninth, did you find anything about how it died?" She shook her head. "Not yet." Pterina fixed her eyeglasses. "This is incredibly strange. We hadn''t even finished procuring the construct, yet the Canzer is already dead. The Werewolf should have continued to be immortal." None of them could bring out a satisfying answer for the Inquisitor. She was an Operator, so she knew best about how Canzers were dealt with. No amount of pure power could overcome a Destruction Canzer''s regenerative ability. It was the reason why Operators were crucial in missions. This was the first time this happened. The weird thing about this was that no one admitted to doing it. If they brought themselves forward, then they would have been rewarded by HeadQuarters for such an amazing feat. "Could it be an Operator? How else would they have known to use silver?" Pterina shook her head at the guess. She was the only Operator sanctioned to enter the Remedium during this circumstance. She wouldn''t even be allowed to step foot near the portal if she didn''t have to deliver the new Canzer Report to the Saviors. "I''ll have to investigate this thoroughly. HeadQuarters is going to want some answers. And since you''re already here, why don''t we start with all of you." Ninth shrugged. Interrogation was normal protocol during anomalies like this, so she wasn''t surprised. Sooner or later, Pterina would have come knocking on their doors anyway. "Tell me your basic information: your name, power realm, and your mission." "My name is Neumann the Ninth. I am at the 3rd stage of the Specialist Realm and my mission is to lead my team and extinguish the dangerous Canzer in this Pocket Remedium¡­" ### Yasmine and Atlan kept their bodies low as they sprinted from street to street, making sure to avoid any soldiers patrolling the area. Continue reading on m|v-l''e -NovelFire.net To leave this Pocket Remedium, they would have to find their way back to the mansion where the portal was located. However, the only way to get back to the mansion was to go through hundreds of soldiers stationed all around the perimeter. The nearer they got to the Orioness mansion, the harder it was to evade the soldiers. Yasmine was the one leading Atlan through the secluded alleyways, but she only relied on her senses to hear the footsteps of the soldiers. She couldn''t sense the soldiers standing in place. Atlan took charge of their escape once she realized that he could sense soldiers even better than her. She looked at him in surprise once he was able to sense five guards standing behind the wall to surprise the other delinquents. It was as if he could see through walls! With his accurate senses, they were able to advance through the streets and avoid the soldiers lurking to catch them. Once they caught sight of the mansion, they saw tens of soldiers guarding the gates and the doors with their electric batons activated. They had to stop for a minute and think up a solution. "Let''s see if there''s a gap in their security," whispered Yasmine. While they observed guards, they saw three individual Saviors try to run past the security. They successfully caught the guards off guard and got past the gate, but they failed to take account of the other soldiers inside the mansion. They ended up getting tased as soon as they stepped foot past the door. "Looks like we can''t run inside," whispered Atlan. Yasmine looked around the mansion and calculated that the best way to get in was through the roof or the top floors. However, the buildings close to the mansion were tightly guarded to prevent delinquents from infiltrating in. The only place with no guards was the third floor facing south. It was clear why. There were no buildings near it for an easy jump. If someone wanted to infiltrate the third floor, they would have to jump from a roof 50 meters away! Normal Student realm Saviors had no way of jumping that gap. Of course, Yasmine and Atlan were no mere Saviors. She led Atlan towards the next-door building and made their way up to the roof. Now that they were here, fifty meters looked far. Yasmine had no confidence in jumping that far, so she had to use her mutation called ''Stepping Stone'' which allowed her to step on air. Yasmine looked away from Atlan and muttered something under her breath. "Ho¡ªhold¡­my hand and¡­I''ll take you where we need to go¡­" I''m only doing this because we can''t jump that far. I''m not doing this just because I want to hold his hand¡ªnot that I want to! When she didn''t feel the warmth of his hand, Yasmine whipped her head to the side and was surprised to see no one there. She looked forward and saw Atlan on the third floor, waving at her with an annoying smile on his face. He already jumped and made it all the way there! Yasmine kept her head down as she stepped into the air and slowly made her way to the third floor. Atlan tilted his head. "Why do you look mad?" "Nothing!" Chapter 115: Kill assist Atlan didn''t know why she was so mad all of a sudden. He thought she''d be happy that they finally got to the mansion. Yasmine had no intention of ever telling Atlan why she was mad. She herself didn''t even know why she was angry. Perhaps, she just didn''t want to admit it. Instead of thinking about it further, she opened the door to the 3rd floor and went inside the mansion. Atlan followed behind her, still clueless. The third floor was full of large rooms and an expansive hallway full of paintings worshiping the Genesis God. Read latest chapters at m_v-l''e|-NovelFire.net This floor didn''t have any guards at all. After all, no one thought that the kids would ever be able to get through from the 3rd floor. When they reached the staircase that led down to the 1st floor, they immediately heard the sounds and murmurs of soldiers guarding the portal. They carefully put their heads over the railings and peaked at the situation below. Just as they expected, they stationed the most soldiers near the portal entrance. There were two on each side of the entrance, with five other guards standing near them for support. Yasmine bit her lips. She didn''t know how they were going to get to the portal without having to fight the guards. With her strength and skill, fighting five guards at the same time was no problem at all. However, resisting arrest and harming soldiers warranted an ever bigger punishment if caught. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "We need a distraction," Atlan said. He took out his slingshot and armed it with his condensed soil pellet. He aimed at the priceless vase encased in glass opposite the portal entrance. The soldiers would be forced to investigate the crashing sound if he hit the vase. Yasmine wanted to stop him. She never saw Atlan use his slingshot throughout the competition and thought that he was a bad shot. After all, he was a porter with no sniping LifeSkill to help him aim. If he missed and hit a soldier, then he could get in even bigger trouble. But before she could even utter a single word, Atlan let go of the slingshot and it accurately shot the vase with no deviation at all. She was left speechless. She saw the pellet thread the needle through a small gap between the soldier''s left arm and his body without him even knowing about it. Atlan acted like this was extremely easy, but Yasmine knew how difficult that was to replicate. He can subdue Canzers. He can sense soldiers beyond walls. He can use a slingshot like a pro¡­what more can this guy do?! The more she spent time with Atlan, the more she was opened up to his talents. It was as if he was good at everything he did! She even felt like the title of ''genius'' should be given to him instead. Her newfound perspective on Atlan was conflicting for her heart. On one hand, she was impressed with his talent and admired him even more for it. However, the competitive blood within her wanted to fight him and prove who was better between them. Is he a friend or a rival? "Mine, what are you doing? Let''s go!" Atlan took the opportunity and went down the stairs while the soldiers investigated the crashing sound. But when he looked back, Yasmine was still on the third floor. It took a moment for Yasmine to shake off her thoughts and follow Atlan to the first floor. The two guards near the portal walked forward, but they didn''t take more than a few meters away from the portal. Yasmine took out her sword and launched a miniature flaming dragon that crashed through the door near the investigating soldiers. The disturbance immediately left them rattled as they took out their batons. "Is it a Pseudo Canzer?!" "Keep your eyes peeled!" "We need reinforcements!" The two soldiers finally went past their station, which allowed Atlan and Yasmine to sneak past behind them. However, one of the soldiers thought he heard something from behind him. He immediately whipped his head back, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, Yasmine and Atlan had their bodies incredibly close as they forced themselves inside a locker near the portal. They had their bodies clasped together. Yasmine could feel Atlan slowing down his breath to stay silent. The locker got incredibly hot all of a sudden as Yasmine''s face turned beet red. She looked up at him and saw that he was also a bit embarrassed. This was the first time Atlan was so close to a girl before. He could feel it on his chest, her¡ª Why do I feel it even through armor? Don''t think about that right now. I have to focus¡­ They kept silent, with only their chests heaving up and down. Their breaths exchanged because their heads were so close together, with their noses almost touching. Outside, one of the soldiers shouted. "What are you doing? They need reinforcements!" The soldier lingered his eyes on the locker for a second, before turning forward and going towards the other soldiers. "I''m coming," he said. After a few seconds, Atlan and Yasmine both walked out of the locker and made their way to the portal. They stepped foot over the shimmering black liquid portal and finally got back to the real world. They walked out of the Pocket Remedium and into the room where the portal was based. Thankfully, there were no soldiers here. They safely went out the door and onto the streets. And just as Atlan was going to relax, he suddenly saw a few words pop up in front of him. [You have assisted in killing a Destruction Canzer: Giant Werewolf] [Due to your trait, your rewards have been multiplied by 10] [You have gained 20,000 experience] [You have gained D class Bloodline Transformation LifeSkill] [You have gained 10x F class fragments] Atlan looked at his Soul System and couldn''t keep his calm. ¡ªBerserker: (D) Bloodline Transformation ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Pre-Intern ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 10x F class fragments This new LifeSkill was in the Pre-Intern realm! Chapter 116: Do you? Atlan couldn''t even believe that his silver pellet helped kill the colossal Canzer. He knew that it was going to hit the Humanoid Wolf, but he wasn''t sure if his strength would be enough to penetrate its tough skin. As it turned out, it did. He assisted in killing the monster and got rewarded for his contribution. The only thing he thought he''d get was a lot of experience, which was true. He got 20,000 experience just from that one Canzer because it was at a higher difficulty than Atlan''s stage. He was only in the Student realm while he guessed that the Canzer was even beyond that. However, he hadn''t expected that he would get a LifeSkill from it too! And it wasn''t just any LifeSkill, it was a berserker LifeSkill at the Pre-Intern realm! It was the realm above the Student stage. He didn''t even think that it was possible. All the LifeSkills I got started at the 1st stage Student. It must be because all the Canzers I killed are also at the Student stage difficulty. But this Canzer is above that. It''s probably the reason why it started in the Pre-Intern realm. Now that he knew that this was a possibility, he was tempted to fight stronger and stronger Canzers. If he fought another Canzer like that colossal Humanoid Wolf, then it was more than possible to get a LifeSkill at the Intern realm or even at the Specialist realm! Stop. It''s already lucky for me to have come out alive from that incident. If reinforcements didn''t come, then that Canzer could have killed all of us¡­ Your adventure continues at m v|l-e''-NovelFire.net Atlan had to remind himself that huge rewards always came with huge risks. Even if he only wanted to go to Pocket Remediums and kill tons and tons of Pseudo Canzers, there was no telling whether an anomaly like this incident would happen again. It was likely that another colossal Canzer could appear if he kept on summoning Pseudo Canzers endlessly. Although he would get a lot of LifeSkills, Genuses, and experience from killing a lot of Pseudo Canzers, it wasn''t worth risking his life for. I don''t even know if people will still open their Pocket Remediums once this incident becomes widespread. It was only a matter of time till they found out that there were people killed inside the Pocket Remedium. "Are you listening to me?" Yasmine faced Atlan with a serious look on her face. Atlan was too focused on his Soul System that he didn''t hear anything Yasmine said. "It was nice spending time with you," Yasmine said. "But I can''t be your friend. I can''t be anyone''s. I will always prioritize my progression over building relationships with others." Atlan stayed silent. He was thankful to Yasmine for helping him evade capture. He also enjoyed those brief moments when she showed her true self and talked with him like a normal person. However, she always seemed to put on a cold face soon after. "You are my rival. I am yours. Don''t you dare have others, okay?" Yasmine leaned and poked his chest to make sure he remembered. Competing with him was the only way she could rationalize her obsession with him. Without saying anything else, Yasmine turned around and slowly walked away. Atlan would have wanted to be friends with Yasmine, but she respected her decision. He was glad that she considered him as someone to beat. "Girl''s hearts are fickle, aren''t they?" Two people suddenly came out from the room where the portal was located. They wore white tunics with green sashes over their shoulders¡ªa Vanguard battle suit from the great Olympus mountain rangers. Atlan was surprised to see two familiar faces: Razer and Sola. "I hope you''re not here to continue our fight. I''m not in the mood." Razer innocently raised both of his hands. "Don''t worry, Star Porter. I''m not here to settle our differences." Their previous fight left Razer coughing up blood with an internal injury. It burned his competitive spirit. He would have wanted to brawl it out with Atlan right in the Pocket Remedium, but the horde of Pseudo Canzers stopped him from trying to fight seriously. Razer and Atlan chatted to themselves. Sola, on the other hand, kept her eyes on Atlan. She couldn''t believe what she heard from Razer. He said that the Genesian porter had the capacity to fight on equal grounds against him, even while using all of his mutations and LifeSkill. She simply couldn''t believe it. There was a two-stage difference between them; they shouldn''t be equal at all. Yet, Razer swore on the All-Father that Atlan had a 50% percent chance of defeating him in a duel. Even the other Olympians who saw Atlan''s strength first-hand endorsed him as someone who could rival the genius Razer. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She knew that they wouldn''t lie about it, but the picture they painted was still too much of an exaggeration for her to believe. The two of them didn''t fight in the race, so she didn''t know anything about his capabilities. "Have you recovered from your injuries?" asked Atlan. Razer nodded his head. "Yes. I was knocked out by that colossal Canzer but the body bestowed upon me by the Almighty Zeus allowed me to recover quite quickly. Gah! That was one monster. I heard it''s a Specialist-level Canzer at that. No wonder I lost an entire year of my SoulTime from just one of its attacks." So it was a Specialist-level Canzer. No wonder I got a Pre-Intern LifeSkill. "How about you? Did you tussle with the beast?" "I ran away from the Canzer," Atlan answered. "Hoh! A sensible action. Don''t worry. We''ll have plenty of time to get stronger and kill Specialist level Canzers with the flick of our fingers!" Sola couldn''t believe that Razer was talking about killing Canzers with Atlan. He was a porter; they weren''t supposed to kill Canzers. "By the way. I speak on behalf of all our Gods when I say that you are one of the bravest heroes the world has ever seen. Do you want to join Olympus?" Chapter 117: Greek prize "We could use a guy like you in our Metropolis. You''ll give our geniuses a run for their money." Atlan was speechless at the offer. He didn''t think that he would get recruited by one of the best Metropolises in the entire world! Their Territory consisted of multiple mountains, each bigger than Genesis City itself. And the bigger the territory was, the more prosperous it was for their citizens. This was a tremendous honor for someone like Atlan. He was only from the Unclaimed Lands, but he was already getting offers from a Metropolis even though he had only been in Genesis City for less than a month! "If you join Olympus, then you will be under the tutelage of a sub-god under Zeus called Ares, the God of War." Sola''s eyes widened. "Wait! He''s getting recruited by Ares?" She knew that Atlan was getting recruited by an Olympian god, but she didn''t think it would be one of the major Olympian Gods, Ares! She thought it would only be a minor god without much power and territory. For him to get recruited by Ares meant that even Gods recognized his courage and valor on the battlefield. After all, he had already shown two great acts of heroism in his career as a porter, all in less than a month! Razer ignored Sola''s surprise and continued to explain. "He will bestow upon you a 7-star Genus upon your acceptance and an equivalent 7-star mutation that will help you shore up your weakness of having no damage-dealing LifeSkill. And as a drafting bonus, he will be giving you 500 years of SoulTime immediately. That''s not all. Since Ares is one of the major Olympian Gods, he is willing to let you have the opportunity to choose a treasure in Hephaesteus'' armory!" Sola''s heart almost stopped from her shock. Even she didn''t wasn''t allowed to choose her weapon from the divine armory. Yet, Atlan was given that honor just for accepting the offer to join Olympus. Getting drafted by such a prestigious Metropolis should have been enough of a reward by itself! "And if you don''t want to join his faction, you can also join Athena''s side. She''ll also offer you 7-star Genuses and mutations and bonus Soul Time. And you will have access to her library of wisdom. You can learn everything there is to know about warfare and how to defeat Canzers." This time, Sola''s knees went weak and she fell on the floor. Even though she was happy with Apollo as her god, she once wished that she was under the Goddess of wisdom and warfare. She couldn''t believe that the Goddess offered her hand to Atlan. Two of the major Olympian Gods wanted to recruit Atlan to their camps! This was an unbelievable situation reserved only for those truly talented individuals who came once in a thousand years. "I don''t know what to say¡­" Atlan never prepared for such a situation. "Easy. Accept it." But Atlan wasn''t sure if he wanted to leave Genesis City so fast. He hadn''t even explored the whole Territory yet. It hadn''t even been a month since he moved here and he was just starting to get settled down. He would have to start all over again if he moved to Olympus. "I''m not sure." "What''s there to think about? You''ll be getting a lot of benefits if you move out of Genesis City. You''ll be trained in Olympus and be given more responsibilities rather than be stuck as a porter." Discover hidden content at m,v l''e-NovelFire.net The benefits posed by the Gods truly tempted Atlan to say yes. After all, by publicly obtaining a 7-star bloodline and mutation, he wouldn''t have to hide his powers anymore. He could join missions and kill Canzers in a team rather than be a porter. "What''s there to think about? If you join Olympus, I''ll finally have a sparring partner with me!" Atlan kept silent as he thought about his decision. There was just one thing he was concerned about if he were to join Olympus. "Can you tell me exactly what would happen if I joined?" Razer crossed his arms on his chest and answered. "You''ll join us on our journey back to Olympus. It''ll take a while since it''s a long distance from here. Once we''re there, you''ll be assessed by Athena''s camp and be sorted into depending on your strength. Don''t worry, the test is very accurate. It''s overseen by the Gods to make sure to account for other factors other than physical strength. Sometimes, people like you are weak on the outside, but strong on other aspects like your speed, your intellect, and your bravery. The assessment makes sure to not discount those factors." That was a deal breaker for Atlan. He didn''t want others to find out about his Grim Reaper powers. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He knew that he would get assessed for his strength because that was what happened when he got drafted by Genesis City. That assessment was very informal, but it turned out great for Atlan because they didn''t find any anomaly with his powers. But if the Olympian Gods personally searched his whole body, they would undoubtedly find something wrong with him. That would be the worst-case scenario. I''m not going to join them, he decided. Even though those rewards were tempting, it wasn''t anything he couldn''t get by himself. He could continue reaping deaths and slowly work his way up to getting a 7-star Genus and mutation and more. It wasn''t worth risking his secret to get those benefits. "I''m sorry, but I don''t have any intention of leaving Genesis City for now." Sola''s jaws dropped when she heard that. It was one thing to get drafted by the Goddess of Wisdom, but it was another thing to reject Her! She couldn''t believe anyone would let go of such a lucrative opportunity. "Are you sure?" Razer asked him. Atlan took a deep breath and nodded his head. "I''m sure." Razer nodded his head in understanding. "I had a feeling you''d refuse." "Tell the Gods that I appreciate the offer, but I''m content with where I am now." "I''ll pray to them," Razer said. "Oh, and I forgot something. This is your prize for winning the competition. You have beaten me fair and square." Chapter 118: Black dye Atlan was surprised. Razer wanted to give him a prize. But perhaps no one was more surprised than Sola who knew that Razer was not the type of guy to admit defeat. "He won? Didn''t the competition get canceled before anyone could reach the finish line?" Razer shook his head. "I wasn''t talking about that. We had a new agreement where the guy who kills the most Pseudo Canzers wins the whole thing." Atlan seemed to have remembered hearing Razer shout something from a distance, but he didn''t think that he was serious about that. Sola, on the other hand, was even more confused. "Are you telling me that he killed more Pseudo Canzers than you? I''m sorry, but he''s only a porter! He shouldn''t even have the capacity to kill one Canzer!" She simply couldn''t believe that a Berserker lost against a Porter in a killing-Pseudo-Canzers competition. The main advantage of a Berserker was that they could kill as many enemies as possible in a short amount of time. Razer should have won this competition by virtue of his job alone. Find exclusive stories on mvl "Did you see him kill all of those Pseudo Canzers with your own eyes?" Razer shook his head. "I didn''t have to see it. Didn''t you wonder what happened to him once he sacrificed himself and led the majority of the horde away from us?" Once he said that, Sola cupped her mouth in shock. She forgot about it. Because of Atlan''s heroic deeds, they were able to push their way forward and reach the Colosseum. They would have reached the portal if that colossal Humanoid Wolf hadn''t blocked their way. The appearance of such a monster made them forget about Atlan. If Razer hadn''t made her remember, then she wouldn''t have wondered how Atlan was able to survive such a massive horde of Canzers. She seemed to have remembered hundreds and hundreds of monsters hot on Atlan''s tail. How did he survive? Don''t tell me¡­he really did kill all of those Pseudo Canzers?! That''s absurd! I have a DPS job but even I can''t kill that much. Razer smiled and put his hands on Atlan''s shoulders. "I was only able to kill about 150 Pseudo Canzers before I had to go and support Sola and the others on their way to the Colosseum. Since you survived much longer than I did, then I suppose you killed much more than that. Tell me, how many did you kill? 180? 190? Or maybe even 200?" Atlan killed a total of 392 Pseudo Canzers in the span of a few minutes, with only two moves. Of course, he would never say that out loud. If he told them the truth, Razer would probably believe it but Sola would start to get suspicious. It could reveal his secret. So, Atlan simply shrugged and didn''t say anything further. Razer laughed when he saw this. He knew that Atlan probably killed a lot of Pseudo Canzers but simply didn''t want to tell the truth. He could still feel that punch in the gut that he suffered after he underestimated Atlan. And if he punched those Pseudo Canzers with the same strength, then he did not doubt that Atlan killed hundreds of monsters with his strength. "How many did you kill?!" Sola was unsatisfied with Atlan''s answer. He could have simply said that he killed about 50 monsters, and she would still be impressed. But the fact that he didn''t say anything made her think that he killed much more than that. "Argh. It''s such a shame that you won''t be coming with us to Olympus. Who else would challenge me this much? It doesn''t matter. We''ll probably meet again once we have advanced further up our realms. I''m looking forward to that time." Razer took out something from his pocket. "Here. I hope it fits you." He gave Atlan a neatly folded white tunic. It had the same fabric and make as the uniforms that the Olympians wore. "I thought I told you I won''t be joining Olympus." "Haha! Don''t worry. That''s not a battle suit like ours. It''s more of an¡­accessory¡­" Atlan unfolded the tunic to find that it was much longer than he thought. It was too oversized. The hems of the tunic would drag across the floor if he wore this. "Thanks¡­?" "Don''t think too much of this gift. It''s just one of our essential accessories whenever we travel outside Olympus. Sometimes, when we travel to new territories, we want to keep our identities a secret for a few days to observe how the City operates. That accessory keeps us low-key." Atlan observed the tunic, but he couldn''t understand how an oversized white robe would keep them low-key. It looked like it would catch everyone''s attention. "Just put it on." He looked at the tunic with his Thermal Vision and saw that there was a slight unnatural warmth permeating the tunic. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It looks like one of those blue Operator battle suits. Is there a hidden mechanism embedded in this? He checked with his Physique LifeSkill and sensed nothing malicious with the robe. He finally put it on. Once he put it over his green battle suit, the white tunic started to shrink and slowly fit to his size. He now felt as if he was wearing a white battle suit made out of the tunic. "That is called a Stealth Tunic. It can change to any color, any fabric, or any design you can think of. If you want to blend in with the crowd, you can make your outfit fit with the current fashion trend. If you want to seem buffed, you can make it seem like you have armor all over your body. The possibilities are endless." Atlan looked down at his white battle suit and commanded it to change into a new color. Soon enough, black dye permeated from the top of his shoulders down to the bottom of his feet. His battle suit was now colored in sleek black. Chapter 119: Hot or cold? Atlan walked through the calm streets of Genesis City back to his house. He looked down at his new black battle suit and found that it fit him quite well. Black suits me. Once Razer gave him his ''prize'' for winning their competition, the Olympians soon said their goodbyes. They said that they still had to fill out a lot of paperwork with Genesis City because of this incident. Since they were only visitors, they were only given a slap on the wrist instead of a total blacklist on missions like the other Genesians that were caught. He heard from Razer that the lightest punishment for the delinquents was 1 year of prison time. For Atlan, that wasn''t that harsh of a punishment because he already had enough experience from reaping all the deaths. He just needed time to consolidate his advancements to other stages. Of course, he would rather go on missions and kill Canzers on his own. His new Pre-Intern stage Berserk LifeSkill taught him that there were a lot more rewards for him if he fought stronger and stronger Canzers. It was risky, but if Atlan survived, then he would only get stronger and stronger, which would allow him to fight stronger opponents and continue the cycle. What am I thinking¡­did I forget that there''s no immortality to protect me? From this incident alone, Atlan witnessed two people die from the colossal Humanoid Wolf. They didn''t even know what hit them. They died instantly. The worst part about it was that he was probably the only person who knew that they died. The Olympians and the Genesians all thought that those who ''died'' could still be revived in the church. They still thought that the Angels preserved their lives. Read latest chapters at mvl Because of that, nobody mourned their deaths. When he asked Razer and Sola about what they were going to do with the ''corpses'', they replied that they were going to send them back to Olympus to receive blessing from the gods. Atlan didn''t even know if he could call them corpses at this point. They were more like a mushy soup of blood and flesh which they scraped off the streets in the Remedium. Of course, Atlan didn''t say anything to them. He simply waved them goodbye and said nothing further. If they went back to Olympus and saw that the dead bodies weren''t getting resurrected, then they would know it by then. After a few minutes, Atlan stopped walking. He didn''t notice it but he was finally at his doorstep. He was so preoccupied with thinking about that stuff that he didn''t notice that he was already home. All he wanted to do now was to lay in his comfortable bed and fall asleep after a long day, but he couldn''t. He still had to check something. ¡ªBerserker: (D) Bloodline Transformation ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Pre-Intern ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ( 0/100,000 ) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 10x F class fragments Atlan immediately used up his extra fragments to upgrade its class. ¡ªBerserker: (B) Bloodline Transformation ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Pre-Intern ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ( 0/100,000 ) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments He was tempted to immediately upgrade it to the 2nd stage Pre-Intern realm. However, the required experience made him doublethink his decision. Although he could afford it, he wondered whether it was worth it or not. [Available Experience: 127,281.2] Should I see how this LifeSkill works first? Atlan looked down at his Soul System and saw a new planet orbiting the solar system made up of his LifeSkills. He was surprised to see that the design plastered all over the surface of the planet was the helix structure of his Genuses! And it didn''t just copy his multiple Genuses, it copied the two 10-star rarity Genuses he had: the Angel genus and the Grim Reaper genus. The LifeSkill name is called Bloodline Transformation. And those two 10-star genuses are what made my bloodline into what it is now. Does that mean that I will transform into those two Genuses? Atlan took a quick look around his house with his Thermal Vision. When he saw that there was no one spying on him, Atlan commanded his giant hand to hover around his new LifeSkill. With bated breaths, the giant hand slowly gripped the LifeSkill planet. Atlan was surprised to see that it could touch the planet, which meant that he could activate the LifeSkill right away! It wasn''t like the Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill that needed a projectile to activate. It also wasn''t like the Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill that needed a stationary target to grip the LifeSkill. He could use it right now! Excitement filled his body. He never thought he''d be able to activate a Pre-Intern LifeSkill so soon. He didn''t know what to expect. After all, he didn''t even know the difference between a Student and a Pre-Intern. He didn''t know how big the power difference was between the two. As he gripped the LifeSkill planet with his giant hand, a hot and cold sensation flowed through his veins. On the left side of his body, hot liquid flowed alongside his blood and boiled his flesh. On the right side, cold liquid froze all his blood and his organs into submission. The two forces were fighting inside his body, waging wars and destroying his innards. Kugh! This was the first time that Atlan felt pain and suffering from activating his LifeSkill. He fell on his knees. Even his SSS class Physique couldn''t overcome the tyrannical rule of both sides. [SoulTime] ¡ª40 yrs : 111 d : 01 hrs : 09 min : 23 s ¡ª40 yrs : 111 d : 01 hrs : 08 min : 23 s ¡ª40 yrs : 111 d : 01 hrs : 07 min : 23 s He was losing a minute of his SoulTime every second! There must be something wrong with this LifeSkill¡­Kagh!...Is it because it''s in the Pre-Intern realm and my body can''t take it yet? But as Atlan thought about it, he figured out that it wasn''t his body that couldn''t take it. It was the LifeSkill itself! Two types of energies flowed from his LifeSkill and those two were fighting trying to dominate each other. They couldn''t co-exist within the same space! One of them had to go. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan had to choose. Hot or Cold? Chapter 120: Horrifying face With each second he struggled to decide which one to win the battle, their war raged on with much more intensity and carnage. He was horrified to see his SoulTime losing one day for each second it kept going.He had to choose. He closed off his brain and emptied his mind. He finally intervened and let one of the two energies win and permeate through his veins. The other one receded back to his Soul System and stayed dormant knowing that it lost this battle. As the one energy monopolized his body, his very DNA began to change, down to the very molecule. Even though his bloodline was that of an ''Angelic Reaper of Souls'', his appearance remained that of a human. However, this LifeSkill allowed him to unlock that secret power that was hidden within him. Slowly, his skin turned darker and darker as if it was rotting. Atlan felt no pain from this, only comfort. The energy that circulated throughout his body no longer acted like a wild bull. It became an obedient horse that guided his transformation into something beyond a human. His rotting skin seemed to have thinned as his bones became more visible from under it. But that wasn''t accurate. It was more like his bones grew until it seemed as if his flesh disappeared. Even though his muscles receded under his bones, it seemed as if Atlan was filled with more power than he ever thought possible. He felt like he could lift a mountain! His physical strength exceeds that of his Physique LifeSkill by at least five times! His skin continued to rot and decay, spreading from his toes and up towards his torso. His stomach emptied as if he was emaciated and hadn''t eaten in an entire year. His rib cage became even more prominent in his chest. The decay spread even to his battle suit, treating it as if it were part of Atlan''s body itself. It wasn''t long until the decay spread up to his head. He couldn''t see himself, but it was easy to imagine what would happen to his face. The temperature in the room plummeted. His whole body was emitting a cold that could freeze water with just a touch. Smoke came out of his rotten skin as the room-temperature air hit his icy cold skin. CRACK Ice spread from his feet down to the tiles under him. It couldn''t handle the pressure and cracked. After the rot spread to every inch of his body, Atlan felt a sense of completion. He knew his transformation was finished. His entire mass radiated with cold, dark power. Is this the power of a Pre-Intern? Atlan felt as if he was filled with boundless energy. He was so full of it that he was almost bursting at the seams, manifesting as cold and frost outside his decaying body. But even though he had a boundless energy source coming from his Soul System itself, Atlan had no way of converting that to useful power. He felt like he could create flaming dragons out of his hands or create tornadoes the size of a building, but Atlan had no idea how to. The only way he could use this energy was to reinforce his body and increase his physical strength. It was crude and basic, but it was the only way he could harness this energy. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What do I look like? Atlan slowly made his way towards the bathroom where he could see himself in the large mirror. He kept his steps delicate and soundless. Once he was inside, he closed his eyes and readied himself to see his bloodline transformation. 3¡­2¡­1¡­ A skull with empty eye sockets stared back at him as soon as he opened his eyes. There were bits and pieces of rotting skin still stuck onto his bones, making the image that much more macabre. "Argh!" He stumbled back. He wasn''t ready to see such a horrible image of himself staring right back at him. It was as if he was looking at his own decaying corpse. It made him remember the memories down in the Unclaimed Lands. Back in his homeland, all he ever did was dig through an endless tunnel of gray, hot sand underground. And there were times when he would unearth a corpse that died from starvation or dehydration. They looked exactly like he did right now. With his new life, he thought he wouldn''t end up like that anymore. Horrifying¡­ Atlan was so spooked that he subconsciously commanded the Stealth Tunic to create a black robe that covered his entire body. That wasn''t enough to hide his frightening face. He created a hood that covered half his head. He took a deep breath and looked at the mirror again. This time, he saw a mysterious figure of a man wearing a black robe with his face obscured by the darkness under his hood. "That''s better¡­" He didn''t think he''d appreciate the Stealth Tunic as much as he did right now. This black robe made him seem like a normal man who was simply enshrouded in mystery. He wasn''t a rotting corpse anymore. Atlan took a couple of deep breaths and centered himself. Once he looked past his horrifying appearance, this LifeSkill was even better than he thought. Not only did he gain tremendous power that would rival those in the Pre-Intern realm, but he also transformed into something completely different from who he was. If he didn''t even recognize himself, then nobody would. If he wanted to keep his identity a secret, this would be a useful trump card to have in his arsenal of LifeSkills. If more anomalies happened during his missions in the Remedium, a power equivalent to the Pre-Intern realm would save his life in case of emergencies. And with this transformation, he wouldn''t have to worry about others finding out about his secrets. The only problem with this was that he couldn''t use his other LifeSkills at the same time as he was maintaining the transformation. He could only create one giant hand to grasp one LifeSkill planet. If he could somehow create another giant hand, then he could use his other LifeSkills in tandem with his transformation. Unfortunately, it seemed his willpower wasn''t the only criterion to create a giant hand. Chapter 121: What happened to him? Atlan''s body regained its natural color once he let go of his LifeSkill planet. His face returned to the youthful appearance as it was before, with no trace of rotting flesh in his skin.Despite its horrifying appearance, his new Berserk LifeSkill was a trump card that he appreciated dearly. Just as he thought, the bloodline transformation was like a mutation, except this one transformed his whole body. Now that he knew its usefulness, Atlan decided to upgrade it to the 2nd stage. It was better to invest in it now because that one-stage difference could mean the difference between life and death. He could always reap more deaths in the future and with his trait, all of it would be multiplied by 10, making it quite easy to gain a lot in a short amount of time. [You have successfully advanced through the 1st Stage Student Realm of your B class Berserk LifeSkill Bloodline Transformation] [Consolidation period: 364 days] A whole year?! Atlan didn''t expect the consolidation period to be so long. If the Pre-Intern realm already took this long to consolidate, then how about the Specialist Realm? Do they have to wait an entire century to advance to the next stage? Perhaps it was because he was raised from the Unclaimed Lands, but his time perception was completely different than those that lived their whole lives in a God''s Territory. For them, a century might seem as short as one year, but for Atlan, it was enough to live a full life. If he was them, then he couldn''t wait that long to advance his LifeSkills. Who knew what would happen in the meantime? An anomaly could occur at any moment, with each one getting worse and worse than the previous one. Atlan was lucky that he got a head start to consolidate his Pre-Intern LifeSkill. He was glad that he paid for the 100,000 experience now. He could gain ten times that much in an entire year. He slumped down on the bed and slept soundly. His comfortable bed and pillow constantly reminded him that he was far away from the hot gray sands of the Unclaimed Lands. ### The next morning, Atlan woke up seeing that one of his LifeSkills reached the next stage. [You have successfully advanced your SR class Scout LifeSkill Thermal Vision to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] And without missing a beat, he spent another 2000 experience to upgrade it to the next stage. In about 2 days, it would level up to the 3rd stage. Even though this LifeSkill had no damage-dealing capacity, it gave him vision throughout the battlefield. Because he upgraded it to SR class, he could now see through walls and see the temperature difference between a human and a Canzer with great detail. And just as he activated his Thermal Vision, he saw that there was a horse mount parked right on the curb in front of his house. The owner of this mount walked up to his porch and elegantly knocked on his door. Even though he couldn''t see her face, he recognized the general outline of her body. She had straight hair with glasses on her face. Not only that, her battle suit had different intersecting lines that glowed red hot around her body. This was not a Vanguard. This was an Operator. Why is she here? Atlan opened the door and saw Pterina Pterodinus standing opposite him. It hadn''t even been a few days since they first met in the church, but she already looked quite haggard and stressed out. She nudged up her glasses and put away her tablet as she greeted Atlan with a bright smile. "Good morning, Atlan." "Good morning¡­what are you doing here?" "May I?" Atlan gestured for her to enter. They went over towards the kitchen where he poured her a glass of water. "Thank you." She took a sip. "Ahh¡­it''s been a while since I''ve had cold water." She took her time drinking the water as if this was the first sip she''d ever had in an entire week. "Are you here to arrest me?" Atlan asked. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It wasn''t hard to guess that HeadQuarters already knew that he was at that party last night. They probably questioned all of the participants and his name must have come up in the conversation. After all, he was the only competitor who was able to go from last place to first place. Thankfully Pterina didn''t seem to be here for that. She quickly shook her head to ease Atlan''s worries. "Don''t worry. I''m not here to arrest you for your participation in that illegal party. If you were caught yesterday, then we would have punished you the same as the others. But the fact that you were able to circumvent our security means that you have a good ability to think on your feet. We need that nowadays." Atlan was relieved that he wasn''t going to get punished with a one-year blacklist in missions. "What are you here for?" "As you know, I am an Inquisitor. My job is to find out everything there is to know about the incident last night. If you didn''t know, that monster you all faced was at the 1st stage Specialist difficulty. You were lucky you preserved your SoulTime. Others weren''t so fortunate. There were about 3 Olympians and 20 Genesians that lost their SoulTime last night. It was tragic. They''ll need about two or three years of recuperation in the church to regenerate from a single blood cell back to their original bodies." Atlan kept silent. No matter how much they tried, those blood will die. They won''t regenerate back into life. "Because of this, the regulations on Pocket Remediums have become stricter. Tsk. tsk. Tsk. The Orioness family is quite in a delicate situation right now. They are responsible for opening up their Pocket Remedium in such a turbulent time. By the way, I heard from a lot of people that you clashed with the youngest Orioness, Obek. Did you happen to know what happened to him after you defeated him in the race?" Atlan felt the air change. He saw Pterina''s entire body glow brighter as she used her Inquisitor LifeSkill to inspect Atlan''s next words. Chapter 122: I wouldn’t know [Unauthorized probe detected][Lie detection denied.] Atlan expected that she would start interrogating him, but he didn''t think that her first question would relate to Obek. "No. I don''t know what happened to him." He didn''t even have to lie. He truly had no idea what happened to the arrogant young master after the race. Atlan thought that the guy was able to escape the Pocket Remedium because he was the one who knew the ins and outs of their Pocket Remedium the most. But from her questioning, it seemed that he ultimately got caught by the horde of Pseudo Canzers. "Why? What happened to him?" Pterina looked at Atlan''s body and saw no obvious change in his breathing and blood flow. He wasn''t lying. Sigh. "He lost most of his SoulTime. He probably got caught by the monsters and couldn''t escape their onslaught." Atlan took a deep breath. Even though he had no favorable impression of Obek. he still didn''t like the idea of someone dying so easily. Atlan only hoped that his death was instant. "Anyway, let''s change the subject. I would like you to talk about your experience in the Pocket Remedium. Did you find anything strange when you entered? Did you feel anything weird when the horde of Pseudo Canzers malfunctioned?" Atlan told her everything that he did during the party while omitting some private details about his powers. He even told her about how he made connections with Yasmine. "It''s been brought to my attention that you joined the race between our Genesians and the Olympians. Not only that, you were somehow able to go from last place to the top spot. How did that happen?" Of course, Atlan couldn''t tell her about his mutation that allowed him to listen to the Pseudo Canzer''s language. If he hadn''t listened to their talk, he wouldn''t have noticed that the Giraffe-Horse was different from the rest. "I just got lucky, I guess." [Unauthorized probe detected] [Lie detection denied.] "Mhmm¡­And you were able to speed past the other competitors using that horse, correct?" S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Yup¡­" It was hard to believe that Atlan picked the fastest steed in the arena when Yasmine or Razer didn''t even know that there was a speed freak monster among the Pseudo Canzers. But she didn''t sense him lying, so he must have gotten lucky. "And during that race, you didn''t sense that something was amiss?" "No, I didn''t feel anything wrong." [Lie detection denied.] Pterina knew that it was at that point where the Pseudo Canzers started to malfunction. Soon after Atlan left the arena to join the race, more and more of those horse centaur monsters spawned inside the arena, surprising the spectators in the stands. They tried to run to the portal, but more Pseudo Canzers blocked their way. So, they ran away. That was when the horde stampede happened. "So you all continued the race without knowing there was a horde behind you. It fits what the others said as well. Let''s talk about you. How did you fight against those Olympians? They are not the type to let anybody pass them so easily." Atlan then pointed at his chest and his slingshot. "These helped me a lot." Pterina''s eyes widened as she observed the quality of both of these equipment. The armor didn''t look all that impressive but her discerning eyes were able to peer past the inner strength of the chestplate. "Who gave you that?" "Miss Custodire." She gasped. "No wonder it looks like a treasure¡ªit''s even better than an indirect Masamune original! And that slingshot too. I can''t believe you got an esteemed blacksmith like Miss Custodire to give you that armor and custom-make a slingshot as well. Your luck knows no bounds, it seems." "I guess so." "But why is your battle suit black?" Atlan liked the black battle suit so much that he decided to wear it all the time. "Oh, Razer gave me this as a prize. I think it''s called a Stealth¨C" "A Stealth Tunic?! The Olympians gave you one of their treasures?!" Atlan didn''t think she would be that surprised. He thought that it was only a normal piece of clothing. Razer said so himself. "I thought everybody had this?" "Only Olympians. They don''t give it away to other people. They don''t even trade it no matter how much people try to offer them." Turns out this thing is much more precious than I thought. Atlan should have known that the Stealth Tunic was more valuable than he estimated. After all, it could change to any kind of fabric, color, and style that the wearer wanted with just a snap of his fingers. If he thought that anyone could easily get it, then he was living in a fantasy. "Why would he give you this?" "Oh, it''s nothing. Razer gave it to me because I won in our little competition." Pterina jaws dropped. As an Inquisitor, she was in charge of knowing everything there was to know about the people caught in the Pocket Remedium. Of course, she knew about Razer Wrekton, the genius of Mount Olympus. And from what she gathered from various anecdotes, stories, and interviews about Razer, there was one word that described him: overbearing. The man only cared about himself and his strength. It was a trait that he gained from the Almighty Zeus himself. One of the stories about Razer was that he even stood against Zeus and tried to attack Him while he was being recruited during his draft! He was unwilling to submit defeat against a god like Zeus. Now, Atlan was telling her that the same man admitted defeat against him. That was absurd! The only way that a man like Razer would acknowledge another person was if they fought against each other. Pterina knew that Atlan was able to reach the top spot of the race because of his fast steed. But she didn''t think that he actually fought against Razer himself. In her opinion, there was only one outcome from that clash, and that was Atlan getting pushed back to last place. But it turned out that she was wrong. Atlan was able to stand his ground and gain Razer''s respect. "What did you do when you fought against him? Did you outsmart him in the race? Did you target one of his weaknesses? How did it feel to spar against such an overbearing talent?" Atlan shrugged. "I wouldn''t know. I only punched him one time." Chapter 123: Golden ticket "One punch¡­" She was at a loss for words.She heard from the other people she interrogated that Atlan''s strength was far above that of a normal Savior, and especially above that of a porter. The fact that he was able to reach the top spot of the race consisting of geniuses from both Territories was evidence enough of his strength. However, this still be attributed to his natural talent and luck. She even guessed that Atlan''s Physique LifeSkill was incorrectly assessed. She guessed that Atlan had an A class LifeSkill! But this didn''t explain how he was able to come to blows against Razer. Even if Atlan had an S class LifeSkill, he shouldn''t be able to overcome the two-stage difference between them. Razer acknowledged Atlan''s powers after only one punch. This meant that he must have felt challenged by it. He must have felt that his punch could even injure him! Not only that, it finally made sense how Atlan was able to survive the horde. It was no secret that Atlan performed another heroic deed by offering himself as bait for others to leave. Atlan must have used his tremendous physical strength to barely survive the Canzers that followed him! It was only now that Pterina realized that Genesis City got extremely lucky that they were able to recruit Atlan before the other Gods got to him first. If they knew the kind of talent that this kid had, then they would undoubtedly do anything to get him into their camps. Wait a minute, Pterina thought. If Razer can recognize his talent, then They would too¡­don''t tell me¡­ "Did They invite you to join Mount Olympus?" He nodded. "Darn those Greeks!" she shouted and surprised Atlan with her outburst. "How dare they." It was extremely inappropriate for Razer to recruit Atlan to Mount Olympus. There should have been a formal request to HeadQuarters in which the Gods themselves would negotiate about the possible trade or transfer of a Savior. This usually took months of back and forth between the two Gods and their correspondents as they tried to negotiate a deal that was favorable for their territory. Sometimes, years would pass and the negotiations would come to nothing. Sometimes, it only took a few weeks for a successful deal. However, the Olympian Gods circumvented this rule by having Razer recruit Atlan instead. It was legal but completely unprofessional. Once proven that this recruitment happened, the Genesis God could use it as leverage to get a better deal with the Olympian Gods in the future. Experience more on mvl Their assessment of Atlan must have been really good for them to try and skip through all of the lines just to get him to their camp as soon as possible. Pterina knew that they couldn''t let such a valuable asset be taken away by the other Gods. She had to treat Atlan as if he was an S class talent who was even above Yasmine in importance. The fact that he was a porter made his presence in Genesis City even more significant. "Did you accept?" "I was thinking about it¡ª" Pterina immediately took out something from her tool belt and gave it to Atlan. "This is a ticket to the Vineyard. From the authority bestowed upon me by Genesis City, I now transfer possession of this ticket to you." Atlan was given a shiny golden ticket with an embossed decoration of a tree with a lot of roots and branches. On the bottom right of the ticket was an underline where Atlan''s name slowly got printed out of nowhere. "What''s the Vineyard?" Pterina explained. "The Vineyard is a special place in Genesis City where the Genus are stored." He locked eyes with her, his face full of surprise. "Are you serious?" "Yes. Genesis City values your presence here in our Territory. I am giving you that ticket in hopes that you will appreciate all that we have to offer. We may not be bigger than the Olympus mountain ranges, but we have plentiful powers that they don''t have." "Are you saying what I think you''re saying?" "Yes. You will have one opportunity to pick a single Genus from the Vineyard for you to upgrade your bloodline. This is an honor that no Student had ever earned before. You are the first one." Atlan didn''t think that he would be given a new Genus from the City just like that. From what he heard from Neumann and the others, people would have to wait until they got to the Intern realm or Specialist realm before they earned a chance to change their bloodline. He looked at the golden ticket with anticipation. If he obtained a good enough Genus from the Vineyard, then he could show more of his powers without them getting suspicious! "And I advise you to visit the church soon. You are now eligible to gain 600 years of SoulTime as compensation for the accidents that happened during your mission and this incident as well. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I hope this shows you our sincerity in having you stay here in our City." Atlan nodded. Pterina was giving him the same benefits that the Olympian Gods gave him when they wanted to recruit him. But now, he didn''t have to undergo a thorough assessment from the gods to receive these rewards. "Thank you." "It''s our pleasure. Oh, and about your battle suit. Usually, students aren''t allowed to alter their uniform, but you are given that exception. You can keep wearing that black battle suit. You look good in it." Pterina stood up and shook hands with Atlan. "I know that both of your experiences in the Remedium turned out to be total disasters, but I hope you don''t lose hope in us Operators. We are trying our hardest to find out why these disasters keep happening." Atlan didn''t blame them at all. In fact, he wanted to know more about their work instead. He wanted to know how they knew that the colossal Humanoid Wolf was weak against silver and angel power. Just before Pterina left for the door, Atlan asked her a question. "Do you know where I can ask more about Operators?" Chapter 124: What’s a school? "You want to learn more about what Operators do? What a breath of fresh air. Most Vanguards, scratch that, all Vanguards don''t think it''s worth their time to know about their counterpart at all.""I''m just curious about how those constructs work. From what I saw, they always seem to be made of different materials and shapes." Pterina was very impressed that their Star Porter appreciated the work of the Operators. Most people just ignore Quills and focus on killing Canzers because they think that it''s much more honorable than diagnosing symptoms from the comfort of their own homes. They didn''t know the hard work the Operators did behind the scenes. "Although I am an Operator, my knowledge on the subject of Canzers is very shallow¡ªonly on the surface level. But if you want an in-depth explanation of how constructs work, then I suggest you sit in one of the classes in our University." "University?" Atlan didn''t even know that word. "Oh, I forgot you''re from the Unclaimed Lands. Operators like us pride ourselves on our knowledge. We believe that what we learn is our best bet in eradicating Canzers once and for all. ''The Quill is mightier than the sword,'' as they say. So, after we get drafted and get our LifeSkills, we don''t stop learning. We graduate from our school and onto a University where we can learn more about jobs. For me, I learned journalism and other Inquisitor-related subjects but all of us are required to take at least one Canzer-related class. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even Specialist Operators still go to classes, learn, and research as much as they can to further their knowledge." Atlan never knew that Operators went through this ''school'' even during their adolescence. Find more to read at mvl "What''s this ''school'' like?" "It''s a nice institution where you can learn and socialize at the same time. They teach you not just book knowledge, but also how to become a person. It''s where relationships and friendships are born." All the knowledge that Atlan learned throughout his life was through absorbing everything he heard from others. No one taught him anything. Nobody could. After all, the Unclaimed Lands were not that forgiving. "It''s quite different for Vanguards like you. Knives go through fighting schools and dojos to learn the basics. But after they get drafted and earn their LifeSkills, they graduate and stop going to school. They start their training in the Remedium and get better from there." That''s why I haven''t seen this ''school'' before. Turns out everybody had already ''graduated''. "Can I go to this University?" "Yes¡­wait." Pterina thought for a second and changed her mind. "Maybe it''s not such a good idea right now. As you might not know, tensions are high between the two specialties because of these incidents, so they might not welcome a Knife in their class. But if you want to go, then you can. Just make sure to bring someone with you so that they can vouch for you." Atlan wanted to go to this University and learn more about Canzers. He looked at Pterina and asked, "Can you go with me?" Pterina smiled and nodded. "Of course I can, but not right now. I have a lot on my plate. I haven''t even interrogated half of all the delinquents in our custody." "That''s fine with me." With nothing else, Pterina said goodbye to Atlan and planned their visit to the University at a later date. Atlan stood by the door and looked out into the distant Savior HeadQuarters. It was time to visit the Vineyard. ###### Out in the gray, hot sands of the Unclaimed Lands, there was a group of people standing and looking out into the distance. They were wearing white tunics with green sashes pinned from their shoulders down to their waists. On the horizon, they saw a long carriage driving with ease through the mounds of gray sand. Razer, Sola, and the rest of the surviving Olympians were waiting for their escort back to their home, Mount Olympus. They were forced to cancel their visit to the other parts of the world after that disaster with the Pocket Dimension. A while later, the carriage finally stopped right next to the Olympians. Their vehicle was a large white and gold chariot that was modified to make the travel through the Unclaimed Lands as comfortable as possible for its passengers. It was big enough for them to all have their sleeping quarters inside. The door opened and a man with the same white tunic and green sash came outside. This man had a very pale skin tone and he wore dark round glasses that covered his eyes and eyebrows completely. "Greetings, senior brother." "Greetings, senior brother." The Olympians greeted the older man with respect. Sola held her head down and kept quiet. She was ashamed. They were supposed to win the whole competition and show everyone the superiority of the Olympians, but instead, they would come home with three vials of blood from their fallen comrades. She dreaded it, but she knew that she had to say something. She readied herself to be berated and lectured for their pathetic performances. At this point, one year of training in Tartarus would be a merciful punishment. "Senior brother Thalassios. I''m embarrassed to report to you that we have failed to bring home victory." Sola jumped when she felt a hand grip her shoulders. "Whatever." Whatever? Sola looked up to see a carefree expression on his face. It was as if he didn''t care about the result of their failure at all. It was uncharacteristic of him to be so nonchalant. Thalassios ignored Sola and went over to Razer. "Did he join?" Razer expected to hear the disappointment in his voice but heard nothing but hopeful optimism. This question perplexed not only him but everybody else too. Thalassios shook his head. "Tsk. I''m asking if you succeeded in recruiting that porter." Sola couldn''t hide her shock when she heard that. Instead of worrying about the damaged pride of Mount Olympus, Thalassios was concerned about whether they recruited Atlan or not. "You recruited him, right?" Chapter 125: ICU Razer shook his head. "It''s unfortunate, but he declined. I finally found a rival of my own, but he didn''t want to move out of Genesis City.""WHAT?!" Thalassios'' exaggerated shock gave Sola a scare. "Did you tell him that Athena and Ares were both willing to sponsor him?" Your journey continues on mvl "Yeah, I told him. But he still didn''t cave." Thalassios paced back and forth, kicking gray sand with each stride. He couldn''t help but bite his lips as he tried to think. "Did you tell him that they would be willing to both bestow him with powers?" This time, everyone else couldn''t hide their shock. They knew firsthand how territorial and greedy the Olympian Gods were. One time, they blew up a whole mountain because those two gods were having a dispute about who owned that piece of territory. Instead of sharing, they destroyed it instead so that none of them would get it. If they didn''t want to share a mountain, they especially wouldn''t want to share a hero. The fact that they offered a joint sponsorship on Atlan meant that they truly valued his talent. Thalassios paced back and forth, biting his lips till it bled. If those stories about Atlan were true, then he''s the perfect porter. We can''t let Genesis City hog him, Thalassios thought to himself. "...we need him¡­" In his desperation, he let out a mutter. Sola seemed to be the only one who sensed the distress in his voice. She didn''t understand it. Sure, they didn''t have student-level porters back in Olympus City, but they still made do by having other speedy Saviors take on the job. Was Atlan really that impressive? What she didn''t know was that Mount Olympus wasn''t the only one eyeing the Star Porter of Genesis City. There had been a lot of talk and gossip between the HeadQuarters of each Territory, and Atlan''s name seemed to come up more often than not. Once they found out about his accomplishment as a porter, they wanted him all to themselves. They regretted the fact that they passed up on the opportunity of recruiting him to their Territory when he first got drafted. Mount Olympus was one of them. They thought that they didn''t need to lower their standards by accepting only a B class talent from the Unclaimed Lands. But as it turned out, they couldn''t be more wrong. Judging from all of his accomplishments in the recent events, everyone was sure that their first assessment of him was wrong. He probably had an A class talent, or maybe even S class. Every Territory near Genesis City was already making contact with their HeadQuarters about the possible trade or transfer of the Star Porter. Of course, their request was quickly denied. They would have tried to subtly recruit Atlan like how Olympus did with Razer, but they didn''t have somebody on the inside. Now, Genesis City became even stricter on their internal policies about spies, giving them no chance to underhandedly recruit Atlan. "I don''t even know why he''s still a porter. He can become a damage-dealing Savior if he wants to," Razer said. The fact that Atlan could make him bleed meant that he could stand toe to toe against other ''geniuses''. "If I battled him, maybe he''ll realize that fighting is more fun than being a porter." Thalassios looked back at the dome of Genesis City out in the distance. "Don''t worry. We''ll return here soon enough. For now, we need to go back to Mount Olympus." He wasn''t giving up on the Star Porter. He was going to give Genesis City an offer they couldn''t refuse. Of course, he would use the fact that three Olympians died on Genesis City grounds as a bargaining chip to ease the deal. ##### Genesis City Church. This was a place where citizens praised and worshiped the God who gave them everything they wanted. You needed nothing but faith and piety to pray to the two-headed God. The interior and exterior decorations were full of Gothic inspiration. And anywhere one looked, they would see images of peace and tranquility that gave the impression that this was a place of healing. After all, this was a sanctuary where Saviors and normal people alike recovered their lost SoulTime to extend their lives. Usually, a blessing from a nun or a priest would do the trick. But there were times when an injury was so severe that they needed more than a blessing. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Sometimes, they needed to regenerate from a single blood cell. These unfortunate souls were moved to the Intensive Care Unit or the ICU. And outside of this ICU, a group of people were clamoring in front of a group of soldiers. They tried to get past the barricade of guards, but their electric batons prevented the group from advancing any further. "Why can''t we see our sons? This is an outrage!" "Don''t you feel sorry for us? We just found out that our kids lost all of their SoulTime from an accident, and now you''re preventing us from seeing them!" "I visited the ICU before! Why are you blocking us now?" These were the angry parents of the youthful Saviors who lost their lives because of the onslaught from the horse of Pseudo Canzers. All they wanted was to see their children, but the soldiers prevented them from even taking a peek at the windows. They blocked it from the inside. "I''m sorry. We can''t. Orders from higher up." The soldiers had no other response to the angry mob other than those words, which further incited outrage in the crowd. But the soldiers couldn''t tell them anything even if they wanted to. They were told to barricade the ICU and nothing else. Why? That was because, inside the ICU, they wouldn''t see the regenerating bodies of their children. They would only see rows and columns of mangled corpses propped up by hospital beds with no signs of life in their body. They were dead. Fully dead. Nobody should see this. If they did, then they would know that their immortality was gone. Perhaps, that would incite a disaster worse than losing immortality itself. Among these corpses was the Scout from Atlan''s first mission. He didn''t survive his injuries. They only told everyone that he was still recuperating from his injuries. And further down the line, to the very back, there was one particular dead body that was alone. If Atlan saw his face, he would recognize him. It was Garuun, the Specialist Porter. He was dead. This meant that Atlan was the only porter left in Genesis City. Chapter 126: Obyron A man sat on his desk, with his hands over his mouth as he was mulling over his problems. He had a few white strays in his hair, but he looked like a spry thirty-year-old man with well-groomed hair.Behind him was an expansive glass view of Genesis City from a hundred floors up one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city. He sat at his desk waiting, tapping his foot on the floor with nervousness. Enjoy more content from mvl Suddenly, the door to his office opened and a man with a butler suit came inside. The butler bowed toward the man and said; "My apologies sir. They couldn''t find the young master." The man took a deep sigh. This was Obyron Orioness, the father of Obek Orioness. When he heard of what happened in the Pocket Remedium, he instructed his butler to inform him of any news. And what he dreaded, came to be true. Obek was dead. He was just one of the unfortunate casualties of the disasters that kept on happening in the City. He closed his eyes and blamed himself for letting his youngest son run amok. "I should have been more strict with him." "The young master has¡ªhad always been reckless on his own. His death is my responsibility. I should have kept a closer eye on his activities," the butler said solemnly. The two of them were silent for a moment. "Did they find any trace of him?" The butler shook his head. "They couldn''t even find a blood splatter, master. It was as if Obek had vanished from the Pocket Remedium itself." They hired the best investigators in the entire City, but they still couldn''t find the young master''s body anywhere. This was extremely weird. After all, even those that got flattened into a mush of blood, flesh, and bones, by the Giant Werewolf could be recovered by scraping their remains off the streets. According to the investigations, after Obek was out of the race, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the horde of Pseudo Canzers. And unfortunately, he wasn''t able to protect himself from the onslaught. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The best a father could hope for was that Obek died while being trampled by thousands of centaur monsters. At worst, Obek died while he was being mauled and dismantled by those angry, rabid, Pseudo Canzers hungry for human flesh. Even then, they should have at least seen evidence of the carnage. But they couldn''t even find a single drop of blood from him. This gave false hope for Obyron Orioness. Maybe, Obek survived and was hiding out somewhere alone and afraid. But as a man who knew the true nature of Canzers, he knew that it was unlikely. "How do we proceed, sir?" The current patriarch of the Orioness family thought long and hard about the consequences of his decisions. He had to think about what to do as a father, and what to do as a member of Genesis City. Those two were completely different. But as much as he wanted to grieve, Obyron knew that his responsibilities came first. They were a priority. "We will tell no one about this. Inform those that are inquiring that Obek lost all his SoulTime and will take years to recover his body." The butler nodded. "Understood sir. But there''s just one more thing that is concerning." "What is it?" "The recent incident has put a lot of bodies in the church. Their families came and demanded to see their children in the ICU. The soldiers are doing their best to handle the situation, but the dissent among them will only grow as time passes. They could start a riot and forcefully intrude into the ICU." Obyron took another deep breath. Problems just kept on piling up for the new patriarch. It hadn''t been long since his father passed the mantle onto him, but he was already dealing with disastrous incidents left and right. "Double the guards. Triple them. I don''t care. They must never be able to enter that ICU. They can''t know that it''s a morgue." Obyron Orioness knew the truth. He was among those who were given the knowledge about the Angel''s extinction. He knew that the days of immortality were long gone, and the whole world was going into an apocalypse. It was inevitable. The best thing he could do was to prepare. However, that wasn''t as easy as it seemed. Just then, the door suddenly burst wide open as a short blonde-haired man with a youthful face entered Obyron''s office. "Father. Is it true? Did my little brother lose his SoulTime?" "Otis, calm down." "Tell me!" Obyron knew that he couldn''t control his eldest son''s outrage over this incident. "Yes. He did." Otis gasped. He heard rumors, but he didn''t think it was true. Now that he heard it from his father made the realization even more heartbreaking. He felt his knees weaken as he buckled down on the floor. He treasured his little brother. They were two peas in a pod. Tears fell from his eyes. "Where is he? I want to see his body. Did the priest tell us when he can fully recover?" Obyron and the butler shared a look. As much as they wanted to tell Otis the truth about the world, their confidentiality agreement with the City prevented them from doing so. The butler answered for Obyron. "No, young master. They only told us that it would take a couple of years till he recovers." Otis couldn''t help but slam his fist on the wall. His anger reverberated throughout the building. His little brother didn''t deserve to suffer like this. Those freeloaders who took advantage of his brother and used him for his keys to the Pocket Dimension should be the ones to suffer all the consequences. He planned to give them a little bit of suffering to teach them a lesson. Obyron saw the gears turning in Otis'' mind. He knew his eldest son was short-tempered and had the tendency to be vindictive. They couldn''t afford that¡ªnot in the upcoming apocalypse. He had to nip the bud of the problem before it got too late. "I''m telling you now. Don''t." "But father! Those Olympians and those traitors should be punished! I don''t care if they''re Razer or Yasmine, I will show them the pain that my brother suffered!" Chapter 127: White cave Read new chapters at mvlOtis couldn''t understand why his father still sat on his hands. Why isn''t he livid?! Doesn''t he want to explode and blame everyone involved in that party? "But¡ª" Before Otis could say anything further, he suddenly saw his father disappear from his seat and reappear right in front of him. "I''m not going to repeat myself. Leave them alone. It is not their fault that the Pseudo Canzers malfunctioned. It''s Obek''s fault. I warned him not to do anything foolish, and he went behind my back and disobeyed my direct orders. Losing his SoulTime is a deserving punishment. If you want to blame someone, blame the Quills. Their inability to solve this endemic of disasters is a testament to their uselessness." Even though Otis was at the 8th stage of the Student realm, he felt his breath leave his body as Obyron exerted his power outwards. As much as he wanted to protest, his father was too strong for him to defy. "Do I make myself clear?" Otis felt his own head forcefully nod. Even his instincts were telling him that standing up to Obyron was a foolish decision. "Yes¡­father." "Good. Now leave. I have things to do." Otis was forced out of the room gritting his teeth. Even though he was going to inherit the mantle of patriarch in the future, his father never acted like he wanted to give the reins to him. He was treated like an outsider. If I can''t put those traitors back in their place, they''ll think that the Orioness name is just for show. But as much as he wanted to do it himself, he knew that his father had surveillance on him at all times. That doesn''t mean that I can''t ask someone else to do it for me¡­ ##### Somewhere, there was a place that was full of white space. The ground, the ceiling, the walls¡ªeverything was bleached with a snowy white tint. Stalagmites grew from the ground and pierced through to the top. There were also stalactites from up the ceiling and pointed down their spikes to the bottom. The sound of water dripping echoed through the walls. If not for the color of the environment, this place would have an eerie similarity to caves and underground chambers back on Earth. Footsteps and hoofbeats reverberated through the floor as tens of horse Pseudo Canzers strutted through the white cave. And on the very front of the small horde, there was a group of four Gorilla-Horse Pseudo Canzers that were carrying something covered by a black cloth on their shoulders. Their steps were measured and careful as if they were afraid of stepping on something that would offend the owner of the cave. They continued to walk forward until they saw a large stalagmite with a base as large as the floor and pierced through the top and onto the ceiling. Strangely enough, there were steps carved onto the base that led up to a throne filled with spikes of stalagmites. Sitting on this throne was a figure shrouded in a white light. The Pseudo Canzers felt that they would turn blind if they looked directly at the figure above them. The four Gorilla-Horse centaurs slowly approached the steps of the throne and let down the object covered in black cloth as an offering to the figure above. They slowly backed away with their heads bowed down in reverence. Then, they waited. Suddenly, they felt the whole place tremble as the figure on the throne finally got up from its seat and walked down the steps. With each stride, the Pseudo Canzers felt as if their entire bodies trembled. They felt the invisible pressure coming off the figure''s body as it got closer to them. They backed out even further to give it space. And on the final step, the figure stopped and looked down at the ''present'' it was given. It raised its hands in the air and magically, the black cloth floated away from the object below. It was only then that the figure finally saw the gift that it was given. Laying down on the white, stony, floor of the cave was the body of Obek Orioness. And even though it was faint, his heart was still beating! He slowly opened his eyes as it slowly adjusted to the white environment around him. Where am I, he thought groggily. He couldn''t remember anything. Everything felt like it was a fever dream. Flashes and images of his memory started to resurface. It was the image of him running at full speed. But why? It was only then that the images of the horde of Pseudo Canzers finally came to him. He remembered losing strength as the monsters slowly caught up to him. He was helpless as the stampede of horse centaurs pounded his head to the ground until he lost consciousness. After that, he woke up here in this strange white place. He looked down at his SoulTime and saw that he had less than half an hour left to live! He had to get out. He used what''s left of his strength to try and crawl out. But just then, he felt a suffocating pressure on his entire body. It squeezed his chest till more of his ribs broke, halving his SoulTime immediately. He vomited blood. Amidst the ringing in his ears, he suddenly heard footsteps coming towards him. He thought it was another person, but his eyes widened when he saw chitinous spikes growing out of its chest and shoulders. This was no human. This was a Canzer. Panic overridded his brain. It let him ignore all the pain in his body as he tried to run away from this monster as far away as he could. But he couldn''t get far. The bipedal Canzer suddenly appeared in front of the crawling Obek and pierced its hand on his chest. And without missing a beat, it ripped the heart out of his body. The Canzer looked at the bloody heart in its hands and couldn''t help but express its happiness and excitement. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "(#&!^$%@" Its wings unfolded behind and fluttered into a familiar pattern. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM¡­ Chapter 128: Manly discussions Atlan walked through the steps of HeadQuarters. It was livelier than he thought given that the Training Hall Remedium was closed for the time being. The steps were so crowded he had to zigzag through the crowd.He heard their conversations as he passed them. There was anxiousness in their voice, along with panic and uneasiness. It only took one day for the incident with the Pocket Dimension to be spread far and wide in Genesis City. It was like a wildfire; the more it spread, the faster and more intense the after effects became. "God¡­that''s two incidents in less than a week. What''s happening?" "The Quills have started sabotaging us, that''s what!" "Now that''s a lie." "Wait, he might be onto something. After all, who created the Pseudo Canzers? The Operators! They could make it do whatever they want, including spawning a horde and going rampage in a Pocket Remedium!" There was a group of Vanguards sitting and lounging right next to the wide doors of the Savior HeadQuarters. They didn''t care if everybody heard their conversation. In fact, they made their voices even bigger to make sure that the Quills inside the HeadQuarters heard them loud and clear. The dissent among Vanguards and Operators, Knives and Quills, became more and more intense. A few gibes and snide remarks was normal for the two factions, but they never accused each other of being traitors! And while the Vanguards were blaming the Operators for all the disasters that kept happening in the City, the Operators blamed the Vanguards for their ignorance and stupidity. They couldn''t sabotage the Pocket Remedium as easily as the Vanguards were suggesting! The fact that the Knives thought that the Quills could do that showed their shallow knowledge on the intricacies of creating a Pocket Remedium. Atlan had a more unbiased view of the whole situation. He knew that the Operators were not to blame for the incidents. Even though he was the recipient of both disastrous events, he knew that it was the absence of Angels that threw the balance of power askew toward the Canzers. Without anyone to keep them in check, the Canzers would keep invading Remedium and the Operators had no way to deal with it yet. Instead of complaining, Atlan focused on getting stronger. Getting another Genus would bump his power to another level. He approached the group hoping that they would point him to the direction of the Vineyard. "Excuse me." Experience exclusive tales on §Þ?? Atlan raised his voice to the group of men, but they ignored him. They kept talking to themselves as if he didn''t even exist. He looked at the epaulet in their shoulders and saw that they were all in the 4th stage Student realm! "I say we fight the Quills once and for all. Show them how much a punch in the liver hurts, and I''m sure they''ll fall in line." "As much as it''s amusing to think about, we can''t do that. They''ll just label us as mere brutes!" "They can''t get away with this. My cousin lost all his SoulTime from that party. He''s recuperating in the ICU now, but we can''t even give him a visit. My hands are itching to do something." The men turned solemn when they heard that. Losing SoulTime was tragic. Even if they hadn''t experienced it themselves, they couldn''t even imagine the pain regenerating from a single blood cell. "He''s not the only one. The Quills'' mistake cost the SoulTime of twenty of our finest youths in the City. And I heard that even those geniuses from Mount Olympus got killed." "Why were they even here?" "They had a friendly competition with our geniuses. And guess what I heard. You know Razer Wrekton, right?" They nodded their heads. Of course they knew the genius favored by the All-Father Zeus Himself. "I heard that someone went toe to toe against him and triumphed! And he came from our City!" "No way. I don''t believe that." "He? It''s not Yasmine?" Atlan coughed and tapped the shoulders of one of the guys in front of him. The man looked annoyed as he turned around and glared at Atlan. His eyes were filled with judgment and prejudice, and from what he saw, Atlan wasn''t that much. The youth had no overbearing pressure around him, and if it weren''t for his battle suit, the man would have thought that the youth was a civilian. The man didn''t think that Atlan deserved his attention. His focus was much better served to contribute to the important conversation they having about the current troubling situation in the City. He was going to ignore him, but he noticed that Atlan wasn''t wearing a proper battle suit. Instead of a verdant green, it was a sleek black color. "Hey kid. Don''t you know that modifying your battle suit before you''ve advanced a realm is punishable with a blacklist?" The rest of the men stopped their conversation and looked at Atlan. They clicked their tongues thinking that he was just another hooligan who didn''t care about the rules. One of them waved at the soldier stationed inside the HeadQuarters. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Sir, please lecture the young man about proper uniforms. We can''t have novice Students going around customizing their battle suits. It''s unprofessional." The soldier saw Atlan''s black battle suit and walked over toward him. He took out a tablet from his toolbelt and questioned the youth. "According to Article 2 section III of Genesis City standards, unlawful dyeing of the green battle suit can be punishable with 1 to 5 weeks of blacklist and 1 month of probation. Tell me your name, your job, and your power realm." The group of men took their focus out of Atlan and continued their discussion. But one of them suddenly made the connection between Atlan''s face and the rumors that he''d been hearing everywhere. "Wait¡­isn''t he¡­" Atlan didn''t feel worried at all as he answered the soldier''s questions. "My name is Atlan, and I am a porter in the 2nd stage Student realm." The rambunctious conversation soon turned silent. The group of men slowly turned their head towards Atlan with shock written all over their faces. Even some of the passersby couldn''t help but stop in their tracks as they heard his name and his job. "...Star Porter¡­" Chapter 129: For your sake The soldier stopped typing on his tablet. He recognized the name. They were informed earlier this morning that the Star Porter of Genesis City was allowed to have a black battle suit. They were expressly told to make his stay in the City as smooth as possible.HeadQuarters found it fitting that he wore the only black battle suit in the entire City. It made his stature easy to distinguish among the crowds and gave more credence to his talents. Who else in the Student realm could get away with this? No one. "No way¡­you''re Atlan?" He nodded. He found no reason to lie to them. But soon after he said his name, the group of men that ignored him quickly changed their attitudes and bombarded him with questions and praises left and right. "Dude! I heard you would have won the racing competition if it didn''t get canceled. How did you get a mount that fast?!" "Wait, is that true? But how did he get past the other competitors? They were Olympians, you know." "That''s what''s amazing about the Star Porter! Somehow, he beat all those geniuses from the Metropolis and showed them who''s the boss!" Atlan was overwhelmed with their over enthusiastic questions. They didn''t even deem him worthy to talk to just seconds earlier. But once they knew who he was, they suddenly couldn''t speak out their questions fast enough. "Uh¡­I had good equipment," Atlan replied. It was only then that they noticed his slingshot. "Oh my gods! Is that an Indirect Masamune Original?!" "Is that how you defeated those Olympians? How did you do it? Were you always good at using the slingshot?" "Tell me if it''s true. I heard that you went toe to toe against one of the strongest talents in Mount Olympus." Once he said that, the rest of the men looked back at him in disbelief. "Ey! No way that''s true. Razer''s at the 4th stage Student realm. That''s the same as us! There''s no way that the Star Porter could bridge a gap that wide." "Yeah. Even if he is a genius, talent simply can''t equalize the difference between a 2nd stage and a 4th stage." They all looked at Atlan to see what he would say. Only he would be able to dispel the doubts in their words. "We had a little competition, yes. I punched him, he couldn''t punch me. I don''t even consider it a win. But even though they heard it from the man himself, they still couldn''t believe the truth. One of them even thought that he was simply exaggerating to brag about his accomplishments. Why is he lying? Doesn''t he know the difference between a 2nd stage and a 4th stage like us? One of the guys, the one that Atlan approached in the beginning, couldn''t help but want to test out the supposed strength of this ''Star Porter''. He looked at Atlan''s body and couldn''t imagine him defeating someone just like him, especially a genius like Razer. Even though they heard that it wasn''t an actual battle, but a simple exchange of fists, it was still too much of an exaggeration to say that Razer conceded a loss just because of that one punch; it was no secret that Razer was a prideful man. Is he underestimating 4th stage students like us? The man slowly approached Atlan. "How about we have that competition again? I''ll take your punch and we''ll see if what you said is true." Atlan immediately activated his Thermal Vision and looked at the guy''s physique. Hmm¡­his muscle density is quite poor¡­he doesn''t have any defensive LifeSkills as well¡­ "I refuse." Atlan didn''t say anything further than that. He didn''t want to insult the man by saying that he wouldn''t be able to take a single punch from him. "Why not? Come on, Star Porter. It''s just a little friendly competition. I won''t blame you if I lose 12 hours worth of SoulTime." But no matter what he said, Atlan shook his head. He was an advocate for peace, so he didn''t want weak people like these to suffer from one of his punches. Now that he gained a Pre-Intern LifeSkill, his strength got boosted by a very large margin. The passive boost in physical strength from this berserk LifeSkill was enough to double his physical strength from before. Continue your journey with §Þ?? S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Razer, with his enganced defenses, lost an entire day from one of his punches. This guy couldn''t even compare to him. And now that Atlan improved his physical strength again, there was no telling how much he would lose. Unfortunately, the man knew nothing about Atlan''s true powers. He thought that Atlan wanted to back out from his challenge because that would prove that his claims were nothing but exaggerations. The man slowly approached Atlan and grabbed his hand. "Come on!" The man tried to use his physical strength to dominate Atlan. His eyes widened when he realized that he couldn''t even move Atlan''s arm at all. It felt like he was trying to grip a mountain! He was caught off guard when he felt Atlan''s other hand grip his forearms. "Don''t touch me, please, for your sake." The man felt an intense squeezing pressure in his forearms that painfully shattered his bones. His eyes widened. He looked at his Soul System and saw that he was lost an entire day just from the pressure alone. And before he could utter a single cry, Atlan exerted a little bit of force and twisted the man''s arms until, crack, his elbow twisted in the wrong direction. "AHHHHHH! THAT HURTS!!!" The man fell on the floor and held his broken arm with tears of pain flowing down his cheeks. He flailed his arms on the ground trying to lessen the pain, but it only served to exacerbate it. Atlan felt sorry for the man, but this was the best outcome that could have happened for him. He''d suffer a worse fate if he wanted Atlan to punch him like he did Razer. "Agh!" The man stumbled up off the ground and ran towards the church in search of healing. The rest of the men were in awe of Atlan''s show of power. They didn''t even care that their friend''s arm was broken. Atlan''s show of strength destroyed the lingering doubts in their minds. "Ahem¡­can any one of you please point me in the direction of the Vineyard?" But instead of answering his question, they pestered him with even more questions. It wasn''t long until more and more people crowded Atlan as they realized that the rumors about the Star Porter had a tinge of truth. Chapter 130: Hey judo Atlan had to sneak his way through the crowd that gathered around him. It took twenty minutes for the curious bystanders to let Atlan pass and go into the HeadQuarters.He was finally given peace and solace inside the government office. Causing a scene in the HeadQuarters was considered a taboo. The crowd immediately dispersed before the guards had to intervene. Even though he asked them multiple times, nobody answered his question about where the Vineyard was located. Perhaps it was because they''d never been there too, or maybe it was because it was located in a secret location. Either way, Atlan had to find his way there by himself. He walked inside the HeadQuarters and saw the same Hall of Heroes he visited back then. Quinto Kindle''s dominating image was still emanating an immovable strength Atlan scratched his chest. He found it tragic. Nobody knew he was dead. They probably thought that it was a good riddance that the senile old man no longer roamed the streets spouting conspiracy theories and the like. He walked through the halls and atriums not knowing where to go. However, he saw a lot of Vanguards walking in the same direction. These were youths like him, somewhere between the 1st and 4th stage Student realm¡ªtheir internal body temperature indicated so. Discover exclusive tales on §Þ?? He continued following the group until they led him to a bustling event in the grass fields adjacent to the main building of the HeadQuarters. The event was filled with hundreds upon hundreds of Vanguards walking around the green grass, all wearing their respective green battle suits. Most of them walked along one pathway filled with rows of tables and booths that were decorated with banners, posters, and flyers. It showcased the different activities that Vanguards could do together. Atlan strolled through the event, looking left and right with each step. The sounds of enthusiastic pitches and conversations entered his ears as the club members tried their hardest to attract new applicants. There were a lot of interesting booths that caught his eye. One of them was a booth for a fishing club for Vanguards. Their banner was filled with pictures of the club members visiting the Seven Seas and catching a giant tentacled monster. Surprisingly, they had a lot of curious applicants. He heard them talk about the different monsters they could catch and the equipment needed to catch them. He looked at the main recruiter of the fishing club and was surprised to see that the epaulet on his shoulders indicated that he was in the Pre-Intern realm! I guess you need to be that strong to tussle with monsters of the sea. He walked more and saw that there were also a lot of cooking clubs that offered food and drinks for people to try out. They were quite popular as multiple long lines extended far back to the end to the opposite end of the event. This event wasn''t just a way for clubs to get new members, but it was also a way for other Vanguards to interact and socialize with each other. The atmosphere was quite lively, with laughs echoing now and again. He found it quite weird. Nobody was talking about the disaster that happened in the Pocket Remedium yesterday. The joyful atmosphere of the club fair made everyone temporarily forget about the horrible situations plaguing the City. It wasn''t a coincidence that the club fair started today. The HeadQuarters wanted the conversation to steer away from the disasters by distracting them with their favorite pastime. Clubs were quite popular because it was the only place where people could explore other interests aside from killing Canzers. People get bored sometimes, especially if they lived for thousands of years in perpetuity. They needed to spend their time on other hobbies. He looked to the opposite side and saw a completely different booth. This one was for a Judo club that focused on competing with the Global competition that happened once every four years. A very serious man stood next to the signup sheet. He glared at everyone who showed interest as if he didn''t want them to join his club. One of the passersby looked intrigued with the cool and hard style of the Judo club. He wanted to join. Unfortunately, the recruiter didn''t want him. "Get lost." The man was offended. "Why not?! I just advanced to the 4th stage yesterday. Am I still not eligible to join your club?!" This wasn''t the first time that the guy tried to enlist with the Judo Club. And every time he tried, he always got rejected because the recruiter thought he was ''weak''. But how could he be weak when he was at the 4th stage Student realm? Atlan was going to walk past this club but the recruiter suddenly came up to him. "Hey, you." He stopped and looked at the man dead in the eyes. "What is it?" "You should join the Judo club." "WHAT?! You''re recruiting him instead of me?" The other guy couldn''t believe his ears. The Judo club recruiter chose to invite a random guy from the street instead of a talented guy like him. The worst part about it was that the random guy wasn''t even interested in joining in the first place. The guy immediately put himself between Atlan and the recruiter. "Why him?! I''ve been practicing my Judo and I know that I''m a better fit than this rando." In response, the recruiter pointed at Atlan. "Don''t you know this guy?" sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The man had no idea. "Who is he?" "He''s Atlan, the Star Porter. His reputation precedes him. And judging from his posture and the way he walks, I can see that he has the talent to become a Judo master." The man was flustered for a second after he learned of Atlan''s identity. But he quickly doubled down to save face. "I don''t care about who he is. No one here is a better fit for the Judo club than me." He looked at Atlan and challenged him with his eyes. "If you want him to join the Judo club, then you''ll only lower your standards. At that point, I wouldn''t even want to join your stupid club!" Chapter 131: Screaming match "So what if you''re the Star Porter? I don''t even believe half the stories that people are telling about you.And I''m not the only one! If you asked everyone in this club fair if they know about the Star Porter, then they would answer yes. But not for the reasons you think! Most of us don''t believe the propaganda that the HeadQuarters have been spouting about you!" And to prove his point, the man shouted at the top of his lungs to get everyone''s attention. "Hey everyone! Look! Who believes the lies that''s been circulating about the supposed Star Porter?" Everyone in the club fair stopped what they were doing and looked over to the Judo club booth. They heard his question, but a majority of them didn''t raise their hands. "See? No one believes it. It''s all lies." Of course, that was a biased conclusion. After all, not everyone heard his questions and was too preoccupied with their own thing to understand what he said. There were also a lot of them who just didn''t want to participate in his stunt. Although there were a few who raised their hands in support of Atlan, the guy simply chose to ignore them. "Wait, is he the Star Porter?" "Oh yeah! He is!" "Hey man! No offense, but did you really do all that or was it just an exaggeration?" A small crowd gathered around Atlan once again, much to his dismay. The stories about him and his heroic actions always had divided opinions. Some fully believed in the story, but there was also a large group of skeptics who refused to believe it even when presented with evidence. In his first mission where Atlan first gained prominence for his actions, others criticized the story for exaggerating the risks in the Remedium. They didn''t think they were in such a dangerous situation as they depicted. If a Sapient Canzer truly appeared as they said, then they wouldn''t have come out in a whole piece. They diminished how brave he had to be to go back and save his teammates in the Remedium. Even when the HeadQuarters themselves commended Atlan''s action, they refused to acknowledge it. But just yesterday, stories of the Star Porter yet again surfaced in tabloids, forums, and bar discussions in the City. This time, the stories of his deeds looked even more exaggerated than before. First, they were supposed to believe that Atlan was able to hold his ground against the geniuses of Olympus City. It sounded like it came straight from a fantasy story. He was an underdog that started late but through sheer luck, found a mount so fast that it could speed past the other competitors easily. "How did you know the Giraffe-Horse is fast?" Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Some say you planted that Pseudo Canzer there for yourself." "I can believe that he got lucky in choosing the fastest mount. But I just can''t believe the fact that he went from last place and caught up to the lead! He only had a wooden chariot for god''s sake!" "I would have believed it if we got footage from the race itself. But the video got corrupted when the Pocket Remedium malfunctioned!" None could believe his exploits in the Pocket Remedium. They still respected his work as a Porter because they knew how important his job was, but they simply couldn''t believe that he was able to perform above his expected skillset. "You guys won''t believe this, but I also heard that the Olympians were so impressed with him that they wanted to recruit him to Mount Olympus!" Everyone gasped when they heard that. That information wasn''t that widespread, so this was the first time most of them heard about this. It only served to push them further into believing that all of it was a lie. How could they believe that such a prestigious Metropolis would open their doors to a novice Savior like Atlan? It would have been more believable if he was at the Pre-Intern realm or the peak of 9th stage Student realm at the minimum. But he was only at the 2nd stage! "Now, you have got to be lying. Where did you hear that?" "I heard it too. And it seems like he was recruited by two Gods from there as well!" "Hpmh. Even if he was, it was probably an insincere offer from one of the lower sub-gods that have no real authority." And the ''lies'' didn''t end there. As more and more people gathered, they talked more about what they heard through different gossip. "I think it''s true!" It was one of the people who raised their hand in support of Atlan. "I work as a guard in the City gates and I saw multiple representatives from other Cities and Territories come to our doors early in the morning. They wouldn''t come here in such a hurry if it wasn''t so urgent. So I asked them, and guess what I heard. They said that they were here to recruit someone called the Star Porter!" The situation became even more chaotic as they accused the man of lying through his teeth. They felt like he was just spreading propaganda that the HeadQuarters wanted everyone to believe. Of course, some tried to defend Atlan and provide evidence to convince others of the truth. But it all devolved into a screaming match until no one could understand anything anymore. The man who started it all smiled. "See? All of the things you''ve heard about him are all lies. He shouldn''t join the Judo club! You''ll only be tarnishing your name if you do so!" Atlan couldn''t care less about joining the Judo club or not. He didn''t care if people believed the stories about him or not. Continue your adventure with §Þ?? However, he started to get pissed off. All he wanted to do was to go to the HeadQuarters and find the Vineyard so he could claim his free Genus, but he was forced to listen to skeptics everywhere he went. Atlan was tempted. He was tempted to show a bit of his power to finally shut the rumors once and for all. Chapter 132: True gossip And it looked like Atlan wasn''t the only one raring to go.Even though the guy didn''t act like he would do anything, Atlan saw his body light up in a bright yellow light using his Thermal Vision. The guy was using his LifeSkill! The first important trait to be a judo master is to be prepared for anything, the guy thought. He won''t expect this. Atlan saw his left arm turn even brighter as he concentrated his strength to try and grab Atlan''s shoulders. The guy practiced this throw multiple times before, and most novices fail to notice the sweeping leg underneath because they were too preoccupied with dodging the tackle. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Look, they''re fighting!" "That guy''s in the 4th stage Student realm! We''ll finally see proof that the Star Porter is a fraud!" Discover hidden content at M V L But even if Atlan didn''t have his Thermal Vision, his moves were too slow for him. Atlan simply moved away and countered the sweeping leg with his own special kick. Black flames enveloped his whole leg as he finally activated his Physique LifeSkill in front of hundreds of people. He would have had to reveal it sooner or later anyway. He was going to get recruited for more difficult missions in the future, which meant that he couldn''t just use his physical strength to get by during those times. He''d have to eventually reveal his Physique LifeSkill. Atlan''s legs blurred as he kicked the man in his shins. It was easy to guess what happened next once his steel leg clashed with the man''s ''fragile'' bones. Crack "Ah! My legs!" If he knew that he wasn''t the first victim that Atlan had to put to church, then he wouldn''t have been so eager to show off his mediocre skills. "What just happened?!" "Woah! Did you guys see that?!" "But how can this be? He''s only in the 2nd stage and the other guy is in the 4th stage! That''s just impossible!" Everyone who witnessed this simple display of strength covered their mouths in shock. It was one thing to hear about the Star Porter''s unbelievable physical prowess, but it was another thing to hear him break a bone from a guy two stages higher than him! Atlan''s legs kicked too fast for the majority of the people to see what happened. They only saw a black blur. But those with a more keen eye noticed Atlan''s pressure spiked up to at least thrice his normal aura when those black flames appeared on his legs. Subsequently, the people who saw this were the most skeptical about Atlan''s stories. After all, they had a good estimation of power realms. They knew that it was impossible for a porter to defeat someone two stages above his own. But now that they saw it from their own eyes, they were left awestruck. As soon as they felt the power emanating from those black flames, they knew that the stories they told about Atlan were true. It was domineering, to say the least. "That LifeSkill¡­those flames¡­that''s no mere B class¡­" "I see¡­we''ve been operating under false conclusions¡­he has an S class LifeSkill talent!" The rest of the crowd heard those words and erupted in disbelief. "No way!" "So that''s how he''s able to pull off those moves! He''s an S class talent. Now it makes more sense!" The majority were now inclined to believe Atlan''s story once they found out about his true class. But of course, there would always be haters who wanted to hate just for the sake of it. "Hmph. So what? That doesn''t mean everything they''re telling is true! How can you explain that he''s recruited by Mount Olympus? Do you think that a Metropolis just hands out invites to whoever has an S class talent?" "And look at him. Just because he''s an S class talent doesn''t mean that he can wear any battle suit he wants. Why are you wearing a black battle suit, lil bro?" Atlan sighed and commanded his Stealth Tunic to turn into a zippered jacket. Everyone gasped. They watched him zip down and show the original green battle suit underneath. "Happy?" The windbreaker turned back into Atlan''s preferred black battle suit with just one snap of a finger. "That¡ªthat¡­that''s a Stealth Tunic!" "Only those Olympians have that! Why does he have it?" There was only one possibility: Atlan received it from the Olympians. But why? The only answer to that question lay in the theory that Atlan was recruited by Mount Olympus and was given the Stealth Tunic as a present. As much as the skeptics wanted to rebuke the thought, even they couldn''t think of a reason as to how else he obtained that Stealth Tunic. Even the Orioness family couldn''t procure one if they wanted. It was then that everybody started to wonder. Was everything they heard about the porter true? "See I told you all but you wouldn''t listen to me! He''s the real deal!" Those who supported Atlan beamed with pride once the crowd understood the Star Porter''s true brilliance. "Attention! Please back away and don''t crowd the club fair." The soldiers finally intervened and dispersed everyone from bothering Atlan anymore. They returned to their booths, but they couldn''t help but sneak a look at the Star Porter standing by himself. The discussions around him didn''t stop and only continued to spread even further around the City. Meanwhile, the Judo club recruiter was left speechless. He heard rumors about the Star Porter''s unnatural strength, but this was the first time he saw such a dominant display of strength. He wanted to recruit Atlan because he thought that the Star Porter could use Judo skills to defend himself in the Remedium, but it now seemed unnecessary. As much as he didn''t want to admit it, the other guy was good at Judo. He had pretty good form. But it was all for naught against an opponent like Atlan who could break bones like it was nothing. Who needed technique when brute strength could do the trick? "I can''t believe it. You do know that he''s two stages above you, right?" "Yeah." Atlan answered as if it was extremely normal to defeat someone two levels above him. "Anyway. I''ve been asking a lot of people but no one''s been answering my questions. I hope you can. Do you know a place called the Vineyard?" Chapter 133: Unsolicited advice "Is that the guy?"Three shady figures watched the ruckus at the Club Fair from a distance. Their eyes focused on the very center of the crowd, the man with the only black battle suit in a sea of green around him. "Finding him is easier than I thought." The scene quickly escalated as the guy next to the Star Porter attacked him using a LifeSkill. These shady figures immediately noticed his strength and correctly estimated that he was at the 4th stage Student realm. They expected an easy win for the guy, but they were soon stunned to see Atlan break the guy''s leg with one swift kick. Their discerning eyes saw the brief moment when the black flames emerged from out of nowhere. Even they felt the change in pressure from a distance. It was like the Star Porter turned from a simple cat to a vicious tiger in a millisecond. His roar sent shivers down their spines. "Tsk. He''s stronger than we thought. What should we tell the young master O?" "We tell him nothing. He has one job for us, and that''s to teach this guy a lesson he won''t forget." Stay connected via M V L "Agreed. The three of us are in the 5th stage. It''ll be easy pickings for us to catch a single 2nd stage novice, even if he has an S class talent." The three shady figures dispersed. They''d pounce once the perfect opportunity arrived. #### Atlan looked around and saw multiple heat signatures light up in the distance. Some of the stronger Vanguards in the buildings sensed the powers he emanated even from far away. Some were curious to see the ruckus. Either way, he gained their attention. He ignored them. He gained enough of that today. "Vineyard? Yeah, I know where that is." Finally. After asking about a hundred people and hearing no response, someone finally answered his question. "I visited that place about two years ago when I advanced to the Pre-Intern realm. I was allowed to get a 6-star Genus from it, and luckily, that led to my beloved mutation called Bear Hug." "You couldn''t get a higher rarity Genus?" The recruiter shook his head. "I wasn''t allowed to. My ticket only permitted me to enter the 6th row of the Vineyard, which limited my choice to those 6-star Genus and below." Atlan didn''t know that there were different tickets with different permissions. What about my ticket? Does it only allow me to get 6-star rarity Genuses? "Why do you ask?" "I was given a ticket." The Judo recruiter didn''t think he''d be surprised after what he saw today, but it looked like he underestimated the Star Porter even more. "Really? They gave you a ticket when you''re only at the 2nd stage Student realm?" He nodded and took out the golden ticket for him to see. The man was shocked! The luster on that ticket almost blinded him. He had never even seen this kind of ticket before because the one he had before was only made out of normal paper. "I didn''t think that existed¡­but that''s an All-Exclusive Pass to the entire Vineyard!" The man would have advised Atlan not to show his ticket to anyone for fear of them stealing it, but that would be useless. The golden ticket had Atlan''s name written on the bottom of the page. It was his. Nobody could claim the ticket even if they stole it from him. "Does that mean I can get a 9-star Genus?" The man almost salivated when he heard that. "Yes!" As much as he wanted to congratulate Atlan, he couldn''t help but wonder why HeadQuarters gave Atlan such a precious gift so early in the youth''s career. He was only at the 2nd stage Student realm! But once he thought about the theory that Atlan was invited by Mount Olympus, things finally made sense. Genesis City wanted to keep Atlan in their Territory so they opted to bribe him early so that he''d feel indebted to the City. The man quickly told Atlan where to find the Vineyard. If he was Atlan, then he would sprint as hard as he could to claim that 9-star Genus right now. Atlan thanked the man and left the Club Fair. There were still some lingering eyes on him, but they didn''t follow him back to the main building of the HeadQuarters. He followed the Judo recruiter''s directions. He must have walked all the way to the opposite side of the HeadQuarters because he walked for 10 minutes at least before he came across a shrubbery hedge almost that was at least 10 meters tall. Even from the outside, he smelled the fresh and earthy scent emanating from the greenery beyond the walls. He walked along the shrubs until he saw a steel gate that led inside. Another club? I didn''t see any Garden club in the fair¡­ The gate was quite rusted. He peeked inside and saw nothing but overgrown greenery, with vines and leaves strewn around the pathway. The Garden Club looked abandoned. Is no one here? The Garden Club was located on the very outskirts of the HeadQuarters, away from the natural path that led to the other buildings on the campus. Atlan had to go through tight passageways and deserted gates before he arrived here. He said that the Vineyard is in the Garden Club, but why can''t I see anyone? For such a prestigious place full of highly sought-after Genus, there was a distinct lack of guards and soldiers. It was as if they weren''t worried that someone would steal the Genus inside. "Hello? Is there anyone inside?" Atlan shouted. No response. His voice only echoed back to him with a diminished tone. Just then, he heard a faint footstep behind him. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision and saw one person leaning on a pole. "Hey there, Star Porter." "Who are you?" Atlan looked at his internal body heat and estimated that he was in the 4th stage Student realm or higher. "I''m just here to give you some advice." S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan shook his head. "Don''t need it." The man casually walked over toward him. "Now, now, don''t be too cold. I know that you''ve been given a golden ticket to get a new ''Genus''." "So?" "I''m advising you now. Don''t. You''ll ruin your perfect human body." Chapter 134: Join us "What are you talking about?" Atlan kept his guard up. The giant hand in his Soul System was up and ready to grasp his LifeSkill as soon as the guy did anything weird. If he needed to escape, his Angel Wings were just one thought away from being summoned."I''m talking about the disgusting mutilation that most of the people here do! It''s repulsing. Don''t they know that by sullying their human bloodline, they''re straying away from perfection?" "Again, I don''t know what you''re talking about." The man sighed. "The Genus! The mutations! The hybrid bloodlines!" Atlan''s eyebrows turned uneven. "Genus sullies human perfection?" "YES!" he screamed. "Some people want the Genus of dragons, lions, elves, or even dwarves! They think that the more exotic the Genus, the better the bloodline they''ll get." "Isn''t it?" Atlan was taught that the rarer the Genus, the stronger you could become. A 9-star Dragon Genus was miles better than a 4-star Lizard Genus. That was why Saviors bent over backward to serve the City better so that they could get rewarded by better Genus from their God. It was also one of the main benefits of transferring over to another Territory. The Olympians offered him 7-star Genuses and Mutations because it was one of the incentives that Saviors yearned to receive. The rarer the bloodline, the stronger the human. He thought everybody agreed with that. Apparently not. "NO!" he screamed again more passionately. "The human bloodline is already perfect as it is! We don''t need to add monsters to our DNA. We have already evolved to have the capacity to be the perfect beings, but by changing our bloodlines, we only serve to limit our potential." Atlan couldn''t believe that. He looked at his Soul System and saw his 3-star Human Genus. It was what he had before he received the God of Death''s powers. If it weren''t for receiving the 10-star Genus and changing his bloodline to the Grim Reaper of Souls, he would still be stuck in the Unclaimed Lands and he would have died within a few years. "I know that the 3-star Human Genus looks weak right now, but that''s because it''s only at the early stages of its evolution!" The man looked around the place and lowered his voice. He didn''t want others to hear this part. "Since you''re the Star Porter, I''ll reveal something to you that most people don''t know." It intrigued Atlan. "What is it?" "The Human Genus can break through its limits and turn into 4-star, 5-star, and up to the 9-star rarity!" Atlan gasped. As far as he knew, there was no possible way for Saviors to upgrade their Genus other than obtaining a better one. Of course, Atlan was different. He figured out that he could upgrade his Genus by reaping the deaths of different beings. He was able to turn his 1-star Pseudo Canzer Genus into a 6-star rarity Genus because of how many deaths he reaped in the Pocket Remedium. He thought he was the only one who could do that. "How?" he asked the mysterious man. The man smiled as he saw Atlan''s interest perk up when he mentioned the secret. But of course, he wasn''t going to reveal the secret so easily. "I can''t tell you that. You don''t know me, I don''t know you. We can''t trust each other. Yet. But that can be changed." "...." "Let me introduce myself. I am Adam, and I am part of a secret society called the Prime Humans. What are we? Well, we are the only ones in this world who refuse to sully our pure human bloodline. We have no other Genus or mutation, just pure humanity. Our goal in this life is to restore the superiority of us prime humans and bring back the glory days when we reigned supreme. You, Star Porter. We have deemed you as a worthy candidate to join our cause. Take our hands and we can show you the powers of a prime human! All you have to do to join is tear the golden ticket you have and show us your sincerity. Only then can we accept you into our ranks." Adam bowed after his monologue. Atlan was intrigued to know more about the prime humans, but his curiosity wasn''t enough to join their shady organization. He didn''t even know if Adam was telling the truth or not. For all he knew, this was just an elaborate scam to get something from him. What that was, he didn''t know. And even if what he''s said was true, Atlan wasn''t interested. He found no reason to forgo getting a 9-star Genus. "I see you''re still hesitating. I can''t tell you how we advance the rarity of the Human Genus, but I can tell you the benefits. Those hybrids have their mutations, but we have our traits!" Atlan stiffened. If it weren''t for his Physique LifeSkill giving him perfect control of his body, his face would show shock. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He had to show a neutral face. He wasn''t supposed to be familiar with that word. Trait¡­I have that¡­it''s what gave me the 10x reward system that multiplied all my experiences, Genus, and LifeSkill fragments! He always wondered what traits were and thought that he''d have to learn about them through books of old. He never expected to hear that word didn''t come out from Adam. "Trait?" Atlan feigned naivety. "Yes! Trait. It''s what gives us our infinite potential! Those mutations and those Genus would only get you so far. It may be strong in the beginning, but as you go further up your Power Realms, you''ll soon see that they become severely lacking. But not our Traits! It''s only in the later stages of the Power Realm does it truly show the benefits of being a Prime Human!" Atlan would have thought that Adam was just making things up, but his talk about the Trait made sense. After all, it''s what enabled him to grow so fast. Find adventures at M V L "Join us, Star Porter. It is your destiny." Chapter 135: You were destined Atlan went silent for a few moments to digest what Adam revealed to him.He would''ve never thought that there would be a faction of humans against changing their bloodlines. From what he heard, every single human in the world was striving to get a better Genus because they knew it would lead them to a better future. If they heard that there was a secret faction that stayed as a pure human, they would have thought that they were stupid. Atlan thought so too. But that was until Adam revealed to him that Prime Humans gained Traits for staying as a pure human with no other bloodline. How powerful was a trait? Atlan didn''t have to guess. It was only because of that trait that he gained the ability to multiply all of his rewards by 10. If it weren''t for his trait, he would''ve needed to kill thousands upon thousands of Pseudo Canzers just to upgrade his LifeSkills to the class they were now. It made his life ten times easier. Literally. "Can you explain more about this ''trait''?" Adam nodded. "Traits are the invisible characteristics of humans. Let me ask you a question. Why do you think some people can train their bodies till their bones break down, while others can''t even handle a simple marathon? Enjoy more content from M V L It''s because of the hidden characteristics in their DNA. Some have been endowed with the indomitable human spirit that allows them to overcome tough obstacles, some have been endowed with an affinity for knowledge and creativity. You can call this their talent. Every normal human has their own talent from the moment that they are born. If someone is bad at something, it only means that their talent is not compatible with it. At any point, a human can find their hidden talent and finally excel in their field. It can take days, years, or even a century. There are no expirations. But The moment they gain another Genus and change their bloodline, that hidden talent gets washed away never to be seen again. But if you persist with keeping your pure humanity like us, then you will be rewarded enormously. Your hidden talent will finally bloom into a power that can rival those hybrids with their mutations. It will become a Trait! The Trait we Prime Humans have is a beefed-up version of that characteristic. A talent for knowledge and learning can become a Trait that enhances your brain and IQ to superhuman levels. An affinity to water and swimming can become a Trait that allows a human to command water as if he were a god! The possibilities are endless. You don''t have to infect your body with other species. Your body is already perfect as it is!" Atlan was certainly impressed with what the Prime Humans achieved by themselves. They were able to find a way to gain equal footing with those who had other bloodlines in their bodies. And from what he experienced with his trait, it was certainly something that could rival a mutation. He wondered how Prime Humans achieved a Trait for themselves. Then, he suddenly realized something. Wait¡­I only gained my trait because I reaped the death of¡­ "Most people don''t know this, but the strongest member of our faction is none other than Quinto Kindle, the First Savior!" Atlan would have regarded it as nothing more than a lie, but the fact that Atlan gained his Trait by reaping the death of Quinto made him believe Adam''s words. If Quinto didn''t have a Trait, then Atlan wouldn''t have been able to reap it. The First Savior is part of the Prime Humans. That was hard to believe. In the thousands of years that he''d been alive, Quinto never got another Genus in his body. He kept himself as a pure human. "Do you believe me?" Atlan took a deep breath. "Strangely enough, yes." Adam smiled. "Of course you do. It''s your destiny to join us Prime Humans. After all, it has chosen you." Atlan furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?" The Prime Human pointed at Atlan''s chest. "That semi-sentient armor¨Cdo you know who owned that?" Atlan hid his surprise. Not everyone knew about the true quality of his mysterious chestplate. Only Custodire and Lizzie knew that his seemingly normal chestplate was a semi-sentient armor that chose its own wearer. "Who?" Atlan already had a hunch on who it was. "It''s Quinto!" He looked at the chestplate embedded deep into his battle suit with mixed feelings. He knew from the start that his armor wasn''t normal. After all, it went for thousands of years rejecting wearers left and right, that''s why it was stuck in the junk box of Custodire''s workshop. But he would''ve never imagined that this armor was previously owned by the very first Savior in the history of the entire world. Just from the scratches and dents alone, he knew it was old. But he didn''t think it was that old. Is this a coincidence? S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan didn''t think so. He was drawn to this chestplate the moment he set his eyes on it. He didn''t know what prompted him to pick this armor up, but his instincts told him that he had to have it. Was I influenced by Quinto? But how is that possible? When I reaped his death, I reaped his LifeSkill and his Trait. Is it possible that I also inherited some of his inherent instincts? Quinto must have felt an intense emotion about his old chestplate. Somehow, it transferred over to Atlan and elicited the same reaction to him. He scratched the chestplate as if he was playing with a dog. Did this guy sense Quinto in me? After all, I got his LifeSkill and Trait in my Soul System. It''s possible. "If you join us, then you can continue his legacy. You were destined to become a Prime Human. Accept it." Adam extended his hand to Atlan, but Atlan kept him hanging. Even though he was intrigued by the idea of Traits, he wasn''t willing to join a secret organization from it alone. And even if he reaped Quinto''s death, he had no attachment to the guy. Just because Quinto was a Prime Human didn''t mean that Atlan wanted to become one as well. He also had two 10-star Genus in his Soul System already. He was far from a ''pure human'', as Adam called it. He even had a Genus and a mutation from Canzers themselves, which would probably make the Prime Humans extremely mad since Canzers were considered the enemy of humanity. Chapter 136: Overgrown garden "I won''t join."Adam was silent for a second as he looked at Atlan. The Prime Human thought that he said enough good things about Prime Humans to convince him. Other people jumped at the chance when they found out the truth about humans. But not Atlan "You are missing out. We can make you so much stronger than you are now. You would even be able to surpass Razer!" "No need." Adam thought that Atlan had no desire for strength, but he was wrong. In truth, Atlan didn''t need their help. He was already getting stronger just by reaping the deaths of everything around him. He didn''t even need to join their secret organization to gain access to a Trait. He could probably gain more Traits in the future even if he didn''t become a Prime Human. Sigh. "I thought you would join us, Star Porter. You are one of the best prospects we have ever seen in recent years. Are you sure?" "Yes." Adam took out something from his pocket and gave it to Atlan. "I can''t force you to become a Prime Human, but you''re young. There''s time for change. If you ever feel like you want to unlock the hidden potential in your body, then find the Eden bar and give this to the bartender." Atlan received a black medallion with an embossed emblem of a naked man spreading his legs and arms to the side. Atlan activated his Thermal Vision and looked at the medallion. Aside from being made with a mysterious material that could perfectly insulate the medallion from the heat and cold, there wasn''t anything suspicious inside. Even his SSS class Physique LifeSkill found no evidence of foul play with this medallion. "Think about it," Adam''s voice floated in the air, but he was already long gone when Atlan looked up. It was as if he never existed. Atlan decided to keep the medallion. He was still curious about Traits and knew that the only ones who knew about how they worked were the Prime Humans. He also felt like he could use the medallion someday, but he didn''t know what. With no other thing to distract him, Atlan set his sights on the Garden Club. He noticed that there was a door inside the steel gate that was slightly open. Even if there was no one to welcome him, Atlan helped himself and entered the Garden Club. Even if he was trespassing, Atlan didn''t care. There wasn''t anyone to catch him anyway. Once inside, he felt like he was in a jungle. The entire garden was overgrown. The cobblestone paths were barely visible in front of him as they had carpet-thick moss and slithering vines covering it. On the sidewalk were grasses almost as tall as him swaying in the wind. He looked around and saw all kinds of trees with thick, heavy branches that had entangling vines around them. Some grew stout but thick, and some grew tall but thin. It was a mix of tropical and winter trees that didn''t seem to wither even in the wrong conditions. As he followed the overgrown cobblestone pathway, he came across forgotten statues filled with cracks that the vines and moss grew a home into. Even in its damaged state, Atlan recognized the figure. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The man had two faces on one head and had a giant key in his hand. This was the Genesis God. If it weren''t for these statues guiding the way, Atlan would''ve gotten lost from all the foliage blocking the cobblestone path. After a few minutes of walking, he finally came across a man in a white coat watering the lotus plants in his pond. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision and inspected the man. And surprisingly, he didn''t have a very bright inner body temperature. It was as if he was a normal human who didn''t have any LifeSkill at all. Atlan walked forward, with his steps crunching vines and dried leaves. But even then, the man seemed too focused on watering his lotus plants to even notice that Atlan was already behind him. "Excuse me." "GAHH!" The man was so startled that he fell onto the pond and resurfaced with a lotus plant on his head. "Sorry." The man didn''t even mind the fact that his white coat was soaked in the mossy pond water, he was more stunned at the fact that there was somebody actually inside the Garden Club. "Are you okay?" Atlan asked. "Are you real? Am I hallucinating again? That''s weird. I haven''t eaten any mushrooms today." Atlan coughed. "I''m real." The man didn''t expect to hear a human response from Atlan. Your next chapter is on M V L He looked like a man stranded on an alien planet who finally found someone after years and years of isolation. "By God! There''s someone that''s actually here in the Garden Club!" Atlan wasn''t so surprised with that. The Garden Club looked so neglected that he even thought that it was abandoned with no one tending to it anymore. "Are you the only person here?" "Unfortunately, yes. Gardening isn''t exactly the most popular club in the City right now. You should have seen us in our heyday! Everyone had plants in their homes and even on their mounts. Sigh¡­." The man turned silent as he reminisced about old times. "Oh sorry about that. I always get too carried away daydreaming. Usually, it doesn''t matter since I''m alone anyway, but now I''ve got someone to talk to. My name is Geminus." "I''m Atlan." The man didn''t recognize him, which was a welcome breath of fresh air. It looked like he wasn''t caught up to date with the current gossip in the City. Geminus then looked at Atlan with pleading eyes. "Hey, since you''re here can you help me with a little something?" Atlan was hesitant, but he still heard the guy out. "What is it?" "I''m a bit short on hands right now, as you can see." Geminus pointed at the overgrown vines and moss all around the Garden. "I can''t take care of these plants all by myself and it leads to a lot of plants being neglected. These poor plants. Without someone to take care of them, they all turn dead without a chance of blossoming. Will you join the Garden Club and help me?" Atlan wanted to refuse. However, he suddenly saw the familiar words pop up in his vision. [You have reaped the deaths of simple beings] x3524 Chapter 137: Garden paradise [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10][You have received 35,240 experience] [You have received (1-star) Flora Genus] x130 [You have received D class Bard LifeSkill: Modify Memory Spore] [You have received F class Modify Memory Spore fragments] x130 Atlan couldn''t believe he didn''t think of going to the garden before. He had reaped more deaths here than in the entire time he''d been risking his life in the Remedium. Rejecting Geminus'' request for him to join the Garden Club was no longer an option. If he reaped this much death every day, then he wouldn''t mind if he stayed here overnight. It was a much safer and more profitable option than going to Pocket Remediums and killing Pseudo Canzers. Atlan didn''t waste any time and upgraded all his new LifeSkill and Genus. He paid a whopping 343,000 upgrade points and 128 LifeSkill fragments to turn his Modify Memory Spore into another SR class LifeSkill! Although it halved his current supply of upgrade points, Atlan considered it worth it. If the Modify Memory Spore worked as he thought, then it was even more important to upgrade it to the strongest class possible. Even with how careful he was, there could come a time when he''d be forced to use his real powers and LifeSkills among other people. They certainly wouldn''t keep that a secret and spread it to the entire City. But with his new Modify Memory Spore, he could alter their memories so that they''d forget that they witnessed Atlan have Angel Wings on his back or have three LifeSkills in his repertoire. This LifeSkill was a lifesaver. He also paid 1000 experience to upgrade it to the 2nd stage. ¡ªBard: (SR) Modify Memory Spore ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments Atlan was also surprised that he got a total of 130 Genuses. Usually, Genus was harder to get than LifeSkills because the probability was low but this time, he got lucky. He obtained the same amount of Genus and LifeSkill fragments! S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He paid 37,000 points and 126 Genus to upgrade his Flora Genus. [Genus] ¡ª1x (7-star) Flora [You have gained a 7-star mutation: Photosynthesis] And unsurprisingly, he got another mutation from his new Genus. He suddenly got a tingly feeling all over his body, reminiscent of when his Angel Wings appeared behind his back. His Photosynthesis mutation opened up automatically! He suddenly felt hot as if he was sunbathing while the sun was at its zenith. He felt every crevice of his skin yearn for the light as if it was being nourished with every second it spent being bathed in the sun''s rays. The garden was constructed in such a way that the sun wasn''t blocked by any roof or ceiling. It allowed every plant life inside to flourish in the sunlight without any obstacles. Atlan was in the middle of the sun''s intense rays. He felt refreshed. It was as if all his life, he lived in an ice tundra with no sunlight, and only now did he finally feel the warmth that his body needed to survive. He spread his arms wide and accepted the heat. [SoulTime] ¡ª40 yrs : 112 d : 12 hrs : 54 min : 34 s ¡ª41 yrs : 112 d : 12 hrs : 54 min : 34 s ¡ª42 yrs : 112 d : 12 hrs : 54 min : 34 s Atlan gained an entire year for every second that he was bathed in the light. This was the power of a 7-star mutation! If he was able to gain an entire year for every second he activated his Photosynthesis mutation, then he would be able to regenerate life-threatening injuries in just a few minutes! Even if he lost an entire arm, Atlan estimated that it would only take 3 minutes for his arm to grow back as good as new! Of course, there were a few caveats. Since this was a mutation, he was limited on time. He could keep regenerating a year of SoulTime for as long as he wasn''t exhausted with using his mutation. Activating a mutation felt like he was doing push-ups every second. The moment he couldn''t do another rep was the moment his mutation would stop. Location was also a factor in his mutation. Atlan felt the warmth of the sun and knew from instinct that it was what allowed him to regenerate so much SoulTime. He was like a plant. He needed the sun to survive. Atlan guessed that in places without the sun, he wouldn''t be able to regenerate his SoulTime even if he activated his new mutation. "Are you okay?" Geminus scratched his head. Atlan let go of his mutation and opened his eyes. "Yeah. I''m fine." "Sure¡­anyway. Why don''t you think about my offer? I can''t give you good benefits like the other Clubs, but I assure you that you will enjoy your time here. What do you think?" Atlan already decided to join, but there was one thing he needed to take care of first. "I''ll join if you tell me where the Vineyard is." Geminus perked up when he heard the good news. "Sure! The Vineyard? I''ll gladly take you there." He didn''t waste another second. He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled a high-pitched tone. Find your next read on M V L Suddenly, Atlan saw a giant vine slither from atop a thick branch of the biggest tree in the garden. Atlan was alarmed. That vine moved like it was a snake. But when he used his Thermal Vision, it only had the same body heat as the other vines and plants in the garden. He didn''t see hot blood pumping through its body and he didn''t see any organs radiating heat. It wasn''t an animal. "What is that?" "Oh, this here''s my little mount," Geminus said as he rubbed the giant leaf at the end of the vine. "This guy lets me reach the tallest trees and it lets me go from one end of the garden to the other in just a few minutes." Atlan was surprised. Geminus treated the vine as if it were his pet, and the vine acted like a loyal and obedient puppy. "Get in," Geminus said and Atlan carefully followed him atop the leaf. Suddenly, the vine moved at a relatively fast speed like that of a horse, weaving and dodging the trees and plants blocking their way. "I never knew plants could be like this." "Sigh¡­Unfortunately, most people forget about how useful plants are. Back then, people used plants instead of horses. They also used vines and tree bark to create their houses. It was a paradise for vegetation! But now, all the funding for research and development has gone over to the Pseudo Canzer division. They would rather breed Pseudo Canzers than breed plants. It''s the future, they say. You know Venunum, right? People used to use poisonous ivy for it. Now, they would rather use Pseudo Canzers to satiate their high." Chapter 138: Bunker Atlan and Geminus soared through the jungle-like garden atop the vine. It didn''t take long for them to reach a place overgrown with weeds. If it weren''t for Atlan''s Thermal Vision, he wouldn''t have noticed that there was a metal contraption underneath all those wild overgrowths."This is it," Geminus said as he commanded the vine to put them down. "This is the Vineyard?" Atlan would have thought to look for an actual vineyard, but instead, he was peering down at a bunker that led deep underground. Geminus nodded. "Yes, this is the Vineyard. Mister Vine, would you mind clearing the way for us?" Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Another vine connected to the main one swooped down at extremely fast speeds and before they knew it, the weeds were already cut down till they were nothing but green sprinkles in the air. "Thank you." The Vineyard was a bunker that was overgrown with moss and vines wrapping through the degraded concrete structure. But strangely enough, the double doors that led inside were perfectly preserved. The metal didn''t seem to rust and remained structurally stable. "I assume you have a ticket?" Atlan took out his golden ticket and Geminus couldn''t hide his surprise. He didn''t think that such a young man would be given a golden ticket. "Wow¡­.Remind me, what''s your job again?" "Porter." "...porter¡­" Even though Geminus knew of a porter''s importance during missions, he didn''t understand how that would be enough for him to be rewarded with a golden ticket. "Can I go in?" "Oh, yes. You can go in. Just put your golden ticket in the middle of the doors." Even though he wanted to ask, Geminus knew that it wasn''t appropriate to inquire about such personal matters. Discover more content at M V L "I won''t be able to go in, but I hope you find what you''re looking for. It''s been a while since somebody came in here, so I hope it hasn''t degraded like the garden haha." Atlan slid the golden ticket in between the doors and a mysterious force sucked it in. It wasn''t long before the sounds of gears turning and metal clanging resounded inside the bunker. DUGSSHH The double doors parted ways to reveal a staircase that led down to the depths underground. Other people might get a little frightened by the darkness, but Atlan spent all his life underground in the Unclaimed Lands. This was familiar. Of course, he also had his Thermal Vision to help him navigate to where he wanted to go. Atlan stepped inside and the door behind him immediately started to close. "Oh, a little advice for you. I suggest you take your time and explore all your options before you pick the Genus that you want. It will kick you out the moment you pick a Genus from the vine," Geminus said as he waved goodbye at Atlan. "See you later!" Then, the door closed. Atlan was all alone in the darkness. With his Thermal Vision, he saw the whole bunker turn into a shade of blue. He easily distinguished the declining steps as he walked down. Even though his LifeSkill was SR class, he wasn''t able to see past the bunker. Are the walls thick or do they have a mechanism that prevents my Thermal Vision from seeing through it? Atlan walked down more steps until he finally came across a door with the number ''1'' ingrained into the very metal itself. Seeing no other way to go, Atlan pushed the door open. Immediately, fresh air from a gentle gust of natural wind hit his face. Wow¡­ Now that he was inside, he finally figured out why it was called the Vineyard. There was an endless row of trellises lined up in a neat and orderly fashion over a landscape in the plains. Vines grew on these trellises which bore strange fruits that glowed even in the sunlight. But that wasn''t the weirdest part. He looked around and was stunned to see blue skies overhead. He couldn''t understand how that was possible; they were tens of meters underground! He was immediately blinded when he looked up at the ''sun'' in the middle of the clouds. It was as if it was the real thing! Even when he used his new Photosynthesis mutation, he was surprised to find that he was still gaining 1 year for every second that elapsed, meaning that the ''sun'' here was the real thing. It wasn''t an illusion. He walked forward and saw the first row of fruits that grew on the vineyard. These ''fruits'' had strange shapes and colors. Some had a uniform color, like a blue spherical peach-like fruit, or a velvety red banana. Some even had shapes that looked like 2D versions of animals! There was one indigo-colored fish-shaped fruit and one that looked like a roaring bear. He was tempted to pick out one of these strange fruits, but he knew that he only had one chance to get what he wanted. If he picked one, then that''s all he would get. With his Thermal Vision, he saw the varying degrees of the fruits'' internal body temperature. Some were burning like a raging flame, and some barely had a flicker of fire inside. Does that mean that the fruits are weaker if they have less heat? Atlan walked through the seemingly endless rows of fruits in the vineyard, but none of them caught his eye. Judging from the fact that this was the 1st floor, he guessed that every fruit in this place corresponded to a 1-star rarity Genus. He didn''t need those. He walked for what seemed like hours until he finally saw another bunker in the distance. He walked towards it and saw that the doors were wide open. It led even further down. Atlan entered the bunker and walked down the steps. He didn''t stop until he found another door with the number ''2'' inscribed on the very metal itself. He opened the door and was greeted with the same blue skies and vineyard, except the plains were now slightly inclined. Atlan didn''t stop walking and continued to search for the next bunker. He unfolded his Angel Wings to breeze past the vineyard until he finally saw the bunker. Atlan continued to go deeper and deeper underground, passing through an increasingly inclining vineyard and going through the same bunkers until he finally came across a door underground with the number ''9'' written on it. This was the place where 9-star Genuses were stored. Chapter 139: Peak of the vineyard Atlan opened the door with the number ''9'' embossed on the metal. 9-star rarity Genus was the best anyone could ever hope for. But for Atlan, that was only second to the best. He had two 10-star Genus for himself that dictated his bloodline. Because of those two Genus, he became the Angelic Reaper of Souls.He obtained the 10-star Grim Reaper Genus by stealing the God of Death''s powers during his Pre-Remedium Draft while he got the 10-star Angel Genus by witnessing their global extinction from the face of the Earth. If he obtained a 9-star Genus now, he didn''t know if that would result in him changing his bloodline a third time. As far as he knew, only the strongest Genus could change his bloodline. It doesn''t matter. I''ll probably gain another mutation from this Genus, and not a weak one at that. Atlan stepped inside and saw the same trellises lined up in a row. But these didn''t seem endless. By his estimation, there were only about a hundred fruits hanging on the few fences. This wasn''t that surprising. When he went through the 8 levels of bunkers, he noticed fewer and fewer Genus fruits with each level he went down. The higher the rarity, the lesser there are¡­ He looked around and noticed that the blue skies were gone and instead replaced by a misty white fog that enveloped the whole plain. He also noticed that the plains were no longer on an incline. Each bunker he went through showed a plain that was increasingly getting steeper. It was as if he was climbing a mountain. Did I reach the top? Then this fog isn''t a fog at all; these are clouds!¡­Is this peak even higher than the clouds? Stay tuned to M V L Atlan looked up and was surprised to see the blackness of space staring at him from the gaps in the clouds. This place was so far up the heavens that the sky turned black! If the peak was this high, then the Genus it contained must be otherworldly. The fruits hanging on vines were ethereal, to say the least. The first row of Genus all had miniature stars orbiting the fruits as if it was the center of a galaxy! And if Atlan wasn''t looking at it directly, it would change shapes. It was a normal apple at first, but then it changed into a five-sided star the next time he looked at it. He saw fruits wiggling like an egg about to hatch. They seemed alluring. If Atlan hadn''t reminded himself to be careful and picky with his choice, then he would have chosen the first Genus fruit he saw. Since there were only about a hundred Genus fruits in the entire vineyard, Atlan decided to look at them all before he decided on which one he wanted. He only had one chance at this. But that was easier said than done. With each row he passed, he seemed to get better and better fruits. He didn''t know why it was better, but it was in his instinctive human nature to know that he was in the presence of something godlike. And before he knew it, his hands disobeyed his mind and reached out to pluck the nearest Genus fruit. [Unauthorized temptation detected] [Forceful enticement denied] S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan stopped himself just before he touched the Jupiter-colored Genus fruit. If it weren''t for his SSS class Physique LifeSkill and his 10-star Genus studded bloodline, he would have been tempted to pick out the Genus. It was close. If it were any other human, they wouldn''t have been able to cross the first row and would have been tempted to get the first fruit they came across. I underestimated these Genus fruits. He thought he was the one lucky to receive such a Genus, but it turned out that these Genus were the ones lucky to have him instead! Why else would they want to tempt him to pick out their fruit? The Genus fruits should have repelled him instead. With each fruit he passed, he felt an increasingly compelling feeling to pick one out. They wanted to be picked. Does the Genus get something from me if I pick them? He wouldn''t have pondered this question if the Prime Humans hadn''t planted the seed of doubt in his mind. Maybe they had a point. Maybe there was something wrong with adding another Genus to a human bloodline. This would have made him second-guess his decision to obtain another Genus, but he shook his head. He shouldn''t blindly believe someone he didn''t know. It''d be a waste to miss this opportunity. And even if there was something malicious happening, then his SSS class LifeSkill and his 10-star Genuses could easily overpower a mere 9-star Genus trying to do something to his body. He continued to stroll through the trellises, making sure to keep his distance from each of them. But as he reached the last one, he found nothing that suited his taste. There were no more fruits beyond the row, just a descending plain shrouded in fog. He had a feeling that he''d end up getting kicked out the moment he passed the fog. Perhaps it was because he was too careful in choosing, but there was nothing that prompted his instinct. Don''t get it wrong, each of those fruits was powerful in its own right. These were Genuses that would make even Razer mad with envy. However, none of them felt like the right fit for him. Should I just pick out the strongest one I see? Atlan activated his Thermal Vision and was immediately blinded by the fruits. It was as if he looked directly at the sun at its peak! He immediately averted his eyes to protect his retina from being damaged. He was going to deactivate his Thermal Vision, but then he saw something out of the corner of his eyes. There was a dim yellow light blinking deep underground. He wouldn''t have even seen it if he hadn''t tried to avert his eyes from the bright Genus fruits. But now that he saw it, he knew that this was something special. It was calling to him. That was a Genus fruit! And strangely enough, it had the same shape as a rectangle with a knob on the side. Chapter 140: The chase This was the one he wanted but it seemed that the Genus fruit knew it too. It immediately swam away underground to avoid his piercing eyes.He smiled. He always liked the chase. His shoulder blades turned numb and prickly as his Angel Wings unfolded behind him. With one flap of his wings, he caught up to the escaping Genus fruit. It changed directions in an attempt to disorient him, but Atlan''s Lightspeed Angel Wings weren''t just for show. For as long as he could keep it up, it was almost invincible in the air. He could have gone even faster, but he knew that he wouldn''t be able to keep it up. If he continued to only match the pace of the fruit, he knew that he could keep up with it for a decent amount of time. He also needed to be careful with the vineyard. He would have used his Apocalyptic Hellfire to destroy the fields and completely turn it over but he was afraid that once the fruits got detached from their stems, the bunker would think that Atlan picked his Genus fruit and it would kick him out. He couldn''t let that happen. He wanted this fleeing Genus. Thankfully, the underground fruit didn''t seem all that smart. Once it saw that Atlan was able to keep up with its speed, it suddenly panicked and shot straight up! S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was his chance! Atlan flapped his Angel Wings even harder, accelerating to speeds he had never achieved before to try and intercept the fruit just as it passed the trellises. Atlan was just an arm''s length away from the fruit. Now that he saw it clearly, he was surprised to see that it only looked like an ordinary wooden door complete with the hinges and the knob. A door? Just as Atlan was about to catch the door-fruit in his hand, the doors suddenly opened and disappeared completely in mid-air! Atlan stopped. He hovered around where it disappeared and couldn''t believe its eyes. He saw no heat remnant with his Thermal Vision, which meant that it didn''t speed away from Atlan, it disappeared! He looked around the foggy outskirts of the vineyard and saw no sign of the door-fruit anywhere. He lowered himself and let his Angel Wings rest for a bit. He made it seem like he gave up as he closed his eyes. But just a moment later, his Angel Wings suddenly burst open and he accelerated to where the door-fruit was hiding! It thought that it could hide within the trellises and mask its energy with the other Genus fruits, but it failed to pay attention to the fact that it was the only one that was moving erratically. It was too panicked from Atlan for it to sit still. His Thermal Vision still worked even if his eyes were closed, although a bit diminished. But this turned out to be an advantage as he was able to avoid the blinding lights from the fruits and focus on the door. Atlan reached its hiding spot within a moment. He pushed himself even faster to try and catch the slippery little fruit. But just before he could grasp it in his hands, it opened its doors once again and disappeared into the void. Atlan looked up and was surprised to see the door-fruit hovering above the clouds, among the stars. Even with his current fastest speed with his Angel Wings, he still couldn''t keep up with it. No matter how fast he went, it kept teleporting away from him at the very last second. There was no way for him to catch it. But of course, he wasn''t going to give up. The good thing about mutations was that he could use it in tandem with his LifeSkill. He manifested a giant hand in his Soul System and activated his Spiked Chitin Spray. He raised his hand in the air and shot out his LifeSkill. The thorned black webs spread out in a cone pattern to try and enclose the slippery door-fruit, but it simply teleported away at the very last second. He shot another Spiked Chitin Spray towards it, this time, he sped to the opposite side. He hoped that it would trap the door-fruit and he could catch it with his own hands. But he underestimated how fast those doors opened. The moment it saw the black webs spray towards itself, it suddenly opened its doors and teleported away, giving no time for Atlan to catch it even with his fastest speed. I can''t catch it like this. It''s fruitless. It will keep teleporting while I use my Angel Wings till exhaustion. I have to find another way. He sped towards the door-fruit standing atop one of the trellises. He made sure to keep his speed at a minimum to preserve his energy. This time, the fruit took its time and waited at the very last second before teleporting away. Atlan looked around and saw the fruit behind him. Hmm¡­ Atlan continued to test out the fruit''s teleporting ability. He found that it could do this with seemingly no limit at all. He kept a close eye on its internal body temperature and saw no difference from when it started to when it used its teleport ten times in a row. That was bad news. But the good news was that its usage was quite basic. It didn''t have any complex sentient thinking or it wouldn''t have simply teleported behind Atlan without any deviation. It didn''t try to get clever and teleport away randomly¡ªit didn''t need to. Another important thing he found out was the need for its doors to be opened for it to activate its teleport ability. If he could get to it before it opened its doors, then he''d be able to catch it. But even if he knew that, it was still a hard task. Stay tuned for updates on M V L It could teleport within a fraction of a second. For Atlan to grab the door-fruit that fast, he''d need to be exactly a meter away for him to grab it before it could open its door. With his Angel Wings, he could move fast enough to reach the door. But, he needed to move before the door teleported and he needed to arrive exactly where the door would land. To do that, he''d need to know the future. That was impossible. He needed to know where it would land. It wasn''t enough to know that it would land behind him, he needed to know the direction. Wait¡­I have another LifeSkill that can help me target it! Chapter 141: Gatekeeper His Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill could lock on to any target he could see!Can I lock on to the door-fruit? Atlan immediately tested it out. He turned around and chased the Genus fruit half-heartedly and as soon as he saw it teleport, he immediately turned around and held the Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill in his giant hand. Your journey continues with M V L It was too frantic for him to lock onto and activate his LifeSkill, but he wasn''t planning to. He grasped the planet in his Soul System with no intention of gripping it tightly¡ªhe knew it wouldn''t work anyway. However, the moment he made contact with his LifeSkill, it immediately started to look for a target in his vicinity. It didn''t take long for his LifeSkill to lock onto an empty space on the right side. As fast as that moment came, it vanished just as easily. The LifeSkill failed to activate just as he predicted. But it already did its job. Atlan knew where the Genus fruit would land! After a fraction of a second, the door-fruit manifested in reality just a few meters away from where Atlan thought it would land! It worked! He finally knew how to catch it. He spent the next few minutes testing out the parameters of the teleportation and was able to shorten the estimated distance to only a few inches. And despite being a pseudo sentient being, the Genus fruit seemed to be getting overconfident with its abilities. It didn''t immediately teleport whenever Atlan got close. It floated away from him and tried to bait him into chasing it even further. And once he got too close, it would teleport and bob up and down in happiness. Atlan kept chucking out his Spiked Chitin Spray towards the Genus fruit, but they always missed. Okay¡­preparations are complete. This is my chance. He looked back at his own Angel Wings and knew that it was nearing exhaustion. Testing out the door-fruit''s abilities necessitated using his Angel Wings to keep up with it, which made him almost dead tired. And fortunately, it turned out to be completely worth it. Atlan shot out one more Spike Chitin Spray towards the floating Genus fruit. But this time, he didn''t let it spread outwards. As soon as it spurted out of his hands, he immediately grabbed it with his fingers and pulled it towards himself. The Genus fruit''s ''brain'' or whatever it used to think, was too simple for it to understand what was happening. After all, the black web didn''t even get near it. It didn''t notice that the new web connected to the other string of webs on the ground. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan didn''t miss the previous LifeSkill attacks! He didn''t intend to hit the Genus fruit with it, but instead used it to set up a trap for the unsuspecting Door-fruit. He pulled the web that was connected to the other webs on the ground. These intertwined Spiked Chitin Spray were wrapped around the trellises and created a net that suddenly sprung up and intended to catch the Genus fruit from mid-air! The Door-fruit jumped up but realized that it was already too late. The net covered any chance of escape it could try to do. And the gaps between the net were too tight for it to fit through. With no other choice, the Genus fruit opened its door and vanished from existence. And when it reappeared back in reality, it was suddenly greeted with the image of Atlan''s hands grabbing its wooden frame. The Genus fruit was still clueless as Atlan held his precious prize in his hand. It tried to wriggle its way out of his grip, but how could it compare to his SSS class Physique LifeSkill? It tried to open its doors to teleport away from him, but Atlan was too careful for that. He made sure the doors would never open. He smiled. His plan worked. He was already alert and ready when he sprung his net on the Genus fruit. The moment he saw it open its doors to try and escape, Atlan immediately activated his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill to sense the general direction of where it would appear next. And with his Angel Wings pushed to its very limits, Atlan almost teleported right next to the Genus fruit, catching it off guard. With one swift move, he grabbed the door-fruit in his hands and claimed his prize. His Angel Wings forcefully folded back into his back, but it was fine. It did its job. He landed on the ground and inspected his prize. Now that he looked at it closely, he noticed that the wooden door was emanating a new but familiar feeling. He tried to remember when he first felt this strange sensation. Ah! I remember now. It has the same feeling as when I first entered Genesis City! He would never forget that moment. And when he held the door-fruit in his hands, he felt those memories resurfacing in his mind. Does this fruit have something in common with the City? Does it have something to do with the Genesis God? Either way, Atlan knew that this Genus was something that he needed. It was special. Out of all the 9-star Genus in the Vineyard, it was the only one that tried to evade his capture. Every single fruit in the trellises presented themselves as alluring as possible to try and entice him to pick it instead of the other ones. And if it weren''t for his Physique LifeSkill, he would''ve fallen for it. The Door-fruit was the only one that stayed underground and hid itself from being picked. But now that it was in his hands, Atlan was sure that it was the most valuable thing inside the Vineyard. He didn''t hesitate any longer. He opened his mouth and took a bite out of the door-fruit. The sensation he felt was akin to biting onto a cloud. It wasn''t solid. He only felt mist around his mouth as the door-fruit suddenly disintegrated into multi-colored particles that phased in and out of existence. These particles enveloped Atlan''s entire body, turning him into a being with multi-colored skin as he phased in and out of existence. [You have obtained a 9-star Genus: Gatekeeper] [You have obtained a new mutation: 9-star Dimensional Wings] [You already have a Wing mutation. Would you like to merge them?] Chapter 142: Thank the lucky stars 10,000 Upgrade points flew out of Atlan''s Soul System and merged his new mutations.The ethereal Angel Wings floated in the blackness of his Soul System and were suddenly enveloped by those multi-colored particles that phased in and out of existence. Due to the very nature of the Angel Wings, it couldn''t let itself be sullied by anything other than Angel power. But the line of red geometrical shapes encircled around the Angel Wings. After a few seconds, the one in the front of the Upgrade points pierced through the Angel Wings and ''sewed'' the multi-colored particles into the very feathers of the wings. It wasn''t long until the pure white feathers were shimmering like twinkling stars. After the transformation was over, the Angel Wings returned to their pure white form. Atlan looked at his Soul System. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª2x (1-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª2x (1-star) Flora ¡ª10x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (4-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (6-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (7-star) Flora ¡ª1x (9-star) Gatekeeper ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (4-star) Canzer Mother Tongue ¡ª (6-star) Pseudo Canzer Whisperer ¡ª (7-star) Photosynthesis ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings [Trait] ¡ª 10x level booster [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª 2nd stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(2000 / 2000) Specialty: Vanguard S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ªMage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6x F class fragments ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª 2nd stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage ¡ªScout: (SR) Thermal Vision ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6x F class fragments ¡ªBerserker: (B) Bloodline Transformation ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments ¡ªBard: (SR) Modify Memory Spore ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments [Experience: 60,521.2] [Upgrade Points: 328,000] [SoulTime] ¡ª50 yrs : 112 d : 12 hrs : 54 min : 34 s His Lightspeed Angel Wings turned into Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings! Atlan was surprised because his new Gatekeeper Genus was only a 9-star rarity, which meant that the Dimensional Wings mutation he received was also only at the 9-star rarity. But it somehow merged with his Lightspeed Angel Wings at the 10-star rarity. Although they were both Wing mutations, he didn''t think that they''d be able to merge because of the rarity difference. Does that mean that as long as they''re the same mutation, I can merge them even if they have a large gap in rarity? Atlan wouldn''t have believed that, but he was looking at his newly transformed Wing mutation in his Soul System with his very own eyes. From time to time, his pure white Angel Wings would sparkle and shimmer like a star in the night sky. Because the 10-star Lightspeed Angel Wings has a higher rarity than the 9-star Dimensional Wings, it will stay as the dominant mutation¡­ Atlan wasn''t mad at this new change. His new Wings only got stronger because of it. Although he didn''t know the exact capabilities of his new mutation, he knew that it had something to do with dimensions. Can I travel between dimensions? Or maybe I can create a new dimension for me to store my stuff? Atlan wanted to test it out, so he opened his eyes. He expected to see the foggy plains filled with trellises of Genus fruits, but when he opened his eyes, he only saw dark steel doors in front of him. This is the entrance for the bunker. Your journey continues at M V L He looked behind him but couldn''t see the stairs that led down to the next Genus plains. Looks like I''ve been kicked out. He was warned that this would happen, but he didn''t think that the change would be so unnoticeable. He took his focus away from his surroundings as he observed his Soul System and the next thing he knew, he was already back at the bunker. With no other choice, Atlan pushed the door open and was greeted with the same overgrown garden that he came from. "I''m finally back." He looked around but didn''t see Geminus anywhere. I must have been in there a long time. Just then, he suddenly heard a branch break from a distance. With his enhanced hearing, he was able to hear three distinct footsteps coming toward him at an unhurried pace. "Are you sure you saw him here?" "Yes. I''m sure. The Star Porter is around here somewhere." "What are we going to tell Young Master Otis if we don''t teach this guy a lesson?" The three shady men didn''t even try to hide themselves. They were too busy detangling themselves from the overgrown vines to worry about their conversation echoing in the jungle-like garden. And just as they finally weaved themselves away from the tall bamboo-like grass on the ground, they came across a bald spot in the garden with nothing but a degrading bunker and a man staring right back at them. They stopped in their tracks as they recognized him. "What a tremendous amount of good luck! We found him." "I told you he''s here somewhere." "Good. We''ll curry favor with the Young Master O with this." Lucky (Unlucky) for them, the Star Porter had no intention of running away from them. He seemed oblivious with the hostile eyes directed at him. "Hey, Trash Porter! Come over here. We have something to give you." "Kukuku¡­it''s quite heavy too. It''s a real knocker of a present!" "It''s a congratulatory gift from a very special person. He congratulates you for surviving that disaster in the Pocket Remedium." But despite their very ''alluring'' offer, Atlan kept still. He looked at them as he crossed his arms around his black battle suit. Seeing him that way, the three shady figures knew that the jig was up. "Tsk. Come on now! We won''t hurt you that badly. We''re only at the 5th stage!" "We''re just here to teach you a few moves." The three of them cracked their knuckles with an easygoing attitude. This wasn''t their first time beating down a lesser Savior. Novices were too green behind the ears to even pose a threat to any of them even if they were fighting a horde. They wouldn''t even hurt Atlan that badly. After all, he was the Star Porter. They''ll only need an arm and a leg. Chapter 143: For chasing Atlan calmly faced the three. He then used his Thermal Vision and looked around the garden.Aside from the cold bodies of the overgrown plant life, he saw no one around him. "Where are you looking?" "Don''t worry, no one will hear you even if you scream." "That gardener is gone. What a gullible guy he was. He believed us when we said we''d join the Garden Club if he ran a lap around the entire City!" Atlan took a deep breath and nodded to himself. "Good. There''s no one here to see this." The other three laughed to themselves when they heard that. Atlan acted like it was good that there was no one here to save him. "Good for you? Good for us! We can take our time with you and teach you a little something about survivor''s guilt!" Otis Orioness wanted revenge on those Saviors who survived the Pocket Remedium disaster. Atlan was one of them. He survived with barely any injuries while Obek, Otis'' younger brother, lost all his SoulTime and couldn''t even be visited in the church! It was completely unfair when they were the ones who opened their private Pocket Remedium for others to enjoy their party. These three were his lackeys and their job was to bring down justice to those that got ''lucky''. But Atlan didn''t know any of that. He didn''t care. Explore stories on M V L He stretched his hands and prepared himself. Truth be told, he was a little bit excited. This was the first time he''d be going all out in front of other people. "I can finally practice my skills," he uttered. The lackeys sneered at him again. With their strength and their numerical advantage, there would be no time for him to practice. He''d only feel pain. "Look at this guy," they mocked him. "Even if you triple your power, you won''t even be able to harm a single hair on our bodies!" But no matter how much they tried to tell Atlan about the apparent difference in their strength, he didn''t seem to care. He raised his hand and gestured for them to come to him. It was so simple yet so arrogant at the same time that the lackeys couldn''t help but turn red in the ears. They couldn''t believe that a mere porter dared to taunt them. Where did he get the confidence to think that he''d be able to defeat three of them at the same time? They had a three-stage difference between them! Did the fame go to his head? They thought that Atlan must have felt confident about himself because of all the good things they''d been telling about him recently. It made him overestimate himself. But even then, his overconfidence had no basis of evidence at all. He could defeat a single man in the 4th stage, but that was a single exchange of kicks. It wasn''t a real fight. If it was, then Atlan would surely lose because of the difference in experience. Now, he was fighting against three people in the 5th stage Student realm. All at the same time. He''d be delusional to think that he''d wind this battle. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Let''s show him the difference, shall we?" The three lackeys took out the scimitars from their backs and brandished them to the arrogant Star Porter. "RAHH!" they screamed. And in an instant, they accelerated toward Atlan at intense speeds, even carving a path for themselves through the soil. Their scimitars were positioned to slice Atlan''s body in three different levels. One of them aimed for his arms, one aimed for his torso, and one aimed to cut his ankles. This would be the trophies they''d bring back to Otis and prove that they had done their jobs properly. "That''s useless," Atlan uttered under his breath. And before they could even make contact, his body suddenly disappeared from their view. Their scimitars sliced through nothing but vines and moss on the ground. "What?! Where did he go?" "Tsk. Find him! I can''t believe he knows a movement technique!" "He was so arrogant saying that he''ll be enough to defeat us. Turns out it''s just a ruse to help him escape!" They were going to move out, but they suddenly noticed a shadow cast directly over their heads. That shadow was moving, beating, as if it were a bird flapping its wings. "Look up," a voice said above them. The three lackeys had a bad feeling as they heard his voice. They slowly raised their heads. And what they saw shut them up. Above them was the silhouette of a man with wings behind him spreading to almost twice that of an average human''s height. And even with the brightness of the sun at its zenith, the pure white Angel Wings still glimmered below them. They couldn''t believe what they were seeing. "What the?!" "Wings?! That''s not possible¡­that''s only a 7-star mutation!" The leader of the lackeys immediately knew the mission spiked up in difficulty the moment Atlan brought out his wings. Everyone underestimated the Star Porter, if that was even possible. The leader would have been more confident if he had five more 5th stage Students helping him subdue Atlan. By speed alone, they knew that they couldn''t keep up with him. "How are we going to catch him now?" "We can''t let him get away." They still thought that Atlan would run away with his Angel Wings. That was only the most logical course of action. But even with his wings, Atlan didn''t move a single inch. He hovered above the lackeys. "Ha! Is he stupid? Why isn''t he running away?" "Maybe he can''t control his wings all that well. It''s our chance!" The other two rejoiced when they saw Atlan kept still. The only one who kept quiet was their leader; he was deep in thought. A thought popped up in his head. What if he didn''t leave because he doesn''t want to? And just as he thought that, Atlan spoke up from above them. "These wings aren''t for escaping. It''s for chasing." The leader''s survival instincts kicked in and he immediately darted away from Atlan. He didn''t know which was more terrifying: the fact that Atlan could catch up to him, or the fact that he wasn''t? Chapter 144: Multiple powers Atlan took out his slingshot.He plucked a single red cherry from the tree right next to him and put it in his slingshot. The other two lackeys didn''t understand why their leader ran away, but it made them much more suspicious of the porter floating right above them. Maybe, he was much more dangerous than they thought. Why else would their senior leader run away? But then, they saw Atlan pluck out a cherry from a tree and use it as ammunition for his slingshot. It almost made them laugh. Does the porter really think that the puny little cherry would do damage to our armor? Their eyes suddenly widened when they felt the air change. The pressure made them sweat and instinctively worry for their lives. They looked up at Atlan''s slingshot and saw a bluish-green fire covering the hot red cherry. "That''s¡­.no¡­.that can''t be¡­" "How¡­" Atlan was emanating a pressure that only those in the 3rd stage Student realm could exert! They were 5th stage Students. They were more sensitive to LifeSkill powers and knew how to estimate them just from the pressure alone. They couldn''t mistake a 3rd stage Student for a 2nd stage Student. But now, they wished they made a mistake. They wished that what they were feeling wasn''t a power from the 3rd stage Student realm. They wished they were wrong. No matter how much they tried to deny it, the evidence was right in front of their eyes. They couldn''t understand how that was possible. Everyone knew that Atlan was a star, but a porter nonetheless. He was only supposed to have a Physique LifeSkill that gave him the physical strength to carry thousands of kilograms without any problem. They saw him use it. Although surprising, the black flames that spread to his body were the manifestation of his Physique LifeSkill. And from their estimation, his Physique LifeSkill was only in the 2nd stage. That was public knowledge. And even though he could break the bones of a man in the 4th stage, it was still believable. But as they looked at the bluish-green flame in his slingshot, they realized that they''d been fooled. That dangerous pressure it emitted was not something that could be faked. It was another LifeSkill! How is that possible, they thought. It was simply inconceivable to think that someone had two different LifeSkills, much more one of them being in the 3rd stage Student already! It took them at least 8 years to go from 1st stage to 5th stage. And from their investigations, they knew that the Star Porter was only drafted not even a month ago! Him having a LifeSkill in the 4th stage was impossible! He shouldn''t have that much experience in the first place! He''d only gone on one mission! Atlan released the slingshot in his hands, and it created a single bluish-green line of fire that led straight toward the back of the fleeing lackey. The moment it hit, BOOM, an explosion of bluish-green fire erupted and sent a shockwave that blasted the other two lackeys off their feet. Once the smoke cleared, they saw a crater filled with nothing but burned plants, vines, and moss. The leader of the lackeys laid face down with his battle suit burned and tattered into pieces. His protective armor was shattered into pieces, but it did its job. He may have lost half his SoulTime, but he wasn''t killed. He''s just unconscious. The other two covered their mouths in horror. Atlan''s attack was not unfamiliar to them. It was reminiscent of a sniper''s attack, though this one was a lot more tame and less destructive. "That''s not possible¡­how do you have that¡­" "How¡­you''re a monster!" The two of them recognized that bluish-green flame. How could they not? Practically everyone in the entire City, if not the entire world, knew about that iconic bluish-green hellfire that could incinerate anything it touched. That was Quinto Kindle''s LifeSkill. It was what the First Savior used to kill millions upon millions of Canzers in his lifetime. Even though they didn''t understand it, there was one thing they were sure about. Atlan was a monster. Not only could he have two LifeSkills, but one of them was already at the 3rd stage in less than two weeks! "RUN!" The two of them immediately made a run for it. Just from his Sniper LifeSkill alone, they knew that they had no chance of beating him. And that was when he used a single cherry as his ammo! What more if he used something with a little more punch? But then they heard something incredulous. Read exclusive chapters at M-V-L "Spiked Chitin Spray," uttered Atlan as a black web suddenly burst out of his palms. One of the lackeys was too slow. He got caught by the cone of black webs, trapping him on the mossy cobblestone below. "Argh!" he screamed. The black webs were as thick as branches and were heavy enough to pin him down. Not only that, there were sharp thorns all around the webbing that slowly lacerated his skin. He couldn''t even gather enough power to rip the sticky web away from his skin. The harder he struggled, the more the barbed spikes poked his skin. The best thing for him to do was to stay still and slowly rip the black web away from his skin, but his panicked fear of Atlan''s shadowy figure above him made him more erratic. He entangled himself further in the web. With two down, there was only one of them left. The man''s body lit up in a red glow as he activated his 5th stage LifeSkill: Water Crescent. He waved his scimitar behind him, creating crescent-shaped water toward Atlan. As expected of a 5th-stage student, these Water Crescents sliced through steel fences quite easily. His attack curved in the air and rotated up, intending to hit Atlan from below. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But no matter how powerful those Water Crescents were, they were useless if they didn''t hit their target. Atlan flapped his wings even harder and immediately caught up with the last lackey. He grabbed onto the man''s shoulders, pinning him in place. But then, Atlan''s Angel Wings suddenly glimmered like the stars in the night sky. A new power suddenly emanated from the wings. The shining particles suddenly shot out from his Angel Wings and pierced through 5 meters in front of them. Atlan''s eyes widened as he saw the particles tear through the very reality itself, creating an oval-shaped hole in the air. Chapter 145: How to alter a memory The hole in reality was quickly enveloped by a black liquid that seemed strangely familiar.Atlan couldn''t stop his momentum as he and the lackey went through the black shimmering portal. And when they crossed it, Atlan''s eyes adjusted to the strange colors of everything around him. The sky that used to be so bright and blue has now turned into a dark orange. The luscious vegetation that colored everything in a green hue turned into a purple tint. Enjoy new chapters from M-V-L The two of them slowly stood up as they realized where they were. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What the hell are you? How can you create a portal to the Remedium?!" The lackey looked at Atlan as if he was a monster. But even the ''monster'' didn''t know how this happened. "Take me back!" The lackey couldn''t hide his panic. He had heard all the stories about the Remedium incidents and was completely terrified of Canzers suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Not only that, Atlan was always at the center of any incidents. It made him think that the porter was the reason as to why those things kept happening in the City. It may have just been his bad luck, but it could have also been intentional. The fact that Atlan could create a portal to the Remedium further led the lackey to believe that Atlan was the enemy of humanity. Atlan ignored him and looked around. It''s a complete copy of the real world¡­except with negative colors¡­ There was no mistaking it. This was the Remedium. Somehow, his new Angel Wings mutation could traverse through the Remedium without the normal portal constructs that the Operators used. So that''s what ''dimensional'' meant in my Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings. Despite the horrible news that he somehow ended up in another Remedium, Atlan was overjoyed with the fact that he obtained this power from his 9-star Gatekeeper genus. If he could go in, then he could also get out! Even though he hadn''t figured out how to do that yet, the fact that it was possible was enough to make him feel a lot safer when doing missions. If things escalated again and another ''incident'' happened with his missions, then he had a trump card that could save his life. If another Specialist-level Canzer appeared in his beginner mission, Atlan could simply exit out of the Remedium at any point without having to search for the portal. The reason why a lot of people died during the Pocket Remedium incident was that everyone was trapped inside with no way to exit. The portal back to the real world was blocked by a horde of Pseudo Canzers, so everyone was forced to run away to save their lives. But Atlan didn''t have that problem anymore. He could get out of the Remedium even if the portal was miles away from him. This was entirely good news! For the lackey, things got a little more terrifying. He saw Atlan smile out of nowhere. "Don''t worry," Atlan assured him. "You''ll forget about this soon enough." Before the guy could even speak, Atlan swiped the air with his hands and created orange spores that slowly fell on the ground. Even as the lackey tried to avoid the spores, a few microscopical particles sunk deep in between his skin and infected his whole body. The spores followed the veins in his body until they reached the top of his head. "It''s time to see how good my SR Modify Memory Spore LifeSkill is¡­" It didn''t take a full minute before the lackey''s eyes turned from intense fear to simple absentmindedness. His eyes turned muddy. He was still conscious, but there wasn''t any active thinking in his brain. Can I modify all his memories? Or can I only alter recent memories? Can I make him forget his name? If I can''t, then that''s fine. The only thing that I need him to forget is the memory of me using all my powers, including my Wings'' ability to create portals to the Remedium. That one, I have to make sure no one else knows. But it seemed that Atlan contemplated for far too long as the guy''s eyes started to clear. He was waking up. "Huh¡­what¡­right¡­Remedium¡­" Before he could wake up any further, Atlan used his Spores to make his memories vague and malleable. "You forgot your name. You don''t know how you got here." Atlan commanded. After a few moments, the guy shook his head and looked around the Remedium with confusion written all over his face. He recognized where this place was, but he didn''t remember how he ended up in this situation. "Who are you? How did you get here?" Atlan asked. "Who¡­am I¡­.I¡­I''m¡­.I''m Cera¡­I don''t¡­.I don''t know why I''m here." I can''t make him forget his name. I guess that memory is too ingrained in his brain for me to make him forget who he is¡­but I made him forget how he ended up in the Remedium. That''s good. Atlan continued to test out the limits of his new LifeSkill. He found that a target''s memory could be altered or modified for as long as the memory was made within 24 hours. During this period, he could make them believe that they spent the whole day lounging in their beds and doing nothing. He could erase memories longer than a day, but he had a harder time convincing them to believe the lie. As long as the memory he altered was something insignificant to their lives, then he could alter it or delete it entirely from their minds. But if it was a memory that was integral to their personality, like their name or their knowledge of how to use their weapons, then he couldn''t erase it from their memory no matter how hard he tried. Also, if the memory he implanted was too unbelievable, then they would start to question their false memories. Knowing the parameters of his Modify Memory Spore was important because he''d be relying on it to keep his secret from this point onward. Truth be told, he should have tested out his LifeSkill before he showed them his true powers. But if his LifeSkill didn''t work as he intended, then there was just one simple thing he would do. He''d kill them. Chapter 146: Forget me He was probably not the first person they harassed. He wouldn''t be killing them, no. He''d only be lessening the sufferings in the world and the City.The only reason why he didn''t kill them right now was because he knew that it could backfire on him. "You want to tell me why you targeted me," Atlan commanded. And just like that, the guy spilled the whole truth. Someone named Otis Orioness commanded them to teach him a lesson. Orioness. Obek is also from the Orioness family¡­are they related? Probably¡­they want revenge for his death. It was no secret that Atlan and Obek clashed heads during the race. Not only that, Atlan was the very reason why Obek was overwhelmed by the horde of Pseudo Canzers. If Atlan hadn''t shot off the blinders in Obek''s mount, he could have escaped with his mount. Otis targeted him for that. If Atlan killed his three lackeys, he would reveal that he had the power to kill three 5th stage Students simultaneously. The guy would be more careful and send out stronger opponents. Explore new worlds at M-V-L But by changing their memories, he could make them think they forgot to attack him. He could convince them their ambush was a failure because of an unexpected witness. "You didn''t meet me today. You didn''t fight me. You didn''t see me use my powers. You''ll forget everything you see or feel about me." The spores in his brain invaded the firing neurons that related to his memory. His mind deleted the memories he had of Atlan, including the image of him flying with Angel Wings behind his back. He voluntarily forgot the fact that Atlan was a monster who used three different LifeSkills. His entire interaction with Atlan was flushed down the drain. Before he could gain consciousness, Atlan activated his Physique LifeSkill and punched him in the chin, knocking him out completely. Atlan''s Angel Wings unfolded behind him. He closed his eyes and recalled the feeling when he created the portal to the Remedium. Slowly, the pure white feathers in his wings started to glimmer with twinkling stars. But after a few seconds, it slowly faded back into his wings. It took Atlan a few tries before he was able to consistently keep the feeling solid in his wings. He commanded his Angel Wings to flap. He flailed his Angel Wings harder and harder, with fury. And finally, the black and white particles suddenly pierced outwards and created a hole in the middle of the air. Atlan saw the familiar black shimmering portal that led back to the real world. The only difference between his portal and a man-made construct from the Operators was that theirs was made out of a perfect circle while Atlan''s portal was uneven and shaky. He didn''t care. As long as he could travel between the Remedium and the real world, then he was satisfied. He threw the unconscious body of the lackey into the portal and followed behind it. As soon as he stepped foot in the portal, the smell of the earth and freshly cut grass his senses. He heaved a sigh of relief. He was back. This was enough evidence for him to be confident with his Angel Wings'' new power. "You! Where did you guys go?! And what happened to him?" The only one left still conscious was the lackey trapped in his Spiked Chitin Spray. He struggled under a pool of his blood as the thorns cut his skin mercilessly. Atlan went forward and gathered the three of them into one place. "What..what are you going to do? Are you going to bleed us of our SoulTime?!" Atlan kept silent and looked down on them with a calm demeanor. "Don''t you know who we work for? If he finds out that you hurt us, he''ll give you a beating you can''t ever forget! And don''t think you''re gonna get away with this! The whole City will soon know about your secrets! You''re conspiring with the Canzers! They must have given you all those powers." But Atlan didn''t utter a single word. Instead, he waited for the other guy to wake up. "Cera! It''s good you''re awake." "What¡­what''s happening?" "Come on! We have to get out." "Wh¨Cwhy?" "What do you mean?! It''s that porter! He''s a monster!" Cera looked up at Atlan, but his face was foreign to him as if he had never met Atlan before. "What¡­am I doing here? I was just at home¡­" It was only then that the last surviving lackey realized that there was something wrong going on. "What happened?!" "I made him forget," answered Atlan. "I relieved him of the suffering he felt when he saw my true powers. I freed him." Cera acted like a zombie. He didn''t know where he was and he didn''t know what happened. It was as if he''d been in a coma that erased his entire memory of today! Atlan slowly lowered himself towards the three lackeys. The man tried even harder to struggle away from the thorned black webs, but it was futile. No matter how much he tried, he wouldn''t be able to escape the fate that Cera suffered. "No! Please!" But Atlan didn''t care. He raised his hand and gathered spores in the air. And with one flick of the hand, the three of them were enveloped in a cloud of spores that quickly invaded their bodies and infected their brains. Their eyes turned cloudy. "You fought against each other because of a disagreement. You didn''t find me. You never saw me. You never went into the garden." ### After a few hours, the three lackeys found themselves tied up in a dark basement with no windows. Ahead of them was a blonde-haired man sitting in a chair. "Tell me what happened," Otis commanded. Cera slowly came to and the false memories flowed in his mind. His imagination made up a vivid memory of him beating up the other lackeys until they were all knocked out. "We¡­we fought¡­" "I won¡­against him. I destroyed his armor." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I tried to run away from them¡­but they caught me¡­" CRASH Otis threw down the glass of wine in his hands. "Useless bastards. I''ll have to do this myself. This time, I''ll make sure he meets a gruesome fate in the Remedium the way my little brother suffered!" Chapter 147: First task of the garden club Atlan slumped on his bed after a very interesting day. He met quite a few odd individuals today.First, he met Adam, who was supposedly part of a secret organization operating in the undergrounds of the City to bring back the glory of humans. Their faction was called the Prime Humans. Although he didn''t know if Adam was telling the truth or not, there was one thing for sure: Prime Humans had a Trait. Atlan gained a Trait after he reaped the death of Quinto Kindle, the First Savior, which meant that he was also a part of the Prime Humans. Then, he met Geminus, the leader of the declining Garden Club. He invited Atlan to join the club, which Atlan was going to decline, but then the deaths he reaped from the garden made him reconsider. And after he got his 9-star Genus from the Vineyard, a few lackeys suddenly ambushed him. They were all in the 5th stage Student realm. Atlan would have had a lot more trouble dealing with them if his LifeSkills hadn''t finished their consolidation period just at the right time. [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill to the 4th stage of the Student Realm] [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill to the 3rd stage of the Student Realm] Since his two SSS class LifeSkills advanced to the next level, his physical strength was also boosted to such an extent that he was able to stand toe to toe against the three lackeys. He would have advanced them to the next level if he had the time, but he was busy fighting and trying to figure out how his Modify Memory Spore worked. But now that he was at home, he upgraded them to the next level. ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 5th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 14 days ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 7 days The Cherubic Retribution cost 4000 experience points to upgrade to the 5th stage while the Apocalyptic Hellfire cost 3000 experience to advance to the 4th stage, which brought his total experience down to 53,521.2. With everything settled, Atlan closed his eyes and went to sleep. ### The next day, he was greeted with the notification that his Modify Memory Spore successfully advanced to the 2nd stage Student realm. He used 2000 experience points to upgrade it to the 3rd stage. [You have successfully advanced through the 2nd stage Student Realm of your SR class LifeSkill Modify Memory Spore] [Consolidation period: 47 hrs: 59 mins: 50secs] With nothing else left to do, he walked to the City Center and entered the HeadQuarters. He still garnered some looks of recognition and amazement, but they didn''t try to stop him or anything. Atlan continued to walk to the end of the HeadQuarters until he finally came across the empty Garden Club. He looked around and couldn''t even see anyone near this place. It was completely abandoned. This was the only place in the HeadQuarters that wasn''t teeming with people. According to Geminus, people used to treat plants as if they were pets. They were used for construction, for accompaniment, and even for entertainment. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But when the advent of Pseudo Canzers hit the City, everyone stopped caring about plants. They would rather breed new and exciting Pseudo Canzers to fill the responsibility that the plants once had. Subsequently, all the funding went over to the Pseudo Canzer research in the Operator division. Hence, the garden club''s decline. No one even wanted to join the club, except for Atlan. Experience new tales on M-V-L He was the only one who could benefit from taking care of the dying plants. He reaped more than 3500 deaths just yesterday! Since entry to Pocket Remediums like the public Training Hall was still prohibited, Atlan had no other way of gaining more experience other than through the garden club. In fact, this was much safer than killing Pseudo Canzers in the Pocket Remedium; they could always malfunction and summon another Specialist level Canzer. As he went over the rusting steel gate, he saw a note pasted on the side door. He ripped it from the gate and read its contents. That''s what I have to do? I have to take care of a single plant? Atlan was a bit frustrated that he wasn''t given more instructions on how to take care of this plant. He didn''t know the basics! He lived in a place devoid of any plant life, so he never even knew how to take care of a single blade of grass. That''s it? He had no choice but to improvise. He pushed the side door and entered the Garden Club. As expected, the whole place was surrounded by overgrown plants and weeds. It looks like plants will continue to grow even if I don''t take care of them. He looked up at the largest tree in the distance. He remembered how Geminus used his hands to fold his tongue on the inside to create a whistling sound. Did he do it like this? Atlan blew at his hands, but there was no sound coming out. He continued to change the position of his hands until he finally produced a high-pitched whistling sound that reverberated through the Garden. The ground trembled a little bit as the giant vine that was wrapped around the trunk of the biggest tree, suddenly moved and uncoiled itself. It slithered in the air as it located where the sound came from. Like a sentient being, it looked in Atlan''s direction and moved towards him. It bent down and offered its giant leaf for him to sit in. Once he was on top of the vine, it lifted him and waded through the jungle-like garden without any instruction from Atlan. It knew what to do and where to go. Just then, Atlan suddenly saw a fluttering paper stuck on the leaf. He looked at its contents. Chapter 148: Chronobloom What?! It''s near extinction?!Atlan couldn''t believe that a beginner gardener like him was in charge of such an important piece of plant. There''s only one of them left in the entire world? Does that mean that if I mess up, then it will go extinct? He couldn''t understand why Geminus would give him such a heavy responsibility. He only knew about watering plants yesterday! He even thought that plants needed meat to live like humans. He was thoroughly unprepared to carry the burden of making sure that the Chronobloom plant survived. Oh, there''s more to the note. Atlan turned the paper on its back and saw more scribbles. Atlan crumpled the piece of paper and threw it down the garden. Even though he found out about the history and uses of the Chronobloom, Geminus didn''t say anything about how to take care of it! He didn''t say how much water he needed to put on the roots. He didn''t say how much sunlight it needed throughout the day. How can I keep it alive when you don''t tell me how?! Atlan wanted to complain to Geminus, but the guy was conveniently away from the Garden Club. It frustrated him. He didn''t know that the Chronobloom had such a history in the City. He didn''t even know that there were objects that could see through a person''s SoulTime. According to Geminus, people now use a Pseudo Canzer variant to know a person''s SoulTime. Although he didn''t know what that was, he knew that it could malfunction. It was inevitable. And if that happened, the City would eventually go back to using the Chronobloom. As he ruminated on what he would do, the Big Vine finally reached their destination. It brought him to a place in the Garden that was closed off by a structure made out of opaque fiberglass with steel frames supporting the triangular roof. It was called the ''Greenhouse''. He thanked the Big Vine by rubbing its leaf. The entrance to the greenhouse was only made out of a strip curtain made out of overlapping strips of plastic. It allowed easy access inside while maintaining the airflow and temperature of the greenhouse. He parted the strips and entered. Immediately, he felt that the air inside was much purer than the one outside. The Garden smelled earthy and natural, while the greenhouse smelled like pure air dispelled of any odors, good or bad. He stepped inside and felt his footsteps indent on the soil below. It was much different from the brownish and dry soil outside. This was darker and filled with moisture. And despite the good conditions inside, Atlan only saw one plant in the middle of the greenhouse. It was unlike any vegetation he''d ever seen. He didn''t know if it was a fruit, a statue, or a plant. It was more like a combination of all three. The main body of the Chronobloom was a perfect circle with a solid golden color. And inside this circle were straight red veins that pointed outwards, like the minute marks of a clock. As he observed the plant more, he was surprised to hear a slight ticking in the room. TIK¡­TOK¡­TIK¡­TOK¡­ It''s as if it was a real clock! Each ticking corresponded to one second. He went around the plant and observed its roots. The circular body of the Chronobloom was supported by a single thick stem that was buried deep underground. Atlan would have wanted to observe the plant a little closer, but he didn''t know if that would negatively impact the plant''s health. He wouldn''t know if he stepped onto a root or not. Maybe I don''t have to do anything with the Chronobloom. It looks healthy right now. But then, he suddenly saw something move in the corner of his eye. He looked to the edge of the greenhouse and saw a single blade of grass swaying in the wind. I didn''t see that before. He would have ignored it, but then he suddenly saw another blade pop out from the ground! What the?! Why is grass growing in the greenhouse? Is that bad? Atlan looked around the edges of the greenhouse and saw more and more blades of grass popping out from under the ground. These blades of grass are growing closer and closer to the Chronobloom. I think I should do something¡­ Although he didn''t know if it was good or bad, Atlan decided to nip the problem in the bud before it became too troublesome. Geminus isolated the Chronobloom for a reason; the grass wasn''t supposed to grow here. He looked to the back of the greenhouse and saw a locker with one of its doors slightly ajar. He walked over to the locker and opened it. There, he saw a single brown notebook and a pen. It was titled; Atlan opened the diary and saw multiple entries on different days written down in the notebook. It detailed how this person took care of the Chronobloom during a specific day. On the very first page of the book, Atlan saw a note. Even though Atlan wanted to read more about the diary, he had to kill the grass first. He raised his hand and grabbed the equipment handle on top of the locker. He brought it down in front of him. It had a long handle almost as tall as him made out of dark wood and had a long curved blade attached to the top. Inscribed on the handle was the name of this equipment. It was a scythe. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 149: Farming equipment Atlan held the rusting handle of the scythe. It fit well on his hands and he didn''t have to exert any extra effort trying to keep a grip on this strange farming equipment.He looked at the blade of the scythe and was surprised at how light it was despite it being almost as long as the handle itself. It wasn''t too heavy nor was it too light. It was just perfect. He swung and felt it cleave through the air with little to no resistance. If the handle was made out of better materials and its blade was a little sharper, he felt like it could have cleaved through the horde of Pseudo Canzers like they were cheese. It would have been perfect. The problem with the Pseudo Canzers from the incident before was that there were too many for them to deal with. They were weak, but there were too many of them. This scythe would have been the perfect weapon. This was the first time he''d ever wielded this equipment, but it felt completely natural in his hands. He found it extremely strange that he had such a strong affinity for this farming equipment. Focus. I need to get rid of the grass surrounding the Chronobloom. Atlan took his focus away from the strange equipment and looked at the grass growing on the edges of the walls. They were much more numerous than before. Your next journey awaits at M-V-L He walked over to the first batch of the green weeds and swung his scythe, creating a crescent shape that plowed through the grass, uprooting them from the shallow ground. [You have killed a simple creature: Invasive Weeds] x24 [Due to your Trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 720 experience] He looked at the scythe with satisfaction. He didn''t know why, but carving through a large group of living beings with the scythe felt comfortable. He didn''t know why this scythe was considered only as farming equipment when it looked like it would fare well with fighting Canzers. With a sword, he''d have to perform multiple slashes and practice movement arts to defeat multiple enemies. With a spear, he''d be limited on the amount of thrusts he could produce to kill lots of Pseudo Canzers. But with a scythe like this, he''d have no trouble fighting multiple enemies at once. It could also be used to fight a single tough enemy like that colossal Specialist Canzer. With each swing of his scythe, hundreds of blades of grass were minced into mere particles. Atlan''s speedy but heavy swings were enough to take out the grassroots and prevent them from spreading any further. It didn''t take long before Atlan completely got rid of the grass in the greenhouse. The Chronobloom was safe and sound. The minced grass blades were soon absorbed into the soil and were used to nourish the Chronobloom''s massive nutrient intakes. [You have killed a simple creature: Invasive Weeds] x89 [Due to your Trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 2670 experience] There were no more grass blades to kill, but Atlan couldn''t seem to let go of the scythe in his hands. It felt too natural in his palms to simply use it only once. If he was given a chance, he would rather choose a scythe as his main weapon. However, he was a porter. He wasn''t supposed to carry a big weapon like the scythe. His only job was to carry the construct and nothing else. They''d think that carrying such a big weapon would only take away from his ability to carry the construct through the Remedium''s dangerous terrain. Maybe I can ask Custodire to make me a scythe¡­ If other people heard his thoughts, they would reprimand him for his shamelessness. Custodire was no simple blacksmith. She was one of the premier dwarfs that carried an indirect lineage to the Masamune family. She was also a Specialist Operator! Her main job was to create weapons for Specialist Vanguards. She didn''t have the time to create Student level weapons. But even so, Atlan felt like she would be more than happy to make him a new weapon. For now, I guess this scythe will remain as a farming tool. Atlan returned the scythe to the top of the locker. Now that there wasn''t any pressing concern for the Chronobloom, Atlan finally had the time to look at the notebook stored in the locker. From what he saw earlier, it seemed to be written by someone who took care of the Chronobloom with passion and care. If it weren''t for their warnings, Atlan wouldn''t have known to get rid of the grass invading the greenhouse. He opened up the ''diary'' and looked at the first entry. The diary entry continued to list out what the ''caretaker'' did to keep the Chronobloom at its peak state. They made sure to keep the moisture in the room at a high level, but not too high. The stem could get too wet and the main body could plop down on the ground. Geminus didn''t write this. Someone else did. Atlan thought that he was the only one in the Garden Club, but it seemed that there was someone else too. Who could it be? He continued to parse through the diary detailing the daily maintenance for the Chronobloom. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This is very detailed, Atlan thought. He looked at the date on the notebook and noticed that the oldest entry was only a month ago and the earliest one was only three days ago. Atlan picked up a pen and wrote on the blank page next to the latest entry. Chapter 150: Peaceful day Atlan watered the Chronobloom as instructed in the diary. He made sure to only water the stem that connected to the body, and not its clock-like body. They said that the Chronobloom didn''t like having its main body wet and would wilt for a day as it sulked.With everything taken care of, Atlan walked out of the greenhouse and whistled for the Big Vine to take him back to the entrance. According to the diary, the invasive grass won''t grow back for two days, so he didn''t have to worry about it spreading throughout the night. As he soared through the air on top of the big leaf, he soaked in all the death inside the overgrown garden. [You have reaped the deaths of simple beings] x1230 [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have received 12,300 experience] Just by spending the whole day in the garden, he was able to accumulate a tremendous amount of experience that would even make the veterans jealous. Atlan was probably the only Savior in the entire world with a surplus of experience. If there hadn''t been any consolidation period, Atlan could have made all of his LifeSkills upgraded into the peak 9th-stage Student realm. He had more experience than he knew what to do with. This time, he didn''t get lucky. He got no LifeSkill fragments or Genus from all the deaths. It made sense. The probability of gaining those rewards was much lower if he only reaped the deaths. If he actively participated in killing the plants, then he would gain more experience and have a better chance of getting those rewards. I was just lucky back then that I got so many fragments and genuses¡­ The Big Vine dropped him off next to the gate and Atlan walked back to his house. And even though the sun already set and the moon was high up in the air, Atlan barely felt sleepy. And he wasn''t the only one who felt that way. Without any access to the Training Hall, most of the Saviors who didn''t have any active missions ended up spending their idle time in their homes. They usually practiced killing Pseudo Canzers every day to keep their blades sharp, so spending days without killing a single one made them feel extremely bored. Atlan closed his eyes and waited until he fell asleep. ### The next day, he was greeted with two of his LifeSkills finishing their consolidation period. [Consolidation period over] x2 [You have successfully advanced your B class Spiked Chitin Spray LifeSkill to the 4th stage of the Student Realm] S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [You have successfully advanced your SR class Thermal Vision LifeSkill to the 3rd stage of the Student Realm] He spent a total of 7000 experience to upgrade both to the next stage. After taking a shower, he immediately went over to the HeadQuarters and had his morning breakfast in the cafeteria. This was the first time since a few days ago that he''d had a meal. For some reason, he didn''t feel hungry at all even when he went through such a harrowing experience in the Pocket Remedium. Reaping souls gives me nourishment¡­that''s grim. But Atlan didn''t feel guilty at all. It assured him that he''d be able to survive even in the harsh conditions of the Unclaimed Lands with no food or water to see anywhere. After having his fill, Atlan immediately headed over to the Garden Club. While walking there, he saw the recruits of clubs having fun during their orientation. There were some fun activities like a friendly wrestling match or a movie marathon right on the grass fields of the HeadQuarters. Even though it looked interesting, Atlan would rather stay in the garden and soak up as much experience as he could. Once he was there, he saw another note posted at the gate. What is he doing? Atlan walked inside and whistled for the Big Vine to take him back to the greenhouse. It didn''t take long before he arrived there. Once inside, he was pleased to find out that the Chornobloom didn''t die during the night. He quickly went over to the locker and looked at the notebook. He flipped over to the latest page and was surprised to see another entry right next to the one he wrote yesterday. Atlan read the contents of the diary and felt a connection with his co-caretaker. As a self-proclaimed pacifist, he had a liking for plants because they didn''t cause any suffering to other beings. They didn''t kill to survive like the humans did. He would have probably joined the Garden club even if he wasn''t incentivized with reaping all the deaths inside. Find more to read at M-V-L They replied fast. Did they go to the garden club during the night? Atlan wrote in the notebook about being a pacifist and liking plants. He felt a kindred spirit with the other caretaker, so he knew that they would understand his inclination towards peace. After that, he took care of the Chronobloom as instructed in the diary. He made sure to open the blinds and let out an hour of sunlight for the plant, and no more. Then, he went home and slept. It was a very peaceful day. Chapter 151: Ballistic lotus The next day, Atlan woke up to his Modify Memory Spore LifeSkill advancing to the 3rd stage Student realm.He spent the 3000 required experience to advance it to the next stage. After its 7 days of consolidation period, it would become a 4th stage LifeSkill. ¡ªBard: (SR) Modify Memory Spore ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments As usual, he went directly to the Garden Club after finishing his morning duties. He didn''t mind walking 10 minutes every day because it gave him a good look at the happenings around the HeadQuarters. As he reached the rusted gates, he saw no paper posted near the door. Is he here today? And as he opened the door, he saw Geminus with his white coat and signature haggard look on his face. As usual, he was watering his lilies in the pond and didn''t notice Atlan approaching. "You''re here today." "OH! You scared me there." Atlan walked next to him. "You didn''t tell me there was someone else in the club other than us two." Geminus looked confused at first but suddenly remembered who he was talking about. "Ah! Yes. I forgot. She joined the club about a month ago and I seem to recall her begging me to let her take care of the Chronobloom. I haven''t seen her all that much so I forgot she even existed." So it''s a she¡­ "Does she only come at night?" Geminus nodded. "Yes. She''s quite the shy little thing. I guess she''s busy with a lot of things other than the garden club, so she can''t come during the day. But now that you''re here, you can be the one to take care of the Chronobloom while the sun''s up." Atlan was fine with that arrangement. It was assuring to know that there was someone else taking care of the Chronobloom while he wasn''t in the garden. So that''s why she was able to respond to my entry so fast. She''s only active at night. Speaking of which, I wonder if she wrote something in the notebook. Atlan put his hands on his mouth and whistled for the Big Vine to come get him. But when he looked around, he couldn''t see the vine anywhere; it wasn''t wrapped around the giant tree nor was it slithering through the bushes. "Our resident Big Vine is sleeping right now. It usually does this once every week, so you''ll be able to summon it tomorrow. But for now, we''ll have to walk to the greenhouse." Geminus walked away from the cobblestone paths and onto the grassfields. "Come on! You won''t be able to get to the greenhouse without my help." Atlan followed Geminus through the thick and lush vegetation of the garden. Perhaps, that wasn''t the right word. It was more like a wild jungle than a garden in the middle of a City. It was as if he was transported to a different planet. Every step he took, he felt different kinds of tangled mass and undergrowth in the soil. The dried leaves and roots almost made him trip a couple of times with how uneven they made the terrain. The air was thick and humid. With the dense canopy above composed of the leaves and crowns of giant trees, the temperature dropped quite a bit, bringing with it a cool wind that bombarded Atlan and Geminus. He was even surprised to see waterfalls and cave systems as they journeyed through the overgrown garden. He wondered why he hadn''t seen a single animal despite how big the ecosystem was. He half-expected to see monkeys swinging through vines the first time he saw the forest. Atlan followed behind Geminus as they waded through thick and colorful ferns. And after they passed through the maze-like tall grasses, they came across an open field. "Wait. Don''t move." Geminus''s warnings stopped Atlan in his tracks. He looked ahead and saw black lotus flowers growing from the ground. "This is the Ballistic Lotus. Be careful. Don''t get near any of them." But that was easier said than done. They were in a field of these Ballistic Lotuses with no other way forward. The space in between the lotuses was just barely enough for one leg to pass through. "Oops." Even though Geminus was the one who warned Atlan to be careful, his leg accidentally brushed past the black Lotus stem. "Take cover!" Geminus screamed as he ducked and covered his head. BOOOOOMM The Ballistic Lotus exploded with a magnitude equivalent to a small dynamite, creating a small crater from where it was. Its petals flew out and carved through tree bark like it was nothing. In the aftermath of the explosion, small seeds rained down on the field of black lotuses, which sprouted more Ballistic Lotuses in a matter of seconds. Geminus peeked out from his cover and heaved a sigh of relief. "We got really lucky there. It could have started a chain explosion¡ª" And just as he said that, ten more Black Lotuses exploded in succession. Atlan dodged the black petals raining down on him by weaving his upper body away from their trajectory. If it weren''t for his enhanced physical strength and senses, those petals would have pierced through his body. After a few seconds, more black seeds rained down on the floor and created more Ballistic Lotuses instantly, further overpopulating the field with these dangerous plants. I could use my Angel Wings¡­I''ll just have to erase Geminus'' memory about it. But before he could manifest his Angel Wings, Geminus spoke up. "I''ll teach you how to deal with these plants in case you have to traverse through the plains without me." Geminus ducked down and observed the roots of the Ballistic Lotus. "The thing with plants like these that seemingly multiply endlessly is that they hide a big secret." S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Geminus slowly walked over to the thick crowd of Ballistic Lotuses in the distance. The ground was barely visible with how many black lotuses there were. There must have been hundreds of them in that bush. If just one of these Ballistic Lotuses exploded, it would create a chain reaction that could potentially destroy the whole field and everything in it, including them. "The more there are, the harder they''re trying to protect something," Geminus muttered under his breath. He ducked down and clawed the brown soil underneath the first row of Ballistic Lotuses. He dug until he saw the connection of roots underneath the ground. With one swift move, he took out a potato-like object with thousands of roots connected to it underground. Using both his hands, he crushed the ''potato'' into mush. And in an instant, thousands of Ballistic Lotuses turned limp and white. In just a few seconds, it lost all its moisture and dried out. Read new adventures at M-V-L "And that''s how you deal with those!" Geminus said with a smile. Chapter 152: Fertilizer [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Ballistic Lotus][Due to your trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 1200 experience] "Once you locate the main root, then you can disable all the replicates," Geminus said. I didn''t know plants could be so dangerous¡­and since I only reaped one death, that means that all the black lotus in the fields were all part of one entity¡ªthat main root. "Are all plants here dangerous?" "Yeah, most. But don''t worry about that," Geminus waved off his concerns. "Come on! Let''s go. I can see the greenhouse from here." S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Geminus walked forward while Atlan stayed behind and observed the wilted black lotus. It already lost all its color and became as thin as a stick. Even when he touched it a second time, it didn''t explode anymore. Atlan was intrigued by the different plants in the garden, but perhaps the most interesting one was the Chronobloom. The fact that it was the only one in existence multiplied its importance. As they walked over to the greenhouse, Atlan asked Geminus about the nearly extinct plant. "Hmm¡­we used to export Chronobloom to other territories because it can only be planted here. Everyone needed SoulTime glasses." "Do you have one?" Geminus took out a rectangular transparent glass about the size of a wrist. It was decorated with a golden encasing with symbols of clocks and hourglasses. He handed it over to Atlan. It looked like an ordinary piece of glass. "Put it on your wrist and it will show your current SoulTime." Atlan did as Geminus said and attached the SoulTime glasses to his wrist. Unlike the one he saw in his Soul System, the glasses only showed the years and days he had left. It wasn''t accurate down to the hour. "That is a relic of the olden times. Back then, the Genesis God wasn''t so generous with His allowance of SoulTime, so people used to check their lifespan every day for fear that it would run out. It''s different now. As more people immigrated to the City, the more powerful He became. Because of that, most people are given SoulTime even if they did the bare minimum. People rarely even check their SoulTime nowadays because they know they still have hundreds of years left before they have to worry about it." Atlan was the same. He didn''t have to worry about his SoulTime because he knew that he gained time instead of losing it. The more time passed, the more he became ''alive''. He returned the SoulTime glasses as they finally reached the greenhouse. They passed through the strip curtain doors and laid eyes on the majestic Chronobloom. It looked the same as Atlan left it yesterday, if not for the soil being a little bit wetter than he remembered. She must have watered it last night. "Now that you''re here, can you tell me how to take care of the Chronobloom?" Atlan asked Geminus. Geminus scratched his head guiltily. "Sorry about that. You didn''t have much trouble yesterday, did you?" "It would have been if not for the notebook that my co-caretaker left me." Geminus felt remorseful for forgetting to teach Atlan about how to take care of the Chronobloom. "Well, now that I''m here, I''ll tell you how." Geminus walked over to the locker. "First and foremost, we must¡ªhmm¡­it''s not here." Explore stories on M-V-L He looked over at Atlan with a sorry look. "Looks like we''ve run out of fertilizer. Do you mind if I ask you to go and fetch a sack for me?" Although Atlan would rather stay in the garden and continue to soak up the deaths inside, he knew that he couldn''t deny Geminus'' request. He was a club member after all. He shouldn''t be selfish and contribute to the garden. It was also for the health and well-being of the Chronobloom, so it would be worth it. "What kind of fertilizer?" Geminus clasped his hands in thankfulness for Atlan''s help. "You see, our Chronobloom thrives on extremely hot soil and sustenance. If it doesn''t get its monthly supply of magma, it will turn cold and freeze." "Magma?" The club leader nodded. "Yes. Magma. That''s the preferred fertilizer of the Chronobloom." "Where am I¡ª" Atlan remembered that time when Lizzie brought him to the Masamune district. He still remembered the expansive cityscape he saw from the only volcano in Genesis City. "Is it in Mount Infernal?" Geminus nodded. "Yes! Don''t worry, we already have an arrangement with the Masamune family. They will give you the magma, you just have to pick it up and bring it back to the garden." What a coincidence. I was just planning on visiting the Masamune district to ask Custodire if she could make me a scythe! Atlan planned on taking a detour to Custodire''s workshop before he picked up the magma from Mount Infernal. He looked at the rusting scythe on top of the locker. "Can I bring that with me?" Geminus looked at the old rusting scythe on top of the locker and wondered why Atlan would want a weapon that was only used to kill weeds. "I don''t know why you would want a farming tool like that, but fine. Just make sure you return with the magma by midnight." Atlan took the scythe and attached it to the toolbelt on his back. He looked extremely weird with his black battle suit and the protruding curved blade of the scythe behind his back. He said goodbye to Geminus and went back to the entrance of the garden. Since he didn''t have his own mount, he had to use the public transportation bus that stopped in every district. Even though he had the scythe on his back, nobody on the bus questioned it. As soon as they saw his battle suit, they already assumed that he was a Vanguard on his way to a mission. They even gave him thankful looks for his service to the City. It took two hours before the bus finally landed in the Masamune district. He followed the route he and Lizzie took when he first visited the district. As usual, there were tons of people looking at the freshly made tools and weapons displayed on numerous stalls. He heard bargains and offers thrown around, and some got heated enough for a screaming match. As he walked through the streets, he suddenly felt sweat flow from his forehead. I''m feeling hot¡­ He didn''t think that was possible. After he obtained his Physique LifeSkill, he barely felt cold or hot because of his internal defenses. But now, sweat flowed out of his skin. "AARGHHH! IT BURNS!!!" "HELP! AHHH!" Screams of helpless citizens filled his ears as he saw their skin melting in the sun. Chapter 153: Burns The Masamun district was no stranger to hot days. After all, they were in the direct vicinity of an active volcano. The temperature in this district was a lot hotter than the places away from the mountain spewing lava from its crater.The district was also populated with dwarven blacksmiths where temperatures could reach thousands of degrees Celcius. The heat sometimes leaked out into the streets and increased the overall temperature of the Masamune district. However, this was no normal heatwave. The cool blue skies turned bright orange, infecting everything under the sun. The clouds above instantly evaporated, dissipating into a mist. The heat in the air distorted Atlan''s vision so much that everything seemed blurry. This was the first time that he was uncomfortable in his battle suit. It stuck to his skin with sweat. Thankfully, he had his SSS class Physique that helped him weather the intense heat wave all around the Masamune district. Even the dwarves who had an inherent resistance against heat couldn''t help but scream as they felt their skin turn bright red. Their entire bodies swelled and created blisters even inside their clothes. But even they could be considered lucky. The ordinary people caught in the heat wave instantly had their skin turn black from third-degree burns. They couldn''t even feel the pain as their nerves immediately burned out. The unsettling sounds of skin sizzling made Atlan''s hair turn up. This was the first time he''d seen such suffering. The surviving dwarves immediately entered their homes to find refuge. But they didn''t know that it was much hotter inside. The heat wasn''t caused by the sun. It didn''t come from underground. It was from the very space itself. Wherever they were, as long as they were inside Masamune district, they would feel the temperatures inside a burning cauldron. "Ahh! Ahhh!....help¡­" One of the unfortunate souls caught in the heat wave crawled and reached for Atlan''s feet. Experience new stories with M-V-L The man''s hair was melted into his very skull. His face was burned from any identifying feature, with only a charred and blackened skin that clung to his very skull. In his very last moments, the man clung to Atlan''s legs. His face was full of suffering, but there was a tinge of hope in his eyes. The guy couldn''t even speak. He couldn''t even think of anything, but his survival instinct as a long-time citizen of Genesis City was to seek the help of a Savior. Atlan was one of those. He wore a Savior''s battle suit. Only they could save them from disasters like this. Unfortunately, his time soon ran out. There were no Angels to save him this time. [You have reaped the death of a Sentient Creature: Human] [Due to your Trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 500 experience] The man''s head plopped on the ground, lifeless, but his grip remained stuck on Atlan''s leg. Even as he moved it away, some of the guy''s melted skin stuck onto his battle suit. And this wasn''t the only casualty. Atlan watched as the words passed by his eyes nonstop. [You have reaped the death of a Sentient Creature: Human] x38 [Due to your Trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 19,000 experience] "What are you doing kid? We have to get out!" One of the surviving dwarves shouted at Atlan. He held two of his family members in his arms as he dragged them away into a rickshaw carriage. The dwarf unhooked the dead mount connected to the wooden rickshaw and pulled it using his strength. Even though his skin was red and filled with blisters, he mustered up all his strength to make sure that his family survived this disaster. He looked at Atlan. "Hop in!" Atlan saw the trembling hands of the dwarf and knew that he was on his last legs. With each push, his burned skin pulsed with more and more pain. He tried to ignore it, but Atlan knew that he wouldn''t be able to add another burden to his carriage. Despite being in such a dire situation, the dwarf still had the goodwill to help another person. Suddenly, Atlan felt the air change. He felt pressure building up from the cobblestone building behind the dwarf''s rickshaw carriage. BOOM A fiery explosion erupted from the building and consumed the blacksmith workshops around it. Molten metal and lava spewed out from chimneys and rained down on the streets, further increasing the ambient temperatures in the sir. Smoke filled the entire area. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The dwarf thought that would be the end of his life, but he still felt his body move. Once the smoke cleared, he saw that he was in the back of the carriage with his two brothers safe and sound. He looked forward and saw the youth carrying the rickshaw and pushing it forward. "Hey kid! Are you alright?!" Atlan looked back and gave him a thumbs up. The dwarf couldn''t believe that such a young human was still able to move in such temperatures. Even as an experienced dwarf who had his skin hardened from years in the workshop, he didn''t think he could last long in this heat wave. But the youth still looked pristine. His skin barely turned red. Who is this guy? Atlan instinctively knew that he had to get out. He had to leave Masamune district and search for refuge. The entire street was filled with smoke and ash that obscured the cobblestone road, but Atlan relied on his memory to lead the way out of the district. On the way, he used his Thermal Vision and searched for any survivors. He couldn''t, in good conscience, ignore the moans and screams from the survivors suffering in the streets. Even as the load got heavier, he picked any survivor and tossed them on the rickshaw. They screamed in pain as their burned skin crashed onto the carriage, but at least they were still alive. BOOM! As if the increasingly hot temperatures weren''t enough, some of the buildings spontaneously erupted with no rhyme or reason. Atlan had to avoid the direct explosion of the buildings and escape from the cobblestone and metal raining from above. Each of the dwarfs could barely open their eyes from the third-degree burns all over their skin, but somehow, the youth was still able to push the rickshaw with no trouble whatsoever. Thankfully, after pushing the carriage street after street, he finally saw a few soldiers in puffy heat-resistant white suits guiding burned victims out of the district. He saw a clear distinction between one street from the next. One burned hot and orange with humans crying and moaning from the heat, but the next street was a cool blue, with people walking safe and sound. Chapter 154: Burned victims Atlan pushed the rickshaw forward. The soldiers on the other side gestured for him to come faster, but Atlan couldn''t. There were burnt human remains all over the street preventing him from going as fast as he wanted.As they got closer to the soldiers, more corpses filled the cobblestone road. They died with outstretched hands towards the exit. They tried to crawl to safety, but their burns were far too severe. It was tragic. Atlan couldn''t help them anymore. The only solace that consoled him was the fact that their suffering stopped. [You have reaped the death of a Sentient Creature: Human] x52 [Due to your Trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 26,000 experience] Atlan had to avert the rickshaw away from the corpses. He could have run over them, but he respected the dead too much for him to sully their corpses. And after avoiding a few more spontaneous explosions in the streets, they finally reached the end of the line. The intersection in front of them was the difference between the Masamune district and the residential district. As soon as they passed through Masamune 25th Street and onto the Homely district, it was as if a bucket of cold water washed over them. The heat was gone and replaced by the cool ambient air of the City. The surviving dwarfs relaxed their bodies as they felt the cooling air wash over their bodies. The cold breeze soothed the aching blisters that formed on every crevice of their skin. Unfortunately, that only lasted for a moment. Their bodies went into overdrive as they felt a stinging pain overcome their every thought. They had third-degree burns. "Give way! Give way!" the soldiers shouted as they approached the rickshaw. There were a lot of curious citizens who wanted to take a closer look at the victims, but the soldiers quickly dispersed them away. They created a barricade that prevented civilians from interfering with their work. The soldiers removed gauze from their medicine kits and applied it to the burned dwarves. The dwarves, as prideful as they were, tried to bear the pain and not utter a single cry, but the pain was too much. It enveloped their whole body. They winced and groaned, but the soldiers kept applying gauze and healing salves on their burned skin. One of the soldiers immediately went over to Atlan and tried to apply gauze on his skin, but was quickly surprised when they saw no blisters on his skin. "You''re¡­not hurt?" Atlan shook his head. "No. Just heal the others. I''m fine." The soldier looked at Atlan''s epaulet and saw that he was only at the 2nd stage Student realm! That was unbelievable. It wasn''t long ago since they healed a 4th stage Student Tank for their third-degree burns. So, a 2nd stage Student shouldn''t be this¡­fine! Upon closer inspection, the soldier noticed that Atlan''s skin was turning whiter and whiter until it returned to his normal complexion! When Atlan exited the Masamune district, his skin was still reddish from the heat. But just a few seconds later, his skin already fought off the swelling. "Are you really okay?!" The soldier wanted to check inside Atlan''s battle suit, but Atlan waved him off. With his Physique LifeSkill, he was able to regenerate his SoulTime every second. Not to mention the fact that he could gain years of lifespan with his Photosynthesis mutation, he wasn''t going to get injured any time soon. "The priests are here!" one of the soldiers shouted. The crowd parted ways as a group of nuns and priests walked over to the recovering dwarves. Find adventures at M-V-L The nuns immediately went to work and kneeled right next to the bandaged dwarves saved by the soldiers. They clasped their hands and muttered under their breaths as they prayed for the Genesis God''s blessing. After a few seconds, a pillar of light beamed down from the heavens and enveloped the recovering dwarf. The nun took out an oval crystal from her pockets. Atlan''s eyes widened when saw the crystal suddenly sprout tiny legs that wiggled like it was alive! Even if it didn''t have the typical monstrous head that he was familiar with, Atlan would recognize that chitinous armor anywhere. That oval crystal was a Pseudo Canzer! ''Time¡­how much¡­.'' The Pseudo Canzer spoke out a soundless screech that only Atlan could understand. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Then, the nun placed the crystal Pseudo Canzer onto the patient''s chest. After a few seconds, the crystal reflected numbers that Atlan was very familiar with. He saw it in his Soul System. It was the dwarf''s SoulTime! < 0y : 28d : 23h : 12s > The crystal Pseudo Canzer showed exactly how much time the dwarf had left before he died. His burns weakened his body so much that he only had 28 days left before his SoulTime turned zero. But that wasn''t for long. After the nun prayed to the Genesis God and summoned a beam of light from the sky, the dwarf''s SoulTime miraculously started to tick up at a fast rate! < 1y : 139d : 23h : 12s > The dwarf''s pained expression soon turned to relief as most of his SoulTime returned to its normal state. His charred and flaking scars peeled off and were replaced by new pink skin. As more and more nuns arrived at the scene, they took control of the situation and started to triage the survivors. The ones who were near death and only had hours or even minutes left in their SoulTime were treated first. Priests had more healing power, so they were in charge of these victims. The nuns treated those who only had minor injuries and weren''t close to death. But as they healed one, two more took their place. Soldiers returned from the Masamune district carrying burned victims on their shoulders. They recovered more and more burned bodies. Atlan used his Thermal Vision and looked back at the hellish Masamune district. Even though everything was colored in a dark red, he still saw breathing survivors stuck inside collapsed buildings. They still clung on to their lives, but they wouldn''t last long. Without any hesitation, Atlan walked back into the Masamune district. "Hey! What are you doing?!" Chapter 155: Strict soldier The soldiers couldn''t stop the reckless youth. They thought that he was an idiotic young man trying to act tough and pretending to be a hero, but after a few minutes, the black battle-suited youth came back.Their eyes widened when they realized that he had two dwarves on his shoulders. "That''s¡­that''s my cousin! He''s alive!" cried one of the bandaged dwarves. Tears fell on his cheeks. Stay updated through M-V-L None of these dwarves thought that a human would have the compassion to help a dwarf like them. Even the soldiers thought that it was too risky to go back inside because even their heat-resistant suits were melting from the hellish temperatures inside. Atlan noticed it too. The heat intensified so much that even his inherent regeneration of SoulTime stopped when he walked back inside the Masamune district. He would have lost a second of his life with every second he stayed inside. One of the soldiers walked over to Atlan with anger on his face. "That was reckless! You''re a Savior. Don''t you know the protocols for things like these?" "No. I don''t." Atlan couldn''t sit still¡ªnot when he could see people still suffering inside the scorching buildings. The soldier poked Atlan''s chest. "No one is supposed to go back inside a Symptom aside from authorized soldiers like us. You are endangering yourself, and everyone else by doing so." One of the dwarves couldn''t help but stand up when he heard the soldier''s words. "So what about our brethren inside? Are you telling us that we should let them die a gruesome death?!" The dwarf''s voice was hoarse, but he embodied the thoughts of every dwarf that survived. Although their connections were shallow, they were all still part of the Masamune family. They were brothers. It was in their inherent blood to want salvation for the others. The soldier was apathetic to their pleas. "I don''t care. There are rules for a reason. If you don''t want to follow them, then you''re welcome to get out of Genesis City for good." He walked over to Atlan and gave him a strict warning. "Young man, I see you''re only a novice Savior, so I can forgive you for breaking protocol once. But if you don''t follow my orders a second time, then I won''t be merciful and use justifiable force to sit you down." The soldier took out an electrical baton from his tool belt and brandished it in front of Atlan. Blue electricity streaked through the air and almost hit him in the face, but he didn''t even flinch. One of the dwarves sat back down, knowing that they couldn''t oppose the soldiers. "Sigh¡­thank you, young man. But we can''t do anything." Those electrical batons were specially designed to temporarily disable a Savior''s LifeSkill, so it was useless to disobey the soldier. Atlan looked down at the soldier. The blue tint from the electric baton reflected off Atlan''s calm black eyes. "You want to let them die?" The soldier turned up the knob on his baton and increased the voltage. "They won''t. They''ll be saved by the Angels before they lose their SoulTime. After the proper Saviors come and kill the Canzer causing this symptom, then we can go and retrieve the bodies. That is the protocol." Atlan sneered at the soldier''s explanation. So that''s the reason why he doesn''t want me to go inside? He thought that the soldier had some sort of strategy that would save the dwarves and survivors in the Masamune district. He didn''t. He wanted to wait and take the easy way out. The soldiers still clung to the idea that the Angels would save them from death. "That''s too late," Atlan muttered under his breath. He didn''t even bother explaining to the soldier about the death of the Angels. He wouldn''t believe it anyway. Atlan turned around and walked towards Masamune district. He ignored the soldier''s angry snarl. The full-powered blue electric baton was rated for Saviors in the 5th stage Saviors and above. It was overkill to use it on a 2nd stage Savior like Atlan, but the soldier didn''t care. Losing a bit of his Soultime was only a just punishment for interfering with the work of the soldiers. "Kid! Watch out!" the dwarves tried to warn him, but Atlan didn''t even turn around. He let the electric baton hit him in the neck. Electricity buzzed in the air as the baton''s special properties tried to disable Atlan''s LifeSkill from activating. It invaded his Soul System, entrapping the whole dark space with an electric net that would prevent a giant hand from forming. The dwarves winced when they saw this hit the young Savior. They imagined that the pain from that baton was equivalent to the burning pain they felt from the heat wave. But after one, two, three seconds, Atlan still stood proudly. The soldier''s eyes went wide in panic when he saw Atlan turn his head back towards him. What?! How is he able to move?! His whole body should be spazzing out. He should have collapsed by now! Normal Saviors hit by this electric baton would feel their muscles contract. They would get paralyzed. But the worst part would be the indescribable pain in their Soul System as if their very being was twisted and burned into shreds. Atlan didn''t look affected in the slightest. He turned back and held the baton in his hands, with its electricity still delivering volts into his body. The soldier couldn''t even utter a single word. "Wha¡ªwhat¡­" "I''ll give you a taste of the sentence you imposed." A dark flame enveloped Atlan''s right hand, increasing his physical prowess by multiple magnitudes. DUGG With one swift punch in the gut, Atlan sent the soldier kneeling on the ground with bubbles forming in his mouth. The dwarves were shocked in silence when they witnessed this. Atlan whistled and caught the attention of one of the nuns. "Heal him, please." S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The nun was alarmed when she saw the soldier knocked out cold on the ground. She put the crystal Pseudo Canzer on his chest and was shocked to see his SoulTime. He lost 95% of his original lifespan! She looked up, but Atlan was nowhere to be seen. He was already inside the scorching hot Masamune district with his distorted figure disappearing in the distance. Chapter 156: Tarish’s mission The dwarves watched as Atlan carried body after body into safety. Even though the temperature inside was getting hotter and hotter by the minute, he didn''t stop and searched for survivors anywhere he could."Damn the protocol!" one of the soldiers said. He put on his heat-resistant suit and walked inside the Masamune district one more time in search of survivors. He was inspired watching Atlan walk through the fire without any complaints. "Can I borrow your suits?" Even the dwarves couldn''t sit still and were tempted to walk into the scorching heat wave. Even though their bodies were wrapped up in bandages, they considered themselves healthy enough to traverse through the Masamune district. They didn''t walk as far inside as Atlan. They only pulled the burned corpses to safety, thinking that they could still be saved. Atlan finally walked back into safety after a few more trips. He looked back and saw no signs of life anywhere he searched. Everyone was either dead or saved. Just in time, he heard a few horses'' hooves striking asphalt out in the distance. The crowd voluntarily moved away as the Saviors finally arrived with their colorful mounts. They stopped at the barricade and walked slowly towards the boundary between the symptom and the unaffected land. Their green battle suits commanded respect and admiration from the crowd. Their murmurs turned into silence as they watched the professionals do their job. Atlan looked at the epaulets on their shoulders. 6th stage Student realm. I guessed right. If my SSS class Physique couldn''t take the heat, that means that the Canzers causing it are stronger than I estimated. There were about seven of them, and Atlan noticed that three of them had big shields on their backs. Three tanks? The leader of the 6th stage Saviors was a woman with straight red hair tied up in double buns. She was a tank, judging by the big fiery shield on her back. "Can I get your attention, please? My name is Tarish, I am a 6th-stage Student. My team and I will make sure that the Masamune district will return to the safe and cool place it''s always been. Do not worry." Her words echoed to the soldiers and dwarves with barely any hope in their eyes. Her confident voice gave them confidence in her ability. "While the soldiers are installing the Remedium portal, I will ask a few questions to those who witnessed the Symptom with their own hands." A truck rolled in behind them with new soldiers carrying disjointed metal parts on their shoulders. They quickly walked in line and installed the portal right at the edge of the infected Masamune District. Slowly, a circular construct made out of metal was being built block by block. Meanwhile, Tarish, the leader of the 6th stage Saviors took out a stone tablet from her toolbelt. Atlan recognized it as a Canzer Report. It contained all the details Vanguards needed to defeat the Canzers causing the Symptom. She inspected it one last time before looking up and searching for any survivors to talk to. She immediately looked for the soldier in charge of the scene but was shocked to see him unconscious on one of the stretchers to the side. It looks like the lights have been punched out of his eyes. I can''t believe someone stood up to that strict guy. He would have made up any excuse to use his baton. With no one else to talk to, Tarish put her attention to the surviving dwarves. "Hello? Can I talk to you?" But no matter how much she tried to get their attention, the dwarves never looked away from one particular person in the crowd. They all looked at this person with admiration and fealty in their eyes. It''s as if they owed him their lives. She looked to the side and saw a youth in a strange black battle suit. He was surrounded by dwarves who clasped his hands while thanking him to no end. Someone actually earned the respect of these dwarves? They were infamous for being stubborn and hard-headed. If you offended them in some way, groveling in their shoes wouldn''t be enough to earn their respect. But now, they were surrounding a human as if he was their savior. Who is he? Just as she thought that, her eyes glinted in recognition. But before she could walk up to him, one of her teammates approached the black battle-suited youth. "Excuse me, I don''t know who you are, but you cannot poach our mission. You should go back to HeadQuarters and make sure that you find your own mission. Our team is already filled up!" Tarish put herself in between the two before things got too heated. "Leader?" "Are you Atlan?" The moment her teammates heard his name, they immediately recognized it. How could they not? It was practically the only topic circulating news articles. "No way! The Star Porter?" S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What''s he doing here?" "There were rumors that he''s allowed to have a black battle suit, but I didn''t think it was true!" Atlan replied, "Yes." But even if he didn''t, they already recognized his face and his battle suit. "But even if you are the Star Porter, you can''t steal our mission. Our names are registered in the HeadQuarters." "I think it''s best if you leave now. HeadQuarters doesn''t like it when there are unauthorized Saviors in an ongoing mission." The other 6th stage Saviors in Tarish''s team weren''t all that welcoming towards Atlan. It couldn''t be helped. There were protocols in place for these kinds of things and they didn''t want to get punished because of him. Stay connected through M-V-L Tarish was the only one who had a smile on her face. "The Reputable Star Porter¡­" Tarish muttered. "What are you doing here?" The dwarves answered that for him. "My skin would have blackened and turned to char if he hadn''t found me stuck under my anvil!" "He''s an honorary dwarf! We recognize him as one of our own." The dwarves couldn''t stop defending Atlan from the Saviors. "Hmph! You guys dare flaunt yourselves as Saviors when we have our Savior right here! Did you brave the heat wave and save dozens of dwarves from certain doom? No? Then, stop talking!" Chapter 157: Inappropriate request The moment they slandered the good name of their Savior, was the moment they got on the dwarves'' bad side. Their expressive faces clearly showed their intense dislike of the new Saviors.Tarish immediately apologized to Atlan and the dwarves for her team''s behavior. She gestured for her team to go away and do something else. "Sorry. They''ve been on edge ever since stories about the anomalies in the mission popped up around the City. We are never sure if the Quills messed up again and prescribed us the wrong Canzer Report. We don''t know if there is going to be a different Canzer popping up in our mission. We don''t know if a Specialist behemoth would appear like in that Pocket Remedium disaster. We''ll never know if we end up returning alive from the mission or be recovered as a vial of blood. That''s the reason why I wanted to ask questions about the symptoms from the witnesses themselves. It''s necessary to know if the symptom is accurate down to the exact details to make sure that the Canzer Report we have is accurate." Atlan understood their concerns. In every case that Atlan entered the Remedium, things always went wrong. That''s why Atlan was curious about how Operators worked. He wanted to know how they knew which Canzer was plaguing the Remedium. He wanted to know which symptom referred to which Canzer. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Canzers so that he wouldn''t get caught unprepared ever again. "I understand. I''ll tell you everything I saw." Tarish was extremely grateful to Atlan. And because he deemed it okay, the dwarves decided to share what they saw too. "It was extremely hot inside. It''s like the whole thing turned into an oven with the heat turned up to the maximum!" one of the dwarves recalled. "Yes. It was instant, not gradual," the other dwarf said. Tarish looked at the Canzer Report and referenced it with the dwarves'' experience. For now, everything was as indicated in the stone tablet. "Was the heat uniform? Or were there hot spots?" she asked. "Everything was hot! No amount of hiding from the sun stopped the air from burning my skin. And my skin is hard enough to touch lava!" Tarish nodded while double-checking the stone tablet. She looked at the boundary between the infected Masamune district and the residential district. "The infected place hasn''t spread, right?" This time, the soldiers answered. "No, it hasn''t spread. We''ve been monitoring it, and thankfully, it stayed locked in the Masamune district." When Atlan looked back, it was as if he stared at a sepia screen that turned everything into an orangish tint. There was a clear distinction between the normal air of the unaffected region and the hot scorching space in the Masamune district. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It divided the street perfectly in half. Atlan would have thought that powerful phenomena such as a symptom wouldn''t follow district boundaries, but it did¡ªperfectly. "Lastly, did any of you see explosions that seemingly come out of nowhere?" Most of the dwarves already passed out when Atlan saved them, so they didn''t see any explosions. But Atlan did. "Yes. Buildings spontaneously blew up without any reason. Is that part of the symptom?" Tarish nodded. "Yes. It''s written in the Canzer Report as the main symptom. Heat Wave with random structural detonation. If you didn''t see any explosions, then that would mean that the Canzer is different from what we expected, so it''s good that you saw it." Tarish compiled everything she heard from the witnesses. "So it''s localized¡­and since this is the first time this symptom appears, we can assume that it''s acute¡­" Tarish muttered under her breath. So far, everything looked the same as indicated in the Canzer Report. Even though the Operators assured them that this was correct, she couldn''t help but doubt their words. There had been too many incidents these past few weeks where too many Saviors lost their SoulTime. "Miss Tarish! The portal is finished." One of the soldiers reported to her. She gestured for her teammates to come near her as they finished their final preparations. "It''s time, boys. Carry her in." She pointed towards the truck where the Operator construct was stored in a black box. The container was big enough to fit 3 people inside comfortably. Three of the buffest men in her team, along with a couple of soldiers, worked together to carry the black box near the finished portal. Tarish opened the locks on the black box and revealed an ornately golden oil lamp with a bulbous body and a gradually tapered narrow spout. Its surface was inundated with curvy lines that seemed random and useless to the naked eye. Discover hidden tales at M-V-L But Atlan was different. As soon as the black box opened, he knew that whatever was inside it was filled with Angel power. There was something else mixed into it, but he couldn''t deny the Angel power seeped into the very object itself. "We can handle this," one of the men said to Tarish. Even though the oil lamp was small and fit snugly into one palm, it took three 6th stage Students to barely lift the construct up and out of the box. Their faces were contorted and their cheeks flushed as they used their mutations to the fullest. They hadn''t even entered the Remedium, but they were already dead tired from carrying the construct. Tarish looked at her teammates and knew she had to make a decision. Even though the construct would be used immediately when they entered the Remedium, missions were always full of surprises. Trouble could welcome them as soon as they stepped foot inside the portal. At that point, the three people carrying the construct would be left vulnerable to any attacks. They need a porter. She looked at Atlan and had an insane idea. "Star Porter. We need your help. Can you be our porter?" The rest of her teammates immediately complained. "Are you crazy?! We''re dealing with a 6th stage Student difficulty Canzer. We can''t have a 2nd stage Student burden us with our mission!" "This is inappropriate. He''s only going to hurt himself." "He''ll lose our SoulTime!" Chapter 158: Job accepted Atlan didn''t think that he would be offered to join them. There was a 4-stage difference between them, after all.Of course, Atlan had multiple LifeSkills in the 4th stage or below. It was enough to add up the strength that equaled that of 6th-stage Saviors. But they didn''t know that. Even though they were rude, her teammates only told the truth. In normal circumstances, inviting a Savior four stages below the accepted difficulty level was far from what would be considered safe. Not to mention the fact Atlan had only been in one mission, he was completely unqualified to even go to a mission one stage above his level, much more four. "Don''t sell yourself short, Star Porter. You''ve already faced stronger opponents than us and lived to tell the tale." Tarish talked about the fact that Atlan survived the colossal Canzer that was rated at the Specialist difficulty. If she or any one of her teammates was put in the same situation, she wasn''t confident she''d survive the way he did. Technically speaking, Atlan was stronger than them. As soon as he used his 1st stage Pre-Intern Bloodline Transformation LifeSkill, he could even defeat Canzers rated above that of the Student level. But the risk was still there. And before he could answer Tarish''s request, some of the dwarves approached him with pleading eyes. "Young man, I beg you, please! You have to join the mission." "Only you can make sure that the heat wave disappears from our homes." "Without your help, they can''t do it!" The 6th stage Saviors couldn''t believe their ears. The dwarves trusted a 2nd stage Student like Atlan better than them! Their thinking was completely backward. They don''t believe that the people who were assigned to the mission could finish off the Canzer. They believed that a 2nd stage Student porter was the only one who could help them deal with the symptom! Porters don''t even kill Canzers! Before deciding, Atlan asked some questions about the mission. "Can you tell me more about the Canzer?" Tarish nodded and took out her stone tablet. "According to the Canzer Report, we''ll be fighting an Infection Canzer called the Gastros Enterifrits, colloquially known as the Ifrit." "Infection Canzer? Is that different from a Destruction Canzer?" Every Canzer that Atlan encountered in the Remedium had been a Destruction Canzer. They were the Canzers that could regenerate their injuries endlessly. The Deiztruphia was a destruction Canzer, as well as the colossal Humanoid Wolf that he encountered in Pocket Dimension. He witnessed first-hand how troublesome they were to deal with. Unless they had an Operator''s construct ready and deployed, fighting a Destruction Canzer was a losing battle, no matter how weak they seemed. "Oh my gods! He doesn''t even know what an Infection Canzer is!" "Tarish. It''s irresponsible for you to think he''s qualified to join us." But despite their pleas, Tarish ignored them and spoke only to Atlan. "There are two types of Canzers. The first one is a Destruction Canzer, which I''m sure you''re all too familiar with¡ªendless regeneration and all that. The other type is called the Infection Canzer. If a Destruction Canzer''s strength is their durable chitin and their fast healing factor, an Infection Canzer''s threat comes from their ability to clone themselves endlessly and at a fast rate." They can clone themselves, Atlan pondered her words. It gave him flashbacks to when he ran away from the horde of Pseudo Canzers in the Pocket Remedium. "Is it similar to the stampede that I experienced?" "Yes and no. A Pseudo Canzer is different from a real Canzer. Real Infection Canzers are much more dangerous. They have powers and abilities that can bring destruction equivalent to hundreds of Pseudo Canzers. And worse, they don''t die, they duplicate. But the good thing is that the clones are easy to kill." Atlan thought for a second. If I want to learn more about Canzers, then I have to fight more of them. I can''t shy away from this opportunity. "I''ll do it." Tarish rejoiced while her teammates were dismayed. Atlan joined the mission because this was his chance to reap the death of a high-level Canzer. The stronger the opponent, the higher the rewards. Those that cause suffering need to taste their own medicine, Atlan thought to himself. Whichever Canzer caused this symptom was responsible for all the deaths he reaped in the Masamune district. He had to kill it. According to his estimation, it was exactly the kind of opponent that he could defeat using his powers. Of course, he couldn''t show his real strength to the 6th stage Saviors so easily. He didn''t know if his Modify Memory Spore would work on such high-level Students like them. He''d have to reserve his real strength until things get too dire. "This is not good." "I can''t believe this is happening." "Tarish. Even if he is the Star Porter, he can''t just¡ª-WHAT?!" Before they could continue their complaints, Atlan walked over to the three men holding the extremely heavy golden oil lamp and picked it up with just one hand. The three men had their jaws on the floor. Seeing Atlan pick the oil lamp like it was nothing made them feel they were as feeble as newborns. Who were they? They were tanks with strengths of that of a 6th stage Student. But now, they felt like a kid whose parents suddenly came and took their favorite toy they''d been struggling to carry. He''s only a 2nd stage Student?! Even though he was a porter, and his LifeSkill was tailor-made for carrying heavy things, they didn''t think that he''d have the strength equivalent to three 6th stage Students! Tarish smiled and looked back at her teammates. "Still think he''s a burden?" Atlan held the oil lamp as if it wasn''t an Operator construct weighing thousands of kilograms. He''d have no trouble running, walking, or jumping even while holding that construct. He was the perfect Porter. The rest of her team finally shut up their complaints. Seeing why they called him the Star Porter first-hand made them realize that the rumors about him weren''t exaggerations at all. He''s strong¡ªvery strong. With him carrying the construct, the Saviors didn''t have to worry about it missing in the Remedium. No one was better than Atlan as a porter. "We shouldn''t have underestimated you." S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I feel honored if you become our porter." "You''ll save us a lot of trouble." Each one of them offered their sincere apologies to Atlan, which Atlan accepted. Now that they were going to be teammates, they needed to settle all differences now rather than inside the Remedium. They needed to get acquainted with each other before embarking on this dangerous mission. "I''ll introduce the team. We have three tanks with us and four mages." Chapter 159: Balls of fire "Why?"Atlan''s first mission had more variety in their team''s composition. They had one tank, one archer, one pugilist, a stun wizard, and a scout. He would have thought that a high-ranking team like them would be like that too. "It''s because we''re fighting an Infection Canzer. Our main challenge in this mission is not to get overwhelmed by the number of Ifrit Canzers that come towards us. A DPS is extremely unsuited for this kind of job. That''s why none of them joined this mission. They can do tremendous amounts of damage, but only to a single target or a small group of them. They''ll be useless against an Ifrit. What we do need are Tanks and Mages. Mages might not have the greatest destruction power, but they can spread it out to a large area. That would work extremely well against Infection Canzers who are weak, but numerous. Tanks, on the other hand, can absorb the damage the Ifrits inflict on us and protect the backline. Of course, we could have gotten stun wizards or other useful jobs, but HeadQuarters deemed our composition sufficient. All we needed was a proper Porter, and that is you." Atlan didn''t know job composition was so important. In hindsight, if they had any mage Saviors in the Pocket Remedium, they could have defeated a lot of Pseudo Canzers and saved a lot of people from death. Atlan had a Mage LifeSkill, but its main use wasn''t for dealing damage. It was for trapping and slowing down enemies while inflicting thorn damage. "Are you all ready?" They took deep breaths and responded with a resounding, "Yes!" The soldiers activated the portal construct and a black shimmering liquid appeared from the edges. It infected the area enclosed in the circular construct, creating a Remedium portal. "Hey boy! Thank you!" "May Vulcan shine upon you and give you strength!" The dwarves saluted him by closing their fists and tapping them on their chests two times. Atlan reciprocated the salute as he and the rest of Tarish''s team stepped foot on the Remedium. Atlan held the golden oil lamp with both hands. Even though he could handle it with only one, he didn''t want to get careless. His precaution turned out to be correct as they suddenly saw a huge ball of fire coming right towards them at extremely fast speeds. They haven''t even spent a second inside the Remedium yet there was already something trying to kill them. Without even saying anything, Tarish and her team skillfully jumped to the top of a one-story house. They practiced this move countless times and saved them from missions even more. DAGUSSHHHH The ball of fire, the same size as a truck, exploded from where they once stood. It sent embers and molten cement flying everywhere. Oh no. The porter! They forgot that Atlan was part of their team now. He wouldn''t know their team''s evading procedure because they didn''t have the time to teach him. Not to mention the fact that he was only in the 2nd stage, they should have helped him jump up to safety. But when they looked back, they were surprised to see him standing right behind them. He kept up with us? They didn''t have much time to ponder as more balls of fire, bigger and faster than the one before, rocketed towards their location and gave them no time to rest. Tarish took the lead and jumped from roof to roof of the Masamune district. She used the large chimneys and oval workshops among the dwarven homes and used it as their shield for the incoming balls of fire. The 6th stage Saviors barely had any time to think about other things, much more worry about the 2nd stage porter following behind them. But they couldn''t help but look back at Atlan. They worried that he''d be too far away from them if he tripped while jumping from roof to roof. Imagine their surprise when they saw him right on their tails. And with every jump, Atlan surpassed the last one in their group. He had to slow down to make sure he was behind them at all times, like a good porter! They barely even dodged the fast balls of fire, but Atlan somehow evaded it while carrying thousands of kilograms in his hands. If they didn''t know any better, they would have thought he replaced the Operator construct with a normal oil lamp. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The three men thanked Atlan in their hearts. If it weren''t for him, they would have been the ones tasked to carry the oil lamp into the Remedium. They won''t be able to dodge those incoming fireballs, that''s for sure. While Atlan followed the group, he couldn''t help but let his eyes wander around the Remedium. It was much different from the ones he''d been in, including his first mission. The whole sky was replaced by a domed or tunnel ceiling lined with slick, mucous membranes. The whole Remedium was colored in a shade of green, making the membrane in the high ceiling even more nauseating. Instead of seeing a horizon beyond the Masamune district, Atlan only saw enclosed walls similar to that of the ceiling. These fleshy materials that enclosed the whole Remedium were subtly moving, spasming, contracting, and convulsing every second. The buildings of the Masamune looked normal aside from being in a different shade of green. However, these buildings weren''t attached to the ground with their foundations. Atlan looked down and saw a slightly orangish substance that flooded the whole ground up to the first floor of every building! And the worst part was that the orange liquid moved like a river and took the buildings with it forward! Some buildings crashed into each other, causing one or both of them to submerge completely into the orange liquid. This was bad news. The fact that the buildings moved constantly meant that they could be put in a situation where they wouldn''t be able to jump from one roof to another. And just as Atlan thought that, Tarish stopped in place as she noticed that there was no building right next to them. They all drifted away, leaving them stranded like an island in the middle of an ocean. A huge ball of fire curved out from the distance and headed straight for them at fast speeds. Chapter 160: Ifrit Tarish pulled out the human-sized fiery shield on her back and shouted, "Tanks! Bring ''em out!"The other two tanks copied their leader and activated the Tank LifeSkills in their Soul System. Each one of them glowed a bright colorful tint as they manifested their powers onto reality. Tarish''s LifeSkill called ''Burning Wall'' created a 5 by 10 meter wall of fire in front of her that perfectly protected the entire roof they stood on. But they knew that wasn''t enough. The other tank had a LifeSkill called ''Sludge Fest''. This was a target-based power, so he had to concentrate on the giant fireball that threatened to consume the whole building. With his experience and skill, he was able to lock on to his target within a fraction of a second. A net made out of slimy liquid manifested outwards from his body and onto the fireball, bypassing the wall of fire made by Tarish. It crashed into the fireball, with the liquid net weakening its target''s flames enough to slow it down. But that wasn''t enough. The fireball crashed onto Tarish''s Burning Wall, fighting fire with fire. "Mountain of Support!" screamed the other tank. He raised his shield and it expanded into a size dwarfing only that of Tarish''s burning wall. The man planted his foot firmly on the roof and pushed his shield forward, supporting the Burning Wall from collapsing. TSHHH The large fireball dissipated in the air, unable to pierce through the Tarish''s Burning Wall. "Wow¡­" Atlan was amazed at their coordination. They supported each other with their LifeSkills, multiplying their defensive capabilities instead of simply adding them up. If they used their LifeSkills independently, the fireball would have torn through their defenses quite easily. So this is high-level Savior teamwork. It was completely different from his first mission. They didn''t make mistakes. They moved with fluidity and coordination that couldn''t be built without years and years of experience. And even though Atlan had strength equal to them, the difference in experience between them was obvious. He wouldn''t have been able to lock on to his target as fast as that tank. He would have needed at least a few seconds just to concentrate. "Incoming!" The fireballs didn''t let them take a moment''s rest as three more flaming meteors honed in towards their roof, each the same size as the last one. "Can''t we jump down?" "No," Tarish replied. "The liquid is not acidic, but it will slow us down. We''ll be like sitting ducks if we get bogged down from that slime." Atlan looked down at the orange liquid flowing through the streets and onto the buildings. It had a consistency even more viscous than honey. Swimming in it would be akin to swimming in mushy soil. The liquid was so thick that it could carry entire buildings and displace them far away from their original foundation with just a single wave. "It''s here," Tarish warned. Once the three flaming meteors were close enough to observe, Atlan realized that they weren''t meteors at all. They were demonic beings made entirely of fire and magma! It had no lower body, just a flaming mix of gas and fire like a spirit. It had two horns on its forehead that curved upwards. Unsurprisingly, it was made out of overlapping chitinous armor with a black tip. This was the only evidence that tied it back to the Canzer lineage. If it weren''t for its chitinous horns, Atlan would have mistaken it for some other monstrous creature. "Behold, the Gastros Enterifrits. Be careful of those horns." "Is it something special?" Atlan asked. "No. It''s just a hook. It will use its horns to hang onto its victims long enough for it to¡ª" sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And before Tarish could explain, one of the Ifrits rocketed down towards them at even faster speeds than the flaming balls. Its spirit-like lower body erupted like a volcano and increased its acceleration, easily breaking through Tarish''s Burning Wall. "Mages!" Tarish''s warnings were not needed. The four Saviors behind the tanks quickly held out their hands as they chanted their spells. Mages and Wizards used chants to facilitate the activation of their LifeSkills faster. It allowed them to bypass the creation of a giant hand in their Soul System and summon their powers in a fraction of a second. It took them years to practice, but their hard work paid off in this current instance. Their magical LifeSkills manifested just in time to counteract the rocketing igneous body of the Ifrit. One of the Mages created a giant sphere of water that revolved around itself. The other Mage thrust his wand forward. Ice and frost spread from his arms and onto the air. Within seconds, a giant hammer with a face as big as the water sphere manifested in the air. "Potential Tempest," a Mage screamed. Green wind burst forth from her feet and created a whirling tornado that grew ten times its original size in a second. With her impressive control of magic, she commanded the tempest to surround the Ice Hammer, imbuing with it a twisting force that multiplied the hammer''s potential energy. The last Mage conjured a magic circle with glowing symbols of the sun and the stars. He focused on the Ifrit''s eyes and released a burst of magic that created a mini sun directly on its iris. It blinded the Canzer, disorienting it for a one and a half second. His distraction bought enough time for the three mages'' powers to come together. The swirling tempest powered up the ice hammer. The ice hammer then pounded the water sphere with tremendous force and cooled its temperatures to sub-zero while maintaining its liquid form! The water sphere, powered with the two LifeSkills, charged towards the ifrit at an equally fast pace. The two met together in the air. Fire and water dueled for superiority, spewing steam and mist tens of meters outwards. In the end, the LifeSkills triumphed over the infernal Canzer. Its entire body, made out of glowing igneous rocks and magma, cooled down as ice-cold water extinguished the fire in its entirety. And as it died in the air, it suddenly released the hidden bomb inside its body. BOOM A fireless explosion rang outwards and sent a booming shockwave everywhere. Tarish, knowing this would happen, put forth her giant shield and protected her whole team. Atlan would have commended them for their efforts, but it seemed in vain. Out from the embers in the aftermath of its self-destruction, three more Ifrits spawned in its ashes. "That''s an Ifrit for ya," Tarish said to Atlan. "They self-destruct and spawn more clones. Before you know it, thousands of them are already on your tail. It''s a vicious cycle." Chapter 161: Chain reaction There were now 6 Ifrits surrounding the group. Each of them had the capacity to blow up and spawn more clones. It was a losing battle.One could argue that they were even more dangerous than Destruction Canzers. With them, Saviors was incentivized to kill a Destruction Canzer even if they knew it would regenerate its injuries. This would give them enough time to set up the Operator Construct. But for Infection Canzers like the Ifrit, the Saviors were forced to stay their hand. If they killed a hundred Ifrits, three hundred more would spawn in their place. It was much better to keep defending rather than attacking. Is that why there are three tanks and four mages? Mages didn''t have the best destructive power out of all jobs. But they were completely suited to fight Infection Canzers. The Mages could spread out an attack to thousands of enemies, which weakened their damage output just enough to cripple the Canzers without killing them. Fighting an Infection Canzer is a lot harder than I thought. I would rather fight a Destruction Canzer two levels higher. "Let''s do as we practiced!" commanded Tarish. The three tanks positioned themselves near the ledges of the roof, making a triangle. The four mages created a square layer behind that of the tanks, with each one of them facing a different direction. Atlan stood in the middle of the formation, protected by the tanks and the mages. "Here it comes!" The six Ifrits simultaneously attacked the roof. Their chitinous horns were headed straight for the human bodies, hoping to hook into them and self-destruct in point-blank range. But of course, the tanks weren''t going to let that happen. They activated their LifeSkills again, creating protective barriers around their area. This created a defensive triangle whose three sides had different elements from their various LifeSkills. One was made out of a wall of fire, the other was made out of solid rock, and the other was made out of a slimy liquid. The Ifrits'' horns stuck on the floating triangular barrier surrounding the roof. Even when their lower bodies blasted off like a rocket to give them more penetrating power, they couldn''t pierce through the defense. It was airtight. "We have to weaken them." And with Tarish''s instructions, the mages activated their LifeSkills and targeted the Ifrits. Each of their LifeSkills had weaker power than their combined attack earlier, but that was on purpose. They didn''t want to kill the Ifrits, only injure them. The whole roof lit up in different colors as they manifested different elements into the Remedium. One of them used the water element, the other used ice, the next one used wind, and the last one used light. These were the elements that had the best effect against fire. Just like they practiced, their LifeSkills crashed onto the igneous and magma physique of the Ifrits and extinguished the fire in their bodies, sending mist and smoke rising out of their heads. They made sure not to use too much power. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Ifrits still had a slight smolder between the cracks. They were still alive. However, a sizzle resounded in the Remedium. "No! I used too much!" One of the mages completely drenched the Ifrit''s body with water, completely quenching the fire in its body. The dying Ifrit''s body trembled and swelled up in just a fraction of a second until; BOOM A fireless explosion spread out from its cold dead body. Unfortunately, one of the Ifrits was caught in the blast radius and simultaneously exploded right next to it. And because this Ifrit died with the fire still in its body, it sent out a blazing explosion everywhere. The tanks braced themselves from the shockwave. They were forced inward, destabilizing their triangular defensive formation. But after a second, their experience kicked in and they immediately repositioned themselves to recover. The triangular defense came alive just in time as 6 more Ifrits were born from the ashes of the dead. It didn''t take them more than 3 seconds to grow igneous rocks from the ashes. "Sorry!" the water mage apologized. "It''s fine," Tarish assured him. "It was bound to happen." She knew that they couldn''t keep the Ifrits at only 6 clones. No matter how much they lasted, exhaustion would soon creep up on them. They weren''t robots. The Water Mage, specifically, had the hardest job because water was the main weakness of the Ifrit. He had to activate his LifeSkill to the perfect middle zone to weaken the Ifrit just enough not to kill it. Now that there were 9 Ifrits, the tanks'' jobs were much harder than before. But they persevered. The fight lasted for more than ten minutes until things completely escalated. It only took one mistake to snowball into a much bigger problem. One of the tanks got too exhausted, which allowed one of the Ifrits to bypass their defenses. Tarish made the snap decision to command her team to kill the Ifrit and blow it away from their defensive position. This saved them from the Canzer''s self-destruction, but it led to more Ifrits blowing up and spawning more and more clones. It didn''t help that the mages got too frazzled and ended up killing more Ifrits with their LifeSkills. It wasn''t long until there were hundreds of Ifrits staring down at them. The more Ifrits pressured the triangular defensive position of the tanks, the harder it was to control. This led to more and more Ifrits bypassing their defenses, which forced the mages to kill the Canzer. Just a few minutes earlier, there were only 9 Ifrits. Now, there were 500. "Haaa¡­Haaa¡­.." Everyone was starting to get exhausted. Unfortunately, just one more self-destruction from the Ifrits caused a chain reaction that escalated into a gigantic explosion that consumed everything around it. CRASH The tank''s triangular defense cracked under the explosion, leaving their battle suits burned and tattered. And when they looked up, they were horrified to see that the last explosion killed every single Ifrit in the air. "Damn! Quick. This may be our only chance." Tarish looked over at Atlan and commanded him to use the Operator construct. "Put it down!" Atlan put down the oil lamp in the middle of the roof. And as he did, he saw a light bathe the whole roof with a reddish tint. He looked up and saw thousands of Ifrits surrounding them from all sides. It colored everything into a hellish red. Chapter 162: Impulsive Things happened way too fast. Before they knew it, they were facing thousands of Ifrits. Each of them had the potential to self-destruct and cause another chain reaction that would create an explosion even bigger than the last one. The worst part about it was that it would only triple the clones present above them."This is our chance," Tarish took a deep breath and put all her hopes onto the golden oil lamp. The Operator construct lit up, with golden light seeping out of the narrow spout, with mist-like particles. Atlan''s shoulder blades turned numb and prickly. His Angel Wings were acting up again. It only did this when it was in proximity to Angel Power. Just as I thought. All Operator constructs have Angel Power inside them. This confirms my guess that all Canzers have an inherent weakness against Angels. It also had another element he wasn''t sure about. It was present in everyone''s life. It was¡­ It''s water! The construct has both Angel and Water power! The colossal Humanoid Wolf was weak against silver and Angel power. This time, the Ifrit''s weakness seemed to be water and Angel power! This made sense because it''s already been established that water was very effective against the Ifrit Canzer. It was so effective, in fact, that the mage accidentally killed one of the Ifrits and started a chain reaction that escalated the cloning of the Canzers into numbers by the thousands. "The oil lamp will need at least 10 seconds to activate!" S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "We don''t have that much!" The Ifrits seemed to have been roused by the appearance of the oil lamp. They roared and belted out fire through the cracks in their bodies. Something about the construct made them extremely angry. The first thousand Ifrit Canzers powered up their lower bodies into a controlled explosion that rocketed them down toward the group of Saviors. Their red eyes couldn''t be taken away from the golden oil lamp that was slowly brightening in a gold light. "We need to kill these monsters before they destroy the construct," Tarish warned. Atlan thought that the construct would activate in only a second. It needed 10. "Why didn''t we activate it earlier?" "The construct can only be used once. We weren''t sure if there were Ifrits hiding in the outskirts of the Remedium. But now that there are thousands of them gathered here, the other Ifrits hiding in the corners will show themselves and gather with the group. It''s dangerous, but this is the only way to be sure that we''ll get rid of the Ifrits once and for all." If they used the construct minutes earlier when they were only facing tens of Ifrits at the same time, then they''d only be getting rid of those ten. There were hundreds more hiding in the outskirts of the Masamune district Remedium. "Gah! I can''t! I can''t activate my LifeSkill!" One of the mages used up too much of his energy. He needed more time to recover his stamina¡ªtime that they didn''t have. Thousands of Ifrits were only moments away from piercing through their roof and destroying the construct with it. Tarish gritted her teeth as she tried to think of a solution to solve this problem, but she couldn''t think of one. Should we retreat, Tarish pondered. It wasn''t unheard of for a party to fail their mission. It was quite normal. Most parties fail one out of ten missions, and that was already considered a good record. Although it was disappointing, it was much better than losing all their SoulTime. If they tried to fight till their end, then they would only make the rescue team have a harder job. It was considered protocol for parties to retreat when they deemed that the mission was too hard to accomplish. But even so, their pride as a team was on the line. "Let''s¡ª" And just as she was about to say those words, she suddenly saw something jump out of the corner of her eyes. When everyone looked up, they suddenly saw a black battle-suited youth up in the air with his fist twisted back to his shoulders, as if he was about to punch the thousands of Ifrits with their horns reared right towards his face. "What are you doing, porter?!" "Is he crazy?!" "Tarish! We need to pull him back!" The 6th stage Saviors couldn''t believe that a porter had the insane idea to try and face Ifrits all by himself. The tanks already readied themselves to create a barrier between Atlan and the Ifrits to draw him back to safety. Even Tarish was ready to jump up and catch him in mid-air. She regretted the fact that she invited a 2nd-stage Porter to their mission. He was too naive and impulsive to know when to retreat and when to attack. If Atlan lost his SoulTime in this mission, then she''d be the one responsible for his life. Just as they were about to move, they suddenly felt a black pressure that stopped them in their tracks. This pressure enveloped their whole bodies and made them feel as if they were in the presence of a God. It activated their fight-or-flight instincts. They thought that they were fighting against another Canzer, but when they looked at the source of this strange pressure, they were stupefied to see that it was coming from the Star Porter himself! Atlan''s whole body was clad in a black inferno. Even his black battle suit could not compare to the blackness of these flames. It was as if the Star Porter was enveloped with the darkness and desolateness of space itself! It absorbed all the light, not letting any color reflect off it. "Is that¡­is that his Physique LifeSkill?" They''ve heard about his strange Physique LifeSkill from rumors and gossip around the City. They thought they were mere lies, but they witnessed that strange black fire right in front of their very eyes. That strength cannot be faked. And from what they felt from the pressure he emanated, they even thought that they underestimated his power! Chapter 163: Oil lamp Atlan squared his shoulders and twisted his waist as he converted all the forces from his body into his fist. With his Physique LifeSkill activated, his physical prowess multiplied by several magnitudes!And that wasn''t the extent of his SSS class LifeSkill. The black flames also allowed him to have extreme control over his own body. He could make a single fiber in his muscle twitch. He could expand his veins to carry more blood and energy to his body. He could do anything. His mind called back to the image of Razer Wrekton using his enlarged arms to pound parts of the colossal Humanoid Wolf into mere particles. He observed which muscles he used, he observed how he mixed power and finesse to deliver more powerful punches in a small amount of time. He consolidated everything he learned from one of the geniuses of Mount Olympus. And with his enhanced control of his own body, he was able to transfer all that theoretical knowledge into his own body. His body-mind coordination couldn''t be more in sync! As the first Ifrit came crashing down towards his fist, his entire body twisted in perfect synchronicity and transferred all of his strength into his punch. SPLATCHHH The Ifrit''s chitinous horns disintegrated before they could even reach Atlan''s fist. It got destroyed by the pressure alone! But Atlan''s punch didn''t stop there. His mid-air jab followed through and destroyed the Ifrit from head to toe. His punch destroyed its igneous and magma-filled body down to its very molecules. The first Ifrit didn''t even have any time to self-destruct. It was destroyed into mere particles. "WHAT?! HOW IS HE SO STRONG?" They were told that his Physique LifeSkill was something out of this world, but they didn''t think that it was powerful enough to disintegrate a Canzer rated at the 6th stage difficulty so easily. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They had to keep in mind that it was only a Physique LifeSkill. It was only supposed to help porters carry heavy weights. But somehow, Atlan''s Physique LifeSkill was powerful enough to be used to kill Canzers! That was beyond comprehension. However, no matter how strong he was, he only dealt with a single Canzer. A thousand more Ifrits were coming towards him with revenge in their eyes. The 6th stage Saviors below worried for Atlan''s safety. Even if he could injure and kill the tens of Ifrits coming his way, he''d still be in the blast zone of their self-destruction. However, their worries turned out to be for naught. BUGSHHH BAGSHHH As the hundreds of Canzers honed in on Atlan, he unleashed a fury of punches, each one having the same power as the first one. His insane barrage of strikes destroyed tens of Ifrits with each swing. He didn''t even leave them with a body to self-destruct in! If they were present in the Pocket Dimension incident, they would have recognized Atlan''s moveset as being the exact same thing that Razer pulled off against the Giant Werewolf! They thought they were dreaming. After all, how could anyone explain a 2nd-stage Student porter disintegrating hundreds of Ifrits in mere seconds? After the initial shock, they turned genuinely confused. "His Physique LifeSkill¡­it''s too powerful." "Are they sure it''s only S class?" "I think it''s equivalent to a Berserker LifeSkill. But his¡­doesn''t seem to have any time limit." Atlan continued his barrage of punches, destroying hundreds upon hundreds of Ifrits with each second. He looked at his Soul System and saw that his SSS class Physique LifeSkill still supplied him with tons of energy. It seemed endless. He felt like he could theoretically continue this barrage of punches for a very long time. The problem was his Giant Hand. It started to lose its tangibility, fading in and out of existence. This was due to his inexperience. He''d only been drafted for two weeks, which was not enough to develop the ''muscles'' to keep up his manifestation of a Giant Hand. The 6th stage Saviors could manifest a Giant Hand in their Soul System for a long time because of their experience, but their low-class LifeSkill was the reason why they couldn''t last long. It was the complete opposite for Atlan. His SSS class LifeSkill had enough power inside, but his Giant Hand couldn''t handle the power. Time was the only factor. His barrage of punches held back the thousands of Ifrits coming towards them. But he didn''t kill them. Even if he blew them outwards into mere particles, they still found a way to regenerate into their full form once they were away from Atlan''s attacks. Suddenly, a golden light erupted from the oil lamp. Atlan felt the Angel power below him finally saturate into its final form. He looked down and saw Tarish kneeling at the golden oil lamp. "It''s time!" Tarish rubbed the side of the lamp and muttered under her breath. It was an incantation taught to her in the Canzer Report for the oil lamp to activate. As soon as she finished the words, a magic circle appeared around the narrow spout of the oil lamp and created a huge suction force inside. Even though the vacuum wasn''t meant for humans, Tarish and the other Saviors still felt a strong pressure pulling them inside the spout. An invisible tornado erupted from the spout and affected all the Ifrits in the air. Howls of anguish and roars of defiance rang out from these monstrous Canzers. They tried to resist the suction force from the tiny little oil lamp, but the Angel power seeped into the invisible tornado weakening their bodies to the point that the magma in their physique turned into rock. The suction force extinguished their fire, and subsequently their life. But instead of self-destructing like before, they simply turned into lifeless rocks and were eventually crushed into a fine powder as they entered the oil lamp. Atlan landed back on the roof as he watched thousands upon thousands of Ifrits try and fail to escape the grasp of the oil lamp. In just a few seconds, the Ifrits finally succumbed to the Operator''s construct, ending their vicious cycle. Chapter 164: Reaping an Ifrit [You have assisted in killing a complex creature: Gastros Enterifrits][Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have gained 20,000 experience] [You have gained a C class Mage LifeSkill: Blazing Wave] [You have gained 10x LifeSkill fragments] [You have two LifeSkills with the same job. Do you want to merge the two?] [Experience required: 20,000] [Upgrade points required: 22,000] [Fragments required: 4] Atlan manipulated his Soul System and commanded all the required ingredients to merge his two Mage LifeSkills into one. The blue wisps of Experience points surrounded the new LifeSkill planet and forcefully transcended it to the consolidation period between the 4th stage and 5th stage Student realm like the original Spiked Chitin Spray. The meteor fragments crashed into the LifeSkill planet and upgraded it from C class to B class, costing 5000 upgrade points. Then, 17000 Upgrade points made up of small red geometric shapes lined up and surrounded the two planets, forcing them to collide. It didn''t take long before the two planets crashed, sending chunks of each other flying into each other before eventually crashing down onto the surface. The collision was so powerful that the two planets were destroyed completely, turning them into meteors and asteroids that tried to leave their respective gravities. However, the Upgrade points created a protective barrier that forced all parts to stay in one place. It wasn''t long before small chunks crashed into each other and formed a bigger chunk, creating a bigger gravity that further attracted more chunks from space. Atlan watched everything unfold as if he were a God who watched his own creation. If it was like true life, then it would have needed thousands of years to form, but in the Soul System, everything was sped up so much that it only took a few seconds before a new Mage LifeSkill formed in his Solar System of LifeSkills. ¡ªMage: (A) Exploding Thorns of Chitinous Webs. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 5th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 12x F class fragments Exploding? I''m guessing this ability is born from the Ifrit''s self-destruction powers. That''s interesting¡­ Not only could he trap enemies inside his thorned web of chitins, but he could also make them explode and cause further damage. The possibilities were endless. My Mage LifeSkill is starting to get good. Now that it''s been merged with two different LifeSkills, its repertoire of powers makes it useful in a lot of situations. "It''s done¡­" Tarish muttered under her breath. The Masamune district Remedium turned eerily quiet as the final Ifrit disintegrated into mere dust and was absorbed by the golden oil lamp. Atlan took his focus out of his Soul System and observed the construct. The Angel power inside it slowly powered down, dispersing into the air until there was nothing left. I see why it''s only one use. There''s no more power inside that oil lamp. It''s just a normal object now. "That was close¡­" Tarish and the rest of the 6th stage Saviors fell on their knees and released the tension in their shoulders. They thought it was the end for them. The Ifrit''s cloning got too much out of control, and they couldn''t have lasted much longer. The only reason why they finished this mission was because of the black battle-suited youth in front of them. They couldn''t help but stare at him. Even after executing a barrage of punches that killed Ifrits much faster than they could clone themselves, he didn''t even seem tired. He never dropped a single sweat. "Porter¡­how did you do that?" Tarish confronted Atlan. She couldn''t believe that his Physique LifeSkill was that powerful. It was only a porter LifeSkill and it was only in the 2nd stage of the Student realm! Even if it was an S class talent, they didn''t think that it would be enough to kill Ifrits rated at the 6th stage difficulty. Granted, Infection Canzers were very easy to defeat individually, but that still didn''t take away from the fact that Atlan could disintegrate them into mere atoms with just one single punch. Atlan activated his LifeSkill. The oppressing black flames enveloped his whole body. "This is my Physique LifeSkill. It''s rated higher than the S class." He revealed this information because he knew that it would have leaked out in some way or another. It was much better to tell the truth now and control the narrative. "Gasp¡­Even better than S class?!" "I didn''t even think that was possible." "I''ve heard rumors of other Metropolises having talents greater than S class, but I thought they were just rumors." Having a LifeSkill greater than S class was so rare that they didn''t have a proper grasp on how powerful it was, but the tyrannical aura around his black flames made them believe his words. If they didn''t experience how powerful it was with their own eyes, they wouldn''t have believed it. "Don''t worry, Star Porter. We won''t tell just anybody about this," Tarish assured Atlan. "However, we can''t promise you that HeadQuarters won''t know about it. If we were subjected to Pterina''s questioning, we wouldn''t be able to hide the truth." Atlan nodded. "That''s fine." "I can''t believe we almost denied you. Imagine if we did. We probably would have lost all our SoulTime from this mission." "Tarish, you were right. He''s the Star Porter for a reason." Now that the threat of the Canzers had been neutralized, the atmosphere around the Saviors was celebratory. It was a close one, but they eked out a victory in the end, all thanks to the 2nd stage porter. "What''s wrong, Atlan? Why aren''t you celebrating?" The Ifrit was dead. Atlan was sure of it. If not, he wouldn''t have reaped its soul. But by now, they should have gotten their rewards from the Genesis God for finishing the mission. A ray of light should have beamed down from the skies and bathed them with His rewards. It''s only been two minutes since the mission ''finished'', yet Atlan couldn''t help but be cautious. Just then, he heard an all-too-familiar sound in the distance. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM¡­ Chapter 165: Falling up The whole Remedium rumbled. The folds and wrinkles of the strange meat-like dome covering the entire Masamune district started churning."What''s happening?!" Everyone felt the roof they were standing on bob up and down, destabilizing their footing. Tarish looked down and was horrified to see that the strange orange liquid flooding the streets gushed forward with much more speed and volume than before. "Why is it flooding?!" It was as if a dam had opened. The orange liquid dispersed the buildings even more, breaking them off from their firm foundations underground. Other buildings much better constructed and stayed on the ground were destroyed by the mere force of the gush. "Brace yourselves!" The one-story roof tilted as it floated above the rapid gush of the orange liquid. They were safe from being engulfed by the tsunami of orange liquid but they weren''t safe yet. The wave led them in a direct collision course with a high-story skyscraper! S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If they collided with the skyscraper, they''d be crushed under the thousands of tons of weight just from the rubble that would fall on top of them. "Should we abandon ship?!" One of the mages suggested falling off the roof to avoid the skyscraper. But that was a stupid idea. "No. We''ll get taken away by the wave. We need to stick together!" Tarish shouted to her team. Even though the skyscraper was falling on them right at this very second, she was not focused on it at all. Instead, she looked around the Remedium and tried to find a circular construct in the middle of all the floating buildings and rubbles in the orange flood. Damn! The portal''s lost! Tarish didn''t say those words out loud because she didn''t want to cause further panic. They could always search for the portal later. But if they panicked and split up, they might get lost in the Remedium for hundreds of years! "It''s falling on us!" the mage screamed. Tarish and the other tanks used their LifeSkills and created a defensive shield around them. However, it couldn''t last long under the weight of the metal beams of the skyscraper. Their defenses were great against elemental attacks like the Ifrits, but it wasn''t that effective against physical attacks. Their shields cracked like glass, but it was able to deflect the skyscraper away from a direct collision with their one-story roof. For good measure, Atlan jumped up and used his Physique LifeSkill to punch one of the main columns supporting the skyscraper. CRASH-SPLASH The skyscraper crashed onto more buildings drifting in the orange flood, sending orange mist and negative colored rubble flying in the air. Tarish and her team were safe from being crushed to death by the high-rise building, but they were not safe from the aftermath. A large wave emanated from the skyscraper''s crash site. It created a rippling effect that increased the speed and height of the flood coming towards them. "Let''s hope our building''s buoyant!" They held onto any railing, pillar, or wall they could grab onto as the wave came towards their roof. WOOSHH Thankfully, the building they stood on had an air pocket underneath the flood, and allowed it to stay on top of the wave. The Saviors held onto the roof as it followed the stream onto a narrowing tunnel that led to a dark chasm underneath. "Where is this going?!" Tarish didn''t know. "Just stay together!" The whole wave surged towards an opening on the meaty wall surrounding the Masamune district. Buildings, rubble, street lamps, steel beams¡ªeverything was swallowed inside this dark chasm. Even in the distance, they heard the torrent of orange liquid falling into the opening. Tarish and the rest of her team had no choice but to stay on the roof and hold on to each other for safety. They couldn''t swim away from the gush of orange liquid leading them to the unknown even if they tried. "Don''t let go!" Tarish warned as they were enveloped by a shimmering curtain of orange liquid made from small droplets falling onto the darkness. As they fell, everything turned dark. The Saviors held each other''s hands as they felt the weightlessness of free fall. Atlan held hands with the mage beside him. He was going to stay with his team until things got too dire. If things proved to be too dangerous, Atlan would use his Angel Wings and burst through the dimensional walls of the Remedium and return to the real world. That was his last contingency plan. But for now, he wasn''t going to leave his team to deal with the looming threat of the darkness all by themselves. They didn''t know what they were fighting with. But Atlan did. He couldn''t forget the rhythmic wing patterns of the Sapient Canzer. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM¡­ Even in the nothingness of freefall, he still heard those excited flapping wings echo in the chamber. He didn''t have to hear it speak to know that it was excited. It couldn''t wait to see the tormented expressions on the humans again. Atlan used his Thermal Vision and saw the cylindrical chamber they were falling under. He looked around and saw the terrified expressions of Tarish and the rest of her team. He felt the desperation in their grip. They were deathly afraid because their worst fears came true. They encountered an anomaly. But for Atlan, this wasn''t an anomaly. This was an opportunity. #### THUD-BOOM The ground underneath them exploded as they reached the end of the tunnel, creating a blinding burst of light that stunned all of them into confusion. As they fell through the hole, they saw nothing but white skies and dark stars under their feet. After falling for about two seconds, they suddenly slowed down. They stopped in mid-air for a moment before they started accelerating upwards! Atlan looked up and couldn''t believe his eyes. They were falling upwards into a grass field! It completely defied the laws of physics. BLUGHH They felt their heads crash onto soft but firm soil. Their reality-defying experience left them stumbling for a second as they gathered their senses. What happened? Did we come out from underground and land on a grass field? Atlan was the first one to gather himself. He slowly stood up and looked at his surroundings. Behind him were the tall steel walls of Genesis City and in front of him was the wide expanse of the Unclaimed Lands. Chapter 166: Out the walls "Where¡­where are we?!""No¡­that''s¡ªthat''s impossible!" Tarish couldn''t believe what she saw. Somehow, falling into that dark chasm led them out of the walls of Genesis City! This was supposed to be impossible. Every mission in the Remedium took place inside the walls of a God''s Territory. It didn''t matter if it was as small as a Village or as big as a Country. All portals led to a place inside the walls of that area. No exceptions. But now, they found themselves at the outer grassfields surrounding the walls of Genesis City. They couldn''t even blame the Quills for another anomaly happening in this mission. No one would have ever anticipated this happening because it was supposed to be impossible. "We need to go back¡­we need to go back¡­" One of the mages frantically dug on the grassfields trying to find the hole they ''fell'' in. "It''s fine. As long as we''re together, we can get through this!" Tarish said, with her voice quivering. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM¡­ Atlan whipped his head to the source of that rhythmic pattern. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision. On the horizon of warm yellow grassfields, there were small dark blue spots that littered sparsely above the grass. They sauntered over closer to the humans with arrogance in their stride. Their dark blue internal body temperature was much more intense than the heat of the 6th stage Saviors beside him. It was clear. These Sapient Canzers were much stronger than the unprepared 6th-stage Saviors. Not to mention the fact that they were completely out of their territory and out of breath from fighting the Ifrits, they were in no shape to fight these Canzers. A couple of seconds later, Tarish and the rest of the exhausted Saviors finally noticed the synchronized footsteps in the distance. The Sapient Canzers had no intention to hide themselves. Fear gripped their hearts. Tarish couldn''t even speak. "$&#^(!#)$" "NO!" Her shout was accompanied by a gasp that was filled with horror and disbelief. Those unintelligible words were the subject of every Savior''s nightmare. The mere mention of their name sent shivers down everyone''s spine, veteran or not. "Sapient¡­Canzers¡­" The Sapient Canzer stood on two legs and had two arms on its side. Their entire body was clad in chitinous armors with spikes protruding in a uniform pattern. They had a prominent snout like that of a bear and a mouth like that of a human. Their stature carried an uncanny resemblance to humans. Any person who saw a Canzer walking and talking like a human was enough to send them into a coma. It was a terrifying image that should only be reserved for science fiction, yet they were witnessing it right in front of their very eyes. The worst part about it was that the whole horizon was filled with these Chitinous-armored creatures, numbering in the hundreds if not thousands. All of them were identical, clones even. "$@*&%)%" ")%($&@@(" For normal humans like Tarish, they could only hear unintelligible sounds that couldn''t even be produced by the human body. But for Atlan, their conversation was loud and clear. His 4-star Canzer Mother Tongue mutation allowed him to understand all Canzers, including Pseudo Canzers and Sapient Canzers. ''Look at these humans¡­how pathetic¡­'' ''I told you¡­they shiver at the thought of facing us¡­'' S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They weren''t speaking like the Pseudo Canzers with disjointed words and only the most basic of grammar. These Sapient Canzers were different. They sounded like humans speaking a different language. "%#)@*!)$*#" All the Sapient Canzers stopped at the same time, letting only one of them walk forward and face the humans. The disparity between the humans and the Sapient Canzers was huge. The humans had terrified expressions on their faces with their bodies frozen from fear even if they wanted to run. Meanwhile, the Sapient Canzers stood tall with pride and superiority in their eyes. "$@!)*#@)" ''Entertain me, humans.'' The Sapient Canzer held out his hands in a welcoming manner as if the humans were his guests in his kingdom. Tarish put herself in the front and raised her shield. She was at the forefront, protecting her terrified and exhausted teammates. Even if she was tired too, she wasn''t going to let that monster terrorize her friends. "Please. We don''t want to fight. Let us go," Tarish said softly. Even if they couldn''t understand each other, the Sapient Canzer was intelligent enough to pick up on her tone. "&!&!&!&!&!, )@($&#)!($*#" ''Hahahaha! It''s begging for its life! Not that brave without the Angels protecting you now, huh?!" The rest of the Sapient Canzers behind the leader laughed and pointed at the pathetic human lowering her head to them. Their monstrous faces clearly showed the human expression of disdain and mockery. "$*@$&@)!)(%*#@)(*)(*@$#*)(@" ''Come on! I didn''t come out here for nothing. Fight me!'' The Sapient Canzer unfolded its two pairs of wings behind its back. The outer wing was made out of tough leathery material, while the wing on the forefront was thin and membranous, which gave it flexibility in its flight. It flew to the humans with no warning. Tarish was caught off guard and pulled her shield up late, causing her to get blown away as the Sapient Canzer punched forward. She got blasted away even if she caught the attack with her shield. She couldn''t imagine taking that attack head-on. She tumbled through the air. She saw the world turn multiple times. And with the speed she was blown away, she thought she''d get sent tens of meters out. But then, she felt a warm hand supporting her back and stopping her in the air. It was Atlan. He caught her and helped her stand on her own. He still had a confident smile on his face even as they faced the dangerous Sapient Canzer. Somehow, his confidence gave her the strength she needed to pull herself back up. Even if they were going to lose their SoulTime today, that didn''t mean they couldn''t fight till the end. "Guys," Tarish walked back up to the front of her team. "If it''s looking for a fight, then a fight it''s going to get!" With the rallying shout of their leader, the 6th stage Saviors found the energy to use all their powers to survive. They activated their LifeSkills, with the mages combining all their powers into one attack. A wind and light-powered ice hammer striking a water sphere manifested into reality. The tanks used their defensive LifeSkill in a creative offense by reinforcing the water sphere''s defenses, making it harder and faster than what was possible. Chapter 167: Boredom satiated The Water Sphere turned into a ball made up of different elements, reinforcing it into something that could destroy an entire building into mere rubble.The 6th stage Saviors used up all the energy inside their Soul System to construct this one attack. They aimed to intimidate the Sapient Canzers from attacking them by showing their combined powers. Having 7 Saviors working together in perfect coordination was no easy task. One wrong move and all their hard work manifesting the water sphere would dissipate into nothingness. Despite the exhaustion and the pressure they faced from the Sapient Canzers, the 6th-stage Students found the focus and concentration they needed by following their trusted leader. She never wavered even once. She kept her back straight and faced the Sapient Canzers with full trust in her teammates. "Don''t underestimate humans!" screamed Tarish as she guided the Super Powered Water Sphere towards the lone Sapient Canzer. ")$(@*!&$)$" ''Good! This is a worthy opponent!'' The monstrous Canzer, with its dual wings flapping in excitement, faced the Water Sphere with bare hands. It flew through the air and intercepted the Water Sphere. It faced it head-on. Steam and mist spurted out from the middle of the collision. The Sapient Canzer pushed back against the power of the Water Sphere, but its chitinous fingers chipped away with every second it tried to grasp and control the Water Sphere. Its wings flapped harder to try and gather enough force to push back against the humans'' combined powers. But in the end, it couldn''t resist against the combined might of the 6th stage Saviors. The Sapient Canzer was completely torn into shreds as the Water Sphere enveloped it entirely. The ball of power continued on its original course and crash-landed on the first line of Sapient Canzers waiting in the distance. BOUUUGH The Water Sphere exploded, sending hot slices of water that tore through the chitinous armors of hundreds of Sapient Canzers. "Haaa¡­.Haaaa¡­." Tarish and the rest of her team couldn''t help but smile when they saw their power completely demolish the arrogant Sapient Canzer. But Atlan couldn''t celebrate just yet. He crossed his arms with a serious expression on his face as he looked at the aftermath of the explosion. Out from the torn shreds of the first Sapient Canzer, grew five more clones that looked the same as the one that ''died''. And those that got destroyed by the Water Sphere''s explosion spawned even more clones than before. These new Sapient Canzers emerged with devious smiles on their faces. They derived pleasure from seeing the smile fade away from the humans as they realized that their strongest attacks were useless against them. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM¡­ Their wings flapped in a rhythmic pattern as they saw the terror creep into the humans'' faces. It made them euphoric! "$(#*@&*$%&@)($(@)#)($*%)" ''Oh how I''ve missed that face¡­humans truly make the best expressions¡­I can''t wait to see their faces as they die.'' The clones of the Sapient Canzers walked forward in synchronicity, like a well-trained army. Tarish''s bravery melted as she realized the kind of monster they faced. "Infection Sapient Canzers¡­" She didn''t know what to do. There was nothing she could do. It was a completely hopeless situation. If they faced a Sapient Destruction Canzer, they could hold on long enough by killing it over and over again. Even if it could regenerate its injuries, it still gave them hope that if they lasted long enough, there was a chance they could get rescued. But with a Sapient Infection Canzer, the more they try to fight them, the harder it will become to survive. If they don''t fight Infection Canzers, they die. If they fight them, they''ll multiply endlessly and get killed faster. And unlike normal Infection Canzers, these Sapient monsters were clad with Chitinous armor from head to toe. They were as hard to kill as Destruction Canzers. "$(@**%&" ''Scream! I want to hear your screams!'' A few Sapient Canzers unfolded their wings and flew towards the 6th stage Saviors. The mages activated their LifeSkills and defended themselves, but the monsters were too fast. Before their powers manifested in reality, the Canzers skewered their bodies with thousands of spikes in its fist. "AAGHH!" the Water mage screamed. He felt his SoulTime draining by the years! There was poison in those spikes. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But that wasn''t the end of their torment. The Canzer raised the water mage up and slammed him back down on the ground, pushing its spikes deeper in its body and causing further internal damage. "KAGHH!" The water mage coughed up blood. The Canzer seemed to get aroused each time it heard the human scream. It continued harassing the water mage until he could no longer scream. The Water mage barely clung onto life. He was mere hours away from losing his entire SoulTime. "%#(@*!)$" ''No more fun.'' Now that it felt satisfied, the Sapient Canzer tossed the water mage''s body to the side like trash. It didn''t even deem him worthy to be killed. He wasn''t the only one. Tarish, and the rest of her team were brutalized by the Sapient Canzers. The tanks lasted longer, but the Sapient Canzers used their superior speed and strength to wear down their defenses. It wasn''t long till their shields were deformed like scrap metal. The violet grasslands were stained with dark red pools of blood. The 6th stage Saviors had cuts and lacerations all over their bodies, bleeding them of their SoulTime. They had less than a day left till they died. Tarish was the only one left standing in her team. She used her giant shield to keep herself up no matter how much her body wanted to lie down. From her hazy eyesight, she saw one Sapient Canzer approach a black battle suited youth on the back. After finishing them off, the Sapient Canzer now wanted to deal with the last person in their group, Atlan. Atlan stood tall against the approaching Sapient Canzer. He looked at it eye to eye. "$*#)*!)($*%&)@_%&@!_!_$$(*(*#@" ''This human dare to look at me this way¡­tsk. No matter. The terror in his face will be much more delicious.'' But before the Sapient Canzer could approach Atlan, it suddenly felt something grab its legs. It looked down and saw Tarish holding onto its feet. "Please! Spare him!" Tarish wanted to protect the Star Porter. He was a transcendent talent that she needed to preserve. She knew that Sapient Canzers were a prideful bunch. So, she catered to its need for superiority. She pulled herself closer to the Canzer''s feet and kissed it in reverence. "Spare him! Oh, great Sapient Canzer!" The monster''s smile couldn''t have gotten any wider. "%(#*)$)@)(%)$)@)%" ''Fine. I will spare you humans. My boredom has been satiated.'' Chapter 168: Left behind With a flick of its chitinous fingers, a large hole in the violet grass fields opened up and created a powerful suction force that swallowed the unconscious 6th-stage Saviors.Tarish heaved a sigh of relief as she saw her teammates get sent back to where they came from. She didn''t think the Sapient Canzer would let them go so easily, but surprisingly, it did. She didn''t want to know why it was suddenly merciful, she just wanted to escape. Atlan, her friends, and herself can leave with their SoulTime intact. She didn''t resist the suction force from the dark chasm in the ground and let herself fall into it. It could have been a trap, but she knew that the Sapient Canzer had no need for such things. It could have destroyed them right then and there if it wanted. She fell through the hole and a deep darkness encompassed her whole body. She couldn''t see anything. It was the same as the hole they fell from. Her speed accelerated, with an unknown force pushing her further and further into the hole until she saw a bright light in the distance. SPATUNNGG She burst forth from the dark chasm opening and saw herself falling towards the fallen rubble and chaos of the remaining Masamune district. There was no more thick orange liquid flooding the streets and gutting the skyscrapers¡ªonly crumbled walls and overturned buildings. She used her shield and braced herself for impact as she crashed onto the roof of a building. CRASH She looked up and saw her teammates shoot out from the dark chasm the same way as her. Ignoring her injuries, she got up and caught each of her unconscious teammates. She laid them down gently onto the roof, with her face full of worry once she saw the horrible state of their bodies. The call of unconsciousness got stronger and stronger, but she still performed emergency medical attention to her team. She wasn''t going to leave them falling without protection. Once they were all safe and sound, she lay on the floor right next to their unconscious bodies. She was exhausted. She was about to close her eyes when she suddenly realized something. Someone was missing. She got up and frantically looked everywhere but couldn''t find that black battle-suited youth anywhere. She scoured the littered remains of the once beautiful Masamune district but found no trace of the Star Porter. Panic began to set in. What if¡­ What if he''s still there? ##### "$(@*%)#($&^)$#%*)@($@(*&@)" ''Such pathetic creatures. Seeing their horrified faces gives me such joy, but it only lasts for a second. I need more.'' The Sapient Canzer found no satisfaction in killing the humans. The horrified look frozen on their dead faces wasn''t delicious to look at. It was much better to see them contort into horror live. That''s why they spared the humans. By doing so, more humans would come and entertain the bored Infection Sapient Canzers. They knew that if they killed the humans, it would take a long time before the other humans found out about it. But if they survived to tell the tale, humans would come in a matter of minutes. But just as the Sapient Canzer turned around, he felt a small wind breeze past its neck. It looked behind and was surprised to see one human still alive. It didn''t leave. "$@($*%)!($(#$*)(*^)(*#)$*()(*#@" ''Look at this stupid human. I spared you so that you can carry your friends out of here. Yet you stayed¡­how idiotic.'' The rest of the clones behind it laughed and jeered at Atlan. They were merciful enough to let the humans live, but they didn''t think someone was stupid enough not to take it. The lead Sapient Canzer walked over to Atlan and put its hands on his shoulders. "$(@*$)(*#%@#*" ''You still think Angels will save you? Why don''t I teach you what it means to die?'' "You''ll find out," answered Atlan. The Sapient Canzer couldn''t understand Atlan''s words, but they knew that tone in his voice. It was impertinence. Just as the Canzer was about to say something, a black flame suddenly erupted all over Atlan''s skin. It covered him with a tyrannical aura that burned the Sapient Canzer''s arm. The Canzer pulled his arm away subconsciously. It looked at its burnt chitinous armor, and back at Atlan with its pure white eyes full of disbelief. "%(@*%&@)$(*%(#*@)(*#" ''I didn''t think this was possible. There was a monster hidden among the humans.'' "A monster? You haven''t seen it yet," Atlan said coldly. His 6-star Pseudo Canzer Whisperer mutation only allowed him to speak with Pseudo Canzers, which was why the Sapient Canzer couldn''t understand him, no matter how much Atlan wanted it to. Atlan used all the strength he had to punch the Sapient Canzer''s chitinous chest. Even with its protective spikes strewn around its armor, it was no use against Atlan''s SSS class Physique LifeSkill. His power cracked and shattered the monster''s chest, showing its violet blood and flesh inside. The rest of the clones stopped laughing and looked at Atlan with a serious eye. The lead Canzer held its broken chest and glared at Atlan. "%)(*@)(*$)(%&#$)(%()$#)(*" ''You''ll regret that, stupid boy. I''ll kill you before the other humans come and save you.'' The numerous clones behind it unfolded their wings at the same time and rose in the air. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The violet grass fields trembled as thousands of dangerous Sapient Infection Canzers fluttered their wings in a rhythmic pattern. The lead Sapient Canzer with a cracked chest smiled as its clones surrounded the lone human. "$(*@)(*$)(*" ''Attack him.'' Even though it was impressive that a human youth like Atlan could crack a Sapient Canzer''s chitinous armor, it was still inconsequential in front of thousands of clones. If the human couldn''t even kill a single clone using his full strength, then he had no hope of ever surviving against them. The Sapient Canzer laughed. The human severely overestimated his strength. It turned around and left everything to the clones. It didn''t need to watch to know the result of such carnage. The thousands of Sapient Canzer clones converged on Atlan, but then¡­ BOOUUGGGSHHHH A large fire-less explosion reverberated through the violet grassfields. The Sapient Canzer''s eyes went wide with disbelief as it felt hundreds of its clones die in the explosion. The Sapient Canzer turned and looked back at the human. Slowly, its chitinous armor rattled with increasing intensity. The pressure and aura emanating from the human was enough to send fear and dread running down its back. Chapter 169 Cold feet In the middle of the violet grass fields, surrounded by remains of shattered chitinous armor, stood a creature with black rotting skin.It looked like a decaying corpse, but the power pouring out from its enlarged bones was anything but dead. It was the kind of pressure that even made the Sapient Canzers'' chitinous armor rattle from horror and panic. The rotting creature had nothing but bones in its body, with decaying black skin barely clinging to its skeleton. But the most terrifying thing about the creature was its head. It was nothing but a skull, with frost and ice creeping onto its crevices, but somehow, the Sapient Canzer felt like it was looking at a creature that could send anyone down to the deepest abyss of hell. The skull slowly turned towards the Sapient Canzer in the distance, with its head swiveling unlike that of a human. Even though the skull creature had no eyes, the blackness of its eye socket made the Sapient Canzer feel as if its entire view had darkened and only the creature remained in its sight. "$()@#*()($*$(*&%(#*&(*#&$" ''What the hell are you?! You''re not human!" the Sapient Canzer screamed. But the creature didn''t answer. It kept its head turned towards the lone Sapient Canzer. The Sapient Canzer grabbed its own chest and stopped it from rattling. It didn''t want to admit that it was afraid of a single human. SHIIRRA SHIIRRA The fallen Sapient Canzers made out of nothing but shredded chitinous particles slowly formed back into more clones. Five more spawned out of each corpse. "($*@)(*$)(*##)(*)@(#*)$*(&(" ''So¨Cso what?! We''ll multiply till we kill you!'' Five thousand Sapient Infection Canzers rose in the air. They surrounded the skull creature at all sides, like a cloud enveloping a single ant. With perfect synchronicity, they charged towards the lone human¡ªor whatever it was. But instead of worrying about the increasing number of clones attacking him with no room to escape, Atlan looked at his own disfigured body. He felt power, unlike anything he''d ever felt before. He was brimming with energy, with some of it leaking out of his bones and manifesting as frost and ice around his body. He looked at his own hands and he knew: just one wave of his hand was enough to destroy thousands of these Sapient Canzers. KLIK KLAK Atlan raised his foot and stomped it on the ground at the same moment hundreds of clones reached out their hands to rip his skeleton transformation into shreds. He forcefully pushed out the intense energy inside him until it leaked out into his bones. An intense cold flowed out from his foot and spread outwards. The large circular patch of violet grass surrounding his skeletal foot turned solid and shattered into a million pieces. The temperature in the grass fields plummeted so far down that the water particles in the air slowly condensed into snowflakes that slowly drifted in the wind. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The frost infected everything in an instant. The mystical cold rose from the ground and froze the clones from their chitinous feet up to the fervent expressions on their faces. The blood inside the Canzer''s bodies instantly turned into ice, their fleshy bodies turned solid. Everything was frozen. The five thousand clones fell on the ground, with some shattering into different pieces. Their maniacal desire to kill the lone human was still frozen on their faces. The frozen wings on their back fractured into millions of pieces with just a slight breeze in the air. The only one still left was the lone Sapient Canzer in the distance. Its human-like mouth couldn''t convey the shock it got from seeing thousands of its clones frozen with just one move. And the worst part about it was that the skull creature never took its dark eyes away from it. It was as if it wanted the lone Sapient Canzer to witness this. "$)(@(#($*&(#*&$%" Experience more tales on empire ''Kugh! It doesn''t matter. We are still alive!'' Even though the clones were frozen into mere ice statues, their incredibly resilient bodies allowed them to still cling to the bit of life in their constitution. "Yes. I want you alive," replied Atlan. Just then, Atlan spread his skeletal arms. Even though he couldn''t use other LifeSkills with his BloodLine Transformation, he still had one more source of power that was available. A numb and prickly sensation covered his shoulder blades. A smile appeared on his skull as he felt that familiar power envelop his entire body. The Sapient Canzer already thought that fighting this monstrous human was a nightmare enough. But as it turned out, it barely just started. Its knees went weak as it felt the warm light emanating from the skeletal creature''s back. It was the kind of warmth that would have been ideal in such a cold environment. But for the Sapient Canzer, it felt its entire body turn even colder than before. That familiar aura was something they thought was already gone. It should have been extinct. Yet there it was, exuding out of the pure white Wings that emerged behind the skeletal creature in all its glory. Angel power. Just the mere presence of such holy and angelic wings was enough to extinguish the last dredges of life inside the frozen clones. The thousands of Sapient Canzers exploded into millions of frozen pieces as Atlan fluttered his Angel Wings in place. "@&&&&&&&&&&&" ''GAGHHHHHHH!'' The only surviving Sapient Canzer in the distance screamed in pain. The pain of five thousand clones dying at the same time from a smudge of Angel Power was transmitted to the only surviving clone of the Sapient Canzer. It banged its head on the frozen grass trying to relieve the pain in its mind, but it was far too much. "@***********" It experienced a pain worse than death¡ªfive thousand deaths. The tiny tinge of Angel Power that killed the clones transferred over to the surviving clone, which accumulated enough to a near-fatal dosage. "Experience the suffering. This is your punishment for treating death as nothing more than a joke," Atlan''s voice resounded out of his skeletal transformation. Chapter 170 Shouldn’t speak The cycle of suffering continued for the Sapient Infection Canzer.Each time it cloned itself into thousands and thousands more, Atlan''s skeletal body with the strength of a Pre-Intern Savior emanated an intense frost that froze everything that came into contact with him. With the thousands of clones frozen and unable to move their bodies, Atlan unleashed the aura of an Angel with his pure white wings. The added pressure from the Canzer''s weakness was enough to push them over to their death. Their minds chose to destroy their bodies rather than stay even one second in close proximity to the holiness of Atlan''s Angel Wings. As the tens of thousands of clones shattered into chitinous particles, the lone Sapient Canzer watching everything unfold from a distance felt the pain that all the clones experienced. It wailed on the ground, thrashing and flailing its whole body to try and free itself from the torment in its mind. The worst part of it was that it couldn''t die. It didn''t physically get harmed by the deaths of the clones, it only got affected mentally. Its once greatest strength, its mind, had now become a curse that doomed it to an intense suffering that would never end. "($*@)(*@)(*$" sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Stop¡­please¡­I give up¡­.'' Its voice was hoarse and weak. It couldn''t take the hellish punishment from the skeletal creature any longer. It would rather beg on a human''s knees rather than experience another cycle of pain in its mind. The clones increased by 5 times each time Atlan killed them. Because of that, the pain that the lone Sapient Canzer felt was five times greater than it was before. It put an increasingly greater hell on its mind. The only way for this to stop was to beg for forgiveness from the human. His powers were far too strong for even millions of clones to be enough to kill him. The frost he emanated didn''t discriminate with numbers. As long as it had something to spread to, it would continue to bring a freezing winter to anything that comes close to those infected. The lone Sapient Canzer crawled toward Atlan''s skeletal figure. Even though its body didn''t permit it to bend like that of a human, the Canzer disfigured itself to prostrate itself to him. "$(*@)(@*$)(%&" ''Please! I beg of you! Stop this madness.'' Even if Atlan hadn''t understood the Canzer''s words, the symbol of surrender and deference was universal. Atlan raised his hand and brought down the fury of a Pre-Intern strength onto the lone Sapient Canzer. BOOMSHHH The lone Canzer disintegrated into mere atoms as Atlan destroyed its very being with a single punch. His strike created a tremendous force that reverberated around the violet grassfields. A shockwave followed through that shattered the tens of thousands of frozen clones around them. Atlan stood on the crater by himself. He looked up and saw the clones repairing themselves into their full chitinous bodies. But instead of attacking him, they quickly jumped back and prevented the cold from spreading to them again. The lone Sapient Canzer reformed its body and bowed in front of Atlan for his mercy. It raised its chitinous arm and snapped. Behind Atlan, another hole manifested in the ground that led back to the Masamune District Remedium where he could reunite with his teammates. The thousands of clones bowed their heads to him, showing him respect after this loss. With the battle finally over, Atlan let go of his transformation. The rotting skin in his skeletal body slowly shed off as muscles, veins, and organs grew alongside his bones to form his human body. The flesh in his head slowly grew back as his face returned to its normal human look. The cold, oppressing aura that he emanated slowly vanished as if it were all an illusion. He was back to looking like a fragile human whose body looked like something the Sapient Canzers could break like a twig. However, they knew better. This human hid a power that could kill thousands of their clones in mere seconds. And it didn''t even take much effort. He just stood there and killed all the Sapient Infection Canzers that dared to get close. Atlan turned around and looked down the hole back to the Masamune District Remedium. "(#*$&@)(*@)(*$(*%&#(*&(&$#$#((*&(*&@#)#@($" ''We will let you go this time, human. But we will be back stronger and better. When we come and wage a war with the humans, you will be the last one we kill. You will watch as we desecrate them as you have desecrated us.'' The lone Sapient Canzer muttered their plans under his breath. Although they were forced to back off against Atlan today, that didn''t mean that they lost this fight. They considered it a draw. They couldn''t kill him, and he couldn''t kill them. It was so confident that they would be able to kill Atlan next time that it even dared to say its plans to kill him just seconds after they begged for him to spare them. Atlan stopped in his tracks and sighed. Enjoy exclusive content from empire "Canzers shouldn''t be able to speak," Atlan muttered under his breath. He looked back at the thousands of Sapient Infection Canzers. The lone Canzer never would have thought that Atlan understood its words. If it did, then it would have known that it signed its own death certificate. Atlan used his Thermal Vision as he surveyed his surroundings. There were tens of thousands of clones in front of him, some of them hovering in the air, and some of them stayed on the ground. He focused his vision at the very back of the pack. There was a very large number of clones closely grouped together¡ªtoo close. There was an endless space behind them in the expanse of the violet grass fields, yet they chose to stay so grouped up together that they were standing shoulder to shoulder with practically no space in between them. He looked down at the group and saw that deep underground, there was a small object glowing dark blue¡ªthe same coldness as the Sapient Canzers. The clones watched as Atlan raised his hand and pointed at a random space in the distance. It was only a couple of moments later that they realized where he was pointing at. Atlan took a deep breath and uttered, "Begone." His Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill activated and locked onto the object underground. Chapter 171 Scattered ashes The lone Sapient Infection Canzer felt a shiver run down its spine as it watched the human point directly at its ''root''.It was the source of all their power and an equivalent to the heart of a human. The Sapient Canzers never thought that Atlan would be able to pinpoint their very weakness so casually. His finger felt like it was the touch of Death itself. "$)(*@)($" The hundreds of thousands of clones all charged at Atlan in a panic. Even though they didn''t know what he was going to do, the mere fact that he knew where their weakness was located was enough to send them into a frenzy. "Begone," he uttered. Above the large group of clones protecting their root, a white cloud manifested in reality. This cloud had a golden glow on its edges and frightened the clones below. It emanated an Angel aura that was a thousand times more intense than the human''s Angel Wings. If Atlan''s Angel Wings was a solid cube made out of Angel power, then this cloud was like a knife pointed directly down at the source of the Sapient Canzers'' very being. It threatened to destroy their very existence! Half of the hundred thousand clones converged on Atlan to try and stop his ''Finger of Death'', while the other half tried to disperse the cloud from completing its condensation. However, they were far too late. They would have stood a much better chance of stopping Atlan if they tried to attack him before he was able to lock onto the object underground. The moment that cloud manifested in reality was the moment the death of the Sapient Infection Canzers was certain. The cloud''s blonde-yellow light intensified, followed by a thunderous rumbling that reverberated along the violet grass fields. The clones reached up with their spiked chitinous fists to try and tear through the cloud, but they were far too slow. Thick golden lightning struck down into the ground with a furious intensity, sending an earthquake that shook the entire Remedium. The clones unlucky enough to be in the golden lightning''s way were immediately burned and disintegrated into mere ashes, with their cloning ability nullified forever. Hundreds of Sapient Canzers jumped and created a small mound that tried to protect the underground object, but they were inconsequential in the face of a SSS class 4th stage Student Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill! It passed through them and targeted the buried object tens of meters underground with perfect accuracy. The golden lightning''s spear-like end pierced through the root of the Sapient Infection Canzers. The object turned out to be a fetus. It was what Sapient Infection Canzers would have looked like if they were a newborn, with their chitinous armor barely formed around their bodies. As soon as it was hit with the golden lightning, it stopped squirming in the soil and froze in place. It slowly turned pasty white, with its ashes slowly disintegrating into mere particles that turned into nothingness. The clones above wailed in pain as they slowly disintegrated into mere ashes scattered in the wind. This was their permanent death. They could no longer clone themselves when their original body was dead. The lone Sapient Canzer watched its own hands slowly disintegrate into ashes. It looked at Atlan with disbelief in its eyes. It didn''t think that he would be the one to cause their permanent death. In its stubbornness and anger, it tried to claw at Atlan''s face, but its legs gave way as the weakness soon spread to the rest of its body. Atlan was hit with nothing but ashes. He looked around the violet grass fields and saw peace. The ashes of the fallen Sapient Infection Canzers scattered in the wind. With nothing else to do, Atlan turned back and fell into the hole behind him. #### Tarish slammed her fist on the ground. She couldn''t believe that she was careless enough to let those Sapient Canzers get their hands on their Star Porter. She was responsible for his life. She didn''t think she''d be able to live with herself if she found out that Atlan lost all his SoulTime because of her mistake. He''d be held back for years as he regenerated from a single blood cell. She would effectively ruin his career. "Damn!...I should have been the one!" "If it weren''t for him we wouldn''t have even killed the Ifrit!" "I can''t believe we''re still stuck here! We have to ask for help so that they can rescue Atlan!" After they recovered enough strength, Tarish and her team scoured the destroyed skyscrapers and overturned buildings of Masamune district, but they couldn''t find the portal anywhere. They felt useless. The longer they were stuck unable to call for reinforcements from the HeadQuarters, the longer Atlan would be subjected to the Canzer''s tortuous hobbies. "Let''s check again! We have to find that portal!" But just as they were about to disperse, they suddenly heard an explosion in the distance. BOOM Their eyes went wide when they saw a black battle-suited youth flying in the air after being shot out from the hole they came from. Atlan braced himself as he crashed onto the streets, sending rubble and concrete everywhere. Tarish and the rest of her team slowly approached Atlan. They expected to see him return with multiple broken bones and a bloodied mess, but they were pleasantly surprised to see Atlan stand with virtually no injuries on his body. There wasn''t even a scratch on his black battle suit. "Atlan¡­you''re¡ªyou''re fine?!" "Thank the Gods!" "What happened to you?" Even though Atlan spent much more time with the Sapient Canzers, he was in much better shape than the 6th-stage Saviors. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But before Atlan could say anything, everyone was suddenly blinded by a bright light up in the air. Out from the meaty domed ceiling of the Remedium, a large ray of white light suddenly beamed down directly on Atlan and the rest of the 6th-stage Saviors. "But¡­how''s that possible¡­" Tarish couldn''t believe that they were being rewarded by the Genesis God for completing their mission! Chapter 172 Mission complete? A resplendent white beam of light shone down on the eight people below. They looked up with shocked faces at this unexpected turn of events.As 6th stage Saviors, they understood what this meant. The ray of light from the heavens was something that all Saviors cherished. It was the cool ice water after working on a hot summer''s day. It was a comfortable bed after an exhausting day at work. This was a Savior''s reward after risking their lives fighting Canzers in the Remedium. The Genesis God extended his hand to them and rewarded them for their service to the City. No one wanted this to happen more than Tarish. However, she couldn''t help but be perplexed as to why they were getting rewarded in the Remedium. This type of thing only happened if a team of Saviors finished their mission and killed off all the Canzers terrorizing the God''s body. Even though they defeated the Ifrit, they were far from completely eradicating the Canzers inside the Remedium. Anomaly or not, the fact that Sapient Canzers appeared in the Remedium meant that they were now a part of the mission. They shouldn''t have been rewarded for this mission because they were forced to retreat to the real world and ask for reinforcements from HeadQuarters to deal with the Sapient Infection Canzer. Was this a mistake or an illusion, Traish pondered. But the facts were right in front of her face. The beam of light had the Genesis God''s signature warmth that they were all familiar with. The only way this is possible is if¡­the Sapient Canzers are dead?! She fervently shook her head. No matter how much she tried to think about it, there was no way for Sapient Canzers to die without any reason other than being killed by Saviors. Her mind went through all kinds of scenarios until an idea popped up in her head. She slowly looked over to the black battle-suited youth right next to her. Even though his youth and his gentle features painted a kind and novice Savior who needed coddling, she quickly learned that there was a vicious tiger hidden within him. Unbelievable as it may have sounded, there was enough evidence to believe that his Physique LifeSkill was rated greater than S class. He couldn''t have killed hundreds of Ifrits if it wasn''t. She estimated that his strength was equivalent to around the 4th or 5th stage Student realm just because of his physical strength alone. There were rumors about him defeating 5th-stage Students, which wasn''t that hard to believe once Tarish learned of his true strength. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan was also considered a genius who was able to advance from the 1st stage to the 2nd stage in just one week after his draft. All the feats and rumors surrounding Atlan painted him as a transcendent genius who could punch two or three stages above his level. But¡­can he defeat a Sapient Infection Canzer by himself? The only conclusion she could come to was an impossible thought. Atlan killed the Sapient Canzers and finished the mission all by himself. It was much easier to believe that the Sapient Canzers killed themselves rather than believe that a Porter solo-ed a mission meant for a team of veteran Saviors. She observed Atlan''s face a little closer. There was a sense of confidence and assurance in his eyes¡ªthe kind that only the truly strong and proven heroes wore on their faces. Meanwhile, her and her team''s eyes were still full of precaution because of the looming threat of the Sapient Canzers. They didn''t know if the Canzers would change their mind and finish the job. What if he''s not afraid because there''s no more Canzers to be afraid of? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Does that mean he''s even more powerful than we thought? Is he hiding a bigger secret other than his LifeSkill being greater than S class? She could no longer look at Atlan as a novice beginner who''d only been in two missions. She looked at him as a wild card who could pull miracles out of the back of his hand. The ''conspiracy'' in her mind consumed her thoughts until she finally shook herself out of it. He might be powerful enough to survive against the Sapient Infection Canzers, but he couldn''t have possibly killed them. He''d need a specialized Operator construct. She calmed down once she reached that train of thought. But I still don''t know why we''re rewarded with the completion of a mission¡­ Everyone looked up and saw grains of glistening sand drop down on them like rainfall. It was accompanied by blue wisps that floated like feathers. "We''re blessed¡­those are SoulTime and experience points!" "The Genesis God saw our suffering and decided to reward us¡­" They spread their arms and welcomed the rewards floating inside the beam of white light. Atlan watched as blue wisps and grains of sparkling sand seeped into his skin and went directly onto his Soul System. The grains of sand flowed over to the giant hourglass floating in the darkness of his Soul System just beside his LifeSkill solar system. [SoulTime] ¡ª55 yrs : 150 d : 04 hrs : 59 min : 51 s Atlan gained 5 years and a couple of days as his reward from the Genesis God. For him, this wasn''t that big of a deal. He could gain double this amount by using his Photosynthesis mutation for a couple of seconds under the intense heat of the sun. But for others, it was a literal godsend. "Yes! An extra 5 years!" The injuries in their bodies slowly closed up as the sands of SoulTime entered their body. They felt rejuvenated as if they were reborn anew. From what Atlan learned, the Genesis God gave back the SoulTime that a Savior lost in the Remedium, plus a little extra for their efforts. If their original SoulTime was about 25 years and they lost 24 years during a mission, then the Genesis God would give a total of 30 years of SoulTime to them, which consisted of the lost 24 years and an extra 5 years. "Finally! It''s been a while since I''ve seen the glory of those blue wisps!" The 6th stage Saviors rejoiced as a thousand blue wisps entered their Soul System and filled up their LifeSkill planets. Since they were in the 6th stage, they needed thousands more experience points to level up to the next stage, but they were satisfied with this result. But then, their joy was quickly replaced with shock as they saw a bright light in the corner of their eyes. They looked at the Star Porter and saw him glowing a bright white light by the edges of his skin! He was advancing to the next stage! Chapter 173 Next stage already?! Tarish and the 6th stage Saviors were gobsmacked. They covered their mouths in shock.As unbelievable as it sounded, Atlan was advancing to the next stage of the Student realm at this very second! They wouldn''t mistake that glow for anything else. If there was a word that transcended a genius, then even that wouldn''t be enough to describe Atlan in his current state. After all, it hadn''t even been a month since he was drafted into Genesis City and he was already consolidating his power realm to the 3rd stage of the Student realm! It took him one week to go from 1st to 2nd. Now, it took him another week to go from 2nd to 3rd! That was insanely fast. Tarish and the others finally understood why there were a lot of skeptics who didn''t believe all of Atlan''s feats. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It would have been more believable if Atlan performed a mission every day during those two weeks. But he didn''t! He only had two missions during those times! And even though both of those trips to the Remedium ended up having an anomaly happen, it was still unbelievable to think that he was deemed critical to the completion of the mission by the Genesis God Himself. He wouldn''t have given Atlan that much experience if that wasn''t true. But when they considered the facts, it wasn''t all that absurd to think about. After all, he participated in this 6th stage Student difficulty mission while only being in the 2nd stage. He proved crucial in killing off the Ifrits. If he hadn''t used his Physique LifeSkill to prevent the Ifrit clones from destroying the construct, then they wouldn''t have completed the mission in the first place. And if Tarish considered the thought that Atlan killed the Sapient Infection Canzers by himself, then it made even more sense. Of course, she quickly removed the thought from her brain because Atlan had no way of disabling their cloning ability. What she didn''t know was that Atlan didn''t need an Operator construct at all. He only needed to activate the Angel Power in his bloodline and use the even greater Angel LifeSkill in his repertoire. It was a proven weakness of any Canzer. But of course, if Atlan hadn''t found the ''root'' of the Sapient Infection Canzers, then he wouldn''t have been able to kill all of them completely. His Cherubic Retribution could kill a clone and prevent it from multiplying itself in its death, but he''d need to activate it a couple of thousands of times to completely eradicate the Canzers. If he didn''t think of Geminus'' words at that very moment, then he wouldn''t have been able to completely kill the Sapient Canzers at all. Their cloning ability reminded him of the Ballistic Lotus, which also had the ability to spawn multiple clones after its death. According to Geminus, the way to defeat those kinds of opponents was to find their ''root'' and destroy it. Coincidentally, Atlan saw their ''root'' buried deep underground and protected by a large group of clones. He just needed to lock onto it with his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill and completely eradicate the clones in one go. "Atlan¡­congratulations. You are now just days away from becoming a 3rd stage Student." Tarish walked up to Atlan and congratulated him. After their initial shock, the rest of her team also came to shake Atlan''s hands for his amazing achievement. "You were blessed by the Genesis God!" "Even He considers you as a Star Porter!" Atlan smiled and thanked them for their congratulations, but he didn''t dispel their assumptions. They thought that it was the Genesis God who gave him the experience needed to advance to the next stage. That wasn''t true. Atlan had 103,911.2 experience points in his Soul System just waiting to fill up his LifeSkill planets. He wasn''t lacking in experience. He just needed time to consolidate his LifeSkills. Explore stories on empire The only reason why he wasn''t able to advance his Physique LifeSkill as opposed to his other LifeSkills was because it had a mysterious job attached to it. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique According to his experience, he would only be able to advance this LifeSkill if another God blessed him with experience. Even though it was filled up with blue wisps of experience, it wouldn''t consolidate into a solid layer in his LifeSkill planet. But only after he got rewarded by the God again, did it finally consolidate into a solid layer. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 3rd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª 47 hrs : 59 mins : 40 s The bright white glow in his body slowly subsided. Now that he finally had the time to evaluate his rewards, he looked at what he reaped from killing the Sapient Infection Canzer. [You have killed a complex creature] [You have reaped the death of a Sapient Infection Canzer] [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have gained 50,000 experience] [You have gained 110 F class Mage LifeSkill Spiked Chitin fragments] [You have gained 120 (1-star) Sapient Canzer Genus] While the others were celebrating the rewards given to them by the Genesis God, Atlan visited his Soul System and immediately merged all of his new fragments and Genus and used it to upgrade his current powers. He used up 128 F class Spiked Chitin fragments to upgrade his current Mage LifeSkill: Exploding Thorns of Chitinous Webs. Since his LifeSkill was merged from the Spiked Chitin LifeSkill, he was able to use its fragments to upgrade his current one. He didn''t know how his LifeSkill would be upgraded, but he guessed that it would lean more towards being a mage LifeSkill with a power made up of Chitin. Maybe the webs will be as hard as chitin. Or maybe the spikes will get even sharper. Although it took a total of 301,000 Upgrade points, Atlan found it worth it since his Mage LifeSkill would now become another SR class LifeSkill. With how useful his Thermal Vision became after becoming an SR class, he was sure that his Mage LifeSkill would also experience a tremendous bump in power. ¡ªMage: (SR) Bane of Infections: Exploding Chitinous Webs ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 5th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments Chapter 174 Polyglot Bane of Infections? Does that mean that my new Mage LifeSkill is effective against Infection Canzers?Atlan wanted to check out his new LifeSkill, but he knew that he couldn''t. Tarish and the others wouldn''t be able to take another shot of surprise from Atlan. Their psyches would break once they learned that Atlan had other LifeSkills in his Soul System, with some already consolidating the 5th stage. He put his focus next to the Genuses he obtained. It took 126 1-star Sapient Canzer Genuses and 33,000 Upgrade Points to upgrade it all to a 7-star Genus. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª4x (1-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª2x (1-star) Flora ¡ª10x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (6-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (7-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (7-star) Flora ¡ª1x (9-star) Gatekeeper ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [You have obtained a new (7-star) mutation: Sapient Canzer Polyglot] [Mutation] ¡ª (4-star) Canzer Mother Tongue ¡ª (6-star) Pseudo Canzer Whisperer ¡ª (7-star) Photosynthesis ¡ª (7-star) Sapient Canzer Polyglot ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings Atlan welcomed his new mutation with open arms. By the name itself, he knew that it was an ability that allowed him to converse with Sapient Canzers. With all of his mutations, he could now understand and talk to any kind of Canzer he came across. If he had this mutation before, then he would have been able to talk to the Sapient Infection Canzers and warn them not to make him angry. Of course, the fact that he could speak their language would make them extremely shocked and furious. They would consider it as a transgression that would ultimately lead to them attacking. Either way, Atlan would have liked to see their shocked faces once they realized that he could talk to them. This was an extremely important skill to have in missions. Understanding Canzers already proved to be a life-saving measure that could help him figure out a Canzer''s weakness, just like his time in the Pocket Remedium. By now, he was sure that every Remedium he entered would be plagued with anomalies. He expected to see Sapient Canzers appear rather than a mission preceding as normal. And during those times, he and his team would be caught with no way to defeat their enemies. They''d be helpless with no suitable Operator construct in their hands. However, if he was able to talk and understand the Canzers, he could figure out what kind of weakness they had. Even if they won''t give it out voluntarily, everything would get easier with a little bit of violence. It wasn''t guaranteed that every Sapient Canzer he came across would die from his Cherubic Retribution. Although all Canzers were weak against Angel power, he came to know that some Canzers had different weaknesses too. The Giant Werewolf Canzer was weak against Silver and Angel Power, while the Ifrit was weak against Water and Angel Power. He got lucky this time. The Sapient Infection Canzer''s weakness was only its hidden root. If he wasn''t able to figure out that it had that kind of weakness or if he wasn''t able to find it underground, then he wouldn''t be able to defeat them with just his Cherubic LifeSkill. He''d be too exhausted activating it tens of thousands of times in a short amount of time. I need to know how Operators know about a Canzer''s weakness. Encountering another anomaly strengthened his resolve to learn more about Operators and their jobs. Although most Vanguards blamed the ''Quills'' for always misjudging the difficulty of a mission, Atlan knew that it wasn''t their fault. Even the anomaly in this mission couldn''t be attributed to their mistake. No one knew that it was possible to be placed in a Remedium outside the City walls. Only by learning what the Operators do, will he be able to anticipate these kinds of anomalies or even prevent them from happening altogether. He could only do that by going to the University where he could immerse himself in everything Operator related. He would have gone by himself, but with the tensions between the ''Quills'' and the ''Knives'' being so high right now, he was advised not to go there without an escort. He hoped that Pterina would be finished with her job and take him there. However, with another anomaly like this, Pterina''s job was most likely even more congested than before. She''d have to question him and the rest of Tarish''s team about what happened. "Look! There''s another ray of light over there!" One of the mages pointed out another beam that rained down at a specific place in the ruins of Masamune district. It pointed at a place that was buried by two skyscrapers that crashed into each other. Tarish and her team slowly walked over to the beam of light and unearthed the wreckage of cement rubble and bent steel beams. After a few minutes, they finally came across a ruined blacksmith workshop. And surrounded by metal debris in the middle was an unbroken circular construct that they were all too familiar with. Their shoulders eased up when they saw a dark shimmering liquid inside the area, signaling that the portal still worked! "Yes¡­thank you, Genesis God!" "Sob..sob¡­I thought we''d get stuck here for years!" The 6th stage Saviors couldn''t hold back their emotions as they finally saw the light at the end of their arduous tunnel. They didn''t waste another second as they ran through the portal and stepped back into the comfort of the real world. Atlan followed them soon after. Once he went over the portal, a clear and cool breeze of fresh air hit their faces. They slumped on the ground out of exhaustion. Even though their bodies were rid of any injuries, their minds were still too traumatized from the Sapient Canzers'' torments. The soldiers on the other side of the portal immediately stopped what they were doing when they saw the Saviors come back out of the portal. They would have thought that they retreated from a failed mission, but once everyone was out of the portal, the black shimmering liquid on the circular construct dissipated in the air. This signaled the mission''s completion! Somehow, they killed the Canzers inside even with an anomaly! "How did you guys finish the mission?" The reinforcement Saviors tasked to save them stopped their preparations. Explore stories on empire Chapter 175 Spread to the world While Tarish and her team were in the Remedium, the HeadQuarters already noticed something wrong inside.They didn''t stop monitoring the symptoms in the Masamune district. They knew that there was a chance that an anomaly would show up. Even though the Operators had no idea when it would happen, they would know once they appeared. The ''Quills'' resolved to prove to everyone that they were competent in their jobs. They needed to assure the ''Knives'' or Vanguards that even in the case of an anomaly, the Operators were ready to resolve the situation as fast as possible. So, soldiers were already posted near the Masamune district that closely observed the situation inside the infected area. A Gastros Enterifrits, also known as the Ifrit Infection Canzer, was only supposed to show a symptom of a heat wave and an occasional random explosion around the infected area. However, the soldiers noticed that the explosions stopped becoming random. It started to arrive at a set amount of time. To the untrained eye, this wouldn''t seem all that strange. However, the Operators knew that symptoms don''t arbitrarily change out of nowhere. Uniformity almost always signaled intelligence. This meant that they were dealing with Sapient Canzers. The Operators quickly prepared a new construct tailor-made to search for the Sapient Infection Canzer''s root and armed with the ability to kill it with a tinge of Angel power. HeadQuarters also recruited a new team and briefed them on the situation. Within 20 minutes, their preparations were completed. Even though they didn''t have any porters available, they opted to use three Saviors with Martial Artist jobs to carry the heavy construct to the Remedium. Your journey continues at empire The new team of 7 Saviors was just a few preparations away from entering the Remedium in the Masamune district when, all of a sudden, the original team came back and completed the mission by themselves. None of them could believe it. The fact that the Remedium portal closed by itself meant that the God Himself considered the mission a success But how is that possible?! They are fighting against an Infection Sapient Canzer! They are not even equipped with the right construct! The soldiers and a few representatives of the HeadQuarters quickly interviewed Tarish, the leader of the group, to learn more about what happened to them inside the Remedium. According to her, everything went smoothly until they were suddenly flushed down and transported outside the walls of the City. That alone was absurd to hear. Even the representatives of the HeadQuarters stopped writing for a second and tried to understand her words. "Outside¡­what do you mean exactly?" "Outside the walls. We were at the grass fields outside the walls." Gasps and murmurs resounded throughout the spectating crowd. There were a lot of curious civilians who couldn''t help but doubt Tarish''s words. "Ahem," the representative coughed and silenced the crowd. "We''ll know the truth once the Inquisitor Pterina comes and questions the team." Tarish wasn''t worried. As much as she wanted that anomaly to be nothing more than a lie, she and her team were forced to remember it as the truth. "Now, aside from that. Are you aware that bringing an unauthorized novice along with you on the mission is prohibited?" She knew she''d get punished for it, but she didn''t regret it. If it weren''t for Atlan, they wouldn''t have come out with their SoulTime intact. "Gosh! A 2nd stage novice in a 6th stage mission¡­what are they thinking?" "Did he sneak inside with them?" Once Tarish''s team heard that, they quickly sprung to their feet and defended the Star Porter. "You guys don''t know anything! We wouldn''t have defeated the Ifrit if it weren''t for him!" "He killed hundreds of them with his barrage of punches!" Now, everybody looked at the Star Porter. They''d heard about his absurd feats of strength, but it was unbelievable to think that it was enough to fight against a 6th stage Student-rated Canzer. "You expect us to believe that?" "That''s absurd!" "Hmph!" The mage went over to Atlan and put his hands over his shoulders. "Doubting him means blasphemy! The Genesis God Himself has deemed our Star Porter to be a once-in-a-lifetime genius!" The mage didn''t even wait for the doubtful words of the crowd and immediately revealed the truth. "He rewarded us for completing the mission and the Star Porter was given enough experience to advance to the 3rd stage of the Student Realm!" The representative of HeadQuarters immediately turned towards the mage. "Is that true?!" He didn''t know which one to question first: the fact that they were rewarded for a mission with an anomaly, or the fact that Atlan advanced to the 3rd stage. "Yes!" "But how''s that possible?! How did you kill the Sapient Infection Canzers without a construct? Tell me, now!" But of course, Tarish and the rest of her team had no answer for that. When they told the representative the truth that they were spared and allowed to leave, he massaged his head. He had a splitting headache trying to decipher what happened to this mission. Somehow, even though they didn''t kill the Sapient Canzer, they were given a reward from the Genesis God Himself, which should have only happened after all Canzers were killed in the Remedium. It was a complete paradox. "Sorry, but can we reserve all questions for tomorrow?" Tarish pleaded. "My team and I are exhausted, and we have no energy left to convince all of you about the truth." The representative acquiesced. Tomorrow, things would get cleared once Pterina questioned them. Meanwhile, the crowd still hadn''t gotten over the fact that Atlan achieved the 3rd stage Student realm in such a short amount of time. They talked amongst themselves. "Ey! No way. It''s got to be an exaggeration." "But why would they lie about that? And look at his aura. Don''t you think he''s gotten a little bit stronger?" "Now that you say that, I think so too." Either way, the word already spread out to the rest of the City about the transcendent genius of the Star Porter. But the gossips were no match against the spies. The other Cities and Territories in the whole world would soon learn about the fact that a Porter was able to go from undrafted to 3rd stage Student in just two weeks. That speed was unprecedented. The offers for his transfer spiked up to even higher levels. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 176 Accumulating favors Once the interrogation from the representative was over, he assigned some soldiers to escort Tarish and the rest of their team back to their homes.Before Atlan entered the truck, some of the dwarves he saved personally thanked him for his service. "You have the dwarves'' hands and arms. If you need anything, we will make sure you get it." The rest of the bandaged dwarves nodded their heads and showed off their muscles to Atlan. Even though the official story was that the anomaly resolved itself without anyone killing the Sapient Infection Canzer, the dwarves had a feeling in their guts that the Star Porter had a big hand in killing those Canzers that caused the suffering of thousands of dwarves in the Masamune district. Atlan boarded the truck and it set off back to the City Center where his house was located. After everything was resolved, the soldiers and the Operators went on their way to restore the Masamune district to the industrial heart of the City it once was. Some of the soldiers in charge of picking up rubble and litter around the streets saw a peculiar piece of equipment lying on the ground. It had a long wooden handle and a large rusted curved blade. It was Atlan''s scythe. In the chaos and rush of saving the dwarves out of the Heat Wave, Atlan''s scythe fell out of his back. Probably just some trash from a workshop, thought the soldier. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He was going to put it in the bin to recycle the metal, but some of the dwarves saw the scythe in his hands. This was the first dwarf that Atlan saved when the Symptom appeared in the district. He was also one of the dwarves who promised to help Atlan with anything he needed. He quickly recognized the scythe as something that belonged to the Star Porter. Explore more adventures at empire "Hey! Give me that!" The soldier was intimidated and quickly gave him the scythe. "What are you going to do with that piece of junk?" The dwarf smiled. "I''m going to repay a favor." ###### Atlan stepped off the truck, with Tarish and her team looking over him with moist eyes. "Thank you again, Star Porter." "I hope we can meet again. Hopefully in a better situation." "If you have anything you need, anything at all, you can talk to us and we can help you with it. We may not be the strongest out there, but we do have valuable experience we can share." Atlan sincerely thanked them for their offer. He''d need it. As 6th stage Saviors, they embarked on tens or hundreds of missions to get where they were now. He''d be remiss to ignore their advice just because he was physically stronger than them. He might breeze past stages like it was nothing, but there were also a lot of things he couldn''t skip past with his Grim Reaper cheat. For example, he still needed time to learn and practice the manifestation of his Giant Hand in his Soul System. He couldn''t cheat his way out of slowly learning how to activate it within a fraction of a second. Perhaps the hardest skill to learn was how to lock on to a target with his Cherubic LifeSkill. He was extremely lucky that the Sapient Infection Canzer''s root was located deep underground where it could not move around freely. If the root moved even an inch away from its original position, then Atlan would have needed a few seconds to refocus his target. It was a vulnerability in his skillset that he needed to shore up quickly. However, there was no way to speed it up other than to practice it as much as possible. But as much as he wanted to, he had no feasible way to do it. For him to activate his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill, he needed a target. And to find a target, he needed to be on a mission to the Remedium. That was a dangerous place in and of itself. And even on missions, he couldn''t just activate his other LifeSkills in front of his teammates. Even if he had a Modify Memory Spore LifeSkill to change their memories, he didn''t want to rely on it when he didn''t need to. If only I had my own Pocket Remedium where I could summon my own Pseudo Canzers, it would solve all my problems. It''d be like shooting two birds with one stone. I get to practice my LifeSkills and I get to farm some experience points, fragments, and Genuses. As far as he knew, only those who performed great deeds and services for the City were awarded their own Pocket Remediums. The families with deep roots in Genesis City were the only ones who accumulated enough merit to have it. Atlan would probably need a hundred years before he was eligible to get one himself. That''s too long. Maybe if I keep showing my talent, they''ll eventually give me a Pocket Remedium¡­ But of course, he knew it wasn''t that easy. Atlan shook the thought off his mind and focused on what he could do now. And the only thing that was on his to-do list was to go to sleep. He waved back at Tarish and the others at the truck. Once they were gone, Atlan went directly to his bed and went to sleep. He expected another visit from Pterina tomorrow morning. That would surely entail a lot of questions about the mission and his alleged Physique LifeSkill that was greater than S class. If he was questioned about it, then he could lie to her and say that the LifeSkill in his Soul System only had a question mark in its class. That answer would be vague enough so that she''d believe that he had no idea that his LifeSkill was above B class. No matter what, Atlan wasn''t worried about her interrogation. His Grim Reaper Physique would deny any attempts at peering through his lies. Atlan closed his eyes and went to sleep. ##### The next day, Atlan was greeted with a knock on his door. Chapter 177 Hugs Atlan opened the door and a smile crept on his face. He thought he''d be greeted with a visit from Pterina and start his day with an interrogation, but imagine his surprise when he saw a curly-haired woman instead.Lizzie stood in front of his house with a relieved expression on her face. She couldn''t hold back her emotions as she hugged Atlan. "Thank the gods you''re fine. I heard about the anomaly and quickly rushed here." Atlan reciprocated her gesture of affection and hugged her tightly. In the Unclaimed Lands, everyone kept to themselves and avoided close contact with each other. It increased a person''s internal body temperature and caused them to sweat. In a place desolate of any large water source, they needed every drop of liquid inside their bodies. Atlan felt awkward during their first hug, but as things progressed, he slowly got used to it. He slowly yearned for it. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lizzie felt warm. Even when warmth was equivalent to death in the Unclaimed Lands, somehow, whenever he felt Lizzie''s soft arms around his neck and her body close to his, he felt more alive than he was before. Explore new worlds at empire He even thought that hugging her gave him SoulTime, but that was just an illusion. "I can''t believe those guys. What are they thinking of letting you go on a 6th stage Student mission? And just as I feared, an anomaly occurred during your second unofficial mission. Urgh!" Lizzie, in her anger, moved away from Atlan and stomped the ground. Her words didn''t even register in Atlan''s mind because he was still focused on the fact that he wanted the hug to last just a little bit longer. "And you!" Lizzie pointed at his face. "Just because you''re the Star Porter doesn''t mean you should go on missions higher than your level. It''s dangerous!" Atlan shrugged his shoulders innocently. "If I weren''t so busy, I would stay by your side and make sure you don''t put yourself in such dangerous situations ever again." For some reason, Atlan didn''t mind that. "Haaaa¡­" Lizzie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What''s done is done. I''m just thankful you didn''t lose your SoulTime." She looked up at him with a curious look. "By the way, did you really advance to the 3rd stage Student yesterday?" Atlan smiled and proudly said, "Yes." Lizzie couldn''t hide the smile on her face. Even though she wanted to reprimand him for his dangerous stunts, she couldn''t help but be proud of what he''d become in such a short amount of time. "Are you happy for me?" "No! I''m still mad at you for joining a mission 4 stages above your own!" Lizzie moved her head away from him in embarrassment. If she had her cat mutation manifested in reality, her tail would wag left and right, while her whiskered cheeks would be bright red. Lizzie took out something from her tool belt and forcefully pushed it into Atlan''s chest. "Here. You should wear this." Atlan took the blow and acted like it hurt him. In his hands were a pair of epaulets made from the same material as his battle suits. The symbol ''III - S'' was inscribed onto the very material itself. "What''s this?" "It''s official. HeadQuarters acknowledges your advancement to the third stage. Even if other people won''t believe the rumors, they''ll believe the epaulet on your shoulders." Atlan looked at the epaulet in his hands. "They''re giving it to me just like that? I thought they needed to confirm my power realm first." "That''s the protocol, but you''re a special case. For some reason, HeadQuarters quickly approved your epaulets as soon as they heard what happened." Atlan looked at the epaulets on his hands. He didn''t even know how to put it on. "Here," Lizzie said as she took the epaulet in his hands. "It''s hard to put it on by yourself." Lizzie stretched and reached for his tall shoulders. They were near enough to feel each other''s breath. Atlan stood still as he observed her face. Even when he was so close to her, he never felt any discomfort. He didn''t even know it, but he found himself moving his head closer to hers. "There. It looks good on you." Lizzie walked back to look at Atlan''s new attire. The green epaulets snuggly fit on his shoulders. It didn''t take long before they were quickly dyed black as his Stealth Tunic recognized it as part of his battle suit. "Yes. Fits me just right," commented Atlan, with his gaze not on his epaulets. Atlan and Lizzie stood there staring at each other for a few seconds before; DING A notification rang on Lizzie''s watch and reminded her of why she visited Atlan so early in the morning. "I forgot. Pterina wants to talk to you." The mention of the Inquisitor made Atlan immediately focus and rid himself of silly thoughts. "I''m guessing she wants to hear my side of the story." "Yeah, but don''t worry. I''ll be there with you." Atlan wasn''t worried that Pterina''s Operator LifeSkill figured out his lies. He was more worried that he would contradict himself. He needed to be careful with his words. If he told a lie, which Pterina knew was false, and it didn''t trigger her LifeSkill, then she would figure out that he had some way to circumvent her lie detection skill. I just need to give vague answers. The shorter the better. "Come on. She''s waiting for us at the Genesis Church. We''ll take my truck." Atlan followed her back to her vehicle and they quickly went on their way to the only place of worship in the entire City. "Why the church?" "I don''t know. From what I heard, you were eligible to get some kind of SoulTime compensation, am I right?" Atlan remembered. Along with the golden ticket that allowed him a visit to the Vineyard, Pterina also gave him 600 years of SoulTime. He only needed to visit the Church to claim his gift, but he never found the time to do so. Just then, their smooth ride on the truck was suddenly interrupted when it stopped in the middle of the road out of nowhere. Chapter 178 Trying to go to church Lizzie opened the blinds on her truck and saw a traffic jam up ahead. There were Saviors and civilians alike stuck on their horse mounts unable to proceed further. One by one, they had to take a U-turn and take another route."I wonder what''s wrong," commented Lizzie. After a few more minutes, the traffic jam cleared up enough for the truck to have its chance to take a U-turn. As they pivoted out, they saw the barricades and barriers blocking the road. They were accompanied by soldiers stationed around the entrance of the road, preventing any curious civilian from entering the area. There were military trucks parked aside hiding more soldiers ready to come out with weapons in case anyone tried to forcefully enter the blockade. "Why is this road closed off?" Atlan asked, but Lizzie had no idea as well. She would have stopped the truck and asked the soldiers for the reason why they barricaded this road, but they were in the middle of the road and there were other vehicles behind them waiting for their time to make a U-turn. "This would have led directly to the church. Whatever. We''ll take the next route." Lizzie imputed some directions on the tablet installed on the truck''s dashboard. Experience new stories with empire After a few seconds, the truck made its U-turn and headed in the other direction. Meanwhile, Lizzie scoured the reports on her tablet. She looked at articles and postings about the blockade, but she couldn''t find anything. Funnily enough, all the articles were about the Star Porter and his transcendent talent. There was a lot of discourse talking about his new achievement of advancing to the 3rd stage within just a few weeks. "Why are you so popular?!" she complained. Atlan had no excuse. He didn''t think that he''d advance his Physique LifeSkill to the 3rd stage after his unofficial second mission. Should I not put experience in my LifeSkill for now? Atlan pondered whether he should postpone his advancement to the next stage to stay more low-key, but he decided against it. He needed all the strength he could get. The truck continued on its route until they were stopped once again by a traffic jam further up ahead. "Another one?! What is happening?" Thankfully, this road was not a dead-end. Vehicles and mounts could simply turn left or right to change their routes. They didn''t have to make a U-turn like the blockade last time. Lizzie maneuvered the truck to park beside the blockade. A soldier quickly walked up next to the window and saluted Lizzie and Atlan. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Why can''t we go on this road?" Lizzie asked, annoyed. This was not the first angry citizen the soldier had to talk to, so he knew how to handle it. "We apologize for any inconvenience, Miss Lizzie. HeadQuarters itself issued a blockade on this street. They don''t want anyone going in." Atlan looked ahead and saw soldiers inside the blockade escorting citizens away from their homes. Lizzie noticed it too. There was only one possibility as to why there was a blockade here. "Is it a Symptom?" The soldier nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. We''ve been told that this road has been affected by the Canzers'' rampage." A Symptom usually entailed some kind of obvious destruction around the affected area. For Atlan''s first mission, the walls started melting like wax and turned everything into a very viscous liquid. For his second mission, there was a sudden onset heatwave that turned the Masamune district into an oven that could melt even metal. However, when he looked ahead at the blockade, he didn''t see any sort of destruction that he expected when he thought of a Symptom. Even the civilians being escorted out of their homes looked fine and healthy. There was no difference between this road and the other roads beside it. "A Symptom¡­why isn''t it in the reports?" Lizzie looked at her tablet again, but couldn''t find any ongoing mission listed on it. And for two major roads to be affected, then the Symptom was considered to be quite large. A mission like this should be the headline of any news. "It can''t be helped. We''ll have to go to the other side of the City to get to the Church." But as it turned out, they couldn''t even do that. "Oh, I''m sorry Miss Lizzie. The four major roads connecting to the Church are all blockaded right now." That revelation sent a wave of shock to Lizzie''s face. It finally made sense to her why such a big operation was hidden from the public view. "With the major roads blocked, there could only be one reason." "What is it?" Atlan asked. "It''s the Church. The main Symptom must be located there." There was a sense of gravity and anxiousness in her voice. Atlan didn''t know why. He found no reason to worry about it as much as she did. From what he knew, Symptoms always appeared in the City and were quickly dealt with by Saviors. "Why is it bad that a Symptom appeared in the Church?" Lizzie looked over to the soldier and knew that this wasn''t the right place to talk about it. "I''ll tell you later. We''ll have to get off the truck for now and walk to the Church. It''s cool if we park my truck here, right?" The soldier nodded and guided the truck away from traffic. "Anyway, thanks for telling us. Good luck with your job." Lizzie saluted to the soldier, and the soldier saluted to her back. She then led Atlan to a discreet pathway outside the main roads that led directly to the City. Once they were out of earshot with no one around them, Lizzie walked right next to Atlan and whispered. "You aren''t supposed to know this yet, but I''m going to tell you now." "Is it something to do with the Symptom at the Church?" "Yes," she answered. "Places around Genesis City all have different levels of priority for HeadQuarters. They are called Critical Points." Chapter 179 Critical points "Let me give you an example. Let''s say that there are two Symptoms ongoing at the same time in the entire City, one at the Springfield Residential District, and one at the City Center, specifically at the HeadQuarters.You and your entire team are the only ones available to complete the mission. You can only save one and abandon the other. Which are you choosing: the Residential district where there are tens of thousands of lives at stake or the HeadQuarters?" S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan thought for a second. "Is there a difference?" "Yes. The wrong decision could result in the total and utter destruction of the entire City." That surprised him. He didn''t think it was that serious. "In such a situation, the right answer is to save the HeadQuarters. It is the command center of the entire City. It''s where we monitor what happens in every cell or block in the district. If something happens to the HeadQuarters, we will get a total blackout to whatever happens in the different districts. We won''t know if they''re getting destroyed by a Symptom or not. HeadQuarters is also where we Saviors communicate with each other. It helps us create a chain of command that keeps everything neat and tidy. A disruption in our communication would mean total chaos and disrupt the coordination between Vanguards and Operators. And probably the worst part that could happen is the destruction of our intelligence. HeadQuarters houses all our data about Canzers and their weaknesses. Without that resource, we won''t be able to finish any mission at all. We''ll get overrun by Symptoms." Atlan finally understood the concern in her voice. If such a hypothetical scenario did happen, then it was much more logical to deal with the Symptom at the HeadQuarters first and foremost, even if it meant sacrificing a district. "That is the reason why HeadQuarters is considered to be a Critical Point. It''s a place that needs extra protection." "If you''re telling me all this, then that means the Church is also a Critical Point?" She nodded. "Yes." But Atlan couldn''t figure out the reason why the Church was considered to be crucial in maintaining the health of the City. "Is it because it''s related to the Genesis God?" "All of Genesis City is related to the Genesis God. The Church is important because it is a symbol for the citizens." "A symbol?" Atlan imagined a scenario in which the gothic church was in ruins. The majestic pillars carved with symbols of the Genesis God turned into nothing but charred debris. The intricate paintings of the God on the ceiling were buried under a pile of rubble. The stained glass windows lie shattered and full of soot and ash on the ground. Around the ruined church were the grieving citizens of Genesis City. They kneeled on the ground, crying, with their eyes devoid of any hope. "The Church is a symbol of the City''s strength. It''s what keeps them strong even in the face of arduous Symptoms plaguing the City. As long as the Church still stands, so do the people inside it." And just as she said that, they finally turned a corner and reached the Genesis Church. There used to be a crowd of people walking in and out of the church at all times. People took time out of their day to worship and say their thanks to the Genesis God. There was a sense of warmth and community around it. But now, there was nothing but barricades and blockades preventing anyone from entering the Church. There was a large steel wall covering the entire area of the church, obscuring the view from inside. They could only see the top of the gothic spires on the Church''s ceiling. There were soldiers and military trucks posted all over the steel wall, with their electric batons ready to incapacitate anyone who dared to go inside the Church. And if that wasn''t enough, there were also Saviors stationed alongside the soldiers. Their green battle suits shined in the day and intimated anyone who had any intention of sneaking inside the barricades. "Those are 6th stage Saviors," Atlan noticed. He couldn''t believe that Saviors at their level were only delegated as guards in this mission. Judging from that alone, Atlan knew that the mission was probably rated above that of the Student realm. There was a large group of civilians that were surrounded by soldiers at the side. These were the people who were caught inside while the Symptom appeared in the Church. Usually, they would be allowed to leave, but for some reason, HeadQuarters didn''t want the news to spread publicly, so they kept them here until the situation got resolved. Off to the side, he saw nuns and priests gathered together and praying towards the Church. They kneeled even on the rocky pavement to show their sincerity. Meanwhile, Reverend 57th talked with a few Saviors to the side. "Let''s ask him." Lizzie took Atlan''s hand and pulled him towards the Reverend who quickly noticed the black battle-suited youth. "Ahh¡­the Star Porter. I am now more assured that this mission will be successful. You are blessed by the Genesis God. The fact that you are here means that He is guiding the Saviors in the mission!" Reverend Fifty Seventh looked up to the sky and murmured some kind of prayer before turning to the nuns and priests behind him. They, in turn, copied his actions and prayed even harder. "Atlan¡­you''re here." Continue reading on empire It turned out that the Reverend Fifty-Seventh was talking with an unexpectedly familiar face. It was Neumann. The bald man gave Atlan a big ''ol hug. Even with their age difference, they treated each other as friends. It had been a long time since they saw each other. "How have you been?" asked Atlan. "Not better than you, that''s for sure! You''re only one stage away from being at my level. You wouldn''t believe the face Wemby made when he learned about your advancement." Atlan smiled and thought back to the days he spent in peace with Wemby, Neumann, and Oliver at the Training Hall. All they did was kill Pseudo Canzers with no worry about an anomaly happening. "Neumann. Why are you here?" Lizzie gave him a cordial hug. "I''m here for support. I''ve got to be a good father and support my daughter on her mission." Chapter 180 Daughter "Your daughter?"Neumann smiled and scratched his head. "Yeah. The reason why I became a Savior in the first place was so that I would have the authority to support her from the sidelines. If I was an ordinary citizen, I wouldn''t have been able to stay here." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan remembered Neumann mentioning that he had a daughter, but he''d never met her before. "Oh, Ninth is in charge of this mission?" Lizzie said. "Then, I''m sure this mission would be finished in just under a minute" "Ninth?" Neumann nodded. "Yes, that''s her nickname. She doesn''t like it when people call her Neumann, so she adopted her nickname. I''m Neumann the Eighth, and she''s Neumann the Ninth, hence Ninth." Lizzie looked like she knew Ninth, making Atlan the only person in their group to not know about her. I wonder what she''s like. Atlan assumed that being assigned to a Critical Point was only reserved for those who proved themselves as capable Saviors. The fact that she was assigned to a mission in the Church meant that she was a person who was well-trusted by the HeadQuarters. He looked up beyond the steel walls and saw the climbing black spires of the gothic church. No matter how much he looked¨Ceven with his Thermal Vision¨Che couldn''t see any evidence of a Symptom rampaging through the Church. It wasn''t terribly hot like the Masamune district. The walls weren''t melting like hot wax. There were no tremors in the ground. There was nothing. "Why can''t I see any sort of Symptom in the Church?" Even the blockades on the four major roads showed no signs of any destructive manifestations in the City. It was as if there weren''t any Canzers rampaging through the Remedium at all. It made him wonder how they knew there was a symptom in the first place. If there was no evidence of any destruction, then how did they know there was a Canzer there? Neumann arrived just a little bit sooner than them, so he also saw no evidence of a Symptom. "I don''t know, but this isn''t the first time that I saw a mission with no discernible Symptoms." Lizzie supplemented that with her experience. "There are some symptoms that are really subtle. Sometimes, a crack in the ground or a slight breeze in the air is considered to be a Symptom. We Vanguards don''t have the theoretical knowledge or foundation to discern what a Symptom looks like. For us, things might look normal, but for Operators, it could look like a red herring that immediately lets them know that there''s a Symptom." Explore more at empire He knew nothing about ''Quills'' and how they operated, but it wasn''t hard to guess that there were probably a lot of alarms and security measures installed in the Church that let them know immediately that it was plagued by Canzers. It''s a Critical Point, after all. Maybe there are Operators permanently stationed in the church. Maybe they''re using some sort of technology to monitor the area too. He looked to the side and saw the group of civilians surrounded by soldiers. If he wanted to know what kind of Symptom occurred, then he''d have to question the people who were inside the Church when it happened. He slowly approached them, and a few civilians recognized the black battle suit he wore. "Are you the Star Porter?" "The one all over the news?" Atlan used his reputation to his advantage. "Yes. Can you tell me what happened at the church?" The civilians all looked at the soldiers who were yawning and looking outwards. They told them that they weren''t allowed to talk to others about what they saw, but the Star Porter was different. They thought he was sent by the HeadQuarters. "We were in the middle of a mass. Most of us were sitting on our pews listening to the Reverend talk about the generosity and magnanimity of the Genesis God, when all of a sudden, we heard a popping sound." "It''s not just a popping sound, it sounded like fireworks! It''s like a small explosion." "Yeah. That''s what I heard too." Atlan let them relay their story without interrupting them. "I was offering my thanks when I suddenly saw the candles flickering!" "And they were getting hot! They burned through the wax within minutes." "If I could recall, the whole room started getting hotter too. I was sweating through my shirt." Their explanations of the Symptoms they saw sounded oddly familiar to Atlan. He didn''t know why, but it sounded a bit similar to his experience in the Masamune district. The main event that happened in both scenarios was a sudden onset of a heat wave. The difference between the two was the increase in temperature. The one in the Masamune district was enough to give everyone who stayed for a minute inside the affected area, third-degree burns all over their bodies. The church symptom didn''t look that intense, given that the survivors looked fine. "That''s everything you saw? It didn''t get unbearably hot?" The survivors all looked at each other and shook their heads. "No, we''re fine. The Reverend escorted us out the moment he sensed something wrong. That''s it." "We don''t even know why we''re still detained here. We didn''t lose any SoulTime from that, but the soldiers insisted that we stay here so that we can be compensated with a few years of Lifespan after everything is settled." The survivors all had the same sentiment. They wanted to go home, but the soldiers didn''t want them to go out. Atlan thought for a second as he tried to assess what he heard from them. Are there a lot of Canzers that cause heat wave-like Symptoms? When he looked at the church with his Thermal Vision, he didn''t see any sign of a temperature increase. It was actually a little bit colder compared to the other buildings. Did they already kill the Canzer? "Did you find out anything from the survivors?" asked Lizzie. But just as he was about to answer, Pterina suddenly walked up to them. "I can tell you what Canzer they''re fighting." Chapter 181 Rogue clones The Inquisitor''s intimidating footsteps immediately silenced all the chatter from the civilians. The soldiers suddenly stood up straight and saluted Pterina as she walked past them."It''s good to see you, Pterina." Lizzie hugged her and greeted the bespectacled woman. Pterina looked over to Atlan and greeted him as well. "How''ve you been, Star Porter? You''re rising faster than we can keep up with." "It seems so," he replied. Pterina looked at the civilians next to him and immediately knew what he was up to. "I''m guessing you were curious about the mission in the church." Atlan nodded. She looked at the soldiers and survivors curious to know what she would reveal. She pulled Atlan and Lizzie away from the crowd for some privacy. "First of all, it looks like we''ll have to postpone your SoulTime bonus for now, Atlan. I invited you to the church so that you can claim it, but an expected Symptom changed that." "Do you know what it is?" She nodded. "Yes. It''s a Canzer that you''re familiar with and ran into quite recently. It''s the Gastros Enterifrits." Atlan was surprised. "The Ifrit?!" He didn''t think that another Ifrit would coincidentally spawn just the very next day they defeated them at the Masamune district. "Are Ifrits that common?" he asked. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "No. You know about Infection Canzers, correct? Well sometimes, as they multiply by the thousands, a few rogue clones travel through the Remedium and spread to the other places in the City. Yesterday, a few clones of the Ifrit made their way from the Masamune district all the way to the Genesis Church." Atlan didn''t know that was possible. He knew that Symptoms could spread outwards and infect the neighboring spaces, but he didn''t know that they could travel through to the other side of the City without infecting the nearby places first. The Symptoms described by the survivors finally made sense. If only a few clones of the Ifrit made their way to the Church, then the subsequent temperature increase would only be enough to turn it up by a few degrees. If it''s the same Ifrit as the one we faced in the Masamune district, then it''s easy to kill. Atlan killed hundreds of clones just using a barrage of punches powered by his Physique LifeSkill. Killing a few rogue clones should be easy. However, when he looked at the church and the barricade set up to protect it, the danger level of the mission was completely unequal. There was an entire steel wall about 10 feet tall installed in the perimeter around the Church. With how large it was, and how fast they installed it, it must have taken a lot of resources to set up. By his count, there must have been a thousand soldiers on stand-by next to the wall, and even more stationed around the buildings surrounding the Church. Even in the carnage and destruction in the Masamune district that took the lives of hundreds of humans and dwarves, HeadQuarters didn''t station as many soldiers and guards during that mission. There were also 6th stage Saviors on guard duty, preventing anyone from entering the Church. It didn''t make sense. Ifrits could be killed by 6th stage Saviors, but they were only delegated as guards in this mission. The Church is a Critical Point, but isn''t this too much? They''re only facing a few Ifrits. By using the oil lamp, they could be dealt with in just a few minutes. "Can I ask why they had to have all these guards? Why is there a huge steel wall covering the Church? Why are the four major roads leading to the church blocked?" Pterina saw the curiosity in Atlan''s eyes and couldn''t help but be impressed. If he didn''t become a Vanguard, then she was sure that he would have made a great Operator. He was asking questions that no Vanguard ever took the time to ask. "The four major roads are blocked because they are part of the Church. I''m sure you noticed that the Heat Wave yesterday was only contained in the Masamune district. That''s because each district, each part of the City corresponds to a different Remedium. A Remedium in the Church is completely different from a Remedium in the Masamune district. They''re two different dimensions, so you can''t access one by going through the other. The Church''s Remedium can be accessed by opening a portal inside the Church itself as well as the four major roads leading to it. If some insane and bored person tried to enter the Remedium through the roads, then they could end up going to the church and interfering in the current mission. That would be even more dangerous than a Canzer. We can prepare for a Canzer and we know how to defeat it, but if we get sabotaged while on a mission, it could cause the entire team to be wiped out." With how integral the Church was to the City, it made sense why HeadQuarters allocated so much manpower around it. "I understand why there is so much protection outside, but why is it taking too long? Isn''t it only an Ifrit?" If another 3rd stage Savior said those words, they would get laughed at for being ignorant of an Ifrit''s threat. But Atlan already proved that he had what it took to defeat Ifrits while being at a low level. "We have to be careful. Unlike the other Remediums, we have to make sure that we keep the destruction to a minimum. It could result in an unexpected Symptom. That''s why we dispatched a reliable team to finish the mission." "Who?" he asked. "Specialists." Atlan was shocked. Specialists dispatched to take care of a 6th-stage Student difficulty Canzer? That was overkill. A Specialist was three stages above a Student! "Ninth and her team have proven themselves to have a good success rate. It''s a good choice," Lizzie commented. Neumann''s daughter is a Specialist?! I didn''t know the daughter he talked about was such a big shot! Whenever he talks about her, I always think of her as a young student like me. With a Specialist in charge of such an easy mission, HeadQuarters was assured that the Church would be safe from any harm. Even if it was overkill, they would rather waste resources than fail a mission in a Critical Point. BUUUGSHHHHH Just then, an explosion disintegrated the Church''s black spires, sending rubble flying all over the air. Chapter 182 Church’s spire Everyone looked up at the fiery explosion in the Church. The soldiers and Saviors stationed around the walls quickly moved and intercepted the giant rubble flying down on the civilians.But even when the dangerous debris threatened to crush them from above, the civilians couldn''t take their eyes off the plume of smoke rising from the church''s burst-open spires. It seemed to signal the start of an ominous air. "Oh God¡­what''s happening?!" "What about the mission?" Chaos and panic spread through the civilians. Even the once ignorant City was now alerted of a problem once they saw the dark plume of smoke coming from the Church. People stopped their horses in the middle of the road, they dropped their food in the ground, and they walked in the middle of a busy street as they looked towards the Church. They slowly walked over to the blockade on the four major roads leading to the Church. "Let us in!" "What''s happening at the Church?" Thankfully, the soldiers were well-equipped to deal with a bunch of angry and curious mobs that tried to enter the premises. "Please! HeadQuarters is dealing with the situation. Don''t cause further panic!" shouted the soldier. But that wasn''t enough to stop the civilians worried for their beloved Church. Even if they couldn''t get past the soldiers, they opted to annoy them and hope that they changed their minds to let civilians enter the four major roads. Meanwhile, the situation near the Church was even more disastrous. The nuns and priests witnessing their place of worship blow up in front of their eyes was nothing more than a traumatic experience. They stuttered in their prayers, with their belief wavering for a moment. "Let me in!" "We need to show our piety to the Genesis God for us to receive his blessing!" The soldiers were overwhelmed by the holy men and women. They were given express instruction from the HeadQuarters to not touch the nuns and priests, but that made their job even harder because they were the ones more insistent on getting inside the Church. "Believe in our Saviors!" shouted Reverend Fifty-Seventh. His commanding voice settled down the priests and nuns. "Entering the Church will only exacerbate the situation!" Pterina shouted to the civilians. "The Church will be fine!" Lizzie helped Pterina calm down the rousey crowd. The Saviors stationed around the wall were forced to show their LifeSkills to intimidate anyone who dared come close to the Church. This seemed to be the most effective way to calm them down. Once the civilians saw the power and pressure of a LifeSkill, they were forced to remember a Savior''s power. They were reminded that there were professionals armed and ready to resolve the situation. After a few minutes, the mob finally died down. Atlan looked at the Church with his Thermal Vision and saw that the temperature inside the church increased! It was a lot hotter inside, with the same temperature as when the Symptom appeared in the Masamune district. The Specialists must be fighting with the Ifrits now. Did that explosion mean that one of the Ifrits self-destructed? If Atlan''s guess was true, then he may have touched upon one of the ways to learn how a specific Symptom equated to a specific Canzer. BURBLE Just then, they all heard the glimmering of a portal inside the Church. The civilians were none the wiser, but the Saviors recognized that sound. It was the effect when someone entered or exited a portal construct. The mission is finished? After a few seconds, footsteps resounded inside the Church. They were heavy. Whoever they were, carried with them something weighty. The double doors creaked as they opened it and went outside of the Church. With a rhythmic knock they agreed upon beforehand, the soldiers on the other side of the wall pulled the lever and split the wall to let the Saviors exit the Church. Finally, Atlan saw the Specialist Saviors in charge of the mission. His eyes shined with a hint of recognition as he looked at the black-haired woman in the middle of the group. She wore a green battle suit inundated with medals and pins that showed her achievements as a Savior. On her back was a giant one-handed sword that seemed like it could cut through a skyscraper with ease. Behind her were six more Saviors with fewer achievements than her, but were impressive nonetheless. Atlan recognized them. They were the team that rescued them in the Pocket Remedium! He didn''t think they''d be the ones assigned to this mission. The black-haired woman, presumably their leader, walked over towards their group. He thought she would walk over to Pterina and report to her about the mission, but instead, she walked over to Neumann and hugged him. Is she Ninth? Neumann''s daughter? Neumann looked down at his daughter and saw her expression. She would usually don a proud, if not a little arrogant expression on her face whenever she finished the mission. The fact that she was somber meant something different. "We failed," she uttered. Atlan simply couldn''t believe her words. He couldn''t understand how a Specialist-level team couldn''t deal with a simple Ifrit. The power level disparity between the two should be like the difference between heaven and earth. Did the Operator construct malfunction? Or perhaps, there was an anomaly? Atlan wasn''t the only one with questions in his mind. Pterina walked over to Ninth and questioned her. Even when she didn''t mean it, her battle suit glowed as she subconsciously activated her Inquisitor LifeSkill. "What happened? Was there a Sapient Canzer that ambushed your team?" S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Ninth shook her head. "No. It''s just as the Operators estimated. There were only 4 Ifrits in the mission." Surprisingly, Pterina saw no lies in her words. She only told the truth. But that made things even more perplexing! She couldn''t understand how they failed to defeat a simple Student-level Canzer. "We found three of the Ifrits roaming around the Church. It was easy enough to kill them. The problem was with the last one. It''s at the Door." Pterina''s face turned ghastly white. Lizzie couldn''t help but gasp in horror. Chapter 183 Hostage situation Atlan had no idea why they sounded so serious."What''s the Door?" Atlan asked out loud. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Ninth looked over at his face and scrutinized it. She didn''t have to look at his epaulet to know that he was in the low-stage Student realm. The answer to his question was not something that he was allowed to know just yet. "Who are you?" Ninth said, squinting her eyes. Even though his face didn''t look familiar, for some reason, the pressure and aura around him were very familiar. Neumann put a hand on his daughter''s shoulder and assured her that Atlan was no stranger. "He''s Atlan." Only then did she finally understand the familiarity. "Ah, so you''re my father''s friend. He talks about you a lot. He brags you to my mom whenever you do something amazing." She didn''t recognize him as the Star Porter. She recognized him as her father''s friend. "He''s also the one I''ve been talking to you about. Didn''t I mention his name already?" Lizzie frequently talked about Atlan to her friends, but Ninth was always too busy thinking about Canzers and how to kill them. She often forgot what her friends said to her. "The Star Porter is an important asset for the City," Pterina said. Ninth was a little bit overwhelmed with how much support the novice porter had. It was no easy task to have Lizzie and Pterina vouch for someone as young as Atlan. It made her trust the unfamiliar youth. And most importantly, he was her father''s friend. "The Door is the innermost place inside the Church Remedium. You don''t have to know what''s beyond the Door to know that it should be the most protected place inside Genesis City. No Canzer should ever be allowed to step foot near the Door. The City''s life depends on it." "And somehow, the Ifrit found its way there," Atlan said. "Yes. It shouldn''t even be possible that a low-ranking Canzer like that could circumvent our defenses, but it did. Damn anomalies." Ninth almost swung her sword from frustration. Meanwhile, Pterina bit her lips as she understood the situation. She paced back and forth to try and calm herself down, but as long as the threat of that lone Ifrit existed, she couldn''t relax for even a second. "It''s good that you retreated," Pterina said. "Things could have gone a lot worse if you rashly went and confronted the Ifrit." Ninth looked back at her team. They were disheartened being unable to kill the Canzer with their powers. "We immediately backed out when we saw it." "Can''t you have used the oil lamp?" Atlan asked. "No. It''s gotten wise. It knows what will happen once we get the oil lamp close enough to activate it. And Ifrits are a prideful bunch. They would rather self-destruct if they knew that they would die from the oil lamp anyway. The moment we try to get close to it, it would immediately explode and take the Door with it. I''m not exaggerating when I say that the entire City will explode once that happens. We''ll be nothing left but a crater in the Unclaimed Lands." Atlan was appalled to hear of such a terrible situation. He didn''t know that one wrong move could obliterate the entire City off the face of the planet. It wasn''t the destruction of the Church or a single district, it was the destruction of the entire Genesis City! He finally understood why they were so frightened to hear that an Ifrit was at the Door. Even with how powerful Specialist Saviors were, they couldn''t do anything in such a perilous situation. With one wrong move, they could kill everyone in the City. That was terrifying. "We need to alert HeadQuarters right this instant," Lizzie hurriedly said. "They were already notified the moment Ninth and her team failed the mission." Pterina pointed at her glowing watch. "We need Specialist Operators that can communicate with Canzers," Ninth said. "There are people that can talk to Canzers?" That intrigued Atlan, but Pterina shook her head. Read exclusive content at empire "Not talk, but communicate. Even if we can''t understand each other''s language, there are other ways to know the Canzer''s intent. It''s just like trying to communicate with a monkey. If you warn them not to take the bananas in your garden using human language, then they''ll ignore you and continue to pillage the garden. But if you show them another monkey being electrocuted the moment they stepped foot in the garden, then they''ll understand that there are some lines they shouldn''t cross." Atlan thought some Operators could talk to Canzers like he could, but it turned out that he was the only one who had that power. "But why do you want to communicate with the Ifrit? Isn''t it better to find another solution to kill it before it could self-destruct?" "Because that''s way too risky. We can''t take any chances. And the fact that it hasn''t self-destructed yet means that it wants something." Atlan looked at Ninth. "You want to negotiate with the Canzers?" She nodded. "It''s not the first time we''ve done it. During such extreme cases where the entire City is at stake, brute force won''t cut it. We need diplomacy. We''ll have no trouble resorting to violence if that doesn''t work, of course." Atlan thought that all high-level Savior missions contained nothing but throwing LifeSkill powers that could destroy entire Cities to the Canzers. Perhaps, that was true for most Specialist level missions, but it turned out that the truly high-stakes missions didn''t even include fighting at all. Meanwhile, Pterina walked over to the soldiers and ordered them to give her the fastest truck in their arsenal. They needed to get to the HeadQuarters as soon as possible. Ninth, her team, Lizzie, Pterina, Neumann, and Atlan all boarded the truck and it raced through the barricaded streets. The soldiers on the other side of the road immediately opened up the blockade to let them pass through. The soldiers blocked any civilian mount or vehicle around the road and opened up a straight open road towards HeadQuarters. "What happens once you talk to the Canzer?" Atlan asked. Ninth answered honestly. "We''ll give it what it wants." "Why?" "This is a hostage situation, kid." Chapter 184 Angry mob It wasn''t long until the entire City knew about the explosion in the Church. News articles and web journals quickly published pictures and descriptions of the current situation in the Church. They described when it happened, how much destruction it caused, and of course, how incompetent HeadQuarters was by letting it go this far.They blamed the Vanguards and Operators, saying that they should have prevented this situation from happening in the first place. This left the entire City divided on opinions. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Some believed that HeadQuarters were competent enough to fix the situation, and others were disillusioned from all the anomalies happening in the last few weeks. They blamed ''Quills'' for their incompetence even though they didn''t know what they did at all or how hard their job was. Meanwhile, Atlan and the rest of them sat in silence as their truck ran through a straight road down to the HeadQuarters. Soldiers already closed down this path from civilians to prevent any sort of traffic that delayed their arrival at the meeting. As they passed by, Atlan saw a lot of people crowding soldiers as they tried to get past the barrier. They wanted to chase after the truck. Their reason? Atlan didn''t know. Perhaps they were just curious, or perhaps they had ulterior motives. The Church was the unifying symbol of Genesis City. The fact that it got desecrated like that left a sour taste in a lot of people''s mouths. With their truck going at full speed, it only took them ten minutes before they finally arrived at the City Center. Here, the crowd was even more rowdy. Even with the threat of an electric baton, they didn''t hesitate to try and get a close look at the truck. The vehicle stopped at the empty stairs leading up to the HeadQuarters. And as soon as Ninth stepped foot off the truck, the crowd immediately went wild. Their shouts were only drowned out by the amount of camera shutters going off from all the journalists hoping to get the perfect photo. "Look! It''s the Specialist Vanguards!" "Woah¡­It''s Ninth! I can''t believe she failed the Church mission¡­" "What do you know?! She didn''t fail the mission, she made a tactical retreat!" Ninth and her team weren''t a stranger to this type of situation, so they knew not to engage in such chatter. They quietly made their way up the steps to the HeadQuarters. Meanwhile, there were also some prying comments from journalists hoping to get a better read on the situation. They wanted the scoop. "Inquisitor Pterina! Please comment on what happened to the mission." "Is it true that the mission was only rated at the Student level?" "What are your plans to make sure that the Church doesn''t get desecrated any more than this?" Pterina ignored all the comments as she quickly made her way up the steps just behind Ninth and her team. By answering their questions, she would only delay their planning for the next mission to the Church. Lizzie and Neumann went up the steps beside Pterina. Even though she knew that it was better to walk up quickly, Lizzie turned around and waited for Atlan. And as soon as he stepped foot off the truck, there was even more chatter around the crowd. Stay connected with empire "A black battle suit? Who''s this guy?" "Don''t you know? It''s the Star Porter? He''s the one that advanced to the 3rd stage Student realm in just two weeks after his draft!" "Why is he there with the Specialist Vanguards? Did he join the mission?!" Atlan looked around and saw a lot of people chattering amongst themselves. He saw fear and anxiousness in their eyes. It made him realize how important the Church was to the City. Even when the Masamune district turned into nothing but a hellish landscape, none of the people reacted this way. Even when hundreds of civilians lost their lives in the Heat Wave, nobody batted an eye. But as soon as they saw the explosion in the Church, they suddenly turned into an angry mob that wanted HeadQuarters to do their job and fix the problem as soon as possible. Even if HeadQuarters assured them that everything would be resolved, their fear of losing the Church made them unreasonably noisy. Nobody even died in the Church. The Symptom manifested was only minimal, and all the civilians were evacuated long before the explosion even began. People are suffering even when there''s no death¡­ This was a foreign concept to him. He thought suffering equated to death. The people trapped in the Unclaimed Lands suffered because they yearned for life, but the harsh environment in the gray sands forced them to die early. Here in Genesis City or any God''s Territory for that matter, there was something even more important than life. Living as immortals made the concept of death foreign to them and, therefore useless. Why is a symbol more important than lives? That question was stuck in Atlan''s mind. It encircled his mind so much that he didn''t even notice that he was standing in the steps of the HeadQuarters looking down on everyone. "Atlan, let''s go." Lizzie took his arm and guided him up. They slowly caught up to Ninth and her team in the HeadQuarter lobby. As the double doors were closing, he looked back at the crowd gathered in the streets. CREAK "Is the Emergency Meeting Room prepared?" Ninth asked the receptionist in the lobby. Her usually tidy appearance was nowhere to be seen as even receptionists like her were stressed by the current problem in the Church. Dealing with the civilians was hard enough, but even Saviors were complaining to her about the mission. "Yes. The Heads are already gathered inside." Ninth nodded and quickly walked over inside the HeadQuarters. Before she could though, someone took her hand. It was her father, Neumann. "I know you''re in a hurry, but I want you to know that it''s not your fault," he said. Even though she acted stoic and hard, he knew that she was taking the loss of the mission hard. And even though she was realms above his power, he was still her father. Ninth looked back and showed a smile. "Thanks, Dad." Neumann stayed behind as Ninth and the others walked inside the HeadQuarters. He was only a 4th stage Student. He wasn''t qualified for such high-level problems. Chapter 185 Control room They walked through the HeadQuarters, catching the attention of the Saviors inside. They were privy to more information than the normal civilian, so they knew that the situation was much more dire than people thought it was.Ninth gathered looks of respect as they walked through the HeadQuarters. The epaulet on their shoulders signified them as Saviors who have achieved tremendous strengths that not everybody could achieve even with hundreds of years of training. Becoming a Specialist Vanguard was a small club numbering less than fifty in the entire Genesis City. And among those Vanguards, Ninth was a noteworthy case. Unlike the veteran Specialists who achieved their rank through thousands of years of accumulation of strength, Ninth achieved that rank within only a hundred years! She was a special talent that only came once in a thousand years. Her success rate on missions was nothing to scoff at either. Anything she touched was almost a guaranteed success. The fact that she ''failed'' this mission only served to show the Saviors that the situation was more dangerous than they thought. If she couldn''t even finish the mission, then no one in the City could. Even so, they respected Ninth and her team tremendously. They were an elite group that stood a head above the others. However, their expressions quickly turned sour once they saw the black battle-suited youth among the Specialists. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Of course, Atlan was well known among the Saviors. His achievements were spread far and wide, especially since he achieved it so early in his career. When he was allowed to wear a black battle suit, only a few Saviors complained. Even though the privilege to modify a battle suit was only reserved for those with a higher power realm, HeadQuarters decided to make an exception for Atlan, the Star Porter. It didn''t gather any hate from the other Saviors because he was the only Porter in the low ranks, and it distinguished him well from the others. And when everyone learned that Atlan finished a mission that was four stages above his own, they were beyond shocked. It showed his tremendous talent as a porter. It gathered him a lot of respect from the Saviors. However, even with his status as the Star Porter, he wasn''t supposed to mingle with Specialist-level Saviors as a Student. Not even the Saviors at the Intern realm could walk up to Specialists like they were at the same level. They looked at Atlan like he was a lost puppy tagging along with a group of humans who didn''t want him there. "Why is he with them?" "This mission concerns our Church! I don''t think it''s appropriate for a novice to join them." "Where is Garuun? He''s the only Porter that is allowed at this level. He''s a Specialist!" The group ignored the murmurs until they finally came across the main HeadQuarters building reserved only for the officials and administrators managing the entire HeadQuarters. They were the people who made the big decisions. There were two guards stationed at the entrance. They quickly made way for Ninth and her team. They even gave Lizzie a nod when she passed through. However, when Atlan was about to step foot inside, the two guards immediately put their hands on his shoulders and stopped him in his tracks. "No unauthorized entry," they said. However, not even a second later, there was a deep voice that suddenly came out from inside the room. "Let him in." The guards panicked once they heard his voice and immediately took their hands away from Atlan. "You are authorized. Please enter." The rest of the Saviors forced to stay behind couldn''t help but voice out their shock to learn that Atlan was authorized to enter the Emergency Meeting. "How is he allowed inside?!" "That can''t be! Not even Specialists could waltz in there any time they wanted!" The administrative building in the HeadQuarters was where all the information around the City was being funneled. This was the first place that knew whether there was a Symptom in a district. This was where a group of authorized people assigned jobs to both Operators and Vanguards to complete the mission and get rid of the Symptom. This was the control room. The reason why not just any kind of Savior, Specialist or not, was allowed inside was because the administrators were only made up of mortal humans. They didn''t have any LifeSkills. Administrators were not allowed to be Drafted because it could create a bias inside them. To make just decisions regarding the safety of the City, they must be partial to both ''Knives'' and ''Quills''. Atlan looked around and saw a large open space full of blue screens and holograms showing parameters that Atlan had no idea about. If he looked around closely, he could see the entire map of Genesis City through the four walls of the control room. The entire room was filled with about a hundred employees with their own cubicles littered around the room. They used equipment and control systems that looked high-tech, with no knobs and physical buttons to touch. Instead, the employees were jacked up with a wire on their heads directly connected to the main equipment itself. On their screens was a large selection of pictures of Saviors, with a detailed description of their power realms, their LifeSkills, and even their personalities. These administrators scrolled through hundreds of Saviors as they searched for the right fit for the job. Atlan briefly saw his face pop up on one of their screens. There, his LifeSkill was listed as; "Atlan, follow us." Lizzie''s reminder pulled Atlan out of his fascination for the control room and followed them down a discreet door to the side. The door led them down to a corridor made purely out of steel. Further down was another black door with a very intimidating red print with the words; Pterina was the first to walk towards the door, and as she did, a strange holographic fabric scanned through her entire body before the door opened by itself. Each one of them was scanned before they were let inside. And as Atlan stepped foot inside the emergency meeting room, everyone went silent. Chapter 186 Emergency meeting Atlan saw a completely white room with no discernible walls. It looked like an endless snowy expanse, similar to what he experienced when he was first drafted.In front of him was a giant rectangular table with a very realistic and detailed depiction of the entire Genesis City. It could sit at least twenty people: fiive at the front, five at each side, and five nearest the door. The ones that sat in front were three men and two women, whose hairs were almost as white as the space around them. They looked old. Even with the slowed aging of immortality and increased SoulTime, the wrinkles on their faces showed the long journey they had in the sands of time. These people looked like the oldest people he''d ever seen. In Genesis City, even people who were thousands of years old didn''t look a day over forty years old, yet these people looked like they were older than a hundred. Even their discerning eyes showed the wisdom behind their minds. They pierced through Atlan''s body, as if they could see right through him. Atlan didn''t dare to use his Thermal Vision on them. He didn''t know if they could sense a LifeSkill being activated, but he would rather be cautious. But even without that, he noticed that these old people were emanating no kind of power on their bodies. Absolutely none. Even Saviors who were recently drafted and was in the 1st stage of the Student realm exhibited a much stronger pressure. Are they undrafted? They don''t have any LifeSkills? That was the only explanation he had for their lack of power. He felt like he could overpower all five of them with just his physical strength alone, but he knew better than to test that. He was in the control room; he wouldn''t be surprised if there were soldiers or Saviors hiding within the white space ready to defend the five old men and women. Ninth and her team took their respective seats at the right side of the rectangular table. Ninth took the position at the very middle, facing the people on the opposite side. On the other side, a group of five Saviors with blue battle suits stared back at Ninth and her team. They were Operators! Even though they were Operators, Atlan felt resistance in his eyes when he tried to look at them directly. They were strong! The aura manifestation of their powers were completely different from the tyrannical and destructiveness of Ninth and her team, but somehow, they were at the same intensity! The aura they gave off was sharp and cold. "We acknowledge the presence of Neumann the Ninth, and her team of Specialist Saviors," the old man with short white hair and beard announced slowly as he nodded at Ninth. Then, he turned towards the group of Saviors with blue battle suits. "We acknowledge the presence of Carmine, and his team of Specialist Operators." Atlan''s eyes went wide as he looked towards the middle aged man with slick-back orange hair. It finally made sense why their aura was completely equal to Ninth and her team. The two factions faced each other on the table. The ''Quills'' on the left side and the ''Knives'' on the right side. And unlike most confrontations between the two when Vanguards always had the advantage, this head-to-head was completely equal. "We acknowledge the presence of third party witnesses," the old man said as he briefly glanced at Atlan, Pterina, and Lizzie sitting on the opposite side. "Now, I understand that a Symptom emerged in the Church localization, is that correct?" The old man looked towards the Operators and expected them to answer. Carmine nodded and fixed his orange hair before saying, "Yes. Six hours after midnight today, we detected a Symptom in the Church. According to our research, we are dealing with a Gastros Enterifrits. It is localized only in the Church and its four major roads." "That''s not usually where they spawn," commented the old woman with her white hair tied up in a bun. "Yes," Carmine nodded with respect. "The Ifrit was originally located at the Masamune district, listed as an acute type of persistence, but it has now turned into a flare-up. Four clones went rogue." "So it spread to the church¡­continue," she said, nodding her head. Atlan had no idea what those terms meant. Lizzie looked like she followed the conversation, but he knew that he couldn''t voice out his questions. Pterina warned him that they should only be observing like flies on the wall. "Seeing as it has infected a Critical Point, the administration control room assigned the mission to us Specialist Operators for the procuring of the construct. We created it following protocol, with no deviations." Carmine finished his debrief and looked over at Ninth. It was her turn. "We received the oil lamp in perfect condition and set off to the Remedium. Using the construct, we dispatched the three clones with ease." "What happened with the fourth? Did the construct malfunction in some kind of way?" Ninth immediately shook her head. "No, sir. The construct worked as intended. My Savior counterpart has also perfectly assessed the parameters of the mission with good accuracy. There were no deviations or anomalies that they could have foreseen. The Operators did a perfect job to the best of their abilities." "Then, did you mess up?" This time, Carmine spoke up and defended Ninth and her team. "Violence was not the solution to this problem. They performed their job as well as Vanguards could have." Atlan was surprised that both leaders defended each other. He thought all ''Quills'' and ''Knives'' hated each other to the bones, especially with the anomalies popping up and costing the SoulTime of hundreds of people. I guess the high-ranking Saviors know that it''s not the Operators fault that the anomalies keep happening. Only the ignorant do. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "The lone Ifrit clone somehow found their way to the Door," Carmine said with a grave tone. The moment the ''Door'' was mentioned, the five old men and women sighed and buried their faces in their hands. They knew exactly what this meant. "They''ve taken our hearts hostage," the old man muttered to himself. Chapter 187 Coax "We retreated as soon as we saw the Ifrit near the Door. My teammates briefly saw a window where we could get rid of the Canzer, but I stopped them. It was too risky."Ninth and her team saw the lone Ifrit clone walking over toward the Door. Some of her teammates thought that the clone was far enough away from the Door that they could have killed it without affecting the Door, but Ninth thought otherwise. Even if there was a 90% chance they were right, she still wouldn''t take that chance¡ªnot when the fate of the entire City was in her hands. "A wise decision," said the old woman with long white hair. The old man in the middle looked over towards Carmine and asked with a heavy tone, "Is there a chance that the Sapient Canzers had a hand in this?" Carmine consulted with his team, speaking in hushed tones. They didn''t seem to be that confident about their answers. "No. We don''t think so. They would have blown up the Door the moment they had the chance. The Ifrit reaching the Door was simply just an accident." Ninth nodded as she heard his explanation. She had experience dealing with the Sapient Canzers and knew that they had a deep-seated hatred against humans. They wouldn''t hesitate for a single second to detonate a bomb that would kill millions of people. "However, we are certain that they have heard about this incident. There is a 90% chance that they have already dispatched their forces to the Church to prevent any of us from killing the Ifrit. I''m certain that they will try to kill the Ifrit if they get close. We need to get there first before they cause the clone to self-destruct." The elderly people at the table grimaced at his words. Meanwhile, Atlan was surprised to learn the fact that Sapient Canzers could dispatch their forces. He never really knew how Canzers spawned in the Remedium. He always thought it was at random, but if he tried to decipher Carmine''s words, then it seemed like Canzers were more like an organization that could send their ''troops'' to any location any time they wanted to. Enjoy new adventures from empire That means that they live in some kind of place, right? Are they located in a dimension other than the Remedium? Wait. He only said that about Sapient Canzers. Maybe they''re the only ones that are organized¡­ "We must lock in our plan of attack." The bearded old man stood up from his chair and reached for the realistic miniature model hologram of Genesis City. His hand reached for the Church and he pinched it outwards. Suddenly, the holographic zoomed in to the Church and showed a realistic and detailed depiction of the Church''s interior. He waved his hand and the dark gothic colors of the interior of the church suddenly turned white. All of the colors were transformed into their negatives. This was a replica of the Church''s Remedium! The pews in the Church were skewed, the candles near the confessional were completely melted, and there were glass shards scattered about near the windows. This wasn''t a replica¡ªthis was a real-time depiction of the Church! What kind of technology is this? Lizzie said that all technology is made by Operators¡­how do they build this? The old man swiped forward and breezed past the altar and onwards to a discreet door hidden in the walls. The hidden room led to a staircase that led further down the basement. At the end of the stairs was a dark room that was about 20 times bigger than Atlan''s own house. At the end of this empty room was a large wooden double door almost as tall as the ceiling of the Church itself! It was massive. There were carvings of different clocks and keys, which were prominent symbols of the Genesis God Himself. Even though this door was the largest door Atlan had ever seen, he didn''t see why this door was as important as others made it out to be. It didn''t exude any kind of magical or mystical presence that he expected. For a place that could spell the death of the entire City itself, he would have thought there were at least some paranormal lightings around it. Instead, it looked like a normal wooden door. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. SNAP The old man snapped his fingers and a statue of an Ifrit appeared one meter away from the door. "Is that an accurate depiction of the scene?" asked the old man. Ninth and her team nodded. It was exactly where the Ifrit was positioned when they left. "We have no way of sneaking up on it, so we must go from the front," one of the old men who stayed silent the whole time spoke. "Operator Carmine, what do you suggest we do?" Carmine fixed his orange hair and looked at the whole scene in front of him. He knew the traits and habits of Ifrit, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. He knew that as soon as they stepped foot off the staircase, the Ifrit would immediately notice them. Even with the fastest Savior in the City, that wouldn''t be enough time to subdue the Ifrit and prevent it from self-destructing. "Even if we create a new construct, it needs to be activated to at least within 50 meters from the target. The distance from the staircase to the Ifrit is 52 meters. Those two meters might seem like a short gap, but the Ifrit won''t let humans take a step for even half a meter before it wants to explode. For us to get near the Ifrit and close that gap, we must coax it." The old woman nodded her head. "What do you propose?" "Since this is a hostage situation, we must establish contact. We will consult with another Specialist Operator about the proper body language to disarm the Ifrit and show that we mean no harm. Once we have assured the Canzer of its safety, then we must answer its demands. We must give it Ninth''s blood and a pound of her flesh." Chapter 188 Planning "Why?" Atlan asked.The room turned silent with the interruption of the youthful porter. Someone in the 3rd stage Student realm shouldn''t even be allowed inside the administration building, let alone the emergency room. Yet, Atlan was the exception and was allowed inside. He should be nothing more than an observant¡ªa witness. In such high stakes and high-level conversation, everyone slowly forgot that Atlan was inside the meeting at all. However, that was soon broken when they heard him voice out a question. He was supposed to be a fly in the wall, quietly observing everything without uttering a single word, yet his youthful curiosity couldn''t help but speak out. "Why?" Atlan asked again. Carmine didn''t mind answering the young man, but he knew that they were in the presence of the Elder Heads. They were the oldest people in the entire City, and they were in charge of everything that happened there. They weren''t people who could be spoken to like a normal person, especially from a young one like Atlan. Even the five Specialist Operators behind Carmine had to hold their breath and prevent themselves from speaking out. They knew that the five Elder Heads didn''t tolerate any disrespect to people who spoke without being spoken to. However, the old woman with her hair tied in a bun nodded her head and allowed Carmine to explain. "Teach the young one why we need her flesh and blood." This shocked Carmine and the rest of the Operators into silence. They didn''t think that she would express her desire for the Operators to teach a porter about Canzer knowledge. This made them wonder why Atlan was given such an exception. First, he was allowed to modify his green battle suit into a black one, which violated many traditions and protocols. Next, he was given authority to not only enter the administration building but to also be inside the meeting. Now, he was allowed to talk?! They didn''t understand why they put such importance on a porter. Sure, he was the most talented Porter the City''s ever seen, but that hardly mattered in high-level conversations such as this. They were in a state of emergency; they thought that they didn''t have time to teach a newborn how to walk and talk. But as it turned out, they had to. Carmine fixed his hair and faced Atlan. "Ifrits are vengeful in nature. Its thousands of clones are defeated in the Masamune district, with only four surviving enough for them to spread to the Church. Yet, it wasn''t long before the other three were hunted down and killed by more humans. It wants retribution. It''s the reason why it hasn''t exploded yet. It wants to kill the humans who reduced it to this state. Offering the blood and flesh of the woman who killed its last clones will be enough to appease it like a dog given a bone. It will give us enough goodwill to advance closer." Atlan nodded as he understood their plan. He looked towards Ninth and saw no complaints from her. A sacrifice of her blood and flesh was nothing if it meant saving the City. "I''m willing to contribute anything," she declared. However, Atan saw a tiny flaw in their plan. "Wouldn''t it want to explode the moment it sees Ninth and her team again?" Carmine looked over to the elders and saw that they didn''t intend to stop the youth from asking questions. So, he answered truthfully like a teacher would. "You are making the wrong assumption. We won''t be assigning Ninth and her team to this mission again. There is a protocol in place for failed missions: any team that fails in the Remedium will not be allowed to enter back inside. It will be finished by another team." Atlan heard about that protocol. He was scolded during his first mission because of it. After he left the Remedium, he should have let the reinforcement team do their job. He shouldn''t have gone back and saved his teammates by himself. He didn''t get reprimanded for breaking protocol because HeadQuarters wanted to praise his bravery and sweep the anomaly under the rug. "This brings me to my next point," Carmine said. "I suggest that we bring in a team of mostly speedsters for this mission. Mostly women. Having a team of buff and muscular men will only serve to aggravate the Ifrit. And since an Ifrit harbors grudges against Ninth and her team, we can''t send any Specialists on the mission. Their auras are too powerful and will only spook the Ifrit. It could explode before they even step foot in the basement. But, we can''t send low-level Saviors either. We need experienced women with a success rate greater than 90%." Ninth spoke up. "I know a few Intern Saviors just a few stages away from advancing to the Specialist realm. They have the required experience for such a high-stakes mission. Speed is not their specialty, but they are fast enough if they leave behind their weapons." Carmine thought deep and hard. "It''s not ideal. Our window of opportunity is extremely small. We can''t leave it up to chance." Ninth understood that and kept silent. Assigning Saviors for a mission was not a Vanguard''s job anyway. Carmine and his team took out their tablets and started scouring through the Interns available in the City. They skipped through names as fast as they could swipe their screens. But no matter how much they scoured through the list, they couldn''t find an appropriate team, let alone a name, that could take on this heavy mission. It frustrated them. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The old man with a beard looked at the Operators and spoke, "What is the estimated time of creation for the construct? How soon will you have it ready?" Find your next read at empire Carmine did some calculations in his head and came up with the answer, "We can procure it within half an hour." The old man nodded. "Good. You create it right now while we convene." Carmine was confused. Constructs had a time limit to when they were effective. The fact that the Elder Heads issued them to create the construct now meant that they were ready to greenlight the mission even though they hadn''t found anyone suitable yet. Did they find someone that fits? Chapter 189 Voiceless conversation Carmine wanted to talk to them about their choice, but they weren''t listening.The elderly men and women talked with each other, but surprisingly, their voices turned completely silent. Atlan watched their mouths move, but there was no sound coming out of them. It was as if they were muted! Despite that, the old men and women were conversing like normal. Judging from the nods and the dialogue exchange between them, it seemed that they could still understand each other without sound. Carmine and Ninth were no strangers to their ''secret'' talk. The Elder Heads often convened with each other to talk about important matters, but since they were just ordinary mortals, they didn''t have the strength to keep their conversations private from any prying spies. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Stay updated with empire So, they were given a blessing from the Genesis God Himself. They could talk to each other in private by letting only the five of them hear each other''s words. No overpowered LifeSkill power could overcome the power of a God. Even Saviors at the top of their field had no chance of ever hearing the conversation of the Elder Heads. This was a fact. But when Atlan looked at their voiceless mouths, he sensed a familiar feeling surrounding their bodies. It was like an invisible gas that revolved around the Elder Heads. Wait¡­that''s¡­that''s Angel Power! It surrounds them and prevents any sound from coming out of their conversation. Then, a rude thought popped up in his head. Can I eavesdrop on their conversation? Atlan didn''t know if he could, but he knew that he understood Angel power much better than others. It was in his bloodline. There was an inherent power inside him that could completely understand the hidden mechanics inside that invisible gas. But how? As he observed the invisible cloud of Angel power gas, he noticed that there were ripples in the fluid. And if he looked closely enough, those ripples coincided perfectly with when one of them would speak. As he focused on the ripples, he heard a faint voice reach his ears. "....this plan is incredibly risky, yes. But it''s the only one we''ve got." Atlan almost voiced out his shock when those words coincided perfectly with the mouth movements of the bearded old man. Somehow, he could understand their conversation. Why can I understand them? I haven''t even done anything yet¡­ Atlan didn''t know how he suddenly understood their conversation, but he decided to roll with it and use it to his advantage. People who were used to privacy would not hesitate to voice out their secrets. This may be one of those times. "Is there truly no other way? We can ask for help from the other Territories. They must have talented individuals with more experience who can pull off this plan without the excessive risk," said the old man who sat on the very left side. "I agree. The Olympians have multiple talents who had been given the talents of Hermes. They are quick," said the long-haired woman sitting next to him. But the bald old man who sat on the very right side shook his head. "They''ll demand an excessive cost. It''s no secret that our God''s heart has been targeted. We don''t have any capacity to pay off their demands or else we''ll be in tremendous debt." Atlan couldn''t believe his ears when he heard those words. God''s heart¡­The Church is the Genesis God''s heart. Or more exactly, is that what the giant Door is? It''s the God''s heart? With that revelation, Atlan finally found the reason for the Door''s importance. It turned out that it''s the God''s most important organ itself! If a God died, then their territory would die with it. Ninth was not lying when she said that the fate of the entire City depended on disarming the Ifrit bomb threat on the Door. "Then we''ll pay it off! Debts can always be paid off one way or another. We are not lacking in treasures," replied the old man on the very left. This time, the bearded old man was the one to answer. "It''s not what they want. It''s who¡­" The five Elder Heads slowly turned their heads to the black battle suited youth on the opposite side of the table. Atlan was very thankful for his SSS class Physique LifeSkill allowing him perfect control of his own body. If not, then he would have jumped out of his seat once they all looked over to him simultaneously. He was afraid that they figured out that he was eavesdropping on their conversation. The bombshells that they were dropping were secrets that could topple the whole belief system of the whole City itself. They would surely kill to make sure they were the only ones who knew the truth. "The boy has garnered attention from all over the territories. They have been offering tons of benefits for his transfer. If it were any other time, we would have taken it. Alas¡­" said the bearded old man. "We already owe Olympus a lot for the deaths of their kids during their friendly visit. Not to mention our God''s aversion to the Greek Gods, we can''t ask them to solve our problems for us," said the old woman with her white hair tied up in a bun. "The Territories around us have resorted to sending spies by the hordes. They want to find leverage so that we''d be forced to transfer the boy over. But we can''t let him go. No matter what," said the bald old man on the right. It was three against two. And with their points heard, the two finally acquiesced. "I relent. The boy bears a responsibility that is vital to the survival of this City, so we can''t risk the other territories getting him," said the straight-haired old woman. "Still, this emergency takes precedence. We can''t worry about future matters if there''s no future," said the old man on the left. Once the conversation was over, the bearded old man looked over his peers. "So, are we all in accordance with this plan?" The rest of the Elder Heads nodded. They deactivated their ''secret'' conversation and could finally voice out their words to the table. "Then, we have decided to let the Star Porter take on this mission." Chapter 190 Confidence in strength The emergency room went silent with the Elder Heads'' decision. Never in a million years would Carmine and Ninth think that a 3rd stage Novice with only 2 missions under his name and who had only been a Savior for a measly 2 weeks was chosen to helm this extremely important mission.It was no exaggeration to say that the result of this mission could spell the doom of the entire Genesis City and the humans within it. Just one mistake, one wrong move, and the Ifrit would explode. Putting that kind of responsibility on a kid was highly irresponsible. The Specialist Saviors couldn''t close their dropped jaws. They couldn''t even utter a guttural sound to display their disapproval of this decision. The Elder Heads made a decision, and no one, not even Specialist Saviors, could veto their words. Even if they were 5000 years old, they would still seem like kids to the Elder Heads. The wisdom they accumulated from their long life supported this decision. This meant that, in all likelihood, their decision was the right one in this kind of situation. However, Ninth and Carmine couldn''t help but doubt that. Despite their disapproval, they couldn''t speak their words. "NO!" Lizzie screamed. Her voice broke the silence in the white expanse of the emergency room. She looked at the white-haired old men and women opposite her with indignance in her eyes. She didn''t care if they were the Elder Heads. She was going to protect Atlan even if it meant that she had to fight against the very highest authority in the City. "How can you put this responsibility on a mere child?!" She looked at Ninth in desperation. "You said you knew some Intern Saviors, right? Why can''t we give the mission to them?" Ninth was silent. She looked at the Elder Heads and saw that they were unfazed by Lizzie''s outburst. They took her words seriously. Experience tales at empire The bearded old man spoke. "It must be done. This is a job that only the Star Porter can do." Lizzie couldn''t believe their excuse. Atlan''s talent may transcend levels above his own, but it was not enough to fight in the big leagues. This was rated at the Specialist-level difficulty for a reason. "I don''t believe that! Do you want to sabotage his progress? Will you compensate his SoulTime if it goes to zero in this mission?!" S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The bearded old man shook his head. "On the contrary. We want the Star Porter to ascend as fast as possible." "Then why?! Even if the clone is only rated at the 6th stage Student level, the Remedium in the basement of the Church is rated at the Specialist level! That means the Remedium itself will try to kill anyone that comes inside it! Atlan has no training to help him deal with that kind of danger." On high-level missions, especially on Critical Points like the Church''s basement where the Door was hidden, the Remedium was a lot more hostile than the Remediums Atlan had been on before. It was one of the reasons why Ninth and her team were dispatched to kill just a few clones of low-level Ifrits. "Carmine!" Lizzie glared at him. "You said that Sapient Canzers are going to be invading the Remedium as well, right? That means they''ll be dispatching Specialist-level Sapient Canzers to fight Atlan." This time, Lizzie''s argument seemed to have given Carmine enough motivation to question the Elder Heads'' decision. "Elizabeth is right," Carmine said. "They''ll be sending an armada to intercept us. We can''t let the Porter go on this mission." But no matter how much they reasoned, the Elder Heads stuck to their decision. No amount of convincing could make them change their minds. "Do you not believe in the Star Porter''s abilities?" asked the bearded old man. His questions made Lizzie pause and look at the black battle suited youth right next to her. Even though he was still wet behind the ears and ignorant of a lot of things about the world, no one could deny his ability to somehow defy all the odds against him. Time and time again, he broke expectations and limits imposed on him like it was nothing. Atlan was strong, Lizzie did not doubt that. There wasn''t any doubt in her mind that Atlan had what it took to complete this mission better than any other experienced Savior could. In front of insurmountable odds, always bet on Atlan. But the problem wasn''t Atlan''s lack of strength, it''s how strong he was that''s the problem. Atlan was so competent that he seemed to have gained self-confidence that made him take risks that he shouldn''t be taking under any circumstances. In his first mission, if he didn''t believe that he could have survived, he wouldn''t have walked back and saved his teammates. In the Pocket Remedium, if he didn''t know he could survive by himself, he wouldn''t have sacrificed himself to the horde of Pseudo Canzers and let the others advance through the streets. And in his latest mission, if he wasn''t so comfortable in his strength, then he wouldn''t have even joined the mission meant for 6th stage Saviors in the first place. His immeasurable strength and talent saved him countless times, and Lizzie thought that it would only be a matter of time until his luck ran out. If he kept doing what he was doing, then there could come a time when he faced an opponent so strong that he could not overcome them even with his immense talent. Lizzie thought that that day could be today. For some reason, as lucky as Atlan was, he was equally as unlucky. Lizzie noticed that the youth seemed to be an attractor of anomalies everywhere he went. If he went on this mission, then Lizzie had the suspicion that something bad would happen. There would be another anomaly that none of them ever expected to appear. No matter how much they planned, it would all be useless in the face of the unknown. Chapter 191 Why me? Atlan, who''d been silent all this time, finally spoke up."Why me?" he asked them. He didn''t hear much about the reason why they were so insistent on him going on this mission. He knew that it wasn''t because they wanted to kill him or something. Surprisingly, judging by their secret conversation, his transfer was desired by a lot of Territories, but they had no intention of letting him go. For some unknown reason, they said he had to stay in Genesis City at all costs. If that was true, then they wouldn''t send him to his death. "This mission necessitates a Savior capable of carrying heavy constructs that are designed to be able to disable the Ifrit from a long distance. Correct me if I''m wrong, but as I recall, the more complex the construct, the heavier and denser they are." S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Carmine nodded at the old bearded man''s words. "It will take multiple Saviors just to carry the construct in the Remedium. That is not ideal. Having more people on this job will only increase the likelihood of something going wrong. So, the job required for this mission is a single Porter." Atlan looked up at them. "And that''s me? But I am not the only Porter in Genesis City. There is Garuun, who is in the Specialist realm. Wouldn''t he be more suitable for this kind of mission?" At the mention of Garuun, both Carmine and Ninth showed pained expressions. "Sigh¡­Due to unforeseen circumstances, Garuun is currently unavailable for this mission. This leaves you as the only one capable Porter that is available to the City." "And as you said, he is a Specialist Savior. His aura would immediately intimidate and alert the Ifrit, causing it to be volatile for self-destruction," explained the old lady with a bun. "You are only in the 3rd stage Student realm. Your aura is nonexistent. The Ifrit will treat you as nothing more than an ant¨Ca small fry¨Cwhich will give you enough leeway to approach the Canzer without spooking it too much," said the bearded old man. Their explanation was sound and logical, but it didn''t seem like the only reason why they wanted him on this mission. "You''re not factoring in the fact that he''d have to face the Remedium all alone! He doesn''t even know his way to the basement, how will you expect him to avoid all the traps inside?! It''s better to assign this mission to Saviors who have experience in the Church''s Remedium. Even if it meant having multiple people carrying the construct, they only had to activate it on the Ifrit. They don''t have to fight it." Lizzie didn''t back down. Kudos to the Elder Heads, they didn''t lose their cool when she spoke rudely in front of them. They were too old to get angry at a child lashing out trying to protect another child. "They are not porters. Plain and simple. Speed is the key to the mission, and only the Star Porter can carry the construct inside without impeding his agility. And as for the dangers of the Remedium, we can simply teach the young boy. He has shown a tremendous ability to learn, and we estimate that it will only take a few hours of preparation and teaching for him to learn everything there is to know and do in the Church basement." The elderly woman with her hair tied in a bun showed a rare understanding expression on her face. She sympathized with Lizzie''s emotions. "Do not worry, child. We are not leaving him out to die in the Remedium. Trust me, we are just as invested in his life as you are¡ªprobably even more." She muttered that last part. The bearded old man looked at Atlan in the eyes and asked, "What is your decision, child? Will you accept this mission?" Atlan stayed silent as he thought about his decision. On the one hand, this mission was extremely dangerous. Unlike in every other mission he joined¨Cwhich to be honest, wasn''t that much¨Che was always accompanied by much more experienced Saviors who guided him in things he didn''t know. But in this mission, he''d be all alone. He''d be walking on unknown territory, facing unknown threats. However, risks always come with rewards. "What about the Sapient Canzers that will be arriving in the Remedium? Who will be dealing with that?" The bearded old man looked at Ninth. "We are giving this responsibility to Ninth and her team. This is their chance to rectify their failure in their mission." Ninth and her team looked up with surprise at the Elder Heads. They didn''t think they''d get this chance at all. They thought they''d have to live with this failure etched in their hearts forever. But now, they had the chance to finish what they started. "We humbly accept this responsibility," Ninth said as she bowed her head. Her team followed her lead and thanked the Elder Heads as well. This was exactly what Atlan wanted to hear. He almost couldn''t hide his excitement. If he was able to witness the fight between Ninth and the Specialist-level Canzers in the Remedium, then he''d have the chance to reap the high-level deaths that will occur in the aftermath! The last time he reaped the death of the Giant Werewolf rated at the Specialist level, he obtained the Pre-Intern realm LifeSkill Bloodline Transformation! That power proved to be something that could defeat Sapient Canzers with ease! He was almost salivating at the thought of all the experiences, LifeSkills, and genuses that he could get from this mission. As long as he stayed on the sidelines, he could reap the rewards while Ninth and her team did all the hard work. Of course, there was always a chance for things to go wrong, but that just came with the job. The rewards were completely worth it! Atlan already decided that he would take the mission, but he didn''t show it on his face. He showed them a contemplating expression on the verge of making a decision. Find adventures at empire "If I am to take on this mission, then I would be putting myself at a tremendous amount of risk," Atlan said, his words trailing off. The bearded old man seemed to know where Atlan was getting at. "Go on¡­" "If that is so, then I demand that I be given a reward equal to that of the risk that I will be partaking." Chapter 192 What are you offering? "Atlan! You seriously aren''t thinking about accepting the mission, right?!" Lizzie looked at Atlan as if he was insane. In her opinion, no amount of rewards could make up for the fact that he could lose his entire SoulTime in this mission."What do you require?" asked the bearded old man. Atlan stayed silent. He didn''t want to show his hand quite as easily as that. If he told them what he wanted right away, then he''d be shutting the doors for any kind of reward that they might offer. "You need me more than I need you. I''m the one that needs convincing, so you tell me what you''re prepared to offer." Atlan''s bold strategy horrified Carmine and impressed the Elder Heads. By letting them offer something first, then Atlan would be sure that he could negotiate much more than what they''re currently offering. After all, he didn''t even know what kind of rewards they could offer. If he simply asked for more SoulTime or a better house, then he could be missing the chance to get something that he never even thought of in the first place. It was better to let them speak first so that he could gauge the possibilities. The Elder Heads looked at each other and nodded silently. They didn''t even need to ''silent talk'' to themselves as if they already knew what they were going to offer. Read latest chapters at empire "1000 years of SoulTime," the bearded old man said. The Specialist Saviors watching on the sidelines envied the Star Porter for being offered that much SoulTime so early in his career. Sure, as Specialist Saviors, they could get that much SoulTime with only a few missions with ease, but that was only because they were already thousands of years old at this point. If they were given 1000 SoulTime during their novice years, then they could have advanced to the Specialist realm at least a few hundred years earlier! On Student-realm missions, Canzers were so weak that they''d only do a few months or days of damage. Having 1000 years meant that Atlan would be unbeatable in the novice missions. And since lost SoulTime would get compensated after the completion of the mission, Atlan would slowly grow his SoulTime and continue to be even more unkillable. The Specialists thought that Atlan would surely accept this offer. Instead, he simply shrugged. "I don''t need that." The bearded old man looked at Atlan with a serious look. "You don''t know how valuable SoulTime is in this current era." sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Of course, Atlan knew what they were talking about. He knew that immortality was long gone, along with the Angels that protect humans from death at all times. SoulTime was the only thing protecting people from dying. Having more meant you''d be much safer from harm than others. But Atlan had his Photosynthesis mutation that allowed him to gain 1 year of SoulTime for every second he spent under the sun. It would only take him a thousand seconds for him to get that much SoulTime, given that he could activate his mutation that long. "That is not nearly enough to offset the risks of this mission," Atlan explained. "I need something a little bit more tangible¡ªsomething that can help me right now." The Elder Heads saw the unwillingness in Atlan''s eyes. He didn''t even flinch when they offered him so much SoulTime for a novice. He''s a greedy one, they thought. "If you want something that can help you right now, then we are willing to provide you with 5000 experience points. Of course, this is just an advance payment. By getting 5000 experience right now, you won''t be getting any experience points at the end of the mission. What do you say? It will allow you to advance to the 4th stage Student realm right this instant and increase your survivability by a large extent." Even Ninth and Carmine couldn''t help but show their shock when they heard the Elder Heads'' offer. They weren''t given this option even once in their entire lifetime, yet now, they were giving it to a novice like Atlan. For Student-realm Saviors, 5000 experience points was a lot; usually, a mission only netted them a few hundred experience points. The reward for this mission was equivalent to about 50 missions altogether! It was a lucrative offer for any novice Savior. But Atlan wasn''t just any kind of Savior. Five thousand experience points was nothing to him. Cheap change. "Not enough." Atlan crossed his arms and faced the Elder Heads with an unyielding look. The old men and women looked down at the Star Porter and wondered where he got the confidence to refuse their generous offer. "Since you have just visited the Vineyard and obtained a new Genus for yourself, we cannot give you another entry ticket. It is not good to obtain a new one without consolidating your new mutation, whatever it was that you got. I am guessing that you have no idea how to progress your mutation, is that right?" As much as Atlan didn''t want to agree with the old man, he was right. Atlan had no idea how to advance his mutations past their base form. His ''training'' yielded only a few seconds of usage with his mutations. He didn''t know if that was slow or not. "Is there a way to advance your mutation?" "Yes. Mutations are a vital asset in a Savior''s repertoire. It usually serves as a second LifeSkill for most Saviors and allows them to double or triple their powers even while staying in the same power realm. However, they do not increase in power even if a Savior goes from 5th stage Student to 9th stage Student. The Mutation will eventually be left behind. What you don''t know is that Mutations have something called ''mastery''. By increasing this ''mastery'' you''ll slowly be able to unlock the hidden potential of mutations and increase their power! Usually, you will only be taught this knowledge once you have reached the 5th stage Student realm, but we are willing to let you learn the secrets of mastery!" Chapter 193 That and more Atlan was very tempted to say yes to their offer right now. It was the only reward that he knew that could help him right this instant.If he knew how to ''master'' all of his mutations, then he could upgrade his strength to a whole new level. And just as he was about to say something, Lizzie stopped him. "That is not nearly enough! If you want him to risk his SoulTime in a Specialist-level mission, then you''d better take everything out of your coffers and give it to Atlan. First, instead of giving him 1000 years of SoulTime, you give him 5000! And you must give it to him right now so that he won''t die with just one hit from the Specialist Canzers. Second, instead of 5000 experience points, you give him 10,000! That is only a very conservative estimate of the amount of experience he should gain from partaking in this mission. Third, learning about mutation mastery shouldn''t even be a reward. It should be a necessary training process that you should give Atlan so that we can assure his safety. I''m going to teach him everything there is to know about mutation, and I am doing this out of my own goodwill. Fourth, his equipment. You seriously can''t expect him to go there without proper defensive armor, right? We need to commission a special battle suit for him, one that Carmine himself will build. It must have capabilities that can deter an attack from any Specialist Sapient Canzer for at least a few seconds!" Seeing that he was name-dropped in the conversation, Carmine spoke up. "It''s not that easy procuring a Specialist-level battle suit. Not to mention the fact that we are not used to creating that kind of battle suit for a novice, but the time to create a battle suit in itself will take days, if not weeks even in a rush! You are also forgetting the fact that we''ll need Specialist Canzer materials to create the battle suit you''re talking about. We are severely lacking in materials right now and cannot afford to waste some on a battle suit meant for a novice¡ª" Carmine was going to keep on rejecting the idea of a special battle suit for the Star Porter, but Lizzie''s piercing stare made the words stuck in his mouth. "You were saying?" Lizzie said, with her eyes as deadly as Specialist-level Canzers. A nonexistent cold breeze made Carmine shiver in fear. He quickly backtracked his words earlier. "I''m saying that I will be honored to create a battle suit for Atlan¡­" But even with his optimistic words, Lizzie''s death stare didn''t end. "I will personally use materials out of my collection to create the battle suit¡­," he relented. Are you happy now, witch?! Carmine thought to himself. But even with that, she seemed to have sensed the hostility in his thoughts. "You want to say something else? Because I''m not done." "No, go ahead please¡­" Carmine bowed his head and let her continue her tirade. "Fifth, if any kind of anomaly happens, then Ninth and her team should prioritize his safety above everything else. If he is the only one that can do this mission, as you all said yourselves, then that means it is only appropriate for you to fulfill all the conditions I have stated." Atlan looked at Lizzie and saw her in a completely different light. He didn''t know she could burst out like this. She didn''t hesitate to call out the Elder Heads even though they were the main authority in the entire City. She fought for Atlan to get everything he deserved and even more! She was a true friend who cared for his safety above everything else. Even if Atlan revealed his true strength to Lizzie, he had a feeling that she would still be overprotective towards him. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That''s how much she cared for Atlan. "Give us a moment," said the bearded old man as he convened with the others. As usual, nobody could hear their conversations¡ªexcept for Atlan. "What are your thoughts?" asked the bearded old man. "The rewards are nothing to scoff at, but it is just at the limit of what we can afford. The SoulTime and experience are easy, but the specialist-level battle suit will seriously hurt our treasury, especially since it will be built in such a rush," replied the bald man. Discover exclusive content at empire "I agree, but, material can always be earned. There is only one Star Porter in the entire world. We can''t skimp out on his safety just because we''re going to lose a few materials." "So, we are all in agreement, then?" asked the bearded old man. Seeing that no one objected, they finished their ''secret'' conversation and faced the table once again. "We accept your proposal. Carmine, you will personally build a new battle suit for the Star Porter while your team creates the construct. The battle suit must be worn and ready in two hours. That is an order." Carmine bowed his head, but on the inside, he was distressed. Two hours to create a new battle suit was a hard task that even he was not confident in achieving. One small mistake would ruin the entire battle suit. This means he''d have to create it on his first try. What did I do to deserve this?! He complained to himself. "Ninth, you and your team must prepare for your mission as soon as possible. Your job is to escort Atlan to the Church''s basement and protect him from any Sapient Canzer that might try to destroy the construct in his hands." Ninth and her team bowed to the Elder Heads. They couldn''t hide their excitement. "We will not disappoint you a second time." "Elizabeth," the bearded old man said to Lizzie. "As you suggested earlier, you will be the one to teach the young Porter about mastery of a mutation. We trust that you''ll be able to shore up his lack of knowledge fast enough for it to be usable in this mission." "You can count on me. If he''s not ready, I''ll drag him away from the City myself." But just as everybody was preparing to leave the meeting, Atlan raised his hand and spoke up. "Wait. I have one more request." Chapter 194 Want to enroll He wanted more?! Atlan had some serious gut for him to ask for more after getting so much with the deal.The bearded old man showed a rare serious expression on his face as he looked Atlan straight in the eyes. "I urge you to reign in your greed, kid. We are already extending a hand with your rewards. Don''t make us take it back." Atlan waved off their concerns. "My request is nothing big." "Then what is it?" Atlan looked over to the blue battle-suited Saviors on his left. His curiosity and interest in Operators only got higher and higher the more he learned about them. They used their powers in inexplicable ways. Read latest stories on empire He did not only want to learn about Canzers and their weaknesses, but he also wanted to learn how Operators knew which Canzer they were dealing with and what Symptoms they represented. For him, it felt random. But he knew that Operators had a system and method to accurately find out about Canzers without even stepping foot inside the Remedium. Atlan wanted to learn that. "I want to enroll in the University." His answer sent curious looks among everyone in the room. They thought he''d ask for more SoulTime or even a better house. They didn''t expect him to want to study at the City University. "Curious¡­what is your motive in going there?" asked the old woman with her white hair tied in a bun. "You are a Vanguard¡ªa porter, but a Vanguard nonetheless. Your request is highly unusual, especially in the current state of rivalry between the Vanguards and the Operators. Do, pray tell." "I want to learn about Canzers. I want to know the Symptoms they cause, and how Operators deal with them. If I know a lot about Canzers, then I wouldn''t be caught unprepared when an anomaly happens." Atlan''s reason was rooted in the fact that anomalies kept happening during his missions. The only reason he''d been able to survive the Canzers was because he had different powers in his arsenal, as well as a power from the Angels. Thankfully, that was a weakness of Canzers that he was able to exploit. But there could come a time when even his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill wouldn''t be able to save him. Pterina knew about Atlan''s interest in Operators. He even requested for her to guide him to the University so that he could take a look at the sanctuary of knowledge for Operators. She thought his interest was nothing more than youthful curiosity. She thought that he simply wanted to take a look at the University, and nothing more. She didn''t think that his curiosity was so intense that he would actually want to enroll in the classes! "I invited the Star Porter to tour around the University because he said that he was curious about Operators. I neglected to inform him that he wouldn''t be able to enroll in the University because of his lineage as a former nomad of the Unclaimed Lands." The old woman nodded. "There is a rule in our City that prevents recruits from the Unclaimed Lands to enroll in the University. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Why? That is because information is power. The University is a place where all our knowledge about everything about the world is funneled into. We have knowledge ranging from general facts to secrets that even Mount Olympus doesn''t know. Secrets are a valuable resource. As such, it is often coveted by dubious forces. There could be spies planted in the recruits from the Unclaimed Lands whose only goal is to find sensitive information about the City. We can''t let those people inside our University. That is the reason why we forbid recruits from enrolling in our University, especially if they are Vanguards." The old woman looked at Atlan with a playful smile on her face. "Are you telling us to treat you not as a spy, but as a local citizen of Genesis City? Is that the reward you seek?" Atlan smiled back at her. "It''s only natural. If I''m risking my SoulTime for the City, then I must be treated as a loyal citizen who is entitled to perks not limited to¡­enrolling in the University." The old woman looked at the rest of the Elder Heads. She gave them an imperceptible nod, signaling her approval to let Atlan enroll in the University. "Well, then welcome aboard," she said with a smile. "You are now eligible to enroll in the University as a Scholar." To which, Atlan immediately asked. "What''s a Scholar? Are they allowed to learn about Canzers?" Carmine almost slapped his own head when he heard Atlan''s question. The Porter didn''t realize it, but he was speaking to the very first Scholar of Genesis City. The elderly woman with her hair tied in a bun was the woman who knew the most about Canzers! She was the premiere scholar who taught all Operators everything they knew. "Yes," she chuckled. "It is as you described. Scholars learn everything there is to know about Canzers." But even with that, Atlan didn''t seem satisfied. "How about constructs? Can I learn how to create them?" "You also want to be an Alchemist?!" Carmine couldn''t help but speak out. The old woman looked surprised too. "Are you not aware that only those with an Operator LifeSkill could create constructs? If you do not have the appropriate job and power, then you will have no chance of ever creating a construct." Atlan wasn''t deterred. With his reaping skill, he knew that it would only be a matter of time until he was able to reap an Operator LifeSkill that would give him the ability to create constructs. Without the proper knowledge, that power would be useless. "I don''t care. I want to enroll in those classes as well. Even if I just sit there and do nothing but watch the lecture, then I am satisfied." Carmine couldn''t believe the insanity that was unfolding upon his very eyes. There was actually a Vanguard that wanted to become an Operator! In all the years of his life, he''d never heard of such things. Chapter 195 Alchemist "That is not an easy request," said the elderly woman."I know. So is this mission." Seeing the Elder Heads look hesitant to fulfill his wish, Atlan decided to use their words against them. As she said, secrets were a valuable resource, and it was something that he would fully take advantage of. "By allowing me to enroll in the University as a Scholar and an Alchemist, I''ll be able to better prepare myself for my missions. Unless you can guarantee to me that no anomalies will ever happen again, then I will need all the knowledge I can get before I go on any missions. This is a deal breaker for me. If I don''t get to enroll in the University, then I will never feel at ease during my missions. I''ll be helpless with another anomaly. I would rather go to a lesser Territory if this is the case." S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. By mentioning the possibility of him leaving Genesis City, he put the Elder Heads in a difficult position. He heard them talk extensively about other Territories vying to transfer him to their Territory, and how the Elder Heads were fighting against it. They wanted him to stay in Genesis City, and Atlan used that to his advantage. The Elder Heads looked at each other, with their eyes clashing and arguing with only a simple look. It was clear that Atlan''s request divided the opinions between the Elder Heads. The elderly woman with her hair tied to a bun, and the old bald man to her right were inclined to let Atlan''s request be fulfilled. Meanwhile, at the opposite side of their side of the table, the old woman with straight hair and the old man at the furthest left was strongly against letting Atlan enroll as an Alchemist. They were already against him becoming a Scholar, but they relented because of the current situation. The only one who stayed still was the bearded old man in the middle of the table. He kept his eyes closed as he contemplated his decision. After a few back and forths between the two factions, those for and those against, the bearded old man decided to break the tie. He looked at Atlan and criticized his stature. And after a few seconds, he slowly nodded his head, letting them know that he sided with Atlan''s request. Continue your adventure with empire It was three against two. "We are letting you enroll in the University as a Scholar and an Alchemist," said the bearded old man. This left Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators shocked and speechless. This was an unprecedented turn of events. They didn''t know how their peers would react once they learned this fact. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that a riot might occur in the University to try and convince the Elder Heads to retract their decision. There will be those who will not care that a Vanguard enrolled in the University, but there will be more who vehemently oppose it. This was not the best time to have a Vanguard traipsing around campus and ''intruding'' on the Operators'' territory¡ªespecially when the tensions were at an all-time high between the ''Knives'' and ''Quills''. "You will not be given any advantages in the University. You will not be given any easier tests just because you do not know the prerequisite knowledge needed for the courses. You will be treated as an ordinary student." "I''m fine with that." Carmine heaved a sigh of relief. If a Vanguard was given extra points while the Operators were not, then there would definitely be violent chaos in the University. "If that is all, then I hereby announce that this meeting is adjourned. We will be monitoring each of your preparations to ensure that everything will proceed as intended. Please leave the premises." Ninth and her team were the first ones to leave, followed by Carmine and his team of Operators. The last to leave were Pterina, Lizzie, and Atlan. Before he stepped foot outside, he looked back at the five elders and saw their mouths were moving with no sound. They were having their ''secret'' talk. Of course, Atlan eavesdropped on their conversation¡ªor at least a bit of it. "....we need to speed up his advancement. We need to replace¡ª" The bearded old man''s voice cut off the moment the red door to the emergency room closed. Atlan was left wondering what the rest of his sentence meant. Speed up¡­my¡­advancement? They want me to power up quickly because they want me to replace¡­who? The only person he could think of was Garuun, the Specialist Porter. The last time he was mentioned, everyone showed a somber expression. According to the bearded old man, Garuun was unavailable to perform any mission for the foreseeable future. Did something happen to him? Is he¡­dead?! If that was true, then the consequences could be severe, not only for the entire City but for Atlan as well. Without any proper porter at the Specialist level, then missions would always be performed by Saviors who were burdened with carrying the heavy construct. They would need three or more Specialist-level Saviors just to carry the construct to the Remedium properly. That was a huge waste of resources, especially since those three Specialists could use their skills to fight Canzers. Instead, they''ll be delegated to porters. Is that why they want me to advance quickly? They want me to take his mantle and become a porter for high-level missions? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Even the mission he was currently tasked to do, was rated at the Specialist level. The Elder Heads probably entrusted this mission to him to test out his capabilities in a high-stakes situation. If he proved himself capable, then he would get assigned even more difficult missions in the future! Atlan didn''t shy away from hard missions, but he knew his limits. Even with all his powers, he knew he wouldn''t survive for even a second against Specialist level Canzers. At least, not right now. If the Elders want him to take a mission he deems too dangerous and out-of-his-league, then he''ll reject it immediately. "Atlan, come on. We have a lot to talk about." Lizzie didn''t wait a second to wait for Atlan and left the control room. She looked mad. Chapter 196 Chase through the roofs The rest of them went their separate ways. Ninth and her team immediately set off to the Masamune district to sharpen their equipment; they didn''t want a dull blade to cost them another failure in their record.Carmine and the rest of the Operators all took a lingering look at Atlan before setting off to do their jobs. "Porter. Come back here in 2 hours, we''ll have your new battle suit ready for you. Don''t be late or else you won''t know the capabilities of what you''ll be wearing," he said before quickly leaving. Atlan promised to return early and bid them goodbye. Although there was a bit of tension between him and the Operators, they didn''t have any bad feelings about him. They were shocked that he was allowed to enroll in the University, but they didn''t oppose it. They just knew that this would cause divided opinions among other Operators, especially those who hated ''Knives'' with a passion. This left Lizzie and Atlan alone just outside the administration building. "Follow me," Lizzie said without turning back to face him. Atlan followed behind her and noticed that her footsteps were faster than normal. It even looked like she was stomping the ground a little harder than usual. She''s mad, isn''t she? Continue your journey with empire Lizzie turned a corner onto an alleyway in the middle of two tall buildings. Atlan followed behind her and was surprised to see no sign of the curly-haired woman in the discreet alley. It only took less than a second for her to disappear from Atlan''s sight. If it was any other novice, they would have completely lost sight of Lizzie. But Atlan was no ordinary novice. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision and looked around. In the buildings full of lifeless and cold blue colors, he saw a distinct figure jumping through the tiles on top of the roof. She didn''t even look back at Atlan and continued getting farther and farther away from him with each second. He looked at the large gap between the walls and saw the thermal imprint of her small hands on each wall. She jumped from wall to wall and used it to get up the building¡­ That maneuver not only took a lot of skill but also finesse. The fact that she disappeared within only a fraction of a second meant that she was extremely nimble, even more than him. I can''t do that, but I can jump. Atlan squatted down and activated his Physique LifeSkill all over his body. Within a second, black flames enveloped his body and endowed him with tremendous physical power. Atlan jumped, breaking the cement flooring below due to the intense force around his body. He rose to 50 feet, easily going over the buildings surrounding him. Lizzie looked behind her and saw Atlan''s figure landing on the roof. "Tsk," she muttered. She gathered more energy around her body and increased her speed even further, creating more distance between the two of them. But as soon as Atlan landed on the roof, he accelerated towards her at an even faster speed, slowly closing the gap. Even when she had a couple of seconds of a head start, she still couldn''t create a large enough gap for her to leave him behind completely. She wanted to show him that he wasn''t ready to take on this kind of mission, but the fact that he could catch up to her meant that he was more than ready. Lizzie skillfully maneuvered her body around the roofs, even tumbling and squeezing herself through tight gaps as long as it was the fastest way around an obstacle. She was not physically fast, but the fact that she used the environment around her to ''swim'' through the concrete jungle of the City allowed her to get to her destination a lot faster than running through the streets. Meanwhile, Atlan bypassed all of the obstacles in the uneven roofings by jumping over them with speed and explosiveness. Her parkouring was not a match against his physical prowess. It wasn''t long before Atlan caught up right next to her. "Why are you running away?" he asked her, but she didn''t answer. She continued to weave through the buildings to try and get away from Atlan as fast as possible. But it was no use. Just as she jumped the gap between the two roofs, she suddenly saw Atlan''s upper body hanging upside down right in front of her, ready to catch her body. This caused her to lose her footing on one of the roof''s loose tiles and almost made her plummet 50 feet down into the highway below. Thankfully, Atlan caught her body just in time. "You can''t run away from me," Atlan said as he jumped down from the ceiling below and pushed Lizzie against the wall. Lizzie''s face turned red. "I''m your senior! You can''t treat me this way." Atlan smiled. "I can, if you''re acting like a kid. Why are you running away instead of talking to me?" For some reason, seeing Lizzie so flustered like this made him excited. She always acted maturely towards him, like a teacher scolding her student. He wanted to tease her more. But unfortunately, Lizzie skillfully used her nimble body to wrestle her way out of Atlan''s grasp. She walked to the edge and looked down at the bustling City below. "I don''t want you getting hurt," she muttered. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan finally understood why. This was a test. If he couldn''t even catch up to her, then he didn''t have the skills necessary to go on this mission. She mentioned that the Remedium in Critical Points like the Church was much more dangerous than other Remediums. The Ifrit would be the least of his worries. "I won''t. I promise," he said. There was a moment of silence between them. After a few seconds¡­ "Cough¡­I''ll make sure of that." She turned around, with her usual stern and mature look. There was no longer any visible anxiety or worry on her face. "Follow me down. I have to teach you some lessons." Chapter 197 Half feline Lizzie led Atlan down the next building to a dojo where Saviors and aspiring Saviors alike could train their skills.They entered a private room, which was already arranged and ready for them to enter as soon as they stepped foot on the building. The Elder Heads worked fast and already guaranteed that things would go smoothly for their training session. There were plenty of veterans and novices crowding the dojos these past few days because of the current ban on Pocket Remediums. This was the only place they could practice their skills and make sure that it wouldn''t stagnate. If they didn''t have the Elder Heads'' intervention, they would have waited days before they could book the largest training room they had available. They were led by the owner of the dojo itself to the biggest room, where they were assured that they could unleash the full power of their LifeSkills without worrying about it causing damage to the walls. Once the owner locked them in, nothing could disturb them for two hours. "What do you think is stronger, a 4-star mutation, or a 9-stage Student LifeSkill?" Atlan didn''t know the answer to her question. From his experience, both LifeSkills and mutations had different powers that were hard to compare. "I''ll change the question. Which do you think is stronger: a 4-star mutation or a 7-star mutation?" The answer seemed obvious. Of course, the higher rarity mutation was a lot stronger than the lower rarity one. It was one of the main reasons why high star Genuses were highly coveted. They want the corresponding high star mutation that came with it. "Isn''t the answer obvious?" "You would think so, but no." Lizzie stood opposite Atlan, with the entire room behind her. She started stretching her body, which reminded him of a cat that just woke up. "A 4-star mutation can be a lot stronger than a 7-star mutation," she stated while licking her hands like a cat licking its paws. "How? That is hard to believe." From what she told him a while back, a 4-star mutation wasn''t even powerful enough to be hidden. Mutations with only a low rarity were manifested in reality all the time, while the higher rarity mutations could be hidden and released at any time the user wanted. Lizzie had a 5-star rarity mutation that allowed her to become half-feline. Even if it was hidden, her mutations gave her a small boost in power according to her mutations. Even when her eyes remained human, she still benefited from enhanced eyesight. But if she manifested her cat eye mutation, then her eyesight would be enhanced multiple times. By the mere fact that her mutation was a 5-star mutation, she was able to turn off her mutation and let it rest when she didn''t need it. This gave her the benefit of having enhanced power without the drawback of having a non-human mutation hindering her daily life. Having an octopus-leg mutation or horse-leg mutation was a pain to deal with in a daily life scenario. "It''s better for me to show you. This is my feline mutation," Lizzie said as she bent down on all fours, with her nails digging into the very metal flooring itself. Two red pointy ears grew out of her head and gave her the ability to hear a pin drop even in the middle of an explosion. The pupils in her eyes turned vertical. She looked at him as if he was her prey. Every micro-movement he did was caught by those eyes and she was able to follow him without lagging behind. Discover more stories at empire Three whiskers grew on each of her cheeks. Atlan didn''t know what these mutations did for her, but he found that it made Lizzie even cuter than before. A red tail popped up from behind her, which swayed back and forth gracefully from her left shoulder to her right. It seemed to have a mind of its own and moved with such fluidity that it put Atlan into a trance. It only took him a fraction of a second to get him out of the distraction, but that was already enough for her to disappear from his sight. Atlan couldn''t hide his shock. He couldn''t even sense her anywhere near him. It was only when he felt something poking his arm did he realize that Lizzie was already beside him, with her claws digging into his forearm with barely any resistance. Atlan used his other hand and pushed Lizzie''s claws away, taking with her a torn piece of his battle suit. The black dye quickly dispersed and turned into the original green color. "I thought you didn''t want to hurt me?!" Atlan saw his SoulTime go down by a few minutes. Lizzie didn''t allow him to recover. She disappeared from his sight and reappeared just a few fractions of a second later to whittle away at his SoulTime by scratching his unprotected back. Atlan couldn''t believe it. Even with his enhanced physical strength, he couldn''t keep up with her speed at all! She was much faster than his eye by several magnitudes; he never even saw blur as she passed by. Atlan immediately used his LifeSkill and covered himself with a black flame. Just then, Lizzie''s claws came crashing down on his chest from up above. This time, his black fire allowed him to defend himself a little better. Though, he still lost a few seconds of SoulTime from her half-hearted attack. I can''t keep up with her¡­if that''s so, then I''ll have to get ahead of her. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan bent down and gathered all his power on his legs, and burst out running towards the wall. It didn''t take him long till he was about to crash into the steel enclosure of the room. But instead of colliding with the wall head-first, he raised his leg and jumped towards it, using the momentum he gathered to continue running up the wall! Atlan used the friction between the wall and his shoes to keep going up, but eventually, gravity started to pull him back down. Just as he was about to fall, he quickly turned around and faced Lizzie, who followed behind him as he expected. He used his last step on the wall to speed back down towards Lizzie. Chapter 198 Bridge a realm With Lizzie floating in mid-air, Atlan thought he finally had a chance to catch her. He thought wrong.The red tail behind her suddenly swung to the right and her body immediately changed directions as if a huge wind pushed her away from Atlan''s hands. Her tail allowed her to have omnidirectional movement in the air! He watched, unable to do anything, as she moved in mid-air as fast as she could on land. Once she dodged Atlan''s attack, her tail suddenly swung back again and pushed her right toward his body, allowing her to scratch his side and deal a couple of minutes of SoulTime. Without manifesting his Angel Wings, he was helpless against a battle in mid-air. He quickly fell to the ground, landing on his knees as he held the side of his stomach. Lizzie''s attacks were strong enough to pierce through the very thin layer of skin in his body, but nothing further. She made sure not to target any of his vital parts so that he''d be able to regenerate his injuries just a few minutes later. "Why are you doing this?" Atlan asked her. He thought she''d only be teaching him the basics about mutation, but all she did was attack him without explaining anything. Suddenly, she appeared in front of him. And for some reason, Atlan thought he was looking at a different person. Aside from her feline mutations, there wasn''t much that changed her physical appearance. She still had the same features as she had when she was in her human form. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, her countenance and attitude were completely different from before. Her eyes, which were usually filled with kindness and wisdom, were replaced with a sense of wildness that was only enhanced by her feline features. There was a sense of spiciness in her face. Her usual straight posture was gone. She was slightly arched back, with her hips pushed forward and bent to the side. She had one hand on her hip, creating a visually striking flair that was completely uncharacteristic of what he knew about Lizzie. She walked towards him, with her leg going over the other in a straight line. Her hips swayed subtly as her arms naturally swung to her side. Atlan had to admit. He was a little bit intimidated by the current Lizzie. He was planning on teasing her, but it looked like he was the one being teased. "You''ve been a bad man¡­a very very bad man." "Have I?" Atlan retreated until he found the wall to his back. "Yes," she said as she stroked his cheek with her long nails. "Just because you advanced so fast in your stages, you think you can play me around like that?" Lizzie swayed her head to the side and smiled at him. "You''re lucky, you''re cute. Or else, I would have torn you apart." When she mentioned his fast advancement, he suddenly noticed something in her body that made him audibly gasp out loud. He deactivated his Physique LifeSkill and used his Thermal Vision to look at her entire body. Aside from the dangerous curves on her body, he saw no sign of LifeSkill heat emanating from her body! He couldn''t believe it. In all the times that she played with him and made him feel like a child, she never even used her LifeSkill power! "You¡­you''re not using your LifeSkill?" Lizzie smiled. "Took you long enough to notice, Star Porter. That''s right. All I''ve been using this entire time is my mutation." She then walked up closer to him and whispered in his ears. "And you want to know another secret?" He looked at her. "What?" "I''m only at the 1st stage Student realm¡­" To say he was shocked into silence was an understatement. He just looked at her for an entire five seconds of silence as he tried to understand her words. "Even when I''m only at the 1st stage, I can perform missions at the high Pre-Intern stages. Do you want to know why?" The revelations she kept giving to him were too much information to process. He couldn''t understand why she was only at the 1st stage Student realm and still be rated as a Savior in the Pre-Intern realm. It didn''t make sense. "The answer is my mutation. My feline bloodline allows me to have power that is equivalent to someone in the Pre-Intern stage." "A mutation¡­is that powerful?" He never knew that a mutation could bridge the gap between an entire realm! He thought he was already powerful by stomping Canzers rated above his level, but he didn''t know that there was someone even more impressive than him! If mutations were so powerful, then why were people even bothering to improve their LifeSkills? And if he was so popular for performing missions two stages above his level, then why hadn''t he heard anything about Lizzie and her ability to perform missions an entire realm above her LifeSkill? Then, it finally clicked. There was a reason why Lizzie knew someone as famous as Custodire, who was an indirect Masamune descendant in the Specialist realm. Find your next read at empire There was a reason why Lizzie was allowed to be in the emergency meeting alongside the Elder Heads and the Specialist Saviors. She had always been special. And Atlan was way too close to her to even notice it. "A mutation is powerful, but only a select few can fully harness their power. I am one of the best." Without even letting Atlan have a moment to consolidate all the new information he just learned, Lizzie started attacking him with slashes and cuts aimed straight at his body. Atlan was forced to stumble around trying to protect himself. He couldn''t see her, which meant he couldn''t dodge her attacks. And with his Thermal Vision, he saw her body barely even lit up. She wasn''t using her LifeSkill. He was forced to rely on his quick reflexes and physique defenses to guard against her imperceptible attacks. And just as Atlan was about to land one attack on her after missing a hundred, she suddenly wrapped her legs around his head and tackled him to the ground. Atlan found himself being straddled by a wild, feline, Lizzie. Chapter 199 Synergy of mutations "You''ve got a lot to learn, boy."It was hard to believe that a mutation could make a 1st stage Student become as strong as a Pre-Intern Savior. However, the evidence was staring him in the eyes, specifically cat eyes. With how easily she overpowered him, there was no doubt in his mind that she was someone who could complete Pre-Intern missions with ease. The only way he''d be able to go toe to toe against her was if he used his Blood Transformation LifeSkill. But even then, he didn''t know if it would have been enough; she wasn''t even using her katars in this fight! Enjoy more content from empire "Are you going to teach me?" Lizzie pushed her body closer to his and shushed him with one of her long nails. "In time. Don''t be impatient. We''re just starting to have fun." Atlan wasn''t used to this kind of Lizzie. She was¡­dominating. He didn''t hate this new her. She then took his hand and made him touch her soft and fluffy cat ears. "There are a lot of freaks with multiple mutations from different Genuses, and I think they''re just wasting their body spaces. Look at me. I only have feline mutations all over my body, now and in the future." She rubbed her whiskered cheeks on his hand. "I''ll be benevolent and tell you a secret. Mutations can increase each other''s power by multiple times as long as they are from the same Genus!" Atlan was curious with her words. "Is that why you have all cat parts on your body?" She nodded. "Yes! My first mutation is my cat eyes. Originally, I was only able to see things as far as 20 meters out, but once I got my cat ears, it changed to 40 meters. And once I got my whiskers, it changed to 80 meters. It continued to multiply by two with each cat mutation I obtained until I could see almost 500 meters out with crystal clear clarity! Not only that, all those subsequent mutations also benefited from the synergy of all my feline parts." Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lizzie put her hands on his chest and dug in her claws. "I told you earlier that a 4-star mutation was stronger than a 7-star mutation. Can you tell me why?" Atlan felt her claws dig deep into his chest with each second he remained silent. Unless he figured out the answer to her question quick, then she would continue to claw her way to his heart. He fell silent for a few seconds until he finally found a reason. "Is it because a 4-star mutation can be easily obtained rather than a 7-star mutation?" Lizzie smiled and said, "Good job," as she licked her fingers and stroked his chest. Her feline saliva somehow closed to wounds on his skin and prevented further leakage on his SoulTime. "You can obtain ten 4-star mutations before you can get two 7-star mutations. By then, the person with the ten mutations, all at synergy with each other, will overpower the one with only one 7-star mutation by a large margin. Even if that person has ten 7-star mutations, but from different Genuses, then they would still lose against the synergy from the 4-star mutation. The synergy of mutations is that powerful." "Is that why you chose the 5-star feline mutation?" he asked her. "It''s high enough to be considered a high rarity bloodline, while also being easy enough to get mutations with." She nodded, satisfied with his answer. "Yes. My goal in this life is to fill my whole body with mutations, turning myself into a full feline! Of course, this is not an easy task. I don''t think I can fill 50% of my body with mutations for at least a couple of hundred years. But once I obtain mutations on 100% of my body and reach perfect mastery over all of them, then I am sure that I can perform Specialist-level missions all by myself! I''ll stand a head above Specialist Saviors. I will do that, with only a 1st stage Student power LifeSkill, thereby proving the superiority of mutations to the world!" Atlan didn''t know that Lizzie had a passion for her mutations. She was so dedicated to her mutations that she was willing to let her LifeSkill stay at the very lowest level and only focus on improving her body mutations. That took a different level of courage and guts that Atlan was definitely impressed with. This was the first time he saw a hint of insanity in Lizzie, but it was the kind of craziness that was attractive. The fact that she was able to prove herself as a Savior with the strength of a Pre-Intern with only her mutations said a lot about dedication and her hard work. He wasn''t the only one who noticed her talent. Custodire, Ninth, the Elder Heads, and a lot of other people noticed Lizzie''s powerful mutations, and that was the reason why she was so well-known among the high-ranking Saviors. She was a pioneer in the area. She inspired other Saviors to invest more of their time and energy into their mutations as opposed to solely focusing on LifeSkills. And she did all of that within a hundred years. She was a talent that was on par with geniuses, but she was largely overlooked by the general public because they didn''t know about the true power of mutations. They only know that she was a 1st stage Student, and thought nothing of her. The more he thought about Lizzie, the more he desired the power of mutations. "Tell me how." Lizzie smiled when she heard that. "Mutations are like muscles, they need to be stretched and broken before they are rebuilt to something better and stronger. That is mastery. Most people think that mastery can only be achieved through hard work, patience, and time. That isn''t exactly wrong, but it''s not the most efficient way to achieve it. For you to achieve mastery over your mutation, then you have to sacrifice something." Chapter 200 Mastery of mutations "What is it?""Your experience." What experience? My Soul System experience? S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Most Saviors cherish their experience like gold. They hoard it until they have enough to advance to the next level. They don''t care if they have to go through tens of missions every month, as long as they earn enough experience, then they''ll do anything to get it. Now, if you tell them that they have to ''waste'' their experience on their mutation that only gives them a partial increase in strength, they would look at you as if you were insane. I would know; I''ve tried and failed to convince hundreds of Saviors to improve their mutation like I have. If they were given a choice between increasing the mastery of their mutation or increasing their LifeSkill by one stage, then they would most certainly choose the latter. A LifeSkill''s jump in power with each stage is very prominent. It makes them feel as if they have become two times stronger than they were before. And compared to what a mutation would give them, their improvement would only be a fraction of that. It is logical for them to be hesitant to use up their valuable experience for a mere 1% increase in their fighting capability. That is why most, if not all, Saviors treat mutations as nothing more than an extra weapon. But what they fail to understand is that mutations are like an extra body that is capable of having a different power equivalent to that of a new LifeSkill! And if you have multiple mutations, you''ll basically be a Savior with multiple LifeSkills. Imagine that! Of course, to achieve that level of power, they would have to sacrifice a lot of experience, effort, and time to do so. Most people simply aren''t that patient. They want the instant gratification of the advancement of a LifeSkill, as opposed to the slow growth of the mutation." Atlan finally understood why she stayed in the 1st stage Student realm. "You use all the experience you get from missions to increase the mastery of your mutation?" he asked her. Her cat ears wiggled separately. "Yes. By remaining in the 1st stage Student realm and completing missions in the Pre-Intern realm, the experience that I get is multiple times more than the normal Savior. It allows me to sustain the tremendous amount of experience points needed by my multiple mutations." As she explained, Atlan secretly tried to struggle away from her grasp, but any movement he made was completely grasped by her vertical cat eyes. She pushed him down harder. "What exactly is mastery?" he tried to distract her. "Just like the name implies, it is how much control you have over the foreign part of your body. The more control you have, the more you can use the full potential of the mutation you have. For new mutations like yours, it starts as 0% mastery. And as you improve and improve, you''ll eventually end up at the first barrier at 10% mastery." Atlan looked down at his Soul System and saw all of his mutations floating in the darkness of space. His Angel Wings that shined brightly in the dark, and the reddish black orb of his Gluttonous Soul towered over every single one of his mutations. Their superiority over everything was borne from their 10-star rarity. Down below was a severed chitinous mouth symbolizing his Canzer Mother Tongue that allowed him to understand all Canzer languages. Next to it was what Atlan assumed to be a voice box belonging to a Pseudo Canzer, symbolizing his Pseudo Canzer Whisperer mutation, allowing him to speak to their kind. A tall obelisk made out of obsidian symbolized his Sapient Canzer Polyglot mutation, allowing him to speak the language of Sapient Canzers. The last was a single leaf with its stomata open, ready to receive daylight and convert it into energy. This symbolized his Photosynthesis mutation that gave him 1 year of SoulTime with every second he spent in the sun. And when Atlan tried to use his blue wisps of experience to increase their ''mastery'' as she said, nothing happened. The blue wisps simply collided with his mutations in the Soul System and did not affect it a single bit. "How do I increase my mastery?" She smiled, showing a bit of the sharp canine teeth in her mouth. "It''s the same as how you obtain mastery over any skill. You learn from experience, figuratively and literally. You need to fight an opponent and defeat them using solely your mutations, and nothing else. You cannot use your LifeSkill." The requirement to master a mutation was completely strict. Atlan was surprised by that. Find adventures at empire Ever since he was drafted, he was taught by everyone he knew that he should practice his LifeSkills as often as he could. In time, he could create a Giant Hand in his Soul System and activate his LifeSkill almost instantaneously without even any effort. To achieve that, Atlan had to build a habit of always using his LifeSkill in every fight he was in. Now, Lizzie was telling him that he should forget that built-up muscle memory, and only use his mutation. That was tremendously hard, to say the least. After all, he spent so much time trying to hide his mutations from everyone because all of his mutations were far too powerful for him to have obtained through normal means. He didn''t know how the Operators would react if they saw that his Wing mutation was emanating Angel Power. He''d have a hard time only using his mutation in a fight against the Canzers. "I can''t use anything else?" "Weapons are fine as long as they have good synergy with your mutations. Katars, for example, are perfect for my feline mutations and help me fight with a cat-like dexterity. But a two-handed sword will completely hinder my fighting skills. But absolutely no LifeSkills, or even mutations that do not have a synergy with your current mutation. If you want to increase the mastery of your mouse mutation, then you definitely can''t use your owl mutation in the fight. Those two Genus are predator and prey in the wild. They can''t synergize. You have to prove to yourself that your mutation alone is enough¡ªthat it is powerful enough to defeat your enemies. Once you have done that, you will have a window of opportunity in your Soul System where you can pour your experience inside them and increase their mastery." Chapter 201 Catch me if you can Atlan looked at his list of mutations and saw that most of them were completely useless in a battle. Three of them were solely used for talking and understanding Canzers. Unless he could kill them with words, then Atlan didn''t think he could use those in a fight.His Photosynthesis mutation was a little bit better as it could heal his injuries at a tremendously fast rate. He would gain an entire year of SoulTime with just one second of activating it. Of course, he was limited by the fact that it was hard to maintain. The only mutation that he could use was his Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings, but even that only gave him a boost in speed and maneuverability in mid-air. None of his mutations had any sort of explosive firepower that he could use to defeat an enemy. How can I defeat enemies using solely my mutations? "Let''s start our training session," said Lizzie with a devious hint in her tone. She got up off Atlan and walked away from him, with her hips swaying left and right rhythmically. She looked back at him and said, "Your only goal is to catch me, and nothing else. Don''t worry, I will be holding back my power to just a little bit above your own. It is your job to try and overcome your limit and ''defeat'' me. You can punch me, you can tackle me, you can kick me, anything is possible as long as you can take me down. It will count as a victory for you if you can use only your mutation. I know you got a high rarity mutation from the Vineyard, Pterina told me that she gave you a golden ticket. Don''t worry, you don''t have to show your mutation to me. It is imperative that you don''t. For you to sense just a glimpse of your mutation''s true power, then you must not manifest your mutation in your body. You must hide it, and only use the passive boost in power to triumph over me." Atlan got up off the floor. The only usable mutation he had in his arsenal right now was his Angel Wing mutation. He didn''t know how he''d be able to use it without using it. Her words were a riddle, and he had no idea how to solve it. "Remember, you must not use your LifeSkill. No matter how much your guts or your instincts tell you to activate your Physique LifeSkill to defend against my attacks, don''t. In under any circumstance, do not do it." Atlan took her words to heart and readied himself. "I''ll be lowering my strength to about the same level as a 4th stage Student." With the passive boost in speed given to him by his wings, he reckoned he would be able to keep up with a speedster at the 3rd stage Student. Unless he could use his Physique LifeSkill or manifest his Angel Wings behind his back, he didn''t know how to bridge the disparity between their strengths. "What are you waiting for¡ª" Just as she said that, Atlan immediately rushed towards her, with his hands outstretched and ready to catch her shoulders. Unfortunately for him, Lizzie wasn''t caught off guard. She smoothly turned around and ducked away from his grip. She stretched her legs and swept Atlan off his feet. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan, with no physical defense from his Physique, was left stumbling down to his knees. This allowed Lizzie to run behind him and give him a long scratch mark from his right shoulder to his left hip. He ignored the pain and tried to catch her, but his kneeled position gave him no freedom to reach behind him. Knowing this disadvantage, Atlan stood up and raised both his fists to protect his face. But that wasn''t what she was targeting. He saw a blur run past him as she reached down for his leg and bit his thigh, sinking her canine teeth deep into his muscle. Atlan tried to kick her, but she overpowered him with a classic cat swat. She was completely faster and stronger than he was just by a slight margin. It was enough for him to get close to her, but never be able to reach her because of the difference in speed. Atlan was almost tempted to kick the ground with his Physique LifeSkill, but he stopped himself at the last second. Enjoy new chapters from empire A habit''s hard to kill, he thought. Another scratch straight through his collarbones reminded him that this was no time to contemplate. She was relentless and gave him no respite. She was forcing him to his very limits. Atlan thought he saw a brief opening as she had her back turned against him. He dove towards her legs, hoping to catch her unprotected. But just as he got close, Lizzie jumped up and perfectly landed on his back with her thighs on his shoulders. She straddled his head, putting her legs over his neck and squeezing it with a lot of pressure. Atlan tried to get out of her grip, but she stayed on his head no matter how hard he tried to shake her off. Atlan had no choice but to run straight towards the wall and try to ram her to it. Lizzie, as expected, quickly let go of her legs strangling his neck. She jumped from his shoulders and somersaulted backward. Atlan immediately used the wall to rebound back, intending to catch Lizzie as she was about to land on the ground. But as Lizzie saw Atlan''s move while flipping in mid-air, she simply smiled and shook her head. The tail on her back suddenly rotated and pointed upwards, allowing her momentum to completely change from falling to rising! She changed her direction in mid-air, allowing her to suddenly move 4 feet upwards when she was already at the downward momentum of her somersault. She basically performed a double jump! Atlan was left grasping on nothing but the air as Lizzie jumped on top of his head and skipped away from him. "You''re still not using your mutation to their true potential." Chapter 202 Facilitator of power "How am I supposed to use my mutation without bringing it out?"Lizzie turned into nothing but a blur as she attacked Atlan from the front. Atlan quickly put up his two arms as a guard on his entire torso, which successfully blocked her claws and only damaged his arms. But Lizzie didn''t take a second longer as she slipped past him and disappeared from his view. Atlan turned around, but she followed his movements perfectly and stayed behind him, out of sight. He faked turning around and waited a second for her to run in front of him, but it seemed that she was wise to his tricks too. She pounced on his head and gave him a little tap on his hair, just enough for him to feel a little bit disoriented. Whichever way he went, she was always one step ahead of him. He couldn''t get a grasp on where she was, therefore he was unable to completely dodge away from her attacks. If she was being completely serious, she could have whittled away at his SoulTime by a large margin. Instead, she used only a fraction of her power to train him with intensity without compromising his health for the upcoming mission. If Atlan got injured from this training session, then it would be the complete opposite of her original intention. She wanted to train him because she wanted him to survive the trip to the Remedium. "Ask yourself this question. Is it the mutation that gives you power, or something else?" "What do you mean?" Atlan asked as he kicked towards the blur to his right. But Lizzie skillfully arced her body so far above what was possible from human anatomy and slipped away from Atlan''s kick. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Do you think that a normal cat could see far above 500 meters away with crystal clear clarity? Do you think their whiskers allow them to sense danger before they even happen? Do you think their tails allow them to defy the laws of physics and change their direction in mid-air?" Lizzie appeared behind Atlan and gave him a small bite on the neck and kicked him away from her afterward. Atlan held his neck and thought about her words. She''s right. The body part that we acquire is completely different from the body part of the original species. They have different capabilities, with the mutation becoming so much more powerful than what was possible. "So ask yourself this question. Is the body part giving you that power, or something else?" Atlan felt like he was slowly unraveling the secrets of a mutation. If what she said was right, then mutations were so much more than an alien body part spliced into a human body. They were more like LifeSkills with physical manifestations in reality than simply a strange new limb. As he was thinking, he saw a blur in the corner of his eye and immediately ducked down. He was able to dodge away from her claws for the first time. But Lizzie simply extended her clawed feet and kicked down towards his head. Atlan raised his hand to defend himself but when her attack hit his palms, he was surprised to feel a tremendous amount of force from her kick. It was enough to push Atlan a few meters away, with his shoes skidding on the metal flooring below. He looked at his palms and saw three claw marks embedded into the skin. Lizzie''s tail was still swinging behind her as she landed back on the floor. She used her ''double jump'' to accelerate downwards and add more power to her kick! Even when he could anticipate her moves, he was still unable to catch even a thread of her battle suit. If I could use my Mage LifeSkill, I could trap her in the black web within just one second. Then, it hit him. His train of thought led him to think about Mages and their LifeSkill. Back in the Remedium Training Hall, he saw Mages wielding strange wooden wands instead of metal weapons like the other Saviors. He thought that those wands were a standard weapon for Mages, but then, his experience in the Masamune Heat Wave mission allowed him to fight alongside three 6th-stage Student Mages. They didn''t use wands. Instead, they uttered different sets of phrases before their magical spells were manifested in reality. If he were to ask Lizzie''s question with regards to Mages, then¡­ Are the wands the one filled with LifeSkill power or is it the person? Are the chants the ones filled with power? The answer to his questions was a resounding no. It wasn''t the wand, nor was it the chanting¡ªit was the Mage. If a Mage didn''t have a wand and didn''t chant their spell, then they could still create a magical power. It would take a lot more time to create it, but they would still be able to create it nonetheless. But if a normal person were to use the wand and chant some spells, they would never be able to manifest a magical power no matter how much time they put into it. If Atlan were to equate that to Lizzie''s mutations, then the wand/chanting was her cat ears, the ability to hear everything around a 500-meter radius was the spell. This meant that even without her cat ears, she could still hear everything within 500 meters, but it would only be a little bit harder to do. Atlan stopped and stood up straight. "The mutation is only the facilitator of power." Lizzie stopped in her tracks and smiled once she heard Atlan''s realization. "That is right, Atlan. I am proud of you for getting that concept so fast. The mutations in your body only help you achieve the hidden power in your bloodline! You can get more power from your mutation, you just haven''t pushed it far enough. It is a matter of persistence. You have to push and push, and if that still isn''t enough, then you push even harder. At some point, your mutation will respond. It will give you more power, allowing you to control its capabilities without having to manifest it in reality. The best part about this is that it won''t get tired. You can use that power for as long as you like because it is not manifested in reality." Chapter 203 Trying to touch the box Atlan liked the idea of increasing his base speed permanently. If he could harness a fraction of his speed when he used his Angel Wings, then he''d be able to catch Lizzie in a matter of seconds. She wouldn''t even see a blur.The problem lay in the fact that it was easier said than done. He understood the concept of pushing something past its limits. It was just like pushing a very heavy box up a hill. Sure, it''s hard to move the box and it would only get harder and harder as he went up, but at least he would know that he was progressing. The task presented to him by Lizzie was like pushing a very heavy box up a hill, but he didn''t even know where the box was. How could he start the arduous task of pushing the box up, when he couldn''t even lay his eyes on it? S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I don''t know how to do that," admitted Atlan. Lizzie smiled. "It''s fine. This is what the training session is for. If you can''t get a grasp of your hidden mutation, then I will be the one to push you to your limits instead. Get ready for a beating." Her words turned out to be prophetic as she continued her barrage of clawed attacks at Atlan''s body. Atlan defended his side using his already injured arm and tried to catch her limb with his other arm, but she was already gone to target his legs before he could even extend his hand towards her. This pattern would continue, with Atlan completely helpless as his entire body got filled with cuts and reddened claw marks. She was relentless and gave him no chance to rest. It started to get on his nerves. Her attacks didn''t even hurt him physically. Her claws were as light as a love tap and only cost him a few minutes of his SoulTime in total, but the fact that he couldn''t even do anything from her continuous attacks got him riled up. With every move he had, she anticipated it. With every attack he tried to dodge, she would target another part. Every time he tried to catch her, she would always slip past him by a very slim margin. Atlan ran along the walls to prevent any more attacks from her, but she clawed the walls and ran along the walls above him. The martial arts he learned from previous fights were of no use against her. His kicking ability, which was his most confident strength, was rendered useless because of her slipperiness. What was frustrating for him was the fact that he already knew her moves. With his memory, he was able to grasp what sort of movements she made. She was like a cat. Her first move would be a burst of speed accompanied by a direct attack. As he tried to defend himself from this attack, she would move over to his blind spot. By then, she would lay in wait, with her legs and feet on the ground, ready to pounce for her next target. He dissected her moves in his head. He could even copy her moves if he wanted to, but without her mutation, it would only leave him vulnerable. He could see the weaknesses in her move set. He theoretically knew where he could catch her off guard. He knew that his best chance to catch her was the moment when she repositioned herself after she just finished attacking him. But everything was useless if she was faster than him. With her cat eyes, ears, and whiskers, no amount of feints or tactics could catch her off guard. The only way he''d be able to overpower her was if he was faster than her. Atlan resorted to wildly swinging his arms, hoping that his randomness would be able to even graze her just by a little bit. But, it was no use. Slowly, he started to get annoyed. He wanted to get faster, just so that he could finally catch her slippery body. He wasn''t even thinking about his mutations anymore. She didn''t give him any chance to think¡ªhe was forced to just¡­do. She kept weaving left and right, bouncing up and down, and doing everything she could to overwhelm him with attacks that he had no chance of ever dodging away from. His black battle suit slowly got torn into pieces, showing his skin and the cuts on his body. Lizzie bent her body low on the ground, with her upper body and head almost scraping the floor, and her lower body was tilted up. She was about to pounce. He knew what he was about to do, and he knew that he wasn''t going to be able to do anything about it. She knew that too. That''s why she didn''t care if she choreographed her moves to him. She was going to pounce up and give him a little tap on the head and bite him in the neck. It already happened several times before, and he was always helpless to defend against it. He was always one step too slow or too fast to avoid her attack. And in his desperation, Atlan stopped thinking and just went for it. Even though he knew that he wasn''t fast enough to charge towards her as she pounced, he still did it. All he had in his mind was a desire to be faster, to be quicker than he was before. Suddenly, the world around him turned silent. He couldn''t hear the sound of her claws scraping against the metal flooring, he couldn''t hear her playful teasing, he couldn''t even hear the nervous beating of his heart¡ªhe heard nothing at all. The white walls of the training room disappeared from his view. All he could see was the figure of Lizzie, with a slight grin on her face, ready to pounce towards him. She was his target. He dove forward by mere instinct. And somehow, his movements felt more natural than before. He wasn''t thinking about how to outsmart her, he wasn''t thinking about how to defend her, he was only thinking about catching her. As he felt his body reach towards her, he felt complete control over his body. If he wanted to, he could get faster than before. And so he did. He accelerated towards her. This was the first time he experienced this. He was in a flow state; he was in the zone. Chapter 204 Catching the cat In his desire to get faster than he''d ever been before, he was able to tap into a power hidden deep in his body¡ªin his very DNA.Speed was supposed to come from the legs. It was supposed to be a factor in how much force he pushed the ground with his legs. But somehow, as he had his hand outstretched towards Lizzie''s pouncing position, his body started accelerating at an even faster rate than before. Yet, both of his legs were off the ground. This was supposed to be impossible. He felt a force from behind him push him forward. He felt the world turn slower. The blur he saw from before was now crystal clear. He could see Lizzie''s changing expression from a sly smile to a shocked expression. He could see her whiskers vibrate as she realized that he was getting fast enough to catch her before she could even pounce toward him. He could see the red tail behind her start to spin, allowing her to have a burst of momentum that pushed her backward. Lizzie jumped up and away from him like a spooked cat, but Atlan already anticipated her move. He stepped on the ground to catch up to her. And if someone looked at his foot clearly, his shoes were levitating just a few centimeters away from the ground! But even so, he was still able to burst forth to chase Lizzie before she could get away. Lizzie looked at Atlan''s face and saw his absent-minded eyes. Is he in the zone?! She quickly turned around and bent down on all fours, using both her feet and her arms to run on the ground. She buried her claws in the flooring and created more force for her to push forward. This was the fastest speed she''d ever been in, and it was something that Atlan couldn''t even see before. He would only see a blur. So, she thought she would have gotten rid of him. But, her whiskers suddenly wriggled on her cheeks. It alerted her of a dangerous threat coming towards her at fast speeds. She didn''t have to look back to know that Atlan''s hands were just mere inches away from her shoulders. She used her tail to suddenly change directions by turning a sharp right. Her mutation allowed her to keep her speed and momentum even while she turned 90 degrees. And just like before, she used this opportunity to take another sharp turn and end up behind Atlan to slip past into his blind spot. Only then could she control the pace of this battle. But as she turned, she only saw Atlan''s palms outstretched towards her face. She visibly gasped and quickly used her tail to retreat once again. I can''t even get to his blind spot anymore! Somehow, not only was Atlan fast enough to keep up with her four-legged sprint, but also her near-perfect agility! She couldn''t understand how he was able to turn sideways like her without losing any speed or drifting forward. He didn''t have any cat tail to help him perform those feats! Experience more on empire Lizzie sprinted through the room, changing directions completely at random. Yet, somehow, Atlan was able to keep up with her all the same. She couldn''t even try to claw at him anymore. She knew that any time she tried to get close to him, he would take that opportunity to catch her in the act. Her only choice was to run. She had to run until the two-hour mark was finished. Only then could she discourage Atlan from partaking in the mission. But her whiskers and her ears were telling her that Atlan was getting even faster! If she were to run straight ahead, Atlan would be able to catch up to her in just a second! She had to resort to zigzagging through the room, changing her directions any time he was able to catch up to her. As she ran, her whiskers once again trembled. This time, her feline instincts kicked in and she turned around and swatted the hand that was about to catch her shoulders. Atlan''s hand was reflected away, but it didn''t take him a second to stretch his other hand and try to grab her in the air. Lizzie had no choice but to escape upwards. She elongated the claws in her hands and used them to scale the high walls of the training room. Once she was near the top, she jumped up using her legs and pierced her hand claws to the ceiling, allowing her to stay in the corner. She looked down and saw Atlan stop at the very edge of the wall. He had no claws to help him climb up the tall wall like her. She thought she''d be able to have a few minutes of rest up in the ceiling, but then, she suddenly saw him walking backward until he had his back against the wall. He bent down and put his hands on the floor, like a sprinter about to start a race. This gave her a bad feeling. There''s no way he''d be able to do it, right? S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan served to prove her wrong by running towards the opposite wall with his fastest speed. It was a speed that would have caught Lizzie in a straight race. It only took him a fraction of a second to reach the opposite wall. But he didn''t stop. He continued running until he raised his leg and kicked the wall, allowing him to run upwards using the momentum he gathered from the sprint. Lizzie couldn''t hide the shock in her face as Atlan ran up the wall, about to reach her. She had no choice but to retract her claws from the ceiling and let herself fall to the ground. But on the way down, she was intercepted by Atlan who jumped from the wall towards her to catch her in mid-air. She already anticipated this and used her tail''s ability, ''double jump'' to push herself forward and evade his arms. At least, she thought she did. But a fraction of a second later, she suddenly felt his arms wrap around her waist, catching her in mid-air. She looked back at him in surprise, and he looked at her with pure elation in his face. He did it. Chapter 205 Closing window The two of them fell to the floor.DUGG They landed on the ground, with their enhanced bodies protecting them from the fall. The training room went silent, with nothing but heavy breathing and panting coming out of their mouths. Lizzie looked up at Atlan, with her face flushed and her breathing heavy. Atlan was on top of her, with sweat on his forehead but a smile on his face. They looked at each other for a few seconds until Lizzie let go of the mutations in her body. Her aggressive vertical eyes slowly turned back to her meek round eyes. Her whiskers slowly merged back to her cheeks. Her cat ears flopped before sinking back into her hair. Her tail swayed back and forth before disappearing on her back. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The dominance and assertiveness were gone, and she was back to her old self. With how close their faces were, Lizzie had to avert her eyes and speak in a hushed tone to Atlan. "You¡­you did it. You pushed your limits." Atlan looked back at her. "It''s all thanks to you." The adrenaline in his body kept him breathing heavily. He couldn''t forget the sense of focus and clarity he felt during that time. It allowed him to hone in on the hidden power in his body. "Is it a wing mutation?" she asked him. That was the only explanation she could come up with to explain his ability to not only have a tremendous amount of speed but also maneuverability in the air. She was supposed to have evaded his arms in the air with her ''double jump'', but Atlan followed her change in direction perfectly and was able to catch her. He wouldn''t be able to do that if he didn''t have a mutation that helped him maneuver in the air. "Yes. It''s a Wing mutation." He didn''t tell her that it was an Angel Wing mutation. She didn''t need to know that. "Did you feel it? The power of your wings?" Atlan thought back to that feeling¡ªthat urge to go faster. His desire for that power allowed him to tap into a hidden source, which he now understood to be his Angel Genus. The Angel Genus deep in his Soul System recreated the Angel Wings power and supplied him with its power. This allowed him to wield a fraction of its power without manifesting it in real life. "It was my Genus that gave me power." She nodded. "Yes. A mutation comes from the Genus, so it is only natural that it would be the one to unlock the hidden potential of your mutation. Now, you will be able to wield a portion of your mutation using only your base body." Atlan went silent for a second. Questions kept popping up in his head. "How? When I sped up, I briefly thought I was using my Wings to fly and accelerate, but I clearly wasn''t. It was weird. It felt like my Wings were simultaneously present and absent at the same time." Lizzie understood that feeling. "It is similar to phantom limb pain. Back in the olden days, when people could not regenerate lost limbs, there was a strange phenomenon that happened to those who lost a leg or an arm in a war. Sometimes, they would feel pain on their lost leg, even though there was no leg for them to feel pain on. They would feel a painful tingling sensation on their ''phantom limb''. Their brains are convinced that there is still a limb on their stump. The principle for mutations remains the same. You have to convince your brain, in this case, your Genus, to supply your body with the power of the mutation, even though the mutation is not manifested in real life." Atlan felt a phantom Angel Wings behind him, always supplying him with speed any time he needed it. But, he would need time to get used to it. "Now that you have defeated an opponent using only your mutation, you will now have an opportunity to allocate experience points to your mutation and increase your mastery." Atlan closed his eyes and focused on his Soul System. Enjoy more content from empire He saw the gathering of the blue wisps of experience into one giant fuzzy ball. He commanded a few of them to leave in a line and surround the Angel Wings floating in the darkness of the space in his Soul System. The blue wisps bombarded the Angel Wings, but instead of getting absorbed, they were only repelled or bounced back in different directions. He couldn''t find a way to put experience in his mutation. "I can''t do it." "It''s okay," she assured him. "Just focus on trying to mold your experience points into something that can penetrate your mutations." Atlan tried to melt his blue wisps into one giant ball and condensed them into the smallest sphere he could make them. But when he threw this ball of experience to the Angel Wings, they disintegrated into the small blue wisps and dispersed. Nothing got absorbed. "You have to concentrate. This window of opportunity will not last long." Atlan molded his experience into a giant spear and tried to pierce through the Angel Wings but to no avail. He thought that the problem lay in the Angel Wings, not in his method. So, he tried to do it again to the other mutations. He tried it with his 10-star Gluttonous Soul and his other lower-rarity mutations. However, they led him to the same result. No matter what he did, the mutation would always repel the blue wisps and reject their entry. Lizzie looked at Atlan''s face and saw him struggling to complete this task all by himself. Even the heat in his body was slowly dissipating as it cooled down. This was bad news. It would only be a matter of a few minutes until the window of opportunity would close. The next time it would open was if Atlan defeated another opponent using only his mutation. She had to help him. "Fine," she said as she looked away in embarrassment. "This will mean nothing, okay? You must not tell anybody about this." Atlan opened his eyes. "What do you¡ª" But before he could continue his question¡­ Lizzie put her lips on his. Chapter 206 Kiss Warning: explicit depictions of kissing. If you do not want to read this, you can skip this chapter.Atlan felt the softness of her lips lock onto his. It was warm. He could feel every nervous quiver in her lips as she puckered up and opened her mouth. He felt lightning pass through his spine and envelop his whole body. This was the very first time he''d been this close¡ªthis intimate¡ªwith someone. His heart must have beat a thousand times per second. He was nervous, excited, and euphoric all at the same time. He didn''t even feel this way when he was fighting against Canzers higher than his level. He didn''t even feel this way when he squared off against the God of Death in his draft. Locking lips with someone was a foreign sensation for him, yet somehow, it felt like he''d been waiting for it for all his life. She pushed her soft but firm lips into his, sending butterflies to his stomach. Atlan opened his mouth to envelop her lips and feel that sensation again. He wanted more. He pulled his head closer to hers and moved his mouth to playfully bite her lips. Her eyes opened in surprise as she looked at Atlan. She pounded her fists on his chest in protest, but she didn''t take her lips away from him. Atlan took this as a sign to move his mouth even more aggressively, kissing her with more passion and wildness. His breath got heavier, and so did hers. They both closed their eyes and only felt the sensation of each other''s parts on their bodies. Atlan, in his inexperience and his craving for her lips, got a little bit too rough with his kiss. He bumped her head on the flooring. She tapped his chest and communicated with her eyes for him to slow down and take it easy. As much as he wanted to kiss her more, he knew that he had to be a little more caring with his moves. This was the time when he learned that ladies liked to be cared for. With this one mistake, he thought she would stop kissing him. But instead, she escalated the passion and heat. She put her tongue in his mouth. She raised her hands and put them over his neck as she kissed him with even more affection and intimacy. A new sensation filled his mind. As her tongue entwined with his, the texture of moistness and softness exploded into his life as if he had just discovered a new color. He never knew that kissing with tongues would give him such ecstasy and excitement. Find exclusive stories on empire His tongue was laid there, with her mouth laying on top of it, and retracting it. Atlan copied her actions and playfully massaged her tongue with his. He didn''t know how much time had passed, but he knew that he wanted this time to last forever. If he was stuck locking lips with Lizzie for the rest of the day, then he would consider that a good one. Just then, he felt something cold enter his body. Atlan was familiar with this sensation. He immediately looked down at his Soul System and saw a new swarm of blue wisps enter the darkness of his space. These experience points were not here originally. He didn''t earn these experience points from reaping deaths. It was then that he finally understood. These blue wisps came from Lizzie. This was even more evident with the fact that he had absolutely no control over these experience points, yet they moved as if someone was controlling them. He didn''t know which one to focus on. Did he want to continue kissing Lizzie, or did he want to figure out what these blue wisps were for? As he focused on his Soul System, Lizzie didn''t stop caressing his tongue with hers. She kept intertwining it with his, with their salivas making the rubbing of their tongues smooth and pleasant. As she moved her tongue forward, the blue wisps moved forward. When she moved her tongue back, the blue wisps retreated. She was controlling the experience points with her kiss! Atlan finally knew the reason why she kissed him. She''s helping me put experience in my mutation¡­ Lizzie continued kissing Atlan, manipulating the blue wisps visiting his Soul System. He watched as she slowly maneuvered the experience points to close into his mutations. Then, she stopped. She tried to push the blue wisps forward, but they would always miss the manifestations of his mutations. She can''t see my mutations¡­ If she couldn''t see the mutations, then she wouldn''t be able to put the experience to his mutation. I need to help her. Atlan found a new reason to be a little bit more aggressive with his tongue as he kissed her. With his eyes closed, the only thing he could feel was the sensation of her tongue, aimlessly moving around his mouth. He used his tongue to move her tongue, pushing her lightly in the right direction. She quickly understood what he was trying to do and let herself be led by Atlan. She used to be the one leading the kiss due to Atlan''s inexperience, but now, he was the one dominating the sensations in her mouth. She let his youthful liveliness lead the direction of their intimate moment. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He was rough from too much excitement, but he was able to direct her tongue to where his Angel Wing mutations were located. As the swarm of blue wisps enveloped the Angel Wings, Lizzie and Atlan both moved their tongues with the same intensity and passion. They opened their mouths and enveloped each other''s lips. The experience points slowly revolved around his Angel Wings. As the heat from their passionate kiss reached a crescendo, the blue wisps slowly melted into a blue liquid that was able to bypass the Angel Wings'' outer layer and seep into its very structure. With every experience point it absorbed, the Angel Wings got filled with more and more energy. This energy built up until, at the very end, it exploded into a shockwave that filled Atlan''s Soul System with a bright white light. Chapter 207 Increased mastery Lizzie''s kiss turned out to be nothing more than a way to help him put experience into his mutation.He didn''t know how she did this, but she endowed him with her experience points and put them into his Angel Wings, allowing him to advance his mastery of it. Atlan looked down at his Soul System and saw his Angel Wings with only a tiny portion at the middle point glowing, while the rest of the wings were grayed out. [Mutation] ¡ª (4-star) Canzer Mother Tongue ¡ª (6-star) Pseudo Canzer Whisperer ¡ª (7-star) Photosynthesis ¡ª (7-star) Sapient Canzer Polyglot ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings ¡ª¡ª¡ª 0.1% mastery Atlan and Lizzie both moved their lips away. They looked each other in the eyes for a moment, with Atlan remembering and yearning for that sensation to last just a little bit longer. He must have experienced a time skip because that kiss started and ended in a blink of an eye. He wished that he killed the God of Time instead of the God of Death so that he could rewind that moment and experience her delicate kiss again. Meanwhile, Lizzie turned her reddish cheeks away from Atlan in embarrassment. Even though she kissed him for a very different reason, she couldn''t help but squirm her feet as she felt his mouth play roughly with hers. She saw his eyes lit up with passion as if he desired to completely devour her. And if she were to be completely honest with herself, she didn''t hate kissing Atlan. When she looked at him, she could see his gaze still lingering on her lips. It was clear he wanted a second round. "Ahem¡­" Lizzie coughed to break the tension in the room. She slowly got up and walked away from Atlan, leaving him looking back at her figure. "As you can see, I only did that to help you increase the mastery of your mutation." But when she looked back at him, she noticed that he wasn''t listening and was slowly walking over towards her. He licked his lips while looking over at hers. "That''s why you should forget that it ever happened, okay?" Lizzie slowly backed away from him, but he was still slowly walking over towards her. The worst part about it for her was that there was a sly smile on his face. It was as if he thought that her words were merely an excuse. "It was only for an emergency because you had no more time to lose! You were losing your window of opportunity!" she said, with her back against the wall. Atlan walked over towards her and put his hand on the wall. "And you found yours. You found the chance to kiss me and took it." Enjoy new chapters from empire Lizzie couldn''t believe the confidence and swagger in his voice. "You wish!" she said, slapping his chest. "Oh, I do." Lizzie felt her body turn hot from embarrassment. If she looked in a mirror, she would see her skin fully turn into tomato red. She was his senior! She shouldn''t be led around by him. She should be the one to teach him a lesson, and yet, she couldn''t form the right words in her mouth. And as she thought that, she touched her lips. It was only a fraction of a second later that she realized what it might have looked like to Atlan. She quickly put down her hand, but it was far too late. There was already a huge smile on his face. "You don''t have to remember, I can let you experience it right now." "Oh shut it!" She moved his arm out and walked away. "Instead of worrying about¡­that¡­you should be thinking about your current mission!" Atlan walked over towards her and whispered in her ears. "I thought you didn''t want me to go on the mission?" "Hmph!" She crossed her arms. "I''ll push you to the portal myself!" Atlan chuckled. This was the first time he''d seen Lizzie so flustered. He didn''t know why she was the one more embarrassed about the kiss when it was he who experienced it for the first time. But as much as he wanted to feel that kiss again, he didn''t want to force her to do it again. He respected her too much to do that to her. It was true that she only kissed him to help her. If she hadn''t, then he wouldn''t have been able to find out how to put experience in his mutation. He would have lost his opportunity trying to figure it out by himself. She only kissed him so that he wouldn''t waste any more time when the fate of the City was on the line. He looked down at his Soul System and saw that the mastery of his Angel Wings was only at 0.1%. Lizzie didn''t share much experience with him because her only goal was to let him feel the sensation of how to merge his blue wisps into his mutation. Now that he knew how to do it, he could do it by himself. He commanded a thousand of his blue wisps to gather near his Angel Wing mutation and imitated what he felt when Lizzie commanded the blue wisps. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He let them revolve around his Angel Wings, and with his own heat from his body generated from the LifeSkill planets around him, he melted down the blue wisps into liquid drops that slowly got absorbed by the Angel Wings. He looked at his Soul System again and saw that his mastery increased by 1% He was shocked. He used 10,000 experience points on that! He thought he''d fill it up to half, but he severely underestimated the experience needed to fully master one mutation. He used just about 50,000 experience on it for now to increase his mastery to 5%. Once it reached 5%, he could no longer add any more blue wisps even if he wanted to. The window was over. He''d need to win using only his mutation again to be able to put more experience in it. "It''s up to you how much you want to put into your mutation, but I suggest that you make it at least 5%. How much do you have now?" "One percent," he lied. "And I seem to have forgotten how to put experience into my mutation." He smiled at her. "Looks like you''ll have to show it to me again." Chapter 208 Operator building Atlan had a smile on his face as he walked towards the Operator building. He garnered a lot of weird looks from the blue battle-suited Saviors, but he didn''t care. He just experienced the best day of his life.The fact that he was merely an hour away from going on a mission that could destroy the entire City couldn''t bring him down. If he died today, he would be happy that he experienced that at least once. "Excuse me, what are you doing here?" A few overzealous Operators stopped Atlan in his tracks just as he was about to enter the production building reserved for high-level Operators. Even lowly Saviors like them weren''t allowed inside, much less a young Vanguard like Atlan. Discover hidden content at empire They didn''t recognize him because the world between Vanguards and Operators was extremely different. There was no overlap. So, the news about the current most talented Vanguard porter in the City did not reach the general public of Operators. This was also true for the news inside the Operator circles. Atlan never heard a peep about any of their current happenings. "I was invited here," said Atlan. The two Operators looked at each other, then back at Atlan''s epaulet with doubt painted on their faces. "I think you''re in the wrong building. The Student-realm Operators are on the other side of the street. This is only reserved for Specialist Operators." If the 3rd stage Student was here for a mission, then he surely wouldn''t be asking for any of the Specialist Operators. They stopped Atlan because they didn''t want him disturbing the whole production building. They''ll be the ones getting scolded for letting a Vanguard wander into there. They even heard that Carmine was working on a very high-stakes production and must not be disturbed under any circumstances. "No, I''m sure it''s here. Carmine told me so." The Operators turned even more skeptical, to the point that they almost laughed at Atlan in his face. But then, the door suddenly opened, letting the heat and banging noise from the inside leak out towards them. Their jaws slowly dropped as they looked at the orange-haired man slowly coming out of the door behind Atlan. They immediately shut up and held their breaths. They were definitely getting scolded. He looked annoyed. Even his usually neat and tidy slicked-back hair was now messy and full of black grease. Carmine glared at the Operators blocking his door, then towards the young black battle suited youth in front of him. "Oh, Porter. You arrived just in time. Come in." The Specialist Operator welcomed the unfamiliar Vanguard and ignored his fellow Operators. This left them completely shocked to their core. Atlan waved at them goodbye, but they were still processing what they saw. So, he left them behind and entered the building with Carmine. "Who is that kid? Why is he allowed inside their building?" "How does he know Carmine?!" ### Atlan entered the production building and saw big moving structures of metal. They clamped onto strangely shaped materials on a conveyor belt that slowly led to a fiery opening similar to a furnace. And if saw them right, he saw giant objects made completely out of chitin. They were stacked in a tower, with one of the forklifts slowly transferring them one by one to a giant vat filled with bubbling acid. Are those Canzer corpses?! He heard Carmine and the others talk about using Canzer materials to construct high-level equipment, but he didn''t think they meant materials straight out of their corpses! But he didn''t have any time to assess the Canzer carcasses around him. Carmine kept on walking through the factory floor and left him behind. He had to follow closely so that he didn''t get trapped within the maze of tall boxes that littered the floor. "I saw you getting blocked by those Operators. Don''t be surprised if that happens again in the future. They don''t like ''Knives'' intruding on their spaces. But don''t mind them. Come follow me, my office is this way." And as he followed behind Carmine, he noticed the heat prickling his skin. The air from the building itself was almost suffocating. He started to sweat! This meant that the temperature inside this building was almost the same as the Heat Wave back in the Masamune district! But instead of getting third-degree burns, the Operators worked the giant cranes and forklifts normally without even skipping a beat. "I hope you don''t mind how hot it is. It takes a lot of energy to melt down high-quality materials from Canzers. Don''t worry, my office is air-conditioned. Maybe you''ll be a lot more comfortable there." "I''m fine, but how are you and the others okay with the heat? I thought Operators weren''t that strong?" Carmine looked back at Atlan and chuckled. "You severely underestimate Specialists, kid. Yes, compared to our counterparts, we can be considered to be quite weak physically. But compared to Students like you, our strengths are like the difference between heaven and earth. And you forget that Operators like us use technology to our advantage. Our blue battle suits are equipped to withstand higher temperatures than this. Sometimes, we even have to get inside the very furnace itself." This only showed Atlan''s complete lack of knowledge about Operators. But it wasn''t his fault. He had been living in the bubble of Vanguards with barely any interaction with the other faction of Saviors. The fact that they didn''t share information was a major reason why there had been so much hate between them. It all stemmed from ignorance. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Is my new battle suit like that?" he asked Carmine. To which, Carmine laughed again. "It does more than that, kid. If you knew how much materials and resources we used on it, then you wouldn''t be asking that question. Instead, you would have asked: what can''t it do?" Atlan and Carmine went up a flight of stairs leading to his main office. The moment he opened the door, Atlan felt a cold breeze hit him in the face. He looked around and couldn''t believe what he saw. Chapter 209 Mix of suits Hail and ice poured down all around, hitting the ground and melding into the already thick snow below.Atlan slowly walked forward and saw himself enter into a completely different world. He looked to the side and saw no visible walls or corners. And when he looked back at the door, he only saw a rectangular frame that led back down to the hot production floor. He walked back and saw that he could walk beyond the door! The door was just a rectangular thick frame in the middle of snow and ice. This wasn''t just an illusion; he was truly transported into a different world! He was standing in the middle of a blizzard, with barely anything visible beyond a few meters. "Oh, bad weather. I''ll change it to be a little bit clearer," said Carmine as he went on his tablet and entered some kind of command. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Suddenly, the world seemed to have fast-forwarded. The blizzard increased in intensity for a few seconds and a fraction of a second later, the clouds soon dispersed to show clear blue skies up above. He saw the snow build up high just a few seconds ago but was now melting down to only a couple of inches deep. Once Carmine stopped his command, the world seemed to have slowed back down to its normal speed. He looked up and only saw pale blue skies with barely any clouds. Now that there was no blizzard, he finally saw the world around him. He was standing at the very peak of a snowy mountain, with a panoramic view of the horizon with a bigger world beyond him. There was a luscious environment filled with green and life away from the mountain. He couldn''t see the Unclaimed Lands anywhere. "Where are we?" Carmine opened his arms. "Welcome to my abode. I like to look at good scenery whenever I work on something hard, so I constructed a simulated world of a tall mountain with an amazing view of what I thought the world would have looked like back in the olden days. They didn''t have the Unclaimed Lands and had life sprawling around everywhere." Atlan bent down and touched the snow in his hands. It was cold and wet. And as he crushed it in his hands, some melted into water and some condensed into ice. "This¡­is a simulated world?" "Yes. I visited the cable car in Mount Infernal a while back and liked it so much that I built my office to have the same view." Atlan truly underestimated Specialist Operators. If they could create a world like this, then they almost had the power of a God! Experience more content on empire "How do you create this?" Carmine looked at Atlan and saw the pure curiosity in his eyes. It was the look of someone hungry for more knowledge. "Pterina was right about you. It seems you do have the talent to become an Operator." "Why do you say that?" Carmine gestured around him. "Look at what I have made. Do you think I would have been able to create this if I wasn''t curious about what the world would have looked like back then? Do you think we would have been able to kill Canzers if our forefathers weren''t curious about their weaknesses? Curiosity drives you to explore what''s out there and inspires you to find new things that weren''t there before. It encourages you to ask the right questions and seek the appropriate solutions. If you weren''t curious about Operators, then you wouldn''t have been able to find a way to force yourself into our world and enroll in the University. Not only that, you were also allowed to study Alchemy and the creation of constructs. Due to your curiosity, you have done the impossible." Carmine complimented the young Star Porter. What he has done was truly unprecedented, and from what he could see, it stemmed only from curiosity and the desire to know more. He was worried that the other Operators wouldn''t accept Atlan as one of their own in the University, but if he was able to show off his curiosity and his pure interest in learning, then they would understand that even if Atlan wasn''t one of them, he was one of them. "Do you want to see your new battle suit?" Atlan nodded. There was nothing he would like more to see. They walked over towards the very peak of the mountain¡ªthe very summit consisting only of a single sharp mound at the end. Carmine waved his hand, and a rectangular hole in the ground suddenly gave way. A new battle suit donned on an armor stand was being slowly pushed up from the rectangular hole until the full suit was revealed. Atlan looked at the battle suit and felt a strange force emanating from inside it. There was a mix of signals as if it was made out of different elements that were constantly fighting with each other. And if he studied it thoroughly, he could sense the familiar Angel Power running through the seams of his new battle suit. Atlan walked up to it and touched his new uniform. The protective padding was made out of something incredibly hard. Because of its color and shiny finish, he wouldn''t have recognized what it was if he didn''t touch it himself. It was made out of chitin! He would be wearing a battle suit made out of the carcass of Canzers! The cloth itself was very flexible yet incredibly firm as well. He tried to stretch it using all of his strength, including activating his Physique LifeSkill, but he still couldn''t tear the fabric apart. It was clear that just from the construction alone, this battle suit was made for high-level missions. "This is amazing," Atlan uttered. "You haven''t seen anything yet. This is a one-of-a-kind battle suit with programmed abilities and powers weaved into the very fabric itself. Some of it will activate even without your intervention, so you don''t have to worry about how to wield it. You''ll be protected from attacks even if you can''t see or react to them. Usually, that would be impossible. But this is different. It is state of the art. This battle suit is a combination of an Operator battle suit and a Vanguard battle suit. It is the best of both worlds." Chapter 210 Antivenom Atlan looked at the marvelous battle suit right in front of his very eyes. He didn''t know what kind of knowledge and skill it took to create such a masterpiece. Each fiber was laced with power and complexity that looked out of this world."This battle suit is rated to defend against Specialist-level Canzers. The padding has five different layers, all separated by a vacuum. It corresponds to five full-powered attacks from the Canzers. Each one will crack and peel away when it gets destroyed, allowing you to have¨Cessentially¨Cfive brand new battle suits all in one." "These paddings¡­they''re made out of chitin? I didn''t think that we could use the carcasses of Canzers to create equipment like this." Carmine nodded and explained. "This world has a distinct lack of valuable natural resources. Back in the olden days, we had plenty, but ever since they turned into the Unclaimed Lands, we have nowhere else to gather any good materials. The ones that we have now are all recycled or bestowed upon us by the Genesis God. As you can guess, that''s not sustainable. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. We might not have many natural resources, but we do have a lot of corpses from all the missions we complete. So, our forefathers started to incorporate them into our equipment. They quickly found out that it''s much more resilient than natural elements. And as a bonus, we found that the equipment with Chitin has an unexpected magical power, allowing us to create constructs and weapons." Atlan focused on Carmine''s last words. "Constructs? They''re also made out of Canzer carcasses?" Carmine nodded. "Usually, I can''t tell you this, but since you''re officially enrolled in the University, you''ll eventually learn this fact. The magical effects of constructs¡ªthe very reason why they''re so effective in disabling a Canzer''s abilities of regeneration or cloning¡ªis because they are made out of the very Canzer''s innards and DNA." "What?!" Atlan couldn''t believe it. Whenever he came across a construct, he always felt the power of the Angels and some other kind of element; he never felt the presence of any Cancer-related ingredient. He thought that it was the Angel power that allowed constructs to disable a Canzer''s powers. But it turned out that it wasn''t the whole truth. "And more often than not, we use the carcass/remains of the same species of Canzers to create a construct that disables that same species," Carmine added. "How is that possible? How can you use a Canzer''s own corpse to disable their species? My intuition would tell me that doing that would only empower the Canzer rather than weaken them." Carmine felt like he was teaching a student, but he didn''t hate it. Atlan would need this basic knowledge to survive in the University. "This is not an uncommon practice. Even in the olden days, when there were no Gods and Canzers in the world, humans had a lot of trouble with snakes. Whenever they were bitten, they would get infected with a venom that would slowly kill them. Their solution to this was to extract that same venom from the snake itself and use that to create what''s called an ''antivenom'' that will be able to cure the bitten human. The same principle applies to constructs. We extract the essence of a specific Canzer from their corpse, and we inject them into a Pseudo Canzer. This Pseudo Canzer will treat this strange foreign essence as a poison that must be destroyed. So, their bodies would produce defenses that would kill this ''poison'' and start to heal their bodies. This is what we use. We harvest those defenses that can kill the essence of a Canzer and use it to create a construct." Atlan didn''t know that Pseudo Canzers were used that way. He thought they were only good for target practice or for injecting venom into people who want to have a good time. "This is why our City has invested a lot of our resources into Pseudo Canzer research. They are essential in our lives, not only for the creation of constructs but for our daily life as well. Did you know that mounts are also Pseudo Canzers? Did you know that most pets in households are Pseudo Canzers?" Atlan had no idea how integral Pseudo Canzers were to the functioning of the entire City. He now understood why the Garden club was abandoned in favor of the Pseudo Canzer division. No matter how much he thought about it, Pseudo Canzers were so much more useful. "Of course, some Canzers require more sophisticated methods that are sometimes completely illogical and arbitrary, but for the most basic Canzers, this is how we create constructs. You''ll learn them the higher you go in your courses at the University, but I''ll show you an example. I heard that you were part of the Pocket Remedium disaster, the one with the Giant Werewolf Canzer. Did you know that one of its weaknesses was its hubris?" Atlan knew the word, but he didn''t know if Carmine was talking about the noun, or something else. "Is that some kind of element?" "No. It means that the Giant Werewolf, or Giants, in particular, are typically arrogant and conceited. That is their weakness. If you can use their excessive pride to your advantage, then you will be able to weaken the Canzer by a tremendous amount. Think about that. Hubris is not a physical object, it is merely an abstract word. Yet, it can affect the Canzer by a large degree." Atlan was fascinated and horrified at the same time. The fact that such a concept would be the downfall of a Specialist-level Canzer as powerful as the Giant Werewolf lit a fire of interest in his heart. He wanted to know more about other abstract weaknesses of Canzers. At the same time, he was scared at the thought of facing a Canzer that had no physical weaknesses. If he didn''t know the abstract weakness of a Canzer, he might never be able to kill them at all. Carmine smiled when he saw the conflicting expression on Atlan''s face. This was the very reason he mentioned this to him in the first place. He wanted to stoke the youth''s interest in constructs and Operators. "But you don''t have to worry about how to create a construct for now. At the very center of your battle suit is a control center," Carmine said as he pointed at a hexagonal black object embedded in the middle of the chest piece. Chapter 211 Capabilities of the suit "Each fiber of your battle suit is kind of like a miniature construct, in that it has all the ''antivenom'' of all the known Specialist-level Canzers that we expect to be in the mission.Of course, there could also be Canzers which we haven''t prepared for. If you encounter them and we haven''t prepared a construct for them, then you won''t be returning in one piece. This is what the control center is for. This little device is capable of creating a new construct in a matter of minutes by borrowing the ''antivenom'' from the fibers in your suit and creating an entirely new one!" Atlan looked at his battle suit with awe. "It can do that?! Why can''t all battle suits have this?" Carmine chuckled. "I told you, this is a one-of-a-kind battle suit. The creation of this piece exhausted all our resources. If I hadn''t been building something similar to this before, I wouldn''t have been able to build this in two hours, let alone two days! Thankfully, I already built the control center a long time ago, so I simply had to put the pieces together, which mind you, still took a lot of effort not to mess up." Atlan knew that it was logistically impossible to create a battle suit like this for everyone. However, he knew that this kind of technology would save a lot of lives in this current apocalypse. If a construct could be made in a Savior''s battle suit within minutes, then they wouldn''t have to worry about an anomaly anymore. In an ideal world, Atlan hoped that everyone was able to equip this weapon. "Also, you''re forgetting about the fact that this battle suit contains tens if not hundreds of constructs! Normal Saviors would not be able to carry this much weight on their bodies or risk getting crushed into a mushy puddle of blood and flesh. Even getting inside the battle suit is already a battle in and of itself. If your physique is not tough enough, you would not be able to squeeze inside it no matter how much you tried." Atlan forgot about the weight aspect of the battle suit. Because of his SSS class Physique, he never had trouble carrying any constructs that others deemed too heavy to carry. For him, it would be as light as a feather. But this battle suit was an entirely different beast. First of all, the constructs woven in the fabric were rated for Specialist-level Canzers. According to what he heard, constructs got heavier the more complex and powerful they were. He reckoned he would have trouble carrying just one Specialist-level construct, let alone a hundred of them. "Would I be able to carry that battle suit?" Carmine shrugged. "That''s what we''re here to find out." Continue your journey on empire "What if I can''t?" Carmine took a deep sigh. "Then you can''t go on with the mission. We''ll have to find someone else who can use it. If we can''t find someone here in our City, we''ll have to lower our heads and ask for help from the other Territories." That was not the best outcome for this situation. Carmine created this battle suit specifically for Atlan. It had his measurements and his physical build fitted in the very fabric itself. Others who would try it on would only feel uncomfortable and therefore be unable to fully bring out their true capabilities. In the dangerous Remedium, every ounce of strength was needed. Carmine patted Atlan on the shoulders. "Let''s just hope you can, kid. But let''s not worry about that for now. You still have much to learn about this technological marvel of a battle suit. Your missions in the Remedium have been largely uneventful, correct? The danger from the anomalies you encounter only applies to the unexpected Canzers or Sapient Canzers that you encounter. In this particular mission, Canzers will not be your main problem. That''s the reason why we spent so much on your battle suit; it can deal with the Canzers. However, in Remedium of a higher-level difficulty mission, you will find that the very environment itself will try to kill you. It is hostile to both humans and Canzers. Sometimes, Specialist-level missions will only have trouble with the Remedium rather than the Canzer itself. It is unpredictable. One second, you''re in an open space, and the next, you''ll be swallowed by the ground and squeezed into minced meat. There is no preparation for that. Now, this mission is especially more dangerous. Not only is it a high-level mission, but it is also located at a Critical Point. The Remedium there will try to kill you in any way it could. It won''t be indiscriminate and random; it will actively sabotage you. I don''t have much experience with that, so I''ll let Ninth and her team brief you on it. However, what I can do is let you have the equipment available to get yourself out of such predicaments. The first one is an anti-gravity jetpack installed on the back. You won''t believe how many pitfalls Saviors fell on. The next is a torch installed on your shoulders that can light up a large room. You might think this is basic, but you don''t know how mentally exhausting it is to fight in the dark. The fear of the unknown will keep you in tension and slowly wear down your psyche. You mustn''t put yourself in that position because even if you can physically complete the mission, your drained psyche will prevent you from continuing on your journey. Next is a heat and cold-resistant technology that will save you from the harshest of environments. If you find yourself swimming in lava, which is more than possible in the Remedium, you will be able to protect yourself for at least a couple of minutes before it wears down. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And the next is the most important one." Carmine pointed at the small dark circle positioned near the stomach of the battle suit. Atlan took a closer look and saw that it was made out of glass. "This is a camera that will transmit a live video feed of everything you see in the Remedium. We''ll be able to see what you see." Chapter 212 Documentation purposes "A camera¡­"Atlan did not like the sound of that. As Carmine explicitly told him earlier, the Remedium in this mission would be actively trying to sabotage him. He not only had to worry about the Specialist-level Canzers trying to kill him, but he also had to worry about the ground suddenly growing arms and choking the life out of him. Carmine gave the battle suit new capabilities and gadgets, but Atlan knew that things could always go wrong in the Remedium and he''d only have to rely on his own capabilities to survive. He would be forced to use his real strength. He''d have to rely on all of his LifeSkills in his Soul System to get out of any dangerous situation that would eventually happen to him. That was one of the main reasons why he accepted the mission in the first place. As long as he knew that he could get in and out of the Remedium via his Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings, he didn''t have to worry about dying and being trapped in the Remedium. And he knew that with the combination of all his strength, he was probably equivalent to a Pre-Intern realm Savior, especially with his Bloodline Transformation. However, with a camera strapped to his chest, he would be under surveillance for the whole mission. "Who''d be watching the video?" Carmine pointed to himself. "Me, my team, and the Elder Heads." Atlan bit his lips. If the Elder Heads were to watch him suddenly use a LifeSkill different from his Physique, then they would immediately know that there was something wrong with him. Even if he saved the City and came back, he would most certainly be questioned under intense interrogation. "Why? Do you just want to see how the mission turns out?" Atlan asked. "It''s for documentation purposes," Carmine answered. "We, the Elder Heads specifically, want to see the current state of the Door underneath the Church. We must ensure that it is in perfect condition without any sign of damage. And since you are not knowledgeable in the area, you would have no idea what you''re looking at. You won''t know if the Door is healthy or not. That''s why we have the video. With it, we can be the ones to evaluate the Door. We can also tell you what to do next so that we can fix whatever problem we see." Atlan looked at the very small camera just underneath the chest area of the battle suit. "You can also talk to me using this?" Carmine nodded. "It has a built-in microphone and speaker that will allow us to talk to each other even in the Remedium." Atlan looked at Carmine and pleaded. "Do we have to? Can''t you just teach me how to spot any damage in the Door?" He was very hesitant about having a camera in his battle suit, but Carmine had no idea why Atlan didn''t want to have potentially life-saving equipment installed in the suit. "The camera is not only for the Door but also for you." "For me?" "For you. If you encounter a Specialist Canzer whom you have no idea about, you will have no idea how to survive their attacks. Even if your battle suit is equipped to handle attacks, it can only withstand five of them. It is your lifeline, not your defense. You must dodge, evade, run, and hide from these monsters using your own capabilities. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, how are you going to dodge an attack if you don''t know what they do? You might end up running straight towards the attack instead of running away from it. These Specialist Canzers have weird powers and abilities that cannot be explained by logic. Even Specialist-realm Saviors like Ninth and her team will be in trouble if they don''t have the knowledge to defeat the Canzer. How will you, a Student-realm porter, have any chance of surviving their attacks if you have neither the strength nor knowledge to do so?" Atlan went silent with his explanation. It made too much sense. However, he was still conflicted about the fact that he wouldn''t be able to use his full capabilities in such a dangerous environment. "It will take years if not centuries for you to catch up on the theoretical knowledge needed to deal with Specialist Canzers, and we simply do not have that time. Our best bet for the success of this mission is to transport our brain and knowledge with you to the Remedium. The solution is this camera. We will tell you what Canzer you''re dealing with, which one of their attacks you need to watch out for, and how to properly dodge them." Atlan considered his words. He had to choose. Which one did he think was more important for his survival: the full usage of his LifeSkills and powers or the knowledge needed to survive the mission? He stayed in silence as he contemplated the consequences of each choice. If he chose to remove the camera, then he would be going into the Remedium blind. He would have to deal with the Canzers all by himself without anyone to guide him. As Carmine said, he had no idea about the capabilities of the Canzers he was going to face. Not to mention the fact that the Remedium itself will sabotage and try to kill him, running away or hiding would be useless. He would have to fight. Find more chapters on empire If he did, he''d have to rely on the battle suit. Sure, the battle suit had the capabilities to become an all-in-one construct that could disable all the Canzers and weaken them, but would he be able to properly use that if he didn''t even know how it worked? It was automatic, but what if it malfunctioned? And if he used his full powers, would it make a difference against Specialist-level Canzers? Probably not. They would turn his body into mere mush, the only difference would be if he lasted for one second or five seconds. Chapter 213 Stepping inside If he had Carmine''s expert opinion by his side, guiding him about the pitfalls and traps of the Remedium and the capabilities and weaknesses of Canzers, he wouldn''t even have to fight at all.He could simply use their weaknesses against them and sneak past into the Church and onto the basement where the Ifrit was located. That was the mission. It was about making sure the Door remained safe, it was not about fighting Specialist Canzers. He had no chance of ever killing them anyway. He didn''t have enough strength to do so, even with his full use of his LifeSkills and mutations. His most powerful LifeSkill right now was the 1st stage Pre-Intern realm Bloodline Transformation, and that was still two realms below the Specialist-realm. He had no chance. However, one of his goals for this mission was to witness and reap the death of the Canzers that Ninth and her team would defeat. If possible, he would like to contribute to that fight so that he could maximize gains and minimize the risk. If everything went well, then he could probably get another Pre-Intern LifeSkill from this mission. He didn''t need to use his LifeSkills or his mutations for that. Just the mere fact that he was using the battle suit was enough for him to contribute to the fight. Without the constructs installed into the very fabric of his battle suit, then Ninth and her team wouldn''t be able to defeat the Canzer, therefore, Atlan would be a major contributor to the fight. At least, he hoped so. He didn''t know the full parameters of the reward system. He didn''t know if he had to physically hurt the Canzer to be attributed as an assist, or if he simply had to help the team that killed it. With all things considered, Atlan thought that it was much more beneficial for him to have the camera in the battle suit. The fact that he could converse with Carmine and his team while he''s in the Remedium was a large reason why he conceded with this option. "Does the camera see everything?" "No. We can only see what you see. A 360-degree view camera will require much bulkier equipment installed in the battle suit. It will increase, not only the complexity of the suit itself but also its gross weight. It''s already quite heavy, if you ask me. We don''t want to hinder your ability to move any more than this." Atlan nodded to himself. If the camera couldn''t see his back, then it was still possible for him to manifest his Angel Wings mutation. This was his most important power. It could get him out of trouble whenever it got too dangerous. "Okay. I think it''s time for you to try it on," said Carmine, with a little bit of nervousness in his voice. "Touch the control center." Atlan took a deep breath and agreed. "Okay. I''ll do it." He walked forward and raised his hand toward the hexagonal black object in the middle of the battle suit''s chest piece. As his hand got closer, the black hexagon responded with a blue light that followed his finger, with its light intensifying as he got closer. Once he touched it, the hexagon completely lit up in a blue light that seeped into the very battle suit itself. Lines of blue light filled the battle suit, with each line activating the circuitry inside to respond to Atlan''s touch. TSHHH The battle suit split wide open in the middle, with the hexagonal control center staying intact and siding on the left side. The inside of his battle suit was made out of a gray material with a checkered design of blue and green squares, each lighting up periodically and randomly. "I suggest you use your Physique LifeSkill before you enter the battle suit. You''ll need it." Atlan heeded Carmine''s advice and immediately enveloped himself in a black fire. The change in pressure and aura emanating from Atlan completely surprised Carmine. It caught him off guard. He heard rumors about Atlan''s Physique LifeSkill, but this was the first time he''d ever witnessed it firsthand. Most porter LifeSkills were imperceptible and only increased a porter''s ability to carry heavy objects. Their physiques were completely altered to accommodate the tremendously heavy weight they were tasked to carry. However, Carmine saw a completely different thing with Atlan''s Physique LifeSkill. Those black flames enveloping his body didn''t give Atlan''s body an improvement in strength, it weakened everything else around him instead! Carmine couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Instead of boosting Atlan''s physical strength to carry heavy objects, those black flames weakened the force of the weight of everything he touched! He finally understood how Atlan was able to fight against 6th-stage Ifrits while only being in the 2nd-stage Student realm. When he first read about it in Atlan''s profile report, he couldn''t believe it. Even when he revealed the fact that his Physique LifeSkill was above an S class, Carmine still couldn''t find an explanation as to how he was able to use his Porter LifeSkill for offense. That was supposed to be impossible. But now, everything made sense. Those black flames weakened the Ifrits and allowed him to destroy them with mere physical force. As a Specialist-realm Operator, he had more sensitive senses than the regular Savior. He could accurately guess the class of most Saviors. Is his LifeSkill¡­SSS class?!?! But even so, something was bugging him about those black flames. Even if it was an SSS class, it still didn''t explain why it felt different than most Physique LifeSkills. It felt¡­alien. It didn''t conform to everything he knew about Vanguards and their powers. It was faint, but he also felt a tinge of an Operator''s power inside those black flames. I''m seeing things. I''m too exhausted. Carmine shook his head as let go of the thoughts in his mind. He instead focused on Atlan''s first steps towards his new battle suit. Atlan turned around and spread his arms as he backed away towards the battle suit''s mold. As soon as he stepped inside, the battle suit slowly closed. TSSHHHH Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 214 Struggle to stand Atlan felt the suit close in on his body, squeezing his body with a force that made him tense up. He held onto his Physique LifeSkill harder than he ever did before. He could feel his blood cut off from the circulation in his body. The pressure of the shoulder guards of his battle suit weighed him down significantly, making his legs and arms feel a painful prickling sensation."Hold on! It''s not done yet," Carmine shouted. He could see the struggle in Atlan''s expression, but the battle suit had yet to completely close on his body. CLICK That sound signaled the complete locking of the battle suit onto Atlan''s body. He gritted his teeth. Even with his Physique LifeSkill activated at its fullest, he still could not overcome the pressure put on him by the battle suit. It felt like his bones would get fractured at any second. "You''re tilting! Don''t let yourself fall to the ground or else you won''t be able to get back up!" Carmine took a sharp breath. Atlan would only be able to overcome the weight of the battle suit while he was standing. Human anatomy was specialized this way and allowed him to collectively use his muscles to overcome the tremendous gravity. But if he were to fall, he would find it impossible to stand back up from a prone position. His muscles would be isolated and would be unable to overcome the force weighing him down. "Argh!" The battle suit was too much. This was the first time Atlan had ever felt something that his Physique LifeSkill could not overcome. It felt like the whole world was on his shoulders. He couldn''t help but tilt backward to try and help his spine from breaking in half, but that only made his balance unstable, causing him to be on a downward projection that would eventually leave him falling down the mountain. "GAAARRGGHHH!" Atlan screamed, forcing his left leg to raise and step back, stabilizing himself in a standing position. "Haaa¡­haaa¡­" He took deep breaths. He felt sweat pouring down his back even though the mountain was cold and breezy. This was the first time he''d ever labored himself just trying to stand up. "Are you okay?" Atlan took a few seconds of silence before he nodded his head slowly. He didn''t want to make any sudden movements¡ªnot that he could even if he wanted to. It felt like he was entombed into a rock-solid metal; his whole body was paralyzed. He exhausted all of his strength just by raising one leg. "It''s good that you can still stand up. I was worried that you wouldn''t even be able to keep yourself steady. But the battle has just started. You''ll have to find a way to walk. After that, you''ll have to find a way to run." Atlan was focused on keeping himself from being crushed by the sheer force of the battlesuit. He had no energy left to try and walk! Carmine gritted his teeth as he saw Atlan try and fail to raise his leg another time. No matter how much he tried to lessen the weight inside the battle suit, it was too much for the Star Porter. Even if Atlan was a talented genius with a LifeSkill rated in the SSS class, a three realm difference proved to be too much even for him. And it wasn''t just a simple Specialist-level construct, it was the equivalent of tens of constructs! Should I get rid of some of them? No! I''ve already maximized the constructs. Any more and we''ll risk being unable to deal with a Specialist Canzer on the inside¡­but¡­if Atlan can''t even enter the Remedium, all those constructs will be useless anyway. A conflict appeared in Carmine''s mind. He considered trying to cut a huge bulk of the padding and armor defenses on his battle suit to try and keep the weight down, but that would only risk the Star Porter''s life. Lizzie wouldn''t forgive him if he cut down on Atlan''s protection. "It''s¡­so¡­heavy¡­" Atlan uttered. The best he could do was raise his hand forward, but it did not help in walking a single step. For him to advance, he''d have to put all of his weight on one leg while the other walked forward. That means his one leg would have to carry tens of thousands of tons of weight for a few seconds. Atlan was unsure whether his bones would be able to take that kind of pressure; he already heard a few of his bones break just from standing still. "This battle suit is a beast. It will want to overwhelm you before you can overwhelm it. The different Specialist-level Canzer ''antivenom'' installed in the fabric of your battle suit are fighting against each other, but now that it detected your presence, they will work together to try and bring you down. It is your job to reign them in!" Atlan suddenly looked up at Carmine as an idea came to his head. The weight comes from the Canzers? Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If that was true, then there was only one solution for this problem: he needed something that could weaken those arrogant Specialist Canzer essences. There was only one thing that he knew that could make even the strongest of Canzers bow down at his feet: Angel Power. If he was able to use the Angel Power in his bloodline, then he''d be able to show dominance with the Canzer essences in the battle suit and make them submit to him. With their compliance, there would be less weight on the battle suit, allowing him to walk with it. If he was alone, he could simply pop out his Angel Wings and show them the true holiness of its pure white feathers. However, he was in the presence of Carmine, a Specialist Operator who Atlan suspected knew about Angels and would immediately identify the true nature of his wings. I need to show my Angel bloodline to my battle suit, but not to Carmine. How will I do that? It didn''t take him a few seconds to find the answer. He licked his lips, remembering that moment with Lizzie. She didn''t just teach him the pleasure of kissing, but also how to use the power of a mutation without manifesting them in real life! Chapter 215 False mutation The memory was still fresh in his mind. With her plump lips on his, there was no way he was going to ever forget that feeling.He closed his eyes and remembered what happened when he achieved effortless focus and concentration during his fight with Lizzie. In his desire to get faster, he was able to tap into the hidden strength deep within his Soul System¡ªwithin his Angel genus. He forced himself to believe that there were, and always would be, Angel Wings behind him ready to supply him with lightspeed quickness. Lizzie told him to always think about the feeling of the Angel Wings as concrete as possible as if it was manifested in reality. Deep within his Soul System, within the 10 different genuses in his possession, he honed in on the second helix structure made out of pure white materials and glimmered brightly in the dark. This was his Angel Genus. He focused and tried to connect to his Genus. He needed to convey his need and his desire for the power that it possessed. After a few seconds, he finally made a connection with the Angel Genus. Slowly, it started to leak out some kind of white gas that expanded outwards and slowly exited his Soul System. The white gas slowly revolved around his body until it finally settled near his shoulder blades. It started to recreate the power of the Angel Wings even without its physical manifestation in reality. If someone was able to peer through the different dimensions, then they would see the outline of the Angel Wings attached to Atlan''s back. Meanwhile, Atlan closed his eyes. The world turned slower. His focus intensified. This was the same feeling he had when he was able to catch Lizzie in their sparring session! Altan successfully achieved it once again! Lizzie told him that this kind of power was called ''False Mutation!'' With this kind of power, he was able to bring out a fraction of the power of his mutation, without the burden of manifesting it in real life! Due to its lack of physical presence, it was not limited to Atlan''s low stamina or his inability to keep mutations for a long time. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He could keep using the False Mutation of his Angel Wings indefinitely! Powered with this newfound strength, Atlan slowly stood up straight, commanding the battle suit to submit to his direction. The battle suit and the Canzer essences inside it fought back against him, using its collective strength to try and push him down using their weight. However, they were soon repelled by a force that was all too familiar for the essences. It was Angel Power. It enveloped Atlan''s entire body and coated him with a protective barrier that the Canzer essences could not break through. Instead, the Angel Power slowly wore down the last drudges and remnants of the deceased Canzers. Even fully alive Canzers were affected by Angel Power. These ''leftovers'' had no chance of trying to overpower someone blessed with the power of the extinct Angels! Atlan raised his leg and found it to be infinitely easier than before. It was still heavy, but there was no longer an oppressive force actively trying to squeeze his bones to the point of fracturing. Meanwhile, Carmine paced back and forth trying to figure out a solution for this current predicament. "I could get rid of the anti-gravity module¡­but no¡­it will only help him stay in place, but it won''t help him move forward. How about¡ª" Just then, he looked forward and suddenly saw Atlan take a step forward like an astronaut taking his first steps on alien land. There was caution in his movements, but Carmine was sure that he moved with excitement. "That''s great!" he shouted. "You took your first steps¡ª" But before he could even finish his first sentence, Atlan raised his other foot and took another step. But he didn''t end there. He took a few more steps in succession without taking any breaks in between. Carmine felt like he was looking at a toddler progressively advancing from barely walking, to a full stride like an adult human! Atlan finally felt freedom in his movements. He could walk, he could raise his hands, and he could even jump a minuscule bit, which utterly surprised Carmine to the point where he fell on his butt. "But¨Cbut¡­but how?! I''m happy that you''re able to walk normally, but¡­but I just can''t understand how!" Atlan''s movements were completely different from when he first put on the battle suit. He couldn''t even stand up straight before, but now, he could even jump and walk better than other Saviors who put on a normal battle suit. He quickly walked over to Atlan''s battle suit and inspected his craft. He checked the internal circuitry and the modules he put inside to make sure that they worked properly, but he found nothing wrong with them. He thought the battle suit malfunctioned, which allowed Atlan to walk normally, but he was wrong. The battle suit was fully powered up. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion. Now that Atlan proved that he could wield the battle suit well enough to enter the Remedium, then the mission would go on as they planned. However, as an Operator and a fellow curious mind, he couldn''t help but keep his mind on the battle suit. How is this possible? With his expertise in battle suits and constructs, he had no viable explanation for how Atlan was able to suddenly walk with the battle suit on when it weighed him down heavily just a minute ago. As a Specialist Operator, he thought he knew everything there was to know about his field. He was proved wrong. "Can you tell me how you did it?" Atlan kept silent for a second. He contemplated on which answer he would give to Carmine. Should he lie completely and tell him that he didn''t know what happened, or should he tell him a half-truth? His first instinct was to lie. The more secrets he kept to the world, the safer he would be. However, he couldn''t help but sympathize with his curious eyes. "It''s because of my mutation¡ªthe one I got from the Vineyard." Chapter 216 Hexagonal box "I see¡­" Carmine was in deep thought over Atlan''s words.It was no secret that the Star Porter was allowed to have an all-access ticket to the Vineyard where all their high-class genuses were stored. Carmine was not arrogant enough to declare that he knew everything about mutations and genuses, but from what he knew, there wasn''t a genus powerful enough to overcome tens of thousands of tons of weight like Atlan was doing right now. However, the fact that Atlan was able to show him the strength of this supposed ''mutation'' was all the evidence he needed to believe it. "Your mutation is quite powerful. If it''s something that can help you traverse through the Remedium, then all the better. This is good." Carmine then spent the next twenty minutes testing all the parameters of the battle suit. He had Atlan perform a few stretches to see how the fibers reacted to his movements. He must ensure that there won''t be any hindrance to Atlan''s agility. "You don''t feel any discomfort, do you?" "No discomfort." Carmine nodded. "That''s good. As you can see, the blue lines that light up around your battle suit are the circuitry I installed underneath. It makes sure that all the constructs that are hidden within your battle suit are connected to the control center. You must ensure that you protect the fibers of your battle suit from destruction or else the control center won''t be able to automatically activate the constructs. But don''t worry. If that happens, you can still manually activate it, you''ll just have to know how. That''s where the camera comes in. I''ll teach you on the go." Atlan tested out the fibers before and found them to be durable enough for him to be unable to rip them into shreds. Of course, that didn''t mean much in front of Specialist-level Canzers. He just had to trust that Carmine created a well-protected battle suit that could withstand attacks from those beasts. "Now, I''ll teach you how to activate your control center. In the mission, the control center will activate automatically once it senses a Canzer nearby. All you have to do then is to touch that black hexagonal object in your chest, and the construct will appear in your hands." Atlan touched the control center in his chest and felt a warm sensation spread out and flow around his body. "I guess I have to protect this control center from being destroyed," Atlan uttered. But Carmine eased his concerns. "You don''t have to worry about the control center. There''s a reason why I installed it in your chest. That hexagonal black object is the most durable thing in your battle suit and can even double as your protective padding. How strong, you wonder? The battle suit can be frayed and be destroyed into mere ashes, but the control center will remain unharmed. It is the apex of our technological capacity!" Atlan looked at the black hexagonal control center in his chest. It gave him comfort that he didn''t have to be concerned about its destruction. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "As you can see, you don''t have to worry much about the battle suit. The problem now is when things go wrong. Even if I made this battle suit with the strongest defenses and ensured the circuitry was correct, there would be some anomalies that could make the battle suit malfunction. At that point, you will have to manually override the control center. Please make an ''X'' on the black hexagon." Atlan did as Carmine said by running his finger from the top corner of the hexagon diagonally down to the opposite corner. He did it on each side till he made an ''X''. As soon as he did, the black hexagon suddenly popped up and separated into fragments, with the ''X'' opening up to show the terminal underneath. Atlan saw rows and columns of buttons in the terminal, each showing a different letter of the human alphabet. On top of it was a rectangular screen that blinked lightly as it waited for an input. "I''m gonna have to tell you a series of codes that you''re going to input on the control center. You must do it without missing a letter or a beat. Once successful, it will hopefully fix any problem that comes up. If not, then I''ll keep on telling you to input codes till it works." Atlan nodded. He understood the instructions, but he was more interested in the fact that he could fix problems by just pushing a few buttons. He thought it''d be a bit more complicated than that. Although he was disappointed that he wasn''t going to be learning how to fix the battle suit using elbow grease, he knew inputting codes was much easier and could make his life in the Remedium much easier. "Next, I''m going to show you the construct you''ll need to defeat the Ifrit in the basement. You need to bring it out before you''re near the Ifrit, so the control center won''t automatically bring it out. You''ll have to be the one to do it. Push the control center for exactly five seconds." The control center returned to its original hexagonal shape once it sensed no input from Atlan. He then used his entire hand to push the black hexagon into his chest for five seconds, using the SoulTime in his Soul System as a guide for accuracy. ¡­four¡­five¡­now! Atlan released his hand, and suddenly, the hexagonal glowed a bright blue light that spread out to the fibers of his battle suit. It didn''t take long before Atlan felt a ''heaviness'' in his right hand. He slowly lifted it and saw golden particles gathering above his palm. These particles collided with each other and formed clumps. As more and more particles flowed out from his battle suit and joined the storm in his palm, the clumps slowly grew into an object that he was familiar with. It was a golden oil lamp, with its design a lot more intricate than the one they had in the Masamune mission. It was heavier too. Its difference was probably due to the fact that it was a huge upgrade from the original one. This construct could absorb the Ifrit even from far away. BEEP BEEP A loud noise interrupted their session. Carmine looked at his tablet and saw a notification. His eyes narrowed and his expression turned serious. "The Church is showing more Symptoms." Chapter 217 Main road to the church "What does that mean?" Atlan asked."It means that the Specialist-level Canzers have already invaded the Church Remedium. Don''t worry, we expected this. It only means that we don''t have the time for practice or preparation. We have to go. Now." Atlan took a deep breath and readied himself. Even though he didn''t know everything there was to know about the battle suit, he was comforted by the fact that Carmine and his team of Specialist Operators could talk to him while in the Remedium. "You have to go and meet with Ninth and her team. She''ll brief you about the plans they prepared for this mission." Atlan walked forward, with his steps slow and heavy. Even with the False mutation of his Angel Wings activated, he was still not fast enough to run with the battle suit. It was way too heavy. Having limited mobility was a problem, but it was much better than not being able to walk at all. He slowly made his way back to the door that led out to the production floor of the Operator building. He expected to feel the intense temperature of the furnace, but he was surprised to see that he felt nothing at all. "Your battle suit is protecting you from the heat¡ªnot that you would have needed it anyway," said Carmine from behind him. As they walked down the flight of steps to the production floor, the other Operators working in the factory stopped their jobs and looked up at Atlan and Carmine. They looked at the bulky battle suit adorned by the Star Porter. They were part of the team that helped build that technical marvel of a battle suit. They knew how heavy it was. The fact that Atlan was walking normally with it was a tremendous feat of strength that surprised even the Specialist Operators. Many of them debated whether it was even possible for anyone to use it, but as it turned out, they were proven wrong¡ªand from a Student porter at that. Carmine and Atlan walked out of the Operator building and made their way out of the HeadQuarters. They garnered a lot of looks, not because of the bulky armor-like battle suit donned by Atlan, but because he was walking alongside Carmine, a known Specialist Operator. This mission wasn''t spread to the public, so they had no idea about the specialized battle suit. There were some curious Saviors who walked up towards Atlan and Carmine, but they were quickly deterred by a couple of soldiers following closely behind them. The Elder Heads decreed that there be no delay in their journey to the Church Remedium. So, soldiers followed closely behind Atlan and Carmine and ensured that they would not be disturbed on their way there. Atlan took this time to familiarize himself with the battle suit. Unlike his normal battle suit, this one was a lot bulkier and served more as full body armor rather than a thin fabric that clung tightly to his skin. He had to get used to the fact that he wouldn''t be able to move as fast as he wanted to. Even if his mind could react fast, it did not mean that he could dodge just as fast. His body refused to move as quickly as he wanted to. He had to adjust his reaction time. Back then, he could dodge at the very last second to ensure that he could create a counter-attack that his enemy would not expect. But with this battle suit, he had to dodge at the very moment that he thought he was in trouble or else it''d be too late. Once they were out of the HeadQuarters, the soldiers guided them to a truck that would lead them directly to the Church. "Save our church!" "Why isn''t there any news about the Church yet?" "Why are they taking their time?!" Outside the HeadQuarters, a large group of civilians gathered outside the barricade. They pestered the soldiers for any news regarding the church, but they were always ignored. The increasing worry of the general public led the HeadQuarters to issue a City-wide announcement that assured them that the problem in the Church would soon be solved. Of course, without any explanations as to how they were going to do that, the general public continued their protests outside the barricade. Thankfully, the soldiers were able to create a convoy through the traffic and lead them towards their intended destination. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. While on the way, Carmine told Atlan some much-needed advice for the mission. "You''ll be encountering Specialist Canzers, and you mustn''t try to fight them. You must activate the construct first and foremost, and use that to run away from them. Their powers are unlike anything you''d ever seen before. Some can bend reality. You''ll find yourself playing by their rules¡ªplaying in the world that they created. Even if they are not Sapient Canzers, do not underestimate their intelligence. At the same time, you must use their intelligence to your advantage. Ninth and her team will protect you until you reach the basement, but after that, you''ll be by yourself. Beware of the Remedium. Remember that." Atlan took Carmine''s words to heart. His experience with the Student-level Canzers was wholly inadequate for him to create expectations for this mission. Specialist-level Canzers were completely on a different level. It made his heart beat wildly, both in nervousness and excitement. He didn''t even notice the time passing by in the truck. Carmine had to shake him to get him out of his stupor. "Atlan. We''re here." Atlan stepped foot off the truck and followed behind Carmine. He looked around and was surprised to see that they were not near the Church at all; they were in one of the barricaded main roads leading there! This place was the first road that he and Lizzietook to try and get to the Church. And just beyond the blockade, there were a couple of people already waiting for him. One of which, was a curly haired woman with a look of worry on her face. Chapter 218 Briefing "Atlan." Lizzie came running towards him and buried her face in his chest. She clicked her tongue once she saw Atlan walking normally in the battle suit.There was a small part of her that wished that Atlan wasn''t able to carry the battle suit at all. That way, he wouldn''t have to go on the mission. "It''s not too late to back down." "I have to do this," he replied. Lizzie removed herself from him and sniffed. "Fine. My only solace to the fact that you''re embarking on this mission is because of Ninth. I''m sure that she''d protect you to the best of her abilities. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just make sure to always follow her instructions. No going off on your own. I repeat, no shenanigans! Don''t think I don''t know you, Atlan. You will undoubtedly do some stupid thing and risk your life for no reason." Atlan smiled guiltily. She was right on the mark. He was explicitly told by everyone that he shouldn''t try to fight the Specialist Canzers, but Atlan planned on getting at least one hit on them. Of course, he wasn''t going to do it if it risked his life. But, if he found an opportunity, he was going to take it. Seeing his silence, Lizzie felt annoyed once again. "Whatever! Go and talk to Ninth. I''m sure that she''ll whip you into shape. She won''t allow any deviance in her plans." Atlan walked over to Ninth, who was still busy talking to her team. "Atlan, you''re finally here." Ninth welcomed him. She observed his movements. Although he was moving slowly, he showed no difficulty in maneuvering the heavy battle suit. Just from his walk alone, she was able to assess his readiness for the mission. She was thoroughly impressed to realize that Atlan would be able to keep up with them even with his battle suit. "Woah¡­I didn''t think that was possible." "Ninth, you were right. He was able to wield the battle suit after all." "I thought we''d have to postpone. I''m happy to admit I''m wrong." The rest of her team expressed their surprise once they saw Atlan. They were briefed about the capabilities of Atlan''s battle suit and knew that it contained tens if not hundreds of constructs in one. They thought that it was impossible for anyone, much less a Student-level porter, to walk with it. In truth, Atlan did not have the strength to carry the battle suit. It was all thanks to his Angel bloodline. It helped him subdue the wild leftover Canzer essences in the battle suit and lessened the weight they were putting on him. "I''ll have to introduce you to my team, Atlan. We have 8 people in total, including you. We have two tanks, one mage, one DPS, a sniper, a scout, a Mesmer, and a porter." Ninth introduced each and every one of her team to Atlan, including their jobs in this current mission. "In the very front is our main tank. His job is to be the first one the Canzers lock on to. He will exhaust their attacks, giving us the opportunity to attack. Floating on his right is our scout. His position can vary. He can go at the very front, or the very back. Since we don''t know what kinds of Canzers are awaiting us on the inside, his job is crucial. He will be informing us on what we''ll be facing before we face them. Behind the main tank is the DPS, me. My job is to search for any weaknesses in the Canzer and exploit them. Behind me is the Mage, the Mesmer, and the Sniper. The Mage''s job is to deal damage in a large area. Her job is to make sure we don''t get surrounded by enemies in all directions. The Mesmer works in tandem with me and the Tank. He will conjure illusions and mind tricks that will disorient our enemies, allowing me to close in and attack their weaknesses. The Sniper''s job is to deal damage from afar. He will be the first to attack long before the Canzer can get near our positions, giving us the advantage. Atlan, you''ll be positioned behind them. Usually, a porter is at the very back of the formation, but this mission is different. We''ll position the other tank behind you, and his sole job is to protect you from any harm. Even if our team gets ravaged, he will not move. He is your bodyguard." The bodyguard tank walked up to Atlan and shook his hand. "If I say to move, you move. If I tell you to stay, you stay. I can''t protect you if I don''t know how you''ll move. The Remedium will get more wonkier the closer we get to the Church, so you better stick close to me." Atlan nodded. He understood the man''s concern, but that didn''t mean he was going to follow it. He quickly changed the subject. "By the way, why aren''t we entering the Remedium directly in the Church? Why do we have to enter through one of the main roads?" Ninth answered his question. "The Canzers have already appeared on the Church Remedium. They got to it first. This means that they''ll be able to prepare for our entry. If we go through the portal in the Church, we''ll end up in the middle of the Canzers. It is an immediate disadvantage. But if we enter through the main roads, we''ll be approaching them on our own accord. We can take them one by one." The thought of fighting multiple Specialist-level Canzers scared the wits out of Atlan. "If we know that there are Specialist Canzers there, why don''t we have all the Specialist Saviors join us in the mission?" Since this mission was critical to the City''s safety, it only made sense for all the Specialist Vanguards to join hands. Atlan found it weird that only 7 Specialist Saviors were assigned to this mission. "We can, but it will only allow other Canzers to infiltrate the Remedium. There is a reason why each team is limited to a maximum of 8 members. If we exceed that, our presence will create a hole in the Remedium allowing other Canzers to easily enter the Remedium. But if we only have eight members enter, we can be sure that there are only a maximum of eight Canzers inside." Chapter 219 Dont be risky Atlan didn''t know that there was such a rule in missions. But if that was true, then he understood why they limited the amount of Saviors in this mission.If the City dispatched 50 Specialist-level Canzers, then that would mean that the Remedium could also have 50 Specialist-level Canzers waiting for them inside. No matter how strong humans were, they could not hold a candle against a Canzer''s ability to regenerate or make clones of itself. Yes, with 50 Saviors all working together to fight the Canzers, they might be able to subdue them for a long time. But, things could always go wrong. There could be an anomaly amongst the Canzers that the Operators had not prepared for. It would be troublesome enough just to carry 50 constructs inside. Logistics alone would mean that at least half of the 50 Specialist Saviors needed to carry the constructs inside the Remedium. After all, they had no other Porters left in the City other than Atlan. "The ideal composition of a team is 7 members, but it could be as high as 9 or as low as 4," Ninth explained. "We have 8 members right now, but since you will be going off on your own, we''ll be left with 7 members. We''ll need our full strength to deal with the Canzers that will try to pursue you." He didn''t know which one of them had a harder job. Ninth and her team would have to deal with multiple Canzers trying to break into the Church without any constructs to help them; it was a battle of attrition that could only either end in a draw or a loss. On the one hand, Atlan had to shoulder the fate of the City in his hands; if he didn''t subdue the Ifrit and it blew up the Door, then the whole City would turn into nothing but rubble and crater. "Now that we''ve explained the basics to you, we''ll proceed with the more advanced tactics we have prepared," Ninth said. "First, we''ll have to discuss your arrival at the Church." "I''ll go straight to the basement, correct?" "Yes¡ªif you can find it, that is." "What do you mean?" "The Church Remedium will not perfectly mirror the real world. The doors that lead to the atrium will not lead you to the atrium. We''ve told you before that the Remedium is hostile to humans, right? It will prevent you from reaching the basement in any way that it can. That includes turning the whole pathway into a topsy-turvy world where up is down, and left is right. You will lose your sense of direction and be trapped wandering in its halls. This is one of its tamer tricks." Atlan was so focused on figuring out how to outsmart the Ifrit that he didn''t think about how to get there first. He thought it was a straightforward path. "Will you be helping me?" Ninth shook her head. "You will have no one to help but yourself. We won''t be entering the Church. We''ll be barricading the outside and preventing the Canzers from infiltrating inside. They must not reach the basement. That is our primary goal." Atlan took a deep breath. He wasn''t confident about his chances of reaching the basement. After all, he had never experienced a hostile Remedium before. Heck, he didn''t even know what the basement looked like in the Remedium. According to Ninth, it won''t be a perfect mirror of the real world. "Second, you must prepare yourself for an arduous task. This mission will take days, if not weeks to accomplish. We''ll make camp in the Remedium, where we can rest and take a break. During those times, we will be assigning a lookout. They will alert everyone of a threat." The thought of spending so much time in the Remedium unnerved Atlan. The longer they spent inside, the more he thought that an anomaly may spawn inside. He was already expecting them. "Why will it take so long?" "We must not rush the process. According to Carmine and his team, at least three Specialist-level Canzers are waiting for us inside. We can''t advance further unless we kill these monsters or else they''ll cause further Symptoms in the real world. You''ve seen what happens; it''s not good to let our citizens see any more desecration of our Church." Although fighting Specialist-level Canzers was a terrifying thought, Atlan couldn''t help but think of the silver lining in all of this. If Ninth and the others were guaranteeing the death of the Specialist Canzers, then that meant that Atlan would be able to reap their deaths! "You don''t seem to be concerned about that," Ninth remarked. Atlan showed no sign of distress when he heard it. And if he didn''t have full control of his body, he''d be showing a smile on his face right now. "I trust you and your team. You can kill those Canzers." Ninth nodded and smiled. "That''s good, but let''s focus on the mission at hand. Once you have finished your duty and dealt with the Ifrit in the basement, you must immediately leave the Church and meet up with us. There can be no delay, understood?" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Understood," Atlan replied. "Okay. I know that things always tend to go off course in the Remediums, so when you are forced to improvise, I hope that you use discretion. I have been told that you tend to make risky and hasty decisions¡ªwell, don''t. You must always think about your own safety. Even if I or the rest of my team is in trouble, if I tell you to run, then you run. Do not try to help us, got that?" Atlan was silent for a few seconds. He would not be able to promise that. It was in his principle to always help those who were suffering. "I won''t risk my life," Atlan said. As long as he was careful, he could save himself and others if he needed to. That''s what his strength was for. Chapter 220 Riddle me this "Do you have any more questions?"Atlan shook his head. Ninth already told him the basic plan. It was useless to go into more detail because things could always change in the Remedium. It would be much better to familiarize themselves with each other''s tendencies so that they could anticipate each other''s moves when plans go awry. It was a pity that they didn''t have the time to do so. Ninth would have wanted to practice in the dojo and let Atlan witness their teamwork before they embarked on the mission, but they didn''t have any time to waste. The least she could do was tell Atlan her team''s jobs and responsibilities. "Just make sure to always stick to your bodyguard." The tank raised his bicep and flexed it to Atlan, showing him that he was more than capable of protecting him. Atlan ignored him. "Go to the Reverend. He has to give you something." Atlan looked to the side and saw Reverend Fifty-Seventh. He was muttering a prayer in the sky. He only finished his prayers once Atlan walked over towards him. "God blesses you, young man. It is a huge honor for you to be the one to enter into the Church''s holy basement. I implore you to, please, be careful." Atlan wasn''t supposed to know this, but he heard from the Elder Heads that the Door in the basement was actually the Genesis God''s literal heart. It was no wonder why the Reverend looked so stressed. With the Ifrit taking hostage of their God''s heart, it was as if it took everyone''s heart hostage as well, literally and figuratively. "Can you give me any advice on how to find the basement? Ninth told me that the Remedium won''t exactly mirror the real world." The Reverend closed his eyes and muttered a prayer Atlan couldn''t understand. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes. Atlan was shocked to see that the Reverend''s irises turned grayish, and his pupils turned pure white. His expression of zealousness was gone and was replaced by numbness and indifference. Then, in a low voice rumbling voice, he utters, "In the realm beneath your feet, where shadows often creep, A world turned upside down, where secrets lie and sleep. Not quite the attic, nor the sky so bright, A place of hidden wonders, away from the light." The reverend soon closed his eyes and opened them to reveal his normal brown iris and black pupils. His expression returned to normal and showed a¡­human¡­expression. "What was that?" Atlan asked. "It is the answer to your question," the Reverend said. "The Genesis God gave you a riddle that you must find the answer yourself." Atlan found it quite ridiculous. This mission was supposed to help the Genesis God and get rid of the Canzer taking hostage of His heart. He couldn''t understand why the God wouldn''t just give him the answer so that he wouldn''t have any trouble with the mission. "Why can''t he just tell me the answer himself? Why the riddle?" "If He tells you what happens, then it will not happen. The moment you learn the truth to where the basement is located, is the moment that its location changes. The Remedium will not let you go to its most critical point so easily; it will trip you, confuse you, and force you to turn back. You must find the answer yourself if you want to reach the basement." Atlan frowned. "Is my thinking correct that the Remedium is the God''s body?" The Reverend remained silent for a few moments before saying, "Yes." "If so, then why couldn''t the God command His own body to guide me towards the basement? Why must the Remedium be hostile to those who are trying to help Him?" The Reverend looked at Atlan and pondered, for a second, whether it was all right to reveal some of the God''s secrets to him. "Just like how a person cannot control the mechanisms of his own body, a God cannot interfere in His own Remedium. That is the very reason why humans¡ªSaviors¡ªare needed in the first place. They are the only ones that can help the God." "But why not? If he is a God, then surely he must have the power to make the impossible possible." "Young man, can you control the beating of your own heart? Can you make your veins stop themselves from passing blood? If you cannot, then does that mean that you do not own your body? Does that mean that you cannot control your own body? "No, I can''t. But I am not a God." The Reverend put his hands behind his back. "No, you are not." "If the Genesis God is not all-powerful, then is he still considered God?" Atlan asked. The Reverend went silent and looked up at the skies. "This is not the time to argue about philosophy, young man. These are the rules of the world, and we must abide by them. It might not make sense for us mere mortals, but who are we to comprehend the divine? You cannot explain it by human logic or sense." Atlan went silent. For him, this mission was important to preserve the lives of everyone in the City. He didn''t want to lose. Failing means that millions of people will suffer. Atlan couldn''t let that happen, which was why he couldn''t understand why the God wouldn''t help him find the basement. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I suggest that you focus on your mission. This is a job that only you can accomplish." The Reverend then raised his hands in the sky and muttered a prayer under his breath. Atlan watched as a cloud above them suddenly turned golden. A bright ray of light beamed down towards Atlan and bathed him with warmth. "As the Elder Heads decreed, you are entitled to rewards for accepting this mission. The Genesis God has allowed you to receive them, and will endow you with his blessing." Just as the Reverend said that, blue wisps and golden sand particles suddenly descended from the skies and spiraled towards Atlan. Chapter 221 Motivation to get back The Genesis God''s blessing rained down on Atlan and bathed him with experience points and SoulTime. Slowly, they sunk deep into his skin and made their way towards his Soul System.[You have received 5000 years of SoulTime] [You have received 10,000 experience points] Atlan looked at his current lifespan. [SoulTime] ¡ª5050yrs : 116d : 01hrs : 34min : 09s With 5000 years, he would be able to survive a fight against Specialist-level Canzers a lot better. According to Ninth and her team, they usually lose more than a thousand years of SoulTime whenever they fight against one Specialist Canzer in a mission. This meant that he would not die in one hit from a Specialist Canzer. He would only die from five hits. Although that was a terrifying thought, Atlan didn''t have to worry about losing Soultime with his battle suit. It was perfectly capable of deterring an attack of that kind of magnitude for at least 5 full-powered attacks. So in total, Atlan could survive against Canzers in 10 hits. Although that seemed low, it was mighty impressive for a Student-realm Savior like him. Even those in the Pre-Intern or Intern realm would not be able to withstand the full power of a Specialist Canzer for one attack. [Experience: 114,911.2] Atlan had no LifeSkill to pour his experience onto yet, so Atlan''s only option for getting strong was to increase his mastery of mutations. However, he''d have to fight a Canzer and win only using his mutations for him to increase its mastery. Surviving is hard enough. Beating a Canzer three realms above me is impossible. "I wish you all the best, young man." The Reverend quickly departed once the blessing was over. "Have you finished your preparations?" Ninth walked over to Atlan. Her team was ready to embark, and they were only waiting on the Star Porter. "Yes. I''m done with my preparations." "By the way, the Reverend left early. Did you say something wrong to him?" S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hm? Oh. It''s nothing. We just argued a bit about Gods and all that." Ninth gave Atlan a weird look. "Whatever. Carmine inspected the Church and saw an increasing intensity of the Symptoms. They''re trying to get into the Church. We don''t have any time to spare." Atlan nodded and quickly went over the barricades along with Ninth. In the middle of the empty and desolate road was a circular portal with a black shimmering liquid inside its area. This portal was large enough for the team to enter without breaking off their formation. The Elder Heads instructed the Operators to not skimp on the creation of this portal to make sure that the mission would go smoothly. They didn''t know whether a Canzer would be welcoming them as soon as they entered the Remedium, so they needed to keep their formation as tight as possible. As the team made their final preparations, Lizzie approached Atlan. "It''s not too late to back out," she said. Atlan smiled and whispered in her ears. "It''s not too late to kiss me." Lizzie''s cheeks immediately turned red. She bashed her arms on his chest repeatedly. "I told you to forget that!" "How could I? It might be the last memory you''ll ever have of me." She punched his chest again. "Don''t joke about that." Atlan took her hand and held it. "I''m serious. I don''t know if I''ll be able to get out of this mission alive. But I want you to know that I''m thankful for you. If I do take my last breath, then I''ll die happily knowing that you let me experience something wonderful¡ªeven if it was for a totally different reason." "It is! I¡­kissed¡­you only for your mastery!" "Sure," he said sarcastically. She looked up at him. "You better return in one piece, or else I''ll hack you into pieces!" "I''ll try my best." "That''s not enough. I don''t care if you have to fight a God, you better return to me!" Atlan smiled. "To you?" "I mean, you better return to us¡ªto your friends! Wemby and Neumann are worried sick for you." "I''ll complete the mission no matter what it takes. Even if I have to sacrifice myself, I won''t let that monster blow up the entire City." "No! You can''t let those monsters get you!" "You''re not making any sense. What if I need to choose between me and the City? You want me to save myself and doom the rest of you?" "I want you to save yourself and the City!" "That''s a hard task," Atlan said with a smirk on his face. "I''ll need sufficient motivation. What you''re entrusting me with is impossible." Lizzie''s entire face was red. She muttered something under her breath that Atlan couldn''t hear properly. "What did you say?" "...back¡­" "What?" She stomped her feet. "I''ll¡­kiss¡­you when you get back!" Atlan smiled. "That''s a promise, right?" "Only on the cheeks!" "Sure," he said sarcastically. "I''ll triumphantly return and seek your luscious lips!" "Shut it! Whatever! Go away!" Lizzie turned around and crossed her arms. Atlan chuckled and walked over to Ninth and her team. "Seems you''re bonding well with Lizzie," Ninth commented. "Yeah. We''re close." "I can see that. Not everyone could make her act this way. I can practically see smoke coming out of her ears. What did you say to her?" Atlan smiled. "She just promised me something." "And that is?" "We''ll practice my mutation mastery¡­all-day-long¡­" Ninth looked at Atlan and couldn''t understand why there was a large smile on his face as he said that. "It''s good that you have some motivation to get back in one piece. We''re gonna need it." Ninth then looked over at her team and saw their eyes respond with strength and solidarity. They were more than ready. "Team, this mission will be hard. I can''t guarantee everyone''s safety, but it must be done. The fate of the City is on the line. Are you ready?" "YES!" they screamed. The Scout was the first one to enter, followed by the tank and the rest of the team. Atlan took a deep breath and entered the portal. Chapter 222 Looped Atlan stepped foot inside the Remedium and saw its signature negative color scheme mirroring the real world.As of now, he saw no deviation inside. The streets looked as empty as it was outside the Remedium, the buildings to the side were neatly lined up in their respective streets, and they could see the dark exterior of the Church just further away from them. If Atlan didn''t know any better, he would have thought that the way to the Church was as easy as walking a few kilometers. But judging from the wary expressions of Ninth and her team, he knew that this was not the time to relax. "Keep to your wits. The Remedium will try to lull you into a sense of comfort, but the moment that you show any weakness, it will pounce. We must keep our eyes peeled." Ninth''s cautious words were heeded by everyone. They walked forward on the main road, with the Scout at the very top of the formation. He looked left and right in a second of interval, trying to discern any sign of danger. Since this was near the City Center, the buildings were neatly built into blocks, with streets numbered from one up to 100. It was also evident that this was a high-class part of the City, with the buildings a lot more sophisticated and made of better quality materials than the normal buildings Atlan saw in the other districts. The main road itself was wide enough to have three lanes on each side, which made their formation a lot easier to keep. Atlan looked to the side and peeked through the streets they passed. And so far, he hadn''t seen anything wrong with the environment. Even the white skies and black moon above their heads showed no sign of any anomalies. For some reason, that was even more unnerving than seeing something wrong. The lack of any disturbance made the air even eerier than before. The tension only seemed to grow as they advanced further up the main road. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Wait!" The Scout stopped in his tracks, and the rest of the team froze in place. Atlan was surprised to see that some people on the team literally froze their own bodies while walking. They had their legs up in the air as they were about to take another step. Instead of putting them down, they kept their legs up as they heard the Scout''s warning. In their experience, they knew that any excessive movements could set off a trap that none of them expected. When their Scout told them to stop, then they stopped completely and made no extra movements. "Let''s take a detour," he said. Ninth didn''t take a second to hesitate as she agreed with his words. "Okay. Lead the way." The Scout didn''t have to explain. There was a deep bond of trust between them that negated the need for any explanations. The group took a sharp left turn and entered 24th Street as a detour. Atlan had no idea why, but he wasn''t going to question them. As they took a turn, Atlan activated his Thermal Vision and observed the supposed hazardous route. But, he saw no difference in thermal energy than normal. What''s wrong with going this way? He dared not to blurt out his question. The rest of the team uttered not a single breath as they walked on the side street. Atlan was afraid that talking would somehow trigger an event that would destabilize the current peace in the Remedium. The 24th street was a particularly short block of street, consisting only of two office buildings on each side. It didn''t take them long to go through the street and come out on the other side. As they walked forward, the road opened up as they converged onto another main road. But as Atlan turned and looked forward, he was surprised to see that the road led to the Church once again. Once he remembered what the main road looked like, he was horrified to realize that this road was extremely similar to the road they left earlier. It was as if they turned back around and re-entered the path back where they wanted to avoid. "Is this a loop?" Ninth asked. The Scout looked to the left and saw the 24th Street again. They should have already left that street, but here it was again. "I''m afraid so. We''ll have to find the right way if we want to get out of it." Atlan had no idea what they were talking about, but it seemed that this was not the first time they encountered this. He had to take comfort in the fact that they at least knew how to get out of it. Ninth walked forward right next to the scout and took out the one-handed sword on her back. She didn''t even have to use her LifeSkill powers to generate a tremendous amount of force in her blade. With one swing of her sword, a giant cut suddenly appeared and split the road ahead and the skies up above in half! Atlan raised his hand and protected himself from the air generated by the swing of her sword, but he didn''t take his eyes off the cut that split the Remedium in half. Then, the Mage behind her suddenly chanted something under her breath and pointed her wooden staff at the split in reality. Suddenly, violet hands manifested in mid-air and pierced their fingers into the very seam of the cut. The Mage strained her face as she commanded the hands to pull the cut open. The very layer of reality crumpled under the giant violet hands and showed the true scenery of the road under the illusion. If they kept on walking forward, they would have plummeted down a dark abyss that would have swallowed them whole. Ninth and the others looked down and saw the ground subducting under itself as if it was a giant beast swallowing the very earth itself. Chapter 223 Detours "Take care not to fall in. You won''t come back up," said Atlan''s bodyguard beside him.Atlan had no intention of falling into that abyss. If even Specialist-realm Saviors were wary of this trap, then a Student-realm porter like him would stand no chance of surviving that. "Let''s find another route," Ninth commanded. This was the Scout''s job, so he quickly surveyed his surroundings without going off too far. Atlan saw his body lighting up in warm light with his Thermal Vision, so he knew that the Scout was using his LifeSkill to discern any traps in front of him. And according to his expert judgment, the best way to go forward was to go back to where they came from¡ªback to the portal. Ninth trusted the Scout''s judgment and ordered a tactical retreat that her team quickly followed. Atlan tagged along and followed in their footsteps. No wonder she said that this journey might take days. We''ve been here an hour, and yet we''re about to go back and retract all our progress. But he couldn''t complain. He would rather spend a week in the Remedium if it meant that they wouldn''t have to worry about pitfalls suddenly taking the ground from underneath their feet. As they walked back, the Scout would occasionally stop the group and order them to take a detour to a new street to avoid another pitfall. And then, perhaps the most confusing of all, the Scout ordered them to go through an office building to the side. They went through the lobby and looked for the fire exit. They scaled almost 40 levels before they were able to reach the very top floor and onto the rooftop. Atlan finally understood why they said that this mission would be arduous. They hadn''t even met any Specialist Canzers as of yet, but Atlan was already tired mentally and physically. First of all, he was wearing the heaviest thing in existence and walking up 40 flights of stairs without any break. This made him pant like a dog from exhaustion, but he kept going up with the team because he didn''t want to burden them with a break. Second, they walked up the 40-story building in absolute silence. Everyone kept their guards up and had their weapons at the ready. They were on edge. The suspenseful air and the possibility of a Canzer ambushing them were always on their mind and prevented them from taking a break. They hoped that there wouldn''t be a confrontation in the flight of stairs. After all, it was incredibly cramped and they had to walk up one by one, with their formation completely in shambles. Thankfully, after a few minutes, they finally reached the rooftop with no anomalies taking them by surprise. Atlan was tired at this point and wanted to take a break. The Scout opened the door to the rooftop and walked outside. Just as Atlan was about to say something, the words were suddenly caught in his throat as he stepped foot out of the staircase. Instead of seeing a panoramic view of the City atop one of the skyscrapers, Atlan was surprised to see that they were back on the main road leading to the Church! It was as if they walked up 40 flights of stairs for nothing. "How are we back here?" he asked. "Everything was an illusion," the Scout said. "Although it may have looked like we went back towards the portal, in reality, we have been steadily advancing towards the Church." "But what about the building? The burning feeling in my thighs is not an illusion." "...it''s a very realistic illusion," he muttered. Atlan forced himself to calm down. At least his efforts weren''t in vain; they were one step closer to the Church. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "There''s another pitfall here," the Scout said as he pointed at the pathway leading to 26th Street. Ninth and the Mage cooperated once again to tear apart the fabric of reality. This time, the cut showed a scene that seemed to have come from up above the skies. The ground, which was supposed to be full of soil and stone, was replaced by a white sky. And below this sky was a top-down view of the Genesis City itself. If they fell through the pitfall, they would fall through the skies at terminal velocity and undoubtedly splat on the ground. "Damn! We''re trapped." The Scout looked in every direction but only saw illusions everywhere he looked. He looked back to the door where they went through, but it was already gone¨Cvanished as if it never existed in the first place. "Protocol 11 everyone!" Ninth shouted. Her team immediately altered their positions by changing their formation from a four-sided diamond to a circular one with Atlan at the very center. Their bodies immediately emitted some sort of light as they activated their LifeSkills one by one. The sniper took the Karabiner 98k off his shoulders and looked through its scope. With the pull of a trigger, an electric bullet whizzed through the air and pierced through the veil of illusions to show a tsunami made entirely out of lava. The Mage, Ninth, and the Mesmer, all created ''holes'' in the illusion with their LifeSkills. The Mage created those violet hands, Ninth used her sword, and the Mesmer chanted a spell that fought illusion with another illusion. This resulted in the annihilation of both, showing the true environment that lay behind it. Thankfully, the Mesmer''s pathway showed a suspension bridge held together by hemp rope and wooden planks. Below this bridge is an abyss that led to another pitfall filled with nothing but spiked stalagmites. Despite being a sketchy fabrication, the team had no other choice but to cross it. The tsunami of lava came running towards them at uncharacteristically fast speeds. "Cross the bridge," Ninth shouted. The rest of her team immediately ran towards the bridge. And despite the precarious situation, they went on it one by one to prevent any undue pressure on the fragile suspension bridge. The only ones still left on the other side were Atlan and the tank behind him. Despite how much he tried to hurry himself, Atlan could not overcome the weight of the battle suit to go any faster. Chapter 224 Collapsing bridge Atlan moved forward with the swaying suspension bridge step by step. As he advanced, he heard the sound of the rope twisting and stretching as if it were in the limit of its strength.However, Atlan weighed tens of tons of kilograms, yet he was able to take at least 5 steps into the bridge without it collapsing entirely. If this was a normal bridge, it would have snapped by the first step. It was easy to conclude that the bridge had magical properties that could not be explained by logic. Despite that, the planks in the bridge kept creaking with each step he took forward as if it was about to break in half. "Keep on walking," said the bodyguard behind. "It won''t fall. It''s purely for psychological horror, making you think that it will snap." Atlan took his words to heart and stopped worrying about the bridge. Meanwhile, the only one still left on the other side was the tank, Atlan''s bodyguard. The sound of bubbling lava inched closer and closer toward him as the tsunami made of magma rushed toward him. "Damn! I have to move," he said. He stepped foot on the bridge, making it sway left and right. Atlan lost his footing and his left leg sunk deep into one of the gaps in the wooden planks. Thankfully, he caught himself just in time and was able to pull it back up. "We have to move, Porter!" The Tank''s voice was full of anxiety. He could feel the heat of the lava behind him. In his desperation, the Tank activated his LifeSkill and created a wall in mid-air just behind Atlan. He then pushed this wall and tried to help Atlan walk through the bridge faster. But he was shocked to find out that he could not move Atlan by a single inch. The Specialist-realm Tank used all of his power to try and push him forward, but he felt like he was pushing Mount Olympus itself! The battle suit is that heavy?! He heard about its immense weight, but it was another thing to witness it himself. He was just pushing it forward, yet he could not make it move a single bit. If he put himself in Atlan''s position and tried to bear the weight of the battle suit on his entire body, he would simply collapse. What kind of monster is this kid? The fact that Atlan could still walk forward was an impossible task by the Tank''s standard. It made him realize why it was only the Star Porter who could complete this mission. If it was any other, they wouldn''t even have been able to handle the battle suit alone, much less traverse the dangerous Remedium with it. "Go ahead of me! I''ll be fine," Atlan shouted to the tank behind him. "Are you crazy?!" Atlan pointed at his battle suit. "This thing''s rated to withstand intense temperatures! Does yours?" The Tank was hesitant to follow Atlan''s suggestion because he was supposed to be the one to protect him. "Go! He''s telling the truth," Ninth shouted from the other side of the bridge. The Tank gritted his teeth and climbed up the wall that he created. Bricks suddenly came out of nowhere and extended the wall forward, allowing a small walkway above the bridge for the Tank to traverse. Atlan was left behind, with the tsunami of lava already reaching the bridge. It won''t fall, Atlan reminded himself. The Remedium is designed to challenge my mentality. At this point, the lava had already reached the wooden bridge and engulfed it in its boiling temperature. It consumed the wooden stake keeping the suspension bridge tethered to the ground. The bridge snapped as its rope melted into liquid. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The planks slowly fell into the abyss, with their fall only being broken by the sharp stalagmites. Atlan was about to fall, but Atlan did not panic. Instead, he closed his eyes and took each step forward as he would have if the lava hadn''t destroyed the suspension bridge. As the planks fell, Atlan''s feet surprisingly stayed floating in the air. If one looked closely, they would see that the soles of his battle suit were glowing blue, with strange invisible waves permeating from it. This was one of the battle suit''s gadgets: antigrav boots. According to Carmine, these boots only served to let Atlan stay in place. This wouldn''t allow him to fly in the air but only hover in the same position as he was before. This saved him from plummeting to the stalagmites, but he wouldn''t be able to ''spacewalk'' forward. He would find himself simply walking in the air without advancing even a single step. Carmine compared it to an astronaut stuck in space trying to walk forward and only ended up wasting energy. Atlan didn''t understand that analogy, but he understood the principle. Just then, the tsunami of lava finally engulfed Atlan''s entire body into boiling, liquid rock. Luckily for the rest of the team, there seemed to be an invisible wall that the lava could not cross over. The tsunami reached 50 feet in the air and collided with the invisible wall. Some of the lava flowed back, but most of them sunk into the abyss down below, creating a pool of bubbling lava. Atlan''s bodyguard stomped the ground in anger. "I shouldn''t have left him alone! I''ll come get him." But just as he was about to jump into the pool of lava below, Ninth grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. "Look," she said. As the lava slowly descended into the abyss, the team slowly saw that a small mound of lava stayed in place where the bridge was supposed to be. Slowly, the lava dripped down this ''mound'' to finally reveal Atlan''s body, completely unharmed from the boiling lava that engulfed his entire battlesuit. As it turned out, a protective bubble appeared on his body as soon as his suit detected the heat of the lava. It protected him from being boiled alive. Chapter 225 Trusting the illusion Atlan had his eyes closed as he stood in mid-air.Don''t believe the illusions, he reminded himself. Atlan raised his hand and pushed a button in his battle suit. And the blue light on his soles suddenly blinked and lost its power. Without the antigrav boots turned on, Atlan would plummet down into the abyss where even the 50-foot lava tsunami could not fill halfway. Despite that, Atlan closed his eyes and let himself lose the antigrav boots. His body fell, but surprisingly, there was an invisible flooring underneath his feet that caught him just when everybody thought he would plummet down into the stalagmites. Atlan, with his eyes still closed, raised his leg and walked forward. He recalled the image of the swaying suspension bridge in his mind. He ignored reality and let his imagination dictate his actions. Even though there was nothing to walk towards, Atlan still walked forward with no hesitation in his movements. And as he took a step, his foot felt a solid wooden floor in front of him. He smiled. Just as he thought, the collapse of the wooden suspension bridge was only an illusion. Even as the tsunami of lava engulfed it in its melting temperature, it still stood tall and defied logic. Atlan took another step forward and felt another plank in front of him. Slowly, he made his way toward the invisible suspension bridge. This time, there was nothing to rush him. Ninth smiled when she saw this. "Our Star Porter has guts, I''ll give him that." This Remedium has a strange property where it made illusions based on the imagination of the Saviors traversing it. When the tsunami of lava reached the bridge, everyone knew what would happen next. They thought that the bridge would collapse and be melted by the lava that engulfed it. And due to their ''human'' thinking, the bridge did collapse. It followed their imagination and gave them an illusion that destroyed the wooden suspension bridge. "If a Student saw the bridge falling, what would they think would happen next?" she asked her team. "They''d think that they would fall into the abyss," answered the Mage. "Yes. And because of their thinking, they would actually fall to the abyss and get swallowed by the Remedium, never to be seen again." That was normal. Even if they knew that it was an illusion, their innate logic would imagine that they would fall once their foothold got destroyed. It was human to think that. "The only way to survive this is to go against logic," Ninth said. If one truly believed that the suspension bridge survived the tsunami of lava, then the Remedium would make it true. That is what Atlan did. He closed his eyes and believed his imagination. He imagined that he was crossing through the suspension bridge safely, plank by plank. Even though there was nothing underneath his feet, he was able to walk in the air. "Do you think other Students would have been able to do that," asked Ninth to her team. The answer was obvious. They wouldn''t. The Remedium would prey on their inexperience. That is one of the reasons why Students weren''t allowed on missions for Critical Points in the City. Of course, this mission was the exception since they needed the Star Porter to carry the constructs inside. Atlan took his final step forward and landed back on the asphalt of the main road. He opened his eyes and saw that they were a lot closer to the Church than they were before. He looked to the side and saw that were at 40th Street. They only needed to traverse 60 more streets to finally reach the Church. "Good job, kid." S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The rest of the team lauded Atlan for his unwavering confidence. It made them trust the young Star Porter much more than they did before. Their main concern during this mission was not Atlan''s lack of strength or experience, it was his mentality. Usually, novices like him would panic whenever a dangerous situation occurred. Students would forget all their training and go out of position in an attempt to run away or save themselves from harm. Nothing was more dangerous than a panicked Savior who was only out to save himself. They were unpredictable. They could deal with a weak Savior, but not a hysterical one. This was their main concern with Atlan. However, they were quickly proven wrong. Even in the face of a 50-foot lava Tsunami threatening to overwhelm him, he kept calm and trusted the battle suit entrusted to him. If he panicked and tried to run, he would only trip himself and eventually fall to his death in the abyss. He also showed tremendous conviction. If he wavered even a little bit when he walked through the invisible suspension bridge, he would immediately fall to his death. This showed to the Specialist Saviors that Atlan was the kind of guy who kept calm under the most extremes of pressure. They could work with someone like him. They could rest easy knowing that Atlan would not panic and cause chaos in the team''s formation. They could focus solely on protecting him and letting him reach the Church in one piece. "Care to tell us how you did that?" Ninth asked. "You said it was all an illusion, and I believe it. If the suspension bridge was strong enough to not break under the full weight of my battle suit, then it surely wouldn''t get destroyed by some lava. Because of that, it was easier for me to believe that the bridge was still there, just invisible." Ninth patted him on the shoulders. "My father was right about you." "What did he say?" She smiled. "He said that you''re crazy. In a good way." Only a crazy person would put his life on the line by trusting his imagination. Insanity bordered genius. She still didn''t know which side he was on. "I hope you continue to be crazy because the Remedium has yet to show us its craziest side." Chapter 226 Setting up camp As they walked forward, Atlan couldn''t help but ask if the Remedium they usually faced was anything as arbitrary as the one they faced just a few minutes ago."Yes. This is normal for high-realm missions like this one¡ªespecially so since there are multiple Specialist Canzers inside. As we get closer and closer to the Church, the hostility of the Remedium will become even more prominent. For now, it is still unbiased. As long as you are strong and capable, then you can traverse through it. An example would be the suspension bridge earlier. Our Scout figured out that the only safe pathway would be through that way. And as you saw, the tsunami of lava could not penetrate through to the other side. This meant that the Remedium still wanted us to advance forward. If it was a little bit more hostile, it wouldn''t have given a safe pathway in the first place. It would have trapped us inside till we succumbed to the lava." Atlan was frightened but intrigued at the Remedium. The Remedium was the God''s body. And even though they¨Cthe Saviors¨Cwere trying to help the God by getting rid of the Canzers, the Remedium made things so much harder for them instead of making it easier. This meant that the God was sabotaging Themselves from being helped. He didn''t understand it. Atlan decided to not think about it any further. According to the Reverend, the Divine could not be explained by the human. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He also realized that this was not the time to think about unnecessary things. While Ninth and her team had their focus on the pitfalls and traps around them, Atlan was the only one with the leisure to think about stuff outside the mission. They walked forward, with their steps one pace slower than the normal mission protocol. Ninth was worried about the current silence. It had been an hour after that bridge incident, and now they were at 50th Street. Just 50 more and they would arrive at the Church, yet they hadn''t seen a single Canzer in sight. This unnerved the rest of the team. If they didn''t encounter a single Canzer on the road, then that meant only one thing: the Canzers were all gathered in one place. That was bad news. The team was fully prepared to fight a couple of Canzers one by one to whittle down their numbers before they reached the Church. Ninth and the others were confident they could kill any Canzer that came their way. But if they were all at the same place, then they would have to fight multiple Canzers at the same time. "Be careful," the Scout said. He stopped the team and led them towards the mall skyscraper to the side. "Let''s move here." Then, he walked over to the glass walls of the skyscraper and walked upwards! It was as if there was no gravity to pull him down. Ninth and the rest of the team followed behind him. They all walked up the building, with the transition from ground to wall as as easy as walking from one corner to another. Atlan stopped at the very edge of the wall but found himself falling towards it. He was able to stop himself using his arms. Strangely, even though he was standing upright with his hands against the wall, it was as if he was performing a push-up! The gravity was pulling him towards the walls of the skyscraper. Atlan strained himself as he used all the power in his body to stand up. As he did, he found himself scaling the wall as if he was walking on the ground. In front of him, instead of seeing the horizon of the City, he saw instead the white skies and the black moon up above. "Come on," Ninth said in front of him. "We''ll spend the night at the top of the building." Atlan followed behind her and asked, "We''re spending the night here?" She nodded. "We can''t get there too fast." He didn''t understand. "Wouldn''t we get ambushed at this point? What if some Canzer attacks us while we sleep." Instead of being worried, Ninth smiled. "That''s the point. We want them to attack us. We have to lure them out of the church one by one so we can kill them one by one. That is our best bet to get you to the basement as safely as possible." Atlan admired the confidence they had. If Atlan was in charge, he wouldn''t want to clash with the Canzers and try to sneak into the Church. I guess that''s the confidence of a Specialist-realm Vanguard. They must have killed thousands of Canzers at this point in their career. He didn''t have that much experience, so he was still hesitant in dealing with Canzers. As they ''climbed'' the skyscraper, the Scout led them towards different floors to circumvent any traps from the Remedium. They ''technically'' weren''t walking towards the Remedium, so its hostility wasn''t that high compared to when they first started. After half an hour, they finally reached the rooftop of the skyscraper. The gravity finally returned to normal. They quickly set up ''camp'' on the rooftop. However, they didn''t have the right equipment to properly call it a camp. They simply laid down on the concrete floor without going out of their formation; they never even let go of the weapons in their hands. Their definition of a camp was just a place where they could sleep. "I''ll take the first shift," Ninth said. "Sleep now and recover your strength for tomorrow. This is just the start of our journey, and we can''t be fighting with sleep deprivation on our faces." The rest of the team nodded and quickly closed their eyes. Atlan was surprised with their ability to go from alert to asleep in just a few seconds. It was as if they just flicked a switch. I guess this is not the first time they had to sleep in the Remedium. "You too, Porter. Do you want to get out of your battle suit as you sleep?" Atlan went silent for a second before he answered. "We could get ambushed tonight, right?" She nodded. "Then, I won''t." Chapter 227 Dark forest "Wake up! Wake up!""What happened?! Who was supposed to be on shift?" "It doesn''t matter now. Wake up the Porter!" Atlan felt someone shake him from his sleep. What happened, he asked himself. After they took camp last night, Atlan laid on the cold hard ground and found himself staring at the white skies and the black sun. He couldn''t sleep. So, he stayed awake with Ninth, who was on the first shift to be on guard. They didn''t talk much and only spent the night in silence. That was all he remembered. I must have slept soon after that. He didn''t remember falling asleep, but he clearly did. That was because the environment around him was different from the one he saw yesterday. Up above him was a dark sky and an even darker sun. A day had passed, which meant that in the real world, it was early in the morning. And since the Remedium showed the complete negative of the colors, the bright blue skies had turned into a very dark and ominous red. The sun, on the other hand, turned into a hole of blackness that swallowed all the light that bounced off it. "Get up." Atlan''s bodyguard, the second tank in the group, offered his hand to him. Atlan didn''t take his hand and got up by himself. If he took the man''s hand, he would only get pulled down to the ground because of the battle suit''s immense weight. "Where are we," he asked the tank. They were supposed to be on the rooftop of the skyscraper they climbed yesterday. They were supposed to see the skyline of the City down below them. Instead, Atlan found himself stepping on wet and moist ground. All around him were black dead trees with no sign of leaves anywhere. Even the shrubbery near the trunks was only filled with thorny branches that extended outwards. And because of the darkness of the sky above them, they could barely see anything in front of them. It was shrouded by a sinister fog that permeated the air. "Where are we," he asked again, this time a little bit louder. Ninth looked back at him and said, "It''s here." She didn''t have to explain any further. Last night, they were talking about how Canzers could sabotage them deep in the night, and now it seemed that it really did happen. "Places, everyone!" she screamed. "We don''t know what''s out there, so do not get careless. And by the looks of it, it seems that the Canzer is not our only problem. The Remedium is showing its fangs." Judging by the fact that the entire environment changed around them meant that the Remedium itself was sabotaging them. "But we haven''t even gotten near the Church yet," Atlan questioned. "The Remedium is not controlling itself. It''s being controlled by something else," Ninth answered. "By what?" "Canzers," she said plainly. "There are some Canzers whose depravity and chaos are so strong that they influence the Remedium around them. They bend it to their advantage." "They can do that?" She nodded. "We must move now. We can''t stay here in one place or else we''ll lose the advantage. We must find the Canzer before it finds us." Ninth looked at her team and gave out her orders. "Sniper, see if you can see anything in the fog. If you do see something, hold your fire until I say so. Mesmer, you know what to do when the Canzer appears. Give me enough time to slice it in half. Tank, protect the Mesmer, and ensure that he can activate his spell. If our Sniper gets attacked, don''t worry, I''ll protect him. Mage, can you cast a spell that can disperse the fog?" The Mage nodded. "Yes, but it will send out a large flare for the Canzer to find us. I don''t think it is worth it." Ninth bit her lips. "Fine. Just ready an area-of-attack spell whenever you sense anything amiss." "I''ll use a combination of light and earth energy. It will most likely be more effective with all the miasma and dark energy in this dead forest," the mage answered. As for Atlan and the tank behind him, they didn''t have much to do. His only responsibility was to stay out of danger and reach the basement safely, while his bodyguards'' only duty was to make sure no Canzer got to him. Slowly, they walked forward through the dark and dead forest. CAWW¡­CAWW¡­ Occasionally, they heard a raven''s cry echo through the forest. The Scout wanted to investigate the source of this sound, but Ninth stopped him. If he separated from the group now, he could probably get lost in the dense fog around them. After a few minutes, they came across a stream that flowed with dark water. The Scout couldn''t figure out its nature, so as a precaution, Ninth ordered them to find another path. The stream was too wide for them to jump. SWOO Atlan suddenly saw something from the corner of his eyes. But when he looked to the side, he saw nothing but a dead tree and its roots. "What''s that?" he asked. "With a forest like this, the Remedium will try to play tricks on your eyes. It''s best to ignore them. The tank will protect you if something tries to approach you," the Scout said. Atlan was sure he saw something, but he wasn''t sure if it was an illusion or not. As they kept walking, Atlan kept seeing things flash by at the corner of his eyes. And whenever he tried to look at it, it would disappear from his sight. Trying to look at it was as useless as trying to outrun his shadow. ''...umans¡­.'' Atlan stopped in his tracks, alerting the tank behind him. "What''s wrong?" Atlan looked around him and closed his eyes. If he got rid of his sight, then his sense of hearing would be enhanced. ''Humans are here¡­I want to eat them¡­'' He was right! Those were Canzers! S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 228 Im so happy "Do you guys hear that?" Altna said out loud.Everyone kept their ears open but none of them could hear what Atlan heard. Even if they couldn''t understand the Canzer language, they still couldn''t hear anything but the sounds of dead branches creaking and crows crying in the distance. Despite that, Ninth didn''t completely dismiss his words. "What did you hear?" "I think it''s a Canzer." She didn''t know how he got that information, but she knew better than to question a hunch. Sometimes, it was much better to trust someone''s sixth sense rather than the other five. A crescent beam of white light suddenly shone towards them at almost light speed! It came from the deepest depths of the fog seemingly out of nowhere. Thanks to Atlan''s timely warning, the Tank already readied a defense for the formation. His body lit up in a red tint as he activated his LifeSkill, bashing his expanding shield toward the beam and redirecting it out of harm''s way. TANG! The crescent beam reflected out, hitting one of the dead trees. Everyone watched as the dark and dead tree suddenly vibrated, slowly inching its branch outwards as if it were a giant archaic beast awakening from its thousand years of slumber. A curved slit suddenly appeared from out of its thick trunk, creating a permanent sinister smile on the tree. And even though it had no eyes, Atlan felt as if it was looking at him straight in the eye. It pulled its roots out of the ground and stretched its ''legs'' before making its way towards him and the group. "I''ll take care of this," Ninth said as she sprinted towards the tree with her one-handed sword skidding through the mud. The animated tree bent its body left and right as it welcomed the arrival of Ninth. It didn''t seem aggressive. In fact, it even looked as if it was dancing in the night with jovial ignorance. But just as she stepped foot where its branches could reach her, its mouth curved up even higher. It swung down its dead branch towards her at speeds Atlan couldn''t see. In response, Ninth raised her sword and blocked the branch easily. Then, she pushed the branch outwards, disorienting the animated tree. Once the tree showed a weakness in its position, she quickly took advantage and brought down her mighty sword. The blade created a split directly in the middle of the tree. Once her sword hit the ground, the tree broke in half and dissipated into nothingness. Atlan waited for the tree to make clones of itself or regenerate, but after a few seconds, nothing happened. "The Canzer has yet to grace us with its presence," Ninth explained. "It seems that one of its powers is to create live monsters from inanimate objects." Just then, Atlan heard another scream from the fog. ''Kukuku¡­I''m so happy! So happy! Victory is mine! I''m so happy.'' This time, he wasn''t the only one who heard the Canzer''s words. Everyone turned their heads from the source of the beam of light. And even though they hadn''t seen anything yet, they felt the air turn¡­heavy. Beyond this fog was the Canzer. "Sniper¡­take the shot," Ninth whispered. The sharpshooter never left his head off the scope of his gun. And with her permission, he activated his sniper LifeSkill. A blue magic circle appeared near his scope and enhanced his vision. And as soon as he saw the outline of his target, he pulled the trigger. The bullet left the barrel at intense speeds, gathering momentum from each meter it traveled. Though the bullet looked nothing special, Atlan knew better than to underestimate a Specialist-level Sniper¡ª-something that the Canzer didn''t do. The Canzer jumped up from its left leg to its right, as if it had the leisure to dance while the bullet headed straight for its head. As it neared its chitinous body, the Canzer beamed a smile from its mouth and intercepted the bullet in mid-air. The ray of light was a crescent smile that hit the bullet almost instantaneously after the Canzer smiled. As soon as it was hit by the ray of light, the bullet suddenly slowed down in mid-air. The Sniper saw his bullet suddenly split open in the front which created a sinister smile similar to that of the dead tree from earlier. Once it was assimilated, the bullet slowly turned around and whizzed straight toward its sender! Just as the sniper thought he''d get hit by his own bullet, the Tank suddenly appeared in front of him and deflected the bullet to the ground. The bullet spiraled into the mud before losing all its momentum and dissipating into nothingness. ''Kukuku! Victory is mine! I will carve a smile on all your faces!'' The Sniper gritted his teeth as he stared down the Canzer in his scope. "Don''t think that''s the end." Suddenly, the Canzer stopped jumping up and down as it sensed something behind it. Two more bullets, each with a force greater than the original bullet, pierced the Canzer''s sides, tearing through its chitinous armor and wreaking havoc inside. The Sniper smiled. His LifeSkill allowed him to create copies of his bullet that targetted his enemies in different directions! ''Kuahh! Ha! Ha! I''m so happy! I''ll make you humans even happier than me!'' Strangely, even when it had two enormous holes at the side of its body, it didn''t express any anger or fury. It simply showed even more excitement and happiness. Atlan couldn''t understand it. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I''m hating that high-pitched scream," Ninth said. As if it wanted to respond to that rude comment, the Canzer screamed at the top of its ''lungs'' and created a shockwave that would disorient the whole group. Thankfully, the Tank used his LifeSkill to literally bounce the sound away from their location, letting them hear nothing but a silent murmur in the distance. This saved them from a horrible case of tinnitus, but that meant that Atlan only heard a small part of the Canzer''s words. ''¡­.slow human is delicious¡­'' Chapter 229 Happy trees Atlan didn''t know why but he felt like the Canzer was aiming straight for him. If the Canzer was any bit more intelligent as a child, then it would quickly figure out that Atlan was the weakest out of the group.Not only was he the human who displayed the weakest aura out of everyone else, but his movements were also so slow that he would not be able to react even if he could see the Canzer''s movements¡ªwhich he didn''t. Just as he was about to move, the Canzer suddenly disappeared from the fog and finally revealed himself to the group. Unfortunate as it was, Atlan was right; it was targeting him. The Canzer had a hideous stocky figure, with a face as big as a human. It had big eyes with thick eyebrows made out of chitinous hairs. Its nose, which was as big as a human torso, had bulbous warts and pimples all over its greenish skin. Its defining feature was its smile. It was permanent and unmoving. Coupled with its dead and soulless eyes, it was enough to give even the most courageous of warriors feel a creep running underneath their skins. And if one looked closely, they would see the tips of its teeth hanging out of its lips like a tiger waiting to pounce. Although its face was human-like, its body was more typical of a Canzer. Its short and thick limbs were made out of layered chitin. Strangest of all was the fact that the Canzer seemed to be wearing clothes! S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Its torso was covered by a red long-sleeved vest and blue trousers buckled by a black belt. On top of its head was a golden cone of a hat, with it drooping to the left by a little bit. How could Atlan not see the hideous face of the Canzer with crystal clear clarity? After all, it teleported directly in front of his face! Atlan couldn''t even think fast enough to defend himself against the surprise attack. His battle suit wasn''t even a factor at all. The Specialist Canzer was far too strong compared to a Student like him. His survival instincts kicked in and his shoulder blades began to feel prickly and numb. He was just a fraction of a second away from activating his Angel Wings and bursting out into the air for safety. Thankfully, he didn''t need to. The tank behind Atlan glowed a green light as he activated his LifeSkill. A mystical and ethereal octopus arm suddenly wrapped itself around Atlan''s body and immediately yanked it out. But Atlan''s body remained in place. The ''happy'' Canzer opened its wide maws and swallowed Atlan''s body whole. His lower body hung on the Canzer''s mouth, lifeless. Then, it bit into his body and crunched it into two. The Canzer thought it killed Atlan, but then, his ''corpse'' suddenly turned into a lifeless straw doll! The real Atlan was safe beside his bodyguard. The second tank''s LifeSkill allowed a friendly target to be substituted into a straw doll the moment they received any damage. Read new adventures at empire It was a perfect power for a bodyguard because it did not depend on timing. As long as that ethereal octopus arm hit Atlan, he had guaranteed protection for a minute. Wow¡­that was weird. Atlan''s perspective was sort of like an out-of-body experience where he saw his own body get devoured by the Canzer. It was surreal. "Don''t worry. I got you, man!" said the bodyguard. Atlan was safe, which strangely made the Canzer even happier, with its smile a lot more curved but its eyes turning even more soulless. ''Happy! Happy! I want to spread joy!'' It jumped up and down, alternating from its stubby left leg to its right in a little dance and a hum. "Don''t think you can get away with targeting our porter!" Ninth immediately rushed after the Canzer and swung down the might of her sword. The happy Canzer opened its mouth and sang its song, creating musical notes out of the air. As her blade reached the Canzer, the Canzer increased its pitch and subsequently enlarged the notes in the air. As soon as Ninth''s blade hit the treble clef, it exploded like a balloon, allowing the Canzer to fly away from her sword. But just when it thought it got away, three bullets suddenly appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the Canzer. TRKKK! The bullets pierced the Canzer''s chitinous shell and buried itself deep in its body, staining its red clothes purple. Interestingly, its injuries never healed. ''Kagh! You have a party? Let''s turn this into a party!'' In retaliation, the Canzer opened its maws wide, showing a light deep in its throat. Then, it shot out a ray of the crescent beam with the same shape as its smile towards the surroundings. The Tank didn''t have to deflect anything. The Canzer didn''t aim for them. Instead, it aimed for the dead trees around them. Soon enough, tens if not hundreds of branches and trunks vibrated as it got endowed with a new life. They ripped their roots out of the wet soil and walked toward Atlan and the team. If Atlan estimated their strengths correctly, each one of these trees had the equivalent of an Intern Savior! He would not be able to defeat even a single one, much less survive in a one-on-one fight. The worst part about it was that the Canzer could create these dead trees endlessly. "Trying to overwhelm us? Not while I''m around." The Mage raised her wooden wand and conjured a spell. Immediately, hundreds of violet hands appeared above the swinging trees. And with perfect synchronicity, they paired up and grabbed the trunks in two opposite directions before twisting them till they splintered. Within a few seconds of their life, they immediately died in the ''hands'' of the mage. Atlan was amazed at how easily she dealt with such a dangerous situation. Ninth and her team had the perfect composition to deal with this particular Canzer. Ninth and the Sniper dealt with the main Canzer, while the Mage and the tank dealt with the surrounding enemies. Chapter 230 Maniacal laughter ''YODEL! YODEL! I need help yodeling''"What are you yapping about?!" Ninth said as she swung her sword down to split the Canzer in half. Unfortunately, its singing created defensive notes that protected it from harm. Enjoy more content from empire BANG! The Sniper immediately supported his leader. He pulled the trigger and created a flaming bullet that headed straight toward the Canzer''s head. But once again, to protect itself, it smiled and created a beam that turned the bullet into a friendly object for the Canzer. The bullet turned back and headed straight for the Sniper hoping to bury it in his head. Thankfully, the Tank was already in front of the Sniper. But just when the Tank was going to activate his defense, the bullet turned a complete 90 degrees and targeted Atlan! Thankfully, his bodyguard used his shield to protect Atlan''s head from a friendly headshot. WHIZZ Three more flaming bullets appeared behind the Canzer and surrounded it from all sides. But it learned its lesson. It commanded all dead trees to saunter over towards its body and shield it from harm. The bullets pierced through ten dead trunks each before it was finally stopped just a few inches away from the Canzer. ''Happy! Happy dodge!'' It jumped up and down in elation after dodging the Sniper''s attacks. Up until now, it was the Sniper who was the only one on their team to do damage to its body. Because of that, it wrongly assumed that it was the strongest human it was facing. It didn''t know that Ninth was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. "Stop your jumping, submit to dying!" The Mesmer finally finished casting his spell. He played on his flute and created a melodic sound that reverberated through the dark forest and headed straight for the Canzer. The melodic sound was pleasing to the ears of most Canzers, especially this specific Canzer because of its fondness for singing. It stopped its elated hopping and listened intently to the music. It tilted its head in confusion. The music was intended to create a somewhat familiar sound to Canzers, but almost entirely different. It was as if the Canzer was given a set of Canzer words that looked like it made sense, but it actually didn''t. The Mesmer''s spell disoriented the Canzer for at least a second before it was able to snap itself out of confusion. But it was too late. Ninth already had her sword down on the ground after slicing it towards the Canzer. Even its musical notes couldn''t protect it from Ninth''s tyrannical slash. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. CLING! The Canzer''s right arm was entirely severed from its body, with it spurting out violet blood everywhere. "Tsk. It''s still able to dodge while mesmerized? I was aiming to cleave it entirely in half." Ninth expressed her disappointment. She hoped to finish the fight using only her brute strength and without using her LifeSkill. It would save her much energy for later. ''KAGH!!!! That''s so pleasing! So happy!'' Instead of wincing in pain, the Canzer instead became even happier than before. The curved smile on its face almost turned into a circle! Its chitinous body rattled as it vibrated in happiness. It suddenly turned its severed body towards Ninth and aimed the spurting violet blood toward her face. Ninth swung her sword in a circle, protecting her from the majority of the violet blood. Even if she didn''t know what it did, she knew better than to let a Canzer get the best of her. TSSS Unknowingly, one drop of blood hit her skin. She looked down and saw the infected part of her arm open up into a smile. It resembled the Canzer''s sinister smile. It suddenly laughed and created a tiny high-pitched noise that suddenly brought about an infectious case of laughter. The surrounding skin suddenly opened up to reveal more mouths that smiled and laughed with the original infected skin. This, in turn, created more smiling mouths on her arm and threatened to spread towards her wrist. Ninth ruthlessly mutilated herself, skinning the infected skin on her arm before it spread any further. After a few seconds, new and healthy skin grew on her bleeding and exposed injury. "200 years¡­it packs quite a punch," she muttered. "But don''t think only you can do that." The Canzer, with its bleeding right arm, suddenly turned around as it felt a threat coming from its blind spot. But before it could even move its body back, it suddenly felt a strong force hitting it from behind and cracking its chitinous shell. It flew outwards and landed on a few dead trees, killing its own creation. The Scout retracted his fist after a successful sneak attack. He had a mutated fist made entirely out of shadows. The longer he remained undetected before an attack, the stronger his fist became. Thankfully, the Canzer wasn''t that attentive after it lost an entire limb. "Don''t let it have any rest," Ninth muttered "You don''t have to tell us twice." The Sniper and the Mage prepared their LifeSkills and targeted the prone Canzer. The Mage conjured hundreds of hands that encircled the Canzer. Interestingly, these hands were not made out of an ethereal and magical material but were instead made out of a crystal that perfectly refracted and reflected light. It acted as a multi-faceted mirror! As the Sniper triggered his gun, a single bullet fired toward the Canzer. As it reached the wall of crystal hands, its image perfectly reflected on the palms of the hundreds of hands. Suddenly, these ''images'' of the bullet shot out of the palms and headed straight for the Canzer. Instead of being only one bullet, there were now three hundred bullets that each had the same firepower as the original. TIK TAK TAK TIK The Canzer''s body was riddled with bullet holes that exploded and tore its chitinous body apart. Slowly, a pool of violet blood gathered around the lifeless body of the Canzer. After that was silence. Atlan held his breath as he looked at the ''dead'' Canzer. His Thermal Vision showed that the Canzer no longer had any sign of life in its body, but he couldn''t trust what he saw. He had a gut feeling that this wasn''t finished yet. Suddenly, he heard a maniac laughter echoing through the dark woods. ''HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'' Chapter 231 Ray of sunshine Atlan looked around and realized that the Canzer''s laughter was coming out of everywhere¡ªthe dead black trees, the slightly wet muddy soil, and the dark skies and black sun broadcasted the high-pitched maniacal laughter.It was as if everything was infected by its unexplainable happiness. Suddenly, the whole dark forest experienced an earthquake that almost made Atlan lose his footing. Everything shook as the endless dead trees simultaneously vibrated and moved their roots out of the ground. The dead trees rose their branches upwards as if they were stretching out to the black skies above. Just like before, a creepy smile morphed out of their trunks. This time, there was a small light coming out of their mouths. They all jumped up and down and embodied the happy Canzer. Their mouths curved up in happiness and their bodies creaked in an attempt to sing just like their creator. ''Make the humans happy'' Atlan heard a whisper through the woods. It was imperceptible to the likes of normal humans like Ninth and her team, but it was loud and clear to Atlan''s ears. Even though he hadn''t seen anything or felt any threatening movements, he shouted towards his bodyguard. "Make me a straw man," he said. The bodyguard didn''t waste a second and manifested the ethereal octopus arm that wrapped itself around Atlan''s body. This was an additional lifeline he desperately needed. Just then, a creepy smile formed underneath Atlan''s feet. And before he could look down and notice it, a big mound of mud emerged out of the ground and showed its infectious smile to Atlan''s back. In just a fraction of a second, a hand formed at the mound''s side and threatened to crush Atlan into a mushy paste. Atlan knew that he didn''t have the speed nor the reaction time to fight such a strong monster. He could only rely on his intellect and memory to protect himself from being hit by its heavy hand. He knew that the animated dead tree had no sort of complex thinking and could only use the most basic of attacks. It only brought down its branch as its main offense and defense. Atlan didn''t have to guess that whatever monster was behind him was controlled by the Canzer. If that was true, then it was only logical to assume that it could only use a crude, instinctual, and animalistic form of attack. Based on that guess, Atlan ducked down in anticipation of a diagonal attack that aimed for his head. SWOOSH Atlan felt a cold air breeze past the back of his neck as the mud golem''s arm swung and missed his head. Even though he was bogged down by his battle suit and even though he was two realms lower than the mud monster, he was able to protect himself from a certain hit by only using his guts and his intellect. A smile formed on his face before the mud monster opened its mouth and devoured Atlan''s entire body. Just before his head was crushed under the weight of the monster''s mouth, his body turned into a straw doll and saved him from being consumed. He appeared right next to the bodyguard safe and sound. Did he get lucky? The bodyguard never would have thought that a Student wearing tens of thousands of tons on his battle suit would ever be able to dodge against a monster multiple levels higher than him. But, he was thankful that Atlan made his job a lot easier. ''HAHAHAHA! I''m a ray of sunshine!'' The Canzer''s hideous face suddenly formed out of the black skies. It was so big that it dwarfed the black sun in the sky and turned this entire Remedium into its domain. It felt like it could see everything with its enormous eyes that looked down at the team. ''Soon, you''ll play to my tune!'' the Canzer sang. A musical tune suddenly echoed through the dark forest, making the trees dance and jump in happiness. More and more mud golems formed on the ground, with their smiles carved onto the very pathway itself. They danced, creating an earthquake based on the music''s rhythm. "Mage!" Ninth ordered. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Copy, boss!" The Mage looked up and chanted a spell. Suddenly, tens of thousands of violet hands burst forth from the tip of her wand and twisted upwards, creating a cloud of hands intertwined with each other. This cloud spread through the skies and covered the entire forest, tinting the dark forest with a violet light. Atlan looked up and couldn''t even see a glimpse of the skies above them. Even the incessant laughing of the Canzer''s face plastered on the skies was muffled into silence. He even tried using his Thermal Vision to look up and peek at the skies, but all he could see was a swarm of hot and warm hands in his vision. "Bring forth the finger of melancholy!" the Mage screamed. Suddenly, thousands of hands rained forth on the ground. These hands only had their pointy fingers extended, creating a sharp peak that pierced through the air. In just seconds, the thousands of singing dead trees and mud golems got riddled with holes as these pointy hands rained on their bodies. Try as they might to sing through the barrage, their bodies could not overcome the damage. They all turned into ripped pieces of their basic elements. After that, silence. So this is a Mage LifeSkill, Atlan admired. Her power permeated through the entire Remedium! He could only wonder how much power she held to extend her LifeSkill to such lengths while keeping enough power. ''KUHAHAHA! Thank the humans! They spread happiness!'' The hideous face of the Canzer suddenly morphed from the thousands of hands in the cloud. It taunted the Mage and laughed at her attempts at preventing its happiness. "Kugh! It took control of my spell! I have to retract it!" The Mage stopped her spell, dissipating the hands into mere particles. Stay tuned for updates on empire The black skies revealed themselves again, letting the giant face of the Canzer sing to the Remedium. ''AWAKE!'' Suddenly, all the shredded pieces of bark and soil grew their own crescent mouths and laughed alongside the Canzer. They must have been numbering in the billions. Chapter 232 Swarm of happiness Before they knew it, there were swarms of tiny-mouthed creatures laughing and smiling at the ground and in the air.Their small but high-pitched screeches created a shockwave that made Atlan and the rest of the team wince in pain. Even if they blocked their ears, they could still hear that incessant laughter echoing in their minds. There was no way they could escape. Ninth swung her sword around her, killing thousands upon thousands of pests. Yet it made no difference. As soon as there was space, the swarm would fill it up as if there was an endless supply of them¡ªwhich wasn''t entirely false. The Sniper kept shooting his gun and multiplying his bullets, yet he wasn''t able to keep them from biting his battle suit and turning his skin into a feeding ground. The Tank was a little bit better as he could protect himself from harm using his shield that repelled anything. But, he was limited only to a specific direction, leaving him vulnerable from behind. Everyone used their LifeSkills to save themselves, but the swarm was too much. It felt as if they were swimming in a sea of tiny mosquitoes that ruthlessly bit their battle suits and threatened to devour them down to their bones. The worst part about it was the annoying tiny laughter echoing in their ears. The pests took away an entire year of SoulTime for every second they spent inside the swarm. For Specialist Saviors like them, losing that little amount of SoulTime was almost negligible. As for Atlan, he was protected by his battle suit, with the chitinous padding being slowly whittled down. "Should I destroy them?" the Mage asked loudly. Ninth considered the thought. Even though a large number of enemies like this was perfect for an area of effect mage, Ninth had a feeling that it would only exacerbate the situation. Billions could turn to quadrillions. "Let''s hold on for now," she said. "It''s still manageable." While Atlan fought off the swarm of pests with his slow punches, he couldn''t help but wonder about the Canzer. From what he witnessed earlier, the Canzer couldn''t regenerate its injuries fast enough. It was still affected by the Sniper''s previous bullets, hindering its ability to dodge attacks. Therefore, it wasn''t a Destruction Canzer. If it did, then it would have been able to shrug off any normal attacks that Ninth and the Sniper inflicted on it. At least, it should have shown some kind of healing ability even if it was slowed down. But it didn''t. Is it an Infection Canzer, Atlan thought. It would explain why it didn''t die from being riddled by bullets. And the fact that it was able to show itself in the sky could be another manifestation of its cloning ability. Even the smiling creatures, the dead trees, the mud golems, and the mouthed pests, were all ''infected'' by the Canzer''s happiness. They got contaminated with the spirit of the Canzer and were forced to do its bidding. It made sense. "Boss! How long are we going to endure this?" asked the Scout. "It''s fine if this is our only opponent, but we have several more Canzers to defeat!" On a normal mission, Ninth and her team didn''t have to worry much about their SoulTime. They saved up enough lifespan for them to not worry about a Canzer''s attacks like the pests they were experiencing right now. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, this was not a normal mission. It was already confirmed before they went to the Remedium that there would be at least 3 Specialist Canzers inside! Even if they had a surplus of SoulTime, they would eventually run out of time if they fought three Canzers all in succession. And there was a possibility to have more hiding further down the Church. They had to be frugal with their SoulTime. They would only receive the reward or compensation of SoulTime after they finished the mission. They wouldn''t replenish their lifespan until they saved the Church from the hostage situation. If they lost half of their life in this fight, then they would only doom themselves later on. "Hold on! We need it to show more. It''s hiding something." Ninth''s words surprised Atlan. "This isn''t normal?" "It''s not acting in a typical manner," the Tank next to him explained. "It''s acting weak. It should be stronger than this." This is weak? Atlan could barely even keep up with just one of the dead trees, yet the bodyguard was telling him that normal Specialist Canzers were a lot stronger than this. He could hardly believe it. "Show your ugly face, you bastard!" Ninth screamed as she held her one-handed sword up in the air and finally activated her LifeSkill. A colossal apparition of a sword-maiden with the same structural face as Ninth and garbed with traditional knight armor appeared behind her. It exuded a sense of sharpness that could cut through anyone who looked up at her giant figure. Atlan couldn''t even look up at the majesty of Ninth''s LifeSkill up so close. If he looked at it too hard, he would feel a prickly sensation in his eyes that would force him to avert his gaze. But even then, she was lenient. If Atlan was an enemy, he wouldn''t be able to stand so close to her without bursting into a thousand slices of his body. The pests that tried to overwhelm the apparition learned that lesson the hard way. No matter how much they tried to overwhelm her, they could not get within two meters of her figure without bursting into mere atoms. And that was just the manifestation of her LifeSkill. She hadn''t done anything yet¡­Till now. She raised her sword in the air, and so did the apparition. Her sword, just by merely raising it in the air, cleaved through the skies and threatened to split the sky as well as the annoying smile on the Canzer''s face. "HYAAA!" Ninth screamed and brought down her sword, creating a huge pressure that divided the whole swarm as if she was parting the sea. Chapter 233 Swordmaiden The sword split the heavens. Atlan saw a brief moment in which the Canzer atop the skies looked at the sword with fear in its eyes. There was an actual threat within that blade that even the happiest Canzer could not overcome.Atlan didn''t know if the expression it showed was it trying to escape from Ninth''s attack or if it was just jumping up and down from happiness, but it didn''t matter. It would get cut down regardless. The sword looked so heavy that it sent a huge gust of wind greater than a tornado. If Atlan wasn''t so heavy, he would feel himself get lifted off the ground. And that was just Ninth bringing down her sword with a very slow movement! As the tip of her blade reached the giant obnoxious face of the Canzer in the skies, its forehead got indented as a slight tear started to go down and threatened to split the Canzer''s face in half. Even though Ninth''s swordmaiden apparition was not even tall enough to reach the clouds, and the Canzer''s face looked like it was another planet far away from the world, the sword somehow reached its target. It was like an optical illusion. From Atlan''s perspective down below, Ninth''s sword somehow crossed with the Canzer''s face right at the point where the two images intersected. Atlan couldn''t believe it. He thought he was seeing things. Ninth''s sword shouldn''t be tall enough to reach the planet-like Canzer. But it did. It was as absurd as if a human raised their hands in the sky and pinched the moon. And somehow, they were able to grab ahold of it and crush it in their hands! ''GUAAAGHHHHH!'' The Canzer screamed as it felt its face get torn down from forehead to chin. And no matter how much it tried to get away from her sword, it was as if there was a gravitational force that kept the sword attracted and attached to the Canzer itself! Suddenly, its chubby and stocky hands appeared out of the skies and tried to wrestle the giant sword away from its face. Yet, the swordmaiden''s hands could not get swayed. She held a tight grip on it that even the gods could not rip away from her. It opened its mouth and showed its ugly set of teeth. Out from its throat, a bright white light came and burst out towards the swordmaiden. Ninth frowned and adjusted her stance. She kept one hand on her sword and kept trying to split the Canzer''s face in half, while her other hand moved in a swift martial arts defense that deflected the beam with her bare hands. But, as it turned out, the beam of light accidentally hit the black sun in the skies. Suddenly, it started to grow in size. No, it wasn''t growing, it was advancing towards them! And as it did, a curved white smile appeared in the black sun. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As it started to get bigger, everyone felt the temperature in the Remedium become hotter and hotter. The muddy soil in the ground immediately dried up and started to crack. The dead trees became even smaller and more brittle, with it splintering with just a weak gust of air. Those without much defense started to feel their skin burn. The Sniper, the Scout, the Mage, and the Mesmer all immediately huddled towards the two Tanks before their blood boiled from the inside. The Tanks used their LifeSkills to create a dome of safety where the temperature was lessened to a large degree. Only then could they take a deep breath and relax. But the sun''s assault didn''t end there. It suddenly shone with a black ray of light directly towards the apparition of the giant swordmaiden. Ninth gritted her teeth as she felt the intensified heat of the sun directly on her body. Her skin started to burn and blacken, but her internal body healing allowed her to quickly shed off her burned skin and replace it with a stronger, more resilient patch. However, this cost her about 10 years of SoulTime for every second. It was not sustainable. The giant swordmaiden slowly got enveloped in a black fire that tested her mettle. If she just let go of her sword pinning the Canzer''s face in the sky, then she could get away from the harmful rays of the black sun and save herself. But if she kept with her stubborn ways, then she would only suffer an even more intense heat that could potentially burn her entire body into ashes. "You underestimate me, Canzer!" she muttered. Her grip on the sword tightened as well as her resolve. She would finish this fight no matter what it took. "Code of Honor!" Ninth''s sword slowly gathered momentum out of nowhere. She finally cleaved through the Canzer''s forehead and separated its eyes. It almost turned cross-eyed as it looked at the sword in disbelief. But she didn''t end there. Her sword split its green bulbous nose, with its warts and pimples popping out. The Canzer, perhaps knowing its demise, bellowed out a laughter. ''HAHAHAHA¡ª'' Then, with swift force, she cleaved through that annoying smile, stopping its laughter from echoing further in the Remedium. The Canzer''s face was split in half. Slowly, they disintegrated from mere particles and disappeared off the face of the skies. Then, its original body fell from the heavens and landed in front of Ninth. She looked down and saw the Canzer''s body completely split in half, with violet blood and guts spilling out of its body. The black sun soon returned to normal and a cool air breezed through the black forest, allowing the whole team a second of reprieve. Atlan waited with bated breaths for something to happen. But after a minute of silence, the Canzer''s corpse showed no signs of healing back together or cloning itself. "Is¡­is it over?" he asked out loud. But, his question was met with silence. There was a worried expression on everyone''s faces. Atlan knew that something was wrong. He just didn''t want to admit it. After all, no Specialist Canzer would ever be killed with just brute force and without the use of an Operator construct. Just then, they heard numerous footsteps coming at them from all directions. Chapter 234 Cone tipped hats The whole dark forest seemed to become even more foggy. It was dense¡ªtoo dense to even see those around them. Aside from the bodyguard just a few inches away from him, Atlan could only see the silhouette of his teammates.He had a bad feeling about this. He tried to use his Thermal Vision, but it was as if the fog could obscure his LifeSkill as well. It was overpowered by the mystical powers of the Remedium and could not see through them. The Scout immediately sensed something and warned the others. "Incoming!" he shouted. The Tank immediately activated his LifeSkill and created a protective wall around the team. The Sniper kept his eyes on the scope and his finger on the trigger. Even Ninth held her one-handed sword above her head ready to cut down whatever was about to come towards them. And just as they feared, ''Damn humans! They''ve gone and killed our brother!'' ''Ha¡­haa¡­hachoo! Sniff¡­the smell of these humans makes my allergy act up!'' ''Can they see me? I don''t want them to see me!'' ''Hehe¡­the smell here is nice hehe, isn''t it?'' ''Zzzzz¡­.POP!¡­huh? Yeah¡­yeah¡­I''ll just go back to¡­sleep¡­'' Five more distinct Canzer voices echoed through the dark woods. Even though each one of those voices came with a very varied aura and power, there wasn''t any doubt in everyone that they were all either as strong or stronger than the happy Canzer they killed. And it looked like they came for revenge. ''Look how they massacred our boy.'' Everyone''s eyes went wide as they suddenly saw a large clothed Canzer appear in front of Ninth. It observed the corpse of the happy Canzer with a melancholic expression. Atlan didn''t even notice it came from anywhere. It simply appeared without any warning or effects. ''Dee! Can you stop that damn smoking?! It''s clouding the whole forest!'' The thick and dense fog finally cleared, allowing them to lay eyes on the Canzer in front of them. It was as hideous as the one before, with a face as big as a human''s body. It somehow wore large human clothes with a red long-sleeved shirt, orange trousers, brown shoes, and a cone-tipped hat. Its garb was similar to that of the happy Canzer, but this time, it had large round glasses that hid its eyes that seemed like it could pierce through the veil of truth. This Canzer didn''t seem aggressive and only focused its attention on the corpse below. It didn''t even react to the bloodlust that Ninth emitted just a few meters away from it. It was as if she didn''t even exist. "Boss! Just give me the go-ahead and I''ll blow the brains out of that monster!" The Sniper was ready to destroy the bespectacled Canzer in front of her. He would have already done so, but Ninth''s silence made him hesitate. If she wasn''t going to do something, then it wasn''t his place to do so either. "Be careful," Ninth warned her team. "There''s something amiss." Slowly, as the fog dispersed and showed the replenished dead trees, the team finally laid their eyes upon the six different Canzers. ''Ah! Dee, can you please blow some smoke again? These humans are looking at me!'' ''I''ll beat these bastards up myself if they keep leering at us like this.'' ''Hehe¡­hehe¡­Gee, relax¡­they have seven, we have seven¡­it''s perfect.'' There were six of them in total. Five of them were on the outskirts of the black forest and surrounded Ninth and the group. The last one was inside the group and faced Ninth directly. The one called ''Dee'' wore a green long-sleeved shirt and green trousers. It wore a violet hat and had a pipe in its mouth constantly billowing smoke out of its chamber. Atlan noticed that the smoke it blew away was perfectly similar to the fog in the black forest. And according to what he heard from their conversation, it was ''Dee'' who was responsible for the obscure nature of the Remedium. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Gee'' wore entirely red clothes, with its shirt and trousers matching in colors. It wore an orange cone-tipped hat and was the only one among the group of Canzers who had a great big white beard obscuring its mouth. And despite that, the frown on its face was as clear as day. It couldn''t display any other expression. ''Zee! Would you stop sleeping!'' ''Zee'', just like the angry ''Gee'', wore an entirely red attire, but with a blue cone-tipped hat. This Canzer was lying down on its side and constantly yawned¡ªwhich was unnatural and human-like at the same time. It desperately tried to get up just like its ''brothers'' said, but it would always end up falling and sleeping within a second. ''My damn useless brothers! Why are you hiding, Bee? Get over here!'' yelled the angry Gee. Obscuring its large stature behind a thin dead tree was ''Bee''. It wore a yellow long-sleeved shirt and a blue-green hat. This one always had its head down and couldn''t keep its gaze long enough to make eye contact with the humans. HACHOOO! The last Canzer sneezed so hard that it induced a head-splitting headache in Atlan and the team. Not even Ninth could react fast enough to protect herself from the disorientation. It took them a second to wake themselves up from their stupor. The Canzers could have used this opportunity to unleash untold damage on the humans. Yet, they didn''t. They didn''t know if it was because they didn''t want to, or because they didn''t need to. The Tanks gritted their teeth as they realized that they faced an opponent that they could not let their guard down. Because of their carelessness, they could have let down their team and let the Canzers take the upper hand. ''That was a big one, Ess! Hehe¡­'' Even an effortless sneeze was enough to send chills down their spine. The tanks kept their eyes on the Canzer named ''Ess''. It wore clothes colored entirely of brown, with a yellow cone-tipped hat on its head. Its biggest feature was its big nose, which was large enough to suck up an entire human without any trouble at all. The Canzer constantly rubbed its nose and always had an expression as if it was about to sneeze. Chapter 235 Distinct personalities They were surrounded by these hideous monsters with unknown powers and unknown motives. This was a dangerous situation if there ever was one.Atlan couldn''t figure out what type of monsters they were dealing with. Was it an Infection or Destruction type Canzer? If it was an Infection Canzer, then that would mean that all of these strange creatures wearing large human clothes were clones and copies of each other. But that didn''t make sense. If they were, then they should all be identical with the same powers and personalities. But from what he could see and hear from their conversations, each one of them had their distinct attitudes that clashed with each other. These weren''t clones. The very definition of that word meant that the copies should all be identical, but they were the exact opposite. If it wasn''t an Infection Canzer, then it could only be a Destruction Canzer. For Atlan, that would be the worst-case scenario. If these six Canzers were of the Destruction type, then that would mean that they all had endless regeneration that could only be disabled by six different Operator constructs. Fighting them would be hell. But if they were the same as the happy Canzer from earlier, then that would mean that they didn''t have regeneration. The previous one got killed because it couldn''t heal its injuries. If it can''t regenerate and it can''t make clones, then what are they? If he was fighting this group alone, he would simply bring out his Angel Wings and leave the Remedium altogether. But seeing as there was still a fire in everyone''s eyes, Atlan had no intention of giving up. They would fight. "On my mark," Ninth uttered with hushed tones. "We bring down God''s fury on this Canzer in front of us. We need to bring down their numbers." As expected of the Specialist team, they acted with professionalism. They showed no reaction after hearing Ninth''s words. If they all turned to look at the bespectacled Canzer, they would basically be broadcasting to the entire Remedium that they were about to attack. These Canzers were too intelligent to not notice that. ''How¡ªhow¡­how about it ''Oc? Can-can you heal Aitch so we¡ªwe can get out¡­of here?'' said the shy Bee. ''You want to go home now?! We haven''t even taught these humans a lesson for hurting OUR brother!'' yelled the angry Gee. ''Zzzzzzz¡­..'' ''Oh, Bee¡­do you want me to give you something to help you calm down?'' asked the smoking Dee. This, in turn, angered Gee. ''Oh hell no, you won''t! The last time you gave him something, I had to deal with the aftermath!'' As Atlan listened to the Canzer''s conversation, he couldn''t help but be bewildered at their likeness to humans. They acted like one, they bantered like one, and they had complex social interactions just like how a human group would react. If their chitinous faces weren''t so hideous, Atlan would have thought he was listening to humans! Their conversation also proved a guess that''s been on his mind lately. Does the Canzer have their own dimension they could call home? They had history. They didn''t just spawn out of nowhere. They had lives before they arrived at the Remedium. They certainly weren''t living in the real world before that so the only conclusion he could come up with was that the Canzers had their world in a different dimension. Maybe they even had their own homes and territories like humans. With their intelligence, Atlan could even imagine there being a society of Canzers, where the strong ruled the weak. And from what he could recall in the emergency meeting room, the Canzers organized this very attack. They sensed a weakness. They knew that there was a hostage situation within the church, and they immediately dispatched some ''soldiers'' to prevent the humans from solving the situation. Atlan could only wonder what kind of monster could command Specialist-level Canzefs like they were mere foot soldiers. ''How long do we have to stay here, ''Oc?! I''m getting tired of standing around!'' ''POP!¡­huh?¡­.Zzzzzzz¡­..'' ''Dude, you need a chill pill. I can give you one.'' S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. While the Canzers were having their conversations, Ninth and her team were already revving up their LifeSkills. They wanted to burst down the bespectacled Canzer named ''Oc before it could even react. And to do that, they needed to act with quick and precise burst movements. Ninth looked back and knew from one look that her team was ready. All she needed to do was give the signal. She whispered, "Now.'' With perfect synchronicity, they all lit up in different lights corresponding to the element of their LifeSkill. The Mesmer took out his flute and played very calm and soothing notes that physically affected the Remedium. The visible shockwaves of the sound created a protective bubble around the group, creating an illusion on the outside. From the Canzer''s perspective, the humans never left their spot. They didn''t even move. The Mesmer''s spell allowed the team to create an ambush right from plain sight! Ninth was the first one to move as she burst forth towards the Canzer named ''Oc with her blade above her head. As she was about to exit the Mesmer''s bubble of illusion, she swung her sword down in anticipation of reaching the Canzer''s head. The bespectacled Canzer only saw the tip of the blade come towards its head. Its dark sunglasses glinted in the sunlight. It simply bent down its head, letting Ninth''s sword hit its brown cone-tipped hat. The two collided, sending sparks flying everywhere. Yet no matter how much strength Ninth used, she could not even cut through the Canzer''s strange hat. The realization dawned on her that this Canzer was not something she could cut down without her LifeSkill. Her team, seeing her attack fail, tried to activate their LifeSkills as they planned. But just as they were about to, the whole Remedium suddenly rumbled as the Canzer called ''Ess'' induced another world-shaking sneeze. ''HACHOOOO!'' The shockwave disrupted the Mesmer''s illusion, popping it like it was nothing. The Sniper, the Mage, the Tank, and the Scout all found themselves too stunned to gather any strength in their Soul System. They couldn''t activate their LifeSkill! Chapter 236 Beard or Big Nose? Everyone felt their entire Soul System shake from that sneeze, discombobulating them from accessing their powers.This would have been the time to panic, but thankfully, none of the Canzers moved to attack them. "Kugh! How did it know?!" "It shouldn''t have! My illusion was perfect!" The Canzers shouldn''t have seen them move at all. The Mesmer''s illusion prevented any disturbance from leaking out perfectly. Yet, somehow, the Canzer was able to ''sneeze'' and disrupt their casting at the most critical moment. If they were able to support Ninth, they would have killed or at least injured the bespectacled Canzer named ''Oc. ''My allergy is really acting up!'' It turned out that ''Ess'' never even sensed the upcoming ambush! Atlan didn''t know if it was just a coincidence or something else. Either way, they would have to keep an eye on the sneezing Canzer and brace themselves so that their LifeSkill wouldn''t get interrupted. Meanwhile, seeing as she was the only one facing the Canzer, Ninth immediately retracted her sword and struck the Canzer''s brown hat again, creating another spark. She didn''t stop there. She kept slashing it continuously without break, reaching a thousand hits a minute. Her stubbornness disallowed herself to be bested by a Canzer''s ''hat''. And the fact that the Canzer did nothing as she hacked her sword made her even angrier. It was as if the Canzer knew that she couldn''t ever cut through it. Finally, the bespectacled Canzer looked up at Ninth and took out a mining pickaxe from behind its back. This weapon seemed to have materialized out of nowhere because it was way bigger than the Canzer''s body itself. The Canzer swung the pickaxe towards Ninth without any windup. It looked like a throw-away attack with no effort. But when Ninth received this attack, she felt its heaviness push her outwards. She tried to fight it by digging her feet in the soil, but the Canzer proved to be too strong for her to overcome. Ninth was thrown backward and was caught by the Tank behind her. The two of them skidded on the ground for a few meters before they finally stopped. Ninth looked at her shaking hands. The power she felt from that pickaxe still lingered in her mind. It was at that point that she realized that she wouldn''t be able to contend with the bespectacled Canzer in terms of brute strength. Given that physical prowess was not her strongest suit, she was still the strongest person in the team by a large margin. If she couldn''t overcome it, then no one could. She''d had to fight it some other way. "I''m sorry, Ninth. I thought my illusion was perfect." "It was. They just have better eyes." "Do you want me to take the shot? I can still hit him," asked the Sniper. She shook her head. "That thing''s too tough. For now, I want you to shoot for defense. If you see any one of those Canzers moves, then make sure they only move backward. Don''t let them approach." "Copy." "Mage, same goes with you. Coordinate with our Sniper and make sure we only fight one by one. Keep them at bay." The Mage nodded, with her wooden wand at the ready. "Scout, tell me if you see any sneak attacks or traps." "I will," he responded. "As for you," Ninth said as she looked at Atlan. "Are you feeling okay?" Atlan nodded. Although he was completely too slow to see attacks of these high-level Canzers, much more dodge them, he still had an advantage that nobody knew about. He could hear the Canzers talk to each other. "As long as you stay deep in our formation, we''ll protect you," she assured. "I don''t think we have to worry about that," said the bodyguard beside Atlan. "They don''t look like they''re aggressive. They haven''t attacked us yet." But it seemed his words were said a little bit too soon. Atlan heard the impatient voice of a Canzer who was rearing to go. ''Is it going to take any longer?! I''m running out of patience here!'' Gee bellowed. The bespectacled Canzer named ''Oc looked at the angry ''Gee'' and replied, "You can do as you please. This will take a while." As soon as he heard that, Gee rubbed his white beard and eyed the humans with a hidden bloodlust. For someone who was angry all the time, this Canzer was very skilled in hiding its violent expression. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "It''s about to attack!" Atlan warned. "How do you know that?" asked the Mage. Even the Scout was surprised. "I haven''t seen any sign of them using their powers." Meanwhile, Ninth looked at Atlan with a serious expression. "Who?" As expected of a good leader, she immediately believed Atlan without a second of hesitation. "The white beard," he said with a hushed tone. He made sure not to move his eyes away from the ground. He didn''t want to alert the Canzers. She then made eye contact with the Tank, ordering him to heed Atlan''s advice and keep an eye out on the bearded Canzer. However, the Tank thought differently. "I think I should keep watching the Big Nose. I''m tired of it messing up our rhythm. As long as I keep a careful watch, I can reflect its sneeze outwards and let them have a taste of their own medicine." The Tank could only face one direction at a time. It just so happened that the angry, bearded ''Gee'' was on the opposite side of the Big Nose sneezer called ''Ess''. Although Atlan warned them about the upcoming attack, he gave no reason as to how he acquired that knowledge. They didn''t know if it was an educated guess based on evidence, or if it was just a baseless hunch. The Tank''s tactic, on the other hand, was much more realistic. From the beginning till now, it was only the Big Nose ''Ess'' who posed an actual threat to the team. Two of its sneezes proved to be powerful enough to disorient them for a good second and disrupt their Soul System enough to disable their LifeSkills. It was only natural to devote their defenses to countering the sneeze. Ninth was put into a dilemma. Should she follow logic and go with the Tank, or should she trust a novice''s gut hunch? Chapter 237 In hindsight Although it was a hard decision for others, Atlan, found it to be the most logical course of action. Since he could hear the conversations of the Canzers, he knew that the Big Nose sneezing Canzer didn''t plan its sneezes ahead of time. It showed no aggressiveness against the humans, at least for now.However, the bearded Canzer named ''Gee'' was actively trying to attack them. It was practically fuming. And now that it was permitted to attack, then Atlan did not doubt that it was only a matter of seconds until it did. Compared to the sneezer, choosing to defend against the angry ''Gee'' was a no-brainer. Atlan was frustrated that they couldn''t hear what he heard. He could have also told them about his ability to understand the Canzer''s language, but that in and of itself would open a can of worms. Not to mention the fact that they might not even believe him, the trouble would come if they did. They''d no doubt ask a lot of questions as to how he acquired that skill. He had no intention of revealing his grim reaper powers as of now. Atlan had to find another way to convince them. He could see from Ninth''s expression that she was slowly leaning towards going with the Tank''s suggestion. It was the most logical decision. The fact that she was still considering Atlan''s suggestion was a sign that she trusted him a lot. Any other would have dismissed his words entirely. "I''m sorry, Atlan but¡ª" Just as she was about to say something, Atlan suddenly jumped up and pointed at the bearded Canzer. "Look!" Everyone turned to look at the Canzer, including the main Tank. Their faces were full of cautiousness. They immediately put their guards up and prepared themselves for the upcoming attack. But after a few moments, nothing happened. The bearded Canzer stayed in its place without doing anything suspicious. Atlan lied. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Tank almost shouted out in anger. Although Atlan was a novice, the Tank didn''t think that he would be such a liability on the mission. This was sabotage, plain and simple. This little stunt of his could have cost them the entire mission. It was already hard fighting a Canzer, but it got even harder when there was an internal weakness inside the team. The Tank wanted to shout to Atlan, Shut up, don''t do anything stupid, that''s the least you can do. But just as he was about to turn around and face the Big Nose Canzer instead, he suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eyes. The bearded Canzer suddenly appeared in front of the Tank. Its face was contorted into one like that of a red demon whose only expression was anger and fury. Behind it were a thousand arms, each one had their chitinous fingers spread apart. The Canzer reared its arms back and then pushed its palms towards the Tank with the force of a thousand arms altogether. The Tank''s hair stood on end. With his instinct and reaction time as an experienced Specialist Tank, he was able to create a half-hearted wall of defense in front of him right at the very last second. As soon as the Canzer''s palms hit the semi-transparent wall, it immediately burst through without much resistance. CRACK Its thunderous palms hit the Tank''s body. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, showing only the whites. The Canzer''s hands were as big as his body, letting the Tank''s entire being feel the full brunt of the force. The Tank''s body collided against the forest of dead trees, but none of them could break his momentum. He would have continued to fly through the Remedium and be engulfed in the heavy fog around the forest. Once he was gone, he would either be lost in it forever or be swallowed by the hostile environment. But thankfully, the wall he conjured at the last second helped him weaken the blow. He slowly opened up his eyes in mid-air and ignored the pain in his broken ribs. He activated his LifeSkill and created a brick wall a few meters behind him. As he collided with the wall, it bent itself backward and cushioned his landing. "Argh," he groaned as he straightened his back. He landed on the floor, stumbling forward until he kneeled on the ground. BLEURGH He vomited blood. He looked at his Soul System and saw that he lost 900 years of SoulTime from that! He slowly looked up, with blood pouring from his forehead and staining his vision. Even still, he couldn''t help but look at the black battle suited porter in the distance. He was only able to awaken himself and stop his momentum because of that wall he created at the last second. This meant that if he hadn''t been facing the bearded Canzer and had his back turned against it like he originally planned, then he would have been caught unprepared. He would probably get lost in the fog and unable to help the team. If Atlan hadn''t pointed their attention towards the bearded Canzer, the Tank would have been knocked out of the fight. And without him, the team would have been fighting against the six Canzers at a total disadvantage. Atlan saved them from a total disaster, but they weren''t out of trouble yet. Even if he wasn''t knocked out, the Tank was still out of position. It would take him a couple of seconds at the least to run up and rejoin the team''s formation. If the Tank had listened to the ''newbie'' Porter in the first place, then he would have been able to properly defend against the bearded Canzer''s surprise attack. He wouldn''t have been thrown out and would have probably turned the fight around. They could have turned the situation on its head and planned a counterattack if they had just listened to the Porter. The Tank admonished himself for being prideful. He shouldn''t have dismissed the Porter''s words just because he was a newbie. But hindsight was 20/20. It was no use crying over spilled milk. The Tank ran back as fast as he could. Without him, the team was vulnerable to all attacks. Chapter 238 Tankless team Atlan gritted his teeth as he saw the Tank get blasted out into the fog.He thought if he turned their attention towards the Canzer at the right time, they would be able to defend themselves against its surprise attack. But it seemed he underestimated the Canzer''s speed and overestimated their trust in him. With the Tank out of the picture, there was nobody left to deal with the thousand-armed angry Canzer in front of them. "You''ll pay for that!" Ninth screamed as she brought down the might of her one-handed sword to the back of the angry Canzer. But even without looking at her, the Canzer used its thousand arms sprouting on its back to catch her sword in mid-air. Ninth gritted her teeth and increased her strength, slicing through multiple palms that tried to catch her sword. But as she got nearer and nearer to the Canzer''s back, she realized that its red hands became even harder to cut as its color got darker and darker. Her sword finally stopped at the last set of black hands. And before she could move her sword out, more and more hands sprouted out from its back and replenished its dead hands. Each one of those hands, no matter how weak they were, grabbed onto her blade and refused to let go. She tried to wiggle her sword out of its hands, but it wouldn''t budge. "Do not sully my sword!" Ninth shouted at the top of her lungs and activated her LifeSkill. A giant ethereal swordmaiden suddenly manifested behind her and endowed her with strength equivalent to that of her size. She yanked her sword out of the Canzer''s hands, cutting a hundred more on the way out. ''Damn human! Brothers, aren''t you joining in?'' screamed the bearded Canzer. Atlan was alarmed as he heard that. He immediately turned to the Mage, the Mesmer, and the Sniper. "They''re others are about to attack!" They didn''t know how he knew that, but they witnessed firsthand how he was able to predict the bearded Canzer''s surprise attack. If they had heeded his advice earlier, then they wouldn''t have been put in a situation where their main tank was out of sight. They weren''t going to make that mistake again. They initiated their LifeSkills and preemptively struck the Canzers surrounding them. The Sniper looked through his scope and looked upwards. With a pull of the trigger, a single bullet fired through the black skies and disappeared. Suddenly, more than a hundred thousand bullets surrounded them in a circle. Each one of them whizzed through the air and indiscriminately shot the Remedium. Most of them hit nothing but the ground and the dead trees, but quite a few of them buried themselves deep into the Canzers'' chitinous bodies. ''Ahhhh! They found me! don''t look at me!'' The shy one named ''Bee'' hid itself behind the trees, but the bullets pierced through them and hit its body nonetheless. ''Zzzzzz¡­..POP¡­.ouch¡­.zzzzzzz.'' ''Haa¡­.haa¡­Hacho¡ª-OW!'' The Big Nose sneezer was about to sneeze again, but the Sniper''s preemptive strike stopped it just in time. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Luckily, some of the bullets hit the Canzer smoking a pipe. Surprisingly, the Canzer''s body turned into nothing but a body of smoke. It turned out that all this time, the Canzer had only been a smoke clone. Due to how many bullets shot out everywhere, an empty spot suddenly got disrupted by the bullets whizzing by. The environment turned into smoke and revealed the true scene behind it. ''Ah! They found me¡­hehe¡­it''s all good.'' It turned out that the smoking Canzer with a pipe in its mouth was only a few meters away from ambushing Ninth from behind! It already had a ball made out of chitinous layers in its hands ready to throw it to her. But despite being found out, the Canzer still threw the unknown bomb towards her. Ninth quickly turned around and used the flat part of her blade to deflect it out towards the angry bearded Canzer. CRACK! TSSSSS! ''Argh! Dee, you bastard! I''ll kill you!'' The thousand-armed bearded Canzer ignored Ninth and chased down the smoking Canzer. But as its hands reached the other Canzer, it turned into nothing but smoke. ''Damn! I''ll get you!'' With the two Canzers chasing each other, Ninth finally got a moment of reprieve. She took a deep breath. If the Canzer hadn''t been disrupted by the rain of bullets, she wouldn''t have known that there was an ambush coming. She certainly wouldn''t have been able to defend against it. ''GARGHHHH! I''ll destroy every single one of you!'' The bearded Canzer shouted to the sky and sprouted more hands in its body. Then, some of the hands merged into one another and created a much bigger hand. This continued until the bearded Canzer''s body was already five times its original size, and it still wasn''t done growing. With its arms flailing around, the Canzer created destruction all around it. Dead trees got uprooted from the ground and flew through the air, threatening to bury everyone in a rain of dead trees. Without the Tank to protect the team, the responsibility fell to the leader, Ninth. She turned around and swung her sword down, with the ethereal swordmaiden following her movements. The giant sword cut through the forest of trees and saved the entire team from being buried. She saved the team but at the cost of her own safety. The thousand-armed Canzer, which was now almost half as tall as the swordmaiden, rotated its body and created a circular saw with its fingers as the ''teeth''. It jumped towards Ninth''s ethereal swordmaiden threatening to shred her into pieces. Ninth continued her swing from before and used its momentum to quickly turn around and defend herself from the Canzer. However, the Canzer was still able to shred the right shoulder of the swordmaiden. Ninth''s real body down below winced as she felt the pain her swordmaiden felt. Red blood stained her right shoulder. "150 years¡­" she muttered. Even though that damage wasn''t as severe as she thought, she knew that it would eventually accumulate. Without the Tank, she''d be forced to carry on that task and risk her life in the process. Chapter 239 Angry superior trees As much as the rest of the team wanted to help Ninth, they knew that they shouldn''t. It wasn''t their job. Their role in this fight was to suppress the other Canzers and prevent them from interfering with their leader''s fight. They just had to trust that Ninth would overcome the bearded Canzer by herself.The Mage raised her wooden sword as she chanted her spell. Violet hands suddenly sprouted out of its tip and spread out in a circle around them. Each one of these hands intertwined with each other and acted like a huge body of water. Then, with a swish of her wand, the ocean of hands suddenly rose in the air and created a giant wave outwards. She intended to drive out the rest of the Canzers away and into the fog. Her LifeSkill was not specialized towards this kind of ''area control'' but it was fine if she could at least prevent the Canzers from attacking by at least a few seconds. That was her job. The wave rose 40 feet in the air and swallowed everything in its path. Individual violet hands opened their hands and caught some of the dead trees in their path and created a physical barrier in the wave. The sleeping Canzer didn''t do anything as it got swept up by the dead trees. It seemed to smile as it got carried away into the fog¡ªhappy that it could finally have some peace and quiet to itself. The shy Canzer seemed deathly afraid of the wave of hands. Each of them moved and wriggled independently, making it seem like they were all different individuals. The Canzer seemed to have thought that each of those hands was human and got so shy that it started running away from the wave. Just as the wave was about to hit the big nose Canzer, it suddenly raised its head, closed its eyes, and opened its mouth as if it was yawning. ''Ha¡­ha¡­.HACHOO!'' The sneeze reverberated out into the Remedium and clashed with the violet hands. Unfortunately, before it could completely sweep away the rest of the Canzers, the hands suddenly popped out of existence as soon as they got hit by the shockwave of the sneeze. "Kagh!" the mage groaned. "Brace yourselves!" The sneeze spread towards the team and induced another splitting headache. Even though they were ready for it this time, they still couldn''t muster up any strength to fight against its disorienting effect. Their Soul System was shaken. They couldn''t use their LifeSkill for an entire second! The smoking Canzer finally took this chance to take out a ball made of chitin and throw it towards the team. Without their tank, they were unable to deflect this dangerous object away. CRACK! SPLASH! The ball exploded and spread a purplish liquid with a very thick consistency. The team couldn''t get away in time and was sprayed with this strange liquid which covered their entire bodies. At such critical moments, it was the Mesmer''s job to create an illusion to protect the team. But he found it almost impossible to even raise his flute because it was covered with the thick purple liquid. The same went with the Mage and the Sniper; they couldn''t even raise their weapons to defend themselves. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Finally! Took you long enough, Dee!'' The bearded Canzer saw his opportunity and wanted to pounce. These humans were served up on a platter perfectly for him to eat. "Oh no, you don''t!" screamed Ninth as the swordmaiden struck the ten-thousand-armed Canzer on its back. Her blade sliced through thousands of arms, finally cleaving through the last layer of black hands and reaching its chitinous body. ''KAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH!'' it screamed, with violet blood bursting from its back. The whole Remedium shook with its scream, comparable to the big nose''s sneezes. Suddenly, the dead trees swept up by the wave of hands vibrated with life. Each one of them grew an angry demon mask on its trunk similar to the bearded Canzer''s face. And just like it, the trees also inherited the Canzer''s anger. ''GAAHH!'' they bellowed, striking the ground and trampling each other. It was chaos for the newly birthed trees. Those that felled a tree would absorb and eat the ones they defeated. As they did, their trunks got even thicker and darker, showing their improved defenses and attacks. The thousands of trees were in a royal rumble until finally, there were only five superior trees that survived. These trees were much bigger and thicker than before. Their trunks got nimbler, acting more like a limb of a human. They grew a crown of thorns on their heads and roots that acted like octopus arms. And most terrifying of all was the improved mask on the trunks. They were no longer static. The mouth moved like a real human showing an angry expression. Its eyes, however, showed an intelligence that shined in the purpose of killing humans. The Mesmer struggled until he could finally put his flute in his mouth and play a high-paced song that created an illusion that displaced their original location. The five superior trees angrily moved with their roots toward the illusion. Their branches extended outwards and pierced the human bodies with their sharp crowns. The humans died with no resistance according to the illusion. The Mesmer purposefully created this illusion in the hopes that the trees were so indulgent in their fury that they didn''t notice that they were under his spell. Unfortunately, he underestimated their intelligence. The superior trees looked at the dead humans skewered through their branches and found something amiss. They showed no sign of suffering. They looked around with an even angrier expression until finally, one of them raised their branch and pierced through an empty space in the forest. The branch pierced through the illusion, deflating the musical notes that composed the very spell. The other trees followed its lead and pierced through the illusion, dispelling it completely. The trees sauntered over to the team. One of them raised their branches and struck the Mesmer outwards, breaking several of his ribs and losing him 100 years of SoulTime in the process. Chapter 240 Team down With the Mesmer down and out, there was nothing else preventing the superior trees from wreaking havoc on the whole team.The Sniper raised his kar 98 in front of him and aimed it towards the walking angry tree. He couldn''t find the strength to put his head next to the scope, so he was forced to fire from the hip, which lowered his accuracy to the point that he''d be lucky he''d hit his target while in medium range. As he pulled the trigger, the bullet whizzed through the air and headed for the tree. Unfortunately, it was only able to scrape past through its side. He activated his LifeSkill and multiplied his bullets 10 times, creating a wall of bullets that would surely hit the Canzer even without good accuracy. BANG! BANG! BANG! The bullets were stopped by the trunk for a fraction of a second, but they were imparted with a spinning power that allowed it to bury itself through the thick trunk. It staggered the superior tree just enough for the Sniper to fire another shot. His first shot missed completely, but its copy allowed 4 of them to pierce through its trunk. The Sniper thought it would have been enough to deal with the monster, but he underestimated them. The tree slammed its roots and branches on the ground as it threw a temper tantrum. It was livid. It couldn''t believe that a human was able to damage its trunk. In its anger, the tree''s whole body slowly glowed a bright yellow. Its body emitted a very hot temperature that somehow melted the bullets lodged inside its body. After a few moments, they were turned into nothing but smoke that came out of its ''ears''. Once it had recovered, it immediately walked over to the Sniper to enact its revenge. It slithered its roots toward his legs and slowly wrapped them around his whole body. The Sniper soon turned red as his whole body got squeezed so hard that multiple of his bones broke inside his body. His head ballooned as all the blood got trapped in his skull, turning his whole face purplish It would only take a couple more minutes until he was fully asphyxiated, yet he could do nothing but hold on. Everyone else was dealing with their own troubles. The Mage got the worst of it because four superior trees were targeting her. They were attracted to the violet hands she conjured in the air because they reminded them of their creator, the angry bearded Canzer. She commanded the thousands of violet hands to grab ahold of the trees'' branches and rip them away from the trunks. The trees, in return, used their roots to do the same with the hands. Those tentacle-like roots tied the violet hands into a knot and squeezed them together until they popped out of existence. The Mage gritted her teeth as she summoned ten thousand more violet hands that supported the original ones. They reinforced each other by linking hands and essentially creating a tug-of-war between the trees. CREAK! CRACK! Slowly, branches got ripped out of the trees, inflicting upon them the pain of losing their body part. Now that they were a little bit more intelligent, they were more susceptible to pain. This allowed her to gain the upper hand and suppress four superior trees all at once. Unfortunately, the focus it took to fight against these trees created a vulnerability within her position. She didn''t notice that there was a single root slithering through the soil and slowly inching towards her without her knowledge. "AAAYYHHH!" the Mage screamed as her leg got pulled out, causing her to fall backward. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This small moment of distraction disrupted her spell. Thousands upon thousands of violet hands popped out of existence and allowed the trees a moment of reprieve. The torn branches fell to the ground and were quickly picked up by the trees'' other branches and shoved it back to their original place. The sap from these ''injuries'' acted like glue that quickly dried and healed the torn branches. The Mage took a second to refocus her attention on her spell. But just as she was about to chant and activate her LifeSkill, a shadow cast over her head as the four superior trees converged on her location. These creatures were angry the moment they were born. Their fury towards someone that brutalized them was something that couldn''t be explained. They raised their branches in the air and started to pummel the Mage as hard as they could. "GAAAaaaaa¡­.." the Mage couldn''t even utter a shout as her vision was stained with blood. Her entire body was in pain and she was losing a hundred years of SoulTime for each punch they hit her with. The worst part was that the trees had no intention of ever stopping. Their anger never seemed to be satiated with the pummeling, and only served to increase their fury. Ninth gritted her teeth as she looked at her team and saw the state they were in. She raised her sword and sliced the superior trees in half. They were far too angry at the Mage to even notice the swordmaiden and ended up dying with anger frozen in their faces. She saved the Mage from losing thousands of years of SoulTime. Unfortunately, the bearded Canzer didn''t like that. ''How dare a mere human kill my creation?! You will pay for this!'' The giant bearded Canzer rotated the thousands of hands in its body. Each hand had fingers with sharp nails that acted as teeth that shredded everything in its path. It attacked Ninth from behind, hitting her squarely on her lower back. Ninth groaned and swallowed back the blood in her mouth. She quickly turned around and sliced her sword towards the Canzer, creating thousands of sparks that rained down on the Remedium as her blade collided with the Canzer''s saw-like hands. Everyone was injured and bleeding. She gritted her teeth and admonished herself. This wouldn''t have happened if the Tank hadn''t been pushed out of the fight. That wouldn''t have happened if she hadn''t dismissed the Porter''s words so easily. Now, they were paying for it dearly. Chapter 241 Shy Canzer Atlan looked around and could see nothing but destruction and suffering. It only took one mistake for the entire thing to snowball into something uncontrollable.The Mage was coughing and barely clinging to life, the Sniper was pummeled to the ground, and the Mesmer couldn''t even speak out, much more try to play a song with his flute. The only one still standing was Ninth, who was fighting both the angry bearded Canzer and the smoking Canzer at the same time. And they were still considered quite lucky. After all, only half of the Canzers were actively fighting against them. Atlan could only imagine the chaos if all six fought them at the same time. Should I fight with them? He could no longer stand by and simply watch as the entire team got overwhelmed by the Canzers. He could at least act as bait for them and let the others recover. But just as he was about to move, his bodyguard gripped his shoulder. "Don''t go." "But¡ª" "It is not your job to fight these Canzers. It is your job to survive and reach the Church. Once there, you''ll have plenty of danger you have to face. For now, you should do nothing but watch." Atlan couldn''t believe it. "Aren''t you worried?" "No," he answered. "They are Specialist Saviors for a reason. Don''t underestimate their resilience." Just then, they felt the ground shake. DUG DUG DUG DUG ''Gyah! Don''t look at me!'' The shy Canzer ran towards them with its hands covering its eyes. The dead trees on its way broke like twigs under its rush and each of its steps induced an earthquake that shook the entire Remedium. Its feet dug deep into the soil, creating deep footsteps that went as far as 4 feet. Atlan was sure that he''d get squished into a pancake if he got trampled by that Canzer. "Move!" his bodyguard shouted. Atlan took one step at a time to move away from the Canzer''s path. Unfortunately, as the shy Canzer got nearer to Atlan and the bodyguard, it peeked through its hands covering its eyes, and saw the two humans in front of it. ''Ahhh! They''re looking at me!'' In its panic, the Canzer stepped to the side and negated Atlan''s efforts of dodging. Thankfully, his bodyguard used his LifeSkill and manifested an ethereal octopus arm that wrapped itself around Atlan''s body. The shy Canzer''s foot trampled on Atlan''s body, which quickly turned into a straw copy. Atlan reappeared right next to his bodyguard safe and sound. The shy Canzer continued running straight until it tripped and crashed into the big nose Canzer. They both fell to the ground. ''Woah, thanks Bee. I almost sneezed there.'' sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Wahhh! I don''t want the humans to see me!'' ''Who? Them?'' The big nose Canzer pointed towards Atlan and the bodyguard. The shy Canzer subconsciously looked towards them and immediately made eye contact with both humans. Its face turned bright red with smoke coming out of its ears. It covered its eyes, but it couldn''t help but feel as if the humans were still staring. The bodyguard was still wary of another rush, so he was cautiously keeping an eye on it so that he''d be able to protect Atlan if it decided to run towards them again. But he didn''t know that it would provoke a reaction from the Canzer. ''DON''T LOOK AT ME!'' it screamed and rushed towards the two of them with its eyes still covered. The Canzer was in a full-on sprint towards them and Atlan was far too slow to dodge away. His bodyguard immediately activated his LifeSkill, creating an ethereal octopus arm sticking out from the ground. And just as he was about to move his octopus arm, a rotten chitinous hand suddenly grew out the back of his head and covered his eyes. The bodyguard tried to pry the hands away from his eyes but found them extremely hard to budge. It was as if they were permanently glued to his eyelids. Not only that, more and more chitinous hands wrapped around his body and covered him completely. His ears were blocked, making him hear nothing but a muffled sound of Atlan shouting towards him. He couldn''t even feel the ground underneath his feet. The chitinous hands wrapped around his body numbed him to the point that he couldn''t even feel the air or the soil. With his senses completely obscured, he couldn''t see or feel anything around him. And without sensing Atlan, he wouldn''t be able to activate his LifeSkill. The octopus arm flailed around but hit nothing but the air. This left Atlan completely vulnerable to the rushing Canzer. After all, he was also covered with chitinous hands all over his body. But even without his vision obscured, he stood no chance of dodging with tens of thousands of tons weighing him down. The Canzer ran through the forest of dead trees. It was only moments away from trampling Atlan into a pancake. Just as it was about to take its last step, a sudden force suddenly pushed the Canzer sideways. The attack was strong enough to throw the shy Canzer up in the air until it fell tumbling through the forest. The Scout appeared in front of Atlan, with his fist made entirely of shadow. He had stayed in stealth for all this time, empowering the shadow mutation in his fist. The longer he stayed unnoticed, the stronger his shadow power became. He could have used this power to save the Mage, the Mesmer, the Sniper, or even Ninth from losing hundreds of years of SoulTime, but the Scout chose not to. His main job in this mission was to look for traps and let the team traverse the dangerous Remedium safely. However, that was not his only job. He was also in charge of helping the Tank bodyguard in protecting the Star Porter. His patience paid off and he was able to save the Porter from being trampled by that shy Canzer. Chapter 242 Shy shy shy Once the shy Canzer was thrown out, the chitinous hands suddenly retracted back to their bodies and disappeared completely.The bodyguard looked around and was relieved when he saw Atlan safe and sound. It would have been his fault if the Star Porter got injured from that Canzer. He neglected to prepare for a situation where his senses were completely obscured. "Thanks, Scout. I owe you one." S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "It''s fine. The Porter is all our priority." Just then, the bodyguard sensed something and used his shield to bash the flying tree away from Atlan. They all looked back and saw an intense fight between Ninth and the two Canzers. Her swordmaiden sliced through the air and hit the rotating bearded Canzer, creating sparks everywhere as her blade hit its sharp nails. The fact that it had hands all over its body meant that she could not find a vulnerable spot that she could use to her advantage. She just had to hack the Canzer enough times to break through its hard chitin. It wasn''t easy, especially since she was fighting two Canzers at the same time. The Canzer with a pipe in its mouth blew smoke toward her and induced a nauseating effect that hindered her reactions. She massaged her head to try and heal her mind, but the bearded Canzer spiraled towards her right shoulder and drew blood. She sliced her one-handed sword toward it, but her attack was repelled by its fast-rotating body. In the chaos of their fight, dead trees and huge chunks of land were flying everywhere and causing a dangerous hazard for everyone inside the forest. ''A¡­A¡­.A HUMAN TOUCHED ME!!!!'' The Canzer''s bellowing scream reached Atlan and warned him of the impending attack. Even though he couldn''t see the shy Canzer anywhere, he knew that it was about to attack them¡ªspecifically, it was about to attack the Scout as a form of revenge. "It''s coming for you!" he warned the Scout, but what could he do? He was neither a Tank nor a fighter. The only reason he was able to do damage was through his mutation. An ambush was his only form of offense; he had no defense if he was being the one ambushed. "Use your LifeSill on him!" Atlan shouted to his bodyguard. The man activated his LifeSkill, conjuring an octopus arm that pierced through the ground. But instead of wrapping itself towards the Scout, it went for Atlan and protected him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Atlan screamed. "He''s not our priority!" Just as he said that, they all suddenly saw the world turn. They were seeing the black skies and dark moon under their sight, while the ground was above it. This was enough to disorient them for a good second, but they were horrified to find that their movements were also reversed! When Atlan raised his left hand, his right hand moved up instead. Even though he had perfect control of his own body, he found himself falling to the ground like a newborn unable to support his own body. The bodyguard and the Scout were no better. They fell on their knees as they tried to figure out how to get out of this spell. DUG DUG DUG DUG Just then, they saw the shy Canzer running towards them at intense speeds. It looked at the Scout and immediately moved its eyes away from him in embarrassment. It was shy. But instead of running in the opposite direction, it moved towards the Scout with purpose. It wanted to trample him. As someone who was well versed in the traps of the Remedium, the Scout immediately figured out that this reversed ''illusion'' was the doing of the shy Canzer. Meaning that he couldn''t dispel it unless he knocked out the Canzer. The problem lay precisely on that. He was only a Scout. He immediately ran away from the Canzer, forcing it to separate from Atlan and the bodyguard. As expected of a Specialist Vanguard, he was able to familiarize himself with the reversed controls of his own body. Once it was focused solely on him, the Scout performed a skillful maneuver through the dead forest. He was able to leverage his skills as a Scout to create distance between himself and the shy Canzer. But just as he was about to slip away from the monster''s grasp, it cried out into the remedium. ''Nobody look at me!'' The Canzer shimmered in the air until it disappeared from the Scout''s eyes. Even with his discerning eyes, he couldn''t see a trace of it. And if that wasn''t enough, he soon felt his vision turn even more topsy-turvy. The whole Remedium seemed to have separated into puzzle pieces that rearranged themselves in his vision. The distraction made him trip and fall into the ground. And before he could recover, he felt the weight of a thousand tons crush his very body into the ground. ''Ah! Where''s the human? I can''t see him!'' The Canzer rematerialized just above the bloody body of the Scout and started to jump up and down out of nervousness. It bit its nails, not knowing that the human it was so worried about was under its feet and getting trampled multiple times. "GAAGHHH!" the Scout could only vomit out blood as his consciousness was fading in and out. He lost a total of 1000 years of SoulTime before the shy Canzer finally ran away and stopped its rampage. It ran towards Atlan and the bodyguard again, as if it wanted to finish the job. The Scout raised his hand in an attempt to stop the Canzer, but he was too injured. His head fell to the ground, unconscious. The shy Canzer stepped on the ground as hard as it trampled the Scout. The bodyguard was ready, with the octopus arm already wrapped around Atlan''s waist. The Canzer only took a few moments before it reached Atlan, only one step away from completely stomping him into the ground. Just then, ''HA¡­HACHOOOO!'' The bodyguard felt his entire Soul System shake, losing his control over his own LifeSkill. The octopus arm disintegrated, leaving Atlan completely vulnerable to the Canzer''s tremendous weight. Chapter 243 I can see you Atlan had to think fast. He lost his only protection, which meant that he would have to bear the full brunt of the Canzer''s force.He could choose to simply let himself be trampled since his battle suit armor allowed him to withstand 5 full-powered attacks from Canzers. However, he knew that even with its shy nature, the Canzer tended to be vindictive. The Scout was subjected to multiple tramplings just because he was a human who dared to touch the Canzer. Who''s to say that it would be so magnanimous as to finish stomping Atlan with just five steps? Maybe it wouldn''t stop until ten or twenty. Sure, he had 5000 years of SoulTime in his System to help him mitigate the damage, but that was his lifeline¡ªliterally. It would be ideal if he didn''t spend so much of his SoulTime on the first Canzer he encountered in this mission. Therefore, he couldn''t do nothing. He had to get away by himself. One of the immediate solutions that came to mind was his Angel Wings. With the power of his mutation, he''d be able to move away from the Canzer just in time. However, the problems that came with that were obvious. Unless he could use his Modify Memory Spore to these Specialist Vanguards, then there was no chance he''d be able to explain his way out of having Angel powers. The same problem came with his other LifeSkills. His Cherubic Retribution may be powerful enough to damage a Specialist-level Canzer due to its Angel powers, but it needed a few seconds of preparation and absolute focus. It was unfeasible to do in the current situation even if he was prepared to show this LifeSkill to other people. His Chitinous Webs may be weak, but it could possibly stagger the Canzer for at least a fraction of a second. It would certainly help, but it wouldn''t save him from being trampled. It was the same with the Apocalyptic Hellfire; they were too weak. The only LifeSkill that could help him right now was his Bloodline Transformation which was at the 1st stage Pre-Intern realm. I can''t use my LifeSkills¡­they''re too eye-catching¡­ The situation was dangerous, but it wasn''t critical. Atlan decided he would only reveal his true powers once it was a matter of life and death. What about my mutations? Is there anything that can help me? Aside from his Angel Wings, his Photosynthesis mutation seemed to be the one most useful. After all, he could gain a year of SoulTime for every second of activation under the sun. He assumed that the sun worked the same in the Remedium. Except for the fact that its color was negative, it functioned the same way and allowed his Photosynthesis mutation to transform light energy into lifespan. It was a good backup, but it didn''t solve his problem. He had to find a way to avoid the shy Canzer''s stomping. Think! Think! Think!, Atlan said to himself. The Canzer had its leg raised and was about to trample Atlan into the ground. ''Don''t look at me!'' The shy Canzer screamed. Just then, Atlan widened his eyes as he realized something. He opened his mouth and directed a seemingly unintelligible set of words towards the Canzer. ''I can see you¡­'' The shy Canzer stopped in its tracks and looked around. Only when it saw no other Canzer around did it direct its gaze to the little human in front of it. The unexpected words that it understood from the human were shocking enough to short-circuit its brain into being stunned. It opened and closed its mouth, unable to utter a single word. The Canzer thought it was simply hearing things, but Atlan''s expression was clear. He said what he said. The fact that a human could speak a Canzer''s language meant that it could also understand their words. That was perhaps the most terrifying thing for the Canzer. It was already bashful enough when humans were looking at it, imagine how flustered it was to learn that a human had been understanding its words since the beginning. ''Mon¡­mons¡­MONSTER! Stay away from me! Don''t look at me!'' The Canzer''s shyness was unlike anything from before. It usually covered its eyes with its hands, but it still peeked through the gaps to see its surroundings. Now, it wasn''t covering its eyes. Instead, it bolted away from its source of fear as fast as possible as if it was a matter of life and death. ''AAAAHHHHHH!'' It didn''t take a few seconds before the shy Canzer was nowhere to be seen. It disappeared into the fog with no intention of ever returning to the battlefield. It was traumatized. ''Damn it, Bee! The fight''s not over, where are you going?!'' ''Hehehe¡­he''s so bashful¡­'' ''Zzzz¡­POP¡­.if he can go home, can I go home?'' ''You bastards! Fine! I''ll kill all the humans myself.'' ''Hehe¡­don''t worry, you have me Gee.'' With his life saved, Atlan breathed out a sigh of relief. He didn''t know if his last-second plan would have worked, but it was worth a shot. And it paid off quite well. "Porter¡­what happened?" From the bodyguard''s perspective, Atlan simply uttered a shout. And somehow, the Canzer ran away without any rhyme or reason. It didn''t even register in the bodyguard''s mind that Atlan did something to scare away the Canzer. "I don''t know," he lied. The reason why he triumphed against the shy Canzer was because of a particular mutation in his Soul System. [Mutation] ¡ª (7-star) Sapient Canzer Polyglot Since the shy Canzer could speak with perfect grammar and think like a real human, Atlan assumed that it was a Sapient Canzer. If it could speak, then it could understand. The only thing Atlan needed to do was poke its insecurities and fears. Since he heard its words and mannerisms, he knew that it had a shy temperament. So, he scared the Canzer by showing it that Atlan was a personification of its fears: humans perceiving the Canzer. With just a few words, Atlan was able to reduce the amount of Canzers they had to fight. And he did it without lifting a single finger. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 244 ‘Oc finally moves "This is good¡­" Ninth was relieved that at least one of the Canzers disappeared.Even more reassuring was the fact that the Porter was safe and sound after being targeted by the shy Canzer. She had an eye on the situation from the beginning and was contemplating whether she was going to have to interfere or not. If she did, then she''d open herself up to the unrelenting offense of the angry bearded Canzef and the smoking Canzer. These two were the primary attack force of the Canzers and the only ones she had to actively worry about. The sneezing Canzer had the ability to disorient her, but it was infrequent enough for her to ignore for now. The other three Canzers, aside from the shy Canzer, showed no sign of being aggressive. It was a good sign. As long as she could deal with the two right now, then it was more than possible for her to defeat the whole group in the future. Her resolve burned brighter and it manifested with a blue fire that enveloped the giant swordsmaiden. Its moves became even faster and were filled with more ''life'' as if Ninth herself became the giant swordmaiden above. She performed the Neumann sword style, slicing the air nine times, which was an accumulation of all the stances that her predecessors evolved throughout their lives. The first stance was a bunch of thrusts, targeting a direct straight line from the Canzer''s head to its toes. It was able to chop some of the Canzer''s hands and expose its inner chitin. The second to the sixth stance was an asterisk-style slash that destroyed most if not all the hands that tried to replenish the hands that it lost. The seventh to ninth stances required a more mobile stance as she dashed back and forth towards her target at immense speeds, turning her figure into a blur. Even with the thousands of hands at its disposal, it couldn''t defend against the fury of strikes that came its way. Soon enough, Ninth could see the vulnerable chitin in its torso. The smoking Canzer supported its brethren by blowing a gray cloud that contained a hallucinogen towards her. Ninth simply slashed her way out of the cloud. However, the angry Canzer was no longer in her sights. It retreated to a safe place where it could regenerate its hands. ''Damn it! Dee, aren''t you going to help me?!'' ''Hehehe¡­fine, fine¡­I''ll give you the good stuff!'' ''Finally!'' The smoking Canzer took something out of its pockets and chewed on it like tobacco. With the juices from its concoction, it took a deep breath in and blew on its pipe. Red smoke came out of its chamber and made its way toward the angry Canzer. It happily breathed it in. ''You should have given me this in the first place, damn it!'' ''Hehe¡­you''re welcome¡­'' The angry Canzer bellowed to the black skies as it felt the power coursing through its violet blood. With each second it circulated in its body, it felt angrier and angrier as if something was triggering its fury. The Canzer felt like it was about to explode in rage. ''FEEL MY WRATH!'' The whole black forest responded to the Canzer''s rage. Clouds gathered from the condensation above the skies and quickly turned into a hurricane. Large gusts of winds swept the dead trees, uprooting them from the ground and displacing them hundreds of meters away from their original location. Then, precipitation came. It was as if a sea was dropped from the skies and rained down bullets of water. These droplets were so fast that they turned into a spear that pierced through everything it touched. The trees, the ground, and even Ninth''s swordmaiden got inundated with water spears and lost her hundreds of SoulTime a second. She powered up her LifeSkill and swung her blade around her, creating a wall of air that dispersed the droplets away from her. But after a few seconds, that became unnecessary. A tornado grew from a small stream to a giant one that commanded the skies. It swallowed everything in its path, including the bullet rain that fell to the ground. It continued to wreak havoc through the black forest and made Ninth stick her sword on the ground for stability. Due to the cold temperature induced by the intense winds, all the gathered water from the tornado solidified into a giant icicle as tall as the swordmaiden. ''Take this, damned human!'' The giant icicle turned vertical and immediately rushed toward the swordmaiden''s heart. It was immensely fast for its size, something that even Ninth could not achieve. Ninth only raised her sword in defense, with the flat part of her blade facing forward, because of her instinct born from her years and years of experience. The collision sent ice and ethereal metal flying everywhere. For a second, Ninth pushed back against the icicle, but it was supported by the hurricane which siphoned its strength towards the icicle. Ninth''s face contorted as she used the last burst of strength in her LifeSkill to fling the icicle away from her and towards the angry bearded Canzer controlling the weather. Unfortunately, even its fury could not stand against its creator. It slowly dissolved into nothing but mist once it reached the Canzer''s thousand hands. ''Taste the fury of nature!'' Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The whole dark forest trembled as a mound made up of igneous rocks emerged from the dead trees and stale puddles. It continued to grow, with the land subducting under the newly grown formation. It wasn''t long before a mighty volcano emerged in the woods. RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE BOOM! The volcano exploded, sending scalding hot black smoke everywhere. The clouds seemed angry too as it rained down water and created a flash flood that swept everything off the ground. Ninth faced these angry forces of nature all at once. She looked at her team and saw them struggling to move their injured bodies away from safety. And as if the situation couldn''t get any worse, the Canzers proved it wrong. ''It''s time, my brethren. Let us annihilate these humans and return home. She is waiting for us.'' The Canzer named ''Oc who had stayed silent all this time, finally spoke to the rest of the Canzers. Surprisingly, the angry Canzer obediently moved towards the bespectacled ''Oc and stood next to him in support. Next to him was the smoking Dee with a pipe in its mouth. The sneezing Canzer moved closer to them, rubbing its nose as if it was about to blow. The shy Canzer, who had stayed away after confronting Atlan, slowly walked over to the back. Even the Canzer who only knew how to sleep, stood up and walked right next to its brethren. Ninth felt a chill on her back as she faced all six Canzers in front of her. They all emanated their own distinct powers just waiting to be unleashed. Chapter 245 Surrounded by six The bespectacled Canzer led the other five Canzers. Once it ordered something, the rest of them obeyed its words as if they were made out of stone.This was the worst situation for Ninth. She knew that she had to defeat them all, but she at least thought she''d have the time to pick them off one by one. It was only a matter of time until she killed the angry bearded Canzer, but all that was over once the others joined hands. ''My dear brothers, we shall triumph against these humans because they are a threat to her. We must destroy them now because it will only be a matter of time until they target her.'' ''Damned humans! I would have killed all of them if I was given more time.; ''Hehehe¡­sure, sure, Gee. Either way, I''m just happy we''re all here together.'' ''Ha¡­ha¡­HA¡ª-hooo¡­.close one. I almost blew everyone out of the forest.'' ''YAWN! Can we get this done fast? I''m losing sleeping hours.'' ''¡­.I''ll just hide here¡­.I don''t¡­.don''t want to be seen¡­'' Ninth didn''t know what they were planning, but she didn''t have to. Their bloodlust was as clear as day, with their natural powers directed directly at her. "It''s fine! We can kill them as long as we can work together¡ª-" Ninth stopped her words as she looked behind her. The Mage, the Sniper, the Mesmer, and the Scout were all hanging by a thread. They struggled just to stay alive as the fury of nature rained down upon them. Lava, thunderstorms, and tornadoes rampaged through the dark forest and made recovery almost impossible. She realized that she was fighting this battle all alone. There was no one else for her to count on. It was already hard to triumph against these Canzers if she had the support of her team. Fighting them off by herself was impossible. "Ninth! I''m going to help!" Atlan heard the situation from these Canzers. He wasn''t going to let her suffer through these monsters all by herself while he just stood there and watched. But before he could even walk towards her, she raised her hand and stopped him. "Don''t come any closer." "You need help. You don''t know what these Canzers are planning. You need my help!" Ninth shook her head. "Don''t let him be stupid," she said as she looked at the bodyguard right next to Atlan. He grabbed the Star Porter''s shoulders and refused to let him walk. "You guys should start running as far away as you can. Do not return unless the Remedium returns to normal. That means I''ve defeated these Canzers. If it doesn''t, then you should figure out a way to get out by yourselves. I wouldn''t be able to help you." "That''s crazy¡ª" "You can count on me, boss. Good luck." The bodyguard started dragging Atlan away from the Canzers, but he refused to go anywhere. Just then, the clouds rumbled with thunder. Atlan heard the bespectacled Canzer named ''Oc whisper to the yawning Canzer. ''Put ''em to sleep.'' Before Atlan could warn Ninth, the sleepy Canzer took a deep breath and yawned to the skies. Manifestations of the word ''Zzzzzzzz'' appeared out of his mouth and floated up to the clouds. It wasn''t long until the thick clouds morphed a ''mouth'' that yawned along with the sleepy Canzer. As it did, the words ''Zzzzz'' once again floated everywhere and infected all the natural elements of the black forest. It wasn''t long before everything was infected with the need to sleep. Ninth couldn''t even see the spell, but she suddenly felt the urgent need to lay down and sleep. It came to her so naturally that she thought that the need to sleep came from her own body, not a spell the Canzer infected her with. She was used to pulling all-nighters during missions and was used to staying awake for three days at a time. Yet this was the first time she felt as if her body was screaming at her to take a little sleep. It was so pervasive that she was almost tempted to close her eyes and sleep for a few minutes. But she fought it off. She knew that she wouldn''t wake up for hours or even days if she fell into that trap. Her swordmaiden flickered as if it too was about to sleep. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at Ninth with worry. He saw her fighting the urge to sleep with every fiber of her being. And she was losing. Slowly, her blinking was becoming longer and longer until it was extended to a few seconds with each blink. This spell was too powerful. Even his bodyguard could not fight the urge and was forced to kneel. He was the only one unaffected by it. Because his False Mutation of his Angel Wings was always activated, there was an invisible layer of angel power surrounding his body at all times. Somehow, that was enough to prevent the spell from entering his psyche. "Wake up!" Atlan touched the bodyguard''s shoulder. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And just like that, the bodyguard felt as refreshed as he had ever been. It was as if the urge to sleep was flicked away like a switch. "Woah¡­what happened?" "I don''t know. I think the battle suit has some kind of power that can resist the sleepiness." The bodyguard accepted his explanation without hesitation. He stood up, making sure that Atlan''s hands remained on his shoulder. They both walked over to Ninth until he could touch her shoulder as well, waking her up from the sleepy Canzer''s spell. "Thanks," she said. "Is it your battle suit?" But before they could celebrate this little victory, they suddenly felt the entire Remedium shake. The bespectacled Canzer named ''Oc released a burst of energy that became streams that connected to each Canzer beside him. The angry bearded Canzer turned even angrier as he commanded the skies to be furious with him. Thunder struck from every direction, slowly coming towards the three of them like a storm. The smoking Canzer let out an ominous black smoke that started to envelop the whole black forest and slowly inched towards the group. The shy Canzer from the back created another illusion that turned everything upside down and topsy turvy. The big nose Canzer sneezed like thunder, disabling any attempts by the humans trying to escape with their LifeSkill. They were surrounded, with no one but Ninth to fight against the six Canzers. Just when Atlan contemplated using his Angel Wings to escape, he suddenly heard something in his chest. "CRACK¡­CRACK¡­hello? Can you hear me?" Chapter 246 Seven damned Canzers Just when all seemed lost, his battle suit finally came through."Hello, hello? Can you hear me?" Ninth recognized that voice. It''s not as annoying as it was in real life, but it was the same voice nonetheless. "Carmine, is that you?" "Thank the gods! Yes, it''s me." Ninth suddenly turned around and hit Atlan''s chest, specifically the camera installed above his stomach. "Hey! Be careful with that or I''ll make you pay for the materials yourself!" "What took you so long?! We''ve been dying out here!" Ninth''s outburst was completely understandable. She and her whole team spent the entire fight on the defense. They could do nothing but stand there and take the Canzers'' attacks and lose a lot of SoulTime in the process. She was the only one in her team still standing and it was all because of Carmine and his incompetence. He should have helped them by now and not let the situation get so bad. Carmine told Atlan that the battle suit was equipped with a camera and a mic that transmitted everything that he saw in the Remedium to the real world. Carmine and his team of Operators could see everything unfolding in real-time. However, the camera had been silent for so long that Atlan even forgot that there was a camera in his battle suit. "Sorry, there have been a lot of technical difficulties on our part. We underestimated the disturbance in the Remedium and we had to recalibrate our equipment for an entire day! With how much we''ve been scolded by the Elder Heads, you don''t know the kind of hell we''ve been through these past few hours, and frankly, I don''t appreciate your tone!" Atlan directed the camera towards the six Canzers in front of them, each of them glowing with different lights as they activated their powers. He also showed them how the Mage, the Sniper, the Mesmer, and the Scout, couldn''t even stand up straight from all the injuries they sustained. "¡­hmmm¡­I see. I stand corrected. You guys have it rougher." "Never mind that," Atlan said in a hurry. "Can you tell me how we can kill these Canzers? Because they sure as hell know how to kill us!" Back in the real world, Carmine, his team of Specialist Operators, and the Elder Heads, all looked at a holographic screen projected on a wall in the Emergency Meeting room. It showed the dire situation the Vanguard team was in. The Operators zoomed in on the still picture of the six Canzers all lined up in front of Atlan. They frantically consulted between books and scrolls as they tried to figure out what kind of Canzers they were dealing with. The fact that there were six of them might look like it was a hard task, but it actually made things easier. After all, there were only a very few groups of Canzers that manifested as different Canzers each having specific powers. Not only that, they also had a support team of Operators surveying the scene on the main roads of the Church. They would learn a lot about a Canzer based on the Symptoms they showed in the real world. The bigger the Symptom, the easier it was to identify. Fortunately, these Canzers were powerful enough to show a distinct Symptom. "What are the reports on our ground team?" ### A few blue battle-suited Saviors slowly walked on a cobblestone road. This was supposed to be the asphalt main road towards the Church, but because of the Symptoms, it changed into an old-timey cobblestone road back when horses and carriages were the norm. Instead of seeing the signature tall towers and skyscraper architecture of Genesis City, all they saw around them were wooden huts equipped with wells and hay bales. In the distance, the gothic Church had turned into a magnificent castle that towered over everything. Even though they wore protective helmets around their heads, they still heard the distinct sound of orchestral music playing in their ears. Its lush melodies and rich harmonies created a magical and almost whimsical atmosphere that tied the whole thing together. It was as if there was a bard playing right by their ears. "Carmine? Come, in Carmine," said one of the Operators on his radio. "What did you find out," Carmine asked. "It''s bad¡­" The Operator told everything they saw in the Symptoms without missing anything. ### "You all heard that. What do you think?" Carmine asked his team of Operators in the Emergency Meeting room. The whole team was silent. It wasn''t because they didn''t know what kind of Canzer they were dealing with, but because they knew it precisely. Carmine knew it too, he just didn''t want to admit it. He wanted his team to say a different Canzer so that it would have been easier to deal with. Seeing that they weren''t coming up with anything, Carmine pushed the button and communicated with Atlan. "How many Canzers are you facing right now?" "There''s six of them in front of us," Atlan''s robotic voice transmitted over the speaker. And for a brief second, Carmine was a little bit relieved with what he heard. There was a slight chance that their diagnosis of the Symptom was wrong and it was actually a different monster. After all, the Canzer they were dealing with was supposed to have more than six Canzers. It was exactly¡ª sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "But we killed one earlier. It also had the same face and clothes as the others. So, in total¡ª-" "It was seven. Seven damned Canzers. Damn!" Carmine punched the table. ### Atlan heard Carmine''s words and felt his frustration even in the Remedium. "What''s wrong? Can''t I use my battle suit to create a construct that kills them?" Atlan thought that Carmine would tell him some kind of code that he could input into his battle suit that would magically kill all six Canzers. But it seemed he was living in a fantasy. Killing Specialist Canzers wasn''t that easy. "You can''t kill these six Canzers with a construct." "Then we just have to kill them normally?" "No. Killing them won''t solve anything." "Why?" Carmine took a second of pause. "Because they''re just puppets." Chapter 247 White Chitin "Puppets?! What the hell do you mean puppets?!" Ninth burst out towards the camera."You guys killed one of their ''brothers'' am I right? Did you notice that they didn''t have any special regenerative healing or cloning capabilities? That means they''re not Canzers. They''re puppets." Atlan thought perhaps that these Canzers were a set. He thought that if they killed all the ''brothers'', then they could get rid of them for good. Ninth thought so too. That was why they were so adamant about dealing with the Canzers one by one so that they could slowly eliminate the threats. However, it seemed that their assumption was wrong. Killing these Canzers wouldn''t do anything at all because they were not the real problem to begin with. It was as if they were trying to fight the shadow not knowing the tree was behind them. "These six puppets all have their distinct personalities and powers. Each of them has the capability of influencing the Remedium around them, letting nature be swept up by their emotions. One of them is nicknamed Bashful for its shy tendencies. It dislikes eye contact, especially with humans. I''ll take a wild guess here and say that it already picked a fight with you guys because someone looked at it for a brief second. Its powers allow the environment to cater to its needs: lack of attention. Reality will bend so that it will be harder to keep track of the Bashful Canzer. There''s one nicknamed Grumpy, for its permanent irritable mood. Anything can set off this guy''s anger, especially with humans. It''ll be the first one to attack the group, but I guess you already know that. One of its specialties is to create anger and fury from the very Remedium itself. Volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, hurricanes, you name it. Your next chapter awaits on empire If it looks like the weather is angry at you, then it''s probably that guy''s fault. Another one is called Dopey. From its name alone, you can surmise that this guy does drugs. It is ''high'' all the time and uses its immense knowledge to concoct bombs, medicine, and chemicals to do whatever task is necessary. If the puppets want to feel mellow or if they want to poison the whole human race, then Dopey''s their guy. Careful with its pipe, it''s where all the poison is stored. The next one is called Happy. It is forever in a state of bliss or joy¡ªannoyingly so. It will want everyone it encounters, be it Canzer or human, to smile to the best of their abilities. It didn''t matter if you bled or lost your right leg, this guy will do whatever it takes to turn that frown upside down. By force, if it had to. The least of your problems is called Sleepy. It is always deemed a non-threat by itself because all it does is sleep. Even if a human were to injure it while it was asleep, it would simply ''shoo!'' them away and go right back to sleep. It is not vindictive, just sleepy. Its powers, as you guessed it, will make others as sleepy as it is. If everyone is asleep, then there''s no one there to bother it. The one called Sneezy is a bit of a wild card. Its large bulbous nose allows it to, well, sneeze so hard that it could shake the very foundation of the Remedium itself. You''ll find it impossible to resist the shaking. Keeping your focus will be a hard task, especially activating a LifeSkill. The good or bad thing about this Canzer is that it is sneezing at random. Even the other Canzers don''t expect a sneeze and will make them lose their focus. Now, the most dangerous of them all is the one called Doc. It doesn''t have a powerful emotion or desire that allows it to bend reality, but it does have dominion over all the other Canzers. They listen to it. They obey. That''s why this is the most dangerous one out of all of them because it can command the rest of the Canzers to unite and fight together. By themselves, these puppets will not be immediately aggressive. They will not attack. But just one word from the one named Doc will make them overcome their sleepiness or their shyness and do as they were told. If Doc told them to sneeze, they would sneeze. That is why it is a dangerous creature. It makes all of them dangerous." Everything Carmine said coincided with what Atlan observed from these Canzers. They acted just like their nickname and they could influence the Remedium to their specific emotion. However, there was one thing missing. Atlan heard from the bespectacled Canzer named Doc, that they were going to go home with ''her''. He didn''t know who this Canzer was nor why they were so adamant about returning home. She was also the reason why Doc decided that the humans must be eradicated. They started to work together because they were afraid that Atlan and the team would attack ''her''. "Thanks for the info, but what good does that tell us if you say that killing these Canzers won''t do any good?" Ninth said in frustration. "How do we kill them," Atlan asked as well. "First, let me tell you what this Canzer''s full name is¡­it is called White Chitin and the Seven Deadly Puppets. As you can tell, the key to eradicating these puppets is by killing the one called White Chitin." "Is that the puppet master?" "Yes. If you kill the White Chitin, then the rest of the seven puppets will die with it." "That''s great!" Ninth readied her sword. "Tell me where it is and I''ll kill it myself!" Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "No, no! Ninth, under no circumstances must you be the one to kill the White Chitin. Once you show any kind of threat towards their leader¡ªor if you simply just know where the White Chitin''s secret hideout is, then the seven Canzers would not show you their mercy. They will unleash hell upon you, making it almost impossible to kill the White Canzer. No, you can''t do it. It must be done by someone else, unfortunately." "Then who?" Carmine paused. Ninth finally realized who he was talking about as she raised her gaze toward the Star Porter''s face. Chapter 248 Finding the puppet master "Me?" Atlan pointed at himself once he realized they were talking about him."¡­yes. This is something that only the Porter can do." "Oy, oy, oy!" Ninth tapped the camera with the tip of her sword. "Do you seriously know what you''re talking about? Are you saying that we should send a Student realm novice to go by himself and find this ''White Chitin'' through the dangerous Remedium? You must have lost your damn mind! It''s already risky for him to be on this mission in the first place. We only agreed because we can protect him ourselves if anything happens to him. But now you''re saying he should go out there without my protection?!" Atlan''s bodyguard spoke up as well. "It''ll be hard if I have to protect him on my own. It''s doable, but I prefer to be cautious and let the others protect the porter as well." "No. I''m sorry, but he can''t be accompanied by the bodyguard as well." "Are you fuc¡ª" "Yes, yes, I am serious. I know what I''m asking, but this is the only way." "I don''t think you do. How can a Student-realm Porter survive this Specialist-realm Remedium by himself? Not to mention the possibility of a rogue Canzer or a damned animated dead tree appearing, our Porter is as good as dead." Ninth released the anger and frustration she had from Carmine to the Canzers. She swung her sword wide, creating a huge gust of wind that repelled the black smoke and the flowing lava from coming towards them. All this time, she didn''t stop the Canzer''s furious onslaught. But, she wouldn''t be able to keep them on hold for long. The dangerous manifestations of the Canzers'' powers were slowly encircling the group and destroying everything in its path. Which was why she was so irritated by Carmine. She wanted to deal with it fast, but he was dilly-dallying and wasting time. "I will guide him to where the White Chitin is hiding. I suspect we won''t be encountering any enemies on the way if he''s alone. But if either of you insists on going with Atlan, then there will surely be something that pops up and ruins the plan. You''re both Specialist Saviors. Your aura is too bright for these Canzers not to notice. Ninth, if you go join the Porter, you''ll be taking the seven puppets with you. And once they notice you''re going to hunt their princess, they''ll unleash their fury, not just on you, but the Porter as well. The bodyguard is also a no-go. The seven puppets will sense something amiss and immediately know that there''s something wrong. Ninth, no matter how much you stop them, they will stop at nothing to hunt down Atlan and the bodyguard. Our best course of action is to have Atlan go by himself. First of all, he has the battle suit with the Operator construct, so he''d have to go anyway. But the fact that he''s a Student-realm Savior gives us a tremendous advantage. They won''t see us coming. We can approach the White Chitin undetected and assassinate it before the seven puppets know what''s happening." Ninth gritted her teeth. It pained her to know that she''d be sending Atlan to a very dangerous mission all by himself. But Carmine''s words made sense. No matter how annoying it was to listen to his words, he was logical. This was the best course of action. "Ninth and the bodyguard will stay here and keep the seven puppets at bay while Atlan sneaks out and finds the White Chitin. That is our plan, got it? What do you think, Star Porter? Do you think you can do it?" Atlan contemplated for a moment before nodding his head. Having no protection from the bodyguard or the rest of the team would lower his chances of survival, but he knew that he could overcome this mission. "I''ll do it." The bodyguard nodded his head and patted Atlan''s shoulder. "Good luck out there, kid." "I''ll kill these Canzers before you can even find that White Chitin," Ninth said and proudly brandished her sword. Atlan turned back and walked away from them one step at a time. Just then, somebody grabbed his foot. He looked down and saw the Scout looking up at him with guilty eyes. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "¡­tha¡­thanks¡­.porter." The man had trouble even raising his head, but he forced himself to speak and give thanks to Atlan. They were the ones supposed to help him, but they were the ones getting saved instead. It shattered the pride of Specialist Saviors like him. "Don''t worry," he gently patted his hand and walked forward. Ninth slashed down with her sword and created a momentary pathway for him to advance. She buried this move with multiple others to make sure the other Canzers didn''t notice the difference. Atlan took this chance to advance outwards, away from the eyes of the puppets Just before the fog closed back up behind him, Atlan heard Ninth scream at the top of her lungs. "Soul Domain! Code of Swords!" He felt a strange, powerful force emanating behind him. He looked back but saw nothing but the fog. He couldn''t even see past it with his Thermal Vision as if the whole region was locked in space. "That''s a Savior''s Domain. It''s a special move that creates a space where a Savior is in complete control. This time, it''s the Canzers who''ll have to play by her rules. You shouldn''t experience it till you''re at the Specialist realm," Just from the sharp, almost tangible, power leaking out of the ''domain'', Atlan knew that this power was unlike anything he had ever seen or felt before. It was very reminiscent of when he was back in the Draft, where he met the God of Death. It was weak, but there was a definite similarity between the two powers. RUMBLE RUMBLE CRASH! BOOM! Enjoy new tales from empire The Remedium shook as the battle got more intense in Ninth''s domain. Even after he walked a couple of steps away from it, he could still feel the after-effects of their battle. Chapter 249 The Huntsman "Be careful. We are still in the sphere of influence of these Canzers. There could still be some monsters who spawn because of their powers."Atlan had to brave the Remedium with nothing but the words of Carmine guiding his steps. He couldn''t see anything past the fog of the dark forest His pace was measured. With each shadow that crossed his eyes, he had to prepare himself for a speedy reaction that his life entirely depended on. Every time he came across a tree or a log in the way, he would first see a dark silhouette looming just in front of him. If it was a real monster like those animated dead trees or those mud golems, then it would have already been too late. They would have attacked him long before he could even see a glimpse of their shadow. So, he was extra careful with his steps. His Angel Wings were always at the ready. With just one thought, he could summon them and give him a tremendous boost in speed and reaction time. "What are we supposed to find?" he whispered. "First, you must stray away from the cobblestone road and start walking off the beaten path. This path will lead you nowhere and will only trap you inside without a way to get out." Atlan was a bit hesitant with Carmine''s suggestion because the cobblestone road was what connected him to Ninth and the rest of the team. It gave him comfort that he could simply follow the path and come back to them at any time. By going off the path, he could lose all sense of direction and find no way to go back to the team. No, I must find the White Chitin and finish it off for good, Atlan resolved. Finally, he stepped foot off the cobblestone road and found himself walking on soft, muddy ground. He looked down and saw the soil slowly rising to his feet and engulfing his entire leg. "You must walk fast or else the Remedium will swallow you whole." Atlan strained his body and almost turned his walk into a jog. "But not too fast. The disturbance you cause can attract some unwanted attention." He found a middle ground and was able to tread through the muddy ground with a pace fast enough to escape the soil, but not fast enough to echo his footsteps to the entire Remedium. Just then, Atlan heard something whizzing in the distance. Continue reading stories on empire ''Arrows fly true¡­'' Atlan heard the sound of a Canzer speaking in hushed tones. It was subtle, but in the deafening silence of the fog, it was more akin to a shout than a whisper. "I thought you told me there''s no more Canzers here!" "There''s not! What are you talking about? I can''t see anything." Atlan closed his eyes and focused on the sound of the voice. It came from behind him and headed straight in between his shoulder blades. Atlan was sure that if it penetrated through his chitinous battle suit armor, it would pierce through his chest. He quickly turned his body to the side to try and dodge the arrow. But the arrow moved so fast that the arrow grazed past his armor and scratched the chitin protecting his sides. "What the hell?! An arrow just flew past you!¡­wait¡­no¡­that can''t be! The huntsman is here! You are so unbelievably unlucky, Star Porter. Wait a minute. How did you dodge that?!" Even with the advantage of hearing the arrow being notched in the bow, and knowing where the huntsman was targeting him, the best Atlan could do was let it hit his sides which fortunately bounced it off. He was far too slow, and the arrow was far too fast. He was at a disadvantage in every way possible. ''The human dodged my arrow?¡­.'' Atlan kept his ears open for another arrow, but he knew that the ''huntsman'' or whoever it was, wouldn''t be underestimating him now that he was able to dodge its arrows. "Who''s the huntsman?" "Well, truth be told, Canzers are a lot more complex than what they teach low-level Saviors and normal people. It is not all black and white. It''s not humans versus the Canzers. Sometimes, just like humans, there will be Canzers who fight other Canzers." S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "That''s possible?" "It''s a lot more common than you think. These Sapient Canzers who are intelligent enough to build their own society, will have their own desires and wants. Sometimes, those clash with what other Canzers want. And what do you think will happen to solve that conflict? Are they going to make peace? No. They''re as vicious as us humans. This huntsman is a predator of the White Chitin, but so far, it hasn''t succeeded yet. It will never succeed. So, it spends the rest of its days wandering the dark forests in search of the White Canzer." The complex relationships of Canzers surprised Atlan. They loved, they hated, they cherished, and they sought revenge. It was as if the only difference between Canzers and humans was their exterior appearance. Aside from that, they were basically just a foreign race of humans with different skin. "So it''s a different Canzer than the White Canzer and the Seven damned Puppets?" "Seven deadly puppets. And yes. It''s a totally different Canzer." Atlan took a deep breath. "So that means I need an entirely different operator construct to kill it?" "¡­yes. That''s why I said you were unlucky. You don''t have the protection of your teammates. You''ll have to rely on your wit and skill to escape this Canzer." "Is it stronger than the White Canzer?" he asked, but before he heard another answer, another arrow whizzed through the fog and aimed right for his head. This time, the target was a lot smaller and Atlan''s head wasn''t burdened by the immense weight of the battle suit, so he could quickly bend his head sideways to dodge the attack. Atlan watched as it barely scraped past his cheek, taking 10 months off his SoulTime. But due to his long lifespan, the wound closed up in just a second. "Good dodging! How in the hell are you doing that?!" Chapter 250 Need for a boars heart The huntsman was a bona fide Specialist Canzer. It wasn''t the likes of the seven puppets, who were admittedly strong, but objectively weaker than real Canzers like the huntsman.The White Canzer relied on the seven puppets to dispose of its enemies, while the Huntsman relied solely on its skill. It means that it basically had the same power and strength as the seven puppets combined! Stay updated through empire Yet somehow, Atlan was able to dodge its attacks and barely get off with just a scratch. Sure, they were normal attacks without any power, but that was still a feat that no Student could ever hope to achieve. It was as if Atlan knew where the arrow was going before it was fired. ''Impressive human¡­I''ll hunt your legs this time.'' Of course, everything was easier when the Canzer itself was broadcasting its next moves to Atlan without knowing about it. He wouldn''t have even been able to react to its attack if he didn''t hear about it. But it was only a matter of time until the Canzer decided that enough was enough. It wouldn''t hold back anymore. Atlan had to find a way to escape his fate of becoming mere prey in front of the Huntsman. "Can you tell me more about this Huntsman? What is its weakness?" Atlan said as an arrow scraped by his left knee. "First of all, run. That''s the only thing you can do with a Canzer of this caliber. But to do that, you need to find its weakness. The Huntsman is a skilled sniper with the capabilities rivaling that of our greatest sharpshooter in the City¡ªperhaps even better. It mainly uses a bow and an arrow, but will resort to using a crossbow once it is backed into a corner. It uses the fog in the dark forest to its advantage, never letting its prey take a glimpse of its true body. The only thing they''ll see is an arrow stuck to their heart. It is a Destruction type Canzer, which means that it can regenerate endlessly without the use of an Operator construct. I know the recipe to make it, but it will be useless to you. You''d need to damage the Huntsman by a large degree before the construct can take effect. Instead, what you should focus on is a way to escape. Fortunately, I know just how to do it." Atlan dodged another arrow directed at his head, but this time, it was able to pierce through his left ear, taking a year and a half of SoulTime with it. He didn''t stop and continued to move forward to try and escape from the Huntsman, but it was no use. Atlan couldn''t see anything past a meter into the fog while the Huntsman seemed to have full clear vision of the whole dark forest. He wasn''t going to escape with normal means. "I would appreciate it if you told me how to escape it right now!" Atlan lifted his leg, but another arrow shot towards the calf. It was a perfect hit, cracking the chitin armor on his battle suit. "You will need a boar''s heart. If you have that object, the Huntsman will not be able to look at you and you will have a chance to escape." "A boar''s heart? Why?" It seemed random. Why would a huntsman, who hunted animals like boars or deers for a living, be afraid of a boar''s heart so much that it wouldn''t even be able to look at someone? "It''s complicated. The lore on this Huntsman runs deep. Are you sure you have the luxury to listen to such a story?" Atlan was currently bombarded with arrows left and right. Slowly, his battle suit was being inundated with scratches and cracks from all the arrows the Huntsman fired at him. The only reason he was able to last this long was because he listened to the Canzer''s words, which gave him the necessary foresight to dodge before the arrow was even fired. That was how he overcame his weakness in speed. If he continued to listen to Carmine''s story, he might get too distracted to listen for the Canzer''s words. If that happened, then he can be sure that he''d learn that lesson with an arrow sticking out of his chest. "Tell me. I need to know." He decided that listening to the Huntsman''s story was worth the risk. It could give him valuable pieces of information that he could fully use to his advantage. After all, he can both listen and talk to Canzers. And as with the shy Canzer, he has figured out that even these Specialist-level Canzers were more than susceptible to some emotional manipulation. If he could find the Huntsman''s weak point, he could use it to give himself time to escape. "So be it. The story starts with the Huntsman in the forest¡­" ### The chitinous being wearing camouflage clothes walked through a green and luscious forest. He had a quiet temperament and only moved when the surroundings moved. It was his way to conceal himself. He had a bow and a half-notched arrow in his hands as he bent down and looked at the patch of grass right next to a tree''s roots. He plucked a few blades and tossed them in the air. The wind blew and took them further up ahead. "The boar''s this way." S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He could tell just by how the grass was indented that the boar walked past this specific patch of land just a few minutes ago. He was sure that if he walked in a straight line for a few minutes, he would see his prized boar. He readied his bow and walked forward through the darkening forest. As he got nearer to the boar''s estimated location, he suddenly heard a rustling sound on the bush right in front of him. He immediately stopped walking and squatted down. His breathing got slower and slower as if his entire being had become stone. Then, he stretched his arms and readied a full-powered shot. Sorry, boar. I need sustenance for my mission. Once he was ready, he stood up and aimed at his target''s head. The bush shook from his appearance, startling the birds perched high up on the trees. But instead of seeing an animalistic swine, he saw a beautiful maiden with snowy white chitin wearing a dress befitting only a royal princess. Chapter 251 Dragons hoard The Huntsman quickly changed the direction of his aim and let his full-powered arrow fly loose through the forest."Kyaaa! Please don''t hurt me!" The White Chitinous being raised her hands in the air and looked away from the scary Huntsman. She bowed her head and pleaded for her life. "Who are you?" The huntsman, after just letting loose an arrow, already had another one notched in his bow ready to kill this unknown being. But once he realized that she was no threat, he returned the arrow to his quiver and slung his bow on his back. How could she be dangerous? He could hear the white chitinous layers on her whole body rattling from fear. And her chitin wasn''t made of hard armor, but was soft, shiny, skin instead. It was so thin that even a dull blade of grass could give her a nasty cut. It made him pity her. With how fragile she looked, there was no way she was going to survive this forest for even half a day¡ªonly a few hours tops. She''d get devoured by boars down to her exoskeleton. "I''m¡ªI''m a nobody!" the White Canzer said, but the Huntsman didn''t believe it. "That dress you''re wearing says you''re someone important." She wore a tattered blue dress that the Huntsman frequently saw only royals and nobles wear. Even if it was dirtied and filled with holes, the rare and special materials it was made by were still shining as clear as day. Her white skin gave away the fact that she''d never been outside her castle her whole life. Not to mention the fact that she had a tiara on her head, everything about her pointed to an identity of a lost princess in the woods. "Yes, you''ve caught me. I am of noble descent born from a mere lowly baron on the outskirts of the royal realm. We make do with the little tax we get from our poor citizens. As you can guess, we are very much the unluckiest family in the whole kingdom, that is why I am currently living in the forests by myself." The White Chitin displayed her doe red eyes to the Huntsman and told a story that was obviously a lie. Just her temperament alone painted her as a sheltered princess, not some ''lowly'' baron''s daughter. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You''re a princess," the Huntsman corrected her. "After all, no one would dare describe a baron as a ''lowly'' rank¡ªnot even descendants of the barons themselves. Only royalties can get away with that kind of disrespect." The ''princess'' gritted her teeth. She thought that the scary Huntsman would take pity on her and let her go once she told that story. After all, who wasn''t more pitiful than being born into a baron''s family? She didn''t think her lie would get so easily figured out. She didn''t know that lying to the Huntsman was a cardinal sin that only dead beings knew. He already had his arrow notched and ready to plunge into the liar''s head, but for some reason, he couldn''t bring himself to do it. Her white chitin was something else to behold, something he hadn''t ever seen before. She was beautiful. He was afraid that the beauty would disappear if he killed her, so he gave her a second chance. The White Canzer saw the glint in the Huntsman''s eyes and saw his intent to kill. So, she told the truth; she wasn''t stupid. "Oh please forgive me for my untruthfulness! It is not due to ill will, you see. I am simply afraid for my life in this strange, unknown world. I have already spent an hour in this place and my dress has been torn asunder. I am afraid that if I spend an entire day in this place, I will perish from the unsanitary nature of this forest. Please take pity on me, sir Knight. I can see that you are a capable and honorable man who would not let a beautiful princess like me rot in this place. I am in current need of your experienced eyes and thick chitin. Please, save me from this hell hole, I beg of you!" The White Chitin got on her knees and held both of her hands towards the Huntsman. Her upbringing as a princess helped her create a very elegant and graceful picture that stunned even the experienced Huntsman. It was as if the sun shined on the White Canzer and specifically emphasized its snowy white Chitin even more. For a second, he hesitated. The Huntsman had to bite his tongue to wake himself from this stunned state. "I cannot. I am currently tied up by a mission that is in urgent need of completion." The White Canzer crawled closer to the Huntsman, almost hugging his knees. She wouldn''t let go even as the Huntsman backed away from her. "Oh, please, sir Knight! This is an emergency! Surely there must be something that you could do¡­" The Huntsman stayed silent, fighting the urge to say yes to the damsel in distress. The White Canzer, seeing as the Huntsman was slowly opening up to her, added a bit more of an incentive to push him into finally helping her. "Of course, you will be graciously rewarded by the Queen herself! You can become rich beyond your heart''s content where even a dragon will be jealous of your hoard. All I ask in return is for you to escort me safely to the neighboring kingdoms!" Stay updated through empire Anyone would be tempted by such a reward. A dragon''s hoard of riches was anyone''s dream, certainly for a working man like the Huntsman. It was a tempting reward¡ªgiven that it was real. "I hate lies, but I hate false promises even more, princess. You are not in such a position to give away such treasures, am I right? Or else you wouldn''t be in this position in the first place." A princess of her magnitude would have escorts and bodyguards surrounding her like an army whenever she stepped foot off the castle grounds. The fact that none of them were here meant that either everyone was dead, or she was abandoned by the kingdom itself. The White Canzer was as penniless as a beggar. "I apologize profusely, sir Knight! The truth is that I am estranged from my family and the kingdom. Therefore, I do not have the riches that I have promised to reward you. But I can indeed offer you something even better than riches. I can offer you¡­myself¡­" Chapter 252 Double down lies The Huntsman felt something he never thought he would ever feel again. He felt his chitinous heart beating loudly, almost bursting out of his chest. And it was all due to the being in front of him with chitin as white as snow.Her words felt like arrows piercing through his heart. His calculative mind stopped working and only his instincts remained. All he wanted to do now was to save her from distress and take her somewhere they could be all by themselves. "I¡­I¡­" the Huntsman stuttered. The White Canzer begged even harder, fluttering her chitinous eyelids and letting her skin shine through the sunlight. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She knew that he was on the verge of falling to her temptations. He could not take his eyes off her, his heartbeat sped up, and he had trouble speaking out the right words; he was about to say yes. "I cannot." The Huntsman forcefully removed her hands away from his legs. "You¡­you what?!" The White Canzer couldn''t believe it. The Huntsman rejected her advances! Through sheer power of will, he was able to resist her temptation and refuse her offer outright. Truthfully, he was about to accept it, but his code of honor woke up something inside of him and allowed him to have the internal strength to push her away. The White Canzer thought she had the Huntsman right where she wanted him. He was about to fall for her charms like a moth to a flame, but somehow, he was able to turn away and move out into the dark! It was illogical. Read exclusive adventures at empire "I am a man of honor, princess. And as much as I want to rescue you from certain doom, I always follow my code. I only act when the mission demands me to act. And I cannot accept a mission without monetary rewards. As such, I will not help you unless you can offer me riches equivalent to the mission''s difficulty right in this instant. If you cannot, then I will not help you." The White Canzer panicked. The Huntsman was the only way she could survive this forest. He was her only hope. "How about my tiara? I can peel it off my skin and you can sell it for a high price, I guarantee it. If that''s not enough, I can give you my dress so you can sell it to merchants all over the realm. And the mission will be easy. I''ll only need help being escorted out of this forest. Unless I am attacked, then you need not to even be beside me. You can simply shoot your arrow from afar. Surely that is easy enough for you to accept my rewards!" For the Huntsman, her offer was just and proper. He was tempted to accept her offer because, in any other circumstance, he would accept that kind of mission from any client that came to him. And the fact that a beautiful white being was asking him was just another bonus. However, this was a special circumstance. "As I have told you, princess. I only live by my code of honor. I cannot accept a mission when I am already encumbered by an ongoing mission¡ªespecially if it interferes with the mission. No amount of reward will make me break this code." "Why?! Please! How about I help you with the mission while you''re escorting me? I saw that you were on your way to hunt a boar. I can help you with that. I can smell it all the way from here so I can help you track it down!" "You cannot help me in my mission. I am not tasked to kill a boar." "Then what is your mission?!" The Huntsman notched the arrow in his bow and stretched it to full power. He then aimed it straight at the White Canzer''s head point blank. "It''s to kill you, princess." The White Canzer turned even paler once it realized that it had been asking the wrong being to ask. It was as if she was a fly asking a spider how to escape its webs! She immediately stood up with quickness that betrayed her whole ''weak and disheveled'' princess persona. It was as if her distress was merely a mask that she put on so that the Huntsman would take pity on her. "You! The Queen put you up to this?!" The Huntsman nodded. "Yes, princess. She gave me a dragon''s hoard of riches in advance for your death. It''s one of the reasons why I know you were lying about the reward. It''s because I already received it." The White Canzer''s lie was futile from the very beginning. All her attempts at trying to convince the Huntsman for help were never going to work. Most beings caught in this situation where they were directly in front of their hunter would go with their first instinct and run. But the White Canzer didn''t do that. Instead, she walked towards the Huntsman as if she had no care for her life. "Please, sir Knight. This is an injustice of the highest degree! You must not believe the lies of that wicked Queen!" She doubled down on her lies. Now, most normal beings would immediately regard her words as nothing more than a bare-faced lie. After all, it had been proven yet again that she was an untrustworthy source of information. She lied every time she could just to save herself. Anyone would immediately know that this was simply another attempt at saving herself. "¡­wicked?" the Huntsman whispered, with hesitation painted on his face. The Huntsman fell for her lies. After all, he was a man of principle. It was in his code of morals that he would never kill anyone unworthy of death. The fact that there was a chance that she was innocent being put a moment of hesitation in his mind. As for why he believed it, no one knew but him. The fact that she was a beautiful creature who enamored his heart could be a factor for his naivety, but who knew for sure? "Yes! She is wicked! The Queen is an evil witch who tried to poison me with an apple!" Chapter 253 Fallen into lies "It''s true, sir Knight! The evil Queen once tried to feed me with an apple that was laced with poison. It would put me to sleep for an eternity! Imagine the horror!"The White Canzer then stretched her arm and showed her blemish-free snowy white skin to the Huntsman. "I wouldn''t be able to bask in the sunlight. I wouldn''t be able to hear the birds sing with music. And most of all, the world and the royal kingdom would be deprived of my beauty. It is a sin worthy of treason." The Huntsman, still regaining a little bit of logical reasoning in his mind, asked why. "Does the Queen have a worthy reason for doing so? Have you committed a crime?" sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Of course, the White Canzer vehemently shook her head. "No, sir knight. I am an honorable princess brought up with the highest of standards. You will not see a speck of blemish on my record." "Then why would she do that?" "That is what I''m telling you, oh honorable one. Please help me bring justice to this cruelty. The evil Queen, my stepmother, has been jealous of my beauty since forever. She covets what she doesn''t have. To make herself the fairest one out of all in the land, she dared to commit a sin¡ªa sin of trying to kill the most beautiful maiden in the world. Three times, she tried to kill me. The first time was during the celebration of my day of birth. That wicked Queen gave me a silky laced bodice as a gift. I, not knowing of her evil schemes, accepted it with graciousness. She even offered to tie it up for me, which I let her do. Little did I know that it was a mistake. She tied the bodice so tight that I was unable to breathe and passed out almost immediately. It was only when a dear friend of mine saw my state that they untied the bodice and saved me from death. When I tried to tell everyone about her attempt at murder, they dismissed me as nothing but a liar. Even my friends were skeptical because they did not see the queen when I was passed out. The second time she tried to kill me was when she poisoned a comb and stroked my hair with it. I would have died if it weren''t for my friend picking out the comb and tossing it away from me. For the third time, that wicked Queen disguised herself as an old lady whose husband was a farmer. She sold me an apple, which she said was her prized possession. I was skeptical at first because of my previous traumas, but she deceived me by biting into the apple and making it seem as if it wasn''t poisoned. It turned out that only my side of the apple was laced with death. I was only able to survive due to a friend of mine removing the lodged apple from my throat. I never knew why she would go to such lengths to kill me until I confronted her myself. She confessed that she envied my looks and wished that she was the only true beauty in our kingdom. It is unfortunate that this beauty is mine, and mine alone. Or else I would have given it to her so that we can finally squash this quarrel. Please do not be an accomplice to her schemes and let me escape this cruel fate, sir Knight. She only wants to kill me for vain reasons. Surely that is against your code of honor!" The Huntsman listened to the White Canzer''s story and slowly, his face morphed into one of anger. He couldn''t believe that the Queen passed off her dirty deeds to him and washed her hands of the whole affair. He wouldn''t have even known the ''truth'' if he had listened to the Queen''s warning that he should kill her at first sight and never listen to her words. Discover stories with empire Of course, that was what he thought, not what was objectively true. "Not even a dragon''s hoard will make the shame of killing an innocent being go away." The White Canzer, hearing his words, flashed an imperceptible smile on her face. Her lies worked once again. "Maybe killing the Queen will be enough to return the humiliation she gave you," the White Canzer said, flashing her beautiful red eyes at him. "No, it is in my code of honor to never backstab a client whose mission I''ve accepted. It is my mistake. I should have never accepted it in the first place. The best I could do for you, princess, is to let you escape with your life." "But what about the Queen? Trust me when I say that she will exact revenge on you once she realizes that you have failed your mission," said the White Canzer, feigning concern. The Huntsman then walked towards a bush in the distance. Just beside its roots was a dead boar whose head had been pierced with an arrow. It turned out that his first shot, the one that ''missed'' the White Canzer when they first met, actually struck the original boar he was hunting instead! "I will offer this boar''s heart to the Queen and lie that it is yours." The White Canzer gasped exaggeratingly. "You will do that for me, sir Knight?" "It is the least I can do, considering I will be unable to escort you into safety." The Huntsman skillfully used the tip of his arrow to dissect the boar and let it bleed out into the ground. It didn''t take a minute for him to present a bloody, chitinous heart that would serve as a perfect replacement for the White Canzer''s heart. He then took out a bejeweled box and secured it on his knapsack. "I will never forget your kindness. Thank you, sir knight!" the White Canzer said as she picked up the hems of her dress and ran away further into the woods. "Thank you for being so stupid," uttered the White Canzer to herself. Chapter 254 Broken enamore "So, what happened next?" asked Atlan."Well, the Huntsman returned to the castle to deliver the boar''s heart to the ''evil'' wicked Queen¡­" #### "Queen, stored in this jewel box is the heart of the White Canzer. I have fulfilled my duty as per our agreement." The Huntsman gave the jewel box containing the boar''s heart to the feet of her throne. "This ends our agreement." He looked at the Queen and saw relief on her face when he mentioned that the White Canzer was dead. He, believing the White Canzer''s words, thought that she was happy that she was finally the most beautiful maiden in all the lands. The Queen didn''t even turn around to look at the jeweled box on her feet. She simply let her servants take it away. He turned around and walked away from the royal throne. She cares not for her stepchild, he thought. This further reinforced the lie in his mind that the Queen assassinated the White Canzer for dubious reasons. He was disgusted with this and walked out of the royal chamber. The door closed behind him. And just as he was about to take his first step away, he suddenly heard a single drop echo through the hallways. It was so subtle and quiet that no normal being would have been able to perceive it. But his enhanced hearing as a Huntsman provided him with the necessary insight to know that something echoed behind him. DRIP He turned around and realized that it came from the royal chamber itself. He raised his hand and opened the door. And what he saw confused him. The Queen, high up on the pedestal of her throne, sobbed quietly with her head down. The sound of her tears falling to the marble tiles was echoing through the chambers, albeit softly. Why is she crying? he asked himself. Is she doing this for show so that others wouldn''t be suspicious of her? But when he looked around, he realized that her servants and knights were away from the chamber. There was no one there to witness her cry. They wouldn''t leave unless the Queen herself made them leave. So if the Queen was only doing it for show, then she wouldn''t sob quietly by herself without an audience. She hadn''t even realized that he was back in her chambers. She rubbed her eyes and only noticed him approach once she was done grieving to herself. "Why are you crying," he asked her. "Am I not permitted to cry?" It was only then that a sliver of doubt finally appeared on the Huntsman''s mind. It made him question the very nature of the Queen herself. The White Canzer painted her as the type of narcissist who would not care about anyone other than themselves. If so, then she shouldn''t have cried without anyone looking at them. He also looked around the room and realized that everything was a mess. The White Canzer told him that the Queen was a person who was obsessed with beauty. The very reason why she hired the Huntsman to kill the White Canzer was because she was envious of her beauty. But if that was true, then wouldn''t she have flowers and beautiful arrangements designed around the royal chamber where she spent most of her days? The Huntsman looked at her and said, "Are you the fairest one of them all?" The Queen shook her head. "No." "But surely, now that the White Canzer is gone, you are the next in line to be the most beautiful maiden in all the lands, the royal realm, and even the world! Shouldn''t you take her rightful place?" The Queen finally looked up at him and he saw her disheveled state. It looked like she hadn''t been taking care of herself for far too long. She was even in much worse shape than the White Canzer who spent the whole day in the muddy woods! If she was really obsessed with beauty, then she wouldn''t let herself go in such a manner. She would have prepared herself to be undoubtedly the most beautiful maiden in the court. "I care not for beauty," replied the Queen. "But why not? Beauty is not only for such shallow purposes. It will allow you to assert dominance over all the men in the kingdom and have the rest of the women want to follow your lead. Surely a Queen such as yourself covets a beauty that cannot be topped by others." Another tear dropped from her cheeks. "I care not for beauty because it will not bring back my husband and my children." Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Huntsman was stunned in silence. "I do not understand. Please tell me the truth. For what reason did you have me kill the White Canzer?" "Because the royal court demanded it." "They did?" The Queen nodded. "The judiciary system has deemed the White Canzer guilty of her crimes. She has been tried and sentenced to death for the murder of my husband, the King, and my child, the princess." "WHAT?! Why have you not told me about this in the first place?" "I have told you, do you not remember?" Find your next adventure on empire The Huntsman took a step back from the shock he received. It was then in that moment that a surge of memories finally flowed through his mind as if a dam had been broken. All things had been let loose. He remembered entering the kingdom and hearing about the King and the Princess''s death. He heard about the murderer''s escape and volunteered to hunt her in exchange for a reward. The Queen already told him the crimes of the White Canzer from the very beginning. It was the very reason why he accepted the mission in the first place. Back when the White Canzer was talking to him, he wondered to himself why he would accept such a mission if he was hunting an innocent being. He thought that he had made a blunder. As it turned out, he didn''t. Chapter 255 Boar a weakness He knew from the very start that the White Canzer was guilty of all her crimes. However, he seemed to have forgotten that.The moment he set his eyes on the White Canzer, it was as if all the memories of her evil deeds were erased from his mind. He became enamored with her beauty so much that he became an idiot. He could not believe that he let himself get to such a state. He had never made this mistake before. "I can''t believe it¡­" The Huntsman, in his despair, fell on his knees. "I cannot believe it myself," the Queen uttered. "If it weren''t for my loyal servants, I would have died from the poisoned apple." The Huntsman covered his head in shame. He should have realized from the very beginning that everything that came out of the White Canzer''s mouth was all lies. There was not a speck of truth in everything she said. The lie that the Queen tried to kill her three times were all twisted truths. She was the one who tried to kill the entire royal family instead! She used the poisoned comb on the King and killed him with it. She used the laced bodice to suffocate the princess till she died, and finally, she used the poisoned apple to try and kill the Queen. It was an attempt to take control of the whole kingdom for herself. She was a psychopath willing to sacrifice even her family to finally ascend the throne and take control of the entire kingdom for herself. Fortunately, her plan failed. The Queen survived and was able to report her crimes to the royal court. And now, the White Canzer was on the run. The Huntsman, who touted himself as an ally of fairness, was supposed to be the one to bring justice for the entire royal family. But he failed to do so. Instead, he was tricked by her and even suspected the Queen of evil intent. He slowly stood up, gripping his bow very tight. His eyes were full of rage and embarrassment. Not only did the White Canzer tarnish his reputation, but also trampled on his dignity. He gave her a helping hand, but he didn''t know that she poisoned her hand and infected him with it to save herself. "Please forgive me, your highness! I have made a grave mistake." The Queen looked down at him. She was astute and saw the regret on his face. She sighed. Even without him telling her, she could already guess what had happened. After all, this was not the first time when the White Canzer used her beauty to enamor and trick people into doing her bidding. It was the very reason why she was able to kill her husband and daughter so easily. It was because she had help from someone who also thought that he was doing the right thing. "She convinced me that you wanted to kill her for her beauty. It is obvious now that it is not true." "Even a rock can be bewitched by her. Do not blame yourself." S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Huntsman took two arrows from his quiver. He used one of them to carve two words onto the remaining arrow''s tip. Engraved in it was: W.C. This arrow will only be used to pierce through the White Canzer''s heart. This wasn''t a warning, it was a promise. He would not rest until his shame and embarrassment were washed away by the violet blood of that wicked princess. "I only gave you a boar''s heart to trick you. I must go now, Your Highness. I must retrieve the object of our original promise. But I will apologize right now, for that princess'' heart could return to your hands as a mere squashed muscle." "It''s best if you don''t, Huntsman. It has already been done. For my closure, it''s best if I never hear or see that¡­being¡­for the rest of my life. I shall treat that boar''s heart as a symbol for her death." The Huntsman winced when the Queen mentioned the boar''s heart. It was the symbol of his failure. It was a reminder that he broke his code of honor for an unworthy witch who tricked him. He couldn''t even be anywhere near the castle anymore, for it stored the boar''s heart. He walked away in shame, with the Queen hanging her head low on the throne. Read new adventures at empire ### "And ever since, the Huntsman will never approach anyone with a boar''s heart. It became his weakness. Once you have a boar''s heart, you can escape the Huntsman''s hunt." Atlan never knew that a Canzer''s weakness was deeply intertwined with their backstory. Their history dictated their flaws. He thought back to all the Canzers he encountered from here to now. The Ifrit, whose weakness was a magical oil lamp, must have had a backstory where it experienced something traumatic with the oil lamp as a catalyst. And one thing he noticed was that all Canzers had a weakness against angel power. Does that mean that the origin of the Canzer species as a whole was intertwined with the Angels? WHIZZ! Atlan dodged another arrow to his head, scraping past his eyebrows. "So how will I get the boar''s heart? Can it be created with the control center?" The black hexagonal box in his chest was a magical piece of equipment that could spawn all kinds of constructs by stitching together the different essences planted inside. He didn''t know how it worked, but he imagined that it would be like piecing together different puzzle pieces into an entirely different picture. "The control center can do a lot of things, but it cannot do that. Since the boar''s heart is not a construct, but merely a weakness, your battle suit cannot create it out of nowhere. But what it can do is create something like a sonar which will point you in the direction of the nearest boar. It is your job to find that boar, kill it, and harvest its heart. But be careful, the Huntsman will do everything in its power to stop you from unearthing its weakness." Chapter 256 Boar finder "Is there even a boar in this dark woods?" asked Atlan. After all, they weren''t in a normal forest where it was teeming with life. This was an artificial world created by the Canzers and the Remedium. There was supposed to be no one else other than the Canzers and the humans."Yes. The Huntsman is here, therefore the boar is somewhere in this Remedium. Those two will never be separated. Whenever he appears, his weakness appears with him. A Canzer''s weakness is so deeply intertwined with their identity that they subconsciously summon their weakness around them. It is just like how they can morph the Remedium into their familiar territory, something like a dark forest in the medieval times, they will also summon their downfall. It is their fate." Atlan looked around the Remedium, but could only see a thick fog that obscured everything beyond a few meters. He could even only see a sparse few dead trees lying about. He wouldn''t think that a boar would make its home here. "How do I create the boar finder?" "Touch the control center," Carmine said. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan did as he was told and pushed his finger onto the black hexagon attached to his chest. After a few moments, it suddenly split in half and revealed the inner mechanisms inside. There was a miniature keyboard installed inside, with a small rectangular screen on top. He had to input the right code into the control system for it to blend the right types of essences in the right quantities to create an object with the desired quality. If even one input was wrong, then the battle suit might spit out a rock instead of a high-tech boar finder. "If you are not sure about the sequence of inputs, then don''t be afraid to ask me again. We only have one shot at this, or else you''ll have to wait for another hour before your battle suit can spit out another one of those again." Atlan wasn''t even sure if he would survive if that happened. Slowly, his entire battle suit was getting cracked and fractured to the point where the Huntsman only needed one good shot before his first layer of defense was gone for good. "Here it goes¡­aB42)5#(8JHhl2$G@%..." Carmine listed out the specific sequence for conjuring the boar finder. These inputs numbered in the thousands because Carmine was basically speaking out the very DNA of the object. And if Carmine hadn''t improved the design of the battle suit, then Atlan would have had to input millions upon millions of code into the battle suit. But before he even got to the hundredth letter, an arrow suddenly grazed past Atlan''s head, just above his ear. Suddenly, all he could hear was a loud ringing noise that deafened him from hearing anything around him, including Carmine''s input. "Wait! Wait! What''s the code after 13hn%@?" Your journey continues with empire Carmine paused for a second and said, "I didn''t say %@, I said @$" Because of the distraction, Atlan inputted the wrong button on the screen and almost ruined the entire thing. "Let''s just start over from the beginning." Although it was a pain to do, they would rather waste a couple of minutes rather than input a thousand words and end up wasting this opportunity because of a wrong input in the hundreds. Atlan pressed the clear button and started over from the very beginning, with Carmine listing out the code in a very loud and clear voice. It wasn''t supposed to be this hard. Carmine designed this battle suit with the assumption that Atlan would be fighting with Ninth and her team. While Atlan was putting the code on his battle suit for a construct, the team would do everything in their power to protect him from any harm. That way, he wouldn''t have to worry about a stray arrow suddenly piercing through his ear and distracting him for a second. Now, Atlan had to do things the hard way. Not only did he have to listen to his surroundings for the Huntsman''s words, he also had to listen to Carmine and input the correct set of code to the control center. His sense of hearing was overloaded. He couldn''t even complain to Carmine about this. After all, he didn''t know that Atlan used his sense of hearing to barely dodge the arrows and prevent his body from getting riddled with holes. "Can you slow down?" "Are you sure about this? The longer we stay here, the higher the chance the Huntsman becomes bored and uses his full power on you." Atlan had no other choice. "Yes, please." Carmine slowed down his words, allowing Atlan to listen to both him and the Huntsman at the same time. It required tremendous focus and attention, which fortunately, he had something a lot of. "A$*8742%F. And that''s the last of it." After half an hour, Atlan finally inputted the last set of code to the control center. "Let''s double check¡ª" "No need," Atlan said confidently. "It''s right." "....are you sure about this? I told you, we only have one shot at this. It''s better to be safe than sorry." Atlan was a careful guy. In any other circumstances, he would have decided to recheck the inputted code three times before he considered it as correct. However, he didn''t have the luxury of time. He hadn''t even found the boar yet, but he was already on the last legs of his first layer of chitinous armor. He expected another big confrontation from the Huntsman once he got too close to the boar, so Atlan would rather reserve his defenses for that. He couldn''t let the Huntsman wear away his armor with petty shots. "I have a good memory. I inputted every single code correctly with no mistakes this time." Carmine liked the confidence of their Star Porter. Sometimes, guts were all that was needed. "Press the enter button." Atlan pressed it, and suddenly, his entire battle suit lit up in a blue light. Warmth spread from his toes to his shoulders. Chapter 257 Black water Atlan felt the battle suit vibrating from all the microscopic machinery built inside it. It made him feel as if he was a giant as big as the world, and the battle suit was a seismic earthquake that shook every part of him.Suddenly, blue particles floated up from his control center and gathered above his palms. These particles were filled with different kinds of elements, but he was sure that there was a tiniest bit of Angel Power hiding inside. Looks like Angel Power is needed in everything¡­ Atlan didn''t have to wait for a few seconds before the particles solidified into a very thin cylinder with a diamond tip at the very end. This object looked very familiar. "It''s done. This is the boar finder. It will point you into the general direction of the boar. If you see it suddenly leave your side, then the boar is very close. The finder will hover above the boar for you to find." BOOM! A miniature explosion occurred as the blue particles finally condensed into a real object. It was an arrow. He finally knew why it was familiar. It was the very same arrow that the Huntsman used to hunt him! It turned out that the very boar finder that he was going to use was the same arrow that the Huntsman used to kill the boar! It was kind of poetic, in a sense¡ªor ironic, if you looked at it in a different way. The arrow hovered about a meter in front of him and pointed towards the left. He looked to the side and saw nothing but the fog. If he had just followed his guts, he would have no chance of ever finding the boar. He would have been running in circles. He quickly turned around and followed the direction of the arrow. Thankfully, once he moved, the arrow moved with him. It followed his every movement and always stayed one meter away from him, which meant that if he slowed down, it would slow down. If he sped up, it would speed up. He walked and walked until he had to skip past a small stream of dark water. Atlan didn''t know if it was dangerous or not. Stay tuned for updates on empire "Find a way to get over it. This is not normal water; this is the Remedium. It will actively try to sabotage you." Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. For normal people, it would have been very easy to jump across the gap. However, Atlan could barely even jog due to the immense weight of his battle suit, so there was no way he could jump across it. He would have to circumvent the stream of water. Even if it took more time, it didn''t matter anyway because the arrow would always be pointing him in the right direction. But before he could even walk away, he suddenly saw the arrow''s pointed tip move from left and slowly to the front. What? Why did the arrow move? I haven''t even moved yet¡­unless¡­. Then, he realized something. The boar''s moving! And it was walking right in front of him. He didn''t know how far, but it must have been close enough for its walk to register on the boar finder. If it was far away, the arrow would barely move. But if it was close enough, even a small trot from the animal would register as a big move in the arrow. This was incredible. He thought that he would have to walk for at least an hour before he would come close to the boar. But he only needed a few minutes! And if that wasn''t enough, the arrow suddenly flew away from him and disappeared into the fog! That only meant one thing: the boar was close enough for him to hunt. According to Carmine, the arrow would hover above the boar at a certain distance, and would point it down for Atlan to gauge how far away it was. Amazingly enough, the arrow was still visible to him even in the fog. He could see through the thick veil and see the arrow slowly hovering in the air until it finally stopped. Then, it pointed down. Even though Atlan couldn''t see the boar, he could see its movements based on how the arrow moved. And if he judged it correctly, the boar was only about 10 meters away from him! This was incredibly close! He immediately got the urge to step into the dark stream of water and try to catch up to the boar. It was already close enough, he just needed a few steps and he would see it. "What will you do, Star Porter? Will you chase after it, or will you wait until you''re over the water?" Atlan could take his chances and walk the small stream of water. After all, it would only take a minimum of one step, and he would immediately cross over to the other side. Since it was extremely thin, it would seem as if the chances of something wrong happening was small. The problem with this was that the body of water was dead. It was extremely still. It looked as if it was running, but upon closer inspection, it was only an optical illusion meant to simulate the real thing. It looked even more dangerous now. After all, if it was trying to deceive him from making it seem as if it was a stream of water, then there was something sinister in plan for him. He also had the chance to let the boar go for now. He would find a way to go around this stream of water, but that would mean that he would get further and further away from the boar. This was the safest option. After all, the boar wasn''t going anywhere. It would always be in this dark forest for as long as the Huntsman was here. Even if Atlan lost the boar now, he could always find it with the magical arrow later. The problem with this was time. He wasn''t sure if the Huntsman would give him any. Just as he thought that, an arrow whizzed through the fog and headed straight for his back. Chapter 258 Leaking angel power The arrow was headed straight for the point in between his shoulder blades.Atlan had no other choice. The only way he could dodge this attack was to bend his upper body forwards. But because of the uneven terrain of the dark forest, especially the dark ''stream'' of water where it sloped down, Atlan would be forced into an unbalanced position. He would get tipped forwards and eventually end up falling into the stream because of it! S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He couldn''t think any longer. The Huntsman already let go of the arrow and gave him no time to ponder. He had to go and step into the dark body of water. Atlan bent his body forwards, but because of the very thick battle suit, his mobility was limited. He was only able to bend forwards by a little bit, which meant that he wouldn''t be able to dodge the arrow fully. PENG! A strange sound came out of his back. It wasn''t the usual silent arrow that pierced through the chitinous armor. It sounded as if the arrow bounced off his battle suit. But that was strange. After all, the first layer of his chitinous armor was already on its last leg. It only needed one more hit from the Huntsman''s arrow for it to be completely destroyed. When he looked up, he saw the arrow that was deflected off his back. He focused on its tip and saw that it didn''t have a tip at all! It only had a sphere as its tip! Read the latest on empire And judging from the ball''s speed, the arrow was quite slow compared to the Huntsman''s other arrows. He didn''t understand why the Huntsman would choose to use this kind of arrow instead of a sharp-tipped one. But then, he realized that the momentum from the heavy ball arrow was quickly transferred over to his body. He was being tipped forwards into the black ''stream'' of water! The Huntsman never planned to destroy his last layer of chitin armor at all! It only wanted him to fall into the Remedium''s trap instead! Atlan couldn''t stop his momentum. The only thing he could do was raise his leg and step onto the black water, or else he would have fallen head first into it. And as soon as he stepped foot onto it, he felt the consistency of this ''water'' to be extremely thick. It seemed to be even thicker than slime! Because of its viscosity, Atlan had a hard time raising his leg out of the black water. After all, he was also getting pushed down by the immense weight of his battle suit. He was only further getting sunk deeper and deeper into the black stream of water, with no sign of a bottom anywhere. "Carmine! Any help?!" "We''re working on it! We were busy trying to figure out if the black stream was safe to cross or not, but that''s all moot now." "You think?!" "Okay, listen up. Thankfully, this black stream isn''t that dangerous. With just a little bit of force, you can take your leg off of it." Atlan tried to move his leg, but it only further sunk it deep into the black water. It was up to his shin now, and slowly creeping up to his knees. "It''s sinking me in deeper and deeper!" "Wait what?! That''s not possible!" "What''s not possible?" "...." Carmine went silent in the worst possible time. That was not the best thing to hear when he was about to get swallowed by the black water of the Remedium. And because he was unable to balance himself, he was forced to put his other foot inside the black water. "Carmine? Carmine? Are you there?" If push came to shove, then Atlan had no other choice but to activate his Angel Wings and get out of here. After all, he didn''t want to get swallowed by the Remedium where he didn''t know if his mutation would even activate. At that point, he was as good as dead. "We''re working on it. This shouldn''t be possible! We don''t have this kind of black stream in our database. This black stream isn''t supposed to even be dangerous to humans. It''s only effective against supernatural beings. Can you check you open up your control center and see if the green light has turned red? If it has, then that means something is leaking and it could be the reason why you are falling into the dark water." Atlan did as he was told and touched the black hexagonal box in his chest. Once it opened up, he saw the same small keyboard and screen in the middle. And on the top right was a small LED bulb which was always on with a green light. "It''s still green." "Damn! It''s not a leak!" "What would be the problem if it was a leak?" "This black stream is attracted to supernatural elements. And your battle suit is filled with it. It has about a thousand essences threaded in the very fabric of your suit. If it is leaking, then that could be the reason why the black water is pulling you down!" But according to the battle suit itself, there was no leak. Unless the light on his control center was malfunctioning, then his battle suit couldn''t be the reason for why he was being pulled down further into the black water. "Can you think of something else?! I''m in knee deep trouble now!" "We are! We are! Are you sure that the light is still green?" "Yes! It''s still green!" "Damn it! How?! Your descent is way too fast for a small leak. It would only be this fast if your entire battle suit is emanating some sort of supernatural essence!" Then, he realized something. His battle suit was leaking a supernatural essence. He was emanating Angel Power. He was using the False Mutation of his Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings to move his body faster to try and get out of the black water. This caused his whole body to be coated in an Angel Power. And as he pushed his false mutation faster and faster, the more Angel Power was leaking out! Chapter 259 Finding the boar Now that he found the root of the problem, Atlan simply stopped using the False Mutation of his Angel Wings."Sorry, Atlan. We don''t know what''s causing¡ªWHAT?! How?!" From Carmine''s perspective, Atlan''s slow descent into the black water suddenly stopped and was now pushing him upwards! It was as if the Remedium was trying to vomit him out now that it no longer liked the taste he was giving out. Without the Angel power coating his whole body, then the Remedium no longer wanted to consume him. "What happened?" Carmine asked. Atlan lied, "I don''t know." The Remedium''s upwards push on his body counteracted even his battle suit''s immense weight. He was airborne for a few moments until he landed on the opposite side of the black water. "Well, lucky us that this happened. I apologize. We should have been able to find the cause of that problem." "It''s fine. Don''t worry about it. I''ll focus on finding the boar for now." The magical arrow had already returned to his side. And it went back to pointing in a single direction. This meant that the boar ran away and was already far away enough for its movements to not register. It must have been spooked by Atlan''s movements. For him to hunt this boar, he had to make as little noise as possible. After all, he had no bow and arrow like the Huntsman; he only had his two fists and his clever mind as his weapons to hunt it. Not to mention the fact that he moved extremely slowly, the only way he''d be able to hunt the boar was if he was able to approach it at an extremely close distance without it noticing anything. If he could use his other LifeSkills and mutations, it would be easy. Unfortunately, he was stuck with only his Physique LifeSkill by his side. "Don''t worry, this boar is only a normal animal. It doesn''t have any special powers and you can hunt it like normal. Your Physique LifeSkill should be sufficient to triumph over it. But I will warn you again. The Huntsman will not stand back as you pick out its weakness. It will stop treating you as entertainment and start looking at you as prey. Then, the hunt begins." Atlan didn''t have to be reminded, the Huntsman did it for him. He heard another word from the Canzer that it would be targeting his head again. As usual, he turned his head to the side and dodged the arrow. Now that he''d been getting hit by those arrows for a couple of times already, he was getting used to the momentum and was able to completely dodge the attacks. It was a good thing. He didn''t want his first line of defense to be broken so easily. Atlan followed the arrow''s direction until he suddenly saw it shoot off into the distance. The boar was near! He immediately walked forward with a faster stride. He didn''t want the boar to get away this time. The arrow stopped going forward and pointed down, showing precisely where the boar''s location was. Other people would have gotten excited, making their heartbeat elevated and their breathing heavy. The likelihood of human error increased as humans got more and more excited. Atlan would have been subjected to that too, if it weren''t for his SSS class Physique LifeSkill. It gave him complete control of his own body, making his heartbeat and breathing as low as possible. From Carmine''s perspective, Atlan seemed to have turned into stone; he didn''t move. Your next journey awaits at empire But in truth, Atlan was slowly walking forwards with a pace much slower than a snail. Although it was extremely slow, Atlan didn''t want the boar to escape again. He would rather waste a few more minutes than have the boar burst out into a run again. And after a few minutes, his patience paid off. He finally saw a sliver of a black sillhouete right in front of him. The arrow pointing directly below it was an indication that his guess was right. Finally, he saw the real thing. It had a big snout, with two tusks on its side. It grazed on the dead grass around the damp soil and minded its own business just like a normal animal would have. He even looked at it with his Thermal Vision and saw that it had a normal structure with a normal boar. There was nothing special with this animal, nor was there anything magical on it. It wasn''t like the lifeless trees and animated golems in the Remedium. This one looked like it was plucked out of the real world and lived entirely to cope in the Remedium. And because of his careful approach, the boar was none the wiser that Atlan was already hot on its tail. Step by step, his pace became even slower. As he got too close to the boar, almost enough for him to grab it at arm''s length, he slowed down to a stand still. At this point, he knew that any movement would get noticed by the boar no matter how careful he got. The best way to go about this was to let the boar come to him. This was a waiting game¡ªwith a time limit. It would only be a matter of time until his human scent wafted off to the boar''s snout. Come on, come on, Atlan thought to himself. After a few seconds, he had enough and knew that he had to do something. He picked out a small piece of chitinous armor from his battle suit, about as big as his fingernails, and tossed it forwards. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. tuk¡­ That slight sound was like an alarm in the boar''s ear. It alerted it of a potential threat right in front of itself. Its instincts took over and it immediately turned around and readied to bolt. But it didn''t know that it would be walking straight into the arms of Atlan. The only thing he had to do was dive down and catch the boar with his bare hands. But just then, a very noisy and slow arrow whizzed and penetrated through the fog. Chapter 260 The Huntsmans game This arrow was so slow that Atlan would be able to dodge its trajectory even with his eyes closed and his battle suit''s weight doubled. How could he not, when the arrow ''whistled'' so loud that it announced itself before it even appeared.With how strong and fast the other arrows aimed for him before, this one was below the quality of someone with the name ''Huntsman''. It was something that even the weakest Student-level Canzer could do better. From the arrow''s trajectory, he could clearly see that it was not aimed for him. It was directed at the boar! And since the arrow was so loud, the boar was able to immediately sense its approach and turned around a second time. Atlan was already on a downward trajectory as he lunged down towards the boar. But because of the whistling arrow, the boar had already ran away from him before he could even touch a single strand of its hair. KEEEK! KEEEK! the boar squealed. It ran off out into the fog, with the magical arrow returning back to his side after hovering above the boar''s head. In just under a second, the boar was able to get more than 10 meters away from him. It was an understatement to call it a bit ''spooked''. Atlan fell to his knees, unable to do anything as the boar slipped past him. He was so close from getting the boar, but that whistling arrow spoiled all his plans. He painstakingly approached the boar with endless patience and endurance, yet a single arrow from the Huntsman was all it took to mess everything up. Carmine wasn''t kidding when it said that the Huntsman would do everything in its power to prevent him from getting its weakness. It was its bane, after all. Your next journey awaits at empire ''This human wants to use that boar''s heart to escape me? How interesting¡­well then, let me give you a taste of my power and see if you have what it takes to receive the boar''s heart.'' Fortunately, for Atlan, the Huntsman was still mildly amused by him. If it had decided to get serious, then it would not be an exaggeration if one were to say that Atlan would be killed in just under three seconds. That was how lethal the Huntsman Canzer was. The fact that he was so easy to kill worked to his advantage. The Huntsman wanted to play with his food and decided to humor Atlan''s antics up till now. It was also fortunate that the Huntsman liked a good challenge. And Atlan, who seemed quite weak at first, was able to dodge quite a few of its normal arrows despite his build. He shouldn''t have been able to last till the second arrow, or the third or the thirtieth. The Huntsman was mildly impressed by Atlan and wanted to know more about him. That was why he was lenient. Of course, leniency had a limit. The Huntsman had been only using normal arrows up till now. But the fact that Atlan dared to go and harvest the boar''s heart to take for himself was a crime that needed a punishment. It may not be severe enough for an execution, but it was enough of a provocation for the Huntsman to reveal one of its powers. "Cross of roads: Arrow piercing!" the Huntsman uttered as he fired a magical arrow. It had a red tipped bit that seemed to oscillate between dark and light. And unlike the other arrows he fired at Atlan, this one didn''t seem to be long for the physical world. It seemed to pierce through the Remedium and influence its surroundings to whatever the Huntsman needed. And before Atlan knew it, there was a group of arrows firing from left to right right in front of him. He could feel the air breeze past his face as a couple of arrows fired from the left and right directions. Not only that, he noticed that the ground he stood underneath was changed into something like the shore of a river. This river seemed to be quite aggressive for its size because it kept surging out big waves all over the shore. Atlan knew that if he got hit by that wave, he would only get swallowed by the water and be unable to swim up by himself. His battle suit could do a lot of things, but it cannot swim underwater unless he created a construct to survive. But since he already created the magic arrow, he wouldn''t be able to create another construct for another half an hour. This only meant that Atlan didn''t want to cross the raging river. Even the multiple arrows firing from left to right was barring him from entering the lake, even if he had any intention to do so. Atlan immediately took a step back and away from the river and the arrows. "Wait! Don''t¡ª" Carmine''s warning proved to be too late as all the arrows changed their direction in mid air and targeted Atlan all over his front body. Each of his organs, and his body points were targeted by the glowing-tipped arrows. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And judging from the magical aura they emanated, Atlan guessed that these arrows were laced with some kind of power that would definitely try to harm him in some way. Atlan didn''t want to figure it out by himself. "Quick! Return to your original position!" Atlan had full trust on Carmine with regards to Canzers and Remediums, so he didn''t even hesitate for a second as he took a step diagonally forwards and retraced his steps from before. Once he did so, the arrows suddenly changed directions once again and returned to their original trajectory. They kept spawning out of the fog and firing from left to right. "What am I supposed to do here?" "This is one of the Huntsman''s tricks. You can consider yourself lucky because you''ll be playing a game this time around. The only caveat would be the fact that you would have to bet your own life for it." Chapter 261 Cross the lake "What game am I supposed to play?""It''s a childhood game called ''cross the road''." "I don''t know what you''re talking about¡­" "Come on! It''s a very popular game here in Genesis City and all over the globe! You must have been living under a rock¡ª" "I was." "Oh¡­right. You were from the Unclaimed Lands. I forgot¡­Well, this game is very popular among kids because it trains their reaction, decision-making, and speed¡ªall of which are important when they want to become a Savior in the future. Do you see the large lake in front of you?" Atlan looked forward and could see the very tumultuous waves of the great lake. It was as if there was a storm brewing on the very water itself, yet Atlan could not feel even a single breeze on the shore. "The objective of this game is to cross the lake without drowning. It''s as easy as that." "But can''t I just go around the lake and get to the other side that way?" If he followed the shoreline of the lake, he would eventually reach the other side. He didn''t have to cross the wavy lakes at all. It would be much safer to stay on land and walk for a little while. It would only be a thirty-minute walk at the latest. "You can''t. Didn''t you see what happened when you stepped out of bounds from the game? Those arrows will come at you with their full force and bombard you until you come back to the game. There are two rules in this game. First, you cannot walk diagonally. You must only walk towards the left or right. The second rule is that you cannot go back, only forwards. That is the reason why you were attacked earlier. You stepped back and got out of bounds." Atlan nodded. "Okay, I get that. But how am I going to cross this lake?" "There are logs of wood crossing horizontally in front of you. They will either go from left to right or right to left. You can walk across different logs as long as you follow the rules¡ªwhich is that you can only walk forwards, left, or right." Atlan looked at the lake in front of him but couldn''t see any sign of the logs that Carmine described. He didn''t even think wooden logs could float on such turbulent waters. And even if they could, Atlan didn''t think he could walk on it without tumbling into the waters. "I don''t see any logs." "They will appear once you enter the game." "This is not the game yet?" "Not yet. The Huntsman is still giving you a choice. You could either retreat or you could play the game. It''s your choice." Atlan looked at the floating arrow in front of him. It was still pointing toward the north, which meant that the boar was on the other side of the lake. If he wanted to get to it, then he''d have to play the game. "Will the Huntsman leave me alone if I don''t play his game?" "...no. It will probably become more aggressive towards you. It likes your courage. That''s the reason why it''s been humoring you all this time. If you stop being courageous, then it might get bored and decide to get rid of you once and for all." Atlan walked forward without any more hesitation. And the moment he did, he suddenly heard a very rhythmic drum pattern. It made the atmosphere very ''gamey''. Then, he suddenly saw logs of wood spawn from his left and right. These logs crossed over to the other side and disappeared into the fog once they went out of the bounds of the ''game''. The objective was to cross the lake, and he had to walk across these logs to get to the other side. However, the arrows shooting from both sides prevented him from crossing the logs at any time he wanted. He had to wait for the right timing. The first row of arrows fired at a constant rate. It was one second of constant barrages, followed by half a second of wait time. Even though this first part was easy, Atlan didn''t immediately go. He was worried that he wouldn''t be able to balance himself on the log. After all, it was only wide enough for two feet. He couldn''t re-balance himself if he couldn''t take a misstep. Fortunately, there wasn''t a time limit¡ª-at least, not right now. Who''s to say that things wouldn''t change when Atlan stepped foot on the first log? S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And since he couldn''t take a step back, he had to plan ahead of time. He had to think about 3 steps forward at all times or else he could be walking into a trap. He could see arrows firing right on top of some of the logs that he had to cross. First step¡­wait three seconds¡­cross¡­move right¡­wait two seconds¡­cross¡­ Atlan planned his first series of moves so that he''d land on a log that didn''t have any arrows firing on top of it. This would give him time to think about his next few moves. After waiting for one more cycle, Atlan finally stepped foot on the first log. He was going to wait for three more seconds before he crossed over to the next log, but things didn''t go as he planned. When his foot hit the log, it suddenly sank deep into the waters! Stay tuned with empire His battle suit was far too heavy for the log to carry. Atlan inwardly cursed this game designed by the Huntsman. If all this was made out of magic powers, then couldn''t it have used a better log¡ªone that didn''t follow the rules of physics? Atlan had to improvise right at the very start of the game. If he didn''t want to sink, then he had to move right now. Once one of his knees hit the water, he wouldn''t be able to pull himself up towards the next log. He immediately walked over to the next log two seconds ahead of his schedule. WHIZZ! Five arrows, all pointing towards him from different heights, raced through the air and targeted his whole body. Chapter 262 Sinking logs Atlan immediately puts his foot down on the next wooden log, but the arrows pierced through his arm, finally destroying the first layer of his chitinous armor.The cracked chitinous armor peeled off in a matter of less than a second and disintegrated into nothingness. It only left behind a new set of chitinous armor on Atlan''s battle suit. But his troubles didn''t end there. Because of the arrow''s momentum, he was forced to move to the left, effectively making his movements into a diagonal shape. That was one of the only rules of this game, and he broke it. Immediately, the arrows from behind him and in front of him converged in his direction, bombarding him with arrow shots. Thankfully, these arrows were not as strong as the Huntsman''s attacks, and they bounced off his new chitinous armor and only left a small scratch. "This is the first rule you''ve broken, so the punishment isn''t that severe. But you only get three chances. Once you''ve blown all three, the barrage of arrows won''t stop and continue to hit you with full force. It will be comparable to the Huntsman''s attacks." Atlan knew that he had to be careful, but the situation didn''t let him have the time to be. He should have expected his battle suit to be too heavy for these wooden logs, but he thought that the Huntsman would have been a lot fairer and constructed better wooden logs. As soon as he stepped foot on the second log, his feet started sinking into the water again. He didn''t have another second to think about his movements and just walked over to the next log, hoping that he wouldn''t get hit by the arrows. Thankfully enough, he seemed to be lucky this time. The arrow whizzed past behind him just as he moved forward again. Now that he''d made good progress, he was able to stop panicking and think about his situation. As long as he didn''t step backward, he could do anything. That meant that he could continue to step left or right endlessly and make time for him to think about his next moves. He stepped to the left log just as his foot was about to sink again. He was able to save himself for now, but he had to move his feet again after another second because this wooden log was starting to sink too. He looked to the side and saw the previous log he stepped foot on was rising back to the surface! Atlan stepped foot back on the log. Once that log started sinking again, Atlan stepped foot on the right log to save himself from sinking. He continued this cycle and found that he was able to juggle the wooden logs for a second each time. Thankfully enough, the logs started floating up again as soon as his leg wasn''t stepping on them. This meant that he didn''t have to wait for a long while before he could step on the logs again. Using this time, he was able to plan his next five moves without much trouble. Now that he''d had enough experience in dealing with this game, he started to get a hang of it. He thought he''d have trouble balancing himself on the logs, but surprisingly, his SSS class Physique allowed him to have complete control over his movements. As soon as he felt himself tipping over to the other side, he would raise his arm and change his center of gravity. "That''s it! Just continue forward. You''re doing great." Carmine was very impressed with Atlan''s quick thinking. Other people would have drowned by now when they found themselves sinking because of the battle suit, but Atlan was somehow able to keep his calm and think of an ingenious solution. Atlan continued crossing the lake and was able to make good progress. He could see the halfway point just up ahead. But suddenly, he heard the Huntsman''s words echo through the body of water. ''You have done well. I always appreciate a prey that can challenge me. I hope you''ll keep that up.'' Suddenly, the air changed and became even heavier. The arrows whizzing back and forth suddenly glowed different lights. One of the arrows that was glowing red blinked in and out of existence as soon as it fired right in front of him. Without any warning, it exploded into a fiery explosion that caused a huge wave through the already turbulent waters. Atlan had to use his hand to balance himself on the log. "I can''t get close to those arrows¡­" "The explosive arrow is not the only arrow you have to be careful of. Some arrows can send¡ª" Just as Carmine was about to warn him about something, another arrow whizzed past right in front of him. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It carried with it an intense wind that was so powerful that it sent the wooden logs out of their position! They were no longer running in parallel but were now floating all over the place. And before he had a chance to think about anything else, he saw that the wooden logs around him were getting further and further away from him. The explosion and the huge gust of wind were enough to cause this disruption. Discover hidden tales at empire Atlan immediately walked over to the nearest wooden log, almost splitting his legs in the process. ''How about another explosion?'' whispered the Huntsman. And just as he said, another red blinking arrow shot past behind Atlan and exploded. But because he was able to understand the Huntsman''s words, he was able to prepare himself and move out of the way just in time. Atlan was able to stabilize himself by walking left and right through the logs. Thankfully, the Huntsman never got rid of its habit of speaking out its next moves. Thanks to that, Atlan was able to anticipate whenever the arrows would suddenly become special arrows with abilities. "Amazing! I don''t know how you''re doing it, but you''re dodging those arrows like a champ! Chapter 263 Lakes halfway point Atlan walked through the logs with such ease that Carmine couldn''t understand how he was able to predict which arrow would suddenly become powered with the Huntsman''s magic.It was as if he had eyes on the back of his head! Even though Carmine had never told Atlan about the probability of those arrows appearing, he could still disregard arrows as if he knew that they were nothing more than normal ones that wouldn''t do anything to his chitinous armor! ''Strange¡­how is this human not affected by my arrows?'' asked the Huntsman. He knew that Atlan was an interesting human that wasn''t like the other humans it had ever faced before. Yet, it didn''t expect him to be this adept at dodging its arrows. Atlan continued to walk through the logs, while only walking left, right, or forwards. He would juggle between two different logs as he waited for the right timing for his next advancement. It didn''t take him long before he was nearing the halfway point of the lake. ''I didn''t think this human would have reached this point so fast¡­haha! Interesting. Well, let me up the difficulty! Show me more of your powers!'' The Huntsman fired off multiple more arrows from an undisclosed location, and they all appeared at different points in the lake. Each one sunk deep into the waters and pierced the very soil bed. BRRRRR The arrows started vibrating at a very strong frequency, disturbing the muddy soil beneath. These arrows harmonized with each other and only increased the intensity of the shaking. It wasn''t long before it was able to simulate a real earthquake. Atlan could even feel it from the logs itself. The waters of the lake were turbulent already before this new development. It made it hard to balance on the wooden logs, but if he was able to keep himself from falling, then he could keep still. The waves, despite how chaotic they were before, didn''t displace any of the logs away from their original position. They only moved them up and down, creating an unstable platform for the ''player''. But once Atlan reached the halfway point and the earthquake appeared, the waves seemed to have gained a different kind of power. It was now powerful and fast enough to move the logs away from their position and push them out of the bounds of the game and into the fog! Atlan couldn''t simply just juggle himself between two logs forever! After a few seconds, those logs would have carried him out and away from the other logs, effectively stranding him out into the open waters! At that point, he would only have two choices. Either stay at the log and get bombarded by arrows due to going out of bounds of the game, or jump out of the log and try to swim towards the next set of logs. If he didn''t have thousands of tons of weight on his battle suit, then it would have been a valid solution. TING! As Atlan crossed over to the next log in front of him, a stray arrow suddenly hit him on his bicep. Unfortunately, it was strong enough to cause a dent in his armor. If just one arrow was able to do that much damage, then he would only need about ten arrows before it was able to pierce through his ''new'' chitinous armor. This was extremely bad news. He could no longer disregard the arrows as he did before. He had to be a lot more careful with his timing. He had to be perfect at every step. It would have been easy if he could plan out his movements ahead of time, but the moving logs prevented him from thinking about his steps for more than a few seconds. He had to decide within three seconds of walking into another log. "Carmine! Any advice?" "I would say just keep on doing what you''re doing, but it seems that the Huntsman took a liking to you. The only thing you can rely on in this part is luck." Atlan refused to let luck play a part in whether he lived or died. He had to think up a solution, just like how he was able to get himself out of that black water. !!! Just then, Atlan had an idea. It was a long shot, but it was his only chance. The Huntsman wants to play with me, right? Well, what if I don''t want to play? Atlan stopped walking forward and simply balanced himself on two logs. He was walking between those two wooden platforms and was able to keep himself afloat. The problem was that because of the earthquake, the waters started to carry the logs away from the playing field and out into the fog. At this point, he was only a few seconds away from being out of bounds. Even as his last chance to walk onto the next set of logs disappeared, Atlan still showed no sign of ever going forward. He just stayed in place and kept balancing himself on two logs. ''What is this human doing?! Why is he not playing?'' As Atlan touched the very line between the playing field and out of bounds, the Huntsman immediately ordered the arrows to head straight for him. Atlan took on a defensive stance and started parrying the arrows coming straight for him. Of course, he wasn''t fast enough to dodge all of the attacks. But he made sure that the arrows never hit the same place in his armor twice in a row. He made sure to spread out the damage on different parts of his body so that his chitin wouldn''t get destroyed so easily. Your next chapter awaits on empire ''This human! He doesn''t want to play the game. He intends to simply defend the arrows! That is boring. I''ll give you the wrath of explosions and tornadoes!'' The Huntsman empowered all the other arrows with powers of explosions and wind gusts. Each of these arrows was powerful enough to send Atlan out of the comfort of his wooden logs and out into the open waters where he would surely drown. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 264 Overloading False Mutation "What are you doing?! Dodge it!" screamed Carmine through the radio.Instead of positioning himself to have the least amount of body area to reduce the damage, Atlan did the unthinkable. He opened up his body and accepted the powered arrows. His arms were wide open as if he was welcoming the arrival of a cherished friend. But these arrows were no ally. They were designed to kill him with the most amount of damage possible as punishment for leaving the game grounds. The Huntsman held nothing back and unleashed the full force of his arrows. After all, he designed this game to test the human''s ability. Atlan was doing great all this while, showing off his strange predictive ability, which the Huntsman greatly appreciated. The Huntsman wanted to know how Atlan was doing it, so it kept pushing Atlan into revealing more of his powers. However, for some unknown reason, Atlan didn''t try to dodge this time around. He even seemed to welcome it as if it weren''t trying to actively kill him. ''Is the human trying to tell me that my arrows are ineffective?'' The Huntsman wasn''t supposed to control the arrows further once they had flown toward Atlan. But because it was offended by Atlan''s confidence, it commanded the arrows to all fly towards his chest. Atlan gave out an imperceptible smile. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just as he was about to get hit by the arrows, he increased the output of his False Mutation, enveloping himself with more and more Angle Power. He had never tried this before because it would create an imbalance around his powers. He had to make sure that his False Mutation wasn''t manifesting too strongly because it could cause his real mutation to come out. It would have been okay if he was alone, but Carmine was always watching him right now. He didn''t know if they could see it or not, but even if they couldn''t, Atlan didn''t want to show his trump card so soon. The Huntsman was an intelligent creature. It would surely target him much more seriously if it figured out that Atlan was an actual threat. After all, he had the bloodline of the Angels. Even if he was only in the Student realm, he posed an actual threat that could not be ignored. That was the reason why he hadn''t tried to overload his False Mutation to move faster. He didn''t want to accidentally summon his real wings. But now, he was willing to take the risk. He was going to summon his Angel Wings if he failed this, either way. So, he was going to risk it all and overload it right now. His entire body almost glowed in a white light. If one looked closely, there was a very thin white line surrounding his whole physique. Thankfully, the battle suit wasn''t included, so Carmine could only see a slightly increased saturation in the video quality. The arrows numbering above ten, all hit Atlan on his chest. Carmine subconsciously closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable explosion followed by an intense shockwave and wind that would knock Atlan out into the open waters. However, after another second, nothing happened. Carmine opened his eyes and saw an incredulous sight. Atlan''s face contorted into one of concentration as he held the arrows at bay just a few inches away from his chest. They all blinked in different lights, an indication of their magical powers about to burst. However, nothing happened. No matter how much the powers tried to explode in the arrow, there seemed to be some invisible power keeping it at bay. From everybody''s perspective aside from Atlan, nothing was keeping the arrows from hitting his battle suit. But if they were able to peer through the different dimensions, they would be able to see an extension of Atlan''s hand as an amalgam collection of Angel power. It was holding the Huntsman''s magic from exploding into different elements. After all, Angel power was the very weakness of Canzers. Therefore, even if Atlan''s power was extremely low compared to that of the Huntsman, he was still able to suppress it in his hands. Explore stories at empire ''How is he doing this¡­'' "How are you doing this?!" Atlan stayed silent. He wouldn''t explain to them how he accomplished this even if he wanted to. He was too busy concentrating on balancing the Angel power in his body. "Kuukkk!" Atlan could feel the arrows trying to pierce themselves through the Angel power and towards his battle suit. The lights on the tip of the arrows blinked in quick succession, signaling that they were only moments away from exploding. He had to increase the Angle power in his body. Finally, he was able to suppress the arrows for now, forcing them just an inch away from his chest. But he wasn''t concentrating on this small victory. Increasing the Angle power in his body came at a cost. He could feel a warm sensation flowing through his veins, making him feel very powerful and in control of the Huntsman''s game. It was intoxicating. This was the first time he felt like he could beat the Canzer itself. If he could just unleash his Angel Wings, maybe¡ªjust maybe¡ª-he would be able to kill a Specialist Canzer all by himself. No! Atlan warned himself. The Canzer has yet to show its full power. I''d be an idiot if I revealed all my cards now. If he wasn''t careful, he could accidentally unleash all the Angle power in his body and manifest his Angel Wings in reality. He had to focus on the task at hand: catching the boar by winning the Huntsman''s game. Atlan released all the useless thoughts in his brain and followed his original plan. Now that he had all the powered arrows in his hands, he could finally use them to his advantage. First, he coated his entire fist with Angel power and took out one of the green-glowing arrows just an inch away from his chest. He then moved them over to his back, making sure that it was pointed away from him. Once it was placed in the right direction, Atlan let go of the arrow and the Angel power suppressed it. The arrow exploded into a huge gust of wind that boosted Atlan diagonally upwards. Chapter 265 Serious lightning arrow As soon as Atlan removed the Angel power holding the green arrow at bay, it immediately released all the pent-up tension and power inside of it.The explosion created a giant gust of wind. This arrow was originally intended to create a force powerful enough to topple the ''player'' out of the comfort of their logs. They would stand no chance as they got hit by this arrow that had the same power as a tornado wrapped up in a small tip. But Atlan, because of his unique set of powers, was able to harness that energy for himself. He released the arrow behind him, creating a propulsion effect that launched him forward, The force was powerful enough to send him almost 30 feet in the air and 30 feet forward! But that wasn''t the end of it all. While in mid-air, Atlan took out another one of the green-tipped arrows and positioned it behind him. It was the same thing he did before! He released the Angel power holding that arrow and let it explode into a huge breeze of air that took Atlan further and further forward, high up in the air. The best thing about this was that he completely circumvented the obstacles designed to hinder him. The arrows under him were only designed to go from left to right, or right to left. They weren''t designed to go upwards! And since Atlan wasn''t technically breaking any rules, then the arrows couldn''t launch themselves towards him. And even if the Huntsman could command the arrows to target Atlan, it knew that it wasn''t the best idea. After all, Atlan already proved that he could use the arrows to his advantage. The Huntsman would only help him by sending more arrows towards his way. WHOOSH! Atlan continued to launch himself further forward with the green arrows, making so much progress that he could already see the shore up ahead. Before he figured out this ''cheat'', he was inches away from leaving the grounds of the game entirely. Stay updated through empire When he looked down, he could see the traps and obstacles that he was supposed to cross during the game. From visual inspection alone, he knew that it would take a lot of effort, luck, endurance, and skill to maneuver past those traps. He saw whirlpools, shark-infested waters, and even a large crevice where all the water drained downwards. He wouldn''t know how to deal with that. But because of this ingenious way of beating the game, he didn''t have to. "Porter! How are you doing that? I want to commend you for this ingenious way of crossing the lake, but I am beside myself with confusion. There must be something in your Physique LifeSkill that can do that, am I right? But I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what that is! Maybe it''s your mutation¡­but that still doesn''t make sense! I know all the mutations that are available in the Vineyard, and there''s nothing in there that could give you the ability to grab a Canzer''s power and disable it for a moment in time! This is breaking my brain! My pride as an Operator is shattered. I thought I knew everything there was to know about LifeSkills and mutations, but it seemed that I was still a frog in the well. Can you tell me how you''re doing it, please!" Despite Carmine''s pleas, Atlan had no intention of telling the truth, at least for now. And even if he wanted to tell the truth, he couldn''t. After all, he was too busy dealing with the current problem he was on right now. ''You have cheated. Prepare for the full force of my arrow.'' The Canzer gave out an ominous warning that sent shivers down Atlan''s spine. Even though he was high up in the air, with a couple more green-tipped arrows floating an inch away from his chest ready to give him a boost, with the shore of the lake in clear view from his position, he knew that the fight was far from over. KRAKKKKK! The air crackled with electricity as the Huntsman released a full-powered arrow heading towards Atlan at almost lightspeed. Atlan had no way to dodge. The moment he heard the Huntsman''s words was the moment he saw the arrow just two meters away from his body. He had no way to think. His instincts kicked in and he released his Angel Wings¡ªat least he planned to. After all, manifesting his Angel Wings wasn''t as instant as he would like it to be. There was a fraction of a second of a delay¡ªa delay that he did not have time for. Thankfully, by activating his mutation, he had to let go of his False Mutation for a brief second. And in this brief second, the arrows in front of his chest were released from their suppression. There was no longer any Angel Power preventing them from exploding. In that instant, fifteen green-tipped and red-tipped arrows exploded right in front of Atlan''s chest, creating a powerful force that cracked his chitinous armor. In any other situation, this would have been a bad outcome. But on this specific occasion, it was extremely fortunate for Atlan. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After all, the force from the multiple arrows was somehow able to weaken the serious lightning arrow fired personally by the Huntsman. It was a genuine, bona fide, Specialist-level attack. It would have destroyed Atlan''s chitinous armor with just one attack. But because of the explosion, it was weakened by a small degree. And most importantly of all, the force was enough to redirect it away from Atlan''s chest, and towards his side. Even still, as the arrow hit his battle suit, it induced an electric shock that gave Atlan a pain that he had never felt before. It paralyzed him. He couldn''t even utter a painful cry. Just by a small graze from that arrow, he lost 500 years of SoulTime. His incapacitated body flew through the air and finally landed on the shores. He was finally on the other side of the lake. Chapter 266 Costs an arm and a leg Atlan crash-landed on the shore of the lake, with mud and soil welcoming his descent.He coughed up blood. Losing 500 years of SoulTime was no painless endeavor. After all, this was the first time he''d ever been injured to this extent. It was a miracle he could even keep his consciousness. Despite reaching his goal, Atlan found it extremely hard to move his entire body. The fact that his battle suit was thousands of tons of weight didn''t help him a slight bit. The problem was the fact that he overloaded his False Mutation so much that his muscles were basically too tired to even muster up any strength. This meant that he wouldn''t be able to move his entire body at all. He''d just have to lay in the soil, waiting for the inevitable arrow that pierced through his heart. "Are you okay?!" "I can''t¡­I can''t¡­even move a finger¡­" "How much SoulTime did you lose?" "500 years." "That''s good. You only lost a slight bit. You got extremely lucky there because even Intern-realm Saviors wouldn''t be able to survive a real attack from a Specialist Canzer like the Huntsman. You, my good man, have the goddess of luck on your side." S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Enjoy new adventures from empire Atlan felt his whole body prickling with pain. "I don''t think so¡­" "Listen up. We only have a limited amount of time until the Huntsman decides to kill you. You have to heal your body." "How?" "It''s a technique that only veterans know. You''ve surely seen Ninth and the other Specialist Saviors use this during their fights. Did you notice that every time they get injured, they suddenly heal super fast without any sort of healing powers activated?" Atlan noticed that. However, he simply thought that it was one of those powers that Specialist Saviors only had. He even thought that it was a unique mutation. "Are you telling me¡­I can heal my body?" "Yes. But it will come at a cost. SoulTime. You''ve been taught that your SoulTime is your lifespan. We measure attacks based on how much lifespan a person loses. If you get your arm cut off, then that is equivalent to about less than half of your SoulTime in total. That means that if you don''t heal your injuries, you will live in the amount of SoulTime you have left. But of course, if you heal your injuries by stopping the leaking blood, then your SoulTime will increase. This is the best way of recovering from an injury. However, people like Ninth and the other Saviors don''t have the luxury of taping their injuries and resting for months at a time during their missions. If they get their arms cut off, then they would have to fight the entire mission with a reduced amount of SoulTime. But there is another way that they could heal." "....How?" "It''s by using more of your SoulTime to close any wounds. It could even heal your body to its original state. For example, let''s say that you have 2000 years of SoulTime. And if you lose an arm, then you will only have 1000 years of SoulTime left. But if you heal properly by closing off your stump or healing them through supernatural means, then your SoulTime could return to 2000 years. This means that any injury that does not affect your health too much would only give a temporary decrease in SoulTime. But if you decide to heal your injuries by sacrificing your SoulTime, then that temporary decrease will be permanent. If you need that arm during a fight, you can decide to heal it back for the price of 500 more years. During a fight, this is extremely important. But after that fight, your original 2000 years of SoulTime will now only become 500 years of Soultime. As you can see, it is extremely costly. If you had just waited and healed your injuries naturally or with help, then you would hardly lose any SoulTime at all. But of course, there are special instances where the cost isn''t important. What you need right now is to heal your body so that you can move and finally get that boar!" Atlan forced his head up and towards the forest after the shore. And on the very precipice where the soil met the grass, there was a very inconspicuous brown boar minding its own business. It hadn''t noticed Atlan yet. It was ripe for the taking. All he had to do was stand up and finally catch the boar with his very hands. "How can I heal my body?" "It''s quite complicated. You''d have to be completely in control of your Soul System." "Just tell me how." "....you have to look deep into your Soul System and locate the sands of SoulTime. It is encased in an hourglass that cannot be broken under normal means." Atlan closed his eyes and focused on the giant hourglass floating in the darkness of his Soul System. Unlike normal people where the sands of time flowed downwards, his hourglass defied normal gravity and instead flowed upwards! That was because instead of losing time, Atlan was gaining it with every second that occurred. This unknown power would have been enough to heal normal injuries, but the paralyzation brought about by the Huntsman was too damaging. "Once you have located it, try to summon all your strengths and break the glass. Once you have done so, you can get all the sands of time you need to heal your body." Atlan did as Carmine said and imagined himself facing the giant glass. He held out his hand and punched the glass with the strength of his SSS class Physique LifeSkill. But he found that he could not conjure the signature black flames of his LifeSkill. He even tried using his Angel Wings, but it was as if they didn''t exist. Carmine was right when he said that he could not do this under normal means. He''d have to find another way. "You can''t, right? This is the reason why only veterans can do this sacrificial technique. You would need years and years of practice before you can even cause a crack on that glass. Your body will fight you at every step it can. It''s a self-defense mechanism." Chapter 267 Another source of sands Atlan couldn''t muster out any kind of strength in his Soul System. It was as if he was simply an ethereal spirit that could not interact with the physical world of the Soul System.He could not even comprehend how some Saviors could crack the glass of the SoulTime. It seemed impossible. "How do the veterans do this?" "They start slowly, making their spiritual manifestation of their bodies in their Soul System as strong as possible. It takes a lot of self-focus and imagination to make your manifestation as strong as your real body. This takes most Saviors half a century. Once that is done, they slowly crack the glass of their SoulTime. And they slowly grow that crack into a large enough hole where they can get some of the sands of Time. This usually takes anywhere between a century and a thousand years." The normal way of acquiring this technique was simply impossible for Atlan to achieve in his current state. Unless he could stop time and practice for a thousand years, then he wouldn''t be able to crack the glass in SoulTime. "This warning may be useless, but you must be careful in creating a crack in your hourglass. If it is too large, then your SoulTime could leak out, losing years of your lifespan in just a few seconds." Atlan kept trying to smash his hand on the hourglass, but it didn''t even budge. It was as if he was an ant trying to create a hole in a metal. It was simply impossible. "There''s no other choice. I''m going to have to signal Ninth and the others to retreat and save you." Carmine saw the situation as unwinnable. If they were simply dealing with the White Canzer, then Atlan still stood a chance. But the appearance of this Huntsman threw a wrench in their plans. And now, it forced them to retreat and consider this mission a failure. EEEEK! EEEEK! the boar cried. Atlan refused to give up. He was only a few meters away from killing the boar and harvesting its heart. This wasn''t just about surviving. It was about his pride. He wanted to be the first Student-level Savior to be able to fight against a Specialist-level Canzer and survive. Think, think! Atlan said to himself. I need to sacrifice my SoulTime to heal my body! S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just as he thought that, an idea popped up in his head. Wait a minute¡­the hourglass is not the only source of the SoulTime for me¡­ At the dark expanse of his Soul System, he turned his head away from the giant hourglass and focused on the mutations of his body. Specifically, he looked towards the one with a symbolization of a leaf with its stomata open. This was his Photosynthesis mutation, which allowed him to gain a year of SoulTime for each second he spent in the sunlight. The reason why he hadn''t been using this mutation all the time was because it was very noticeable. Every time he activated this mutation, his skin opened up its pores and absorbed the sunlight just like how a plant would. People who saw this change in his body would immediately know that he was using a mutation. But, he already decided that the mutation he obtained from the Vineyard was a Wing mutation. If people investigated him thoroughly, they would notice this discrepancy. And with regards to Carmine and the camera in his battle suit, Atlan was sure that they could not see his body. If he did, then he would have noticed the white light surrounding his body when he overloaded his False Mutation. Atlan closed his eyes and activated his mutation. He felt a tingly sensation all over his body as his pores opened up like giant stomata, absorbing the black sunlight of the Remedium. [SoulTime] ¡ª4550yrs : 116d : 12hrs : 54min : 34s ¡ª4551yrs : 116d : 12hrs : 54min : 34s ¡ª4552yrs : 116d : 12hrs : 54min : 34s He immediately looked over at his Soul System and focused his attention on the hourglass. Stay tuned for updates on empire Just like he thought, there were golden grains of sand that were floating down from the depths of space and phasing over the glass. "If I have the sands of time, how can I heal my body?" "Don''t worry about that right now," said Carmine. "We''re doing our best to contact Ninth and her team to retreat and find you." "No need. Just tell me how to heal my body with SoulTime." Carmine went silent for a second. "What do you mean? We can''t just leave you there! This is not the end. You guys may have failed this mission, but that doesn''t mean that you can''t tackle it another day. This is only a tactical retreat." "Just tell me how!" Atlan screamed. "....fine! You must use those grains of sand and carry it out of the Soul System and spread it all over your body. If your injury is just one part of your body, then you just spread it on the affected part. But since your whole body is affected, then you must spread it all over your body." The sands of time that his Photosynthesis mutation gathered floated from the darkness of his Soul System down towards the hourglass. All Atlan had to do was scoop all those golden grains of sand in his hand and transfer it out into his body. Atlan poured the equivalent of one year of SoulTime directly into his veins. He could feel the grains of sand circulating all over his body, being absorbed by his muscles and skeleton as they passed along it. He spent the next minute gathering a total of 60 years of SoulTime and siphoning it towards his body directly. Slowly, he felt the fatigue and pain in his body subside and was replaced by a newfound strength. He spread the SoulTime evenly, except for one place. He gathered a lot of SoulTime near his shoulder blades, where his Angel Wings were supposed to be. Because of that, he could finally use the False Mutation of his Angel Wings and move his body despite the tremendous weight of his battle suit. "Hrnggg¡­" Atlan pushed his body up from a prone position to a kneeling one. Then, with one last push from the ground, he finally stood up on his own two feet. "HOW?!?! DON''T TELL ME YOU WERE ABLE TO CRACK THE HOURGLASS!" Chapter 268 Boars heart secured "I was able to get the sands of time."Technically, Atlan didn''t lie. After all, he did get the sands of time, but he didn''t tell Carmine how or where he obtained it. "You are full of mysteries, Star Porter. I don''t know how you''re doing these things, but I guess it''s the reason why you were the one chosen for this mission. I''ll interview you thoroughly after this mission, but for now, your priority is to catch that boar and get its heart before the Huntsman kills you." But despite healing his body enough to stand up, it wasn''t enough to completely heal him to what he was before. He''d need to gather more SoulTime and pour it directly into his body. Unfortunately, that would take a couple more minutes. If he waited that long, he was sure that the Huntsman would bury an arrow directly in his heart. "Kugh!" Atlan forced his body to move faster towards the unsuspecting boar. He had to keep his noise to a minimum or else the boar would run away from him. He didn''t think that the Huntsman would allow him to run after the boar again after he cheated it''s game. With each step, he got closer and closer until he was only one step away before he could secure his target. Your next chapter awaits on empire Atlan spread his arms wide and leaned towards the boar. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to catch the boar using his speed, so he instead used the momentum of his body falling to accelerate towards the boar without it noticing. KEEEK! The boar squealed as it finally noticed Atlan''s behind it, but it was already too late. He was already falling towards the boar with his hands ready to grab its entire body. Even as the boar jumped away from him, Atlan''s hands perfectly caught its head and stopped it from running away. KEEEK...keeeeek! Atlan fell on the boar and secured it by falling onto its body. And because his battle suit weighed greater than a ton, the normal boar was immediately squeezed to death. It wasn''t able to handle his weight and quickly turned into mush. "Damn!" Atlan knew the boar would die from the weight, but he didn''t think that it would have been crushed so easily. Its bones and meat turned into nothing but a bloody mess. Fearing that he would have destroyed the boar''s heart, Atlan quickly moved to the side. "Haaa¡­haaaa¡­.." Atlan took a second to take a deep breath before he turned to the dead boar beside him. Its lower body had been completely squeezed in half, while its upper body was squished just enough to be deformed. "Great job, Atlan. Now, you must be careful and extract the boar''s heart without destroying it. This requires finesse, not force. If the boar''s heart is destroyed, then it will respawn in another location. You''d have to find it again, so be careful." "Thanks for the reminder." Atlan carefully moved his hands toward the boar''s lower body. Because it was mangled beyond recognition, it was easy to go from under and reach towards the boar''s innards. "You''re searching for something soft. If you''ve reached the ribs, then you''re searching in the right place. If you''ve touched its legs, then you''ve gone too far¡­" Carmine did his best to guide Atlan through the boar''s internal anatomy. "You must get rid of the stomach first before you reach the heart. This is where you must be careful. You don''t know if you''re destroying the stomach or the heart. I suggest you slow down and take your time." For other people, it would have been an extremely hard task. But Atlan was no normal guy. After all, he had something that would help him see through the boar''s internal body. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision and saw the world change. The boar was still glowing red and orange since it was still fresh. And since each organ was made out of different flesh and anatomy, they had different internal body temperatures. It made it easy for Atlan to identify which one he was looking at. "Found it." "Did you find the stomach? That''s good." Atlan slowly pulled out his hand from the boar''s body to reveal an organ still leaking blood. "You! You! You got the heart?!" Carmine was barely even done explaining the basic anatomy of the boar to Atlan, but he had already finished the task like it was nothing. He didn''t know if Atlan was just reckless or a genius. Perhaps, he was both. "That''s good! Now, you just have to leave¡ª" Just as he was about to finish his sentence, both of them suddenly saw the fog thicken around them. Atlan looked around and saw that the shore from where he came from was already gone. All he could see around him were dead, dark trees surrounded by a fog. STEP STEP STEP sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The dark silhouette of a creature slowly appeared walking towards Atlan. It was walking on two legs, with what seemed like a feathered hat. It was holding a bow on one hand, and an arrow on the other. This was the Huntsman, Atlan was sure of it. Even if he couldn''t see its silhouette, that aura and pressure it emitted as a Specialist-level Canzer was not something to be ignored. It was enough to make Atlan break in a cold sweat. "Run. now." Carmine''s warning was quiet but full of haste. It was as if he didn''t want to alert the Huntsman of their position, even if it was a fruitless endeavor. The Huntsman already knew where Atlan was even before it arrived in this place. Atlan raised the boar''s heart in front of him. "I thought you said that if I have the boar''s heart, the Huntsman would leave me alone." "Yeah¡­that was before he arrived here. It will take one more chance to destroy that heart before you can escape." WHIZZ Atlan didn''t even see the silhouette move, but he already heard the sound of an arrow heading straight for his head. Chapter 269 One last arrow The Huntsman''s arrow whizzed through the air and aimed straight for the boar''s heart.Strangely enough, this arrow was slow enough for Atlan to be able to react to it, albeit barely. The arrow was fast, but Atlan could at least be able to see a blur in his vision, which meant that he would be able to dodge it if he was fast enough. Atlan quickly moved the boar''s heart away from the arrow, but found that it would be too late. He decided to use his own body to block the arrow. It bounced off his chitinous armor, making a large dent in his bulky battle suit. "Do not worry, for I am not an unfair being. Despite your cheating methods, you have won the game. You reached the boar and harvested its heart even though you were severely injured. You are a remarkable human, and I respect that. You are not able to understand this, but it does not matter. I will only fire one arrow at you, for I cannot stand the sight of that boar''s heart. It digs deep into my own and makes me remember the regret that has been plaguing it. So, run. Run to the farthest reaches of the dark forest and never return to my territory ever again." The Huntsman pulled out an arrow from his quiver and notched it in his bow. Even if he couldn''t understand its words, Atlan wouldn''t have stood still as the Huntsman aimed directly at his heart. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Despite the aching pain of his body, he started to overload his body with the False Mutation of his Angel Wings once again. Once activated, he was able to push his body faster and faster until he was able to get away from the Huntsman. Each step he made left a deep imprint on the wet soil. It would have been extremely easy to track him down if the Huntsman wanted it. But it didn''t. It stayed in place and aimed his arrow at Atlan without moving a single inch. It was as if it was giving him enough time to leave as far away as he could. Your journey continues at empire Atlan continued running in a straight line. He knew that trying to confuse the Huntsman was a fruitless endeavor. It could find him even in the thickest parts of the fog. He would only be wasting precious energy and time by doing so. He ran, and ran, and ran. Until he finally heard the sound of the bow''s string snapping behind him. TWANG! The promised arrow arrived behind Atlan, following closely behind him. Atlan tried his best to outrun the slow arrow, but it stayed behind him at the perfect pace. And slowly, it started to shorten the distance. "Protect the boar''s heart at all costs, Atlan. It is the only reason why the Huntsman didn''t kill you the moment it set its eyes on you." The arrow had a clear objective. It wanted to pierce through the object of the Huntsman''s regret. It wanted to get rid of the very source of its sadness. The boar''s heart was never meant to be in the hands of a human. If the Huntsman didn''t experience such tremendous heartbreak whenever it saw the boar''s heart, then it would have killed Atlan before he could even approach the boar. Atlan shielded the boar''s heart by putting his own body in its line of sight. Unfortunately, the Huntsman''s arrow was no normal arrow. It suddenly increased its speed and overtook him in just a fraction of a second. Then, it defied physics by quickly turning around and aiming for the boar''s heart that was hidden in front of his chest. It dived down, forcing Atlan to move the heart to the side. And just as the arrow was about to hit his chest, it suddenly stopped and hovered an inch above his battle suit. Then, it turned to the side and chased after the heart in Atlan''s hands. He tried his best to avoid the arrow, but it would follow his every movement no matter where he positioned his hands. Just as the arrow was about to hit the heart, it suddenly embedded itself deep into a dead tree. Atlan purposefully walked next to the dead trees of the dark forest, hoping that it would be enough to deter the arrow from chasing him. TGUSH! The arrow burst through the other side of the tree and continued chasing after him. Atlan continued to jog through the dark forest, occasionally running past the vines and the shrubbery in an attempt to slow down the arrow, but it continued to chase after him as if it had a mind of its own. It perfectly matched his speed. He guessed that even if he used his Angel Wings, it would be perfectly capable of keeping up with him as long as he had the boar''s heart in his hands. Just then, as if it had enough, the arrow rushed ahead of Atlan and stopped 50 meters in front of him. Atlan stopped, feeling an ominous premonition from the arrow. The tip of the arrow suddenly glowed blue as electricity crackled on its surface. Not only that, the shaft turned red with yellow cracks like magma. The combination of both elements destroyed everything in its path. The dead trees, shrubbery, and grass that dared to be in its way were disintegrated into mere ashes. This dangerous arrow headed straight for Atlan at speeds much faster than what it had shown before. He could only see a blur. This was serious. He quickly moved the boar''s heart to the side, hoping that he''d be able to move it away from harm''s way. But the arrow didn''t change directions. It kept going straight. A realization dawned on him. This time, the arrow wasn''t aiming for the boar''s heart; it was aiming for him! "Damn! Atlan, you must dodge away from this attack. If it hits you head-on, then it could destroy a whole layer of your chitinous armor!" Chapter 270 Photosynthesis false mutation Atlan didn''t need Carmine''s warning; the arrow''s terrifying pressure and aura were enough to make him know that this was no ordinary attack.It wasn''t like before when it was only chasing the heart. This time, its only objective was to destroy him. He immediately jumped backward, hoping that he would be able to lessen the impact of the arrow. But he knew that it wasn''t enough. The electric and magma power imbued into the arrow was not something that could be lessened by simply physical means. He had to fight it using supernatural powers. He had no other choice but to overload his False Mutation once again. It was the only way he was going to suppress the powers hidden inside that arrow. If he couldn''t, then not only would his battle suit get brought down to only three layers, but he would also get knocked unconscious for minutes at a time. By the time he would wake up, the boar''s heart would be destroyed and the Huntsman would be staring at him right in the eyes. As he concentrated and tapped the Angel genus in his Soul System, his whole body was coated in a power equivalent to what the wing mutation would have given him. He felt intoxicated by the powers once again. He knew that this was enough to at least suppress the arrow''s supernatural force from knocking him out completely. However, just as he was powering up his False Mutation, he found himself falling short of the power that he needed. It was as if the gas was empty on his machine. And instead of feeling the power, the aching pain from before returned and made him completely feel as if he couldn''t even stand up. This was the complete opposite of what he wanted. He was at his lowest. Unfortunately for him, the arrow was indiscriminate in its attack. It continued on its trajectory headed straight for his chest. If it wasn''t going to get the boar''s heart, then it would get Atlan''s instead. Think! Think! The very reason why he couldn''t muster out any kind of power was because his body was still exhausted from the previous time he overloaded his False Mutation. It still wasn''t healed completely. That''s it! Atlan rejoiced to himself. I just need to heal my body with more SoulTime. Unfortunately, he couldn''t use his photosynthesis mutation while in action. He had to be completely still, just like how a plant would act under the sun. Wait! The Photosynthesis mutation! I need to activate its False Mutation! If he was able to do that, then he''d be able to supply his body with SoulTime without any concentration. It would give him enough strength to use his Angel power to stop the arrow. Unfortunately, the only way to activate a False Mutation was to increase its mastery. And to increase its mastery, he needed to win a battle using only his mutation. Haha! It''s not over yet! Atlan rejoiced. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He looked down at his Soul System and towards his Photosynthesis mutation. It was symbolized by a leaf with its stomata open wide. When I killed the boar, the only thing I used was my Photosynthesis mutation. I wouldn''t have been able to walk towards it if I hadn''t healed my body with SoulTime. Technically, he won a fight against the boar without using any of his LifeSkills, only his mutation. He hoped that it was enough grounds to consider it as a proper victory. He concentrated and commanded the blue wisps of experience to revolve around the giant leaf. At first, the mutation rejected any kind of advances by the blue wisps. But Atlan already knew the secret of how to put experience into his mutation. It was a memory he would never forget. He closed his eyes and remembered that moment with Lizzie, where her lips locked onto his. The memory was enough to increase Atlan''s temperature by a large margin. It was enough to boil the sweat off his skin. And due to the heat of that moment, the blue wisps of experience suddenly melted into a liquid paste. This liquid then splashed itself towards the photosynthesis mutation. This time, the leaf fully accepted the experience, soaking all the essences of the blue wisps and leaving nothing behind. ¡ª (7-star) Photosynthesis ¡ª¡ª¡ª 5% mastery ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings ¡ª¡ª¡ª 5% mastery All of this happened within fractions of a second. Everything that happened in the Soul System was a single firing of a neuron in Atlan''s brain, barely taking up any time. And because of that, Atlan felt a newfound strength in his body. It felt cool. It felt¡­green. Just like how his body was enveloped in Angel power when he used the False Mutation of his Wings, this time, his whole body was enveloped by the energy of nature. If one looked closely, his whole body was lined with a green light. He felt his body getting healed with each fraction of a second that passed. His normal mutation yielded him a year of SoulTime with each second. The False Mutation, on the other hand, only yielded a month of SoulTime. But that was enough. He used all the sands of time the False Mutation gathered passively, directly into his back, near his shoulder blades. Once it was constantly supplied with SoulTime, Atlan finally found the energy to use the False Mutation of his Angel Wings. One of the perks of the False Mutation was the fact that he could use multiple of them at the same time without any worries! TRKKKKK! Just as Atlan was about to envelop himself with Angel power, the arrow already arrived right in front of his chest, piercing through the chitinous armor like it was nothing. Immediately, a few of his ribs broke. But he didn''t care. He enveloped himself with Angel Power and grabbed the arrow with all his might. He tried to push it away, but it was too strong. It continued to destroy his armor, cracking it into nothing but smithereens. He changed his tactic. He pushed the arrow away from him instead, creating a fissured crack going from his chest towards his ribs. He used all the Angel power to push it until, finally, it scraped by his side and shot outwards and away from Atlan. The momentum of everything sent him flying until his back collided with a tree. He coughed up blood. He was injured, but he survived. Just then, when he thought everything was over, the arrow suddenly materialized right in front of him and pierced downwards. He tried to protect himself once again, but this time, it wasn''t headed for him. It was headed for the boar''s heart. Chapter 271 Return of the tank The Huntsman truly was an intelligent creature. First, it lulled Atlan into a false sense of security by making sure that the arrow wasn''t too fast for him to react to. This gave Atlan a chance to get used to its timing.Atlan should have found it weird from the very beginning. After all, the Huntsman was more than capable of producing an arrow that seemed as fast as light speed. But it didn''t. It only produced a speed fast enough to keep up with Atlan''s slow jog. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Once he was used to the timing, the Huntsman quickly changed the arrow''s objective and targeted him instead. This was an unexpected development that forced Atlan to use all the wits he had in a fraction of a second and think up a solution to survive. Thankfully, he was able to find a way to deflect the full-powered arrow by the Huntsman. This made Atlan extremely wary of the arrow piercing through his heart. He became worried at the possibility of another full-powered arrow coming towards him when he least expected it. But once again, the Huntsman changed his tactics. He controlled the arrow to hunt the original objective in the first place: the boar''s heart. Atlan''s nerves were on thin ice. He readied his mind for another attack coming towards him. He already thought up a way to get out of the arrow''s way faster than he did before. But that was all moot. Once it targeted the boar''s heart, Atlan''s plans went out the window. The Huntsman''s full-powered arrow was too fast for Atlan to react to. He had to predict it. Unfortunately, he thought that the Huntsman would come after him first. He didn''t expect it to target the boar''s heart. He tried to move it out of harm''s way, but his arms were too slow. Is this the end? He watched as the arrow pierced through the air and was only moments away from piercing the boar''s heart in his hands. All that effort to get this piece of meat would turn out for nothing. Do I have to use my Angel Wings? His shoulder blades started to turn numb and prickly. But just as he was about to manifest his Angel Wings, somebody suddenly appeared right next to Atlan. The person was so fast that Atlan couldn''t even react properly at first. He thought that it was an enemy. But then, he looked at the person''s attire. It was a green battle suit. And his face was someone he recognized. It was the main Tank of the group. He put himself between the arrow and Atlan, and used his shield LifeSkill. A brick wall manifested in front of him and prevented the arrow from going any further. It tried to pierce through the wall, but the Tank reinforced his original LifeSkill with more bricks behind it. "Do you think I''m a Tank for nothing?" he asked the arrow. In response, the arrow''s tip suddenly glowed in a mix of red, green, and blue as all kinds of elements diffused outwards. Electric energy tried to fry the brick walls into a char. Explosive energy reinforced the electric field by exploding cement lines, hoping that it would lead to the wall''s collapse. And if that wasn''t enough, wind energy contained all that power in one place. The arrow''s efforts were able to yield a large crack in the brick wall. But that was it. "Come back with your real body, then maybe you can stand a chance." The Tank swung his hand, and the wall followed his movements. The arrow was unable to fight against the Tank''s power and lost all the energy it was trying to build up. It bounced off the wall and arched backward, turning limp and slow. It no longer had any of the intimidating pressure and aura it had before. Once it landed on the ground, it dispersed into mere particles that disappeared in the air. It was finally over. The Huntsman lost. And it was all thanks to the main Tank that suddenly appeared at the perfect time. "Thanks!" said Atlan. The Tank rubbed his head, embarrassed. "No need to thank me. I only did what I should have done in the first place. I should have helped you." "By the way, how did you get here?" From what Atlan remembered, the Tank was blown away by the Canzers they were fighting and disappeared into the fog. "Once I came to my senses, I was deep into the fog. I tried to return to the team, but I found myself running in circles. Honestly, it was terrifying. I thought I would get lost in the Remedium forever. But nothing is more painful than the fact that I left my team to fend for themselves. I kept walking in hopes that I would stumble into the team, when all of a sudden, I sensed a fight nearby. And then, I saw you. You were lucky, Star Porter. We both are." "I guess so¡­" If it wasn''t for the Tank, the boar''s heart would have been pierced and Atlan would have lost the only thing that prevented the Huntsman from killing him. "What happened to the team? Where are they?" His face was full of worry. "I don''t know. I left them because I had a different job. Ninth stayed behind to protect the team and keep the Canzers at bay while I tried to deal with the root cause." The Tank winced. "Damn it¡­this wouldn''t have happened if I had just listened to you. I''m sorry." Atlan consoled the Tank''s sunken shoulders. "It''s fine. You can still go to them. Just follow the cobblestone road back, and you''ll end up back on the team. "Really?" The Tank was filled with hope. But before he turned around, he asked Atlan, "But what about you? Should I accompany you?" Atlan shook his head. "No need. I have to do this by myself." The Tank nodded and left to find the cobblestone road. Atlan looked at the boar''s heart in his hands and stored it in his toolbelt. "Great job, Star Porter. Now, the only thing we have to do is to find the White Canzer!" Chapter 272 Cottage in the woods Atlan slowed down his steps as he came across a strange structure in the middle of the dark forest.In all the time he had spent walking around the Remedium, he had never seen anything that resembled any human construction in the wild. Everything was filled with dead trees, shrubbery, and small streams. But now, he was gazing upon a small cottage house sitting in the middle of a bald part of the forest. It looked like one of those old-timey archaic houses where everything was made out of wood and thatches. There didn''t even seem to be any sign of electricity. It was lit up by a small torch by the side of the door, illuminating a small part of the dark forest. If it weren''t for its enlarged size, he would have thought that this was something made for humans. However, it was clear that this structure was not made for people like him. After all, its door was at least two times bigger than his height. "Is this it?" whispered Atlan. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Yes. The White Canzer lives here." "Should I just knock on the door," joked Atlan, but strangely enough, Carmine said, "Yes. You should just walk in the front door." Atlan couldn''t believe it. "Are you sure? This is a Specialist-level Canzer we''re talking about, right?" "The White Canzer''s power is completely drained while it is controlling all seven dwarves. Right now, it is as vulnerable as an egg. I wouldn''t have asked you to come here if I knew that it could still pose a huge threat to you. But if all things go well, all you have to do is walk over to the house, find the White Canzer, and put the construct in its mouth." The mission was simple, yet Atlan couldn''t help but think that it was more complicated than what Carmine made him think. After all, things never went as planned; there were always some kind of complications that would occur. "Should I create the construct right now?" "Yes. I''ll give you the code¡­" Atlan opened up the control center in his battle suit and listened to Carmine''s instructions. A few minutes later, the code was done and his whole battle suit glowed a blue light. He felt the inner mechanisms in the fabric vibrating as they defied physics and created something out of nothing. Soon enough, white particles floated out of his control center and landed on top of Atlan''s palms. These particles solidified into a very familiar shape, with a very vibrant and appetizing red color. "This is¡­" "This is the construct that will kill the White Canzer: the poisoned apple. Once you put it into the Canzer''s mouth, it will enter a deep sleep for an eternity. At that point, the puppets under its control will lose all their power and turn into nothing but dust." He didn''t understand how an apple could be the White Canzer''s weakness. He would have thought it would have some sort of relation to the Huntsman, after all, it almost died because of him. "How does the apple relate to the Canzer? I don''t understand." He was intensely curious about this subject because he wanted to learn how a Canzer gets its weaknesses. If he knew how, then he could guess or learn about other Canzers'' weaknesses by simply knowing their backstory. "It''s a long story for another time. Right now, you mustn''t waste any time and shove this construct in the White Canzer''s mouth. The faster we kill it, the better." Atlan nodded. He knew that this wasn''t the time to waste a few minutes listening to a tale. He walked over to the wooden door and saw no sign of a doorknob. Instead, there was simply a latch. He pushed it open, and surprisingly, the door opened quite easily. Once he saw the interior, he couldn''t help but step inside as he was overcome by his curiosity. This was no ordinary building, this was a house. It looked like a place where real people lived! There were messy clothes tossed around all over the floor. There were dirty pots on the sink, and each chair had its personalized touch, with the puppet''s names carved on the wood. Sleepy, Grumpy, Doc, Sneezy, Bashful, Dopey, and Happy. It was written in a language undecipherable by humans, yet Atlan could read them clearly. On the right was the living room where a long wooden couch facing the fireplace. The indents on the wood clearly showed the time the seven puppets spent on this place. And in front of the couch was a luxurious red throne. Clearly, this was where the White Canzer sat. "Why does it seem so¡­human?" "...Sapient Canzers have their own society. They are more like humans than what we would like to believe." Carmine didn''t specify any further. Atlan walked forward until he came across a hallway. On each side were seven rooms, presumably reserved for the White Canzer''s puppets. He ignored all the other rooms and focused on the one at the end of the hallway. It was decorated with what looked like a mimicry of the royal architecture of the kingdom. "The White Canzer was a princess, right?" "Yes, she was. But don''t mistake her for being naive. She is cunning." Atlan took a deep breath and walked forward. He took the red poisoned apple behind him and concealed it. If he was going to encounter the White Canzer here, then he wouldn''t want it to recognize its weakness. "The lights are off. There''s no music playing. She is probably asleep. This is the best-case scenario for us. If you can sneak up on her, then it''s mission accomplished." "Can you tell me the layout of the room? I''ll run straight to the Canzer and shove this construct in its mouth before it could even wake up." "It''s just straight after the door." Atlan overloaded the False Mutation of his Angel Wings again and shoved the door open. He quickly jogged towards the large pink bed on the other side of the room and headed for the headboard. He pushed the poisoned apple forward. Chapter 273 Seeing the White Canzer But unfortunately, Alan hit nothing but a feather pillow.He looked down and saw no sign of the White Canzer sleeping on the bed. The White Canzer wasn''t here. He looked around the room as well and saw that White Canzer was previously in this room, but left for some reason. The comforter was a mess and all over the place as if someone had just slept there and never bothered to clean up after themselves. The torch lighting up the room was still burning brightly as well. "It''s not here. Where could it be?" "I''ve got a bad feeling about this¡­" Carmine was unnerved. The White Canzer was famous for always being in her bed and sleeping the rest of the day. It was a lazy Canzer. It relied on the beings it bewitched to do her work for her. "Where is it?" "Go to the other room, now!" Carmine''s urgent voice forced Atlan to move out of the room at his fastest speed. He didn''t even question him. Atlan jogged out of the White Canzer''s room and opened the door immediately next to it. However, he found nothing but a dark empty room. "It''s got to be somewhere in the other rooms. Find it now before it finishes its spell." Atlan barged into the next door, kicking it down. But unfortunately, it was also a dark empty room. Each of the doors he came across had carvings onto the very wood, giving the name of the puppets that owned that very room. The one closest to the White Canzer was Doc''s room, followed by Grumpy, then Sleepy, then Dopey, until finally, he came across a puppet''s name he hadn''t heard in a long time. "Which puppet did you say you guys killed in the beginning?" Atlan didn''t answer. He simply pushed the door open and saw a brightly lit room, with decorations that looked like a rainbow vomited on them. But despite the strange interior decoration, his focus wasn''t on that. Instead, he was looking at the White Canzer right next to the window. This was the first time he laid eyes upon the monster that was able to tempt and bewitch other monsters to do her bidding. He was surprised that it looked quite similar to a woman. It had curves on its hips and bust as if it were a well-endowed human. Its body was slender, with barely any layering around its armor. Its chitinous skin was very smooth like paint. The first thing he noticed about the Canzer was that it was very white. The torch''s brightness perfectly reflected off its white chitin armor. One couldn''t help but stare at this creature, making Atlan understand how it could charm other Canzers. Just like how Carmine described her in the Huntsman''s backstory, the White Canzer wore a princess dress on her body. Unlike in the tale, her attire now was very neat and tidy, with no sign of tatteredness. Its face still had that signature Canzer look, with its white eyes and chitinous mouth. Judging from the human expression of shock, the White Canzer didn''t expect to see a human in its abode. But even so, it didn''t stop what it was doing. Its hands worked even faster than before. Explore stories at empire It held a huge needle on one hand and a yarn on the other. It seemed to be crocheting some kind of plush toy. "Stop it!" But Carmine''s warning proved far too late. Once the White Canzer sewed the last stitch on her toy, a huge gust of power suddenly erupted from it that almost made Atlan fall backward. He took a step back to stabilize himself. He raised his hand and blocked the air and pressure from disrupting his eyesight. The ''plush toy'' hovered in the air and glowed a red tint. As incredulous as it was, there was some kind of power hidden inside this toy that grew larger and larger, making the toy increase in size with each second that passed. Atlan could do nothing but watch. It was taking all of his effort to just keep his balance. The outwards force from the ''toy'' was trying to push him out. Slowly, he watched as the crocheted toy melted into something more solid¡­more chitinous. It started to grow limbs. It grew two legs and two arms. Not all of the yarn got converted into chitin. Some of them maintained their structure to become clothes that the toy creature wore. At its birth, it already had a giant conical hat, a long-sleeved shirt, and trousers. This attire was very familiar to Atlan and Carmine. It was something that they saw six different versions of just a few hours earlier. It was one of the puppets! S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As for which one of them it was, Atlan had no doubt. As the puppet finished its transformation into a Canzer-like monster, it finally grew its face. It had soulless eyes and most importantly, it grew its signature wide-mouthed smile. This was Happy! It was the puppet that Ninth killed from their first encounter. "Damn! Damn! Damn! That Huntsman messed us up! I thought we''d arrive just in time before it finished its cloning. But because we were sidetracked by that Canzer, we ended up late. Damn!" Carmine couldn''t believe their luck. If they had just arrived here a few minutes earlier, then they could have killed the White Canzer within a few seconds. After all, even if it was rated at a Specialist-level Canzer, it was completely weak individually. It was only strong because of its puppets. And since Ninth and the others were keeping the other puppets at bay, they were supposed to have an easy mission killing their leader. Unfortunately, the White Canzer just finished recreating the Happy puppet. ''I''m so happy! I''m so happy I''m back!'' The Happy Canzer jumped up and down in its glee. It didn''t even look at Atlan and simply celebrated this momentous occasion with the White Canzer. ''I''m glad you''re happy, Aitch!'' said the White Canzer, stroking the puppet''s head. ''Now, would you be dear and kill that human for me?'' Chapter 274 Happy virus ''Well, sure! I''m happy to do that for you!''Atlan immediately started backing out even before he heard their conversation. "I don''t know what they''re talking about, but I''m pretty sure they want to kill you." "Thanks for the reminder." Atlan immediately darted out of the cottage, kicking past strewn dirty clothes on the floor. He even pulled the chairs out of the table and pulled them behind him in the hopes that it would prevent the Happy puppet from chasing him. "What''s our next plan?" "Now that the White Canzer has the Happy puppet by its side, we no longer have the advantage. We have to go and lure the White Canzer back to Ninth and the team." "After all this, we''re just going back to where we came from?" Atlan didn''t go through all that trouble with the Huntsman just so that he''d end up going back for help. He embarked on this mission so that he''d finally contribute to the fight instead of being in Ninth''s protection all the time. "Unless you have a way to defeat that Happy puppet, then I don''t have any way for us to deal with that White Canzer. And if you show any kind of threat towards her, you can be sure that the Happy puppet won''t be ''happy'' anymore and start on its murderous rampage to catch you." "Do you know its weaknesses? Is it afraid of a pig''s heart this time?" "Its weakness is a swift punch in the head. That''s it. You just need to be stronger than the puppet. Can you do that to a Specialist-level puppet?" Atlan stayed silent. Even though he couldn''t fight the puppet with his powers, he thought could still use his wits and intellect to deal with them. Unfortunately, this wasn''t one of those cases. ''Where are you going? I''m going to make you happy!'' The White Canzer burst out of the cottage door with a huge smile on its face. Behind it was the White Canzer stroking its head like a mother does to her child. It opened its mouth and flashed its smile toward Atlan, creating a crescent beam. He dove forward, barely dodging the attack. He was thankful that he got all the practice from the Huntsman''s lightning-speed arrows. In comparison to that, this beam was as slow as a snail. BOING! The beam hit one of the trees and infected it with the joy virus. It grew a wide smile on its trunk and pulled its roots out of the ground. It swung one of its branches towards him. Atlan used his hand to deflect it away. Surprisingly enough, the tree''s branch broke off its main body once it collided with Atlan''s arms. Now that he was confident with overloading his False Mutation, Atlan could control his battle suit a lot easier, which meant that his jog was a lot faster than before, and he could finally use its tremendous weight to his advantage. Atlan didn''t linger and sidestepped away from the infected tree and continued running for his life. ''Don''t let him run away, Aitch! He''s here to kill me." The happy puppet flashed a very uncharacteristic frown. ''I don''t like that. That does not make anyone happy! GRARGH!'' It roared to the skies, sending a large shockwave around the whole dark forest. Atlan felt the ground tremble underneath him, but he didn''t mind it. He focused solely on getting as far away from the two monsters as possible. But as he lightly skipped past a muddy puddle, the soil suddenly grew a smile on its face and swallowed his foot whole. He almost tripped. Thankfully, his SSS class Physique allowed him to keep his balance. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You want the full weight of my battle suit? Then eat it!" Atlan released his False Mutation for a second, letting his battle suit return to its normal weight of thousands of tons. The animated soil choked on his battle suit, destroying its mouth entirely. Once it was dead, it melted out and revealed a small crater beneath his feet. Now that he was free, he continued to run away. Unfortunately, that one distraction allowed the Happy puppet and the White Canzer to catch up to him. They were already behind him, just mere meters away from catching him with their chitinous hands. ''I''m not happy! Make me happy!'' The whole dark forest trembled as everything around Atlan started to shake. He watched as the trees grew wretched smiles on their trunks, the shrubberies on the ground grew happy eyes that glared at him, and even the large boulders combined like a magnet to create a golem blocking him from advancing any further. The golem, standing 40 feet tall and 10 feet wide, looked down at Atlan with a smile on its face. Find your next read on empire Just one small step from this creature and Atlan would be buried in the soil. He used a combination of his Physique LifeSkill and the battle suit''s weight to punch the large golem''s feet. Thankfully, the stone shattered upon impact, creating an imbalance in the creature. Atlan used this time to try and escape. Unfortunately, the golem soon used the other pieces of stone on the ground to repair itself. He immediately ducked out of the way as thousands of tiny pebbles shot from the ground and toward the golem. The only reason he avoided that was because he heard an incessant high-pitched voice from each of those pebbles wanting to be ''happy''. Atlan kicked the ground and tried to run, but he ended up face-to-face with ten more animated trees. Each one had their spiky crown aimed from above and ready to tear him into pieces. And to make matters worse, their roots slivered from underground and wrapped themselves around his foot, giving him no way to escape. The roots made their way up and wrapped his whole body, preventing him from even moving a single inch. "Uh¡­Carmine? Any help here?" "...." Carmine and his team of Operators back at the Emergency Meeting room were too busy shouting at each other. They couldn''t think of any way to try and save the Star Porter from certain doom. Chapter 275 False attraction The White Canzer and the Happy Puppet approached Atlan once he was caught in their trap.''Good job, my dear Aitch! I''m very happy that you have not disappointed me. You made me very happy.'' The puppet jumped up and down with elation. Its cheeks and its whole face turned red as the White Canzer rubbed its head. It was clear that the White Canzer completely controlled the puppet. Judging by how extremely happy with her compliments, it was clear that it would do absolutely anything for the White Canzer as long as she said it. ''Hehe! I''m happy you''re happy! Should I kill this human now?'' The puppet''s face looked like he was joking, but Atlan knew that it was completely serious. If it wanted to, then it could kill him in the blink of an eye. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Not yet. I want to observe our little human first. It''s been so long since I''ve had a live human right in front of me to see.'' Thankfully, the White Canzer didn''t have the intention to kill him¡­for now. The sole reason as to why he was spared was because he was an extremely weak person. He didn''t exude a strength that threatened both of them. After all, he was only a Student Savior. And the White Canzer knew that Atlan could not harm them even if he tried to. That''s why he was spared. If he was as strong as Ninth, there was no way that they would let go of this chance. They would kill him the moment they got the chance. ''Maybe, this human will appreciate my beauty just like how others did. It would not be bad to have a human as a puppet.'' ''I''m happy¡­?'' Stay connected via empire ''Oh, Aitch. Don''t worry, you''ll always be my favorite, no matter what. Just keep it a secret between us, okay?'' ''I''m happy!'' Atlan saw this exchange and immediately knew that Carmine''s evaluation of this Canzer was accurate. She was exactly as he depicted her in the backstory of the Huntsman, which could pretty much confirm that it was true. She''s narcissistic, Atlan thought to himself. I need to take advantage of that. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to overpower the White Canzer with the Happy puppet guarding her like a dog. So, he had to think of another way to survive in this situation. He had to be smart. "Let go of me, you stupid fools." Atlan said those hostile words with the exact opposite expression. If anyone looked at him and didn''t hear his words, they would have thought that he begged for their mercy. And that was exactly what the White Canzer and the puppet thought. They didn''t understand human language, but they were intelligent enough to pick up the clues based on his expression. They thought that he was begging for his life, not knowing he was insulting them right to their face. ''Look at this pathetic human. I think he''s begging for his life.'' ''Good! I''m happy he knows how beautiful you are!'' The White Canzer approached Atlan without a care in the world. It didn''t even consider him as a threat. And as long as the Happy puppet was by her side, she didn''t have to worry about anything¡ªincluding a measly little human. She raised her hand and seductively ran her chitinous finger down his cheeks. "Get your hands off me, you monster." Of course, Atlan''s words might have been one of repulsion, but his expression was completely different. He looked like he was enamored by her beauty. He made sure to never take his eyes off her skin, making the illusion that he liked her most confident body part. ''Look at this guy. Charming him is easier than I thought.'' ''Of course! No one could ever resist your beauty! I''m so happy with that!'' Atlan even made sure to raise his heartbeat multiple times. He made his body temperature rise, making him sweat. And he even dilated his eyes whenever he looked toward her. This gave all the telltale signs that he was enamored by her. But of course, it was all a lie brought about by his SSS class Physique LifeSkill, which allowed him perfect control of his own body. ''Ha! Pathetic human. You will never be able to touch my beauty, for you are a disgusting creature. But you can stare at me all you want. You can do my bidding all you want.'' The White Canzer walked away from Atlan, with her hips swinging wide like a well-endowed woman. Atlan looked like he would go crazy when he saw that. If it weren''t for his restraints, he looked like he would have chased after the White Canzer. Of course, he did all of that so they would think that he was bewitched by her. ''Look at how animalistic these humans are¡­but who can blame them, for my beauty surpasses any kind of boundary.'' ''Yes! Yes! I''m happy to say that it does!'' Atlan tried to get out of the restraints. "When I get out of these restraints, you''re dead." Of course, his expression looked like he longed for the White Canzer''s touch again. He looked like he was intoxicated. It was as if he couldn''t live with himself anymore if he wasn''t near the White Canzer''s beautiful white chitin. The more the White Canzer saw that, the more her ego was stroked. She was elated. ''You want to get to me so badly? Maybe I''ll allow it.'' ''Do you want me to release his restraints?...I''m happy to¡­.'' The White Canzer smiled and nodded her head. The Happy puppet then released his control on the roots that bound Atlan to the ground. Slowly, the roots retracted back to the ground, releasing Atlan from their grip. He fell to the ground. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were free from anything that bound him. His plan worked! Because he fed the White Canzer''s ego, he lured them into thinking that they could trust him. Atlan slowly put his hands on the toolbelt. He was going to take something out. Chapter 276 Ninths situation as soon as atlan moved without the white canzer''s approval, the happy puppet moved with a swift punishment.a single happy slap sent his whole body flying through the air and collided with multiple dead trees before he ended up in a puddle, bloodied and wet. it was so fast that he wasn''t even able to react until he was already flying and injured. ''i''m very happy that i punished your insolence, human!'' ''good job, dear. it seems that he needs a little bit more of a punishment before he can serve me as a loyal slave.'' atlan coughed up blood. he lost about a hundred years of soultime from that small mistake. he thought he tricked the white canzer into trusting him, but it seemed that he underestimated its intelligence. even if atlan didn''t mean any harmful intent as he reached for something in his toolbelt, the happy puppet would have still punished him regardless. he needed to gain the white canzer''s respect and trust before he was able to execute his plan. "atlan, this is a precarious situation. don''t bring out the poisoned apple under any circumstances. the white canzer will immediately recognize you as a threat and order your execution. for now, lay low and survive." carmine''s voice traveled directly to his ears and went unheard by the monsters. he gave atlan very sound advice, which atlan had no intention of disobeying. after all, he already learned a hard lesson from that. "just wait, you monsters. you will get your comeuppance." atlan bowed his head and pretended to apologize to the white canzer. thankfully, they were blissfully unaware of atlan''s plans and still treated him as nothing more than a bug that could be easily squished at any time. he then slowly walked over towards them, making sure that he kept his hands in the air and only looked down at the ground. he made himself seem as harmless as possible as he approached. ''hmph¡­that''s good. at least you know your place,'' the white canzer uttered. ''i''m happy that the human is learning from his mistakes!'' ''have you heard from your other brothers? what is taking them so long?'' the happy puppet scratched its head in confusion. ''i don''t remember¡­i''m just happy i''m with you!'' ''sk. i forgot you all lose your memories with each death.'' then, the white canzer flashed a wicked smile on its face directed at atlan. it was even more wicked than the happy canzer''s weird smile. ''kid. do you want to see what''s happening with the other humans?'' atlan didn''t say anything because he wasn''t supposed to understand her. the white canzer took his silence as an agreement and chanted a spell under her breath. the power flowing from her whole body colored her white chitin into a tone of darkish green. suddenly, a giant needle and yarn appeared in her hands, the same one that she used to recreate the happy puppet. she started to sew in the air with the magical yarn, creating a giant 2d rectangular screen that floated right in front of them. slowly, as it got filled with yarn, a picture started to emerge. judging from the dark dead trees and the brown wet soil, it was easy to guess that the picture depicted the dark forest remedium. surprisingly, the image moved to show a different scene from somewhere inside the remedium. find your next read on empire there were six creatures on the screen, each one had the same bulbous body shape and a long conical hat. these were the six other puppets that the white canzer created. "this¡­.this is a live video feed of what''s happening back at ninth''s position!" carmine couldn''t hide his surprise. this wasn''t a known ability of the white canzer, meaning that it had only evolved this ability recently. and even though the image was made entirely out of yarn, the video quality was very high. he could see the individual hairs on the grumpy puppet''s white beard. ''i''m happy to see my brothers!'' shouted the happy puppet as it jumped up and down with its legs alternatively. ''what are they doing? who''s going to cook my dinner for me if they''re not here yet?'' s~ea??h the n?vel(f)ire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. but soon, the white canzer''s nonchalant expression turned serious. it wasn''t obvious from the video at first, but once she focused on it, she could see that the six puppets were looking up in fear of something. not only that, they huddled themselves in a tight-knit, as if they were afraid of getting separated. the white canzer raised her hand and pinched outwards. the video then zoomed, showing the puppet''s skin, which was full of cuts and injuries. ''what is happening?!" the white canzer screamed. even the happy puppet stopped jumping up and down. its joyous crescent smile soon turned upside down as it saw the horrible state his brothers were in. ''who dares to dirty my things?!'' the white canzer changed the video''s perspective to show the creature opposite the puppets. and what she saw made her afraid, even when she was far away from the actual threat. in the video, atlan saw ninth standing tall amidst a land full of weapons sticking out of the ground. it was no longer an environment of the dark forest with dead trees, it was now a world filled with abandoned weapons such as polearms, swords, longswords, etc. and instead of the black skies of the remedium with an even blacker sun, the skies had turned a viscous red. just from looking at her in the video, atlan couldn''t help but avert his eyes. it was as if he would get sliced in half if he dared to look at her for so long. he could only imagine what kind of pressure and threat the puppets were experiencing in real time. it was as if ninth was in a world of her own that even the remedium could not influence. then, in a fit of rage and desperation, the grumpy puppet summoned a thousand arms from the ground that tried to swarm ninth''s world of swords. the puppet was like an asura. yet despite that, no matter how many tried to enter her world, no one was able to enter. they were all sliced into pieces without ninth even moving her body a single inch. "you''re lucky, star porter. you''re witnessing the power of a domain for the first time." Chapter 277 Emotional puppet from what atlan witnessed before he left, ninth was on the brink of total collapse. she had trouble dealing with just one of the puppets, so it wasn''t a hard leap to think that she wouldn''t stand a chance against the combined might of the six puppets.that was what he thought. but he thought wrong. in the end, ninth proved herself to be someone who should not be underestimated. she reached the specialist realm in such a short time for a reason. the elder heads, with all their wisdom of thousands of years of experience, deemed ninth and her team capable enough to deal with the problems of this mission. they knew that ninth was powerful enough to defeat any kind of canzer that came her way. atlan shouldn''t have doubted that. but for some reason, he was still thinking about her strength as something similar to his. but how could he have compared himself to ninth? it was like he was a two-dimensional creature trying to comprehend a three-dimensional creature. it simply wasn''t possible because the three-dimensional creature was living in an entirely different reality. the difference between a student and a specialist was similar to that. the power they had was something that atlan couldn''t even comprehend. if he could, he wouldn''t have doubted that ninth would have been able to single-handedly deal with six puppets at the same time with barely any effort. "this is a domain¡­" he didn''t even know what the ''domain'' concept entailed, but judging from what he saw, it was something like a world that was completely dominated by the savior. even the reality-bending powers of the remedium could not sully the purity of ninth''s domain. it remained as a world full of swords with a red sky. ''this is an outrage! why haven''t they killed that ugly human?!'' this is stressing me out!'' the white canzer couldn''t hold in her anger and exploded into fury, letting go of the dainty and elegant posture that she cultivated. she looked nothing like a princess, and more like an ogre. ''what are you doing aitch?! console me!'' ordered the white canzer to her puppet. ''i''m not happy¡­i''m not happy¡­.my brothers¡­'' but instead of listening to her words, the happy puppet could not let his eyes wander off the screen. he was deeply entangled with his brothers, and he could feel the pain and suffering they were feeling just from seeing the situation on a screen. their bond was beyond that of blood. ''the only way i''ll be happy is if i go back and save my brothers¡­'' the white canzer raised her hand and smacked the happy puppet''s head, making its brown hat bent and dented. ''stupid puppet! what would happen to me if you go away? you''re my only protection. you will stay here and become my body bag.'' only then did the happy puppet stop its intention to move outwards. it was only moments away from darting into a run and disappearing into the fog. if it did, then atlan would finally have a chance to shove the poisoned apple into the white canzer''s mouth. unfortunately, it seemed that the white canzer''s grasp on its puppet was strong enough to make it forget about its instinct to care for its other brothers. this may have been an unfortunate situation, but atlan saw a weakness. he saw a sliver of an opportunity. the happy puppet was not entirely loyal to the white canzer. it was also loyal to its other brothers, much to the dismay of the narcissistic princess. if he was able to make the happy puppet leave the white canzer alone to help his brothers, then it was mission accomplished. the only problem was how he would do it. atlan walked over to the floating screen made up of strings and yarns. this was an offense that should have made the white canzer order his execution, but the situation was too complicated. atlan took advantage of that. ''what are you doing, human?! get back here. aitch, do something!'' but the usually obedient happy puppet hesitated for a moment. it used to obey her words the moment she uttered them, but it was too preoccupied with his brothers on the screen to even care about the weak human''s movements. once ninth appeared on the screen, atlan did his best to seem as if he was mad at her. he flailed his hand up and down, he stomped his foot off the ground, and he shouted all kinds of obscenities towards her. even though the monsters couldn''t understand him, his tone and voice were clearly hostile. ''seeing him mad at that wretched human on the screen makes me¡­happy.'' the happy puppet was too emotional to understand that this was merely a ploy. the white canzer, on the other hand, found something suspicious. after all, there was no reason for the humans to hate each other, especially since they were from the same group. s§×arch* the n?vel_fire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''don''t believe him, aitch. he''s trying to break us apart! you don''t want that, do you?'' the happy puppet looked back at her, and then back at her brothers on the screen. it showed an intense internal conflict. ''i don''t want that¡­but my brothers¡­i''m not happy anymore!'' atlan knew that he only needed a little more push before the happy puppet conceded. stay connected through empire as soon as ninth appeared on the screen again, he pointed at his toolbelt, and then back at the ninth. he made sure that the happy puppet could associate the two of those together. he wanted it to think that atlan had something in his toolbelt that was connected to ninth. he wanted it to think that atlan had the key to her demise. once the video showed the six puppets using all their powers to try and pierce through ninth''s domain, atlan showed excitement and happiness. he also showed a sad expression when they failed in their attack. he winced in pain once they got injured more and more from the thousands of swords littered all over ninth''s domain. "kugh! if only those puppets had this thing in my toolbelt, then they would have won!" Chapter 278 Ripped toolbelt of course, they couldn''t understand him. and the white canzer could see through his lies as if it was made out of glass. he stood no chance of manipulating the queen of lies.''what are you spouting, human?! don''t mind him, aitch. it''s better if you kill him right now.'' unfortunately for her, the happy puppet did not seem like a real puppet. it had its own emotions and desires that even its creator could not get rid of. the only reason why it hadn''t run away at this point was because it still cared about the white canzer. her control over him was basically fighting the happy puppet''s entire consciousness as she tried to make him stay. ''it was a mistake to conjure this screen. i banish you!'' with a sway of her hand, the large screen floating in the air suddenly untangled itself, turning into mere frayed strings and yarns. soon after they landed on the ground, they disintegrated into mere particles that disappeared into the air. the white canzer thought that the happy puppet would give up trying to save his brothers if he didn''t see them. but she miscalculated. it turned out that her decision to cut off the live feed of its six brothers turned the happy puppet even more anxious. s~ea??h the n??el fire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''i have to go¡­i have to go¡­it''s the only way i''ll be happy! i have to go.'' the happy puppet started to move on its own. the white canzer could no longer fight for control over her own puppet, and it moved away despite how hard she tried to make it stay. ''damn it! before you go, then restrain this human so that he does not get anywhere near me.'' the happy puppet did not argue any longer and flashed a smile beam toward one dead tree. it quickly turned into an animated creature that used its roots to wrap around atlan''s body and prevent him from moving a single inch. atlan couldn''t move. despite that, the white canzer still didn''t feel safe being alone with the human. even though atlan was as weak as a twig, she would still be powerless against his advances. without her puppets, she was as weak as a student-level canzer. ''don''t go, okay?'' the white canzer wrapped her hands around the happy puppet. ''there is no use going there. if your brothers cannot fight against that wretched human, then you also stand no chance against her. wouldn''t it be better if you stayed here and planned our revenge? as they say, it is a dish best-served cold. so what if they kill your brothers now? i can revive them all into what they were before as good as new. it was as if they weren''t damaged in the first place. and once we''re all reunited in our little cottage, we can hunt down the other humans and exact our revenge. we''ll use this little one for bait. they''ll surely want to rescue him. and when they do, we''ll be lying in wait.'' the white canzer''s words were very seductive and made the happy puppet stop in its tracks. it was tempted to believe her words. it was the safest and best tactic during these kinds of situations. she smiled, thinking that the happy puppet finally listened to reason. however, she suddenly felt him pushing her hands away. ''why?! why aren''t you staying?!'' the white canzer made one mistake. it treated the other canzers as mere puppets. she didn''t consider their feelings, and what they would feel about their brothers dying. even though the happy puppet knew that its brothers would simply be revived at a later date, it didn''t like the idea that they would still be suffering under the hands of that monstrous human. it felt the pain that its brothers felt. each injury, each cut, each dislocation, was felt by the happy puppet, not through supernatural means, but through empathy. the white canzer never felt pain in its whole life. it always used the puppets to do her deeds, therefore, she never knew how hard it was to lose a limb, how hard it was to bleed to death, and most of all, how hard it was to watch helplessly as their brothers died in front of a screen. the white canzer never even treated the puppets as real beings. they were just the same as their namesake; they were puppets¡ªthings to be used and discarded once they were no longer useful. she could just make them again if they died. ''i''m happy if i die with my brothers.'' the happy puppet walked forward without looking back at his creator. stay updated with empire this left the white canzer annoyed and furious. she couldn''t understand why her puppets disobeyed her orders, even though she was the one who conjured them in reality. she was their creator! how dare they disobey?! but as it turned out, this wasn''t the last time she would get surprised by the puppet''s actions. shortly after leaving her, the happy puppet walked over to atlan and looked him down. ''this human seems to hate that wretched girl. and whatever he has¡­will kill her¡­'' it used its stubby hands to reach down towards atlan''s toolbelt, ripping it out of his very battle suit. surprisingly, it knew how to open the zipper. meanwhile, carmine''s voice reached atlan''s ears and gave him a warning. "are you sure you know what you''re doing, atlan? once the puppet finds that poisoned apple in your possession, it will turn into an overprotective monster that will kill you at a moment''s notice. no matter how emotional it is right now, it will prioritize the white canzer if it is in true danger. you should have kept it a secret for now and let the puppet leave you two alone." if atlan hadn''t drawn attention to the battle suit, then the happy puppet wouldn''t have had the idea to take his toolbelt. the happy puppet shook down his toolbelt until a single object dropped out of the bag. atlan smiled. "don''t worry, carmine. i know what i''m doing. i didn''t hide the poisoned apple in my toolbelt." everyone looked down at the object on the ground. it wasn''t the poisoned apple. instead, it was the jewel box containing the boar''s heart. Chapter 279 Familiar box the happy puppet picked up the jewel box and observed it with its eyes. from what it could see, there was nothing too special about it. there was only a very pungent and bloody smell coming out of the box.the white canzer, on the other hand, looked at the jewel box and felt as if it were familiar. she felt like she had seen that particular box before, but she couldn''t remember it. this was a testament to her selfishness. even though the huntsman did her a favor and released her from being hunted, she didn''t even remember him at all. he was simply just a blimp in her memory, nothing more than a little pebble on the road. it was a fact that she didn''t appreciate the huntsman''s kindness enough. if she did, then she would have remembered that he used that jewel box as a decoy for her heart. the huntsman was haunted by her for the rest of his life, yet she didn''t even register in her memory. it was unfortunate. if she had simply cared enough to remember the huntsman''s weakness, then it would have known atlan''s plan and stopped him before things escalated too late. meanwhile, atlan couldn''t help but smile as he saw the jewel box in the happy puppet''s stubby hands. it didn''t know how precious that box was. "gasp! you are insane, atlan. are you doing what i think you''re doing?!" carmine couldn''t hide his surprise. he immediately knew atlan''s plan the moment the boar''s heart appeared on the remedium. it was an insane idea, one that could even backfire on him entirely. however, if it worked as he had intended, then he could kill two birds with one stone and succeed where no one else had ever succeeded before. "hahahaha!" atlan''s laughter echoed through the woods, catching the attention of the happy puppet and the white canzer. "you stupid puppet! i was just kidding! there''s no way i have something that would kill someone like ninth! you fell for it!" his words were full of mockery and derision. and even though they couldn''t understand him, they could see the ridicule in his eyes. it was apparent that atlan was simply making fun of the happy puppet. the puppet looked at the jewel box in its hands. it understood that this box was nothing more than an ordinary box. atlan decided to add salt to injury. "that''s right, stupid puppet. there''s no way that i''ll let you harm ninth even if i had something that could injure a specialist savior like her!" it looked at atlan and knew that it was being ridiculed. ''i''m not¡­.i''m not happy with this¡­this human¡­tricked me¡­how¡­how will i help my brothers now?!'' the happy puppet held its head with both hands. it was experiencing an emotional breakdown due to the conflicting circumstances it endured. ''gragghh!'' it screamed at the top of its lungs, bringing out its frustration into the world. the whole dark forest trembled upon his fury. the animated dead trees that it created no longer had wicked smiles on their faces. they copied their creator and turned their smile upside down. they no longer jumped up and down with glee, they now jumped because they were having a temper tantrum. they unleashed their fury onto the world, striking the ground and each other in a frenzy. ''i hate¡­i hate everyone! i will deprive anyone of happiness!'' usually, it would have been the white canzer''s responsibility to reign down her own puppets. it was not good for the happy puppet to express anything other than the emotion that they were made for. happy should stay happy. that was because she would lose control over her puppets if they no longer expressed the same emotion as their name. in any other circumstance, she would have tried to console the puppet or killed it entirely before it could turn against her. but the white canzer was still preoccupied with the jewel box. it was too familiar. it felt like it was something she should remember. but no matter how much she tried to dig up her memories, she could not¡ªfor the life of her¡ªremember any instance where she saw that box. her curiosity about the box led her to neglect her own puppet. as a result, it ended up becoming angry at the world. ''i will beat your face so badly, you will never be able to smile, human! and after that, i will do the same to that wretched woman that dared to hurt my brothers!'' the happy puppet approached atlan with fury exploding in its eyes. it wouldn''t use its animated creatures to kill him. that would deprive it of the satisfaction of killing atlan itself. "your plan is not working! think of something else!" your next read is at empire carmine whispered from his battle suit. "not yet¡­" he replied softly. the happy puppet looked down at atlan and couldn''t wait to bash his face down to the ground. but before that, it raised the jewel box in its hands high up in the air and threw it down to the ground at the maximum force that a specialist-level puppet could muster. sear?h the n?vel?ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''you will become like this box!'' the puppet screamed. the happy puppet wanted atlan to witness how his own body would shatter under its strength. however, instead of seeing fear and trepidation in the human''s eyes, the puppet only saw relief and excitement. it was as if this was all part of his plan from the very beginning. atlan looked down at the jewel box and saw splintered wood and metal all over the small crater where it crashed. and in the middle of all that mess was a bloody mush of meat that was no longer recognizable from what it was before. despite that, the appearance of that bloody mess sent a chill down the white canzer''s spine. it finally recognized where it had seen that jewel box before. it looked at the happy puppet in horror. ''stupid puppet! what have you done?'' then, it looked at the human and saw a sly smile plastered on his face. "you have your backup, i have mine. let''s welcome the huntsman together, shall we?" Chapter 280 Hateful reunion the white canzer finally remembered.it was all back at the lowest point in her life, where she was cast out of the castle and the kingdom forever. she fled to the dark forest to save her life. there, she encountered the huntsman. despite him revealing that he was there to hunt her, she was able to seduce her way out of death. she convinced him to spare her life and let her live away from the kingdom. the huntsman, honoring his words, gave a boar''s heart to the queen instead of her own. the white canzer didn''t remember this part of her life because she didn''t want to. all her plans, all her preparation, and all her sacrifices went down the drain all because the queen refused to die to her tricks. explore new worlds at empire she had already killed the king and his daughter. she only needed the queen to die for her to take control of the kingdom and make it her own. one step away¡ªshe was just one step away from becoming the ultimate ruler of the kingdom. but the queen, due to her insane luck, was able to survive the poisoned apple that she gave her. it was a pity that she hadn''t prepared for such an outcome. because of that, the queen was able to report her to the proper authorities and was convicted of the murder of the royal family. she had to get down on her knees, dirtying her white chitin, and apologize to the queen and the whole court for her crimes. she did her best to appeal to the people and let them know that she only killed the king and the princess for a very valid reason. she was so close to manipulating the people to turn against the queen and let them instead believe that she was the one who killed the king and the princess. but the queen was somehow able to dispel her charm. she convinced the judge, jury, and executioner that the only one responsible for the death of the royal family was her. she was deeply humiliated by that wicked queen. she thought she''d get spared if she apologized, but they still sentenced her to death. she left the castle immediately and fled for her life. and she eventually found a home in the dark woods. she was able to create the puppets that served her now. she thought she''d never get betrayed ever again. but she was proved wrong. because of the happy puppet''s rage, the boar''s heart inside the jewel box was broken beyond repair. it was just blood and meat at this point. the white canzer immediately noticed a fog creeping up on the whole forest. it was enveloped by a power that was vaguely familiar to her. as a specialist canzer, she immediately sensed that there was another being that was slowly approaching their location. it wasn''t hard to guess who it was. meanwhile, atlan heaved a sigh of relief once he felt the familiar oppressing feeling of the huntsman. he didn''t think he would want to feel the pressure of a specialist canzer weighing down on him, but here he was. "i must say, atlan. this plan is bold and insane. by destroying the boar''s heart, you will no longer be invisible to the huntsman. it will hunt you down¡ªin fact, it''s already here." "yes. but i am not alone here, am i? i am just a lowly human who poses absolutely no threat against the huntsman. meanwhile, the white canzer is the subject of the huntsman''s grief and regret. if given a choice on who the huntsman would kill, who do you think it would go for?" atlan''s plan was simple. he would summon the huntsman and let him meet the white canzer. by doing so, he would be pitting those two monsters against each other in a battle for survival. the best-case scenario would be that they would both kill each other in this fight. but of course, there was no guarantee that the huntsman would leave him alone. it could still kill him while fighting the white canzer using very little effort. that was why carmine called it a bold and insane idea. ''huh? what''s happening?'' s~ea??h the n??efire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. the happy puppet looked around and couldn''t understand what was going on. ''aitch! something''s coming to kill me. protect me now!'' whizz! a single arrow flew from beyond the fog and aimed down towards the white canzer''s heart at light speed. it was too fast for atlan to even react, but somehow, the happy puppet was able to move and protect its creator by conjuring more animated trees. the arrow pierced through the trees before being stopped just ten trees short of reaching the white canzer. ''you''re still bewitching creatures for your own gains, i see. nothing has changed all these years, huh?'' the huntsman''s voice echoed through the fog from all directions, making it seem as if his presence was all around. it obscured his true location. ''huntsman¡­it''s¡­it''s been a while! how have you been?'' the white canzer did her best to seem casual, but she couldn''t hide the nervousness in her voice. ''i''m still me. i still want to kill you.'' the huntsman replied. ''haha¡­how could you kill a little old me? there must be some kind of mistake, right? didn''t i tell you that i am a product of injustice? that wicked queen must have tricked your brain into thinking that i deserve death!'' the white canzer did what it did best. it tried to manipulate the huntsman into sparing her life. ''your words cannot trick me, witch!'' unfortunately, the huntsman was already wise to her lies. ''why don''t you come here and listen to my words carefully?'' her bewitching words would work best if the huntsman was looking directly at her, so she tried to make him reveal himself. ''i will only approach you once your heart is pierced with my arrow.'' then, the huntsman directed his words to atlan. "i must thank you, human. you have given me a chance to relieve my grudge. for that, i will spare your life." Chapter 281 Switch places ''why?! he doesn''t even understand you! why are you targeting a fellow being like me? aren''t we the mortal enemies of humanity? shouldn''t we bring our hands together and kill all the humans that invade our land?''the white canzer''s pleading fell on deaf ears. no matter how much she begged the huntsman, it heartlessly shot countless arrows from beyond the fog that targeted her heart at pinpoint accuracy. the only reason she was still alive was because the happy puppet was capable enough to defend against the attacks. however, one of the arrows was able to shoot past the happy puppet''s defense and was able to scrape past the white canzer''s shoulders. ''ahh!'' she screamed as violet blood dripped down her arm. this was the first time she''d seen herself bleed. ''my chitin! my beautiful chitin! look at how you''ve ruined my chitin. why must you be so cruel, oh huntsman!'' sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lfire .net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. the white canzer was a fragile creature. for all the cruelty and crimes it inflicted upon other people, the moment it got a small little cut on its chitin, it considered this as a crime against the universe itself. ''what is happening?! i can''t¡­i can''t feel happiness!'' it was hard-encoded into the happy puppet''s main consciousness that it should always prioritize its creator''s life and health. however, it had already gained its own emotions and desires¡ªthe desire to save its brothers from certain doom. but the moment the white canzer got injured, its original coding took control back of its emotions and created a major conflict in its consciousness. it was a moment of fragility that the huntsman exploited for his gain. he shot arrows consecutively, targeting the gaps where the happy puppet could not protect the white canzer. and no matter how much the puppet flashed its infective smile, it could not turn the arrows into its animated creature. the crescent beam simply bounced off the arrow and dissipated in the air. the huntsman was completely stronger than the happy puppet by a long shot. there was no way that a single puppet could take control of his arrows so easily, especially since the huntsman wasn''t holding out its strength; it was going to kill the white canzer even if it had to kill a thousand puppets in the meantime. ''you are a wretched liar. i regret the very day i met you.'' the white canzer looked around the fog in the hopes that it could see the huntsman. unfortunately, everything was shrouded in a fog. ''come on. i''m not so bad as to warrant death, right? you''ve been brainwashed by the queen.'' ''lies, lies, lies!'' screamed the huntsman. ''i don''t know how you did it, but you were somehow able to trick me once upon a time. but it won''t happen ever again. your lies are nothing but garbage that i must take out.'' the huntsman fired another arrow. this one was empowered with some dark power, evidenced by the black light that surrounded the tip. it was able to slip past space itself and arrive at a different location altogether. when it pierced back into reality, it was already just a few meters away from the white canzer. just as it was about to pierce its left chest, directly aimed at her heart, the white canzer''s body shimmered and suddenly disappeared from everyone''s sight. after just a fraction of a second, the happy puppet appeared from where she left. the arrow could not adjust its trajectory because of its momentum and it pierced through the happy puppet''s shoulder. the power of space tore through its body, consuming everything in its path like a black hole. the puppet had to pluck the arrow out of its body before it consumed its whole arm. ''damn it! huntsman, stop this now!'' meanwhile, atlan heard a whisper from his battle suit. "atlan. the white canzer''s trump card is that she can switch places with her puppet three times. since it already used this ability once, it can only use it two more times before it goes on cooldown. that is your chance. if you see an opportunity, you can ambush the white canzer and put the poisoned apple in its mouth." it was a good plan, but atlan refused. "no. if i do that, the huntsman will kill me." "there''s no guarantee that it wouldn''t kill you if you don''t!" carmine couldn''t understand the canzers'' words, so he didn''t understand that the huntsman was out for revenge. if atlan moved and killed the white canzer before the huntsman could do it, then it might get angry at atlan for stealing his kill. also, he heard from the huntsman himself that he was spared. the huntsman wouldn''t have lied because it didn''t know that atlan could even understand its words. there was no point in lying. so, all atlan had to do was sit on the sidelines and wait until the huntsman killed the white canzer. "i''m just saying. if you see an opportunity, take it. it''s better to get ahead of these canzers rather than catch up to them." whizz! find exclusive stories on empire another arrow whizzed past the white canzer, and this time, it had a brown-colored tip. the white canzer suddenly felt a constricting feeling in its feet. it looked down and saw the ground swallowing her chitinous toes like quicksand. she couldn''t move. the brown-tipped arrow was filled with the energy of the earth and was able to bind its target in one single location. unless the white canzer could destroy the stone with her hands, she could not get away from the arrow that aimed straight down her chest. she immediately used her ability again and switched places with the happy puppet. but when she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a volley of thunderous arrows numbering in the hundreds that targeted her whole body. it was a trap! she gritted her teeth and used her ability again, switching places with her puppet one last time. she teleported back to her original location, with the brown-tipped arrow piercing through her leg. meanwhile, hundreds of thunderous arrows pierce through the happy puppet''s body, turning its chitinous body into mere burnt ashes and flesh. Chapter 282 Pierce through the heart ''no!!!''screamed the white canzer as it felt its connection to the happy puppet disappear into nothingness. it wasn''t out of sadness for the puppet, but because without it, she would have no one else to protect her. the happy puppet''s entire body was blackened and charred, from the hundreds of thousands of volts given by the hundred thunderous arrows. it had no chance against the huntsman''s fury. but surprisingly, it wasn''t dead yet. it opened its mouth in defiance against death. ''br¨Cbrothers¡­'' it looked towards the white canzer, its creator. sea??h th§× n??efire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''please¡­save my brothers¡­'' in the last seconds of its life, it didn''t bother to ask for help from the white canzer. instead, it asked for help for its six brothers. the white canzer kneeled next to the puppet. she raised his hand towards its face. the puppet thought he was getting caressed in its last moments of life. but instead, the white canzer raised her hand and bashed his head into the ground. even with her feeble strength, she was able to collapse the puppet''s face into mere soot and ash. ''you useless bastard! instead of worrying about me, you worry about other puppets! idiots! you should always prioritize my safety, my life! shameless freeloaders! how dare you command me to do something?!" the white canzer unleashed her anger on the happy puppet''s corpse. atlan felt the tree roots binding his body start to come loose. now that the happy puppet was dead, the animated trees that used their roots to immobilize him turned back into dead trees. the evil smile on their faces disappeared as if they never existed in the first place. but even though he was free from his constraints, atlan had no intention of moving. your adventure continues at empire he wanted to seem like a harmless fly on the wall. he didn''t want to intervene in the fight between two specialist-level canzers. ''count your seconds, witch.'' the huntsman''s triumphant voice echoed through the fog and reached the white canzer''s ears. ''coward! if you want to kill me, then come here and do it yourself! using those arrows is only for the spineless'' despite her taunts, the huntsman was far too cautious to fall into her traps. as long as she was alive, she could use her magical temptation to change his mind just like how she changed his mind back then. the huntsman gritted its teeth every time it remembered that time. it was the subject of his nightmares. ever since he betrayed his morals to save the white canzer, he had been dreaming of killing the white canzer with his own hands. and the moment was so close at hand that he was getting antsy. it took out a single arrow from his quiver and looked at its tip. engraved in the very metal itself was ''w.c.'', the white canzer''s initials. the thing about this arrow was that it wasn''t even laced with any special powers. it was only a simple arrow made out of steel and wood. it symbolized the huntsman''s disdain for the white canzer, refusing to use its good arrows to kill her because she did not deserve it. once this arrow pierced her heart, his regret would be destroyed. he notched it in his arrow and stretched the string with perfect calm. even without looking at the white canzer from afar, his arrow would always fly straight toward its destination. meanwhile, the white canzer got on her knees and begged the fog in front of her. ''please, dear huntsman. please spare my life. we can run away together into a whole new world where we can be together forever! it will be a new start for both of us! i won''t even revive those useless puppets anymore because i''ll have you to protect me! it''s the perfect set-up! you protect me, and i give you all my beauty admire¡ª" twang! the arrow flew through the fog and reached the white canzer at fast speed. before she knew it, an arrow pierced through her left chest. it easily punctured her white chitin because it was as thin as paper. she had absolutely no defenses. even a dull arrow fired by hand would have still pierced through her chitin. the arrow continued to pierce through to the other side, taking the white canzer''s heart with it before landing on the ground. her heart leaked out violet blood and pumped a few more times before it turned lifeless. a hole was left in the white canzer''s chest. she fell backwards, with her violet blood pooling underneath her corpse. she''s dead, atlan thought. despite the odds, his gambit on summoning the huntsman worked perfectly as he intended. the huntsman killed the white canzer for him. he was about to walk forward and observe the white canzer''s corpse, when all of a sudden, he felt an oppressing force come behind him. it was the kind of force that could choke the life out of a student-level savior like him. he stopped in his tracks. he didn''t even dare to look up and behind him because he knew that the huntsman finally showed himself. atlan, with his head down, saw the huntsman''s boots walking past him. he held his breath, with his angel wings ready to spurt any time possible. but thankfully, the huntsman ignored him and headed straight for the white canzer. atlan couldn''t fight his curiosity and he looked up at the huntsman. the canzer was 10 feet tall, with a very thin stature. his whole body was made out of a black chitin, which looked like it was impossible to see in the darkness. he wore a typical huntsman''s attire, which was made out of thin clothes and leather armor. it was perfect for stealth and mobility. atlan couldn''t see his face, so its most distinctive feature was its hat with a single red feather attached on the rim. the huntsman stopped just a few meters away from the white canzer''s corpse. he looked at the arrow beyond and confirmed that it pierced through the heart and ripped it out of her body. ''it''s over¡­'' he said. Chapter 283 What could have been the white canzer''s body lay face up. even though it was dead, the huntsman couldn''t help but admit to himself that her beauty was something that was out of this world.now that she wasn''t spewing out lies and just laid still, she looked as beautiful as ever. she even looked like a princess that was worthy of being saved. he couldn''t help but pity her. if she wasn''t so wicked, the huntsman could have even imagined a future in which he spent forever with her. he kneeled and appreciated her beauty even more. her white chitin stained with blood was tragic to see, but this was the only way he could get rid of the knot in his heart. he raised his hand and slowly caressed her cheeks. it was a moment of weakness that he was willing to put himself in. atlan watched this scene with confusion written on his face. the white canzer''s heart was ripped out of its chest, meaning that by all accounts, the canzer should be dead. however, altan did not reap anything from her death. even if he hadn''t contributed to the fight, he could still reap the death of a canzer as long as they were in his vicinity. he was definitely close enough to reap it. so, he wondered why he hadn''t received any rewards yet. then, it hit him. he felt goosebumps all over his skin. what if the white canzer isn''t dead? just as the huntsman was about to retract his hand, the white canzer''s eyelids opened up to show a hateful expression directed at him. the huntsman was so shocked that he couldn''t think properly. he was frozen in time staring at the white canzer''s moving body. she caught his hand and refused to let him go. the huntsman, feeling his spine tingling from the danger he put himself in, tried to pull away from her. but it was already too late. the white canzer''s grip prevented him from moving away fast enough. shkkk! stay tuned to empire the huntsman felt a piercing pain in his chest. it was the kind of pain that he was all too familiar with. he looked down, with blood leaking out of his mouth, and saw an arrow penetrating through his black chitin and directly piercing his heart. he looked back up at the white canzer with disbelief in his eyes. the huntsman soon felt a cold feeling enveloping his body. he felt numb in all his extremities as if he was losing control of his own body. and to confirm the kill, the white canzer twisted the arrow and further damaged the huntsman''s heart. he was dying. but perhaps the physical pain he was feeling was nothing compared to the emotional heartbreak in his mind. there was a reason he never showed his face to his targets. that was because his physical strength was nothing compared to the other specialist-level canzers. if he wasn''t wielding his bows and firing his arrows from a long range, then he was as feeble as¡­the white canzer. that was how she was able to stab a loose arrow from the ground to his chest. this would have never happened if he kept his distance. but he didn''t. for all his talk about never falling for the white canzer''s tricks, the huntsman, in the end, fell for one of her tricks. his desire to witness her beauty one last time led him to his demise. in truth, the huntsman was absolutely enamored by the white canzer the moment he saw her in the dark forest. that was the reason why he fell for her tricks and how he allowed her to live despite her crimes. he thought he would be able to suppress those feelings and kill her without a problem. sear?h the novel?ire(.)ne*t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. and he did¡ªfor a brief moment when he thought she died. but when he thought everything was done and he couldn''t be tricked by her again, he let his desire control his actions. he broke his safety procedures because he wanted to see her beauty one last time. as it turned out, the white canzer wasn''t dead. she was only pretending to be. the huntsman should have expected this from the queen of lies. but his infatuation towards her led him to forget this fact. ''i''m sorry, huntsman. we could have been a good duo.'' she pushed the arrow deeper into his chest, throwing his body to the ground. ''no one knows about this, but i have two hearts. the left one is fake, and the right one is my real one. i never thought i would have to use this, but i''m glad that it saved my life.'' the huntsman looked up at her, his chitinous mouth quivering as if he wanted to say something but was too weak to utter even a single sound. ''if you had just agreed to be my puppet, then none of this would have happened! why did you have to be so stubborn?'' despite her cruel words, the huntsman, in his last moments, couldn''t help but admire her beauty. ''well, there are plenty of other canzers in the remedium.'' with heartless conviction, the white canzer continuously stabbed the huntsman''s chest with his own arrows. she didn''t stop even as the huntsman took his last breath. she wanted to confirm her kill and make sure that he, too, didn''t have a false heart in his body. after a few minutes, the white canzer''s body was stained with violet blood. she no longer looked like a princess lost in the woods, but a savage animal with blood on its hands. atlan, witnessing everything unfold, was speechless. even carmine and the rest of the operators back in the emergency meeting room couldn''t utter a single word. the room turned eerily silent. [you have assisted in the death of a complex creature: huntsman canzer] [due to your trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] the notification in his soul system all but confirmed the death of the huntsman. but he didn''t have the luxury of looking at his new rewards. the white canzer, after finishing off the huntsman, turned to look at atlan with a creepy smile on its face. ''you''re next.'' Chapter 284 Intern LifeSkill "damn¡­i should have expected this. the huntsman is always fated to lose against the white canzer. this is bad news."carmine''s concerned voice traveled through atlan''s battle suit. "why is that? isn''t it better now that the white canzer is all alone?" "it would have been. but the situation has changed for the worse. since the white canzer killed the huntsman herself, she has regained all the strength she needs to fight you. it''s still not at the level of a normal specialist canzer, but it is enough to deal with a student savior like you¡ªespecially since you''re only a porter. you have to run now before the white canzer consolidates her strength." carmine''s solution was for atlan to run back to ninth and the team. at least then, she would have a chance to deal with the white canzer. but instead of running away, atlan stood in place. he didn''t want to run away yet. that was because the white canzer wasn''t the only one who benefitted from the huntsman''s death. he didn''t know how, but according to the reaping notification, he assisted in the death of the huntsman, meaning that the rewards he would get would be even better than normal. s§×arch* the n??efire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. he felt like the powers he would receive from the huntsman would be enough to even the playing field against the white canzer. [you have received 300,000 experience] [you have received 130x (1-star) huntsman mutation] explore stories at empire [you have received an a class intern sniper lifeskill: fog of war] [you have received 130x lifeskill fragments] atlan couldn''t believe his eyes. he had hit the jackpot of all jackpots! he expected hundreds of thousands of experiences. he even expected hundreds of 1-star mutations in his rewards. but he never could have expected that he would get an intern-level lifeskill from the death of the huntsman! he would have considered himself extremely lucky if he got a pre-intern realm lifeskill. but somehow, he was able to get a lifeskill above that realm! to give perspective, the intern-realm lifeskill was only one realm away from the specialist-realm! that was insane! atlan would have never thought he would obtain this much power just from helping in the death of the huntsman. the funny part about this was that atlan didn''t even do much to contribute. all he did was stand in place and let things unfold in front of him. but he wasn''t going to complain. after all, he got another powerful lifeskill in his soul system. "hello?! atlan, is the video frozen? why aren''t you running away?!" from carmine''s perspective, atlan just stood still while watching the white canzer absorb all the powers of the huntsman. the white canzer threw away all the pretense that she was a ''princess'' and started to devour the huntsman''s body as if he were a delicious boar. the more she devoured his chitin and his insides, the more her aura and pressure increased. it was enough to send shockwaves all over the remedium, conjuring dark clouds in the skies and summoning a strong breeze that bent the dead trees all around. meanwhile, while all of those ominous things were happening, atlan didn''t move. it was as if he was frozen in fear. carmine thought atlan was petrified and scared stiff. if only he could see the smile on atlan''s face as he looked blankly at the air, then he wouldn''t have thought that. "atlan? atlan? what are you doing?" after a few seconds, atlan finally came to his senses. "what''s wrong?" "....are you serious?! the white canzer is undergoing a major transformation, and your question is ''what''s wrong?'' everything is going wrong! you have to run away before the white canzer can come towards you!" the increasing physical pressure on the white canzer should have been enough cause for concern. but for atlan, who felt tremendous amounts of power circulating in his veins after receiving his new lifeskill, felt like even the white canzer couldn''t stand a chance against him. "can you estimate the strength of the white canzer right now?" "it''s definitely a lot stronger than you!" "just give me an estimate. is it at the level where only a specialist savior can defeat her?" "....no¡­the white canzer''s strength is concentrated on her puppets. she doesn''t have any physical strength to boast¡ªat least, that was before she consumed the huntsman. now, i estimate that it''s in the mid to high intern level. so, believe me when i say that you should run away right now." but how could atlan run away from the white canzer when he just learned that it only had the strength of an intern? now that he had his new lifeskill, he wasn''t completely hopeless against her. he had a feasible way of defeating her! "i can fight her. i know her weakness. i just have to put the poisoned apple in her mouth, right?" "as much as i commend you for your bravery, this is not the time for a martyr. you don''t stand a chance against the white canzer in this state." and just as carmine said that, the white canzer finally stood up after devouring the huntsman''s entire body. she didn''t even leave his clothes and his equipment alone. everything was eaten. ''ah¡­how wonderful. it''s a good thing that nobody saw me in such a horrible state. it''s unbecoming of a princess like me to eat so barbarically. i just need to kill this human and all evidence of my moment of vulnerability is gone.'' she raised her hand and conjured the giant yarn ball and needle. using her magic, the needle and yarn floated in the air and sewed together a very familiar figurine. it had black skin, with leather armor, thin clothes, and a feathered hat on its head. after the body was done, the needle sewed together a new set of arrows that sat neatly on a quiver on the figurine''s back. finally, a bow was sewn on its right hand. tinggg after a few seconds, the figurine made up of yarn was enveloped in a golden light. once the light died down, all that was left was a miniature, much stockier, and chubbier version of the huntsman. this huntsman puppet wasted no time and shot its bow toward atlan. Chapter 285 Fog of War the puppet''s arrow was nowhere near as fast as the original huntsman, but it was still fast enough to be a threat to atlan.he quickly tried to move to the side but found that his movements could not catch up to the arrow. it hit his chest with a powerful pushing force, making his entire body fly out into the dark forest. "atlan, are you okay?" carmine gritted his teeth and watched as atlan''s entire body got blasted by the arrow. "i don''t understand how it''s able to move your body so far out! your battle suit is supposed to weigh thousands of tons!" meanwhile, the white canzer didn''t even look at atlan and simply took to making herself beautiful once again. she conjured a blanket out of the magical yarn and needle, and used it to wipe the violet blood off her chitinous skin. after a few seconds, she was as good as new. there was not a speck of blood on her white chitin. ''i''m going to have to teach those puppets a lesson once they get back. today was a close one. if they had simply just died sooner, then i could have summoned all of them back and i wouldn''t have to dirty my hands.'' then, she turned to the puppet. ''huntsman, who''s the fairest one of them all?'' the huntsman puppet, after firing the arrow towards atlan, simply looked back at the white canzer and kneeled towards her. ''you are, my princess. no one is more beautiful than you.'' she smiled. ''that''s good. you''re much better than you were before. now, would you be a dear and finish off that human so that i can go back to my cottage?'' the huntsman notched another arrow in its bow. but when it looked forward, it couldn''t see any sign of the human. atlan seemed to have disappeared deep into the fog, nowhere to be seen. ''i¡­can''t see¡­,'' uttered the huntsman puppet in disbelief. it shouldn''t have to be mentioned that the original huntsman had complete control over the fog in the remedium. it could see everything around it in crystal clear clarity, with nothing being able to hide in its sights. the puppet shouldn''t be any different. it retained all the powers of the huntsman, albeit a bit less toned down. but its mastery over the fog shouldn''t have been affected. but when it looked around the fog of the dark forest, the puppet realized that it couldn''t see anything beyond a few meters. ''how¡­how is this possible¡­.'' the white canzer frowned. ''what''s wrong?'' ''i can''t control the fog¡­which means¡­this is not mine¡­'' the white canzer almost laughed at the absurdity. ''what do you mean? this is one of your powers. how could it not be yours?'' ''.....'' ''don''t tell me¡­do you think that the human can summon a fog like you?'' the huntsman puppet nodded. ''affirmative.'' meanwhile, the live video feed projected back to the real world at the emergency meeting room was acting weird. they could see nothing but a gray smoke very similar to the fog of the remedium. however, this fog obscured everything from the video. they couldn''t see anything. usually, they would have been able to see at least one meter into the fog. they would even see atlan''s hands and legs move from their perspective. but this time, they couldn''t see anything. the worst part about it was that they couldn''t even hear anything from the video. it was mute. carmine and the rest of the operators were having a meltdown trying to figure out why this happened and how they could correct it. they inspected the hardware and software of the battle suit, but they couldn''t see any problem at all. it should be working properly. but it clearly wasn''t. even the elder heads watching at the side couldn''t help but try to give out solutions to the operators, but it was to no avail. carmine shouted towards the mic. s§×arch* the novel?ire(.)ne*t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "atlan! atlan, are there? can you hear my words?" yes. i can hear you loud and clear. sorry, but i don''t want to show you my powers just yet, atlan thought to himself. what carmine didn''t know was that the battle suit worked properly. there was no malfunction in the video feed. the fact that they couldn''t see anything was because atlan intended it so. he looked at his new intern-realm lifeskill in his soul system. ¡ªsniper: (a) fog of war ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage intern realm [this lifeskill allows the user to create a fog that obscures everything in a 50-meter radius. no visual or audio cues would leak out from the user''s position, allowing them to remain in stealth.] stay tuned to empire according to the description, this sniper lifeskill would give atlan the advantage of surprise. from the moment he obtained this new lifeskill, a description popped up and gave detailed information as to what his new powers entailed. he was immediately interested and wanted to try it out immediately. back when the arrow hit his chest, he let himself be flown outwards so that he could create proper distance between him and the canzers. only then was he able to experiment on his new lifeskill. the moment he activated it, he felt tremendous amounts of power flow through his veins. but this didn''t last long. it quickly dispersed out of his bloodstream and seeped out of his skin. this new power turned into a gray fog that leaked out of him, slowly spreading out in a 50-meter radius. the best part about this was the fact that he could still see everything with crystal clear clarity. he could see grid lines everywhere and these lines distorted into an object and showed their location. judging from the fact that the huntsman puppet couldn''t target him a second time, meant that the canzers couldn''t see him. and judging from the fact that carmine was panicking about not being able to see anything, he knew that the video also couldn''t see anything. "i can hear you," atlan replied to carmine to test if they could hear him. "hello? hello? damn! we lost connection!" atlan smiled. finally, he could use his real strength. Chapter 286 Dive bombing ''what''s happening? why can''t i see anything?''the white canzer went from being easygoing to nervous in just a fraction of a second. the fact that she couldn''t see the huntsman puppet anywhere was enough to make her panic. if she couldn''t feel his presence with the intangible connection she had with the puppet, then she would have immediately started running. ''stay still, princess. i will hunt whatever''s creating this fog.'' she started getting angry. ''isn''t this your specialty? how is someone able to overpower your fog?'' ''i don''t know¡­i¡­can''t¡­.i don''t¡­.'' the puppet, after all, was only a puppet. it wasn''t the real deal. it knew that it should be able to overpower the fog, but its powers were severely limited compared to what it was before. ''useless! why are all my puppets useless?! this is an outrage¡ª'' the white canzer was about to say something else, when all of a sudden, they felt a strange force emanating from the fog. it was the kind of aura that was enough to make her white chitin vibrate in fear. even the huntsman puppet couldn''t help but cower once it felt this power. after all, it was the power of their mortal enemies: the angels. the white canzer would have never thought it would encounter another angel again after their extinction, but somehow, something can exude the same powers as them. the angel power was thin and weak compared to what real angels had, but it was still angel power nonetheless. no matter if they were a student-level canzer or a specialist-level canzer, all of them had a weakness against them. it was a threat that they could not disregard no matter how weak it was. ''what is this¡­there''s no way¡­'' ''....'' sear?h the n??elfir§×.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. read latest stories on empire the entire remedium was eerily silent. the white canzer and the huntsman puppet stayed still and looked around them. they felt as if someone was looking at them from beyond the fog, like a tiger stalking a deer. as it turned out, that was true. atlan, after suppressing his powers for the entire mission, finally brought out the angel wings behind him. it was as if the burden on his shoulders was gone. all the weight of the battle suit was gone the moment that his angel wings manifested in reality. the canzer essences hidden inside it were scared stiff and hid themselves under the fibers. with one beat of his wings, he hovered a few inches away from the ground. no longer was he burdened by slowness. it finally felt like he could bring out his true powers to the remedium. he looked forward and looked at the nervous expression on the white canzer and the puppet. both of them were wary of whatever was coming. instead of diving down towards them, atlan first took a few paces back. he wanted to gather momentum and strike the white canzer at his fastest speed possible. because his mutation had a 5% mastery now, his fastest speed had a significant boost. at his top speed, he felt like he could finally contest with the huntsman''s arrows. once he retreated far enough, he touched down on the ground and assumed a running position. then, he burst out into a sprint, powered by the angel wings behind him. he started to gather speed and momentum until his legs were off the ground. he was flying like a bullet toward the white canzer, with the poisoned apple in his hands. as long as he could put the construct in its mouth, then it was his victory. as he reached his fastest speed, he finally came towards the white canzer with his hand outstretched towards her head. her face was full of shock, with her mouth wide open. it was the perfect opportunity. whizz! unfortunately, the huntsman puppet was able to fire an arrow the moment he dove down towards the white canzer. and as expected of the huntsman, the arrow was perfectly directed at the apple in his hands. with his opportunity lost, atlan sped past the white canzer and disappeared into the fog, nowhere to be seen. the huntsman puppet tried to fire another arrow, but he was already long gone. the arrow struck nothing but air. atlan didn''t waste more time and turned around for another dive towards the two canzers. this time, he targeted the puppet. as long as he could get rid of her bodyguard, she would become easy pickings. however, the huntsman puppet was very guarded. it was a hunter, which meant it knew everything there was to know about hunting, and being hunted. as soon as he felt the angel power approach their location, the puppet fired an explosive arrow at atlan''s location, forcing him to veer off course. atlan turned around again and dove towards the huntsman. this time, it fired ten explosive arrows in quick succession that targeted a large space, making sure that atlan wouldn''t escape. atlan was forced to stop in mid-air. tsk. a specialist-puppet is still too much for me to deal with. i have to get creative. he wouldn''t be able to get to the white canzer unless he killed the huntsman puppet. but unfortunately, the huntsman was far too good at defense, and atlan simply didn''t have enough offensive ways to deal with him. ''what are you doing, stupid puppet? kill it already!'' ''sorry, princess. i don''t know where it is.'' ''why are these things happening to me?! i''m the most beautiful creature in all the kingdoms. i don''t deserve this!'' as soon as she said that, it was as if a lightbulb appeared above atlan''s head. he smiled. he finally found a way to defeat the two monsters. he backed up once again and readied himself for another dive towards the two. the huntsman, sensing the angel power approaching, readied another set of arrows in its bow. this time, it wasn''t going to let him escape. but just as the huntsman was about to let go of his arrows, he suddenly heard something that broke his concentration. ''you broke your code for someone who doesn''t even appreciate you.'' Chapter 287 Beauty provoked ''who¡ª''those words weren''t uttered by the huntsman puppet or the white canzer. it was a kind of voice that they weren''t familiar with. they hadn''t heard it ever before in their lives as canzers. it was a language of their species. they could understand the words perfectly. yet, somehow, there was something wrong with how it was said. there was something uncanny about it that the puppet could not fully understand. the huntsman puppet tried to locate where the voice came from and realized that it came from where the angel power was coming from. and as it got closer, the huntsman finally got a closer look. all this time, the source of that angel power never showed itself. it was just a white blur in their eyes, which was further shrouded by the gray fog that encompassed everything. but now, the huntsman could see it as clear as day. it was the human who was the source of the angel power. he had majestic and pure white wings behind him, which emanated angel power that could not be replicated. it was the real deal. ''the human?! how?!'' and if that wasn''t enough to shock him, the huntsman looked at atlan''s mouth and realized that he was the one who was speaking their language. not only that, atlan''s words pierced right through the huntsman puppet''s repressed memories. enjoy exclusive content from empire ''you broke your code for someone who doesn''t even appreciate you.'' the original huntsman died exactly that way. he broke his code for the white canzer, who didn''t appreciate it. and in the end, he died and became her puppet. and even if the puppet was merely a replication of the huntsman, there was still a part of his memories that stuck to the puppet. every one of those surprises opened a moment of vulnerability to the puppet. it shocked the huntsman puppet so much that his normally steady hands shook for a fraction of a second. it was enough to change the trajectory of his arrow and miss atlan''s head by a large margin. even the most concentrated canzer would have been distracted by such revelation. not only did the human somehow wield the extinct angel power, but he was also able to speak their language with perfect accuracy. this broke several rules that shouldn''t ever be broken. angels were supposed to be extinct, and humans weren''t supposed to speak like them. those were hard rules that governed the world. and somehow, this human broke both of them. the huntsman puppet couldn''t even begin to comprehend how atlan was able to do it. and he didn''t have the time to. before he knew it, atlan already dove past him and targeted the white canzer behind him. as atlan reached the white canzer, he saw that it was already in a defensive position. it was already surprising that the weak human had the power of an angel as well as being able to speak their language. but after a fraction of a second, it already adjusted to this surprising fact. but atlan wasn''t worried. after all, he knew just what to say to make the white canzer show a weakness. he commanded his lifeskill and parted the gray fog that obscured him from the white canzer''s vision. it was important that she could see his expression. she was surprised at his appearance, but it wasn''t enough to create a weakness in her like the huntsman puppet. the element of surprise was already gone. atlan opened his mouth and said, ''you are nowhere near as beautiful as the queen.'' as soon as the queen was mentioned in front of the white canzer, it was as if atlan pushed a button that immediately angered the ''princess''. atlan heard time and time again how the white canzer prided herself as the most beautiful being in all the lands. it was narcissistic to the point that it cared about nothing but her beauty. she was obsessed with it. and the fact that atlan said that the queen, of all people, was more beautiful than her, shattered the pride of the white canzer. she wouldn''t have been that angry if atlan mentioned some other canzer''s name. but, no. he mentioned the queen, specifically. the queen was the person who stood in the way of the white canzer and prevented her from achieving her ultimate dream¡ªruling the kingdom. therefore, the white canzer''s hatred for her was nothing less than a lifelong grudge that cannot be resolved through language. the queen was a sore spot for the white canzer. insinuating that the queen, her mortal enemy, was much more beautiful than her, was enough to make the white canzer forget all her pretenses and erupt into a fury. ''how dare you say that that wicked woman is more beautiful than me¡ª'' before she could go on a tirade, atlan simply pushed the poisoned apple right to her mouth. she shut up the moment she felt the apple in her mouth. she stumbled backward, landing on her back. when she looked down and saw the shiny red apple in her mouth, she finally realized her mistake. how could she not realize the poisoned apple? after all, she was the one who first used it to try and kill the queen. and now, ironically, it was being used to kill her. the worst part for her was that she already tasted the apple''s skin, meaning the poison was already taking effect. sear?h the ¦Çov§×lfire .net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. she felt numbness in her mouth, spreading to the rest of her head and flowing down to her body. the only thing still moving was her mind. she looked at the human with angel wings with disbelief. she couldn''t believe that she was outplayed by such a weak being. ''he¡­help me¡­'' it begged. if she had just shut up and remained unfazed by atlan''s provocation, she wouldn''t have been put into such a situation. slowly, the apple rotted in her mouth and got absorbed into her body. it wasn''t long before the call of the night spoke to her and lured her into an eternal sleep. she laid down, with her back on the ground. no matter how much she tried to fight her heavy eyelids, she could not get rid of the poison. suddenly, a glass tomb materialized around her and encased her whole body. finally, she closed her eyes, putting her into an eternal slumber. Chapter 288 Lucky bumping atlan landed in front of the glass tomb of the white canzer. finally, despite the odds stacked against him, he was able to defeat a specialist-level canzer all by himself. he didn''t need the strength of ninth or the protection of a tank. all he had was his wits and special tricks to aid him; that was enough.twang! the arrow flew through the air at lightspeed and reached atlan''s back at record time. he didn''t even react. he didn''t have to. before it could pierce through his chitin armor, the arrow''s normal sturdy texture suddenly turned into woven yarns that suddenly exploded and frayed. it hit atlan''s chest with nothing but a whimper. it bounced off the chitin and landed on the ground before turning into particles that dissipated into the air. atlan looked back and saw the huntsman puppet with its bow pointed straight at him. the huntsman desperately tried to take out another arrow from his quiver, but they all turned into soft yarns that quickly turned limp and useless. without the white canzer''s power keeping the puppets alive, the huntsman''s second life was close to an end. slowly, the ends of his toes and fingers turned into yarns. it spread towards his whole body before slowly unraveling. instead of fighting for its life, the huntsman seemed to have accepted his fate. he spread his arms open and accepted the loss of his own life. but before he completely disappeared from his life, he looked at atlan. ''i know you can understand me now¡­and i just want to say¡­thank you¡­'' in his very last moments, the original huntsman''s memories returned to the puppet. despite dying because of him, the huntsman felt nothing but gratitude towards the strange human with strange powers. if it wasn''t for him, he would have been trapped under the white canzer''s spell, unable to live a life that was truly his. he would have to spend an eternity becoming nothing but her own plaything. he would have to go on without a consciousness of his own. he smiled as his head slowly unraveled into strings and yarns before disappearing in the air. atlan could no longer feel any power from the huntsman or the white canzer. once everything was over, he took a deep breath. the adrenaline from the fight still hadn''t worn off, but all he wanted to do now was to lay down and take a small break. throughout the whole fight, atlan had been on the edge. after all, he was fighting monsters several realms above his own level, all while he couldn''t use any of his powers out in the open. in hindsight, it was very fortunate for him that the white canzer killed the huntsman. if it weren''t for his death, then atlan wouldn''t have gained the ''fog of war'' lifeskill that was extremely useful in these situations. if it wasn''t for that power, he wouldn''t be able to show off his mutation without carmine and the rest of them finding out about it. s~ea??h the n??elfir§×.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. it also allowed him to have the element of surprise against the white canzer and the huntsman puppet. if it weren''t for that, he didn''t think he could have won against them. once everything was over, atlan released his grip on the ''fog of war'' lifeskill. slowly, the fog dispersed into the wind, leaving atlan all alone in the dark forest remedium. "it''s coming back! we''re finally getting a signal. i hope nothing bad happened to our star porter!" once the fog cleared, carmine and the rest of the spectators could finally see and hear everything inside the remedium. they half expected to see atlan being consumed by the white canzer, but thankfully, that wasn''t what they saw. instead, they only saw an empty forest. "what happened?! where''s the white canzer? where''s her puppet?" carmine was full of questions. from what they last saw, atlan was on the brink of being hunted by the specialist-level monsters. and the worst part about it was that he didn''t even run when they told him to. just then, carmine spotted something on the corner of the video feed. it seemed to be a glass tomb with the white canzer sleeping peacefully inside. carmine gasped loudly, getting the attention of the other operators in the room. once carmine zoomed in on the image, everyone finally saw the reason for his surprise. everyone''s jaws collectively dropped. somehow, the white canzer was vanquished! "how¡­how is this possible¡­" "the white canzer is done¡­it''s entombed¡­" "i can''t believe it¡­but how?!" then, the answer arrived in their thoughts. the only way this outcome could be achieved was if someone put the poisoned apple construct in the white canzer''s mouth. there was no way that the white canzer voluntarily consumed this dangerous material, which meant only one thing: atlan was the one who did it. that implication was perhaps even more incredulous. a student-level savior was somehow able to defeat a specialist-level canzer all by himself. and not only that, he was also a porter¡ªa job that was famous for having no fighting ability. "atlan¡­star porter¡­did you do this?" "yes. i got lucky and found the right timing." he couldn''t lie about it. after all, the glass coffin was right there for them to see. of course, he wasn''t going to tell them the truth on how he did it. "...ho¡­how¡­can you help me understand how a student-level porter like you is able to fight against a specialist-level puppet and reach the white canzer in one piece? i truly cannot understand." discover more stories at empire "i got lucky. as it turned out, the fog didn''t obscure the view only for us. the white canzer and the huntsman puppet was also affected by it too. and luckily, as i stumbled my way through the fog, i bumped into the white canzer right in front of me. we had a small fight, but i was able to win the tussle and put the poisoned apple in her mouth." "..." carmine and the rest of the people listening to atlan''s story couldn''t help but be awestruck at his luck. he must have been blessed by the goddess of luck herself for him to be this fortunate. even with how unbelievable his story was, they had no choice but to believe it. the alternative would be that atlan fought them off by himself, and that was simply impossible. so, they just accepted that atlan was simply lucky. Chapter 289 Masteries increased somehow, he was able to triumph against a specialist-level canzer using only his wits and his mutations.can i upgrade my mastery? after all, he won a battle using only his angel wings and nothing more. it should be enough of a victory for him to increase his mastery. he looked down at his soul system and focused on the white angel wings floating in the darkness of the space. he commanded a few lines of blue wisps in the collection of experience in his soul system and moved them over to the angel wings. the blue wisps revolved around the angel wings. and as he concentrated, his internal body heat allowed the blue wisps to melt into a liquid. and once it had turned into this state, the angel wing mutation was able to absorb them into its very dna. ¡ª (10-star) dimensional lightspeed angel wings ¡ª¡ª¡ª 15% mastery he was surprised that he could upgrade it to 15% mastery so fast. he had a 10% increase in mastery with this one session. he thought the limit would only be up to 10%. is it because i fought against the huntsman and the white canzer together? with this huge increase in mastery, atlan felt his whole body be filled with angel power. it allowed him to counteract the weight of the battle suit even better, allowing him more speed and control over his body movements. he felt like he could even run and jump now! this greatly improved his quality of life in the remedium. now that he could run at a relatively fast pace, he didn''t have to worry about being unable to escape from a dangerous canzer again. it took about ten thousand experience to upgrade his mastery, which was a lot for other people, but a paltry amount for someone like atlan. after all, he wasn''t in dire need of them any time soon. he had so much experience in his soul system than what he knew to do with. wait a minute¡­i didn''t just use my angel wings¡­i also used another mutation. he looked at the polyglot mutation in his soul system. because of this mutation, he was able to speak and communicate with the huntsman puppet and the white canzer, which gave them so much shock that he was able to grab ahold of their weakness and finish them off in one go. if he didn''t have that ability, he wouldn''t have even been able to approach the white canzer without being inundated with arrows by the puppet. the sapient canzer polyglot mutation was crucial in his triumph against those monsters. it was only natural to think that he could also start its mastery. he concentrated hard and commanded another group of blue wisps to surround this mutation. with the help of his intimate memory with lizzie, he was able to easily turn his blue wisps into their liquid form, which was quickly absorbed by the mutation. atlan felt a surge of power surrounding his head. unsurprisingly, it was concentrated near his mouth¡ªspecifically, his tongue. ¡ª (7-star) sapient canzer polyglot ¡ª¡ª¡ª 10% mastery now that he had mastery over this mutation, he could finally use it without manifesting it in reality. he could use its false mutation. as for now, he didn''t know how to use this power yet. after all, he would need to have a canzer right in front of him for him to test out this new power. for now, he didn''t want that to happen. after finishing his business, atlan took a deep breath and waited. a minute passed. and yet, nothing happened. he looked down at the entombed white canzer in the glass coffin. she didn''t look like she died, it looked like she simply fell asleep. "are you sure it''s over?" he asked carmine. "yes. now that the poisoned apple got into the white canzer''s system, it will forever be in a frozen state, never to wake up in this lifetime. the glass tomb is evidence of that. as for the other six puppets back at ninth and the rest of the team, they probably dissipated into nothingness just like how the huntsman puppet died¡ªif ninth hadn''t killed them yet at that point." "....." despite carmine''s assured voice, atlan couldn''t help but be wary of the situation. after all, it had already been a couple of minutes after the white canzer ''died'' and yet, atlan still saw no notification from his system. why am i not reaping the white canzer? is it because it''s not dead, just asleep? this revelation put a dent in atlan''s good mood. he thought he''d be able to get another good burst of rewards after personally killing a specialist-level canzer, but it seemed that it was too good to be true. sear?h the n?vel?ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. he didn''t kill the white canzer, he only immobilized her forever. "it''s not dead yet, is it?" he asked carmine. "technically, no. it is only taking a deep sleep for an eternity. but by all accounts, you can consider the canzer as good as dead. it no longer poses a threat to you, and the mission." "can''t i kill it right now? it''s defenseless." "...that''s not a good idea." "why?" atlan was confused. this seemed like the very best opportunity to get rid of a dangerous specialist canzer with very minimal risk. after all, the white canzer couldn''t do anything to him now. "...i didn''t want to tell you this, but there is a very very very small chance that something could happen and the white canzer could wake up again. the chances are minuscule, but it''s possible nonetheless. if you tried to kill the white canzer now, that probability would shoot up to a hundred percent. the white canzer will wake up. so, it''s better to leave it alone entombed in the glass coffin for now." atlan couldn''t believe it. "such a thing is possible?!" "yes." explore more stories with empire after a second, he calmed himself down. "the chances for it are very small, right?" but just as he said that, the whole remedium trembled. a dark shadow was suddenly cast from above atlan, forcing him to look up. up in the dark skies, he saw another creature clad in steel armor, riding a chitinous horse while floating in the skies. "....i take it all back. atlan, you may be the unluckiest person alive." Chapter 290 The Prince "i can''t believe this! the chances of encountering the huntsman are already slim to none! meanwhile, the chances of encountering the prince are even smaller than that.but the chances of encountering both in a single mission are nothing less than impossible! i can''t believe this is happening to you!" carmine and the rest of the operators back in the real world were experiencing a mental breakdown once they saw the image of the prince in the video feed. it was one thing if this happened during a normal mission, but it was a complete disaster since this extremely unfortunate thing happened to atlan, a student-level porter. they didn''t know how they were going to teach him how to defeat the prince before he touched down on the ground. after all, even ninth herself would have trouble doing this, much more a novice like atlan. "what is that?..." atlan looked up at the new monster in the skies. even though it was still high up in the air, he could still feel the immense pressure and aura that it was emanating from the ground. if the huntsman''s powers were akin to a wild beast hiding in the bushes, then this new monster''s powers were like a lion proudly roaring at the jungle and proclaiming his majesty through the whole kingdom. this was another specialist-level canzer. "that is the prince¡­" carmine tried to keep his voice calm, but his nervousness leaked out into his intonation. it was clear that even carmine didn''t feel confident about atlan surviving this encounter. "who''s the prince?" "the prince is, as you guessed, a prince. he is the original co-conspirator of the white canzer." atlan was surprised. "he helped the white canzer kill the king and the princess? why?" "yes. the prince was the one who helped the white canzer infiltrate the royal chambers by distracting the security guards. as a knight of the royal order, he was able to procure an excuse and leave no security during the night of the crime. as for why he would do this, the reason was simple. he was infatuated with the white canzer. she promised him her hand in marriage, as well as becoming the new king after the white canzer took control of the royal kingdom." atlan looked up at the prince. there was no wonder why he wore full metal armor and was riding a royal steed. "why is it here?" "he has come for the white canzer." just as carmine said that, atlan saw the prince suddenly disappear from his view. it was so fast that atlan couldn''t even see a blur in his vision. one second he was there, and the next he was gone. atlan was reminded once again. this was the full strength of a specialist-level canzer. the prince was nothing like the huntsman and the white canzer. those two canzers were very strong on their own powers, like hunting and conjuring puppets out of nowhere. but even then, those two canzers were physically weak. their strength was not indicative of what a specialist-level canzer usually had. and now, atlan experienced it himself. continue reading on empire if the prince charged at atlan, there was no way he could dodge. the assault would have happened even before atlan could register it in his brain. that was the true difference between a student and a specialist. all the pride in his strength after defeating the white canzer all by himself went out the window. he felt like an ant again. he felt a burst of air hit his face. when he looked down, the prince was already right in front of him. he had already dismounted his chitinous horse and stood on his own two feet. he was only a few meters away from atlan. if atlan couldn''t see his chitinous skin peeking out from his armor, then atlan would have thought he was looking at a human knight. but atlan knew that the prince had all the power to destroy a student savior like him with just one move. fortunately, the canzer didn''t look at atlan. it looked like he didn''t even register in the monster''s mind. sear?h the ¦Çov§×lfire .net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. it only looked at the white canzer in the glass coffin. the prince''s face was obscured by his helmet, but atlan could see a tinge of sadness and grief in the canzer''s eyes the moment it looked at the white canzer sleeping peacefully. ''of forgive me, my princess, for i was too late. if only i could sacrifice myself and take the time back to when you were awake, then i would gladly do so. i blame my ears for not hearing your call for help even before you uttered them.'' the prince kneeled and caressed the glass coffin. meanwhile, atlan held his breath as he looked at the prince. he was only a few moments away from activating his angel wings and running away as fast as possible if he saw any sign of the prince being hostile. "...what should i do¡­" whispered atlan to his battle suit. "...i don''t think you can do anything¡­" carmine''s words were not the least bit comforting. then, the prince suddenly stood up and opened the glass coffin with his own hands. "...should i stop him?..." "...i don''t think you should try¡­i think you should run away now and seek protection with your team. you still have time." the prince looked over at the beauty of the white canzer and couldn''t help but be emotional. it regretted that it could not protect the white canzer despite its promise to her. surprisingly, atlan saw drops of tears flow from the prince''s eyes towards the white canzer''s peaceful sleep. they magically got absorbed by her white chitin. ''let me kiss you one more time,'' the prince said. it took off its helmet, showing its chitinous face which was very similar to that of the white canzer. it puckered its mouth and moved its head towards her lips. atlan knew something bad was about to happen and immediately tried to dive toward the prince in an attempt to separate the two. but an invisible force prevented him from moving any closer. he had to watch as the prince kissed the white canzer in her sleep. suddenly, a huge force emanated from the two that sent atlan flying outwards into the dark forest. Chapter 291 True loves kiss atlan skidded on the muddy ground about 30 meters away from the prince and the white canzer''s glass coffin.discover hidden tales at empire the shockwave was too strong for atlan to overcome. he failed to prevent the prince from kissing the white canzer. once the wind died down from the blast, atlan looked in front of him. the prince, after kissing the white canzer, simply kneeled right next to her coffin and sobbed quietly. he was in grief. "what happens now?" "...unfortunately¡­" carmine didn''t have to continue his words. atlan saw the result of that kiss with his very own eyes. the very peaceful sleep of the white canzer was suddenly interrupted as one of her chitinous fingers twitched. this small movement was not by atlan. "there''s no way, right?" the white canzer, who was supposed to have been vanquished by atlan by putting the poisoned apple in her mouth, suddenly opened her eyes and sat up on her glass coffin and as incredulous as it sounded, the white canzer looked even more whiter than before. it was as if that brief sleep only gave her nothing but a beauty regimen rather than a punishment. "yes¡­the only way for the white canzer to awaken from her eternal slumber is through a kiss from the prince. i never told you this because i didn''t think i needed to. i shouldn''t have underestimated your bad luck." carmine thought that using the poisoned apple would have been enough to deal with the white canzer. unfortunately, he was wrong. if he knew this would happen, he wouldn''t have made atlan go off on his own and away from ninth and the team. ''hrnggg!'' the white canzer stretched her arms as if she had just awakened from a very good sleep. the prince, seeing this miracle unfold in front of his very eyes, erupted in a joyful shout. ''my princess! you''re alive! i knew it. only a true love''s kiss could overcome death''s grip!'' the prince hugged the white canzer wholeheartedly, but he didn''t see that the white canzer hated being touched. after he let her go and looked her in the eyes, the white canzer changed her expression into one of loving jubilance. ''yes. you have saved me, my prince, my love. if it weren''t for you, then i don''t think i would have survived. you have done the world a great service, after all, you have saved them from being deprived of my beauty!'' the prince took the white canzer''s hands and kissed them. ''anything for you, my love.'' s§×arch* the novel(f~)ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. the white canzer smiled. ''well, then¡­i suggest you kill the human that tried to take me away from you.'' she looked at atlan and flashed a devious smile. she wasn''t mad that he tried to kill her. no, she was more mad about the fact that atlan said that the queen was much more beautiful than her. for the white canzer, saying those words were even more of a crime than murder. the prince didn''t even look at atlan''s direction. from his perspective, the human wasn''t even a problem. ''why should we waste our time with the human? we should immediately leave and start a kingdom of our own!'' the white canzer gritted her teeth. she liked the fact that the prince was infatuated with her, but sometimes, it was too much. his love was overbearing to the point that he wouldn''t completely acquiesce to her words. ''please? i don''t want to feel fear and paranoia in our paradise. if he is left alive, then i will always keep a watch over my shoulder. i won''t be able to eat, i won''t be able to sleep, and most of all, i won''t be able to make love to you.'' the prince sighed. he didn''t want to waste any more time on a worthless human, but her words were too persuasive. ''fine, my princess. i won''t be long.'' atlan, fearing the worst, immediately activated the ''fog of war'' lifeskill and shrouded himself in the gray smoke. the prince felt himself being surrounded by the smoke, preventing him from seeing the white canzer even though they were only a few feet away from each other. ''how dare you try to separate me from my princess?!'' the prince stomped the ground, and atlan swore that he heard a lion''s roar accompany his move. suddenly, the gray smoke that tried to confuse the prince was immediately dispersed. it allowed him to finally see the white canzer again. her beauty made him completely distracted, even forgetting the fact that he was facing atlan. seeing a chance, atlan briefly let go of the fog of war lifeskill and used his sniper lifeskill: apocalyptic hellfire. one of the arrows left over from the huntsman fight was left lying on the ground. he immediately picked it up and used it as his ammo. picking up his slingshot hanging from his waist, he created a makeshift bow. although the power and accuracy were not comparable to a bow, it didn''t matter. as long as atlan could use it as ammo, then his apocalyptic hellfire lifeskill could be used. immediately, bluish-green fire surrounded the arrow notched on the slingshot. he stretched the rubber band to its maximum length and aimed it at the prince at the other end of the dispersing fog. since he could only use one lifeskill at one time, he had to get this shot off before the fog of war dispersed. twang! the arrow flew forward, but it was not traveling in a straight line. it tumbled and twisted in random ways due to the incompatibility of the arrow with the slingshot. but thankfully, the arrow didn''t matter. it was simply a vessel for the apocalyptic hellfire. a bluish-green line of fire appeared and headed straight for the prince''s chest. the specialist canzer saw the attack but chose not to dodge the arrow. boom! the apocalyptic hellfire exploded, creating a wall of fire that erupted on the prince''s entire body. but after a few seconds, the fire died down. the prince stood tall with nothing but a small dark spot in his chest where the arrow landed. and just as it was about to scoff at atlan''s attack, it suddenly felt a threatening aura come out of the fog. above the prince''s head, a golden cloud appeared, with the power of the angels rumbling inside. Chapter 292 Princes weakness atlan knew that his apocalyptic hellfire would do nothing to the specialist-level canzer. even if it was rated in the sss class, it could not bridge the gap between their strength.that meant that all of his lifeskills would bring about the same paltry effect, except for one. there was one lifeskill in his soul system that would make even the strongest canzers consider him as a threat, and that was his sss class mage: cherubic retribution. even though it was only in the student realm for now, the angel power hidden inside this power was nothing to scoff at. if atlan used it properly, he could probably injure the prince for a good amount of damage. the problem with this lifeskill was that it needed a long time to activate, and he needed his target to stay still for a few seconds. so, to fulfill the activation of this lifeskill, he lulled the prince into a false sense of security by attacking him with the apocalyptic hellfire lifeskill. the prince accurately judged that the arrow would do nothing against its tough chitin and stayed still. that gave atlan enough time to focus on the prince and activate the lifeskill. as soon as he did, a golden cloud made out of angel power manifested above the prince''s head. it was instantaneous and caught even the prince off guard. at first, the prince did not feel the need to move away from the cloud. it was as weak as the arrow atlan threw at him a few moments ago. but then, it felt a different kind of power inside the cloud. it was subtle and weak, but the prince was sure that there was a trace of angel power hidden inside it that was ready to strike him at any time. crackle! a golden lightning struck down on the prince. surprisingly, it was able to bypass its full steel armor and affect its inner chitin, creating microscopic cracks that injured the prince. ''gagh!'' it immediately moved away from the cloud, afraid that a second lightning would strike him again. from atlan''s perspective, the prince arrived ten meters away from his original position in an instant. his chitin sizzled. the prince looked down and saw an incredulous sight. he was injured! the human, who it deemed to be the weakest being it had ever seen in its life, actually hid something so powerful. it made him reevaluate atlan''s threat level. the presence of angel power gave the prince a good fright. even though it couldn''t see any sign of the angel anywhere, just the prospect of one surviving its extinction and protecting this one human made the prince reconsider his decision to kill atlan. find more to read at empire what if the angel was hiding and was only waiting for the right moment to strike? the prince couldn''t help but wonder. meanwhile, atlan gritted his teeth as he looked at the prince in the distance. he could see the cracks in its chitin start to heal and mend together. it would only take a few more moments until he was fully healed. i can''t fight this guy head-on. i can''t use the cherubic retribution so soon. it''s already wary of it. "carmine, do you have any information on this guy? what''s his weakness?" "...." atlan forgot that carmine couldn''t see or hear anything while his fog of war was activated. thankfully, since he used his other lifeskills, the fog soon dissipated and allowed carmine to take a look at the situation. s§×ar?h the n?velfire(.)net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "thank the gods we''re back! sorry, atlan. we still can''t figure out why the video feed keeps getting interrupted." "it''s fine. it''s not your fault. i just need to know if the prince has any kind of weakness that i can exploit." "yes. the prince''s weakness is the white canzer itself. it loves her so much that it can''t think about anything else. if you''re able to take advantage of that vulnerability, you can turn the tides around. the usual way to do this is to pit the huntsman and the prince against each other. his jealousy will lead him to fight the huntsman, which will lead to his demise. but since the huntsman is dead, you''ll have to find another way." atlan thought for a second. judging from what he heard and witnessed with the prince, he could surmise that the canzer was quite jealous and overprotective of the white canzer. he had to find a way to exploit that. ''princess, oh there you are! i can''t be without you for even a second!'' the prince immediately ran towards the white canzer and embraced her ever so tightly. just then, atlan suddenly had an idea. he immediately activated his fog of war lifeskill, spreading gray smoke from out of his body and into the dark woods. soon, the white canzer and the prince were once again separated by the fog. it was so thick that it was able to disorient the both of them and they unknowingly stumbled away from each other. ''princess? where are you?'' the prince raised his armored leg, ready to stomp down and get rid of the fog separating him and his princess. but then, a soft familiar voice rang out in the fog. ''i''m here, prince. don''t destroy the fog. didn''t i tell you that the fog is made by the huntsman? are you so bad that you can''t compete against him? a true knight would fight even with the disadvantage of the fog, right? why don''t you prove that you are worthy.'' the prince heard the white canzer''s voice and stopped in his tracks. ''i will do as you say, princess.'' meanwhile, atlan smiled as he mouthed a silent response. ''that''s good.'' his silent voice transmitted directly over to the prince''s head and made it seem like it was the white canzer''s voice. this was the false mutation of his sapient canzer polyglot mutation. it allowed him to speak to canzers without actually speaking to them. he could telepathically communicate with them, and give them the illusion that it was someone familiar talking to them. Chapter 293 Queen of manipulation ''my anger burns at the mere mention of that bastard huntsman. and the fact that his presence is here with us makes me want to destroy everything inside this dark forest into smithereens.but if what you desire is for me to triumph against the human despite the fog, then that is what i shall do. i shall prove to you and everything else in this world that no one is more suitable to be your lover than me.'' the prince never would have thought that he was talking to none other than atlan. he knew that the prince''s weakness was his infatuation with the white canzer, so he used that to his advantage. the prince was so enamored with the white canzer that it blindly believed her words. after all, he would have never thought that a mere human would be able to speak their language, much more speak like the white canzer. ''you''ll do anything for me, right?'' ''yes, princess. just say the word,'' replied the prince. atlan smiled as he looked beyond the fog. ''then kill yourself. that is the only way we''ll be together. our soul shall be bonded beyond death so that none could tear us apart.'' s~ea??h the n??el fire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. this was a risky move. he didn''t know if the prince was smart enough to notice that something weird was happening with the white canzer. if it sensed something wrong, then it could immediately attack him for impersonating the white canzer. he was sure that the prince wouldn''t spare him because of that crime. despite the risks, atlan still decided that it was worth it. he couldn''t fight the prince even if he wanted to. he was truly too weak to fight against a specialist-level canzer with no discernible physical weaknesses that he could exploit. ''....'' atlan gulped. the prince''s pause was not a good sign. but thankfully, it said, ''anything for you, my love. i shall meet you on the other side of death.'' the prince raised both his hands and started to choke himself to death. there was no hesitation with his movements as if he didn''t care about life or death. he only cared about fulfilling the white canzer''s words. its full body metal armor around its neck started to bend and crackle from his powers. atlan couldn''t kill the prince himself, but he could trick it to kill itself. and it seemed to have worked. meanwhile, the white canzer looked around the fog and couldn''t hear or see any sign of the prince anywhere. after a few seconds, she started to sense something weird. usually, the prince couldn''t stand being away from her for even a second. yet, even with its immense power, the prince had not destroyed the fog that obscured their vision of each other. the prince should have returned to her side already, presenting the human''s head as a prize. yet that did not happen. there was only silence among the fog. then, she started to wonder. the human may have seemed weak enough to be trampled with one foot, but he seemed to be blessed with strange powers¡ªespecially that of the supposed extinct angels. not only that, the human was somehow able to speak their language. that was perhaps the most surprising part of the human. she didn''t warn the prince about it because she believed that even with the element of surprise, the human couldn''t even give one scratch on his full metal armor. but what if somehow, the human was able to trick the prince? the white canzer, famous for being the queen of lies, also had another title: she was also called the queen of manipulation. she had the uncanny ability to manipulate everyone to do her bidding. she manipulated the huntsman into sparing her, she manipulated the prince into showing his loyalty to her, and she manipulated the seven puppets to die for her. therefore, she had a keen sense regarding manipulation. somehow, she was able to sense that the prince was being tricked by the human! she felt her grasp on the prince loosen as if someone else had gotten his reigns. she couldn''t let that happen. no one else was allowed to manipulate the prince other than her. she immediately braved the fog, hoping to find the prince and retake control of his psyche. meanwhile, atlan looked at the prince and saw that it was slowly losing its color from asphyxiation. he just needed a few more minutes before the prince killed himself. he just had to make sure that the white canzer didn''t get in his way. but when he looked around, he suddenly saw that the white canzer was gone from her original spot. instead, she had suddenly appeared right in front of him. ''human! you will pay for this!'' the white canzer screamed. atlan stepped back, hoping to lead her further away from the prince. "carmine, how am i supposed to deal with her? can i use the poisoned apple again?" "unfortunately, no. the only way you can kill her is to kill her." "that''s easy, right? with no puppet by her side, she is as weak as a student-level canzer." "yes¡­but only in the real world. listen closely, atlan. you''ll be transported to her dream world, and you''ll have to find her weakness. it''s something she treasures deeply and keeps to herself all the time¡ª" "what do you mean¡ª" atlan didn''t know what happened, but when he looked around him, he could no longer see the fog surrounding the dark forest. he wasn''t even in the dark forest anymore. he looked to be transported into a world where the roads were inlaid with pink glitters, with blades of grass replaced by pink ribbons, and rabbits were jumping around everywhere. read new adventures at empire "where am i?" atlan looked down and hoped to get some insight from carmine, but he was surprised to see that his bulky battle suit was gone! he wore his original battle suit, the one that didn''t have chitin armor and didn''t weigh thousands of tons. then, he remembered carmine''s words. "am i in the white canzer''s dream?" Chapter 294 Dreamscape atlan didn''t know how, but the white canzer was somehow able to pull him into her dream spell. she must have activated it as soon as she laid his eyes on him.everything in this world was pretty on the outside. it looked like something that a narcissistic princess like the white canzer would want in a dream. everything was colored in pink and glitter. there wasn''t any part of this dream world that didn''t conform to the white canzer''s insane beauty standards¡ªexcept for atlan. his black battle suit made him stand out. "who are you?" the white canzer floated down from the cotton candy clouds and faced atlan with a very elegant dress. but that wasn''t the strangest thing about her. the white canzer''s skin was white as snow and as smooth as silk. but it wasn''t made out of chitin. it was more human! and her face wasn''t monstrous. it conformed to the beauty standards that would make even the most beautiful woman in the world green with envy. if atlan didn''t know any better, then he would have thought that the white canzer was a normal woman. "you''re the white canzer¡­how?" she looked at her skin and smiled. "do you like it? you are a guest here in my dream world. it is only natural for me to accommodate you by turning myself into something that you would appreciate." the white canzer moved closer to atlan, hoping that her human beauty would bring his guard down. find adventures at empire but atlan wasn''t tricked. he backed away from her with cautious eyes. "you''re not human. you''re a monster." she scoffed at his hypocrisy. " i''m a monster? how about you? not only do you have the power of the angels and their wings, but you can also talk and speak like us! i can only act like a human here in the dream world, but you can act like a canzer even in the real world. so tell me, who''s more of a monster between us? and don''t think i haven''t noticed the fact that the fog mysteriously works in your favor. it''s as if you can command it as well as the huntsman." atlan didn''t answer. he kept his guard up while thinking of a way to kill her and get out of the dream spell as soon as possible. he didn''t know if time was passing in the real world. if so, then his body was in a very vulnerable position with no defense. "get me out of here." "why the rush? the party hasn''t started yet." the white canzer then raised her hands, and the whole dream world trembled. atlan suddenly felt different kinds of powers emerge from out of nowhere and converge on his location. unfortunately, these powers weren''t entirely unfamiliar. he felt these before. suddenly, the surrounding pink ground exploded from underground as seven distinct creatures tunneled out. "that''s¡­" "yes! welcome, my puppets! after a long time, we have finally reunited!" the seven puppets showed themselves to atlan. and just like the white canzer, they no longer had chitinous bodies. instead, they had human skins and faces. coupled with their clothes, anyone would have mistaken them for a human. these seven puppets had a short and stocky nature. if they were suddenly plopped down in the masamune district, then they wouldn''t feel like an outsider at all. they would fit right in. that was because the puppets were dwarves in this dream world. "i''m happy! i''m happy!" said happy. "zzzzzz. pop! huh?...zzzzzz," said sleepy. "hey¡­hey guys¡­nice¡­.nice to see you again¡­." bashful hid himself amongst the group. "hehehe¡­anyone wants a hit?" dopey smoked on his pipe. "hachoo!" sneezy sneezed. sear?h the n?velfire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "urgh! will everyone shut up? my ear hurts." grumpy, as usual, was grumpy. "everyone, listen up. our princess summoned us for a reason, so let''s do our job, shall we?" doc reigned in the rest of the puppets. atlan looked at the seven puppets and couldn''t help but feel overwhelmed. he wasn''t like ninth, who had the power of a domain to help her fight against six puppets at the same time. and the worst part about it was that he didn''t have any chitinous armor protecting him. "how is this possible?" he thought that once the white canzer consumed the poisoned apple, she couldn''t summon the puppets again. "this is my dream world! of course, i can summon my puppets with me. it''s the only place where i can summon them for now." this was the very reason why the white canzer dragged atlan to her dream world. it was the only place where she could kill him. "puppets! you know what to do. kill him!" the seven puppets, each one billowing with different kinds of powers, set their sights on atlan. just by their sheer numbers, atlan had no chance of ever dodging the attacks. happy created a smile beam that would force atlan to literally laugh to death. sleepy manifested the letters ''zzzz'' which would put him into an eternal sleep. each of their attacks had attributes that matched their names. but just as the attacks were about to hit, atlan suddenly disappeared from their view. not only that, his disappearance was accommodated with a very strong presence that threatened the puppets. atlan appeared in the air above the puppets. he had his angel wings behind him. he pointed his palm down at the puppets and muttered something under his breath. suddenly, a black web sprouted out and enveloped the group. the webs stuck to the puppet''s skin and refused to let go. then, boom! the black webs exploded, resulting in 2nd-degree burns and charred skin to the seven puppets. and that wasn''t all. atlan took out a pink rock he found on the ground. with one giant swing, he threw the rock down to the group, creating a bluish-green line of fire that instantaneously arrived in the air. the puppets couldn''t even utter a single cry as a huge wall of bluish-green fire exploded from where the rock landed. in just two seconds, atlan activated two of his lifeskills. now that he was in the dream world, he was free to use his lifeskills any time he wanted. Chapter 295 Ugly cold "what¡ªwhat is this?!" explore more adventures at empirethe white canzer couldn''t help but exclaim once she saw the human manifest two different kinds of powers in quick succession. it was common knowledge that humans only had one or two powers in their arsenal. they weren''t like canzers who had multiple powers. not only that, the human''s powers were somehow able to damage her puppets even in this dreamscape. each of the puppets suffered severe burns from the explosions. atlan''s exploding chitinous webs and his apocalyptic hellfire were enough to create intense damage to the dwarfs. "i knew it¡­these puppets don''t have the same power they had in the real world." the white canzer gritted her teeth. she had hoped that atlan would get overwhelmed by the appearance of the dwarves and that he would panic and flee for his life. he shouldn''t have known that the puppet''s powers were extremely limited in this dreamscape. but somehow, he was able to sense it. it was all thanks to his thermal vision lifeskill. he immediately noticed that their internal body heat was nothing compared to the ones he saw in the real world. if he were to compare it, then the dwarves were like student-level canzers compared to the puppets, who were in the specialist realm. therefore, these monsters were of no trouble for atlan. now that he could use all of his lifeskills, there was no way that the dwarves could overpower him. they finally succumbed to their burns and fell to the ground. they couldn''t take the burns and damage that atlan''s lifeskill inflicted upon them. "tch! don''t think that''s the end of my wrath! this is my dream, and i can control it anyway i want!" she conjured up multiple copies of the dwarves. each seven personalities had five different clones, each one having the same power as the last one. even though these dwarves were weak physically, their numbers were endless. the white canzer could manifest as many of them in her dream as possible. she was going to tire atlan out. the hundreds of dwarves crowded him on all sides. each of them vomited out their different powers, even inflicting them upon each other. but they didn''t care. they were going to respawn into more clones either way. atlan''s angel wings flapped, allowing him to escape into the air. the dwarves tried to catch up to him, but his speed was far too fast for them to even grasp his clothes. "let''s see if you can escape a thousand, a hundred thousand, and even a million of my dwarves!" the white canzer continued to create dwarf after dwarf, quickly multiplying their numbers into the millions. it got so bad that the entire dreamscape was entirely replaced by a sea of dwarves squished upon each other. they had no other thought other than to catch the human up in the air. even as they suffocated from the overpopulation, they did not mind and continued to claw their way upwards, creating a tall mound that tried to reach up to the lone human. even if he used his apocalyptic hellfire a thousand times, he didn''t think he could get rid of the dwarves below him. there''s no other choice. i''ll have to use my trump card. he reached down deep into his soul system and activated his berserker lifeskill: bloodline transformation. slowly, his whole body started to rot. his skin, which was already pale, turned even paler until black spots started to spread out into his body. slowly, decay consumed his entire being. but instead of killing him, this decay only served to make him stronger. his body became even sturdier, surpassing even that of his sss class physique. his head turned into nothing but a skull, with bits of skin still hanging on his cheeks. his eyes were replaced with nothing but a small red ember, floating into the deep, dark crevice on his skull. the white canzer couldn''t help but shudder at his appearance. even though he had no eyes, she could feel his gaze pierce right towards her with malice. atlan had now become the very opposite of what the white canzer desired. she wanted beauty in everything, especially herself. she never cared for ugly things as long as she, herself, was beautiful. but somehow, seeing the hideous, decayed face of atlan made her feel as if the ugliness was spreading towards her. she felt that if she stared at his skull any longer, then her whole face would also decay like him. this was her worst nightmare. "kyaaa!!!!" she screamed and covered her eyes. she didn''t even care about what happened to her dwarves. atlan, with his bloodline transformation, emitted a very cold presence. his whole skeleton body went up in smoke, not because of a fire, but because of how cold his body was. this cold started to spread until even the dwarves could feel their blood freeze and crack. the top of the mound that tried so desperately to try and reach for atlan immediately turned into a frozen block of ice. this continued to spread downwards, until the sea of dwarves turned into nothing more than a frozen block of ice, with the horrified expressions of the dwarves forever entombed on the glacier. the white canzer, frozen in fear, wasn''t in the right mental state to create more clones of the dwarves. this was a moment of weakness that atlan didn''t let go. he let go of his transformation and activated his other lifeskill. he waited for a few seconds as he focused on his target. thankfully, the white canzer stood in place and didn''t move a single inch. she was too frightened at atlan''s transformation and didn''t want to see his face, even if it meant that she would never open her eyes ever again. finally, atlan found the ability to activate his lifeskill: cherubic retribution. s§×arch* the n?vel_fire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. a golden cloud appeared above the white canzer. she wasn''t like the prince who had tremendous amounts of defense. she was feeble. atlan reckoned that even this student-level lifeskill could kill her in one shot, if not critically injure her. Chapter 296 Important dress the cloud rumbled and sent out a golden lightning that slithered through the air.the presence of this threatening angel power made the white canzer break out of her stupor. her eyes glimmered into one of fear as she immediately used her powers in the dream world to try and get out of this lightning. even though she could control everything in this dreamscape, she could not turn back time. the lightning was far too fast for her to move away from. atlan knew that the moment he was able to target the white canzer, she had no way of dodging his attack. but as he watched everything unfold from afar, he suddenly saw something incredulous. the white canzer glowed into a pink light as she used her powers. suddenly, her pink dress disappeared from her own body and reappeared a hundred meters away from her original location. atlan thought that this was a trick. he thought that she would somehow be able to move away from the lightning through her powers in the dreamscape. s~ea??h the nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. but that did not happen. the golden lightning pierced through the white canzer''s body just as atlan planned. her white skin sizzled before turning into mere particles that disappeared into the air. just like that, the white canzer died¡ªat least, for a moment. "...haha¡­hahahaha¡­i can revive for as long as i want in this dream¡­you cannot kill me, while i can kill you." the white canzer reappeared back from where she disappeared. but instead of feeling despair like the white canzer wanted him to, atlan only felt confusion. the white canzer''s actions were completely illogical. when the golden lightning from his cherubic retribution lifeskill was about to hit the white canzer, he thought that she would try to get out of harm''s way. but she didn''t do that. inexplicably, she only sent out of her pink dress away from her and let her own body get blasted into smithereens. it was as if the dress was even more important than her own body. atlan looked at the newly reincarnated white canzer and observed that she was not wearing her pink dress. he looked to the side and saw the original clothing still a hundred meters away from her. is there something special about that dress? that was the only conclusion he could come up with. after all, the white canzer wouldn''t have done all that effort if it knew that it could have revived itself just a few seconds later. this only meant that the dress was not something that she could replicate or clone. he kept his eyes on the dress sprawled on the ice. he focused on it, trying to see if there was something special hidden within it. but since he was too far away, he couldn''t see anything special. he had to get closer and have it in his hands. unfortunately, the white canzer noticed his burning gaze on her dress. she noticed it almost immediately because she was keeping an eye on the dress as well. she thought that atlan wouldn''t notice it, but she seemed to have underestimated his intellect. explore more stories at empire the two of them made eye contact. and without waiting for another second, the white canzer immediately ran towards the dress hoping that she would be able to get it before he did. she didn''t want anyone to get a hold of that. she made use of her control of the dreamscape and created a portal that directly led to the dress. she stepped foot on the portal and was just one step away from the dress. all she had to do now was to bend down and take the dress into her hands. but before she could, she suddenly felt something restrict her whole body. there was some kind of black web that trapped her in place. even worse was the fact that there were thorns and spikes all over the webbing, giving her cuts all over her blemish-free skin. just as she was about to get out of the web, it suddenly exploded into a fire. this fire spread outwards, melting a bit of the glacier below them, and most importantly, it spread towards the dress and incinerated it into mere ashes. the white canzer had burns all over her skin, turning her beautiful body into something hideous. but she didn''t care. the dress was far too important. underneath the ashes of the dress, there was something that shimmered below. it was as small and could perfectly fit into the white canzer''s hands as if it was made specifically for her. the white canzer tried to reach for the object but was horrified to see atlan''s hands get to the object first. atlan wiped the ashes off the object. and as soon as he did, he saw his appearance reflected off the object. surprisingly, this strange object was a hand mirror. it was something that a narcissistic, egoistic, and shallow being like the white canzer would usually carry. "give that to me!" she said in a hurry. but once she realized her angry tone, she quickly changed it into one of seduction. "hey, if you return that to me, i can do anything you want. as long as you give that back, we will no longer attack you. you know that i can make the prince do anything, right? i can ask him to spare you and your team''s life!" atlan looked at the hand mirror in his hands. it was made out of wood, with intricate golden lining and royal embellishments. even though it looked precious, it was not too important for the white canzer to act like this. there was something with the hand mirror. he was sure of it. "just give me the mirror and i''ll make sure that no other canzer will target you. just give me that!" just then, carmine''s words came crashing back to atlan''s mind. just before he was transported to the dreamscape, carmine told him something. "...you''ll have to find her weakness. it''s something she treasures deeply and keeps to herself all the time¡ª" atlan held the mirror in his hands. is this the white canzer''s weakness? Chapter 297 Mirror, mirror "give that back to me!" screamed the white canzer, becoming increasingly even more feral. no matter how much she tried to control her face to seem attractive to atlan, she could not hide the panic in her eyebrows.atlan held the mirror in his hands. no matter how much he looked at it, he could not see any sign of magical powers inside it. even when he used his thermal vision, there seemed to be nothing special with this mirror; it was an ordinary object. "what is this?" he asked the white canzer. "it''s¡ªit''s nothing! i just need the mirror so that i can look at myself all the time!" she said. but atlan wasn''t convinced. throughout all this time, even when the white canzer was obsessing with her looks, she never once took out her hand mirror from her dress and looked at herself. not only that, she would rather experience death from his cherubic retribution rather than let this hand mirror get affected by it. he was sure that this mirror was the white canzer''s weakness. he just wasn''t sure what to do with it. "this is your weakness, isn''t it?" atlan asked directly. the white canzer tried to hide her grasp, but her surprised expression betrayed her true emotions. it was clear as day that the mirror truly was her weakness. "please give it back. i''ll do anything you want, just return it to me," she pleaded, but atlan liked the fact that he held her fate in his hands. "what is your weakness? if you tell me the truth, then i will return it to you and we can part ways forever." the white canzer looked atlan in the eyes, trying to judge if his words were true. but all she could see was a stone-cold face that showed no indication of his true thoughts. she knew that atlan was not the type of human that she could seduce. even though her body was now that of a human, atlan showed no sign of being attracted to her. this meant that she could not manipulate him like she did the others. atlan could see the conflict in the white canzer''s eyes. she was trying to decide if she should tell the truth, or obfuscate it. "okay! okay! i''ll tell the truth. that mirror is deeply precious to me. it is the only object that ties me to my true lineage. you do not know this, but i was a bastard princess. my mother was not the original queen and was born as a pauper, which meant that i was not a pureblooded royal. the rest of the court hated me because of me, even the king and my step-sister. they tormented me and made my life a living hell. they even killed my mother in front of my arms! my mother gave me that mirror as she died in my hands. she told me to rule the kingdom with my beauty. and to do that, she cast a spell on me. i must face a mirror and recite the words: mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? as long as i say those words, then my transcending beauty will never fade. this will allow me to conquer the cruel kingdom and turn it into something beautiful. i will get rid of everything corrupt, cruel, and discriminatory!" atlan listened to the white canzer''s words. he took everything she said with a grain of salt. after all, she didn''t have a great track record about telling the truth. "so, according to your story, this mirror isn''t anything special. as long as you face a mirror and recite those words, you can keep your beauty?'' the white canzer nodded profusely. she moved closer to atlan and kneeled in front of him. "that is the truth, sir human. the reason why i want that mirror returned to me is because it is a reminder of my past. you''re not so cruel as to deprive me of that, are you?" atlan looked at the mirror in his hands. just like she said, it didn''t have anything special hidden inside it, no matter how much he inspected it. and if the white canzer was telling the truth, then atlan was inclined to return the mirror to her. but of course, atlan didn''t believe her lies for a single second. wait a minute¡­this is not the first time i held a canzer''s weakness, have i? atlan thought back to the time when he held the boar''s heart in his hands. that object was nothing special too, yet it was able to prevent the huntsman from chasing after atlan. could this be the same thing? if the two of them were the same thing, then that only meant one thing. the white canzer was also running away from someone. and that mirror prevented them from hunting her down. atlan finally made a decision. "you should have just told me the truth. i would have stuck to my word." he raised the mirror in the air and chucked it down to the ground. the white canzer''s world seemed to have broken down into pieces as soon as the mirror shattered into the ice. enjoy new stories from empire she couldn''t believe it. "wh¡­what¡­what have you done?!" she shrieked at atlan. "do you know what you''ve unleashed into the world?! i''m dead¡­you''re dead¡­we''re all dead, you hear me?" she started pacing back and forth, biting her nails at the inevitable that was about to happen. she slapped her head multiple times, creating cuts on her cheeks. but even that wasn''t enough. she kneeled on the ground and knocked her head on the ice until blood poured out into a pool below her. "get me out of this dream!" she screamed. crash! finally, the whole world cracked and shattered into a million pieces. atlan saw the whole dreamscape disappear, finally showing the real world around him. he looked forward and saw the white canzer, who was back to her chitinous body, jump into the arms of the prince. ''what''s wrong?'' he asked. ''she''s coming!'' s§×arch* the n?vel?ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 298 Pursued the mere mention of ''her'' sent a shiver down the prince''s spine. even he, a specialist-level canzer who was no slouch when it came to strength, felt fear from the prospect of ''her'' coming towards them.atlan slowly came to his senses as he came back to the real world. he immediately felt the immense weight of his battle suit weighing him down again. "atlan, are you back?!" carmine''s worried voice transmitted through the speaker. "yeah. i''m back. what happened?" "you were just standing still. that''s what happens when you enter the dreamscape of the white canzer. how did you get out?" atlan would have liked more to discuss how he outsmarted the white canzer, but he was immediately alerted by the two canzer''s worrying conversation. "carmine. in the dream, i saw a hand mirror. is that the white canzer''s weakness?" "yes! i''m very surprised you were able to figure it out. for some reason, the white canzer is very sensitive with her hand mirror. we found out that you can use it as blackmail and be able to escape from her grasp in exchange for the mirror." "i broke it." carmine went silent. even through all the research they did about the white canzer, no one was able to obtain the mirror in their hands. other missions regarding the white canzer would always end up with the saviors targeting the hand mirror, which was enough of a deterrent for them to escape her grasp. no one was able to get a hold of that mirror, so no one knew why it was so important to the white canzer. "you¡­you broke it?!" "yes. don''t worry, i know what i''m doing." carmine wasn''t that confident with atlan''s words. even as a qualified specialist operator who was the most knowledgeable about canzers, didn''t know what would happen once the mirror broke. "how would you know?" he figured it out through the small pieces of facts that he heard throughout the fight. since he could hear the white canzer''s conversations, he was able to supplement his knowledge about her history and background. "according to the story you told me about the white canzer, she is someone that is on the run, right?" "yes. she has been exiled by her kingdom for treason." "i''m assuming that the kingdom is something of a powerhouse, with all kinds of resources and powerful knights in reserve. if so, then why haven''t they found the white canzer yet? she has committed the worst crime possible in their kingdom. they should have been searching for her relentlessly. even this dark forest would be no match for thousands of canzers looking for her. but somehow, she was able to make a home in this place. i don''t think it''s because of luck that she''s able to stay under their radar for a long time." carmine listened to atlan''s words and couldn''t help but agree to his words. he was smart enough to figure out what he was going to say next. "you''re telling me that there''s something that prevents the kingdom from looking for her?" atlan nodded. "yes. and i think that something is the hand mirror!" carmine''s mind was blown wide open with this revelation. even though he was proud of himself for always being the one who knew the most about canzers, he had overlooked this fact. if atlan hadn''t pointed out the glaring connections, then he wouldn''t have noticed it at all. explore more at empire "my gosh¡­you''re right! just like how the boar heart prevents the huntsman from pursuing you, the hand mirror prevents the kingdom from pursuing the white canzer!" that is exactly what atlan thought. and by destroying the mirror, the white canzer''s location would be immediately noticed by her pursuers. judging from her and the prince''s reaction, atlan''s prediction was completely correct. he used the same tactic he used when he first met the white canzer. he pitted two monsters and let them destroy each other. "that''s good! that''s really good!" carmine couldn''t help but praise the star porter''s ingenuity and quick thinking. he and his team were racking their brains trying to figure out a way for atlan to escape the prince''s assault, but they weren''t able to find a way even with all their brains working together. they didn''t expect that atlan would be the one to figure out the solution all by himself. it was evident from the canzers'' panicked expression that they didn''t have the time nor luxury to worry about killing a puny human while they were being hunted themselves. ''let''s leave, now!'' screamed the white canzer. but despite how much she tried to pull on the prince, he wouldn''t budge. ''why? i think it''s time for us to face her and kill her once and for all. if we succeed, there will be no one else that will stand in the way of us taking over the kingdom.'' the prince saw an opportunity, while the white canzer only saw doom. clearly, he didn''t know how much of a monstrous being their pursuer was. if he did, then he wouldn''t even dare to imagine them trying to fight her. ''fine! you will stay here and fight her, while i run away.'' the white canzer decided to sacrifice the prince for her safety. but just as she was about to run away, she suddenly heard a cold voice ring out through the dark forest. ''found you.'' out of the dark forest, a single creature came walking on two legs. this monster was clad in all black, the complete opposite of the white canzer. she wore a robe around her shoulders, making her look majestic. it made her seem like the ruler of the entire dark forest. on top of her head was a golden crown that exuded authority. if atlan didn''t have angel power coating his entire body because of the false mutation, then he would have been forced to kneel due to the mere fact of the crown''s existence. the white canzer and the prince, however, were not able to fight against the urge. they were forced down to kneel and wait in agony as she approached them. once it reached its destination, the white canzer greeted the familiar character. ''stepmother¡­'' but her words provoked a stronger pressure that forced her head to bang onto the floor. ''i am the queen, and you will address me as such.'' s~ea??h the n?vel(f)ire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 299 Black hole the white canzer paled even whiter under the queen''s pressure. the prince tried his hardest to defend against it, but even he was helpless under her wrath.''it''s been a long time¡­i spent an eternity trying to search for you. when the huntsman failed, i thought i would never get my revenge in this lifetime. and i was okay with that. i was fine with it. but why did you have to show your face to me again? did you think i wouldn''t chase you anymore? you should have taken good care of that mirror and spent your eternity in hiding.'' the queen spoke with an almost tired voice. spending an eternity trying to chase the white canzer seemed to put a major toll on her. it even looked as if she was disappointed in the white canzer because of how careless she was. ''i didn''t¡­i didn''t want to! say, you wouldn''t happen to still be mad about our small spat, right? surely you must have forgiven me after all this time¡­'' as expected of the white canzer, she tried to manipulate her way out of a dangerous situation. unfortunately for her, the queen was in no mood to deal with her shenanigans. the queen slapped the white canzer, sending her flying through the dark forest. sea??h th§× novel(f~)ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. the prince tried to fight back, but he was also sent flying away towards the white canzer. they both crashed into the same spot, with the prince crushing his ''princess'' under his weight. ''get off me!'' ''sorry, my love.'' and if she had any thoughts of using this opportunity to run away, the queen immediately used her strange dark powers to pull the two star-crossed ''lovers'' back towards her. these two specialist-level canzers stood no chance against her powers. they were being dragged around like a ragdoll. atlan watched on with amazement and fear. he never expected the queen to be this strong. he thought that all of them would be at the same level, meaning that if they fought, it could end up in a three-way tie where they all killed each other. read exclusive adventures at empire he thought she''d be as strong as the huntsman, but his estimation of the queen was wrong. she was more than strong enough to kill the white canzer and the prince with ease. she could even kill atlan with just a flick of a finger if she wanted to. atlan wondered what kind of monster he unleashed into the remedium. "atlan, just stay still. let the queen deal with those two, while you try to escape. ninth and the others are probably already on their way towards you." although he was wary of the queen, he didn''t think she harbored any ill will towards him. after all, he was the one who led her towards the white canzer. if anything, she should be grateful to atlan for giving her a chance to settle her grudge. "come on¡­you can sneak out right now." to carmine''s dismay, atlan had no intention of running away. "why aren''t you running away?!?! this is the chance you''ve been waiting for, right? it''s the sole reason why you summoned her!" "i want to witness this fight." "you what?!?!?!" carmine had no idea that atlan had ambitions towards this fight. he didn''t go through all that trouble with the white canzer and the prince just for him to get no rewards. he will use the queen to kill the white canzer and the prince, allowing him to reap their deaths in the process. if he left now, he wouldn''t be able to get those benefits. although it was risky, it was worth it. after all, these were specialist-level canzers. he had already seen what kind of power they could give him. meanwhile, the white canzer knew that this was her last stand. she immediately used up all the excess powers in her body and summoned a giant needle and a ball of yarn. the needle moved with lightspeed as it stitched body after body, not stopping until it completed seven figures that were similar but distinct from each other. these were the seven deadly puppets. the white canzer didn''t want to summon them before because it took a toll on her, but the queen''s threat was not something she could underestimate. each of these puppets had the strengths of a specialist-level canzer. they were the white canzer''s full strength. with all of their combined powers, they could easily deal with most canzers like the huntsman. the prince decided to use his full power as well. his horse rose through the dead trees and arrived just behind him. he mounted the horse, and their combined powers created a powerful aura that was enough to melt the trees around them. his full metal armor turned even sturdier, making the prince feel as if nothing could penetrate his defense. the seven puppets and the prince attacked the lone queen. the puppets beamed their magic towards her. as it traveled through the air, they bent reality to their attributes, giving inanimate objects their own personalities. the queen simply waved her hand, creating a dark portal in front of her. this opening was like a black hole, sucking in everything that it touched. once the puppets'' magic reached the ball, they were absorbed into the black hole and disappeared forever. the white canzer paled once she saw this. meanwhile, the prince paid no heed to this. he raised his courageous spirit to the point that it became a tangible aura. it spiked up to a point, creating a giant halberd in his hands. and with this halberd, the prince charged towards the queen. the weapon hit the black hole, creating sparks. this gave the prince hope. but once the halberd started to disperse into mere particles and absorbed into the portal, the prince finally realized the difference in strength between them. he quickly changed his route at the last second and abandoned his horse. its fate was a gruesome one, as it got spaghettified once it reached the black hole. the queen took their strongest attack with nothing but a single spell. ''is this all you got?'' Chapter 300 Dragon the black hole in the queen''s hands started to rumble as if it was about to explode. all the energy it absorbed from the attacks turned it into a time bomb that was just moments away from releasing all its energy.the queen flicked her finger towards the white canzer, sending the trembling black hole towards her way. the seven puppets immediately pooled all their strength to try and destroy the black hole before it reached their creator. but as soon as they got close to the black hole, they helplessly got absorbed into it with no chance of getting out. they served to further create instability towards the black hole, turning it even more dangerous. as it reached the white canzer, she fell into a fetal position. boom! a surge of black energy exploded outwards and destroyed everything in its path. it created a large shockwave that peeled the dark trees off the ground in a 100-mile radius! atlan wasn''t spared from the explosion. thankfully, he was far enough away to be affected by the black energy. he only had to fight against the shockwave that knocked him off his feet and almost burst his eardrums. the queen''s power was evident. atlan finally realized why the white canzer spent so long trying to run away from her. "are you okay?!" carmine asked in a panic. atlan skidded on the ground and finally stopped after crashing into a dead tree. he looked around and was horrified to see nothing but a large crater just a few feet away from him. just a single spell created such destruction. but even then, the white canzer was somehow still able to survive. before the black hole exploded, the prince used the last of his powers to rescue her from certain doom and teleported her away into safety. ''are you okay, my love?'' the prince was badly injured, with his lower body completely burned to a crisp. but even with his horrible state, the prince couldn''t help but worry about the white canzer. despite his noble sacrifice, the ''princess'' didn''t seem to notice it. she had a horrified expression as she looked at the queen, who was slowly walking in their direction. ''prince! do something! kill the wicked queen!'' she didn''t even notice that the prince could no longer walk with his legs. and even if she did, she wouldn''t care. she only wanted him to sacrifice his life for her. continue reading stories on empire the queen walked towards the shivering white canzer. ''why?'' the queen asked. the white canzer thought she''d be killed at that moment. she didn''t expect to hear those words come out of the queen''s mouth. ''what?'' sear?h the n??elfir§×.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. the queen stared daggers at the white canzer. ''why did you kill my husband and my child?'' the whole reason why the queen started this witch hunt was because the white canzer had the king and the princess''s death on her hands. ''what?'' the white canzer still couldn''t understand the queen''s questions. ''they loved you. if you wanted the throne, then they would have given it to you.'' all this time, atlan thought that the white canzer killed the royal family because they denied her the throne. but as it turned out, that wasn''t true. according to the queen, the king would have offered her the throne had she just asked for it. ''....'' the white canzer didn''t answer and kept her head down. her silence angered the queen even further. she flicked her hand upwards, and an invisible force pushed the white canzer''s head upwards and forced her to make eye contact with her. ''why?!'' the queen demanded an answer. ''because i am the fairest one of them all! i shouldn''t have to ask for the throne, they should have just given it to me! my beauty should have been enough to rule the entire kingdom! he should have known that, that''s why i killed him!'' the queen gritted her teeth. knowing that her husband died because of such a petty reason almost made her burst out in anger and kill the white canzer right then and there. but she didn''t deserve such an easy escape. ''my daughter¡­your sister¡­why did you kill her?'' ''hpmh! because she''s a female!'' the queen shivered. ''that''s it?'' ''is there any better reason? she threatened to destroy my monopoly on beauty! she had to go. if she continued to live, people would always compare me to her. nothing should get in the way of my kingdom.'' the queen waited for an eternity to find those answers. she spent all this time obsessing over finding the white canzer for this very reason. but now that she had her answers, she felt as empty as ever. there was nothing resolved in her heart. she despaired like she did before, probably even more. ''you¡­you don''t regret your actions¡­'' the white canzer laughed. ''i would do it again if i could!'' the queen thought that there was a small sliver of chance that she could forgive the white canzer. maybe if she had repented of her actions, then they could have forgotten this ever happened and returned to the kingdom. the queen laughed at herself for thinking such stupid thoughts. she should have known that the white canzer would never change. ''i''ve heard enough of you,'' the queen said. her body started to morph, becoming multiple times larger than her original size. her head elongated, creating a strong jaw that housed sharp teeth on all sides. her legs grew thicker stumps, allowing her greater balance as she became a giant. she grew a massive tail on her back, with spikes growing out into a line. and finally, she grew a pair of red wings, complimenting the dark maroon scales on her chitinous body. raaaoooooo she growled, with fire billowing out of her mouth. this was the queen''s final form, a majestic fire dragon. the white canzer couldn''t help but shiver when looking up at the gigantic body of the dragon. then, she started laughing. ''ha¡­haha¡­hahahahaha!'' the dragon bent down her neck and swallowed the white canzer whole, crunching her body on her maws. the prince pushed his body upwards and tried to save her, but he too ended up getting devoured by the queen. Chapter 301 Dragons mercy the big dragon swallowed the two specialist-level canzers whole. it gulped, and a fiery breath came out of it.just like that, it was over. the white canzer and the prince were consumed by the queen in just under a few minutes. atlan watched on with horror and amusement. the white canzer and the prince were creatures that were so strong that atlan couldn''t even fathom their true strength. yet, the queen killed them with no trouble whatsoever. the queen''s strength was completely incomprehensible. meanwhile, the dragon felt complicated emotions once it extinguished its grudge. even though she hated the white canzer, she couldn''t help but feel saddened with her death. after all, once upon a time, she was also her daughter. it was just a shame that she turned out like this. after a moment of silence, it looked towards the lone human in the dark forest. they both locked eyes. "it sees you! you have to leave now!" carmine warned atlan. continue your adventure with empire but before atlan could do anything, the dragon spoke to him. ''i know you can hear me.'' her words sent a shock to atlan''s mind. he would have never thought that she would find out about his secret by just simply looking at him. it made him feel as if she could see through every part of his body/ it made him feel vulnerable, especially since the queen was a powerful being capable of killing him with just one fiery breath. he immediately used the fog of war lifeskill, creating a gray smoke that shrouded his whole body in mystery. he knew that this kind of party trick wasn''t enough to hide from a terrifying creature like the queen, but it at least gave him some sort of defense against her eyes¡ªeven though it was as thin as paper. ''how did you know?'' atlan asked the queen. since the fog of war obscured both audio and visual reverberations everywhere, carmine couldn''t see or hear anything in the video feed. their team ripped the hair out of their heads in frustration, thinking that another error appeared on the battle suit. the queen simply breathed out of her dragon nose, and the fog of war was parted away, revealing her large figure to atlan. she looked down at him and saw his serious face. ''you do not have to worry about your life, human. it is all thanks to you that i was able to have closure in the deaths of my family. if you hadn''t destroyed that mirror, i wouldn''t have been able to locate her for my whole life. it is because of this that you are still alive.'' atlan was inwardly relieved. if the queen wanted him dead, he''d be dead within a fraction of a second. ''i was able to find out about your peculiar power because i saw the white canzer''s memories.'' the queen cast a spell on the white canzer the moment she consumed her, allowing her to peer through the princess'' memories with ease. she was able to see the white canzer''s life play out from life to death within a single second. the queen thought she''d be able to find a sensible reason why she did all those horrible things, but she found nothing but hate and jealousy. in the end, she was able to console herself that the white canzer would have never changed even if she was given a second chance. she saw the white canzer''s fight with atlan, and how he outsmarted her and took control of the hand mirror. the queen had seen a lot of things in her lifetime, but this was the first time she had ever seen such a peculiar human. atlan could listen and talk using the language of canzers. this was a mind-blowing fact that would send a world-changing shockwave in the canzer''s society. of course, she wouldn''t share this fact with anyone else. after all, information was power. why would she help her enemies? sear?h the n??elfir§×.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. but his talking ability wasn''t why the queen was so interested in him. he could wield the power of the supposedly extinct angels. the queen was not an ordinary canzer. as a leader of a society, she was privy to a lot of secret knowledge that most canzers didn''t know. in terms of human equivalents, she would be like the elder heads of genesis city. because of her standing as a royal ruler, she knew more about the angels and their extinction. in her extensive knowledge, she knew that there wasn''t supposed to be anyone who was able to wield their power. it was supposed to be impossible. yet, somehow, there was one human who appeared here with their power. not only that, he also had their wings, of all mutations. because of this, the queen decided to spare his life. he was far too anomalous to be killed so easily. she could see that atlan was a carrier of chaos and that he would bring about change to the human world with just his presence. the queen was eager to see that change. ''what do you want with me?'' atlan asked her. ''i know you have secrets¡ªsecrets that you wouldn''t want to share with anyone else.'' ''are you forcing me to tell you my secrets?'' the dragon laughed, with fire coming out of her maws. ''no, that would be far too boring. it''s the opposite. i want you to keep your secret and don''t let the other canzers know about your ability. i want you to become stronger¡ªstrong enough to fight against beings that are on my level.'' atlan stayed silent. he didn''t know why she wanted him to keep his secret, but he knew that she was plotting something. ''why? don''t you want to warn your kind that i have the power to destroy them?'' if atlan powered his cherubic retribution lifeskill to the specialist level, then no canzer would stand a chance against him. that was no exaggeration. ''i have enemies, lots of them. and i would gain nothing by warning them about you. no, i want you to surprise them with your powers till they drop dead. so, human, i want you to live and get stronger.'' Chapter 302 Bold request to a dragon the queen wanted to use atlan to deal with her enemies. if he became a lot stronger, then he could be the one to kill off her enemies for her.by letting him live and grow up, then the queen was basically investing in him. it would be a win-win situation for both of them. atlan would be ridding the world of powerful canzers, and the queen would be getting rid of her enemies. atlan had no choice but to accept her words. after all, the alternative would lead to his death¡ªliterally. ''so begone, human. i will not tell a soul about your powers.'' the queen turned around and spread her wings wide. with nothing else to do, she wanted to return to her kingdom and spread the good news to her people. they would surely want a banquet now that the king and the princess had been avenged of their deaths. but just as she was about to take off, atlan spoke out to her. ''wait!'' the queen looked back at atlan, confused as to why he called out to her. s§×arch* the ¦Çov§×lfire .net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. if carmine could hear this, then he would have gone crazy. after all, atlan would finally be safe once the dangerous dragon left him alone. yet, he called out to her and stopped her in her tracks. it was as if atlan wanted a death wish. ''what is it human? do you prefer to be eaten?'' atlan shook his head. despite his dangerous antics, he wanted to live more than anyone. ''you said that you want me to live, right? you need me to get stronger so that i can someday kill your enemies.'' the queen looked down at atlan, wondering where he was going with this. ''yes. that is right.'' ''then, why don''t you help me live?'' the dragon slapped her tail on the ground as she sat down on the ground. she didn''t know what atlan was going to say, but she knew that he was about to say something interesting. ''in what capacity?'' ''our mission is not yet over. we are to advance further up to the church and we are sure that there would be more canzers hindering us on the way.'' according to carmine and the operators, there would be at least two or three more specialist-level canzers waiting to ambush them from afar. just dealing with the puppet of the white canzer gave atlan too much hardship. he couldn''t imagine fighting more monsters of the same caliber as the white canzer, the huntsman, or the prince. ''yes. i have heard about this. from what i heard, an ifrit clone was able to infiltrate a god''s heart.'' atlan took a deep breath as he got to the meat of his request. ''as a queen, i''m sure you have some authority over the other canzers. i''m hoping that you can command them to step down and allow us safe passage to the church.'' in response, the queen laughed. ''hahaha! you want me, a canzer, to help you, humans?'' it was a very bold request, something that would have warranted his execution. after all, she was a canzer and he was a human. by virtue of their species, atlan shouldn''t be asking a canzer to hinder another canzer from killing them. it was treason. yet atlan bet that the queen was not the sort of creature that had blind loyalty to her species. the fact that she had enemies meant that she wasn''t opposed to the thought of a canzer being killed by a human. ''i want you to help me.'' read new chapters at empire seeing his serious expression, the queen finally stopped laughing and considered his request. ''no.'' but despite her refusal, atlan didn''t back down. ''i thought you wanted me to survive and get stronger? you need to guarantee my safety in this remedium for me to fulfill your request.'' the dragon shook her head. ''do you know the kind of request you''re asking me? i would have to wage war against a country just for the sake of your mission.'' the ones who were assigned to hinder atlan''s mission were from a faction of canzers who were completely at odds against the queen and her kingdom. just a small hostile gesture would send a signal for both sides to start an all-out war, much more if the queen did as atlan asked. seeing as the queen remained unconvinced, atlan knew that he needed to give her more of an incentive to protect him. atlan looked inside his soul system and manifested a giant hand. he then commanded this hand to grasp a lifeskill planet in the darkness of space. once this lifeskill activated, atlan felt a surge of power coursing through his veins. he raised his hand and imagined an object. and in the next second, the power in his body flowed out of his hands and poured into the imaginary object in his mind. slowly, the object manifested in real life. it was a giant needle. as soon as the queen saw this, she couldn''t hide her shock. after all, this wasn''t the first time that she saw this needle¡ªthis power. somehow, atlan manifested the same power as the deceased white canzer. the giant needle was proof of that. this was what the white canzer used to conjure her puppets, the queen was sure of it. she couldn''t understand how atlan, a human, was able to have the same power as the white canzer. it wasn''t a coincidence. this human obtained this power only after the white canzer died. ''you¡­how¡­?'' for the first time in her life, the queen was stumped for words. she couldn''t come up with a reasonable explanation as to how a human was able to replicate a canzer''s powers. atlan looked at his newly acquired lifeskill. ¡ªconjurer: (a) spinster ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 130x f class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª this lifeskill allows the user to create creatures purely from imagination. the user is also able to imbue these puppets with lifeskill powers. this was just one of the rewards he obtained from the death of the white canzer and the prince. Chapter 303 Pay me a visit the queen thought that this was too much of a coincidence. somehow, atlan obtained the white canzer''s powers soon after she died.that was an impossibility that the queen could have never predicted. even she, a being of immense power, could not simply steal away a specialist-level canzer''s power so easily. even when she devoured the white canzer herself, she still wouldn''t be able to take her power for herself. ''that¡­is the white canzer''s power.'' atlan nodded. ''that''s right.'' ''why did you show that to me?'' asked the queen. atlan moved the needle, showing a novice proficiency in the lifeskill. ''i am showing you one of my secrets. i''m sure you can guess that this power is derived from the white canzer. i can''t tell you the details, but i can tell you that i become more powerful through the deaths of canzers.'' atlan told her only half the truth. by doing so, he hoped that she would reconsider her decision. ''that is certainly something interesting¡­'' the queen was no idiot. she knew that atlan''s secret revolved around death. she didn''t know the exact details of how atlan could copy the powers of dead canzers, but she knew that this power was nothing simple; it was probably the power of a major god. she knew all the gods in this world, but she could not remember any kind of god that had the ability atlan had. this only meant one thing: atlan was the champion of an ancient deity that was on its way to clawing its way back to the world. if that was true, then the queen was intrigued. if she could ally herself with atlan and the god that championed him, then she could fulfill her goals and kill her enemies so much easier. no longer would she have to wait for eons for her revenge, she would just have to wait until atlan got stronger. the mere prospect of currying favor with this ''ancient'' god made the queen shiver in excitement. ''now that i have shown you one of my secrets, you now know my potential. helping me will be well worth the consequences of your actions.'' the queen reigned in her excitement and pondered for a second. after all, she was not a being without responsibilities. she was the queen of a kingdom, with millions of canzers who depended on her to survive. by helping atlan, she could be dooming the lives of thousands of her citizens. she wondered if atlan was worth it. and after a few moments, the decision she came to was yes. ''hahaha¡­human, you are certainly a very interesting being. your powers are not something that i have ever seen before or will ever see again. it would be remiss of me to sever this connection with you.'' atlan looked up at her with eager eyes. ''so you''ll help me?'' the dragon laughed. ''yes. but i will do far more than what you have asked me to do. instead of preventing the other canzers from finding you, i will do something better. i will help you kill them.'' ''what?!'' atlan screamed. he was half-expecting the queen to refuse his request. after all, if she helped him, then she would be turning her back against her entire race. but unexpectedly, the queen decided to go against the other canzers and help atlan fight against the other canzers. not only that, she would help him kill the other canzers! ''i only wanted safe passage to the church,'' sear?h the ¦Çov§×lfire .net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. atlan said, confused. the dragon laughed. ''i am offering you more than safe passage,'' stay connected via empire she replied. ''i never asked you for help in killing the other canzers.'' atlan wasn''t immediately grateful for the queen''s help because he questioned her motives. this was far too good to be true. he wondered if she would betray and turn against him at the last moment. ''i know you didn''t ask for this, but by giving you safe passage, i am committing a betrayal to those canzers. they certainly wouldn''t stand still and attack my kingdom because of my actions. if my help ends up in an all-out war anyway, then it would be better to take them out now rather than later. at least now, they wouldn''t expect it.'' the queen was not the kind of canzer who liked waiting. she would rather act decisively and cut off the problem in the bud. she learned that the hard way when she put off the execution of the white canzer and she ended up escaping because of it. even though atlan didn''t completely trust the queen, it would be a tremendous help in their mission if she helped kill the other canzers. it would lessen the risk, especially since they spent so much soultime just through fighting the white canzer. atlan saw first-hand how she dealt with two specialist-level canzers with barely a crunch. he bet that she could tear through the other canzers like paper. and once he thought about it more, if the queen killed the other canzers for them, then atlan would benefit from it greatly. atlan simply had to lead the way and the queen would kill the canzer for him. he would then reap the specialist-level canzers and get all the rewards from it! the prospect of reaping the deaths of three or more specialist-level canzers without the risk of fighting them sent a tremor of excitement through atlan''s body. and since atlan revealed to her that he gets stronger with the death of canzers, she would shorten the time of atlan getting strong enough to help her kill her enemies. ''what do you want in return?'' atlan was not stupid. he knew that by helping him, the queen would be sacrificing a lot of her resources in the aftermath. he was sure that she was not doing this out of the goodness of her heart; she wanted something in return other than the promise of his help in the future. ''right to the point. i like that, human. my request is simple. i want you to visit my kingdom.'' Chapter 304 Future ally ''you want me to visit your kingdom?''''yes.'' s§×arch* the novel?ire(.)ne*t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''you want me to go to the world of canzers, and head towards your kingdom, where it''s also filled with canzers¡­.you want me to go to that kingdom?'' atlan was dumbstruck by her request. it was nonsensical. he thought that she would ask him something along the line of killing a few weak canzers she found annoying, or maybe even make him spy on the humans for her. he expected her to make him do something hard, but he never expected her to invite him to her home. after all, where was her castle located? it wasn''t on the other side of the world. it wasn''t underground. and it wasn''t even out into the stars. the queen and the rest of the canzers lived in a very different dimension than the universe that atlan was currently living in. he knew nothing about their world. just a few days ago, he never even knew that canzers had their own society, much less a world of their own. if he visited the queen''s kingdom, he would be infiltrating the very home of humanity''s sworn enemies. he would be surrounded by canzers of all kinds, and they would no doubt be angry that a human infiltrated their world. atlan didn''t even know if it was possible to enter the canzer''s world. and even if it was, he wouldn''t want to put himself in danger by putting himself in the thick of millions of canzers. ''no way,'' atlan refused. ''i don''t even know how to go to your world, and i don''t want to know.'' the dragon anticipated his refusal, but she didn''t get discouraged. ''you underestimate yourself. the power you hold in those wings of yours is a lot stronger than you think. it can take you anywhere and everywhere, you just need to unlock its true potential.'' continue reading on empire the queen knew more about angels than atlan did, so she knew how powerful they were. in her perspective, atlan was using his wings with a very modicum amount of proficiency. if he improved it more, then he could become one of those monsters that could travel through the world and dimensions within the blink of an eye. ''that''s not the problem. i don''t exactly want to go to a place full of dangerous canzers. even if you can guarantee me safety in your kingdom, who''s to say that the other kingdoms won''t try to assassinate me the moment i step into your world?'' the queen moved her towering dragon body closer to atlan, making him step back. ''i am not asking you to go to my world while you''re so weak. once you have advanced to a level where you''re confident enough to protect yourself, then you can hop on into my kingdom.'' ''what if i don''t want to go to your world?'' the queen laughed once again as if she knew more than she was letting on. ''in the future, i''m guessing that you will have to.'' atlan couldn''t decipher her words. he found no reason he would ever want to go to the canzer''s home world now or in the future. ''what do you mean?'' ''your power will send shockwaves both in the human and the canzer world. there will be a few who will rejoice at your power, while most will rally against you. despite how powerful you can become, you cannot do it alone. you will need allies, whether they are humans like you or canzers like me.'' the queen was basically saying that atlan would have a lot of enemies he couldn''t face alone. and the help of humans wasn''t going to be enough. he''d need even the strength of canzers like the queen. atlan wasn''t shortsighted. he knew that there was a sliver of truth in the queen''s words. once the world found out that he obtained the powers of the god of death, then they would soon realize that he was the one who set off the apocalypse. they would reset him, for he was the one who deprived them of their eternal life. atlan didn''t have to be a prophet to know that there would be a lot of humans who would want to go after his head. once he thought about this fact, the queen''s words sounded truer than ever. who else better to fight against the humans who want him dead, than canzers like the queen? as the famous adage says, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. by allying himself with a strong being like the queen, then he would guarantee himself more protection in the future. there could even be a scenario in the future where there was nowhere safe for him in this world. the whole of humanity could turn on him, and he would have nowhere else to go but the canzers'' world. he looked up at the giant dragon in front of him. ''i don''t have to go to your kingdom right now, do i?'' ''no. i can''t force you to go visit my kingdom if you don''t want to. so, are you accepting my offer?'' and just as he was about to accept her offer, the queen softened up the deal even further. ''and to give you more incentive, i will be presenting to you death row inmates you can kill yourself. these are very strong canzers that are stronger than the huntsman, the white canzer, or the prince.'' her words truly sparked a desire in atlan''s heart. the prospect of reaping a specialist-level canzer was enough of an incentive to make atlan look forward to his visit to the canzers'' world. ''alright. we have a deal.'' the dragon flashed a smile with his acceptance. her body started to morph and become smaller and smaller, turning back to her original form. once atlan got a good look at her, he realized that she looked a lot like the white canzer, except for the fact that she had black chitin and wore a more mature air around her. but as it turned out, she wasn''t done morphing her body. her chitin disappeared, leaving only a beautiful olive-colored skin. her face held more emotion that gave her complexity. she had become human. she took advantage of atlan''s surprise and leaned to kiss him on the cheek. ''this is a symbol of our agreement,'' she said, leaving a lipstick kiss mark on the side of his face. Chapter 305 Rewards from Specialist Canzers before he could even register what happened, the queen disappeared as fast as she entered. atlan looked around and saw the sprawling concrete jungle of the old genesis city around him.he was back in the normal remedium, with the negative-color mirror image of the cityscape. there weren''t any signs of the dark forest around him anymore. he was standing back on asphalt ground. it was as if everything he experienced was a mere dream. the only reason he believed that it wasn''t was the dirt and signs of damage in his battle suit. those cracks weren''t imagined. it was born from his clash against specialist-level canzers far above his level. yet somehow, he came out alive against all odds. not only that, he was able to hold his ground and outsmart these canzers. he looked down at his soul system and remembered his rewards from the death of the white canzer and the prince. [you have assisted in the deaths of complex creatures: sapient canzers.] [due to your trait, all your rewards have been multiplied by 10] [you have reaped the death of the white canzer] [you have gained 140x (7-star) white canzer genus] [you have gained a 7-star mutation allure] ¡ª (7-star) allure ¡ª¡ª upon activation, the user will become extremely attractive to those around him, allowing him to easily influence them. this mutation works better if done one-on-one. [you have gained an a-class conjurer lifeskill: spinster] [you have gained 130x f-class fragments] ¡ªconjurer: (a) spinster ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 130x f class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª this lifeskill allows the user to create creatures purely from imagination. the user is also able to imbue these puppets with lifeskill powers. the user temporarily loses access to the lifeskill whenever it is imbued to the puppets. subsequently, the lifeskill the puppets wield will match the realm of the spinster lifeskill. [you have reaped the death of the prince] [you have gained 150x (6-star) prince genus] [you have gained the 6-star mutation thornmail] ¡ª (6-star) thornmail ¡ª¡ª upon activation, any damage coming to the user will be reflected to the aggressor. the effects of the reflection will grow depending on how brave the user is. [you have gained a b-class knight lifeskill: protection lion] [you have gained 130x f-class fragments] ¡ªknight: (b) protection lion ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 130x f class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª this lifeskill allows the user to create a shield around themselves that protects them from all damage. the shield grows stronger depending on the injustice caused by the enemy towards the user. sear?h the n??el fire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. all the danger and injuries he sustained from the fight against the white canzer now became worth it. not only did he gain new powerful mutations, but he also got two new lifeskills that were both in the intern realm! he now had three lifeskills in the intern realm, each of which could be of tremendous help to him in this mission. first of all, his fog of war lifeskill allowed him complete privacy. he no longer had to worry about carmine and the rest of his team finding out that he had special powers they couldn''t even dream of. that, alone, gave him enough security to know that he could use his full powers whenever the situation demanded it. next, his two new lifeskill powers were both capable of attack and defense. the spinster lifeskill allowed him to create puppets that could wield his lifeskills. for example, he could create a huntsman puppet with the apocalyptic hellfire lifeskill. sure, he would temporarily lose his ability to use this lifeskill, but it didn''t matter because atlan could only use one lifeskill at a time anyway. and the best part about this was that the puppets were at the intern level. this meant that the lifeskill that he imbued onto them would also temporarily become intern level! this felt like a cheat with how good it was. next, the lifeskill he got from the death of the prince helped him get better defenses overall. although the lifeskill was basic compared to the spinster lifeskill, this only meant that the defense he wielded became stronger to balance it out. even though those three lifeskills were only at the intern level, it was more than enough for him to keep himself safe on this mission. he now had more confidence in finding and fighting against specialist-level canzers. it made up for his weaknesses perfectly. he needed privacy to use his full strength, he needed offense to fight the canzers, and he needed defense to protect himself. it was the trifecta. he didn''t even have to mention the mutations! the allure mutation completely matched the white canzer''s tendency to seduce everyone. he didn''t know how this mutation worked, but he guessed that it would make him look more attractive to the eyes of everyone around him. he didn''t really feel that this mutation was useful, but he didn''t deny that it could someday become one. next, his thornmail mutation also increased his defense and offense at the same time. although it took a lot out of him after fighting the huntsman, the white canzer, and the prince, in the end, it all turned out worth it. though i admit, the best reward i got from this fight wasn''t the lifeskill and the mutations¡­it was the queen. with the queen''s help, he no longer had to worry about the other canzers waiting for him on the way to the church. she would be the one to deal with them when the time came. although it was hard to believe, atlan had a gut feeling that the queen was genuine. explore more at empire after all, she was a very powerful dragon. if she wanted to kill him, she could have done so very easily. she wouldn''t need to deceive him. all he had to do now was to go forward and watch as the canzers lying in wait died at the queen''s hands. and who would be there to reap their deaths and their rewards? it was atlan. atlan smiled to himself. things were finally looking forward for him. Chapter 306 Two-way portal "Oh my god! We''re finally back. What happened?!"Carmine''s urgent voice echoed through the empty streets before turning silent. Once he saw the normal Remedium through the video feed, he couldn''t be more surprised. "Where''s the dragon?!" "I think she''s gone," answered Atlan. "Do you know what happened? Our video feed became obstructed again and all we could see was a gray smoke and all we could hear was silence." Atlan was very glad that his Fog of War LifeSkill worked as he wanted. "I don''t know. When I came to, I was already back here in the normal Remedium. I don''t see any sign of the dragon anywhere, and frankly, I''m more than glad it''s gone." Explore more at empire Carmine and the rest of the Operators in the meeting didn''t question the Queen''s disappearance any further. Although they didn''t know a lot about her, they knew that she wasn''t a woman who held a deep grudge against humans. It was very possible that it saw Atlan as a non-threat and decided to spare his life. "By the way, can you tell me more about that dragon?" "She''s the Queen of the Enchanted Kingdom. She''s one of the strongest Canzers out there, only below that of Gods." S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "The Dragon was that strong?!" Atlan knew the Queen was strong, but he didn''t know she was being compared to Gods. "Yes. That''s why I was adamant for you to run away as soon as she appeared. Though, I don''t think that would have mattered if she truly wanted you dead." After a few seconds, Atlan wanted to know more about the kingdom of Canzers, specifically, their world. "Can you tell me more about the Queen''s kingdom? How does their society work?" "It works just like how our society works. There are leaders, there are workers, and there are citizens. There are warriors among them, and there are non-warriors as well. But that doesn''t mean they don''t pose a threat. Just like our world, theirs is divided into territories. They are usually ruled by a sovereign, like the Queen. But unlike our world, theirs is more vicious. They want something, they get it through bloodshed. They fight each other for land, food, and even missions to hunt for humans. Some territories are easier to hunt, you see, so those territories are very wanted in their community." Atlan waited for a few seconds before asking the most important question. "Do you think humans can enter their world?" And in response, he got a resounding, "No." "It''s not possible?" "I didn''t say that. I just said we will never enter their world because we don''t want to." "Why not?" he asked him. Atlan thought that a scientist like Carmine would want to be curious to enter another dimension. "Don''t you want to see what''s on the other side?" "Word of advice, don''t talk about this with anyone else. It''s taboo." "Why?" Carmine took a deep breath. "You are not the first person to ask that question. There are plenty of other innovators who have gone and tried to cross over to the other side." "And what happened to them? Did they find out that it wasn''t possible?" "We may never know. Once other people found out what they were trying to do, they were immediately stopped and reprimanded. Even if their research yielded good results¡ªand I''m not saying it did¡ªnobody wants them to succeed." "That''s¡­" "That is for the good of all humanity." "....." Atlan was silent. "What do you think will happen once we find a way to the other side? Do you think we will find a way to finally extinguish the Canzers'' very existence by exterminating their home world? That''s all and good if that''s the only thing that will happen. It may very be possible that the Canzers exterminate us first. After all, by creating a portal to their world, we are also allowing them to cross over to our world, and that is dangerous beyond belief. The destruction and chaos caused by these Canzers are already too much even though most of their damage is only in the Remedium. Imagine what they could do in the real world." Atlan was silenced by Carmine''s words. Humanity didn''t want to find a way to go to the Canzer''s world because they would only give the Canzers a chance to go into the real world. He understood why that research was stopped even before it yielded any results. He then remembered the Queen''s words. Was she planning on infiltrating the real world by using Atlan''s powers? No, if she wanted my powers for herself, then she could have just kept him captive and found a way to get his powers for herself. "Atlan!" Atlan''s somberness was interrupted by the familiar shout of Ninth and the rest of the Specialist Savior group. Ninth came running towards him, giving him a big hug and looking at him up and down. Even though his armor was chipped in a lot of places, she could see that he didn''t have any severe injuries. "It''s good you''re okay. Lizzie would kill me if anything happened to you," she said, joking. "Star Porter! What happened?" "With the dark forest gone, does that mean the White Canzer is dealt with?" The rest of the team wondered why they were all suddenly transported back into the normal Remedium. Atlan nodded. Although the truth was more complicated than that, he didn''t want to explain it to them. "No way! I can''t believe it. How did you put the poisoned apple into the White Canzer?" "Did you sneak into its cottage while it was sleeping?" Atlan was about to say something when the radio in his battle suit crackled. "He did more than that." "Carmine! Can you tell us more about what happened? The Puppets disappeared, but we didn''t immediately get transported out of the dark forest. Did something else happen?" As expected of Ninth, she was astute enough to notice something amiss. "Well, you''ll have to make camp for now because that is a long story. First, let me tell you about how Atlan escaped the Huntsman." "The Huntsman?!" "That bow and arrow guy?! Our star porter managed to escape him?!" Carmine began his retelling of Atlan''s recent escapades. Chapter 307 Rest day Ninth and her team were gobsmacked once they learned what the novice Savior went through to defeat the White Canzer.First of all, he got unlucky and encountered the Huntsman, a very strong Specialist Canzer that would have made other Saviors abandon the mission entirely. Somehow, he was able to procure the boar''s heart, which he did all by himself, and with the Huntsman''s arrows hunting him at the same time. Then, he finally encountered the White Canzer, who was supposed to be an easy target since she was alone. Yet, the Star Porter was forced to tangle with the Happy puppet, which gave Ninth and the rest of the team a hard time all by itself. And in a moment of crisis, something which Carmine didn''t even think of, Atlan destroyed the boar''s heart and lured the Huntsman towards the White Canzer. Putting together two Canzers against one single Student-level Savior was normally a bad idea, but this time, it was an extremely ingenious one. Atlan smartly put the two Canzers together, causing them to fight each other instead. Although it led to the Huntsman''s death, the Happy puppet was far too preoccupied to deal with Atlan, leaving the White Canzer all alone. This allowed Atlan to finally put the poisoned apple in its mouth and put it to an eternal sleep. This was the point where the rest of the six puppets were destroyed into smithereens due to the White Canzer''s incapacitation. Ninth and her team rightly deduced that Atlan succeeded in his mission, but strangely, the dark forest hadn''t disappeared yet. In another surprising twist of events, a new Canzer emerged from the woods. The Prince, who also had a very low chance of appearing, descended from the skies and revived the White Canzer with a kiss. Now, the Star Porter faced two Specialist-level Canzers all by himself, without any help or trump cards in his hands. Carmine suggested he run away, though it would have done no good since he was dealing with a Specialist-level Canzer. Overcoming all odds, Atlan somehow got the White Canzer to pull him into her dream. Find your adventure at empire There, Carmine and the rest of the team didn''t know the exact details of what happened, but Atlan was surprisingly able to find out the White Canzer''s weakness, the hand mirror. This was very surprising because Carmine wasn''t able to warn or tell Atlan about the mirror. Somehow, he figured it out all by himself, something that not even the most experienced Specialist Saviors could do. Atlan destroyed the mirror and summoned the Queen, who subsequently killed the White Canzer and the Prince in just a few seconds. They didn''t know if it was luck or his bravery that led him to have the Queen spare his life, but she did. All of this happened because of the Star Porter''s luck, skill, smarts, and bravery. The fact that Atlan encountered four Specialist-level Canzers, survived, and triumphed against all of them against all odds, was a feat that had never been done before, or will ever be done again. If they still doubted Atlan''s ability, then there''s no way that they would doubt his ability now. Atlan had accomplished something that was far above his level and experience. They couldn''t imagine going through what Atlan experienced all while having the strength of a Student-level Savior. "....I''m gonna be honest, Star Porter, you''re a little bit scary." "Remind me to not bet against you." "I don''t know what the other Saviors will say when we tell this story. They probably won''t believe it. And to be honest, I probably wouldn''t believe it if I didn''t experience it myself." Ninth walked over to Atlan and grabbed his shoulder. "You''ve proven yourself, Atlan. Your skills are what we need to finish this mission. I hope that you harness that power and let us finish this mission next time." Ninth''s words sent confusion towards Atlan''s face. "Next time? What do you mean?" The rest of the team looked back at Atlan as if he was the one not making sense. "We''re going to go back, Atlan," Ninth said. "What do you mean? The Ifrit clone is still out there threatening to destroy the whole City!" The rest of the team massaged their bodies still lingering from injuries. "Is it because you''re all injured?" he asked. It was true that Ninth and the rest of the team expended a lot of energy, strength, and SoulTime fighting against the puppets. They looked like they weren''t in the prime position to fight against three more Canzers. "Although we''re indeed injured, we can take care of ourselves. Specialist Saviors like us can take a lot of beating before we''re done." "Then why?" Ninth and the team looked at each other as if they didn''t want to be the ones to say it. "Fine, I''ll say it," said Carmine over the radio. "We, and the rest of the team here at HeadQuarters, think that the team should go back and recuperate your strength¡ªespecially you." S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Me?" "Yes. Although you have done a tremendous job defeating the White Canzer, it must have taken a lot of toll on you." Atlan couldn''t believe it. Although he was physically tired, it wasn''t anything that couldn''t be solved by a long sleep here in the Remedium. Any SoulTime he lost during the fight had already been recuperated using his Photosynthesis mutation, which was still going on to this minute, giving him years of SoulTime. "You must feel nervous encountering more Specialist Canzers. We must remedy that." The problem was that Atlan wasn''t worried about encountering more Canzers, he was actually excited! With the help of the Queen, there was nothing to worry about. By pulling him out now, they would be denying him the chance to get more powerful LifeSkills from Specialist level Canzers. "If that''s what you''re worried about, then you have nothing to be worried about! I''m fine and raring to go!" None of them expected Atlan to be this excited. Now, Carmine was worried that there was truly something wrong with the Star Porter. Chapter 308 Allure "Are you sure about this Atlan? You''ve gone through something extreme, something that would have taken a lot of experienced Saviors out of the mission for at least a few weeks."Ninth was worried that Atlan was only acting strong out of responsibility. After all, he was the only one capable of doing this mission. And if he backed out now, then it was possible that no one could solve this mission at all. Atlan nodded. "I''m not being overconfident, I''m thinking about this logically. Even though I feel tired, it''s not as if I couldn''t continue the mission as is. I don''t need to return to the real world. It would only delay our mission and possibly cause us to fail entirely." If Atlan went back out into the real world, he didn''t know if his agreement with the Queen would still be active. But if they continued their mission right now, it was basically guaranteed that they would reach the church. "Carmine," Ninth addressed the video camera in Atlan''s battle suit. "What is your professional opinion? After all, you''re the one who saw the whole thing unfold with your own eyes. Do you think Star Porter can continue?" The Specialist Operators back at the Emergency Meeting room deliberated on Ninth''s question. As professionals, they think that it wasn''t wise to put the inexperienced Student-level Porter back to encounter another Specialist-level Canzer so soon after just barely surviving one. However, there was something in their gut that told them that the Star Porter was a lot more resilient than they were giving him credit for. In the end, the decision came to the five Elder Heads. They consulted each other until they finally decided to continue the mission as Atlan advised. "If the Star Porter wants to continue, then we continue." Ninth nodded to herself. "We''ll camp here and take a full day of rest. After that, we''ll continue on our way towards the Church. Take this time to prepare yourselves physically and mentally for this challenge." With their leader''s order, the group started to make preparations for the camp. As usual, they lay down in a circle, with the first one to stay awake being Ninth. The group collectively decided to let Atlan take a full rest and not wake him for his shift. They wanted the Star Porter to revitalize himself after everything he''d been through. After all, the rest of the group felt completely useless compared to the novice Porter. They barely helped Ninth fight against the puppets, and even when they did, they were relegated to the sidelines. Meanwhile, Atlan fought against three different Specialist-level Canzers and somehow triumphed against all odds. He deserved to rest. The night fell and the day came again. Atlan opened his eyes after a good night''s sleep, seeing the rest of the team sharpening their weapons and polishing their armor. They all had their game faces on as if they wanted to redeem their lackluster performance earlier. Unbeknownst to Atlan, the team barely took a rest at all. They were far too motivated to simply sleep the night. Hearing about the Star Porter''s brave actions led them to see how inadequate their services had been in this mission. Your journey continues on empire So, they started to work on getting better. How could they call themselves seniors if they were getting outshined by their junior? They spent the whole rest day working out and improving their teamwork. Meanwhile, Atlan was by himself trying to experiment with his new powers. First of all, he used his Allure mutation to persuade Ninth to let him wander out into the Remedium all by himself. Normally, there was no way that Ninth would ever let Atlan go out alone by himself without his bodyguard. But once Atlan used his Allure mutation¡­ "I would normally say no, but I feel as if you can take care of yourself." Once Ninth looked at Atlan, it was as if there was something about his face that made him seem more¡­trustworthy. It was this intangible trait of his appearance that made her a lot more susceptible to accepting his words even though it was unreasonable. The bodyguard immediately protested. But once Atlan used his Allure mutation on him, he seemed a lot more compliant as well. "Well, as long as you return by sunset, it''s okay I guess¡­" Next, he addressed Carmine. "Can I take off my battle suit temporarily?" Atlan wanted to know if his Allure mutation worked even if the person was far away from him and couldn''t see his face. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What?! Are you kidding me? You want to go out alone without your battle suit? Do you have a death wish?" The answer to his question was a resounding no. His Allure mutation didn''t work if the target couldn''t see his face. So, Atlan simply bent down and showed his face to the camera in his chest. "Can I? Now that the White Canzer is gone, there''s no other Canzer near here, right?" "...you''re right. I guess you do need a break from carrying all that heavy weight on your shoulders." Surprisingly, his Allure worked even through video. The only important part of it was that the target needed to see his face. That was all the evidence he needed to know that his mutation was a lot more overpowered than he thought. If he could manipulate Specialist-level Saviors like Ninth and the others, then this mutation would be a tremendous help in navigating the apocalyptic society. With everyone''s permission, Atlan got out of the special battle suit and got out into the Remedium alone. He went inside a large gymnasium hall near the camp. This was where he would experiment with his new LifeSkills. And for better privacy, he activated his Fog of War LifeSkill. Once he was completely alone, he first activated his Protection Lion LifeSkill. Suddenly, a golden glow expanded outwards from his heart and created a protective bubble around his body. And with a sword he borrowed from Ninth, he stabbed himself with it. Chapter 309 Own puppet TWING!The bubble shone even further as the sword clashed against its golden luster. There was no sign of the sword ever scratching the bubble, even when Atlan used his full strength. Even though his strength wasn''t equal to that of Ninth, her sword was still a step above others. Its sharpness could have cut through the chitinous armor in his special battle suit. It''s good enough, Atlan thought to himself. He couldn''t really test this LifeSkill to the limit because he didn''t have an enemy to try and hit him with. Therefore, he decided to test his other LifeSkill he got from the White Canzer. He looked down deep into his Soul System and saw the giant planet made out of yarn. He manifested a giant hand that was able to grasp it in his palms. And as soon as it did, Atlan felt the power coursing through his veins. This LifeSkill was at the Intern realm, just one realm below the Specialist level. It was the kind of power that Atlan had never even touched or dreamed of. The strength was almost enough to intoxicate him into fully unleashing his whole power outwards. But thanks to his self-control, he was able to reign himself in. If he lost control and let himself get swallowed by the LifeSkill, then the power could end up backfiring on him. Once he got better control, a giant needle and a giant ball of yarn manifested above Atlan''s head. It floated in the air, waiting for his command. How do I create a puppet? Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He looked at his Soul System and saw the description of the LifeSkill. ¡ªConjurer: (A) Spinster ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 130x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ªThis LifeSkill allows the user to create creatures purely from imagination. The user is also able to imbue these puppets with LifeSkill powers. The user temporarily loses access to the LifeSkill whenever it is imbued to the puppets. Subsequently, the LifeSkill the puppets wield will match the realm of the Spinster LifeSkill. As long as I can imagine it, I can create it? Atlan closed his eyes and concentrated on his imagination. He thought of a creature that exuded strength, mystery, and coldness. He experienced this creature''s strength first-hand and almost died by its hands. He imagined its full body the way he saw it in real life. And subconsciously, the image suddenly started to unravel into a yarn. The strings flowed out of his mind and into reality, making the needle and the yarn move by itself. Atlan learned that he had to concentrate for the whole duration of the conjuration or else the puppet would fizzle out. It took him about three minutes to finally create the puppet in his mind. Once he was done, he heard a thud in front of him. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see a human man looking at him with eyes that looked sentient. This man had tanned skin, wearing light leather armor and pants that looked to be easy to move in. He wore a circular hat, with a single feather glued to the side. On his back was a quiver full of arrows, and on his hand was a wooden bow that exuded power. The man looked at him and kneeled as if waiting for his orders. "The Huntsman¡­" Atlan muttered to himself. For his first puppet, Atlan imagined the Huntsman. This creature was the Canzer that he knew most about since he fought against this Canzer personally. He didn''t want to create the White Canzer because she wasn''t strong physically. She was only strong for her ability to create puppets. And since Atlan could already create puppets, then there was no need for her. He could have also tried to create the Prince, but Atlan didn''t get to see much of the Canzer''s abilities. He was afraid that his conjuration of the Prince''s puppet would fail because he couldn''t imagine the essence of the puppet hard enough. The same went with the Queen. Although she was the strongest Canzer he had ever encountered, he didn''t know much about her. She was shrouded in mystery. Truth be told, he was also afraid that she would sense that he tried to copy her likeness in his puppet and become angry at him as a result. So, Atlan decided that the Huntsman would be the first puppet he created. When he looked at the Huntsman right in front of him, he was confused as to why he looked so different. First of all, the puppet was human! He thought that the puppet he created would have the same chitinous armor as the Huntsman. Is it because it''s my puppet? Did it copy my likeness? On first thought, he considered this as a reduction. Without the Specialist Canzer''s chitinous armor, this puppet didn''t have the same physical strength and defense as the original. It only had the same skin as Atlan, which meant that it was very vulnerable. But on second thought, this was a blessing in disguise. If the puppet still had the same likeness as a Canzer, then it would immediately garner the hostility of other humans. Atlan could only imagine if he tried to summon a puppet in the middle of the street. It would start a panic and a riot, thinking that somehow, Canzers were able to infiltrate the real world. But since it looked human, no one would question it if the puppet followed Atlan''s every movement. "Can you speak?" he asked the Huntsman. The puppet looked up at him and opened its mouth. It tried to copy Atlan''s mouth movements, but no understandable words came out of it, only grunts and noises. Looks like it''s not advanced enough to be sapient. I guess I''m not as good as the White Canzer yet. Her puppets had their own consciousness and acted like a real creature. Atlan guessed that he had to improve the LifeSkill first if he needed to create a much more complex puppet. But that would have to be reserved for the future. Chapter 310 Overpowered puppet Atlan had an intangible connection with the puppet. He knew its location even when he couldn''t see it, he knew what it was doing, and somehow, he could command it through just his thoughts.TWANG! The puppet let go of an arrow and it pierced through the fog outwards. Atlan was so surprised at its speed and strength that he almost thought that the Huntsman somehow revived and was now targeting him again. In hindsight, he shouldn''t have been surprised. According to the LifeSkill description, any puppet he created would have the same level as his Spinster LifeSkill. And since his Spinster LifeSkill was at the Intern level, this meant that any puppet he created would also be at the Intern level. TWANG! TWANG! TWANG! He commanded the puppet to shoot more arrows, and sure enough, all of them had the same piercing power as an Intern-level Savior. Even though it was written in the LifeSkill itself, Atlan still couldn''t believe it. With an Intern-level puppet by his side, Atan was more than confident in fighting against other Specialist-level Canzers. Even though there was still a large disparity, he didn''t have to fear for his life anymore. The puppet''s aim was accurate as well. As long as he commanded the puppet to hit a target, the arrow would fly toward the target with little to no deviance. Since I experienced the Huntsman''s terrifying aim firsthand, I was able to impart that ability to my puppet as well. I doubt the puppet would have the same aim as the original one if I hadn''t faced it myself. When he imagined the Huntsman, he converged everything he knew about the Huntsman into the image in his mind. He even imagined the Huntsman''s backstory and his grudge against the White Canzer when creating the image. Everything resulted in a very accurate replica of the real Huntsman. "Now, for the most important part¡­" Now that he proved the puppet''s strength, it was time to try out the other feature of his Spinster LifeSkill. According to the description, he was entitled to imbue the puppet with his LifeSkill. He had to make sure. After all, this feature sounded too good to be true. He looked down deep inside his Soul System and focused on his Spinster LifeSkill. He dived deep into the planet, going through its atmosphere. Once he crash-landed on the surface of the planet, he was suddenly faced with an altar in the middle of the ground made out of yarns. There was a single statue on the front, with a striking resemblance to the Huntsman puppet. Opposite the puppet was the altar depicting a Solar System revolving around a giant sun. He walked closer and realized that the planets in the Solar System were not mere planets, they were his LifeSkills. Each of them had patterns that had the same attributes as his LifeSkills. There were nine total planets, which confused him. After all, he had 11 LifeSkills. Since he was already at the Spinster LifeSkill planet, he understood why it wasn''t in the selection. But strangely enough, his Grim Reaper Physique wasn''t included in the solar system. Does that mean I can''t give my Physique to my puppets? The fact that the LifeSkill had the mysterious ''God'' job was probably the reason why he couldn''t imbue it to his other puppets. Atlan didn''t care much about it because he wasn''t planning on lending his Physique LifeSkill anyway. He had other plans for his Huntsman puppet. He had eyes on one of his LifeSkills. And strangely enough, this planet was glowing, as if it was begging to get imbued into the puppet. He picked up the miniature planet in his hands and observed it. The whole planet was colored in a bluish-green fire as if it were a sun instead of a planet. This was his Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill. This was the perfect power to lend to the Huntsman puppet. With its perfect aim, this LifeSkill would be a deadly weapon in its hands. He walked over to the marble statue with the LifeSkill planet in his hands. He looked at an indentation in the statue''s chest and found that the LifeSkill planet fit perfectly in the indentation. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This also confirmed that he could only give one LifeSkill to a puppet since there was only one indentation for the planet. He gently pushed the planet onto the statue''s chest and it magically flew out of his hands and perfectly fit itself inside the indentation. Once it did, the whole statue glowed in a golden light that sent a powerful shockwave that pushed Atlan''s consciousness out of the planet and out of his Soul System. He opened his eyes. The Huntsman puppet looked at its hands as if it was still reeling from the power Atlan gave it. And if one looked closely, they would see a bluish-green fire billowing in the puppet''s eyes. "Show me the power of my LifeSkill," Atlan commanded the puppet. And as he did, the puppet immediately took out an arrow from his quiver and readied it to his bow. It seemed the puppet was far more excited than Atlan about trying out his new power. TWANG! A bluish-green line of fire appeared the moment the puppet let go of the arrow. The projectile almost seemed instantaneous as it immediately landed out into one of the skyscrapers in the distance. BOOM! The explosion sent out a large bluish-green fire that spread outwards and into the sky. The skyscraper turned into molten metal and glass. The explosion shook its very foundation and forced it to tilt and fall to the ground. The skyscraper would have crashed onto the streets if the lingering bluish fire hadn''t consumed its very composition and turned it into ashes. Atlan looked at the wisps of fire falling slowly from the dark skies. "I was too excited¡­" He forgot that since he imbued his LifeSkill into an Intern-level puppet, that meant that his Apocalyptic Hellfire was also turned into an Intern-level LifeSkill. Chapter 311 Bayou Atlan had to go back to the group as soon as possible before they went and fetched him. With an explosion like that, they would no doubt imagine that he was getting attacked by a rogue Canzer.When he was back, he was met with relieved expressions. "Oh thank the Gods! We heard an explosion out there and thought something happened to you." "I checked it out and it turned out the whole building was burning!" said the Scout. Ninth walked over to Atlan. "It''s best if you don''t stray away from us from now on. Put on your suit and take a rest. We''ll be setting off tomorrow." Thankfully, nobody questioned too much about where the explosion came from. They simply put it off as some mysterious phenomenon from the Remedium. It helped that Atlan used his Allure mutation to make sure that they didn''t ask too many questions. Atlan and the others spent the rest of the day recuperating, either from their injuries or their training. After all, tomorrow, they would have to fight another Specialist-level Canzer on the way to the church. He didn''t prepare all that much. He was the only one who knew that they didn''t have to do anything at all. The Queen would be the one to kill the Canzers for them. When night fell, they all took camp and took shifts. Atlan volunteered to be the first one to stay awake. The next morning, everyone was up and ready before the sun came up. Surprisingly, their expressions were light, and the group was making some jokes here and there. He thought they''d get nervous and all, but as expected of professional Saviors, they knew that being too serious would only detract from their performances. "Ready?" asked Ninth to the group. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She didn''t have to hear their answers to know that they were more than ready. She could see just from the look on their faces that they were ready to beat some Canzer''s behind. They set off to the road, with the Church on the horizon. From Atlan''s perspective, it would only take a couple of minutes of walking to reach the Church. But he knew that there would be some Canzers waiting to stop them in their tracks. Everyone was in their position, walking through the streets, when all of a sudden, the reality they saw before their eyes changed in a matter of seconds. The concrete and steel jungle that was Genesis City was transformed into a swamp bayou, with low-hanging trees by the side and a mucky stream flowing down towards the horizon. Thankfully, the streets had somehow transformed into a raft that saved them from dipping their toes into the strange, viscous, swampy water on the stream. CROAK! The growl resounded out through the whole bayou. Just the environment itself was dangerous enough. After all, it was the home of alligators and dangerous 30-foot pythons. And that was only normal animals, not Canzers. "Where are we?" asked Atlan. His special battle suit crackled as Carmine brought out a response. "Looks like we''re in another reality-bending Remedium. This only means that the Canzer could be a monster from the bayou, namely alligators, owls, snakes, and such." Atlan prepared himself, until another resounding growl echoed through the bayou. CROAK! The whole Remedium shook, followed by a large splash in the creek. The commotion sent a large wave through the stream and reached their raft, putting it high up in the air and bringing it down with another large splash, sending water flying through toward them. Thanks to their Tank''s timely action, no water was able to penetrate through their formation. And because of their training yesterday, no one got disoriented from the wave. Once everything in the creek settled, everyone turned their eyes toward a large creature out in the distance. Its eyes glowed red deep in the darkness. "It''s here," whispered Ninth. Everyone held their weapons tighter, ready for another fight. This time, they were going to go all out from the very beginning. The last time, they had to rely on Ninth''s domain ability to fight the six puppets because the rest of the group was incapacitated. Now, they were going to defeat this monster only using their teamwork. "Atlan, we''ll have to rely on you to create the construct," said Ninth. They weren''t going to take any chances. They would weaken the Canzer from the very beginning and kill it before it could use all of its strength. "Carmine, any idea what kind of Canzer this is?" Atlan pointed the camera on his battle suit towards the large creature in the distance. Now that they were close enough, everyone was finally able to see its full appearance. The creature had a wide and stout body, with warts all along its dirty green skin. Its eyes bulged out from its head, with its vision aimed towards the humans coming towards it. It sat on all four limbs, with its hind legs much stockier and thicker than its front legs. The Canzer had a wide mouth that remained closed as if waiting to devour its next victim. The Mage fired off a warning shot toward the creature, sending a ball of violet hands clumped together. But before it even got close to the Canzer, it opened its large mouth and suddenly, a red blur shot out from its throat and caught the spell. It then swallowed it whole. "What is it?" asked Atlan. He could only see a blur, so he wasn''t sure what it was. But he had a guess. "It''s a frog," said Carmine. "With a tongue that fast, there''s no mistaking it that it''s another Specialist-level Canzer." Atlan was relieved. He thought they''d have to fight against a monstrous alligator or a gigantic snake. But thankfully, they were only fighting against a frog. "This is bad¡­it''s another one of those¡­damn it, Atlan! How are you so unlucky?!" Carmine couldn''t believe Atlan''s unlucky streak. He encountered another Canzer that was supposed to have a very low chance of appearing. Chapter 312 Frog Prince "This is the Frog Prince, a Specialist-level Canzer with the appearance of a giant frog,"said Carmine from the battle suit. "How do we defeat it?" asked Ninth to the side. "Since this Canzer is a Destruction-type Canzer, it means that it will keep regenerating its wounds until a construct is made," Carmine answered. "So, all we have to do is to beat it to the ground until Atlan can make the construct with his battle suit?" "It''s not that simple. First of all, a construct is no problem. All we need is a magical syringe placed exactly in the Frog''s upper lip, which will create a time limit on the Canzer''s lifespan. But the problem lies in the fact that it''s a transformation type Canzer." Atlan listened to their conversation, but his mind wasn''t on its contents. He couldn''t help but look all around the bayou in search of a specific monster in the lurks. He was trying to see if the Queen was anywhere near this place. From their agreement, she would be the one to kill the Canzer for him, and all Atlan had to do was to reap its rewards. "Did you get all that, Atlan?" Carmine''s question snapped him out of his stupor. "All I have to do is create the construct, right?" "Yes. Thankfully, you don''t have to do anything during this fight. Ninth, you must take care not to fight the Canzer too hard, alright?" Atlan didn''t understand why Carmine was trying to limit Ninth''s strength when fighting the frog Canzer. "Why would she do that?" "Atlan, weren''t you listening? The Frog Prince Canzer is a transformation-type monster, which means that it can change into a much stronger form that will be triggered by a special event." "And that special event is?" "When the Frog Prince is turned upside down. Ninth and the team could attack the Canzer all they want, but they absolutely can''t push the frog upside down or else it will transform into something much more monstrous." This Canzer reminded Atlan of the Queen. She could also transform into a gigantic dragon that could swallow two Specialist-level Canzers with ease. If the frog''s transformation was just a fraction of how strong the dragon was, then they absolutely cannot let the Canzer transform. Ninth and the team started their assault on the Canzer with furious energy. The Mage and the Sniper fired their attacks on the Frog Prince from afar, burning its slimy skin. Their power was enough to penetrate through the warts and induce damage to its inner flesh. The frog croaked in pain, which the rest of the team took advantage of. They fired LifeSkill after LifeSkill, not even letting Ninth get the spotlight. Their training proved to be sufficient, as they let their true Specialist-level strength and teamwork suppress the Canzer to the ground. Ninth smiled as she saw the fire in her team''s eyes. Ever since everyone heard about the hardships and the immense odds the Star Porter had to overcome by himself, they felt their pride as Seniors get crushed. They couldn''t let themselves get bested by a novice, could they? Because of that, they treated the Frog Prince not as a Canzer, but as a whetstone that could sharpen their skills to greater heights. Meanwhile, Atlan stood alone on the raft by himself. He followed Carmine''s every instruction and inputted the code with thousands of letters toward the control center in his battle suit. After a few minutes, the construct was finally done, with his battle suit glowing a golden light. He raised his hand, gathering golden particles at the top of his palm. Slowly but surely, an oversized syringe materialized and fell into his hands. It was about the size of his torso, with a diameter larger than his head. It was a befitting syringe for the giant frog in front of them. "Give this syringe to Ninth, and she will be the one to suck out a vial of blood from the Canzer." Just in time, Ninth removed herself from the front lines and flew back to the raft. She asked for the syringe, and Atlan obliged. But just as he was about to give it to her, a roar echoed throughout the bayou swamp and sent out reverberations that shook the whole Remedium. The shaking made the creatures in the bayou cry out in fear: the birds flew away from the trees, alligators took shelter in the water, and the Frog Prince croaked out in an attempt to scare the intruder away. But it was no use. No matter how much the Frog Prince tried to scare away the approaching monster, it was not scared away. Ninth and the rest of the team were caught off guard. They immediately stopped attacking the Canzer and went back towards the raft, creating a defensive formation. "What was that?" "No way, right?" "Carmine, tell me that''s not what I think it is," Ninth asked Atlan''s battle suit. "...I''m afraid it is. I forgot to warn all of you that although Atlan is incredibly lucky, he is also equally as unlucky. It seems that another Canzer has come and intruded on your fight¡­" Although this wasn''t the first time they encountered an anomaly, Ninth, and the others couldn''t believe how unlucky the Star Porter was. A few seconds after that piercing roar, a large winged creature appeared from the skies and lunged down to the bayou. Ninth took control of the situation and summoned her gigantic swordmaiden. She swung her sword, anticipating the creature''s attack. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The rest of the team had serious looks on her faces. Facing two Specialist-level creatures was no easy task. "Oh my Gods¡­it has come for revenge!" Carmine and the rest of the Operators recognized the monster that intruded on the fight. They were disheartened to find out that the monstrous Queen had come to finish the humans once and for all. Everyone waited for the inevitable hard fight. Everyone was anxious, except for one person. Atlan had a smile on his face, excited at what new LifeSkills he was going to get from the death of the Frog Prince. Chapter 313 Dragon v Frog ''$(*@&$)*@''The Frog Prince croaked at the dragon in the air, indignant at the fact that it intruded on its territory. ''What are you doing here, Enchanted Queen? This is not your territory! The Queen laughed at his words. ''It still is. You turned coats and sided with the enemy, but this swamp bayou is still mine.'' It turned out that the Frog Prince was once a citizen of the Queen''s kingdom. Perhaps, the reason why the Queen accepted Atlan''s proposition was because it gave her a reason or excuse to teach traitors like the Frog Prince a lesson. The Frog Prince, in response, bloated its stomach, making himself look much bigger, and therefore much more intimidating. '' Leave now or this will be regarded as a declaration of war. You do not want to fight against our army.'' This was the first time Atlan saw an indication of two different factions of Canzers fighting against each other. Atlan could only shiver at the thought of millions of Canzers fighting against each other in an all-out war. But it seemed that the Queen wasn''t afraid at all. She continued to invade the Frog Prince''s territory as if it were her own. She dove down towards the Frog, but in the periphery of her eyes, she saw a giant sword coming towards her wings. The Queen snorted. She found it insulting that the humans thought they could fight her with their paltry numbers. If it weren''t for Atlan, then she would have destroyed them just because they were interfering with her fight with the Frog Prince. With one swing of her wing, she blasted the sword away, sending the giant Swordmaiden apparition tumbling backward. Ninth and the rest of the team were surprised at the dragon''s strength. The fact that it could repel the Swordmaiden''s sword so easily meant that this was not an opponent they could defeat without the use of their domains. "Brace yourselves. This dragon is on a whole other level¡­" "We can''t defeat both at the same time. We should split up." "We can''t split up. We''ll be lowering our overall strength and we won''t be able to fight them." "Then how are we going to defeat both?!" Ninth raised her hand and stopped her team from arguing. She then looked at Atlan''s battle suit and asked for help. "Carmine, any ideas on how we can disable the dragon so that we can kill the frog?" The other side didn''t answer for a few seconds. The team of Specialist Operators in the Emergency Meeting room were debating and brainstorming ideas on how to deal with the current problem. It was one thing if they were just fighting against two different Canzers at the same time. That was easy. The problem lay in the fact that they were fighting the Enchanted Queen. Of all the Canzers that had to interfere, it was extremely unlucky for it to be the Queen. It was already hard dealing with her if she was alone. "It''s complicated. There are contradicting sources about the Enchanted Queen''s weakness. Some say that a lightning strike from the heavens will paralyze her, but according to some books, that will only make her stronger. Some say that a boulder will crush her into immobility, but some say that it will only anger her into a furious rage." Carmine and the others couldn''t decide which story was true. "What should we do?" the team asked Ninth. She was ultimately the one to decide which one to go for. Should they strike lightning at the dragon, or should they bury it in a large boulder? Ninth knew that it was a hard decision, something that could not be made with little deliberation. But she was a leader. She had to choose before the Dragon killed them. "We should go with¡ª" But before she decided, Atlan suddenly walked up and put his hand up towards her. "We shouldn''t do anything," he said. "The dragon will kill us all if we don''t kill it first." Atlan shook his head. "Will it? When I first met the dragon, it could have killed me. But it didn''t. It let me go. I don''t think this dragon has any bad intentions towards us." His words made the whole group silent. It was inconceivable to them that a Canzer would harbor no hostility towards a group of humans who had the deaths of thousands of Canzers in their hands. "We can''t do anything. Those Canzers will not wait for us to deliberate whether the dragon will kill us or not¡ª" But before Ninth could finish, Atlan pointed towards the horizon. Everyone''s eyes were led toward the Dragon and the Frog. The Dragon swooped from the air and tackled the Frog, sending it flying through the bayou. It took no effort from the dragon to send the gigantic Frog Prince tumbling through the air and landing on the creek. The crash sent swamp water flying out and created a mini tsunami that rocked the raft that carried the whole team. After a few seconds, everything settled down. The Dragon was still high up in the air. Meanwhile, the Frog Prince was on its back, with its limbs showing no sign of movement. "Did¡­did the Dragon just kill the Frog?" "A Canzer attacking another Canzer?! I''ve never seen that before¡­" "Are the two of them fighting against each other? This is great for us!" The team celebrated the fact that the two Canzers seemed to be on completely opposite sides. But the only ones who stayed quiet were Ninth, Atlan, and Carmine. "This is not good," said Ninth. "...I don''t know if it was on purpose, but the dragon made things harder for us." Before the team could question why Ninth wasn''t celebrating with them, they all suddenly heard a groan from the giant Frog. CROAK! The Frog Prince''s body started convulsing as if the ligaments in its body were changing and transforming into something different. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Frog Prince was undergoing his transformation! Meanwhile, the Dragon looked over to Atlan and gave him an imperceptible smile. ''The stronger the opponent, the stronger you will get, right?'' Chapter 314 Frog vanquished The Frog Prince''s slimy body started to glow violet.Its thin front legs started to beef up as if muscles started growing from under the skin. Its hind legs, which were usually bent, started to unravel, making the Frog stand up as if it were bipedal. Its bulbous eyes started to swell, until finally, it popped out of its socket and hung in the air. Its large stomach swelled even further, turning into a full sphere. This new transformation somehow turned the Frog Prince into a monstrous ball with human-like arms and legs that bounced up and down through the swampy bayou. The pressure and aura it exuded were far stronger than its original figure, almost tripling in value. It was no wonder why Carmine and the others warned the group about the Frog Prince''s transformation. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was unfortunate that the Dragon inadvertently triggered it, either on purpose or not. Atlan inwardly shook his head. Somehow, the Queen got the idea that Atlan got stronger through the deaths of stronger Canzers. Judging from the smile on her face, she knew exactly what she did when she turned the Frog upside down and allowed it to transform into the monster it was now. In truth, Atlan gained the rewards from the Canzer regardless if they transformed or not. But Atlan didn''t know if the LifeSkill he gets from reaping the Frog Prince''s death was influenced by their current strength. So for now, Atlan didn''t know if the Queen did him a favor or not. "This is the worst situation possible. Ninth, I think it''s time for you to make a tactical retreat." Ninth looked at the two gigantic monsters in front of them and felt a shiver down her spine. The Dragon specifically, looked like an opponent that she could not take lightly. "I agree. We need to get out for now and hope that only one of them follows us." The rest of the team had no reason to refuse NInth''s order¡ªexcept for one. Atlan didn''t want to miss the reaping of the Frog Prince''s death. So, he knew that he had to stall for time. "I think we can defeat both of them." In response, Carmine shouted back, "Are you crazy?!" "I told you. I don''t think the Dragon is our enemy." Atlan didn''t have to say more. The Queen swooped down towards the Frog Prince and used her wings to slice down its slimy skin. The Frog Prince prided himself in his ability to reflect physical attacks from his body using the slime in his skin. No other Canzer could pierce through his skin because of it. But the Queen was no ordinary Canzer. She was a cut above all of them. A large cut appeared on the Frog Prince''s torso, with violet blood spurting out into the bayou. The Frog flailed its arms in retaliation against the Dragon, but she was long gone before the Frog could even react to her attack. ''Stop this!'' screamed the Frog Prince. ''Are you really planning on waging war against our kingdom?'' The Queen laughed. ''Funny. You used to say that to our enemies. Now, you use it for them.'' ''You know why I left. Your kingdom was on its downfall. The once mighty Enchanted Kingdom was gone the moment your King died. You can''t expect us to stay in your kingdom and rot with it, right?'' In response, the Queen pulled her head back, gurgling fire in her throat. The Frog Prince, anticipating her attack, bounced out and away from her line of sight, sending a huge tsunami-like wave coursing through the bayou. With the Prince''s special transformation, his body turned full of air, allowing him to bounce randomly. He rebounded up and down in the air until finally, the Prince released all that energy and bounced towards the Dragon in the air. It was a surprise attack. One that would have caught most Canzers off guard. But the Queen was no ordinary Canzer. The moment he was close enough to her, she darted her head to his face and blew a fiery breath in his direction. GRAHHHH! The Prince tried to bounce in mid-air, but the fiery breath turned half of his body into fried meat. ''They won''t stand for this! You will pay!'' screamed the Frog Prince. His burned skin started to slowly heal as a strange liquid filled his skin. ''That may be so. But you won''t be alive to see it.'' The Queen swooped down once again, this time, using her sharp claws to slice the Frog Prince''s throat in one go. With her speed, the Frog Prince had no chance. Violet blood spurted out of his throat. He tried to plug the cut using his arms, but the flow of blood was too much. In the Frog Prince''s eyes was disbelief. It was only now that he realized that the Queen was serious about asking for his death. He thought she was only doing this to teach him a lesson. She truly was trying to kill him. But the Frog Prince couldn''t understand. She knew exactly what would happen once she interfered with another kingdom''s territory, especially with the humans involved. How could he have known that the Queen was only killing him so that Atlan could become stronger? In a last-ditch effort, the Frog Prince used his full power and summoned tadpoles out of nowhere. These tadpoles were the size of humans, but as they traveled from the ground toward the air, they quickly grew in size to the point that they turned into giant frogs themselves! These frogs turned more and more bloated until, BOOM! , they exploded into an acidic mist cloud that disintegrated everything in their path. This melted the whole swampy bayou, turning the trees and the ground into a disgusting goo. Normally, this was a trump card for the Frog Prince because it would kill everything in sight indiscriminately. But in his defense, the Queen forced him to do it. ''If you hadn''t tried to kill me, I wouldn''t have killed you. If you had just stayed in our kingdom, you could have ruled it for the rest of your life! But no! You just had to¡ª'' The Frog Prince wasn''t finished venting when all of a sudden, a dark shadow overcame his figure. Before he could even understand what it was, the Queen chomped down on his head and swallowed it whole. Chapter 315 Easiest reap Ninth and the rest of the team were gobsmacked. They couldn''t close their jaws from the shock of seeing the Dragon Canzer eat the Frog''s head whole and chomp it to bits.It was surreal. It felt like they were seeing something impossible, something taboo. Those two monsters may be completely different kinds of creatures, but they were still Canzerse nonetheless. It was like seeing a human bite another human''s hand whole. "What¡­" "Did that dragon just cannibalize its own kind?" Ninth didn''t even know what to do. She didn''t know if she should interfere or let nature take its course. This would have been the perfect opportunity for them to attack the dragon. Now that it was alone and busy digesting the head of the Frog, Ninth and the team had the chance to attack her at her most vulnerable position. On the other hand, they could just let the Dragon do what it was going to do. Since it never showed any hostility over them in the first place, there was a huge chance that the Dragon would simply leave after killing the Frog Canzer. "Carmine, have you ever heard something like this happening before?" Ninth asked the camera in the battle suit. "...this is highly unusual. From what our sources indicate, the Enchanted Queen is a royal leader of the Enchanted kingdom. Meanwhile, the Frog Prince is a general of a rival kingdom. From our estimation, this shouldn''t have happened. The Enchanted Queen shouldn''t have been in this place at all! The fact that she killed a general from a rival kingdom means that she is waging war against them, breaking the thousand-year peace treaty between the two kingdoms. This is highly unusual and game-changing! I believe that what we witnessed right now will have huge repercussions in the Canzer community." Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators knew more about the circumstances surrounding the Canzer society. That''s why it came as such a shock that they saw a pivotal moment in their history. The Dragon could cause an all-out war between the Canzers! Although it may sound good for humans to see that the Canzers were going to have a war, they knew that it would also have bad consequences. The rates of Canzer appearances would increase substantially. A war needed a lot of resources, and Canzers could only get those resources by infiltrating the Remediums and stealing from the God. The missions were bad now, but with the advent of the war, it would only become much worse. The Dragon roared to the skies after swallowing the Frog Prince''s head. She let out all the frustrations she had about the traitors of her kingdom and finally let them go. She had stayed far too passive this whole time. Now was the opportunity to finally get what she wanted. ''I hope you get stronger with this, human. We will see each other again very soon. Now that I''ve got a taste of those traitors, I''m craving for more.'' She spread her wings wide and took off into the black skies of the swampy bayou. In just a matter of seconds, she disappeared into the horizon, leaving the humans utterly confused and speechless. Soon after, the swampy bayou started to melt, as if it had only been an illusion this whole time. The large trees submerged in the water turned into large skyscrapers. The slow-moving river that carried the raft turned solid and became the asphalt road of Genesis City. A few seconds later, they were finally back into the streets leading towards the Church. The fact that the swampy bayou disappeared meant that the fight was truly over. But though a minute had passed, the whole team was still silent and reeling from what they just witnessed. They couldn''t believe it. Atlan was surprised too, not because of confusion, but because of joy. [You have assisted in the death of a complex creature: The Frog Prince] [Due to your Trait, your rewards have been multiplied by 10] [You have gained the (B-class) Assassin LifeSkill: Devour Assimilation] [You have gained 90x F class fragments] ¡ªArmy Chef: (B) Devour Assimilation ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Pre-Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 90x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª This LifeSkill allows the user to temporarily assimilate a creature''s physical and magical powers by devouring part of their body. The bigger the body part consumed, the stronger the power given to the user. [You have gained 50x (5-star) genus: Frog Prince] [You have gained the (5-star) mutation: Slimy Skin] ¡ª (5-star) Slimy Skin Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª¡ª Upon activation, the user''s skin will produce a slime that will decrease the SoulTime incurred by the injury by 50%. Atlan looked at his new set of powers and couldn''t help but break out a smile. He obtained a new Pre-Intern LifeSkill and a 5-star mutation without even doing anything¡ªliterally. The Queen stuck by her words and killed the Canzers for him. He was slightly worried that the Queen would go back on their promise, but it turned out that even Canzers like her could be more honorable than some humans. His new LifeSkill was incredibly interesting too. Although it necessitated him eating a part of a Canzer''s body, the fact that he could consume their flesh and assimilate their powers was a huge boon in strength. After all, he didn''t have to do it himself. He could simply give it out to a puppet, creating another powerful ally by his side. He was also surprised that the system considered him to have assisted in the Frog Prince''s death, which led to him getting more rewards. Is it because the Frog Prince wouldn''t have died if I hadn''t asked the Queen to kill him? Although it was weird, Atlan didn''t complain. After all, he got more rewards that way. Continue your saga on empire While Atlan was inwardly celebrating his rewards, the rest of the team were incredibly confused as to what they were going to do next. "...This is strange¡­" "I agree. But let''s look at it from the bright side. We can go forward and get a little bit closer to the Church," Ninth said to her team. No matter how strange the situation was, they shouldn''t forget their true goal. They were just a couple more hundred meters away from the Church. Chapter 316 Beasts castle The group walked forward through the streets. They were incredibly wary of their surroundings, waiting for the inevitable moment when the scenery changed and transported them to a different location.It would be a lie to say that the group wasn''t unnerved by the previous Canzer they encountered. But they moved on and continued walking forward. As they were walking, Atlan was suddenly surprised by the appearance of a few words in his vision. [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill to the 4th stage of the Student Realm] Now that he had an abundance of LifeSkills far above the Student realm, advancing these LifeSkills seemed futile. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even though these were SSS class LifeSkills, it was far too weak compared to the LifeSkills he gained from reaping the deaths of Specialist-level Canzers. Since he could imbue his LifeSkills to a puppet and immediately up their power into the Intern-realm, he had no use in upgrading his LifeSkills anymore. He only needed to find more Specialist-level Canzers and farm them for LifeSkills! This made him extremely excited to encounter another Canzer soon. He even hoped that they get stopped by Canzers at least five more times before they reached the church. If his previous self heard him say those words, then he would smack himself on the head. After all, he was only a Student-level Savior. Asking for more encounters with a dangerous Specialist-level Canzer was suicide, plain and simple. But since he had the help of a certain dragon hiding somewhere out there, he had absolute confidence in surviving those encounters. He wanted to maximize the little time he had left with the Queen''s help. According to their agreement, the Queen was only liable to help him before they reached the Church. Once they did, then the Queen was no longer responsible for his safety. He wished that he asked more from her. No, I shouldn''t rely on the Queen. Even if she''s very helpful right now, she''s still a Canzer. Once he got more Intern-realm LifeSkills, he was more than confident in surviving an encounter with a Specialist-level Canzer by himself. With that said, why aren''t there any Canzers appearing right now?! Just as he thought that, the whole Remedium turned dark, with the skyscrapers morphing and churching until they became high-ceiling walls. Suddenly, they were all enclosed into a very large room lit by candlelight. There was a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, also lit by candles swaying in the wind. TIK TOK TIK TOK The sound of a clock ticking resounded through the halls even though they couldn''t see any sign of that machine anywhere. From what they could see, they were inside a large castle that was meant for creatures larger than a human. "Where are we?" "This looks fancy¡­if it weren''t a Canzer''s lair, I would consider this my dream home." "Speaking of Canzer, where is it?" They all turned their heads to the front. There was a large spiraling staircase leading up to the second floor. But everything up there was shrouded in darkness. They couldn''t see anything. But they had a strange feeling as if those up above could see down towards them very clearly. Discover exclusive content at empire "Do you guys hear that? A ticking clock¡­a large chandelier on the ceiling¡­the clinging sound of tableware¡­there''s no doubt about it." "Where are we?" asked Atlan. "You are in the caste of the Beast." "The Beast? He sounds¡­beastly." Just as he said that, the whole castle shook with the footsteps of a creature above the staircase. Everyone turned their attention to the Beast. DUG! DUG! DUG! ''My, my, who do we have here? Visitors?'' The Beast walked down the steps with grace unlike that of his appearance. His large head was similar to that of a Bison, with horns arching upwards. His gorilla eyebrows narrowed upon seeing the humans. But instead of feeling hostility, the Beast welcomed them to his humble abode instead. He bent his body and performed a bow. His royal attire, complete with a royal blue tailcoat and a high-collar shirt underneath it, the Beast''s appearance made him look like a royal prince of those olden times. His vest and pants were inundated with gold trim and ornate designs, completing the regal theme. But despite his royal gestures, Atlan and the rest of the humans couldn''t help but treat him as nothing more than his name¡ªa Beast. His arms and body were that of a bear, completely towering over all the humans. He looked like he was on the verge of swatting them to the wall with his enormous hands. And as the Beast smiled, he showed the teeth and mane like that of a lion, and the tusks of a wild boar. All of the Canzer''s characteristics were an amalgamation of all the animals that once hunted humans back in the ancient days. "This is the Beast. It''s another Destruction-type Canzer famed for its physical prowess. Ninth, I suggest that you use both of your tanks to protect the team because one will not suffice." "How about its weakness? What kind of construct will we need?" "This one is fairly easy. We must simply build a rose encased in a glass container, which must be soaked in the Beast''s blood. Only then would the petals start falling from the rose, signaling the Beast''s limited time. The problem now is to survive long enough for that to happen. But if all things go as expected, I believe that all of you are capable of defeating this Canzed." Ninth looked at Atlan and realized that he hadn''t been paying attention this whole time. "Did you hear that, Atlan? We need you to create the construct." But Atlan seemed distracted. It was as if he didn''t care about creating the construct and fighting the Beast. And why would he? There was no need to burden himself with creating the construct when there was no need to do it. They just had to wait for the Queen to show up and kill the Beast for them. Chapter 317 Beasts companion ''Please, there is no need for violence,''the Beast said, spreading his arms in a non-hostile way. Unfortunately, everything that the Beast did, no matter how harmless they seemed, looked like it was a violent reaction because of his large beastly stature. Ninth and the others stopped talking and immediately moved to their defensive positions. Ninth and the rest of the team used their LifeSkills to attack the Beast before he could get close to them. The Sniper fired his shot, the Mage conjured an offensive spell, the Scout attacked from behind, and Ninth swung her one-handed sword toward the Beast in coordination with her team. But in response, the Beast simply swatted their attacks with nonchalance. His thick fur allowed him to take virtually no damage from the Mage''s spell and the Sniper''s bullet. They tried to dig through the Beast''s skin, but they ended up dissipating in the air. The only one who was able to draw blood to the Beast was Ninth. Her sword cut through the Canzer''s bear arms, creating a small cut near his wrist. But her sword, unfortunately, didn''t go far. The Beast simply swatted Ninth and her sword away with his large arm. Ninth flew backward until her back landed on the wall, shaking the paintings above. ''I mean no harm, humans.'' Despite being attacked, the Beast showed no sign of retaliating against the humans. It insisted on peace, strangely enough. But no matter how much it tried to say something to Ninth and the others, they could not understand the Beast''s strange aversion to fighting. After all, the fact that the Beast approached them should only mean one thing: it wanted to kill them. Ninth and the others were not wrong in attacking the Beast first. Even if they somehow understood by its actions that the Beast didn''t want to attack them, Ninth would have still attacked him nonetheless. After all, Canzers were sly creatures; she didn''t know if it was simply feigning non-violence to draw them in and take them off guard. Atlan was the only one who understood the Beast''s words. Similarly, he couldn''t trust the Canzer''s words. What is it trying to do? As if it wanted to answer Atlan''s inner thoughts, the Beast said, ''I want to help you, humans.'' Atlan almost reacted to the Beast''s words. He simply couldn''t understand why. There had to be a reason why the Beast wanted to help them. It was unfortunate that Atlan couldn''t talk to the Beast directly to ask him. Continue your journey on empire "Carmine, care to tell us why this Canzer is acting so weird? It''s not trying to kill us." Ninth walked back near to Atlan. When she was thrown to the wall, she didn''t feel the intensity and strength she expected from the Beast''s arms. It was as if the Beast was trying not to hurt her, only repel her away. This was extremely weird. After all, the Beast was famed for his strength. He shouldn''t be this weak. "...We don''t know¡­We can see the Beast in his whole attire, so we are sure that this is not a variant of the Beast. So, this Beast should be the maniacal, monstrous Canzer that would want to kill humans the moment it sets its eyes on you." Ninth looked at the Beast and noticed that it had been moving its mouth and gesturing for a while now. It was as if it was trying to communicate with them. "Are you seeing what I''m seeing?" she asked Carmine and Atlan. "Yes. It seems that the Canzer wants to convey something to us." Unfortunately, no matter how much the Beast used his arms to communicate with the humans, it was impossible for the two to understand each other. Both of them might be intelligent in their own right, but they had completely different cultures and ways of thinking. One thing for humans may mean another thing for Canzers. ''I understand that for all of you to trust me, I need to trust you first.'' The Beast turned around and faced the spiraling staircase leading to the second floor. It was still shrouded in darkness, but the Beast seemed to be able to see through it. ''My love, please come down.'' The Beast''s gesture was universal. Ninth and the rest of the team immediately knew that the Beast was talking to someone else on the second floor! This made the team extremely nervous. Having another unexpected Canzer appearing in this cramped room was bad news. Dealing with the Beast was already bad enough, but if it had another helper about to come about, then they would lose their advantage in numbers. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Carmine! You didn''t tell us there''s another Canzer in the Beast''s palace!" "There wasn''t supposed to!" Carmine''s hectic voice leaked out of the battle suit. It was clear that this was not part of the plan. "The Beast is supposed to be alone! The Canzer was famous for his aversion to other Canzers, meaning that he would rather die than ask help from some other Canzers. This is highly unusual!" Since the Beast wasn''t supposed to have a helper, Carmine and the others couldn''t prepare for its arrival. At least with other Canzers, they could prepare a plan of attack and create a construct to deal with both of them. But with the unknown helper, Carmine could do nothing else but watch. STEP¡­STEP¡­STEP The sound of elegant footsteps rang out from the staircase. Even though it was subtle, it took away everyone''s attention. Ninth raised her sword, preferring to act now before it could act against her. She imbued herself with power, summoning the apparition of the swordmaiden above her body. Although this apparition was smaller than normal because of the ceiling, it was not lacking in power. The swordmaiden reached forward and swung towards the creature going down the steps. But just as she was about to slice down, a voice rang out from the creature. "Please, there''s no need for that." Ninth stopped in her tracks, her jaws slacked. Instead of seeing a monstrous Canzer going down the steps, they saw an elegant human woman smile and greet them from the stairs. Chapter 318 Beauty The appearance of a human woman sent the whole team into disarray. Even Carmine and the rest of the Operators back in the Emergency Meeting room couldn''t believe what they were seeing.At first, everyone thought that it was a Canzer that only looked eerily similar to human biology. After all, appearances could be deceiving. But when they heard her voice talking in a human language, they couldn''t deny the truth any longer. She was a human. This woman had auburn brown hair tied in a ponytail. She looked young, but that was not an indication of her age. After all, Lizzie looked young despite her age being a hundred years old. Her attire was very similar to the Beast''s princely uniform. One could even say they matched well with each other as if they were a couple. But how could that be? She was a human, while the Beast was a Canzer. Everyone froze. They tried hard to process what was happening in front of their very eyes, but they could not reconcile the truth with what they were seeing. But as expected of Ninth, she was the first one to move. Ninth rushed towards the top of the stairs, bypassing the Beast in his entirety. Before everyone could even try to stop her, Ninth arrived just one step away from the human woman. Once the two women met face to face, Ninth held out her hand and offered it to her. "We''ll protect you. Come with us," she said. The only reasonable explanation that Ninth could come up with was that the woman was taken hostage by the Beast. And so, Ninth quickly moved and offered her help so that she could finally break away from the confines of the Beast''s palace. Ninth''s team quickly offered support once they realized what she was doing. They surrounded the Beast, making sure that he wouldn''t be able to stop Ninth from rescuing the poor woman. But strangely enough, the Beast didn''t move a single inch. And even more strange was the fact that the woman atop the stairs didn''t take Ninth''s hand. She only looked at it and shook her head. "Make no mistake, I am, and always will be, here of my own accord. The Beast has not taken me hostage." This confused Ninth so much that she couldn''t help but stare at the woman. She was trying to see any sign of coercion on her face, a subtle sign that gave away the fact that the Beast was forcing her to say these words. But she didn''t see anything. The woman was telling the truth. It didn''t take Ninth a lot of time to realize this. And once she did, she quickly retreated away from the stairs and regrouped with her team. She looked at the woman with more wariness. "!$)%*!$*%#!)$%#" The Beast roared at Ninth, talking to her about something. "Oh, please. They meant no harm," the Woman said to the Beast. Then, she looked to Ninth and translated what the Beast said to her. "He said that the only reason he didn''t break your bones while you approached me was because you didn''t carry your weapon. Sorry, he''s quite overprotective of me." Ninth and the rest of the normal humans looked at the Beast and the Woman''s interaction with strange expressions. It turned out that the Woman could understand the Beast''s words! This was a revelation that sent a shockwave to the Operators back to the real world. "What''s happening, Carmine? Is this a trick from the Canzers?" But the Operators couldn''t answer Ninth''s question immediately. After all, they were too busy being surprised upon learning of the fact that a human was able to understand a Canzer''s language. "This¡­this¡­she can speak Canzer¡­." Ninth got a little bit frustrated with Carmine''s answer. "Focus, Carmine. Tell me what we''re supposed to do next. Should we kill that impostor?" "No! No! That is not an impostor. That is a human woman!" "Are you sure? Then how is she able to understand a Canzer''s language?" "Yes. She can speak human!" Atlan couldn''t hide his surprise as well. The Woman''s translation of the Beast''s words was exactly what he heard as well. This meant that the Woman could truly understand the Canzer''s language as he did. He thought he was the only one who had that ability. While Carmine and Ninth were arguing, the Woman walked down the steps of the winding staircase and took her place next to the Beast. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She looked like a dwarf compared to the Beast. But despite the staggering height and stature difference between the two, the Beast and the Woman were very close and had a strange aura around them. It was as if they were very close¡­ very close. "Yes, I am human, and you can call me Beauty." Ninth walked to the front of the line and faced ''Beauty''. "If you''re truly human, then why are you there? Why are you¡­holding hands with a Canzer?" The Beauty and the Beast held hands with love and care. It was as if they were a couple that could not be separated even by fate itself. Their eyes looked at each other with such love that it was almost comical. "There''s nothing wrong with love," Beauty said. "As long as our souls intertwine, then there is no difference between human and Canzer. We are bonded by something so much more than the physical." ")($*@&$(*&@(*$" "Hehe¡­yes, they can''t understand our love, and we don''t need to explain it to them." ¡ª Back at the Emergency Meeting room, the team of Specialist Operators was still busy looking at their books and sources to try and see if there was an explanation for the ''Beauty''. But no matter how much they consulted the records, they couldn''t find a precedent for this type of situation. This was the first documented case of a human and a Canzer having a¡­relationship. This was also the first time anyone ever saw a human understanding a Canzer''s language. Chapter 319 Reason for talk "Who the hell is she?!""Are we even sure she''s human?" "Focus, team! We need to find out if this woman affects the weakness of the Beast!" The team of Specialist-level Operators were in a shouting match together. They were heaving half-hearted solutions, while the rest of them were swatting them down harshly. And this argument would never end for as long as they hadn''t figured out who the woman who called herself ''Beauty'' was. Thankfully, the Operators weren''t the only ones who were in the Emergency Meeting room. The Elder Heads silently watched the live video feed with intense eyes. Then, as the video focused on the face of the woman next to the Beast, the woman with her hair in a ponytail suddenly had a flash of familiarity wash over her head. She had found that face familiar, but she couldn''t put a pin on it. This was highly unusual because the Elder Heads prided themselves in having sharp minds and intact memories despite their age. Only now, when the camera focused on the woman''s face, did the Elder Head realize why she seemed so familiar. "I know who she is¡­" Her words caused a silence in the room. Carmine, the team of Specialist Operators, and the rest of the Elder Heads put their attention towards her. "You know her, your honor?" Carmine asked. The old woman nodded her head, surprising everyone. "Back when I was in my youth, I was sent outside Genesis City and made to work in a different territory. The name of that territory didn''t matter, but I performed missions and lived a different life in that City. During my tenure there, we encountered an incident. A Specialist-level Savior was suddenly caught up in a vortex in the Remedium. They tried to search for her after the mission, but it was to no avail. Everyone thought she''d be lost forever¡­" "But we looked through the missing person list in the entire world. We didn''t see a match with her facial features," Carmine said. In truth, that was the first thing the Operators did. After all, a Savior being lost and trapped in the Remedium was the first explanation that popped up in their mind. So, they consulted the global list of missing persons in the Remedium. And no matter how much they looked for her, they couldn''t find her face in the registry. The old woman nodded. "Yes, but that list only consists of territories that are currently still alive today." "You mean¡­" "Yes. The territory where this woman once lived no longer exists in this world." The old woman lived for far too long, and she witnessed the birth and death of many territories on the entire planet. "Your honor, do you have her name?" "Yes. Her name is¡­" ¡ª Back at the Beast''s castle, the team faced the Beauty and the Beast with wariness in their eyes. "If you are human, then why are you with that Beast?" asked Ninth. In response, the Beauty simply chuckled. "He is more human than most humans." "So what does this mean? Are you with the Canzers? Are you an enemy of humanity?" Ninth asked her straightforwardly. Siding with Canzers was nothing more than treason against humanity. If she prioritized a Canzer before a human''s safety, then Ninth had a responsibility to dispose of her right here and now. "I am not an ally of the Canzers. I am on his side only." "It''s the same nonetheless. You and your Beast hindered us from reaching our goal." Beauty shook her head. "We didn''t hinder you, woman. We simply wanted to talk. If you had let go of your prejudice against Canzers, then you would have noticed that He didn''t want to fight you." "Then what do you want?'' "We simply want to talk," Beauty said. "$(*@(*$&(#*$(#($" the Beast supplemented her words. "Yes, I already told them that we are not their enemy." Ninth looked at the two with disgust. Seeing Beauty interact with the Beast as if they were not enemies made her want to puke. "You''re a Canzer! How else can you understand the Beast''s words?" Atlan listened closely to Beauty''s response. He wanted to know if it was also a mutation that allowed her to listen and speak to Canzers. "If I was a Canzer, then I wouldn''t be able to speak the human language. Or are you saying that Canzers are much more intelligent than humans and that they are the first ones to break that barrier? This is not a mutation nor a LifeSkill. I learned how to speak Canzer because of love. It breaks all boundaries." Ninth gritted her teeth. "Then what do you want? Tell me now before I kill both of you with my sword." The Beauty and the Beast both looked at each other. "$#)(*&@)(*@#" "We want to help you." Beauty translated the Beast''s words. "It is to our understanding that you have been encountering difficult Canzers in your journey to the Church." Ninth didn''t like the fact that someone like Beauty knew about their plans. It was one thing for Canzers to know, and it was another thing for a human to know. After all, she could know their plans purely because of her heritage. "That White Canzer. Is that your comrades?" asked Ninth. When Beauty translated the Ninth''s words to the Beast, the monstrous Canzer laughed with his belly. It caused a slight tremor in the castle. "No, we hate them," answered Beauty. "As I told you, we only side with ourselves. We do not like other Canzers. In fact, we would like to help you kill other Canzers." Ninth and the others were immediately suspicious of their offer. They thought it was a trap. After all, it was too good to be true. And there would be no reason why they would want to help humans. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan wasn''t just suspicious, he also felt a sense of deja vu. The Queen offered the same thing to him! Then, Beauty revealed the real reason why they wanted to help the humans. "We want the Dragon dead. If you help us, then we''ll make things a lot easier for you." Chapter 320 Consider a truce It turned out that the Beauty and the Beast wanted the Queen dead! That was the reason it wanted to cooperate with the humans."What?" Even Ninth was confused. "We know that you have encountered the Dragon one or two times already on this mission. As you might have guessed, that Dragon is not supposed to be here. It is a very dangerous Canzer that has no boundaries, no code, and no rules. It will kill both humans and Canzers indiscriminately. We simply want to teach it its place. By helping us kill the Dragon, you will have the entire Canzer race in debt to your group. Every Canzer will be so grateful for your help that they will no longer block your way towards the Church. They will let you dispatch the Ifrit in your God''s heart and we can all go home." Ninth went silent. Even though she wanted to refuse Beauty''s words as soon as she said it, she knew that this was an opportunity that wouldn''t come again. The Dragon was a dangerous Canzer. There was no doubt about it. And Ninth was only about 50% sure that they would be able to defeat it one-on-one. But if the Dragon barged into their fight again, Ninth couldn''t be sure that it wouldn''t team up with the Canzer. At that point, Ninth was sure that they would have to retreat to the real world because there was no way they were going to defeat the Dragon. If what the Beauty said was true, then the only way they were going to defeat the Dragon was if they teamed up with the Beauty and the Beast. Even though she didn''t trust the couple, the enemy of her enemy was her friend. Therefore, she was seriously contemplating whether she was going to accept the Beast''s proposition. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Meanwhile, Atlan immediately knew that Beauty and the Beast were telling a bunch of lies. Since they wanted the Queen dead, then they must be part of the opposing kingdom that the Queen wanted to go to war with. There was also a large chance that they would backstab Ninth and kill both the Queen and the humans in one fell swoop. And even if they were telling the truth and harbored no ill will against Ninth and the team, Atlan didn''t want them to succeed. The reason for that was plain and simple: he wanted to reap more Specialist-level Canzers. If Beauty and Beast succeeded in killing the Queen, then they would instruct the other Canzers to let them walk to the Church without any hassle. Atlan didn''t want that. He wanted to encounter as many Canzers as possible and have the Queen kill them easily. That way, he could farm as many Intern-level LifeSkills as possible! But when he looked at Ninth, he saw that she was on the verge of accepting their proposition. He couldn''t let that happen. "They''re not telling the truth," he whispered to her. Ninth looked back at him. "Listen, I don''t trust them either. But this could be the only chance we have of killing the Dragon." "Do we have to? The Dragon didn''t show any sign of hostility against us. And it even killed the Canzer for us! Maybe it''s on our side." Ninth shook her head. "That is a Canzer you''re talking about. They don''t do things for our benefit. Who''s to say that it wouldn''t attack us later when we are at our most vulnerable?" "What if they are also planning that?" "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Trust me, I won''t let my eyes off the couple. But we need their strength to kill the Dragon." Atlan could see from Ninth''s expression that there was no way he was going to convince her. She was still stuck in her thinking that Canzers were an enemy of humanity. That was probably because she was brought up that way. Meanwhile, Atlan was able to converse and hear Canzers with his mutation. That allowed him to realize that Canzers had their own emotions, grudges, and desires the same way that a human did. There was practically no difference between the two, except for their appearance. That was why Atlan easily believed that the Queen meant them no harm. Ninth was set on her ways. Atlan had to find a way to stop them from reaching an agreement. He looked down at his battle suit and asked Carmine. "Hey, did you¡ª" "We know who she is!" Atlan listened to Carmine''s words carefully. ¡ª Meanwhile, Ninth and the rest of her team walked forward. If they were going to work together, then they needed to trust each other. "We''re happy that you''ve accepted our proposal. That Dragon is a menace that is dangerous to both humans and Canzers." "$(@*@#*$@#%" The rest of Ninth''s team took a step back when the Beast spoke out loud. They still weren''t used to having a Canzer be so close to them without a fight breaking out. "I haven''t accepted. I''m still considering the risks." Beauty nodded, understanding her hesitance. "That is fine. You have taken the first step. You are still wary of us, and that is understandable. To assure you, then we are willing to make some concessions. We will be the first one to attack the Dragon, while you all stay in the backline and wait for the opportune moment to kill it. Surely that is enough for you to trust us. We literally have our backs faced towards you." Ninth found the concession agreeable. If the Beast was the one to attack the Dragon, then they could make sure that there was no shady business going on. And if the Beast and the Dragon fought to the death, then it would only benefit them. Ninth could use that opportunity to deal with both Canzers once and for all. Seeing as Ninth had an agreeable expression on her face, Beauty held out her hand for Ninth to accept. Ninth took a second to reconsider and finally held out her hand. They were about to shake hands, when all of a sudden, Atlan spoke out from the back. "Wait a minute." Chapter 321 Belle Atlan''s words interrupted the good mood that was about to overcome Beauty. She thought she would convince Ninth about her proposal, but a little boy suddenly interrupted their meeting."Does he speak for your team?" Beauty asked Ninth. She was insinuating that Atlan was a nobody. After all, it looked like he was the only one that was against their cooperation. And since his words don''t matter, then they should continue their agreement. Ninth picked up on this subtle fact. Even though she didn''t like Atlan interrupting their moment, she wasn''t going to let the disrespect against him pass by without saying anything. "His word is as valuable as mine," Ninth proclaimed. "If he wants to say something, then let him say it in peace. We''re not in a hurry here, are we? Or do you have a reason why you are hurrying to seal the deal on our agreement?" Beauty immediately flashed a smile, making sure that there was no tension between her and Ninth. "No, no, no! We''re not in too much of a hurry. It''s just that the faster we finalize the teamwork between us, the faster we can deal with the Dragon problem. What is it, little boy, do you have some questions?" Enjoy exclusive content from empire Atlan walked up to them and stood beside Ninth. He showed no sign of fear as he got closer to the Beast, whose animalistic scent was very overpowering. This surprised Ninth, Beauty, and the Beast. Beauty seemed to be knowledgeable about the way things worked in Savior circles and correctly deduced the fact that Atlan was a porter. So, she thought that he was only a weak-willed person who would cower under the Beast''s terrifying aura. But surprisingly, he held his own. How could He cower under the Beast? Even though it looked monstrous, it was nowhere near as powerful as the Dragon. She was a realm above every other Cancer he met, including the Beast. Once he held his ground, Atlan addressed the Beauty with an inquisitive expression. "How can we trust your words if we don''t even know who you are? Care to tell us how you came into this Remedium and into the Beast''s care?" Beauty seemed to be prepared for this question and answered it perfectly, as if reading from a script. "There''s nothing special about it. I was once a citizen of a territory back in the real world¡ªa Savior like you, actually. And like all Saviors, I was assigned to a mission in the Remedium. As you all know, the Remedium could be quite dangerous and chaotic if it wanted to, and unfortunately, I was a victim of that danger. Me and my team, due to an anomaly, were forced into a vortex and we all ended up in the Beast''s vortex. We weren''t supposed to encounter the Beast at all, so we were caught unprepared. Due to some quick thinking, some of my teammates were able to create a portal that led us back to the real world. Unfortunately, that portal ended up being unstable. Most of our team were already able to escape out into the portal, but there were still two of us trapped. I saw that the portal was quickly closing and I realized that only one of us would get out alive. I pushed my teammates to the portal and saved them. But in the process, I doomed myself to stay in the Remedium forever. I thought that the Beast would tear me into pieces, and play with my body however it wanted. But things weren''t anything like I expected. The Beast, who I thought was an animalistic monster who was only out for blood, turned out to be a noble being who wanted nothing more than company in his castle. He treated me well, fed me, and we turned to each other when we were lonely. Slowly, I turned from an apprehensive captive to a friend. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And as we spent more and more time together, I realized that I had turned to love the Beast. I know, crazy, right? Who would have ever thought that I would fall in love with a Canzer? But I did. And in my heart, I knew that he loved me too. That is our story, and how we became who we are today. And I don''t regret a single thing." Beauty''s monologue painted a pretty picture of her fated meeting with the Beast. Anyone would feel at least a little bit of sympathy for the couple after hearing their story. In her story, the Beast was a misunderstood loner, and she was a prejudiced human. In the end, they both learned that they were perfect for each other. This tale would have been good to see in the theater. But it wasn''t anything realistic. Atlan simply couldn''t believe their story. "Are you sure that''s what happened?" asked Atlan. Beauty looked back at him, her eye twitching imperceptibly. "Yes. That is what happened." Atlan nodded. "Hmmm¡­is that so? Because from what I heard, the story is very different?" Beauty eyed him with hostility. "What are you talking about?" Even Ninth shot him a look asking him what he was doing. "Well, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a woman who was living happily with her friends, and family. Then one day, she was called in to work abroad with her team. But something went wrong during this trip. They were trapped in a desolate place without any hope. The colleagues, who she treated as her friends and family, did something unthinkable. To save themselves, they threw this woman out into the streets! Can you guess who this woman is?" Beauty had her head down, with her fist balled up with anger. Her nails dug deep into her palms. "...stop¡­" she whispered. "Her name is¡­Belle." And with the mention of her true name, Beauty erupted into an explosive fury. She immediately rushed towards Atlan and tried to strangle his neck. But thanks to the quick reaction from Atlan, he was able to escape from her clutches in time. Chapter 322 Animated kitchen objects "YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU UTTER THAT NAME!"Belle screamed, still trying to strangle Atlan. But the Beast stopped her before she could get any closer to Atlan. Ninth looked back at Atlan. "I was simply telling the truth," Atlan shrugged his shoulders. "Carmine told me the real story about Belle. She was part of a research party about the Beast, but when they were trapped in the castle with no way out, her team threw her out to save themselves. Her team made it out alive, and Belle was never found again, until now. Everyone thought she would be forever lost in the Remedium, but now, who would have thought that she took control of the Beast for her own sake?" Ninth looked back at Ninth. "So she was lying. There''s still no reason for me to refuse her request. We need to deal with the Dragon, and we can only do that with their help." Atlan pointed at the camera in his battle suit, signaling for Carmine to explain. "Belle used to be a Specialist-level Savior with a terrifying ability. She has a LifeSkill called Contract Lock. If you break a contract with her, then she could have weakened you and your team into an almost catatonic state. It doesn''t matter if you or she break it, the moment the contract is broken, you are given a large debuff, lessening your offense and defense by a staggering 90 percent!" Atlan looked at Belle. "She would have used that opportunity to backstab us." Belle''s ability was incredibly strong, especially if no one knew about her ability beforehand. Ninth was almost tricked by her. And she couldn''t be blamed for that. After all, she couldn''t have known that she had that kind of ability. She was blindsided. Even so, the fact that she almost put her entire team into a dangerous position made Ninth extremely mad at herself. She couldn''t believe how stupid she was. She usually wasn''t this hasty. In truth, she was incredibly afraid of the Dragon. From the moment it appeared, she realized that there was a Canzer that she couldn''t defeat with her sword. And it scared her to think that the Dragon could simply appear out of nowhere and kill the entire team. And she would be helpless. So, when Belle or Beauty proposed a joint expedition to kill the Dragon, she immediately jumped at the chance. After all, she knew that she could defeat both Belle and the Beast with ease if they did decide to betray them. From her perspective, she was the one using Beauty and the Beast. But as it turned out, she was the one getting used. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Tsk! You are all gonna pay for this! Beast, kill them all!" Beauty pointed at them. And as if its leash was broken, the Beast roared out to the castle and broke out of his princely attire. What was left was his hairy body like that of a bear. Your next journey awaits at empire For its first victim, the Beast lunged at Ninth. But it was extremely surprised to see that its paws were stopped by Ninth''s one-handed sword. She wasn''t even looking at the Beast. She had her head down in shame. "You''ll pay for this¡­" Ninth muttered. She raised her sword, pushing the Beast back despite its tremendous strength. She immediately rushed toward Belle and thrust her sword into her heart. But suddenly, a floating candelabra stopped the sword in its tracks. And before Ninth could react, a giant mantle clock suddenly fell from the ceiling and threatened to crush her into the ground. These animated objects held surprising strength, pinning Ninth and preventing her from pursuing Belle. The rest of her team tried to support her, but they were all swarmed by living kitchen utensils that had a mind of their own. Forks, spoons, and knives floated in the air and attacked everyone indiscriminately. In the meanwhile, Belle sneaked to the back and slowly made her way towards Atlan. Ninth was busy fighting the Beast, and the rest of the team was also busy fighting for their lives. Atlan was all alone with no help around him. "...you¡­it''s all because of you!" she whispered to herself. Even though her specialty wasn''t in offense, she was still a bona fide Specialist-level Savior. She could deal with a weak little boy like him in her sleep. A floating book followed close to Belle. This contained all her contracts, including her contract with the Beast and the animated objects in the castle. She summoned a teacup, which was filled with deadly acid that could melt bones in a fraction of a second. She was about to pour this acid to Atlan, when all of a sudden, the whole castle was filled with gray smoke. This smoke obscured everything, not even letting her see or sense the Beast anywhere. "The Enchanted Queen?...no¡­this is different¡­this looks like¡­the Huntsman! But that''s impossible¡­" She tried to run as far away from the smoke as possible, but it looked like she was trapped in an endless space. No matter where she ran, there was nothing but gray smoke everywhere. "Do you know?" Suddenly, Atlan''s voice echoed through the gray smoke, surprising Belle. She quickly turned around and saw him standing with his hands crossed in his chest. "I''m going to tear you apart, little boy! You''re going to wish you were dead!" But in response to her threat, Atlan simply repeated his question. "Do you know?" Belle finally had enough. "Know what?!" "Do you know that the Angles died and humans can finally die?" Belle scoffed at his words. "And even if that''s true, do you think you can kill me? You? With your paltry strength? Talk to me again in a thousand years. Oh wait, you''re not going to live that long." Atlan shook his head. "Maybe I can''t defeat you. But he can." Atlan pointed toward Belle''s side. She quickly turned around and saw a silhouette slowly appear through the dark fog. For a moment, she thought she saw the Huntsman. Then, a green line of fire appeared and created a bluish-green fire explosion toward Beauty. Chapter 323 Buying time QThe bluish-green fire created a large explosion, but it barely did anything to disperse the gray fog surrounding Beauty."Haaa..haaa¡­" The previous dignified look of Belle was nowhere to be seen. Her dress was mostly burned and tattered, with her skin showing signs of third-degree burns that wouldn''t heal no matter how much SoulTime she put into it. She patted the rest of the green fire that consumed her body, but it persisted as if it didn''t follow the rules of physics. "Where¡­? How?!" Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She couldn''t understand where that fire came from. The last thing she saw was a silhouette in the fog, but it didn''t look like anyone from their team at all. It looked like a man wearing a feathered hat that carried a bow and arrow. That didn''t make sense. How could a person suddenly appear out of nowhere? And where did this pesky fog come from? It seemed to separate her from the Beast into an entirely different dimension. She couldn''t see, hear, or feel anything aside from herself. "This is simply self-defense." Atlan''s voice once again echoed in the fog. She quickly turned around and saw him casually standing in the middle of the fog. It was then that she realized that, as impossible as it may have sounded, this little boy was the source of all this strangeness she experienced. "How are you doing this? Let me out of here!" she demanded. But Atlan had no intention of ever letting her out. If she did, then she would most certainly use the Beast to attack him first and foremost. Right now, Atlan had the advantage. He would be an idiot to get rid of that. "Tell me the truth, how are you able to speak to the Beast?" Belle looked at Atlan confused. She didn''t know why he was asking that. But, she decided to tell the truth. She would use this chance to gain a little bit of time so that she could figure out how to get out of this mysterious fog. "It''s because of my LifeSkill. I assume you already know about it since you know my name. I simply entered a contract with the Beast, giving me complete control over his mind and actions. Because of that, I was able to ''speak'' to him and converse with that Canzer." Atlan was a little bit disappointed. He thought that he had finally found someone who could speak Canzer like him. Why was he disappointed that he was the only one who could speak and understand Canzers? It was because if other people could speak Canzer, then he wouldn''t have to hide this ability from humanity anymore. He could freely use his mutation and simply make the excuse that he learned how to do it like Belle. Unfortunately, Belle only learned how to speak to the Beast because of her LifeSkill. She couldn''t speak and understand any other Canzer because of that. "Tell me, how did you create this fog?" "..." "Oh come on. I answered your question, it''s only fair that you answer mine." Atlan acquiesced and told her the truth. "It''s my ability." She looked around and was very surprised. "A porter that has another ability besides carrying luggage? I''m very surprised." "Now, it''s my turn to ask the question. How long have you been here?" "Seriously, you''re going to waste your question on that?" "Fine. Have you met any other Canzers here?" Belle smiled. "Yes. I couldn''t understand them, of course, but since I could read the Beast''s mind, I could guess what they were saying." "Why do you want to kill the Dragon?" "Uh uh uh," Belle waved her finger. "It''s my turn to ask the question. Who was that archer? He''s not from your team, I''m sure of that." "He''s an ally," Atlan answered plainly. In the confines of the fog, he didn''t have to worry about his secrets leaking out to the others. If his battle suit couldn''t even transmit video and audio, then Ninth and the others surely wouldn''t be able to hear their conversation. "Interesting¡­" "Now, why do you want to kill the Dragon?" Belle shrugged. "I don''t want to, but the Beast does. From my understanding, it''s some kind of political war between two territories." Atlan nodded to himself. Belle''s answer was directly in line with what Atlan was thinking. The only reason why the Beast would want to kill the Dragon was because she was invading their territory. "So, he''s not really alone, is he?" Belle chuckled to herself. "You''re not supposed to ask a question, but I''ll let it pass. You''re very astute." "If you''re allowing that, then let me ask a final question." Belle performed a very noble bow towards Atlan, signaling her permission to let him ask his question. "Why would you want to stay here? You could have come back home with us." Belle bit her lips for a fraction of a second, but quickly changed her expression soon after. "You already know my story. Those bastards betrayed me and left me here to rot. I have nothing left back in that world. But here, I have everything. I have my own castle, and I have my own very loyal Beast. Why would I want to get back?" Belle took a deep breath and recentered herself. She faced Atlan the way she presented herself when they first met. "Now is the time for revenge. I have wasted time long enough." SNAP Suddenly, a large silhouette appeared behind Belle and knelt beside her. Discover more content at empire Surprisingly, it was the Beast! "Did you forget?" she asked Atlan. "I have complete control over the Beast. I can command him even if I can''t see or hear him. I only asked those questions because I wanted to buy enough time for him to get here. Now, it''s your time to die." Belle pointed to Atlan, and the Beast immediately started walking towards him with its terrifying monstrous body. But instead of cowering in fear, Atlan smiled, confusing both Beauty and the Beast. He looked at Belle and said, "You''re not the only one buying time." A larger-than-life silhouette, with huge wings and a fiery breath, appeared behind Atlan. Chapter 324 Puppy Belle''s body started involuntarily shaking once she felt the terrifying pressure emitted by that large winged creature.Even if she hadn''t personally seen the Dragon before, she was more than sure that this creature was exactly that monstrous being. Even the Beast, who prided himself in towering over any other Canzer, couldn''t help but take a step back as he looked up at the majestic body of the Dragon. Both of them were caught entirely unprepared at the appearance of the Dragon. They would have never thought that the Dragon would appear so soon. This wasn''t supposed to happen. After all, they were in the midst of the Beast''s castle. It was supposed to be a private sanctuary that even the Dragon could not locate. But somehow, it was able to locate this place amid the different dimensions. "H..how¡­" Belle muttered to herself. Even though Atlan admitted it himself, she simply couldn''t believe it. Belle thought that she was the one buying time for her Beast to come, but as it turned out, Atlan was buying time for the Queen to appear too! Back when the fighting hadn''t even started yet, Atlan suddenly heard a voice echo in his mind. Buy some time for me. I''ll arrive soon. He immediately recognized the voice to be the Queen''s! Somehow, she was able to communicate with him even though they were separated by large distances. He didn''t question her words and immediately tried to buy some time for her to arrive. Thankfully, she arrived just in time before Belle could command the Beast to attack him. He looked up and talked to the Queen. ''How did you find me?'' The Dragon flashed a smile accompanied by a fiery breath. ''I imprinted my mark on your face when I kissed your cheeks. Without that, I would have never been able to locate this place.'' Belle almost had her eyes out of her sockets as she looked at Atlan and the Dragon with shock. "You¡­you¡­!!!" she pointed at Atlan. "You can talk to the Dragon? You can speak Canzer?!?!" She witnessed firsthand how Atlan''s voice suddenly transformed into something monstrous, something that only Canzers could produce with their special biology. Humans couldn''t speak those words, but somehow, Atlan was able to speak fluently enough to converse with the Dragon. But that wasn''t even the most surprising part. Atlan talked to the Dragon as if they were more than acquaintances! They regarded each other as if they were friends who were separated after a long time. It was then that she finally realized. Atlan was the one who summoned the Dragon here. She finally realized why he was acting so haughty despite his weak strength. All this time, he acted as if he wasn''t afraid of the Beast or the Beauty. It was only now that Belle realized why. It was because he had a much greater monster as his ally. "You! Who are you? WHAT are you?!" Belle shivered. Atlan was a porter who had a different LifeSkill than his Physique one. He was someone who could summon allies from out of nowhere. She wasn''t sure if he was even human. "If you had just returned with us, then this wouldn''t happen. Instead, you planned to kill us and the Dragon." Belle gritted her teeth. "Not if I kill you all first! Beast, go and deal with that Dragon. I''ll deal with that pesky¡­boy!" Beast roared to the top of his lungs, showing off his muscles and his furry torso to the Dragon as a form of intimidation. But instead of bringing fear, it only brought amusement to the Queen''s face. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''You''re a lost little puppy, aren''t you? Are you so desperate for a master that you let a human control you?'' ''Grahh! Evil Queen! BARK BARK BARK'' The Queen pitied the little puppy. ¡ª Meanwhile, Belle decided that she needed to let out all her power to survive. Her book of contracts started glowing as it floated in front of her. She commanded all of her contracts to return to her side and stop fighting the other humans. They didn''t need to fight them anymore. She correctly guessed that Atlan wouldn''t let go of the fog because it would allow the other humans to see him cooperating with the Dragon. "Let''s see you fight against a bone fide Specialist-level Savior like me!" Animated kitchen utensils and household objects suddenly started appearing all over the fog. These objects floated with their own kind of personalities, as if they were truly alive. With Belle''s power, she was able to turn these ordinary objects into weapons that were on the same level as her. "If you think you can shatter these cups easily, then you can think again." Atlan eyed the floating objects around him with serious eyes. After all, these objects were able to keep Ninth''s team in check, preventing them from helping Ninth deal with the Beast. "If you can summon your friends, then you give me no choice but to summon mine." He commanded the Huntsman puppet to protect him. It shot down the teacups and forks that tried to pierce his heart. Atlan concentrated hard, reaching deep into his Soul System and creating a giant hand that grasped his Spinster LifeSkill. And as he concentrated, a giant needle and a giant ball of yarn suddenly appeared right beside him. The needle and the yarn started sewing themselves, creating an object at breakneck speeds. It followed Atlan''s imagination to the tee. It wasn''t long before there were two more puppets beside him, one male and one female. The human woman had fair white skin, a beautiful rounded face, and a short bob haircut. She wore a cute blue and red dress that completed her attire. The human man wore full metal armor, with his helmet in his hands. He had a sharp chiseled face, with long flowy blonde hair that swayed in the wind. They were the White Canzer and the Prince. But with Atlan''s Spinster LifeSkill, he was able to make them into human puppets that had the same strength as Intern-realm Saviors! Chapter 325 Humanoids The appearance of these two new humanoids greatly surprised Belle. From all accounts, the man and woman looked like they were human. Their physiology, their inner organs, and even the energy they were leaking were markers for something that was human.However, there was something wrong with these two. Their eyes were completely lifeless as if they were mere puppets. If Belle hadn''t seen these two humans get created from thread and yarn, then she would have thought that they were actually human. "How are you doing these?!" She thought Atlan would be an easy target. After all, he was only in the Student-realm, while she was in the Specialist-realm. Even if he had strange powers, he couldn''t possibly defeat her. But then, somehow, he was able to ''make'' three humans who had the power of an Intern-realm Savior. This was beyond comprehension. Had she left human society so long that this kind of thing was normal, or was Atlan truly the strangest one out of all humans? She didn''t know. "Doesn''t matter. I''ll kill you!" She commanded the teapots and forks to encircle the three humanoids. And while they were busy fighting the animated objects, she quickly dashed toward Atlan with her fist balled up into a punch. She hoped that if she attacked Atlan, his ''spell'' would get interrupted and those three humanoids would disappear from existence. But before she could even get close, a black web exploded from behind her and covered her whole body. She was far too late and couldn''t react properly to the surprise attack. She fell to the ground, with the weight of the black webs forcing her to keep her head down at all times. "Kugh!" No matter how hard she tried to struggle her way out of the webs, there were miniature spikes throughout the webs that cut her skin through every little movement she made. And as she struggled even harder, the spikes dove deeper and deeper into her skin. If it weren''t for her physical defense as a Specialist-level Savior, then she would forever lay in the web slowly bleeding to death. Her book of contracts floated above her. And as she muttered out a spell, the book glowed bright red until a pair of scissors manifested in the air. The scissors made quick work of the black web, allowing her to finally get out of its bind. But before she could celebrate this little victory, the black web exploded into a furious fire, consuming her and her book. "Gah!" A bucket of water appeared above Belle''s head and doused her with cold water, putting out the fire that consumed her. But the damage was done. Most of her clothes were gone, and her skin was inundated with third-degree burns. TSHH! She looked behind her and saw the humanoid woman suddenly glow as black webs suddenly spurted out of her palms. She already learned a hard lesson from those webs, so she quickly dodged out of the way. "This is impossible!" she shouted. "How do these humanoids have LifeSkill powers? It''s impossible!" She thought that the three humans only had the same physical prowess as Intern-realm Saviors. But how could she have known that they also had LifeSkill powers?! It was as if they were truly human. "Beauty, meet White Beauty. She''s my puppet, and yes, they all have their own LifeSkills." Atlan imbued the White Beauty with his SR-rated LifeSkill: Bane of Infections: Exploding Chitinous Webs. And before Belle could complain about how unfair this was, the humanoid wearing a full plate of armor suddenly started shaking. The skin hidden underneath his metal armor suddenly started to rot, with his body becoming nothing more than bone. His head, which was handsome for a human, slowly turned into a skull, with bits of skin still stuck on its cheek. The temperature plummeted down, and Belle could feel her breath turning into mist. Looking at the empty eye sockets of the skull made her shiver. Even though she spent many years in the presence of the Beast and other Canzers in this Remedium, never had she felt more fear for her life than the skull that wore metal armor. Somehow, she felt like she was looking at her future. "This is the Prince," Atlan introduced him. He gave his Bloodline Transformation to the Prince. Strangely enough, his transformation still followed Atlan''s bloodline, making him the same skeleton figure that harbored coldness unlike any other. The Prince emitted a kind of cold that even solid objects could not withstand, the teacups, vases, and plates that were attacking the Prince all started to crack and shatter under the intense cold that the Prince emitted passively. And lastly, the Huntsman finally greeted Belle. But he didn''t greet her with words, he greeted her with an arrow notched directly towards her forehead. "And this is the Huntsman." Belle crawled away from the humanoids that slowly walked towards her. Even though she was a Specialist-level Savior, she found that she had no chance against these three humanoids. "What¡­what are they?!" "They''re my allies," Atlan answered plainly. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But even with his explanation, she still couldn''t understand how he was able to control these monstrous humanoids. In her experience, she had never met anyone with this kind of ability. It was fearsome. After all, with this ability, Atlan could finish a mission all by himself. He had his team who could kill the Canzer while he did nothing by the sidelines. In the end, he would hog all the experiences netted from the completion of the mission. It was insane. "Why aren''t you killing me?" she asked Atlan. And his answer sent shivers down her spine. "I''m still observing you. The more I know about you, the better the puppet I could make from your likeness." The thought of becoming like those lifeless humanoids made her fear for her life. "You''ll never take away my soul!" she screamed. "Beast! Kill him before you kill that Dragon!" And with her words, the silhouette of the Beast suddenly appeared behind Atlan. Chapter 326 Star crossed A tinge of hope flashed through Belle''s eyes. With the Beast''s help, she could finally kill Atlan. Even the three humanoids by his side couldn''t fight against a bona fide Specialist-level Canzer. Unlike her, the Beast was made for fighting."Go on! Kill him!" she screamed to the Beast. But the Beast just stood still. It didn''t move. It was at this point that she found that something was weird. The Beast who usually followed her every word didn''t respond this time. When she consulted her book of contracts, her face suddenly fell into a hopeless despair. The Beast''s silhouette suddenly fell forward right next to Atlan. The usually mighty and arrogant Beast was nowhere to be seen. Instead, what remained of him was his lifeless body filled with cuts, bruises, and burns. But perhaps what truly killed him was the fact that only his head was gone. There was a clear bite mark on his shoulders, indicating where the Dragon decapitated the Beast. Belle couldn''t close her jaw. Her most trusted follower was dead. The loyal Beast was nothing more than a carcass! The Dragon finally showed herself through the grey fog. Belle thought that the Beast would be able to fight the Dragon, but the truth was far less than she expected. Despite how strong the Beast was compared to other Canzers, he simply couldn''t compare against a royal like the Queen. She was on a whole other level. Judging from her pristine scales, the Beast was not able to put up a fight against her. It was a one-sided massacre. In fact, the Dragon treated the Beast like a plaything. She could have killed him in one second, but she chose not to. She wanted to see what Atlan would do against Belle. And what she was truly surprised her. Even though she was human now, the Queen would never forget that demeanor. The humanoid that Atlan called the ''White Beauty'', was none other than the White Canzer that she once hated. And not only that, there was also the Prince and the Huntsman. They were both human now, but they still retained some of their honorable characteristics when they were Canzers. Somehow, Atlan was able to recreate them into a humanoid body. But that wasn''t the most surprising part. The most surprising part was how Atlan created them. He manifested a giant needle and a giant ball of yarn. And with those tools, he knitted himself three puppets with power much greater than even himself. This power was very familiar to the Queen. Somehow, Atlan, a human, was able to replicate a Canzer''s powers! She thought this was impossible, but somehow, he was able to do it. She immediately guessed correctly that he obtained this power because of the White Canzer''s death. She wasn''t an idiot, so she was able to put the two and two together quickly. This information greatly surprised the Queen. The fact that Atlan had powers that even she couldn''t fathom was a great merit for her. Becoming his ally and getting his trust made up for the fact that she had to wage war against another kingdom in their world. Even if she had to anger every other kingdom in their world, it wouldn''t matter in the end if Atlan became her ally. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His potential was simply that great. ''You surprised me, human.'' Atlan shrugged. ''You surprised me too. Who would have thought your kiss also came with a signal?'' The Queen laughed. ''Do not worry. It won''t work in the overworld. It will only work here. So as long as you''re here, you can rest assured that you will be safe.'' Atlan looked up at the Dragon. Her words made it seem like their cooperation would extend even further this current mission. ''Now, will you kill her or shall I swallow her up?'' The Dragon flashed her sharp teeth at Belle, scaring the poor woman. "AHHH!" she screamed and covered her eyes. "Beast! Beast! Help me!" It seemed that seeing the Beast dead on the floor was the final push needed to truly break Belle. No matter how much she said to others and herself that the Beast was nothing more than a tool, in her heart, it seemed that Belle truly treated the Beast as her companion. After all, they spent many years together, alone in the castle. The Beast depended on Belle to accompany him, and Belle depended on the Beast to protect him. It was the perfect situation for both of them. Belle wept. Everything was going wrong. The Beast was dead, and she was going to follow him soon enough. She forced herself to walk forward, with her body stumbling through the even floor. She ignored Atlan and his three humanoids. Even if they were to kill her right now, she didn''t care. She walked until finally, she was right next to the headless Beast. She knelt and caressed his fur. The Beast was cold to the touch. Even if she could get out of this situation, which was close to impossible, then where would she go? She couldn''t return to human society and she had nowhere else to be with her in the Remedium. The Beast was dead. "I''ll come follow you soon enough," Belle whispered to the headless corpse of the Beast. Her book of contracts appeared above her, glowing red for the final time. A single knife manifested just a few inches away from her chest. And with tears flowing down her cheeks, she slowly pushed the knife toward her chest. If she was going to die, then she was going to die by her own hands. The knife slowly plunged itself into her chest, accurately piercing through her vital points. This death was painful, but not more painful than losing the Beast. She slowly laid down next to the Beast, with her blood slowly spilling to the ground and creating a puddle. And the Beast''s violet blood mixed with her blood, finally joining the two star-crossed lovers after death. Chapter 327 Contract between dragon and death [You have witnessed the death of a complex creature: The Beast][Due to your trait, your rewards have been multiplied by 10] [You have gained 300,000 experience] [You have gained 90x (6-star) Beast Genus] [You have gained the 6-star mutation: Thick Fur] ¡ª (6-star) Thick Fur ¡ª¡ª Upon activation, the user gains strong, thick fur that can be shed multiple times. [You have gained the B-class LifeSkill Beastly Thrash] ¡ªPet Master: (B) Beastly Thrash ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Pre-Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 90x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª This LifeSkill allows the user to give his contracted pet, humanoid, or summon a 200% boost in physical prowess for 3 minutes. [You have assisted in the death of a complex creature: Human] [Due to your trait, your rewards have been multiplied by 10] [You have gained 600,000 experience] [You have gained the A-class LifeSkill: Book of Contracts] ¡ªSummoner: (A) Book of Contracts ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 140x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª This LifeSkill allows the user to create a binding contract with another party. Once the contract is broken by the other party, the user will have complete control over them. Atlan looked over all the rewards he gained from this fight and couldn''t help but break out with a smile. It was another fruitful harvest in the Remedium, adding two great LifeSkills to his repertoire. The one he got from Belle, the Book of Contracts, was very interesting indeed. The description was very vague. It said that he would have ''complete control'' over those who break a binding contract with him. It sounded scary, at least for those who would want to be in a contract with him. ''Got something good?'' The Queen''s voice echoed behind him. And when he turned around, he didn''t see a giant scary dragon. Instead, he saw a thin chitinous body that greatly resembled the White Canzer''s physiology. The only difference between them was the obvious maturity on her face as well as the dark complexion on her chitin. Despite that, he could guess that most Canzers would consider her as beautiful. ''Your face is very obvious. You must have gotten something good from the death of that Beast.'' She already witnessed him making humanoid puppets like the White Canzer, so he knew that there would be no use in lying to her. She was smart enough to figure out that he obtained the powers of the Beast because he witnessed its death. ''Yes. I got something useful.'' The Queen nodded her head, satisfied with his answer. One of the reasons why she was doing this in the first place was to help him get stronger. The faster he became a strong Savior, the faster he would help her with her problems. Atlan looked at the Queen in her white eyes. ''Do you mind if we make a contract?'' The Queen was silent for a moment and then let out a chuckle. ''It seems that you don''t only get powers from the deaths of Canzers, but also humans.'' Atlan didn''t deny it. The Queen was not someone that he could fool. She already saw Belle with her book of contracts, so it was not a coincidence that Atlan suddenly wanted to form a contract with her. ''I''ll assume that if we do make our agreement into a contract, something incredibly bad will happen to me if I break it, am I right?'' S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan nodded his head. ''Yes.'' The Queen, instead of getting angry, only gave out a smile. ''I appreciate your candor. If you had lied, I would have killed you right then and there. I don''t need a liar as my ally.'' Once Atlan saw how easily the Queen dismantled the Beast, there was no way he was going to get on her bad side. He couldn''t even imagine how strong she was to simply just kill a Specialist-level Canzer with barely a scratch on her body. ''Yes. I will make a contract with you.'' Atlan was surprised. It was only logical for the Queen to reject his request. After all, he already told her that something incredibly bad would happen to her if she broke the contract. It would be an incredibly foolish move for someone like her to simply give away her freedom to someone like Atlan¡ªa human. ''Surprised? You shouldn''t be. Nothing bad will happen to me if I don''t break the contract, right? I have no intention of doing so anyway.'' A verbal agreement between the two of them might be good in the short run, but it wouldn''t be sustainable in the long run. Just like now, Atlan and the Queen were still keeping secrets from each other. They weren''t telling the truth because their agreement only hinged on the fact that they had a verbal promise to each other. That simply wasn''t secure enough. But if they were to go through with their agreement with a contract, then their allyship would become a lot more secure. Atlan could be sure that the Queen wouldn''t betray him, and the Queen would be sure that Atlan would keep his word and help her in the future. He could also make sure that she wouldn''t spill his secrets to any other party. It was the best-case scenario for both of them. ''I won''t betray you too,'' Atlan promised. Then, he reached down deep into his Soul System and activated his newly formed planet. As he did, a brown leather book suddenly materialized right in front of him. Compared to Belle whose book of contracts was full of writing, Atlan''s book was full of empty pages. The words in his mind started to imprint onto the very first page. The Queen witnessed all this and couldn''t help but be amazed at Atlan''s strange powers. His ability to take the powers of the dead was something that even she envied. It was an overpowered ability that could someday topple the whole world order. Explore new worlds at empire And it was exactly this reason why she allied herself with Atlan. She hoped to topple the current world. As the contract finished writing, the two parties looked over the fine details one last time. Then, they signed it by letting their fingers bleed onto the page. Chapter 328 Soldiers death The gray fog soon lifted, finally giving Ninth and the rest of her team a vision of their surroundings.They were completely clueless about what happened throughout the whole ordeal. One second, they were fighting floating teacups, forks, and knives, and the next second, they were enveloped in a gray fog where they couldn''t see or hear anything besides their thoughts. It was a scary experience for most of them. They thought that the Beast would somehow find them amid the fog and kill them one by one. Your next chapter awaits on empire As the seconds passed, still, nothing happened. But instead of feeling a sense of relief, they instead felt even more paranoid. After all, what if they were suddenly swept up into an anomaly and got sucked into an abyss? What if they became like Belle, who was stuck in the Remedium for thousands of years? Ninth was the only one who kept her calm. When the fog first came, she was fighting the Beast. And even as the grey smoke fully descended, the Beast and her never stopped dueling for supremacy. But as the fight was heating up, the Beast suddenly backed away from her and disappeared. This was uncharacteristic for the Beast. After all, he was renowned for being a fight junkie, always wanting to clash fists with anyone and everyone he met. And if the Beast backed away for a surprise attack, that would be even weirder. The Beast disdained that kind of fighting style. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With the Beast gone, Ninth kept making her way through the fog, hoping that she would hopefully stumble into one of her teammates. She especially wanted to find Atlan. After all, he was the one who had full communications with Carmine. He was the only one who could figure out how to get out of this fog. But as she walked, she suddenly felt a subtle change in the air. It became¡­heavier. Her heart started palpitating, almost beating out her chest. When she fought the Beast, her heartbeat barely raised above her normal range. Even when she fought the six puppets of the White Canzer, she barely even felt nervous at all. But this was different. This subtle feeling of dread overcame all her training and made her feel scared. There was only one creature who could make her feel this way. She was sure. Even if she couldn''t see or hear it, she knew. She knew that the Dragon was here. That realization hit her like a high-speed truck. She slowly backed away. As the leader of the group, it was her responsibility to keep her teammates safe. The Dragon could be killing one of her teammates right now. It could be killing one of her friends. Yet, she kept backing away. No matter how much she tried to fight it, the fear of the Dragon overcame any of her affection for other people. As she backed away, she suddenly tripped on her own leg. She was going to fall to the ground, but then, someone caught her just in time. Ninth looked back and saw Atlan supporting her. He pushed her up and let her stand on her own. Slowly, the fog dispersed into the air and she could finally see her surroundings. "Atlan¡­" she muttered. "The Dragon!" She quickly looked around, and they were still at the Beast''s castle. But instead of seeing the high ceiling of the room, she only saw a large opening as if the roof had been completely torn off. She looked around and saw her teammates sprawled around the room. They were confused, but they were safe. They didn''t look injured at all. "What happened?" "I couldn''t see through the fog! It was endless¡­" "Ninth! Did you kill the Beast?" All of them converged onto Ninth and Atlan''s positions. And when they looked around the room, they suddenly saw the gruesome corpse of the decapitated Beast and the dead Belle right next to him. They all drew a cold breath. "I didn''t kill him¡­" Ninth''s words drew confusion to her team. The last time they saw her, she was fighting the Beast all on her own. If there was someone who could kill the Beast, then it would only be her. "Wait! Look at its neck. The head didn''t look like a clean slice¡­it looks like it got bitten off¡­" the Scout reported. Ninth''s weapon was a sword, so if she was the one who cut the Beast''s head, then it would be a clean cut. "Ninth didn''t kill him. Another Canzer did." Once the camera reconnected, Carmine and the rest of them back in the real world finally got a glance at what happened in the castle. "Another Canzer? We didn''t see anything like that," the Scout said. "I haven''t even finished giving Atlan the code for the construct. It wouldn''t have died from a human''s attacks. So, the only conclusion would be that another Canzer killed the Beast. A Canzer doesn''t need a construct to kill another Canzer." Atlan and Ninth were the only people in the room who knew that the Dragon was here in the castle. Atlan''s reason for keeping it a secret was obvious. But for some reason, Ninth couldn''t bring herself to tell the team that she felt the Dragon''s presence. If she did, then she would have to confess that the Dragon scared her so much she backed away. "What the hell happened here? The Beast is dead, and so is Belle. What should we do? Do we bring her back to the real world?" The protocol for these kinds of situations was exactly as the Scout said. Anyone who was found missing in the Remedium would be returned to their territory. But Belle was a different story. She committed a sin worthy of being cast out into the Unclaimed Lands. "We should let her rest here," said Atlan. She would die without the protection of the Gods anyway. So, it was much better to let her final resting place be in the Remedium. That way, she could still be considered as a soldier who fell into active duty. Chapter 329 Very convincing After a while, the castle walls, paintings, and winding staircase all turned into particles that dissipated in the air.They were back in the mirror world of Genesis City in the Remedium. But even though the Church was just a few streets away from them, they didn''t feel as if they were closer to their goal at all. They encountered a Canzer, the Beast, and fully expected to battle the monstrous being to the death. That was what they trained for, that was what they expected. Yet the truth was much stranger than fiction. Instead of fighting tooth and nail to kill the Canzer, instead, they were stuck in a gray fog and wandered around doing nothing. In the end, the Beast was dead, with them none the wiser of what happened. They couldn''t understand the situation. Should they be thankful or should they be much more wary of the fact that there was a strange stalker in their midst that killed all the Canzers before they could kill them? They had no idea if this secret ''benefactor'', if they could even call it that, would soon betray and kill them when they least expected it. After all, if it could kill the Beast without so much as evidence of a fight, then this strange creature would surely be able to wreak havoc on their team with ease. While everyone was feeling anxious about the situation, Atlan couldn''t be more secure. Not only did he gain multiple Intern-level skills in his repertoire, but he also gained a physical contract with the Queen herself. This contract was binding. He could finally be sure that the Queen would stay true to her words and help him traverse this Remedium with ease, all while giving him more Canzer deaths to reap. "Ninth, what should we do?" Everyone looked at their leader. She was their hope, their pillar amid all this uncertainty. If she said to them to keep going, then they would do so without a doubt in their mind. But if she wanted to retreat, then they wouldn''t have any hesitation in abandoning the mission. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You have to keep going. The Church is just a few streets away." But Ninth couldn''t simply agree. Carmine couldn''t understand, not unless he experienced the dread she felt when facing against the Dragon. Somehow, she had a feeling in her gut that this wouldn''t be the last time that the Dragon would show its face. It would come again. And if there came a point where she had to fight it, Ninth wasn''t confident at all in escaping the monster, much less fighting it. Because of her wavering confidence, Ninth lost even before the battle started. And she knew this, which was why she was so hesitant to continue this mission. "We have to continue," said Atlan. He was the only one brimming with confidence, probably because he was the only one who knew the truth about the Dragon. "Atlan, it''s not that simple. We are experiencing anomalies at an increased rate! I mean, half the time, Carmine couldn''t even communicate with you or us because of that fog, right?" "I''m not confident in facing those anomalies without Carmine''s help. What if that fog appears right when we encounter a new Canzer? We won''t be able to know about its weakness. You won''t be able to create the construct!" Atlan went silent. Although he could understand their hesitance, he simply didn''t want to let go of this opportunity. He wanted to encounter more Canzers and reap more LifeSkills. It was selfish, but it was for the good of everyone in the long run. The faster they reach the church, the safer the whole City will be. He suddenly had an idea and walked in front of the team. Then, he turned around and faced the whole lot of them. "Come on, guys! The Church is so close. So what if we encounter more anomalies? Is that so bad? Didn''t we benefit greatly from what happened with the Beast and the Frog? Yes, those two Canzers died because of strange circumstances, but in the end, it helped us get closer to the Church with barely any injuries on our bodies. Isn''t that great? You didn''t have to shed any of your SoulTime fighting against two Specialist-level Canzers. Think about it. If there weren''t any anomalies, then we would have been dead exhausted from fighting two Specialist-level Canzers in such a short amount of time. We might have even lost a comrade or two. So, I ask again. Is the anomaly that bad?" Atlan went into a long monologue trying to convince Ninth and the rest of the team to continue. Normally, words wouldn''t have been enough to convince them to continue onwards with the mission. But for some reason, they couldn''t help but be more receptive to Atlan''s words. Not because of his eloquent speech, but because his face seemed to light up in their eyes. Atlan seemed more attractive. His face didn''t change, but somehow, he was so much more pleasing to look at. It made a lot of them relax just by looking at his face. And because of this strange attractive quality, they couldn''t help but agree with Atlan''s words. "Hmm¡­he''s right." "What were we so afraid of? That anomaly was actually helping us." "So long as it doesn''t attack us, we don''t need to deal with it. We just need to reach the church in one piece." Enjoy exclusive content from empire Slowly, everyone agreed with Atlan''s suggestion. And it was all thanks to Atlan''s mutation: Allure. It was a 7-star mutation that allowed him to easily influence everyone that looked at his face. It seemed to work wonders this time around because everyone was raring to go and continue the mission despite feeling anxious just a minute ago. The only holdout was Ninth. Atlan''s Allure mutation wasn''t enough to get rid of her fear of the Dragon. Atlan looked at the camera. "Carmine, isn''t it possible that the Canzers are having a falling out against each other? That''s why they are killing each other?" "...you''re right. It seems that a war is brewing in their world. Which means that this is the perfect opportunity for us to strike. Ninth, what do you think?" Carmine''s words seemed to finally do the trick as Ninth picked up her sword and gripped it tightly. "Let''s finish this." Chapter 330 Final street After encountering Beauty and the Beast, the group needed a break. They took camp in one of the buildings near the street.But even though it was called a ''break'' most of them kept on training their bodies and minds. They sharpened their weapons and skills, making sure that they were more than prepared if another anomaly happened in their next encounter. Some of them even consulted Carmine about what to do when that gray smoke appeared. "I''m sorry. My team and I are working on deciphering why we keep on having a disconnection in the video and audio feed, but we always come up short. So if that gray fog appears again, just make sure that you all stay together. The closer you are, the higher the chance that you won''t lose each other in the smoke." Because of that, the team had to work on their positioning and formations to accommodate the small spacing between them. The only ones not there were Ninth and Atlan. Your next journey awaits at empire Atlan, of course, took off by himself and practiced his new LifeSkills. He practiced creating the three humanoid puppets as fast as possible, slicing down the process to just three seconds per puppet. Meanwhile, Ninth spent the entire break barely even touching her weapon. Instead, she took a seat on the roof and meditated by herself. She tried to get rid of the demon in her heart: her fear of the Dragon. She visualized facing the Dragon alone, but before she could even move, the Dragon would always reach down and decapitate her in one fell swoop. She would open her eyes, with her body breaking out in a cold sweat. But she didn''t give up. She kept meditating and trying to fight the Dragon no matter how afraid she was. And so, the day came to a close and everyone gathered at the camp, exhausted. Even though only one of them had to be awake, most of them had trouble falling asleep. The thought of waking up to the mysterious gray fog scared them so much they almost didn''t want to sleep. Atlan was the only one who thoroughly enjoyed his break. He knew that no Canzer would dare attack them in this place. And even if someone did, then they would be welcomed into the death list of the Queen and promptly be eaten in her Dragon belly. The next morning came and everyone was up early. They cleaned up by themselves and embarked towards the Church. Their speed was a lot faster than before. They hoped that they wouldn''t encounter a Canzer. They hoped they would reach the Church with barely any trouble at all because their goal was so close. They just had to cross a few streets and they were finally there. The Church was only five streets away from them. Their steps were hurried but full of wary as they stepped towards the first street. And luckily, they didn''t encounter any Canzer trying to stop them. Then, they went onto the second street, with only three to go. Luckily, that place was uneventful too. They were now starting to think that their luck finally turned around. Maybe the Canzers finally had enough of fighting them and simply gave way for them to reach the Church with no trouble at all. As they crossed the third street, they fully expected the scenery of skyscrapers and buildings to make way for another fantasy setting that homed a Specialist-level Canzer. But strangely enough, they passed through the third street peacefully too. It was then that they thought something was weird. It was too quiet. It was as if they were at the eye of a storm, with trouble following the temporary peace they had. Now, they crossed the fourth street, and still, no Canzer had dared to make themselves known to the group. They were only one street away from the Church, yet the Canzers showed no sign of even existing anywhere near them. "Should we go back?" As much as Ninth wanted to agree to those words, there was no reason for them to go back. After all, there was no sign of a Canzer anywhere. They were only scared right now because of the expectation of something bad happening when they least expected it. But nothing happened. It would be idiotic to retreat when they were only a street away from their goal. They could see the Church in all its entirety. The double front doors were slightly ajar, showing a glimpse of the dark interior inside. They could simply just run towards the steps of the Church and they would finally finish their mission. But as they crossed the final street, their surroundings started to melt into a different scenery. "No¡­" It was as if they were trapped in the desert and the oasis that they saw from afar was simply an illusion. They thought they could reach the Church, but the Canzer showed itself at the very last second. The buildings and skyscrapers that they were so familiar with were replaced by healthy trees inside a forest. They looked around and saw that the place was teeming with life. Birds were singing atop trees, squirrels were squirming on the branches, and the grass was swaying with the wind. "Guys, look!" And ways out in front of them was a large castle, colored with a royal blue that shimmered even in the light. This castle looked¡­magical. CRACK The silence was suddenly broken by the sound of a twig breaking in two. Everyone turned around and quickly brandished their weapons at the intruder. When they finally caught sight of the intruder, they confirmed that it was a Canzer. It had a chitinous body, with white eyes, and a physiology that was eerily similar to the White Canzer. Despite wearing human-like clothes like that of a beggar, it definitely had the face of a Cazner. They prepared their LifeSkills, ready to bombard this Canzer before it could even attack them. But strangely, the Canzer tripped backward and cowered under her hands. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "$#)(*#)&" ''Don''t kill me! Uwaaaa!'' Even though they couldn''t understand Canzers, they knew that the Canzer was¡­crying! Chapter 331 Opposite of fight The group didn''t know what to do. They had a protocol for whenever a Canzer attacked them with unrelenting force, they had a protocol for whenever a Canzer hid itself in the surroundings, and they even had a protocol for when Canzers showed unpredictability that was not part of their plan.But this was the first time they encountered such a helpless little beast. The Canzer didn''t have monstrous qualities like the Beast, it didn''t have the sly aura that the White Canzer had, and it didn''t even show any sign of power in its body at all! The Canzer was as small as humans and even weaker than some adolescents. Everyone looked over at Ninth, waiting for her instructions. However, Ninth herself was clueless too. She didn''t know what to do. Usually, she would quickly decide to kill this creature no matter how harmless it may have looked. She would have killed it for the mere fact that it was a Canzer, and nothing else. But for some reason, she hesitated. It was as if she was afraid that by killing this Canzer, she would somehow summon the Dragon again and force a confrontation between them. That was her current greatest fear. So, she looked towards Atlan''s battle suit and consulted the experts in Canzers. Experience more tales on empire "What do you think, Carmine?" The Specialist Operator was silent for a second before he asked Atlan to walk over closer to the helpless little Canzer. "You want Atlan to get closer, isn''t that dangerous?" the bodyguard asked. "Ninth will look over and move the moment it shows any sign of movement. But Atlan needs to get closer. I need to see its face to confirm this suspicion of mine." Since they were ordered by the overseeing Specialist Operator, they had no choice but to follow Carmine''s words. Atlan walked over to the Canzer without a speck of fear in his face. After encountering multiple Specialist-level Canzers, he somehow got a feeling for their presence. He knew immediately if there was a dangerous Canzer nearby. And the cowering Canzer in front of him showed no sign of being monstrous at all. It was even weaker than some Student-level Canzers he defeated back then. He had no reason to fear the Canzer. And as he approached the Canzer, it looked like it was the one fearing him instead! ''Please, don''t come near me! I''m a civilian?'' Civilian? Atlan thought to himself. But since this was not the time to ask questions, he kept his thoughts quiet. He let Carmine observe the Canzer through the camera in his battle suit. "It''s as I thought," Carmine said through the speaker. "What is it?" Ninth walked over closer to Atlan, scaring the poor little Canzer into retreating further away from the humans. "Don''t come any closer, Ninth and the rest of you. You''re scaring her." "Her?" Ninth asked. "Why do you care if she''s scared? She''s a Canzer. She should be scared." Ninth was flabbergasted with Carmine''s words. It was as if he treated the Canzer as something more than a monster. He treated it as if it was a human. She walked closer to the Canzer, scaring her further away. "Stop what you''re doing! Your power as Specialist Saviors is overwhelming the Canzers. You''ll kill it with your aura at this point." Ninth gritted her teeth. "And so what?! Canzers should be killed!" She usually wouldn''t explode by something so trivial, but the thing with the Dragon changed her outlook on Canzers. She wanted to get rid of all of them. Her fear of the Dragon was manifesting as an extreme hatred for all Canzers. If she couldn''t kill the Dragon, then she would make sure that she killed every other Canzer she came across. The fact that Carmine was trying to protect the Canzer as if she was the evil one in this scenario irritated her to no end. "Ninth, please back down. Don''t worry, I got this." It was only with Atlan''s words and his extremely alluring face due to his mutation did Ninth finally retreat away from the scared Canzer. If it weren''t for him, she would have drawn her sword and sliced the Canzer in two by now. Once it was just him and the Canzer, it finally stopped whimpering and looked him in the eyes. Even though Canzer eyes only had whites and no irises, he could feel as if the Canzer was observing his face. "This is good. Since you''re not as powerful as Ninth and the rest of the Specialist Saviors, she is not scared of you. We can use this to our advantage." "Mind telling me what''s going on?" "Do you remember what I told you about Canzers and their weaknesses?" Atlan learned a lot about Canzers from this mission alone. He was able to see firsthand how a Canzer''s history and background greatly influenced their weaknesses. The Huntsman was weak against a boar''s heart because it was a symbol of him breaking his code. The White Canzer was weak against the poisoned apple because it was the only failure in her plan and led to her being on the run her whole life. It didn''t matter if it was a regular object with no powers or magic inside it, as long as it conformed to the Canzer''s story, then it would work against them. "Most weaknesses of Canzers are objects with historic significance. But there are a few exceptions." "What do you mean? Does this Canzer have a weird weakness? Is it something I can''t make with my battle suit?" "No. It isn''t anything like that.'' "Then what is it?" "...this Canzer doesn''t have any weakness." Atlan couldn''t believe it. He almost took a step back away from the Canzer in fear. After all, a Canzer with no weaknesses meant that it couldn''t ever be killed by human hands. If that was true, then this Canzer might even be more terrifying than most Specialist-level Canzers! "That can''t be possible! So what do we do if it tries to fight us? Do we just run away, or do we fight till we die or exhaustion?" Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Just listen to me. You don''t have to worry about fighting it. You''ll have to do the opposite." "What?!" "You''ll have to protect it. This Canzer is the weakness of a very monstrous Canzer." Chapter 332 Convince to protect Atlan was utterly confused with what Carmine implied."This¡­this Canzer is the weakness of another Canzer?" "That''s right." Atlan took a second to fully digest the information he just learned. He always thought that weaknesses were simple objects. They were things that he could easily create with his battle suit. It was what made missions possible in the first place. Operator Saviors can prepare for a Canzer''s weakness by creating a construct, and then Vanguard Saviors enter the Remedium and fight the Canzer using that construct that contained their weakness. This meant that humans could always triumph against Canzers. As long as they could continue to produce constructs to kill those Canzers, then they could continue protecting God''s territory. But this information completely upended that balance. If Canzers could become the weaknesses of other Canzers, then that meant humans couldn''t guarantee that they would win against those Canzers. If they can''t create constructs to fight the Canzer because their weakness was another Canzer, then it would complicate missions to such a higher degree than it currently is. "I know it''s a lot to process, but you have to focus on your situation now. You need to make sure that this Canzer doesn''t leave your sight. You need to make sure that it is safe from harm." Atlan was silent for a second. "Why do we even care if it''s the weakness of another Canzer?" "Do you see that castle in the distance?" Even in the dense forest around him, the royal blue and glittering castle was still prominent in the skyline. It towered over every tree, showing its complete dominance in this territory. "That castle houses one of the most dangerous Canzers known to man. If it tries to attack you and your team, you can be sure that you will all be wiped out within a second. Thankfully, the chances of that happening are extremely small. But given your insane unluckiness, it''s better not to take that chance. That''s why you need to keep careful track of this Canzer. This could be your only chance of survival." Atlan''s expression turned grim when he heard that. If he were to equate the monstrous creature that resided in the castle with the Enchanted Queen, then it was truly a terrifying thought. They had no chance of fighting someone who could be on the same level as the Queen. "I''ll keep an eye on Ninth. I think she might try to kill the Canzer on her own." "You don''t need to worry about Ninth. This Canzer doesn''t have a weakness, so it cannot be killed by human hands. You have to worry about other Canzers. They can kill each other without weaknesses." Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan was no longer the clueless kid he was before. He knew that Canzers were advanced enough to have their own societies and culture. Read exclusive content at empire They were extremely similar to humans, which meant that they also had the capacity to commit crimes for their own gain. If he was the creature in the castle, then he would spend every waking hour trying to find his own weakness and making sure that it was gone for good. He would do anything and everything to make sure humans couldn''t get their hands on his weakness. And since this creature in the castle could be equal to the Enchanted Queen, it could mean that it had the same influence and power as her, meaning tons of soldiers scouring the whole kingdom day in and day out. "So, I have to protect this Canzer?" "Yes. Did you hear that, Ninth and the rest of you?" The other Specialist Saviors were briefed on the situation. They also expressed the same surprise as Atlan, but once they were told about the potential danger they could be in, they quickly decided to pour their whole attention into keeping the Canzer safe. Ninth was the only one who stayed silent. Tolerating the Canzer was one thing, but keeping it safe? That was over the line. But since she had no other choice, she decided to simply ignore the Canzer''s existence. If other Canzers were to come and try to kill it, then she would simply do her job and kill those Canzers. Not because she wanted to protect the Canzer, but because she wanted to kill her kind. "I''ll kill anyone who comes in my way, but I will not protect a Canzer." Atlan nodded. That was more than enough. And since the weakness Canzer had no weakness, then he could be sure that it wouldn''t die by human hands. "Star Porter. You are the only one who can approach the Canzer without scaring it away, so you have the hardest job out of all of them." "What do I have to do?" "This is a Canzer. It will not follow you around just because you didn''t try to kill it. In all likelihood, it would probably try to run away if it finds a chance. No matter how hard you try to make yourself seem harmless, it will not trust a human. But that is your job. You have to earn its trust and find a way to convince the Canzer that you''re here to protect it. You have to convince the Canzer to stay by your side. Of course, you can see the problem with that. Even if you try sign language, the Canzer will not understand your intentions because of the different cultures between humans and Canzers. But no matter how impossible it is, you have to do it. You can''t give up." Atlan opened his mouth and said, "My name is Atlan. Take my hand. I won''t hurt you." Carmine wanted to applaud the Star Porter for his attempt, but it was futile in the end. "I appreciate the effort, Atlan. But Canzers can''t understand the human language. You''ll need to spend hours and hours earning the Canzer''s trust through actions¡ª" Carmine''s words were caught in his tongue when he suddenly saw the Canzer take Atlan''s hand. Chapter 333 Trusted because of need As hard as it was to believe, what they were seeing was as real as day.Atlan was shaking hands with a Canzer! Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators back in the Emergency meeting room practically had their jaws on the ground as they saw it happening live on the screen. They thought it would take hours if not days before any of them could approach the Canzer without it scurrying off in the distance. They practically expected it to take at least three days before Atlan could earn the Canzer''s trust. But who would have thought that Atlan would be able to earn the Canzer''s trust in just a few seconds? Even though it was shy and still a bit apprehensive of Atlan, it was still shaking hands with him as if it understood that he was not the enemy. They thought this was impossible. It was practically hard-wired in humans and Canzers that they were eternal enemies. Earning the trust of each other shouldn''t be this easy. "How did¡­how did you do it?" From Carmine and everyone''s perspective, Atlan simply spoke a few words to the Canzer, and it seemed to have understood his words within a few seconds. The problem here was that he was speaking human language! The Canzer shouldn''t be able to understand Atlan''s words, much less trust it. What no one knew was that Atlan had a mutation that allowed him to listen and speak to Canzers. His normal mutation would change his modular voice box into something unhuman, and allow him to create the sounds specific only to the Canzer language. And with the in-built knowledge in his mind, he was able to communicate like a Canzer. However, if he used this mutation, then Carmine and the rest of his team would immediately know that he was speaking Canzer. They would hear the strange voice in his voice and immediately know that it was the same language that Canzers used. To solve this problem, Atlan only used the False Mutation of his 7-star Sapient Canzer Polyglot mutation. ¡ª (7-star) Sapient Canzer Polyglot ¡ª¡ª¡ª 10% mastery It allowed him to communicate with Canzers, but while only using the human language. He would be speaking normally as if he were speaking with a human, but the Canzer would somehow understand his words through intonation, gut feeling, and other such factors. Of course, since it was a False Mutation, the translation ability was less than if he would fully activate his mutation. But for this circumstance, it was the best he could do. When Atlan introduced himself, the Canzer heard the harmlessness in his voice and immediately knew that he meant no harm to her. Explore hidden tales at empire sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In normal circumstances, this wouldn''t have been enough to convince the Canzer. After all, they were not only strangers but of a different species entirely. However, Atlan figured out that his Allure mutation worked on Canzers as well! He didn''t know how it worked, but somehow, his appearance made the Canzer trust his words very easily. Atlan imagined that in the Canzer''s mind, Atlan''s skin was replaced by chitin, making him seem like a Canzer that she could trust. Because of that, she took his hand and trusted his words without a second of doubt. "She''s probably smarter than we thought," Atlan explained to Carmine. "Hmm¡­you''re right. If she could understand your words through actions, then this particular Canzer might be smarter than most. It would make sense, actually. After all, it doesn''t have any physical capabilities it can use to protect itself. It must have evolved to have superior intellect." Thankfully, Carmine seemed to have bought Atlan''s excuse. "Good job, Atlan. Now, you just need to convince her to stay close to you when you all start walking. She can''t be on the outskirts of your formation. She has to be smack dab in the middle, just like a porter." "Tsk. Can''t we just bury her in the dirt and make sure that no other Canzer finds her?" asked Nine. She couldn''t bear to think that the Canzer would be positioned behind her. It gave her the creeps. She didn''t know if the Canzer would backstab her in the middle of a fight. "You can''t stay in one place; it will send a signal to the creature in the castle. You must continue walking through the forest undetected. Just treat the Canzer as if she is a construct. Our Star Porter will be the one tasked to make sure that she follows the team, while Ninth and the rest of you will be the ones in charge of killing any Canzer that tries to kill the construct." Ninth closed her eyes and meditated for a second. She tried hard to forget that the Canzer existed and treated her as nothing more than an object. If she was an object, then she would be a lot more lenient in letting her inside the formation. Atlan looked over to the Canzer and asked her to stay close to him. He explained that they were trying to protect her from those who tried to kill her. "It''s for your own good. I''m sure that you''ve encountered some bad Canzers that tried to kill you." The Canzer nodded her head and slowly put her head down as she remembered the terrible time she spent on the run from those beasts. Compared to those Canzers, she would much rather be with the humans who didn''t try to kill her. ''I¡­I¡­I don''t want to get caught by those guys¡­'' Atlan pretended not to understand her words, but on the inside, he was pitying the small little Canzer. Of course, he also spent a couple of minutes trying to make it seem as if the Canzer didn''t understand his words instantly. It would be a bit suspicious if he talked to her with the same fluidity as his conversation with other humans. Once a few minutes passed, he asked the Canzer to stand close to him in their formation. She was a bit hesitant to be in the middle of the humans, but she eventually relented. CAW! CAW! Chapter 334 Caw! Caw! They continued onwards through the forest for minutes on end. It was as if they were walking aimlessly through the trees without a goal in sight.They were getting further and further away from the castle, which was good because it meant that they were far away from the monstrous creature that resided in it, but it felt as if they were just lost in the woods. This annoyed Ninth greatly. She wanted to get rid of the Canzer in the formation from the moment she arrived, yet it felt as if they were stuck with her for the rest of the mission. "Carmine! Are you sure we''re going the right way?" According to Carmine, they had to find this one specific cottage hidden somewhere in the forest. He didn''t say why they had to find it, but he said that it was of the utmost importance that they find the cottage before the creature in the cottage finds them. "Forgive me, but this situation has only ever been recorded once in the entirety of the entire world. No one has ever encountered this situation since after the treaty." That was a very long time. This type of situation, this type of Canzer, this type of Remedium, had only ever appeared when the Gods first descended into the world! "I''m following outdated instructions, but we have no other source to help us, so we make do with what we got." Carmine and his team were working in overdrive scanning through the old scrolls and books in the archive, trying to find a clue to where the cottage was, but it was to no avail. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They just had to take it by chance. Meanwhile, Atlan was busy talking with the Canzer to try and find more information about her. He specifically wanted to know why she was the weakness of the creature in the castle. ''I¡­I''m just a peasant. I don''t know anything about the royals, sir¡­" According to her, she knew nothing about the castle and the creature residing in it. But of course, Atlan didn''t believe that it a single bit. She didn''t look like she was the type to lie, but that didn''t mean that she was unrelated to the castle. It was more than possible that she was entwined with the castle and the creature more than what she thought. "Tell me about your upbringing." ''Sir?...I¡­I sometimes go out and find berries ... more than that, I just help my mothers with housework¡­'' It sounded as if this Canzer had a very boring and uneventful life. And unless he knew more about her circumstances, then he wouldn''t know if she was telling the truth or not. He decided to be silent for a while and let her keep her secrets for now. It wasn''t good to try and pry it off her forcefully. It would only damage the trust that he built up with her. But fortunately, it seemed that the Canzer was more than ready to tell more about her story. She looked up at Atlan. She felt as if he was trustworthy enough for her to rely on. ''Human. Please help me!'' Atlan was a bit surprised. He tilted his head to exhibit his confusion. "What is it?" Continue reading on empire ''I¡­I was out to gather berries one day¡­and then¡­and then¡­when I got back, they were gone! They were gone! My mothers!'' Atlan was extremely curious about her story, but he couldn''t simply act as if he understood her words. From other people''s perspective, the Canzer seemed like it was crying and screaming out for some unknown reason. "Quiet down, monster!" Ninth hushed her. "Atlan, make her stop. If she gets any louder, they''ll be able to locate us in just a few seconds!" He immediately faced the Canzer and took her hands to comfort her. "It''s okay. I will help you. Whatever it is that you''re worrying about, I''ll help you solve it." His words seemed to have worked perfectly. He was able to make it seem as if he didn''t understand the Canzer''s words, but also assured her that he would be able to help her find her missing mothers. "You can keep telling your story, but keep it quiet," he said. The Canzer nodded her head and wiped the tears from her chitinous cheeks. ''Our house¡­when I got back, it was suddenly destroyed, burned to the ground¡­then¡­then¡­I saw those monsters¡­they were the ones who took my mothers!'' Atlan guessed that it was at that point that the Canzer tried to run for her life. Seeing her house burned up and her mothers gone must have shocked her to her core. Ever since then, she must have always been on the run from those monsters that she was talking about. He pitied her. According to Carmine, this Canzer didn''t have any fighting or defensive capabilities to protect herself. It was even a miracle that she survived this long without even a shred of strength in her body. She could hardly even be called a Canzer. ''Those crows¡­they''re monsters¡­those crows¡­'' The Canzer seemed truly traumatized from that experience. But just then, Atlan stopped in his tracks. Listening to the Canzer''s rumblings suddenly made him realize something. Back when they were just starting to walk towards this ''cottage'', they heard the sounds of crows in the air. No one batted an eye because it wasn''t strange to have wild animals in this Remedium. He briefly used his Thermal Vision and looked up at the trees. And there, hidden among the leaves, were crows looking down at them with intensity. Something was wrong. These crows seemed to have followed them from the very beginning. And when he looked at their thermal signatures, they showed a deep coldness to their body. This meant that they weren''t normal animals. They were Canzers! She said that those crows were the ones that destroyed her home. This wasn''t a coincidence. "Stay calm and listen to my words, everyone." Ninth and the whole team acted as if they heard nothing, but they listened to Atlan''s words intently. "Those crows have been following us for a long time. I think they''re Canzers." Chapter 335 Desiring a domain "Kill the crows!" Carmine urgently ordered. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.Ninth didn''t wait any longer and disappeared from her position. She seemed to have teleported right atop the tallest tree in the vicinity. And below her were tens of crows who were caught off guard by her swift movements. They all looked up and displayed fear that no normal crow could have ever expressed. She raised her sword and performed a single swing, destroying tens of trees in a circle around her. And even though her stance only had one swing, each leaf that the trees shed was sliced into two. The crows who reacted too slowly to the appearance of Ninth were helpless as they were dismantled from their head to their tail without even a single cry. Some reacted fast, especially since they were a lot further away from Ninth. They spread their wings and flew all over the place, screaming Caw! Caw! as they tried to warn the others of the incoming threat. Judging from their reaction, these crow Canzers were merely for spying. They had no fighting capabilities. So, they weren''t exactly too much of a threat to the group. It wasn''t worth it to spend so much time chasing each crow to their deaths. However, Ninth was extremely frustrated from the very beginning. She wanted to dirty her hands with violet Canzer blood. If she couldn''t kill the Canzer that they were protecting, then she sure as hell was going to kill the other Canzers she laid eyes upon. "Don''t let them escape!" she told the team. Even though they were starting to lower their weapons thinking that the fight was over, they immediately raised their weapons and threw out LifeSkill after LifeSkill trying to deter the crows from leaving too far away. Suddenly, the whole Remedium started to shake. Atlan was alarmed, thinking that another Canzer had found their location. But when he looked up, he noticed that the reverberations were coming from none other than Ninth. This wasn''t her normal LifeSkill; this was something else. "She''s going all out¡­" Carmine uttered. The medieval world that they were trapped in suddenly disappeared in a blink of an eye. The trees, the castle, everything was dissolved as if everything was a mere illusion. Then, Atlan felt as if his entire body was being crushed into a single point. The pressure wasn''t too strong, but it was enough to be noticeable. He looked around and noticed that they were in a desert world, filled with nothing but sand and swords. All around the mounds and dunes of this desert, there were all kinds of weapons, rusted and new alike, staked to the ground as if someone put it there. Experience more tales on empire He looked at the sword nearest to him and noticed that despite its state being corroded away by rust, it still emitted a kind of danger that he knew better than to tangle with. It felt like he could cut himself if he got too close. Even just looking at the swords made his eyes feel like it was going to be pricked by a needle. In the middle of everything was Ninth. She floated atop the world of swords and acted as if she were the master of this territory. "Is this¡­is this her domain?" Atlan asked. "Yes. I don''t know why she used this Domain on such weak opponents, but it''s fine. We needed to get rid of those crows for good." The Crow Canzers who tried to fly back to safety found themselves in a completely different dimension. No matter how far they tried to get away from the humans, they only ended up circling back to their original place. "By decree of my swords, anyone who tries to leave will taste nothing but rust." Of course, the crows didn''t understand Ninth''s warning. And even if they could, they wouldn''t stop trying to leave this place. Unfortunately for them, this was Ninth''s domain. She was God in this place. Anything she said must be followed to the tee or retribution will come to them. There were about eight crows scattered about in the air. They all went in different directions, thinking that eventually, one of them would find a secret exit out of this strange world. But as soon as they flapped their wings and advanced further away from Ninth, the swords lying dormant in the sand suddenly rumbled. And suddenly, the black crows that were flying in the air turned into nothing but violet mist. They disintegrated. They didn''t even know what hit them. "This¡­this is the power of a domain¡­" Seeing it firsthand was a truly different experience. He barely even understood what happened because even with his enhanced senses, he only saw a blur. The stagnant weapons in the sand suddenly disappeared from their positions and reappeared in the air, already pierced through the bodies of the crows. There were thousands upon thousands of weapons, and they all converged into the tiny bodies of the Crow Canzers. It was no wonder that they turned into nothing but a mist of violet blood. Everything took place within a fraction of a second. The strangest part about this was that Ninth didn''t move a single bit in the process. She didn''t control the swords, she didn''t cast any spell, and she didn''t use her LifeSkills. It was as if the swords themselves moved with their own will. "In this domain, everything follows Ninth''s command. There is nothing she can''t do in this domain." But even Carmine''s explanation wasn''t enough for Atlan to understand how it happened. He wanted to know how a domain worked and most importantly, he wanted to know how to summon a domain. Even though only Specialist-level Saviors could summon a domain and he was only a Student-level Savior, Atlan desired to have his own domain. Wait a minute¡­I''m not a Student-level Savior anymore. I have multiple LifeSkills in the Intern realm, which means I''m an Intern-level Savior. If I could get a Specialist LifeSkill, then can I get my own domain? Chapter 336 Confused hate Just the thought of having his own domain made Atlan extremely expectant of the next encounter with a Specialist-level Canzer.However, the reality of the situation made him sober up his excited mind. Throughout all this while, Atlan had been reaping the deaths of multiple Specialist-level Canzers. But even though he must have reaped more than four of them already, he hadn''t gotten any Specialist-level LifeSkills at all. If it was only a matter of probability, then Atlan should have gotten at least one, given how many Specialist-level Canzers he already reaped. But if he were to think about it clearly, it seemed that his participation in the death of the Specialist-level Canzers influenced the rewards he obtained from them. Read exclusive chapters at empire If he simply reaped the death of the Specialist Canzer and made no effort in trying to kill the Canzer, then he would only get a Pre-Intern level LifeSkill. When he reaped the deaths of the Frog Canzer and the Beast Canzer, he only got Pre-Intern LifeSkills. That must have been because he didn''t contribute much to their deaths. The Queen did most if not all of the hard work. Meanwhile, Atlan gained Intern-level LifeSkills from the deaths of the White Canzer and the Huntsman. During those fights, he contributed heavily to their deaths. First, he was able to find the weakness of the Huntsman and use it against him. The same goes with the White Canzer. He was also able to put the poisoned apple in the White Canzer''s mouth, putting it to sleep. If he followed that logic, then Atlan could only conclude that he would get a Specialist-level LifeSkill if he was the one who contributed heavily to the death of a Specialist-level Canzer. If he killed one by himself, then Atlan had no doubt that he would get a Specialist-level LifeSkill as a reward. That''s a shame. If the Prince hadn''t appeared and revived the White Canzer, I could have possibly gained a Specialist-level LifeSkill because I was the one who put the poisoned apple in her mouth¡­ But when he thought about it more, he didn''t technically ''kill'' the White Canzer when he did that. He only put her to sleep, so he wouldn''t have been able to reap her soul. After all, killing a Specialist-level Canzer was no easy task. Even Ninth needed the support of five more Specialist-level Saviors for her to kill a Canzer. If Atlan wanted to kill a Specialist-level Canzer by himself, then he would have to be a lot stronger than Ninth. And when he thought about the power of her domain, he felt that he wouldn''t be able to surpass her in a hundred more years. She was that powerful. But even with how impossible the task of solo-killing a Specialist Canzer by himself was, Atlan didn''t give up any hope. If he found a chance, he would undoubtedly risk everything and take it. The risk was very high, but so were the rewards. If he were to solo kill just one of them, then he would gain a Specialist-level LifeSkill he could use to kill more Specialist Canzers. "Atlan! The Canzer!" Carmine''s reminder pulled him back to reality. He was so enamored with Ninth''s domain that he forgot that he was protecting someone. The Canzer was on the ground, hugging her knees and burying her head on her chest. The hostility that the weapons buried on the sand was enough to manifest a few cuts on her chitin. Even though she was nowhere near the swords, she was still injured just from being within its vicinity. Ninth''s clear disdain for Canzers was in clear display. Even if she didn''t order her domain to harass the Canzer, her subconscious was enough to influence it to this point. Atlan kneeled next to her and touched her arm. "You''re okay. I''m here." The Canzer felt relief all over her body. The pressure disappeared as if Atlan was covering her in a protective bubble. "Thank¡­thank you¡­" Atlan nodded his head. He stayed near her to make sure that she wouldn''t suffer in the domain for as long as it was active. After a few seconds, the world of swords and sands melted into the background, returning them to the forest Remedium. With the crows gone, everything turned silent once again. Everyone took a peek at Ninth, trying to judge what she was thinking. It was only now that everyone noticed that something was wrong with her. Usually, she was careful. She wouldn''t waste her energy using her domain on such weak opponents. But even after killing the crows with her domain, Ninth didn''t feel satisfied. She looked like she was irritated. "Do you think we should take a rest?" the Scout approached Ninth. He was worried about their leader. In response, Ninth shook her head. "No. We were already seen by those crows. If we stay here any longer, we''ll get pursued by the one that summoned those crows." "She is right. You have to keep moving." The Scout understood the situation, but he couldn''t help but feel as if Ninth needed a break. "Well, if you need something or you want someone to talk to, then you can come to any of us. We''re friends, right?" Ninth had her head turned away, but she nodded her head. "Let''s go," she said. But before she could take a step, she suddenly turned around and glared at the Canzer that was behind her. Atlan didn''t know why, but the Canzer walked forward and tried to get Ninth''s attention. "What?" Ninth asked, with her voice louder than normal. It made the Canzer flinch. "$(*@)(*$#(*%&)@*(" "I can''t understand you!" she screamed. The Canzer was already shivering from the passive aura of a Specialist Savior like Ninth. Being screamed at like this almost made the Canzer faint on the spot. But the Canzer persisted. She faced Ninth despite her chitinous knees shaking. "$*)@#*)(*$)%" S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just when Ninth was about to scream at her again, Atlan intervened. "She''s saying thank you." Ninth''s expression turned from anger to a solemn one, and then anger again in a few seconds. She was angry at the fact that she was getting confused about her feelings for Canzers. It shouldn''t have thanked someone who hated them. Chapter 337 Bonding As they continued to walk through the forest, Ninth actively ignored the Canzer. She was avoiding even looking back at her direction. She just kept her head forward and continued to walk through the endless forest.Carmine recommended they take some detours to try and confuse their pursuers, which made their journey a lot longer. It came to a point where they had to make camp to sleep for the night. "We don''t need shifts. I can keep watch all by myself. I''ll make sure that no Canzer ambushes us in the middle of the night," Ninth said. Even though she wasn''t looking at the Canzer''s direction, the implication was clear. Ninth was insinuating that the Canzer could betray them in the middle of the night and kill them in their sleep. The Canzer understood Ninth''s words, just from her hostility alone. She knew that Ninth hated her and Canzers to her core. But she didn''t care. She thought that her own kind were monsters too, so she didn''t blame this mistreatment from Ninth. "It''s fine. I''ll protect you," Atlan said to the Canzer. She nodded and flashed a meek smile towards him as a gesture of thanks. Since they didn''t do much today, most people on the team had trouble falling asleep. They had to exercise and exhaust themselves from practice first before they finally slept in their makeshift beds made out of leaves. Atlan didn''t feel tired too, so he simply just laid in bed right next to the Canzer. Then, he felt a poke in his shoulders. He turned around and saw the Canzer looking at him. "What is it?" Continue your journey with empire ''How do I understand you?'' "I don''t know," Atlan replied. ''How can you understand me?'' "...I don''t know," Atlan replied again. Then, the Canzer laughed, surprising Atlan. "Why are you laughing?" ''I''m sorry, you remind me of one of my mothers. Whenever I asked her about something, she would always say that she didn''t know.'' Atlan didn''t know if that was a compliment or not. Either way, it was good that the Canzer was feeling comfortable enough to laugh even in this situation. If he could build a better rapport with the Canzer, there would be a smaller chance that she would suddenly run away from the group. They needed her in order to defeat the monster in the castle. "...interesting¡­this is the first documented case of a human and a Canzer having a conversation! Atlan, you are amazing at this." Back at the meeting room, Carmine and the other Specialist Operators couldn''t help but praise Atlan for his empathy that could even transcend species. Somehow, he could understand the emotions of the Canzer and build trust with them. "You''ll have to teach us your ways once you''re back in Genesis City," Carmine said. Atlan ignored Carmine''s words. There was no way he was going to tell them that he could speak and understand Canzers perfectly. It wasn''t a special technique, it was a mutation. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Tell me more about yourself. I''m curious about your home." ''Sniff¡­ we just lived in a quaint little cottage in the middle of the woods. We were far away from everyone else, so we were excluded from everyone else¡­my mothers didn''t want me to go out of the confines of our home, so I was stuck wandering in the forest without meeting anyone¡­'' Atlan listened to her story and from what he could surmise, it seemed as if her mothers were purposefully hiding the Canzer. Her mothers most likely knew that she was the key to the death of the creature in the castle. That was why they were adamant about keeping her in the confines of her home. She must have asked her mothers why she couldn''t go out into the town or in the castle, and all her mothers could tell her was that they didn''t know. However, something must have happened for things to go so wrong. If the Canzer was able to grow up for years and years on end without the creature in the castle finding her, then her mothers must have done a good job in hiding her. Therefore, something must have happened to break that balance. "You know, when I was back in my home, the Unclaimed Lands, I also wanted to go out and explore. However, people always warned me that there was nothing but death outside. Of course, as the kid I was, I thought differently. I thought I would see something more outside. So, I defied their words. I got out on my own. However, they were right. There was nothing but death outside my home. I almost died. But the people that warned me in the first place, got out too and saved me from death. They¡­they died¡­they died trying to save me. If I hadn''t defied their words, then they would have still been alive. And if they didn''t save me back then, then I wouldn''t be here at all." Atlan finally poured out the truth to the Canzer. The story he told her was true, and it was the reason why he proclaimed himself a pacifist. The world outside was already harsh enough. It would kill even good people indiscriminately. So, Atlan vowed that if possible, he wouldn''t be like that. He wouldn''t want to be the one to take the life of another human indiscriminately. ''Sob¡­sob¡­sob¡­'' Atlan looked to the side and saw tears streaming down the Canzer''s chitinous cheeks. His story seemed to have struck a chord with her. ''It was my fault!....I¡­I wandered too far off our home¡­and when I got back¡­our house burned down!....it was my fault¡­I shouldn''t have gone out!'' Atlan understood her pain well. After all, they experienced the same thing too. He moved closer to her in their bed and took her head to his chest. He pulled her close to him and allowed her to let out all her emotions. She was shivering and crying hard, but at least, someone was there with her. He was there to comfort her. Chapter 338 To the cottage Atlan hugged her tightly and let the time pass.The next morning, the Canzer finally stopped crying and wiped the tears from her chitinous cheeks. She looked up at Atlan''s face and realized that she was far too close to him. The Canzer''s cheeks seem to have reddened from embarrassment. She pushed herself away from him and made some distance between the two of them. This woke Atlan from his sleep. This was the first time that the Canzer was ever this close to anybody before. She hadn''t even interacted with other Canzers before, but now, she hugged a human, of all beings. But when she looked up at Atlan, she realized that his face wasn''t all that strange. It was quite¡­pleasing to look. She didn''t know how that was possible since she had only seen Canzers her whole life. Atlan had the kind of face that was easy to look at. If she could see his face all the time, then she wouldn''t mind it. Once she realized what she was thinking, her cheeks blushed even harder and quickly turned away from Atlan. It must be said that Atlan wasn''t using his Allure mutation at the moment. She wasn''t being influenced by some magic or power. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What''s your name?" he asked her. The Canzer turned her head back and looked at Atlan. After a few seconds, she replied. ''Tulip.'' Atlan looked at Tulip in the eyes. Continue your journey with empire "Tulip, do you want to see your home?" His words surprised Tulip. She would have never expected to hear those words from Atlan. It wasn''t like she didn''t want to return to her home. It was that she didn''t think that it was possible. She thought she would have to spend the rest of her life on the run, never returning to her home ever again. But now, Atlan was giving her the chance. A human gave her this chance. This made her extremely emotional. ''Why¡­'' "Even though there were a lot of deaths back in the Unclaimed Lands, I also want to return to it someday. It was my home." According to Tulip''s story, when she returned to their home, their house was burned down. She didn''t see her mothers anywhere. This didn''t mean that they died. After all, there was nobody. It was possible that they also ran for their lives and returned to the house to look for Tulip. He looked down at the camera in his battle suit. "Carmine, you said that we have to find a cottage, right? Does this cottage have something to do with this Canzer?" "Yes, exactly! The records say that there is something in that house that we need to retrieve. The book says that it will eventually help us in fighting against the creature in the castle." Finally all the pieces came together. It turned out that the cottage they were trying so hard to find was Tulip''s home! It was good that Atlan found this out now. If he had asked this question to Tulip right when they met each other, Tuliip may feel apprehensive towards him. After all, it was a place that was sensitive for her. For all she knew, she was the one who led the other Canzers back to her home. She wouldn''t want to lead humans there too. But now, Atlan successfully built trust with Tulip. He even knew her name now. She also cried in his chest. It was safe to say that Tulip trusted Atlan. And since she was finally able to admit to herself about what really happened, about how she was the one who created all this mess, she would be more willing to go back to her home. Instead of feeling trauma, it was now a form of healing. ''I want to go back. I need to go back.'' Tulip said, with determination flaring in her eyes. "Do you know where it is? Can you lead us there?" Tulip nodded her head. ''Yes. I remember now.'' Atlan stood up and walked over to Ninth. "Wake the others. We have to go right now. We know the way to the cottage." "How?" she asked. In response, Atlan turned around and said, "Tulip. She''s the one who''ll lead us there." Ninth looked over at the Canzer and realized that she had gained a name. Tulip. She looked at Atlan. "Building trust between you and the Canzer is good, but you must be careful. A Canzer is humanity''s enemy, don''t forget that. And I''ll never call her by a human name." Atlan couldn''t understand Ninth''s apprehension towards other Canzers, but he simply didn''t agree. After he could hear and understand Canzers, he found out that they were just like humans. They live, they die, and they survive just like them. And Tulip wasn''t like other Canzers. She was different. "If you open up your mind more, you''ll see that Canzers aren''t our enemy. Enemies are our enemies, Canzers and humans alike." Ninth walked away from Atlan and woke the team from their deep sleep. Once they were told of the situation, they quickly packed up and prepared for the journey ahead. They were getting tired of just walking through the forest with no destination to follow. "If you lead us to a trap, I will kill you," Ninth warned Tulip. But unlike before, where Tulip would simply cower under Ninth''s hostility, Tulip kept her head up and looked ahead. She bumped her fist on her chest, as if saying that they should trust her. And with Tulip leading the way, the group went ahead and continued on their journey. Unlike before, they weren''t wandering aimlessly. Tulip would observe the trees and show them markings that she and her mothers made to lead them back to her home. And the closer they got to her home, the more Tulip would get excited. She would see familiar trees in her direction and giddily walk up to it, stroking its bark. It was as if she never left at all. On the way, she showed Atlan the berries that she would pick for their food. Atlan was the only one who tried it, and surprisingly, it tasted like a real fruit. It turned out Canzers also ate the same food as humans. Chapter 339 The amulet After a few minutes of following closely to Tulip, she suddenly looked towards one direction and took off!This caught everyone off guard. Atlan immediately started chasing after her. Judging from her expression it seemed that she found her house. But he knew that there was a huge possibility that there were still enemies posted around the house. She was a helpless little creature and couldn''t defend herself against those monsters. It was his responsibility to protect her and keep her beside him. Meanwhile, Ninth and the others also pursued after Tulip, but Ninth''s motivation wasn''t as noble as Atlan''s. She simply didn''t want the Canzer to escape from their grasp, mostly because she thought that it was running away from them. As Atlan caught up to her, she saw Tulip standing still as she looked towards a burned wreckage in the middle of a clearing in the forest. He slowly walked beside her. This was her house, but it was now burned down to the ground, with nothing but coal and ashes remaining from its structure. Just from the wreckage alone, Atlan could see that the house was destroyed before being burned. They wouldn''t do that if they weren''t searching for something too. "I hope we''re not too late. We need to find that object first." He put his arm around Tulip as she sobbed quietly. Seeing her home destroyed like this must have been hard for her. Atlan could see that this house was once a quaint little place in the middle of the forest. It was probably a beautiful house. "They''re going forward. You don''t have to," he said to Tulip. It was understandable for her to simply stand back. It was hard to see the wreckage of the place she once called home. But surprisingly, Tulip wiped the tears from her cheeks and shook her head. ''No. I have to go forward. You said that you''re trying to find something, right? I''ll help you find it. I know this place better than the back of my hand.'' She walked alongside Atlan, with Ninth and the whole team just a little bit behind. After the Scout signaled to everyone that there wasn''t any sign of enemies nearby, everyone started to search through the remains of the burned house. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire They overturned burned pillars and roof tiles, trying to find this supposed item that could help them defeat the creature in the castle. "Do we even know what we''re looking for?" Ninth asked Carmine. "According to the books, it can''t be missed. This object is glowing and brimming with power." But no matter how much they searched the wreckage, they couldn''t find such an item. If it did exist, then they would have found such an auspicious item by now. The only thing they found were remnants of Tulip''s belongings. There were plates still piled up in the sink, the sofa she used to sit on was now nothing but a burned mark on the ground, and everything else turned into nothing but a charred object. "This is useless!" Ninth shouted. "I''m going out to keep a watch on our backs." The more she saw the normal living situation of Tulip, the more confused she became. From what she could see, Tulip had been living a quiet life devoid of any chaos and destruction that she usually associated with Canzers. If she continued to scour through Tulip''s burned belongings, Ninth would have started to pity the creature. That was a dangerous thought. She didn''t want to let her guard down to a Canzer. Meanwhile, Atlan suddenly saw a shining object in the middle of the wreckage. He immediately went towards it and tossed the burned logs and pillars that buried the object underneath. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After blowing and polishing this object, Atlan found that this thing wasn''t as damaged as he thought. Once he brushed off the ashes and the charcoal bits from it, there was no sign of burning on its surface. Since this was the only object that survived the fire, Atlan thought that this was the object that they were looking for. However, once he realized that it wasn''t glowing, he felt disappointed. "That''s not the object. Even from the camera, I can''t sense any sign of power from it. Do you?" Atlan used his SSS class Physique LifeSkill to the best of his abilities, testing to see if this object had any remnants of power. But unfortunately, there wasn''t any. "Are we too late?" he asked Carmine. "Possibly. But, there could also be a chance that the object wasn''t here in the first place. Maybe our enemies didn''t find anything in this place as well and decided to burn it down to see if there''s something hidden in the structure." Atlan was a little bit relieved when he heard that. Even though this object wasn''t the one they were looking for, Atlan was still curious as to how it survived the fire. He turned towards Tulip and presented the object to her, hoping that she would recognize it. Her eyes flashed with emotion as she looked at the object. She stroked it with her hand, a bitter smile appearing on her face. ''This was a present from my mothers. They gave it to me and always wanted me to wear it at all times. But when I went out¡­I forgot to bring it¡­'' Tulip took the object from Atlan''s hands. It was a strangely shaped metallic object. One side had flaps on the top, like an upright lettuce, while the other side was completely flat. Tulip took out a string from her dress and connected it with the object, creating an amulet. She held it in her hands and smiled. "Aren''t you going to put it on?" he asked her. She shook her head. ''I never really knew how to make friends because I''ve never met anyone besides my mothers. But, they did tell me that to make the friendship work, I need to give them something special.'' She looked up at Atlan. ''I want you to have this. It''s a symbol of thanks for all the things you did for me.'' Atlan was surprised. Tulip tiptoed and placed the amulet on his neck. Chapter 340 Spinning wheel Atlan didn''t know how to thank her.When he first met Tulip, he struck up a conversation with her, not because he wanted to, but because he needed to. Carmine told him that Tulip was an important weakness of the creature in the castle, so he needed to gain her trust. So, he talked to her and gained her trust. Continue reading stories on My Virtual Library Empire It was nothing more than a job. But now, she gave him something extremely special. For Atlan, the amulet was just a piece of accessory, but for Tulip, this amulet wasn''t just anything; it was the only surviving piece of object that wasn''t burned down in the wreckage. She could have kept this amulet to herself because it was the only thing that tied her back to the home that she once had. But because she considered Atlan as someone special, she gave him such a precious object. Just as he was about to say something to her, Ninth suddenly shouted towards the group. "Incoming!" she warned. This one word sent everyone into a fighting stance. Without another word, they quickly formed their formation. Atlan took Tulip''s hand and led her toward the middle of the formation, where they could all protect her. CAW! CAW! Crows flew up from the trees and encircled the group. Everyone looked up and waited for the inevitable attacks from the crows above. But even after a few seconds, they didn''t attack. They continued to circle in the air right above the humans. "They aren''t attackers. They''re scouts!" Carmine warned. Atlan realized it as well. It was as if those crows were trying to signal to someone far away where the humans were located. Ninth didn''t want to wait any longer and summoned the giant swordsmaiden behind her. Its ethereal form shimmered, showing her readiness to chop down any monster that came her way. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. RUMBLE RUMBLE The sound of something large rummaging through the forest echoed towards them. Everyone gripped their swords tighter, expecting to have a hard fight against a monster. TRAKKKK! The monster crashed through the last trees and finally showed its gigantic stature to Atlan and the whole team. But this ''monster'' wasn''t actually a monster! Instead, it seemed to be a giant spinning wheel made out of nothing but wood. This didn''t look like a Canzer, it looked like a giant device that people used to spin threads and yarns from fibers. But once this giant spinning wheel moved its ''legs'' the way an actual human leg walked, everyone figured out that this was indeed a Canzer! Slowly, its monstrous energy spread down towards Atlan and the others, finally giving confirmation that this was a Specialist-level Canzer that was on the level of The Beast. Ninth looked over at Atlan''s battle suit. "Carmine. What are we dealing with here?" "Good news. This Canzer is only a puppet, so it doesn''t have any regenerating or cloning capabilities. Bad news¡­I don''t know about its powers." Unfortunately, this Canzer seemed to be one of those extremely rare creatures that rarely ever appeared in missions. Since the creature on the castle was a rarely seen Canzer as well, then it made sense that its minions and puppets were also rarely seen by humans as well. Atlan and the others were basically the first humans to ever lay eyes on this creature in more than a thousand years! "How do you now know?!" complained Ninth. "We don''t have any scrolls or books that perfectly describe this Canzer. Even the old sources that we were parsing through only had a very rudimentary description of this Canzer. The only thing we know properly is that this is a puppet. As long as you whack it with your sword enough times, you can kill it." Ninth clicked her tongue. She didn''t like this situation one bit. She would rather fight 50 Beasts than fight this Spinning Wheel. When she fought The Beast, at least she knew about its weakness and tendencies. She knew which moves and what powers the Beast had. This allowed her to prepare for their fight and use her superior intellect to win the fight, or at least survive it. But with the Spinning Wheel monster, she knew nothing at all. She didn''t know its powers as well as its tendencies. She couldn''t properly time her dodge or her counters because she didn''t know its timing! If she dodged at the wrong time, it could completely turn the fight to the monster''s advantage. "Whatever. I''ll just slice it into pieces." Ninth commanded her sword maiden to slash the Spinning Wheel, but thread immediately spurted out of the wheel and created a tightly knit wall that successfully slowed her sword down enough for it to escape. "Slippery little bugger¡­" Ninth uttered. "But this is good. It seems to be a utility-type Canzer, so it doesn''t have much physical strength. As long as I can hit it with my sword, I can cleave it in half." But before she could do anything else, the Spinning Wheel took the initiative and spun its wheel a thousand times per second. Thread and yarn kept spurting out of its body, slowly engulfing the whole area into a dome. But that didn''t end there. The yarns continued to flow down towards Ninth and the others, slowly filling their vision with nothing but yarn and threads. Ninth used her sword to cut down these annoying threads, but more replaced them on the way down. Everyone threw their LifeSkills at the yarns, but it was useless. The threads may be easy to cut, they were replaced by a thousand more each time. Slowly, everyone got engulfed in the yarns, unable to see anything but themselves. Thankfully, these yarns didn''t seem to be doing any harm to them at all. After a few seconds, the threads finally stopped coming. Ninth swept her sword upwards, destroying the last remnants of the threads that obscured their vision. Once everyone had their bearings, they looked at Tulip. Thankfully, she was still alive. But then, they noticed something terrible. Atlan was gone! Chapter 341 Empty space Ninth and the rest of the Specialist-level Saviors were dumbstruck as they looked at the empty space near Tulip.The stabilizing presence of the Star Porter was gone. There wasn''t any trace of him anymore, as if he wasn''t even there to begin with. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" screamed Ninth as raised her sword and aimed it at Tulip. All the sympathy and changing emotions she felt for the Canzer vanished the moment Atlan disappeared. In her mind, the reason Atlan disappeared was because Tulip betrayed him. Tulip, faced with the full pressure of a Specialist Savior like Ninth, felt her legs turn to jelly. No matter how much she tried to resist and fight for herself, her body wasn''t listening to her, and ended up falling to the floor. She felt the cold steel of Ninth''s sword on her chitinous neck. Even though Ninth hadn''t put any pressure on it yet, violet blood spilled out of the small cut made by her one-handed sword. But even with the threat of decapitation, Tulip wasn''t looking at Ninth. It was as if she didn''t exist. Instead, Tulip looked to her side. She looked to the empty space where Atlan was supposed to be. He was gone. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She didn''t know what happened. When the yarns and strings overwhelmed her senses and her sight, she couldn''t understand what was going on around her. But then, she felt Atlan''s warm touch. She turned around and saw that he held her tightly in his hands, making sure that she was okay. However, that didn''t last long. Suddenly, she heard the shimmer of water behind her. She didn''t know why, but she felt as if that ''thing'' was supposed to come after her. It was supposed to have grasped her and whisked her away from this place. But Atlan noticed it before her. He sacrificed himself and let himself be taken by that ''thing''. If Atlan hadn''t done that, she would have been the one missing right now. Tears fell on Tulip''s chitinous cheeks. She did it again. Because of her, someone who was special to her was forced into a situation of danger. First, it was her mothers, now it was Atlan. She pushed her neck voluntarily towards Ninth''s sword. "@$(*@%&()@$" Enjoy new tales from My Virtual Library Empire Ninth couldn''t understand her words, but her intention was clear. She wanted to be killed. And to be truthful, Ninth was very tempted to do so. Even if she wasn''t going to permanently kill the Canzer, she could still revel in the thought of decapitating her. But the tears in Tulip''s eyes made her hesitate. When she looked down at the Canzer, it was as if she wasn''t looking at a monster. It was as if she was looking at a grieving woman. Her sword trembled. Her internal consciousness was fighting. Two sides of her fought: the first being the one that started to pity the Canzer, and the other being the rational hate she had for Canzers. In the end, the Scout walked right next to her and lowered her sword. "This is not the time for infighting. We have bigger problems to deal with." Ninth lowered her sword and looked up at the giant Spinning Wheel monster still rolling its yarn, preparing another attack. With Atlan gone, they no longer had a porter in their team, meaning they also lost contact with Carmine and his team of Specialist Operators. They would have to fight this monster all by themselves, without any support. She sneaked a look at Tulip. She was also burdened with protecting Tulip, who she still wasn''t sure that she wasn''t the one who betrayed Atlan. "Team, prepare to attack." ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Atlan slowly came to his senses. He opened his eyes and saw a mossy cobblestone flooring in front of him. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness ahead. The only source of light that illuminated the dark hallway was a single torch at the end of the pathway. He looked at himself. He wasn''t injured anywhere, and he also hadn''t lost any SoulTime. With no clue as to where he was, Atlan looked down at the camera in his battle suit. "Carmine, where am I?" But there was no response. "Can you hear me?" Silence. Even though the camera in his battle suit wasn''t damaged, it seemed that something in this place was blocking the signal from reaching the outside. Atlan would have to find his footing here by himself. I don''t know where I am, and I don''t know what I''ll do, but it''s still a good outcome. I can''t imagine what Tulip would do if she was the one in my position. When the Spinning Wheel obscured their vision, he immediately positioned himself near Tulip, making sure that she was safe. Thanks to his Thermal Vision LifeSkill, he was still somehow able to see through the large cloud of strings and yarns. Since this attack couldn''t hurt them, he immediately deciphered that this was only a diversion. Their true goal was Tulip. And just as he guessed, a dark ethereal hand suddenly shot through the space and headed directly for Tulip. Atlan wanted to attack this presence, but it was far too fast for him to activate his LifeSkill or create his humanoid puppets. It was going for Tulip at supersonic speeds, so Atlan decided to put himself in the way, making the ethereal hand touch him instead. And as it made contact with him, a violet portal suddenly appeared behind him and sucked him inside. And when he came to, he was inside this place shrouded in darkness. Atlan didn''t regret sacrificing himself for Tulip. He can protect himself. She can''t. And he needed her to defeat the monster in the castle. So, he set forth and walked towards the light in the distance. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Meanwhile, in the Emergency Meeting room, Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators were once again panicking. "What the hell happened?" "We lost signal!" "Did anyone see it?" One of the Specialist Operators nodded. "Yes. He was kidnapped." Carmine had a grave expression on his face. But then, he remembered something. Tulip gave Atlan an amulet. Although it didn''t seem like it was the object they were looking for, Carmine felt that it was something special. Maybe¡­ Chapter 342 Dungeon Atlan concentrated on his Soul System and activated his Spinster LifeSkill.¡ªConjurer: (A) Spinster ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 130x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ªThis LifeSkill allows the user to create creatures purely from imagination. The user is also able to imbue these puppets with LifeSkill powers. The user temporarily loses access to the LifeSkill whenever it is imbued to the puppets. Subsequently, the LifeSkill the puppets wield will match the realm of the Spinster LifeSkill. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Saved Puppets ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Huntsman ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª White Beauty ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Prince Since Carmine couldn''t see through the camera anyway, Atlan didn''t have to worry about his humanoid puppets getting seen. A huge needle and a giant ball of yarn manifested in the air above him. In the darkness, the two summoned objects started sewing in the air, creating three distinct puppets that each glowed with different powers. Once the sewing was complete, the puppets turned from being made out of strings to being made out of human skin, making them humanoid. The three puppets kneeled towards Atlan and awaited his instruction. "Protect me if anything happens," he ordered. The three humanoids nodded their heads and walked forward. One of them, the Huntsman, stayed behind Atlan and made sure that there weren''t any surprises that could endanger his master. Meanwhile, the Prince and the White Beauty continued forward and scanned their surroundings, searching for any hostile beings. Since they had the power of an Intern-level Savior, Atlan wasn''t too worried about the dangers he could face in this dungeon-like place. As they slowly reached the end of the hallway with the only torch in the room, he saw a single wooden door. Using his Thermal Vision, he didn''t see any sign of magic within it. The Prince walked forward and inspected the door. But then, he suddenly stepped into a piece of stone on the floor that immediately sunk deep into the ground. The sound of a gear mechanism sounded out through the walls and suddenly, hundreds of arrows flew from both walls and targeted the unsuspecting Prince humanoid. The puppet became riddled with arrows throughout his body. But even so, he didn''t even flinch a single bit. Once the arrows were done firing, he looked down and started to pick out all the arrows sticking out of his body. The humanoid didn''t bleed, and all the cuts and holes in his skin were soon regenerated by strings that sewed itself back together. The Prince then opened the door and walked to the other side. After a few seconds, he walked back and signaled to Atlan that it was safe to pass through. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire Atlan walked forward to the next room. There, he saw that he was presented with three doors. Judging from the arrow trap from before, it looked like this place was trying to trick its inmates. Atlan did not doubt that beyond these doors, there were more traps laid out to try and kill him. Since there were three doors, Atlan ordered his three humanoid puppets to go through each one. They all opened the door obediently. And when they walked inside, the door suddenly closed behind them. And no matter how much they tried to budge it out, even using all their force, they couldn''t open it again. Seeing as there was no use, they continued forward through similar hallways. Meanwhile, Atlan stayed behind the three doors and waited patiently. After a few minutes, he suddenly felt his connection with one puppet disappear completely. The humanoid puppet died! And another few minutes after that, he felt another connection cut from his Soul System. Atlan summoned those two humanoid puppets who died and saw that it was the Prince and the Huntsman. This meant that the doors at the center and the right were complete dead ends and were only filled with deadly traps. This means that the right way is the left door. Even after all this time, Atlan didn''t feel his connection with the White Beauty disappear. This meant that she was safe and sound. After a lot of consideration, Atlan walked to the left door, with his other two puppets right in front of him. And just as he thought, this door only led to a normal hallway without any deadly traps ahead. After a few minutes, they finally reached the end of the normal hallway, with the White Beauty patiently waiting for them on the other side. At the end of the hallway was another room. This time, they weren''t alone. On the other side of the room was a large cage containing a monster with red eyes. It looked at Atlan and the puppets with vicious mockery, as if it had found another source of food for today. But no matter how much excitement it got to try and kill these humans, the monster was confined by the cage. It couldn''t get out. Atlan spotted another door right next to the cage. He commanded one of his puppets to go and try to open the door, and just as he thought, the doorknob couldn''t be rotated. There was also a keyhole under the knob, meaning that to pass through, they needed to find the key. Atlan had a feeling about where he could find the key. He used his Thermal Vision and looked at the creature in the cage. Now that he could see it clearly, it turned out that this monster was a giant rat, with huge canine teeth that could pierce through a human like a skewer. And with his Thermal Vision, he saw that there was a suspicious cold spot in the giant rat''s belly. When he squinted, he could see a key-shaped object inside it. Whoever trapped me here wants me to kill the rat. Atlan had no other choice. With a telepathic order to the Huntsman, the ranged puppet took out an arrow from his quiver and pointed his bow toward the rat in the cage. TWANG! A bluish green line of fire appeared in the air following the arrow''s trajectory. And as the arrow landed through the small gaps, it successfully hit the monster, creating a huge explosion of blue and green together. Chapter 343 Rat monster As the explosion died down, the metal cage that once housed the monster was completely blown to bits. There was nothing but small metal bits sticking out of the ground, with the tops of it completely melted.SQUEEE! Unfortunately, it seemed that the rat monster survived the explosion. Its thick fur allowed it to remain virtually unharmed, albeit a little bit balder than it used to be. This monster seemed to be another puppet made by the creature in the castle. After all, it was at the same level as a Specialist-level Canzer. Even though Atlan wasn''t a Specialist Savior as of yet, he didn''t worry too much. After all, he had three puppets just one realm below that, and he could resummon them any time that he wanted whenever they died. SQUEE! Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The rat monster smiled as it looked at its three prey. This room was pretty small compared to the rat, but that meant that there was no running away from it as well. Its whiskers squirmed before it suddenly charged towards the Huntsman. It immediately wanted revenge for that explosive arrow that burned most of its fur. But before it could even get close, a gray cloud suddenly appeared out of nowhere and slowly enveloped the room. The rat, who was once confident about killing the creatures that dared to invade its territory, was now looking warily at its surroundings. Somehow, it couldn''t see anything beyond itself. It couldn''t even smell the invaders anymore. And before it could get the lay of the land, another arrow shot through the smoke and hit the rat directly in the shoulders. Then, another explosion occurred, taking more of the rat''s fur as the Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill consumed it like a ravenous beast. The rat monster gritted its teeth and immediately rushed toward the direction where the arrow came from. But instead of seeing the Huntsman in its field of view, the rat was taken aback when it suddenly crashed into the wall face first, almost breaking one of its canine teeth. And before it could gather its senses, the Prince, with his full metal armor, raised his arm and punched the rat monster''s behind, further pushing it into the wall. The thick brick wall had a rat-face-shaped hole in the wall. The Prince displayed the full might of the LifeSkill: Beastly Thrash. It allowed him to achieve strength almost parallel to the original Beast. BRAGSHH! The rat monster wriggled itself out of the wall. And just as the Prince was about to leave, the rat''s tail suddenly wiggled towards his legs and caught it like a snake. The rat''s tail showed considerable constricting strength, disallowing the Prince to get away safely. The rat turned around and quickly lunged towards the Prince, intending to rip in half with its sharp canines. But a timely arrow from the Huntsman misdirected the rat''s head, only taking the Prince''s left hand. And while the rat was busy putting out the bluish-green fire around its face, the Prince got away safely to the fog, obscuring him. SQUEE! This annoyed the rat monster greatly. It knew that it could fight all four of them simultaneously, and it would win that fight every single time. However, they weren''t fighting it fairly. They were using underhanded tactics, doing hit-and-runs before it could even react. This was all thanks to Atlan and his clear overview of the entire battlefield. While his humanoid puppets attacked the rat monster, he stayed behind and used his Thermal Vision to see everything in the fog. He gave that information to his puppets telepathically, effectively giving them sight in the endless fog. He was like a commander. The Huntsman and the Prince continued the back-and-forth attacks on the rat monster. The Prince would attack and annoy the rat from behind, while the Huntsman would take shots whenever it was distracted. And since the rat was still a Specialist-level puppet, it was still able to do some damage to the Prince a couple of times. Thankfully, the Prince was able to regenerate his body parts easily and without any consequences. As long as Atlan was there, he could continue to repair them for as long as he wanted. After a while, the beastly and savage appearance of the rat monster was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was now cowering in the fog, with cuts and injuries all over its body. The more injured it got, the easier the puppets could attack it. In the end, its tiny little feet could no longer hold itself up anymore. It fell to the ground, but its eyes were still filled with fire. It wasn''t dead yet. Even though it looked like it was at its last leg, the rat monster still had enough energy for one last lunge. If the Prince appeared for another time, the rat would use that chance to deal with a deadly attack. Slowly, the fog made its way as a person walked towards the rat monster. But instead of seeing the Prince with his full metal armor, the rat monster laid eyes on a particularly small figure. It was the White Beauty. Somehow, her human beauty transcended multiple dimensions and made the rat monster ogle at her for a few seconds. Even though it was planning on attacking the moment someone appeared, the rat monster found itself staring at the White Beauty. She walked towards the rat monster without any fear in her eyes. She made eye contact with it and showed that she meant no harm. The rat monster continued to stare at her. Then, the White Beauty held out her hand, as if she wanted the rat monster to take it. Even though she didn''t speak, and the rat monster couldn''t understand language, the two of them seemed to have come to an understanding. The rat monster, with his body full of injuries, used the last of his energy and stood up for the White Beauty. Then, it bowed towards her, putting its head down on the ground. Suddenly, a book of contracts appeared floating beside the White Beauty. On the first page, the words of a contract appeared automatically. And once it was finished, the rat monster''s eyes turned from a fiendish red to a calmer green. Chapter 344 Royal court The rat monster was now a contracted beast of the White Beauty. Since he lent her the LifeSkill, she could now create contracts herself.The White Beauty felt a connection with the rat monster the way Atlan had a connection with her. And by proxy, Atlan also felt a connection with the rat monster. With a single command, the rat monster suddenly opened its mouth and regurgitated the key that was hiding in its stomach. It was slimy and wet, but it was still in good condition. The White Beauty petted the rat monster''s head and it reciprocated her actions by snuggling its head to her hand. With the Rat Monster becoming an ally, Atlan had another strong puppet in his employ. But since it was far too large to fit through the next door, the White Beauty commanded the rat monster to stay in her book of contracts for now. With a wave of her hand, the rat monster glowed a bright light and disappeared right before their very eyes. The White Beauty looked at her book of contracts and saw that an illustration of the rat monster appeared on the first page. With everything settled, the Prince picked up the slimy key and used it to open the door to the next part of the dungeon. After a little bit of scouting from the Prince and the Huntsman, Atlan was sure that the next room didn''t have any traps that would trigger the moment he walked through the door. With the White Beauty next to him, they walked through the door and caught up to the two puppets. Atlan looked around and realized that it was another tunnel. Unlike before, this tunnel had proper lighting, with torches attached to the curved wall every five meters. And strangely enough, there was a blinding light at the end of the tunnel, as if saying that the trials and tribulations he went through in the dungeon were finally over. Experience new tales on My Virtual Library Empire But of course, Atlan became even more wary than before. He had a feeling that whatever was beyond that tunnel was the one who abducted him in the first place. He ordered his puppets to have their LifeSkills at the ready for whatever may come at the end of the tunnel. As for him, he also had his Fog of War LifeSkill locked and loaded. It was perhaps the only thing that could save him if things got too dangerous. As long as he had this LifeSkill, he had a chance to survive. But as they got closer and closer to the end of the tunnel, Atlan was starting to hear a cluster of noises. And as he got even closer, he realized that this noise wasn''t indicative of a dangerous beast. No, it was something much stranger. CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP Atlan heard the sound of clapping resounding out through the entire tunnel. This confused him entirely. He was ready for a monster to come for his throat. He was ready for arrows to launch at his face. But he wasn''t ready for this. He moved closer and closer, and the clapping got even louder. Once he was on the precipice of reaching the end of the tunnel, Atlan stopped. He activated his Thermal Vision and inspected what was waiting for him on the other side. And what he saw surprised him. He saw the heat signatures of about a thousand Canzers, all obediently sitting on the side as if they were merely spectators. Now, having thousands of Canzers waiting for him on the other side might sound incredibly dangerous, but judging from what he could see with his Thermal Vision, these Canzers were very weak¡ªweaker than even the Student level Canzers he faced back then. In short, the ''spectators'' were merely normal Canzers. They were probably in the same realm of strength as Tulip. And they were the ones that were clapping for him. As his vision swept through the room, he suddenly locked eyes with the creature in the front. This Canzer was different. It didn''t exhibit any physical strength or aura the way the Beast did back then, but Atlan felt as if she was even more dangerous than that Canzer. The only Canzer that made him feel this way was the Enchanted Queen. She, too, seemed like a normal Canzer, but there was a hidden strength in their posture that could not be ignored. Not only that, this creature was sitting by itself at the far end of the room. It sat on its throne. Atlan was sure. This was the creature in the castle. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There was no use in backing out now. If he did, then he was sure that she would lunge at him and attack him on sight. But since they ''welcomed'' him so warmly with a round of applause, it seemed as if the creature on the throne was telling him that they meant no harm, at least for now. Atlan walked forward, with the three puppets behind him. As he did, he finally entered the room, or throne room more accurately. The spectators on the side were what he expected Canzers to look like. They were thin, tall, and lanky, with their entire body covered in nothing but chitin. They were also wearing human clothes, giving the impression that they were an organized bunch. He continued to walk on the red carpet leading to the creature on the throne. As he made his way towards the foot of the throne, the clapping finally stopped. They were silent as if they were waiting for their ruler to speak. Atlan finally had a proper look at the creature. And it truly surprised him. That was because this Canzer looked eerily similar to the Enchanted Queen. They both had the same sleek, chitinous armor around their body. They had the same superior eyes that seemed to look down on everyone despite having no irises. The only difference between them was the color of their skin. The Enchanted Queen had black chitin, while this one had a striking red color. ''Welcome, travelers. How did you like my dungeon?'' Atlan didn''t respond, as if he didn''t understand it. ''Forget it. I already know you can understand me.'' Chapter 345 Citizenship offered Atlan was immediately alerted. He had never even met this mysterious creature in the castle, but somehow, it was able to figure out that he could talk and understand Canzers. That was one of his biggest secrets, and this monster knew it already before they even met.''Who are you?'' Atlan asked in perfect Canzer language, surprising the court of Canzers watching on the sidelines. He heard them gasp and clap for him once again. ''People call me a lot of things. Humans used to call me the creature in the castle, my fellow citizens call me the Magical Queen, but my enemies call me the greatest fear they ever had.'' Even though there seemed to be a smile and a jovial expression on the Magical Queen''s face, her words made it seem like she was threatening Atlan to not go against her. ''You''re also a Queen?'' he asked her. ''Yes. I know you''ve already met my sister.'' Atlan couldn''t hide his surprise. There was a striking similarity between the Enchanted Queen and the Magical Queen in front of him, but he didn''t think they were actually sisters. He didn''t even know if that word meant the same thing as humans did. ''I never would have known,'' Atlan remarked, his face showing no sign of fear. But on the inside, he was panicking. If she knew about his connection with the Enchanted Queen, then she could also possibly know about their agreement. That would not bode well with other Canzers. "Yes, we are sisters, but not in the sense that we are both born from the same mother. In actuality, we are considered sisters because we are of the same species. It''s hard to explain to a human like you, but for us, that is considered enough connection to be in a sisterhood.'' Atlan was inwardly relieved. She mentioned nothing about her sister''s treason of allying herself with a human. ''Let''s get to the point,'' Atlan said, his voice with a hint of urgency. He didn''t want to spend more time inside this castle. ''Why am I here?'' The Queen didn''t seem to mind his rude manners and only saw it as something laughable. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''What are you talking about? You are the one who put yourself in harm''s way. We would have left you humans alone if only you''d stop protecting that little traitor of ours.'' If Atlan hadn''t put himself in between the ethereal hand and Tulip, then she would have been the one in this situation. ''Then why not let me go? You don''t need me right?'' The Queen stood up from her throne and slowly walked down to Atlan. Stay connected through My Virtual Library Empire ''I''ve been watching you. Even if you think you''ve gotten rid of my little crow puppets, they''re always present in my kingdom. You had no chance of hiding from me. I saw how you protected the little twerp. You could speak to her and she understood you. That wouldn''t happen unless you knew how to speak Canzers, which was how I knew your little secret.'' If even Ninth couldn''t sense that they were being watched, then Atlan had no chance of knowing. It couldn''t be helped. This was the Magical Queen''s kingdom. She had complete control over this region. ''So? What do you want with me? Why make me go through all those trials?'' If she wanted to kill him, then she could have done so from the very beginning. She didn''t have to put him through that dungeon that posed absolutely no threat to him. And if she wanted to talk to him, then she could have just transported him directly to the throne room. There was no need for him to go through that dungeon. ''Ladies and gentlemen, do you see how smart this human is? He showed exceptional strength and magic powers, triumphing against even our greatest soldiers. Not only that, he has shown that he could speak and talk to us Canzers as if he were our own. Instead of answering Atlan, the Queen addressed the citizens watching from the sidelines. ''So, what say you, my dear citizens, do you concur?'' The citizens murmured amongst themselves, with little to no argument between them. Slowly, the citizens all raised their hands and nodded amongst themselves, showing their positive response to the Queen''s question. It was a unanimous decision, with no Canzer opposing the Queen''s proposal. Meanwhile, Atlan was left in the dark. He didn''t know what was happening. But somehow, he knew that they were all talking about him. He could see their judging looks, looking at him up and down with criticism. Then, the Queen finally walked down the steps of her throne. She was now seeing eye to eye with Atlan. ''That traitor trusts you, and only you. So, I come here as the Queen of the Magical kingdom, to ask you a favor.'' Atlan stayed silent. ''Convince her to surrender herself to me,'' the Queen said. ''If you do, then we will formally welcome you into our midst.'' Atlan was speechless. ''My citizens have spoken,'' the Queen said as she pointed at the Canzers on the sidelines. ''They have deemed you worthy enough for an exception. You will be allowed to live in our kingdom, where you will be treated as nothing less than a royal.'' The Queen walked closer to Atlan. ''As long as that woman presents herself to me voluntarily, then I will give you everything you want in this kingdom!'' This was the reason why Atlan was made to go through the dungeon. She wanted her citizens to see how strong and mighty he was. Not only that, she also showed them his ability to talk to Canzers fluently, making them accept him as one of their own easily. ''No.'' But of course, Atlan didn''t want to. He was a human, which meant that he wanted to live in a world with humans. If he was given a choice between living in the Unclaimed Lands where he could die any second, or living in this kingdom and being treated as a royal, then Atlan would still choose the human world without a second thought. But it seemed that the Queen didn''t like that response. ''No?'' Chapter 346 Transported yet again The Canzers on the sidelines stopped their murmuring and stared intently at Atlan. From their perspective, they were the ones being generous and Atlan slapped away their gift to him with absolutely no appreciation toward them.Atlan felt the entire throne room go cold. Even though the Queen already warned Atlan to not be her enemy, he was still stubborn enough to go against her. ''I have no intention of living here. And by doing so, I would be betraying my race.'' There was a large possibility of the Queen attacking him the moment he said those words, but Atlan didn''t care. He said what he said. ''Sigh¡­you think I''m the bad guy, right?'' the Queen said, a bit exasperated at the thought. ''You think that I am an evil queen who wants to kill an innocent being like that traitor¡­'' Atlan would have nodded, but that wasn''t appropriate in this situation. ''But you don''t know the whole story. I was betrayed when I was young by who I thought was my¡ª'' But before she could even start her story, Atlan put up his hands and stopped her from wasting her breath. ''Don''t bother,'' he said. ''I can''t believe a word you''ll say, and the simple reason for that is that I don''t like you. A superior being like you should never bully someone weaker than yourself. Tulip was just living her life without even hurting a single blade of grass, yet you and your little puppets destroyed her home mercilessly, without any provocation. I could never forgive someone who does that.'' Atlan let out all of his frustrations to the Queen. From his perspective, Tulip was just a pitiful creature who was caught up in a game against giants. She would have lived happily ever after in her little cottage with her mothers, but the Queen and her need to control everything made her want to destroy that peace. Whether he liked it or not, Atlan connected with Tulip. He stayed with her as she let out all her tears from the trauma she got from being chased around like prey. Right now, he wasn''t a Savior. He was Tulip''s friend protecting her. The Queen looked at Atlan, anger rising from her throat. But then, she noticed something Atlan said. ''You¡­you said Tulip¡­she¡­she gave you her name¡­'' Atlan thought that a fight would start after he berated the Queen like that, but for some reason, she lingered on the fact that he knew about her name. He didn''t think it was strange. Since he could speak Canzer, then it was only natural that he would eventually know about her name. But as it turned out, that little piece of fact was more important than Atlan realized. The Queen slowly looked up at Atlan, and her eyes changed from one of confusion to realization, and then to dread. It was as if whatever she understood was something terrible for herself. She thought that Atlan was a simple human who got caught up in this situation through nothing but a coincidence, but it seemed that there was something more devious at play here. It seemed fate had a hand in those two meeting. The Magical Queen had every intention of killing Atlan on this throne. If he agreed to convince Tulip to surrender herself, then the Queen would have gone back on her word and killed Atlan once he didn''t have any use for her anymore. And if he refused and tried to escape from this castle, then the Queen would have also killed him on the spot. But this realization changed everything. She could no longer think of Atlan as a mere pawn in a game of chess¡­no¡­he was something more. Her face changed into one of urgency. She didn''t think things would progress this far. She had to get to Tulip faster than she expected. Without any warning, the Queen raised her hand and summoned another ethereal black hand. And even though Atlan was prepared, he couldn''t dodge the Queen''s attack because it was far too fast. As it made contact with his skin, a black portal appeared behind him and sucked him into another location. With the Queen in the middle of her throne, she looked down and bit her lips. ''Get my army ready. We must find that girl now!'' Suddenly, the whole throne room shook as the giant double doors opened and revealed creatures of all kinds, ready to set out into the forest with just one word from their Queen. ''This is no time for caution. We must act now! This is our chance!'' The Queen walked over to the balcony of her kingdom. With the outside in open view, she looked at the scenery of her kingdom. It was beautiful, and everything she could was hers. She wanted to protect that. She needed to protect it. With one big breath, the Magical Queen stepped up to the railings and jumped off to the cliff below. Stay tuned with My Virtual Library Empire Jagged rocks and strong water currents would have welcomed her descent if she had done nothing. But then, her body started to morph into something bigger, with scales impenetrable through normal means. Her legs and arms thickened, like that of an elephant''s limbs. Then, wings sprouted out of her back, spreading out and allowing her to fly through the air. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ROAR! The Queen shouted, with a fiery breath coming out of her mouth. As expected of the Enchanted Queen''s sister, she could also transform into a mighty dragon that ruled the skies! ¡ª¡ª¡ª Atlan landed on his back, with the black portal closing in front of him. Even though he was transported to another unknown location, this was perhaps the best thing that could have happened during that situation. At least, it would have been better than him fighting the Magical Queen all alone. He stood up and took notice of where he was. Just like before, he seemed to have been transported into a dungeon. He looked around and noticed something weird. There were benches and a toilet in this room. And strangest of all, there was no door! I''m trapped here. Chapter 347 Three blobs of light This looked like a dungeon prison, with absolutely no way out. There wasn''t even a locked door he could try to lockpick or brute force his way out. There was only a circular wall that encased him, which was made out of the same bricks as the dungeon he had come to before.Atlan summoned his three humanoid puppets and commanded them to use all their strengths to try and break through the walls. The Huntsman notched an arrow in his bow and shot it into the small gaps between the bricks. With the additional power of the Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill, the arrow exploded into a bluish-green fire the moment it landed. But as the dust settled, the bricks remained virtually untouched. Even though the bricks looked old and moldy, there seemed to have been a magical enchantment hidden inside its structure. If even an Intern-level LifeSkill wasn''t enough to even chip one of its bricks, then Atlan had no chance of ever brute forcing his way out of this prison. Of course, he didn''t stop his humanoid puppets from trying. They continued to throw all their powers and their LifeSkills to the walls, hoping that it would give out one way or another. Meanwhile, Atlan thought to himself. Why would the Magical Queen trap me here? Her main goal was to get her hands on Tulip. The reason she abducted him in the first place was to try and get him to help her by convincing Tulip to surrender herself of her own accord. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But when the Queen realized that Atlan would never betray Tulip, she should have tried to kill him. After all, he was just another obstacle in the way of her goal. The best way to get rid of obstacles was to kill them. After all, she couldn''t be entirely sure that Atlan wouldn''t escape from this prison. Even if the chance was small, there was still a chance. But if she killed Atlan, then she could be sure that he wouldn''t be an obstacle anymore. Does she think that I''m not worth it to kill? No¡­I''m the only one Tulip trusts. She needs me to die. No matter how much he thought about it, it didn''t make sense. The Queen should have tried to kill him. Although it may seem strange that Atlan was worrying about why the Queen didn''t kill him instead of being grateful for his survival, Atlan was beginning to think that there was something suspicious going on. He felt like there were things that the Queen knew secretly. As Atlan continued to think to himself, three blobs of light floated behind him. These blobs of light seemed to move and float in unnatural ways as if they were sentient or something. And even though their luminescence in this dark prison should have alerted Atlan of their presence, there seemed to have been an alteration in reality to make Atlan unaware of what was going on behind him. [A human¡­] [Yes¡­a human¡­] [Why is he here?...did Malifecient imprison him as well?] Surprisingly, the three bobs of light were talking amongst themselves. And if one looked closely enough, those three blobs of light weren''t blobs of light at all! They were tiny floating human-like creatures that were slightly glowing white! Slowly, they floated over towards Atlan to observe his face a lot closer. And even though they were staring him in the face, he didn''t seem to notice them at all. It was as if they were invisible! They observed his face and his powers but didn''t find anything special about him. This was weird for the three tiny human-like creatures. For a creature to be put in this prison, it had to be of extreme importance. This was the place where the Magical Queen, whom they called Malificient, imprisoned her greatest enemy. After all, this was a place where no magic, not even fate, could intervene. A weak human like this should have been eaten or killed by the Queen. She wouldn''t have wasted her power in imprisoning him, with how harmless he looked. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire They even started to pity Atlan. Even though he seemed desperate in trying to get out of this prison, the three tiny human-like creatures knew that there wasn''t any chance he was going to get out of this place. After all, they already tried it themselves. It was to no avail. [This guy is wasting his time. There''s no way out of this place, no matter how much he tries.] [I pity him. Should we put him to sleep now to put him out of his misery?] [Ladies, please. Don''t underestimate him. Malificient put him here for a reason. Maybe, he knows the way out. It''ll be good for us as well. We need to get to Tulip as soon as possible¡­] ¡ª¡ª¡ª Atlan tried everything possible. He used his Thermal Vision to see if there was any hidden mechanism to allow him to escape, but there was nothing but bricks in this place. Force didn''t work as well. No matter how much they tried to damage the walls, they wouldn''t budge even in the slightest bit. But even when he faced this impossible situation, Atlan didn''t panic. After all, he still had one more trick up his sleeve. He looked down at his Soul System, specifically, his mutations. ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings ¡ª¡ª¡ª 15% mastery ¡ª¡ª¡ª The user gains 200% of their current speed and allows them to have complete maneuverability in the air. Upon activation of its second ability, the user can traverse different dimensions. The second ability of his Angel Wings allowed him to traverse different dimensions. When he tried this out in the normal world, he was able to go in and out of the Remedium without the use of a portal. Now, Atlan thought that he didn''t have to use this unless necessary. After all, if he used this ability, he could end up back in the real world and completely abandon his mission. But, there was also a chance that it could get him out of this situation. And since he was completely trapped here, he had no way else but to take that chance. Chapter 348 Good fairies Atlan closed his eyes and activated his Angel Wings mutation. Slowly, the area in between his shoulder blades started to feel numb and prickly.It didn''t take long before the wings sprouted out of nowhere, with its shining brilliance glowing even in the confines of the darkness of this prison. The sudden appearance of these Angel Wings completely caught the three blobs of light off guard. They were startled and immediately separated themselves from Atlan. When they felt the power of the Angels within him, they were afraid that he was also an Angel himself. And since Angels were the weakness of Canzers, those three tiny human-like creatures thought that they had gotten found out, and now, he was trying to kill them. But as the seconds passed, they realized that Atlan hadn''t actually sensed their presence yet. And when they looked at him more closely, they saw that the Angel power was only coming out of his wings, which meant that Atlan wasn''t an angel himself, he only had their powers! Even still, this completely overturned their expectations. They thought that Atlan was a normal human, but the presence of those angel wings completely changed him into a beast that they couldn''t treat lightly. They thought that Angels had gone extinct, but somehow, a human was able to get his hands on one of their most powerful weapons: their wings. It was an impossible situation, but somehow, they were looking at it in front of their eyes. Then, something changed. Those pure white wings suddenly started to shimmer with silver particles. [He''s¡­he''s trying to get out of this place!] [With those Angel Wings, yes he could!] [But wait, it''s unstable¡­if he tries to get out now, he''ll be lost in different dimensions!] The three tiny human-like creatures seemed to have been knowledgeable enough about magic that they knew that there was something wrong with Atlan''s Angel Wings. In truth, Atan didn''t know what he was doing. He could get in and out of the Remedium, which was good for escaping, but now, he was only trying to get out of this prison. He still wanted to stay in the Remedium, which was why he was trying something new, something he wasn''t familiar with. ''WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!'' Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just as Atlan was about to use his wings to transport himself into another location, he suddenly saw three blobs of light appear in front of him. He was completely caught off guard and immediately moved away from them. And even without instructing his puppets, the three humanoids immediately attacked the three blobs of light. The Huntsman fired off an arrow with the power of the Apocalyptic Hellfire. The Prince charged towards them with the Beastly Thrash LifeSkill, allowing him to have tremendous physical strength. The White Beauty used her book of contracts to summon the giant rat to attack as well. But just as the attacks were about to hit, the three blobs of light waved the wands on their hands and created some kind of magic. Suddenly, the Huntsman found himself floating in the air, without any control of his own body. He couldn''t even keep his grip on the bow! The same went with the Prince, the White Beauty, and the giant rat she summoned. They were all immobilized by an invisible spell. The arrow, on the other hand, simply missed its mark and hit the wall, destroying nothing in the process. [We''re not here to hurt you.] Atlan grabbed his head, feeling a splitting headache as the three blobs of light tried to communicate with him. ''Stop messing with my mind. I can hear and talk to you just fine,'' Atlan said in the Canzer language. Because the three blobs of light thought that Atlan couldn''t understand their words, they immediately tried to invade his brain and make him understand his words. It came with a splitting headache, but they thought it was worth it since it was the only way he could understand them. But surprisingly, the human was able to speak like a Canzer. This surprised them greatly. It seemed that they truly underestimated this human. He had possession of Angel wings, and now, he could speak like a Canzer. They started to wonder what more secrets he had in store. Slowly, the three blobs of light lessened the glowing on their bodies, letting Atlan see their true form. Atlan saw three tiny human-like women floating in the air. They seemed to be in their early fifties, but their attire looked like it was made for someone younger. They looked like they were on their way to a dance ball. If they weren''t so little, Atlan would have mistaken them for a human. The one on the left wore a red dress, the one in the middle wore blue, and the one on the right wore a green dress. ''You can understand us? How peculiar.'' ''How do you understand us? Is it a magic spell?'' ''Ladies, ladies, let us not get bogged down by details. We shall introduce ourselves first.'' The three little women bowed to Atlan, showing grace in their movements. ''We are the Three Good Fairies, and we are also prisoners of this dungeon,'' they all said in unison. Then, they looked over at Atlan and waited. It seemed that they wanted him to introduce himself as well. ''Ahem¡­I''m Atlan. I''m a human.'' The red fairy floated over to Atlan and bowed. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire ''Well, Atlan, we can see that you have the powers of an Angel.'' The blue fairy followed next to her. ''Now, we won''t ask you how you obtained that power, nor will we tell others, but we have a simple request.'' Then, the green fairy followed as well. ''We want you to take us with you.'' Even though they were named the three ''good'' fairies, Atlan had no reason to take them with him. Who knew if they were actually evil creatures? After all, they were imprisoned in this dungeon as well. ''And why should I do that?'' The three fairies then pleaded to Atlan with all their hearts. ''Please! We need to save our daughter!'' Chapter 349 Fairy mothers ''I know that you''re a human, and you''re supposed to hate all Canzers, but I promise you that we don''t mean any harm,'' said the blue fairy.''That''s right, that''s right. I don''t know if you have the same saying as us in the human language, but there''s something called the enemy of my enemy is my friend,'' said the green fairy. ''Since Malificient was the one who trapped you here, I''m assuming that you also hate that Queen. It just so happens that we also hate her with all our hearts,'' said the red fairy. Meanwhile, Atlan stayed silent with his thoughts. Somehow, there was something strange with this. It was as if he was close to figuring something out. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn''t quite grasp it yet. ''As long as you get us out of this prison, we will do anything for you. Please. We need to get there before the Queen does.'' ''I''m sure you don''t understand why we''re so desperate¡ª'' Then, Atlan finally understood why. He looked at the three fairies floating in front of him and said, ''You''re Tulip''s mothers, right?'' His words seemed to have sent a shockwave to the three fairies, surprising them so much that they ended up backing away from him to the wall. ''You!....you know about our daughter?'' asked the blue fairy. ''That''s our daughter! Do you know about her? Where is she?'' asked the green fairy. It was an incredible coincidence that the human they found in this prison knew about their daughter. In terms of probability, it was about a hundred thousand to one odds that this would happen. Yet it did, as if there was something else at play here. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But despite the two fairies feeling a tinge of hope and desperation, the red fairy looked at Atlan with a grim face. ''How do you know about her name?'' Once the red fairy said those words, the rest of the fairies immediately realized the implications. After all, no one was supposed to know about Tulip''s name¡ªespecially not a human. One possibility that might have happened was that Atlan encountered Tulip and witnessed her death, in which she said her name as his last words. After all, that was what they taught her from when she was a child. Suddenly, the three fairies glowed with an intense light. An invisible, overbearing pressure bore down on Atlan, forcing him to kneel just to survive the impact of their pressure. It was at this point that Atlan realized that the three fairies were not simple creatures. The combination of all three fairies was probably equal to the Magical Queen in terms of raw power. Atlan cursed his luck. It seemed that he was an attractor to strange, powerful creatures in the Remedium. ''How did you know her name? Is she dead?'' they all asked him simultaneously. Atlan borrowed the powers of the puppets and fought against the pressure of the ''good'' fairies. He forced himself to stand up and look at the fairies eye to eye. ''No, she isn''t dead. I was trying to save her¡­it''s the reason I''m here in the first place. The Queen was about to get a hold of her, but I put myself in between them and ended up trapped here.'' Atlan said the truth and nothing but the truth. With these kinds of powerful creatures, he knew that telling lies would only result in a bad ending. And since they looked like they were Tulip''s mothers, he correctly thought that they would feel gratitude for him after saving their daughter. ''She¡­she''s alive¡­she''s alive!" shouted the green fairy. ''You''re telling the truth, right? You saved her?'' asked the blue fairy. Meanwhile, the red fairy looked at Atlan and tried to discern his words. But all she saw was something genuine. ''He''s telling the truth,'' the red fairy declared. But that wasn''t all. The red fairy seemed to have sensed a greater connection with Atlan and their daughter. It seemed much deeper than an acquaintance. ''How is she? Has she been feeling well?'' asked the blue fairy. ''Has she been taking care of herself? Oh poor Tulip. She must have been on the run all this time¡­'' cried the green fairy. But before he answered their questions, Atlan had his own question for them. ''What happened to you? Tulip told me that she tried to find you after your house burned down, but you were gone.'' The fairies all looked down, ashamed of themselves. ''Truth is, we''ve been trying to hide Tulip from Malificient for all her life. For some years, living in seclusion in the middle of the forest gave us that peace. But, we knew that it was only a temporary solution. The Queen would find us eventually.'' ''So, we thought that we would try to kill her ourselves before she could try to kill Tulip.'' ''But, that ended up in our capture, and the burning of our house. It''s our fault this is happening.'' Atlan sighed. Their life seemed tragic. All this while, Tulip thought that she was the one who caused their home to be burned down and her mothers to disappear. As it turned out, she had nothing to do with it at all. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire ''When I first met Tulip, she was extremely sad. She blamed herself for what happened. But, she pulled herself together and helped us reach your burned house.'' When they heard that, the fairies became even more depressed. But there was hope. If they could go out now and fight the Queen, they had a chance to finally finish this once and for all. ''I have another question,'' said Atlan. ''Why Tulip? She doesn''t seem like she''s anything special, but why is the Queen hell-bent on catching her? Is there something hidden about her?'' The three good fairies looked at each other, debating whether they would tell this human the secret or not. ''We shall tell him,'' the red fairy said. ''But¡ª'' ''There''s no point in keeping it a secret anymore. The Queen is on her way to her right now.'' The three fairies nodded and finally told the truth about Tulip. ''She is this kingdom''s inheritor.'' Chapter 350 Fate ''She''s an inheritor of this kingdom? That means she could threaten the Queen''s control of this kingdom¡­that makes sense why she would want to kill her.''As expected, the reason why the Magical Queen wanted to kill Tulip was solely because of her greed for her throne. Atlan didn''t know why, but it seemed that Tulip was the only being who could threaten her claim to the throne. ''Truthfully, we are not Tulip''s real mothers. We are merely her guardians, given to her by her parents.'' ''And even though Tulip looks harmless now, she has the potential to become a powerful being just like Malificient. But to do so, Tulip has to kill the Queen with her own hands. It is fate. It will happen unless the Queen does something about it, which is what she''s doing right now.'' Atlan couldn''t believe that a harmless Canzer like Tulip would someday become as domineering as the Queen. It didn''t fit her personality at all. ''So, the Magical Queen, Malificient, wants to extend her reign for as long as possible by killing Tulip?'' he asked. ''That is right. But ruling the kingdom is not her only goal. By killing Tulip, she would also be getting rid of the only thing that could kill her. She would be invincible.'' Atlan shivered at the thought. It looked like Carmine''s warning about the creature in the castle was true. If they failed to protect Tulip, then the Malificient would have virtually no weakness, allowing her to fight the humans forever without dying. ''Why not just leave this kingdom entirely? Why not emigrate to the other side of the Canzer world so that the Malificient would never find her?'' The three good fairies shook their head. ''It is not that simple, human. This is their fate and it has already been prophesied long before they even existed. No matter where we hide, fate will eventually lead us back to this kingdom.'' Atlan didn''t understand that. After all, he didn''t believe in something called fate. He believed that things were always left in his hands, not in the hands of some abstract concept. Then, the red fairy suddenly realized something. They were so surprised at the fact that Atlan knew about their daughter that they completely missed this fact. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Wait¡­tell us again. How did you know her name?'' Just from the grave tone of the red fairy''s voice, Atlan felt as if there was something about Tulip''s name that was special. Now that he thought about it, the Queen also acted weird once he revealed to her that he knew about Tulip''s name. Malificient wanted to kill him, but once he uttered Tulip''s name, she suddenly changed her mind and imprisoned him in this dungeon instead. ''Is there something special with the fact that I know about Tulip''s name?'' he asked them. ''Yes. It is vitally important,'' answered the three good fairies simultaneously. ''She told me,'' Atlan said plainly. And surprisingly, the three good fairies'' visibility gasped. They couldn''t seem to believe it and looked at Atlan''s face once again. ''This¡­is this possible?'' ''But he''s a human! That''s not supposed to be¡­'' ''Are you sure you''re a human?'' asked the green fairy. Atlan sarcastically looked at his own body and nodded. ''Yes, I''m still human. Now, can you tell me why that''s important?'' ''We have taught Tulip early on to never say her real name to strangers. She should only do so once she trusts someone with her life. And it seemed as if she had deemed you someone special like that.'' ''So?'' Atlan asked. ''There is another prophecy. One that tells of a prince that rescues our very own Tulip from a fatal injury made by the Malificient Queen.'' ''What?'' Atlan was confused. He didn''t even know where all those prophecies were coming from. And most of all, he simply didn''t believe in them. ''Don''t you get it, young man? You are the chosen one. You are the one who will rescue Tulip from certain death.'' Atlan went silent to digest the information given to him by the fairies. It seemed by virtue of the fact that Tulip gave her name to him, he suddenly became the prophesied prince that would save her in distress. Then, he realized something. ''Does the Queen know about this prophecy?'' he asked. ''Yes,'' they all answered. ''But then why didn''t she kill me when she knew that I told her that I knew Tulip''s name? Surely, she would have wanted to kill the prophesized prince that would help Tulip survive.'' But despite how confused he was, everything seemed clear for the fairies. ''It''s because of fate, young man. One should not defy fate or else even the Queen would suffer the consequence.'' ''If she killed you, that would not destroy the prophecy. It would only be passed on to another being. By then, she would have no idea who the prince would be. So, she chose to imprison you instead. By doing so, she can be assured that the prophesized prince, you, would not be able to interfere with her mission.'' Atlan scratched his head. There seemed to be a lot of rules about fate that didn''t follow the rules of logic. ''Are you even sure that I''m that prince?'' The three good fairies all looked at each other. There was doubt between them. ''We are not sure. After all, we were expecting another Canzer to be the prophesied prince.'' ''A human shouldn''t have been the prophesied prince¡­but the words were clear. Whoever shall know their daughter''s name and trust shall be the appointed prince¡­'' ''We are still confused as to whether you truly are the fated prince.'' Atlan thought to himself. His power and mutation to talk to Canzers allowed him to converse with Tulip and earn her trust. If it wasn''t for his unique powers, this wouldn''t have happened. ''Is it possible that I have interfered with fate? Maybe another Canzer was supposed to help her instead of me¡­'' ''It''s possible,'' the three fairies pondered as well. Just then, Atlan felt a tug near his chest. He looked down and realized that something was poking out of his battle suit! He immediately took it out and realized that it was the amulet that Tulip gave him. Find more to read at My Virtual Library Empire It was being pulled away from his neck towards the fairies as if there was some sort of attraction between them. Chapter 351 Tulip amulet Atlan looked towards the fairies to see if they were the ones behind this, but they seemed as shocked as him, if not more.He watched as an amulet given to him by Tulip started to fly towards the fairies. The only reason why it hadn''t flown away from his body at this point was because the rope was still tied around his neck. ''What''s happening?'' he asked them. But the three fairies were too stunned to even answer his question. They all looked at the amulet in his neck as if their entire world had just been turned around. ''Human¡­where did you get that?'' ''That''s supposed to be Tulip''s¡­'' ''Did¡­did she give that to you voluntarily?'' Atlan looked at the three fairies and was starting to get annoyed. All the things he considered normal always seemed to be something special in their eyes. First, he thought that learning Tulip''s name was not a big deal, but it turns out, it made him the prophesied prince of whatever. Now, the amulet she gave him was also starting to become strange. ''Yes¡­I found it at your burned house, but when I returned it to her, she wanted to give it to me. I couldn''t refuse. Should I have?'' Judging from their shocked faces, it seemed to signal to him that there was something wrong with the amulet. ''No, it''s good that you have it¡­it''s¡­it''s¡­'' Atlan couldn''t take it anymore. ''It''s what?'' he asked, annoyed. ''It''s fate that she gave you that amulet,'' said the red fairy bluntly. ''It has been prophesied that Tulip would give the prophesied prince the amulet of protection. It has also been said that this amulet is what helps in the defeat of the Magical Queen, Malificient.'' Atlan looked at the floating amulet in his chest. From his perspective, the amulet looked nothing like nothing special at all. Even when he used all his observational powers to scrutinize it, there wasn''t any leakage of power from the object. It was only a normal amulet. ''If you didn''t want to become the prophesied prince, then you shouldn''t have accepted it. But now that you have it in your possession, there is no mistaking it. You are the chosen one.'' Atlan still didn''t believe in fate and prophecies. Just because Tulip gave him her name and this amulet didn''t mean he suddenly became the prince that was prophesied in their dreams. It was absurd to think about because everything was a coincidence. He pulled the amulet off his neck and let it float towards the three good fairies. ''Have it yourself,'' he said. ''There''s nothing special with that.'' Just then, the amulet stopped and floated in front of the three fairies, as if waiting for their action. ''You are right. This amulet is nothing special, but that is because it is incomplete. You need to connect it to the other pieces in order to truly see the magic that this amulet hides.'' Just then, the three good fairies waved their hands and summoned something from behind them. A portal with the same color as their dresses appeared and shot out a small fragment of metal. The three fairies then started casting some spells, uttering some nonsense words that Atlan couldn''t understand. But he knew that they were doing something weird. He could feel their power spike up to its peak as they continued to utter a large spell. Read the latest on My Virtual Library Empire Suddenly, the three metals they summoned as well as the amulet started to revolve around each other. Atlan watched as the edges of the objects revolving around each other started to glow a bright neon blue. At the same time as the three fairies reached a crescendo in their spell casting, the four objects stopped revolving in the air. Then, the three metals converged upon each other, smashing into its glowing sides with power that should have shattered them into mere pieces. But magically, those three metals perfectly merged into one single unit. It was at this point that Atlan realized something. The combination of those three metals was the complete mirror shape of the floating amulet. ''Reveal the amulet, the one to guide the light to ward off the darkness!'' the three fairies shouted, accompanied by a booming shockwave that caused power from their bodies to transfer to the single metal unit. Then, the two crashed. The single metal part combined with the amulet, forming a single unit. And the resulting shape¡­was a tulip flower. The floating tulip amulet then started to glow with power, as if an ancient god was about to awaken. Atlan started to back away as the mere pressure emitted by this power was more than enough to make him stumble and fall to his knees. This kind of power was even stronger than Maleficoent or the Enchanted Queen. He had never seen this kind of power in an object before. Finally, the object glowed a bright white light until everything in the dungeon prison was enveloped in a blinding light. Atlan had to close his eyes. After a few seconds, the light died down and he could finally open his eyes. And what he saw was the tulip-shaped amulet floating in the air, and glowing with power. The pressure was much more tamer than before, but anyone could see that it was a magical item. The three fairies took a big breath. ''Human, take the amulet. It is yours to possess,'' they said simultaneously. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But even though it looked like it could give him tremendous power, Atlan was a bit hesitant. That was because by accepting the amulet, he would be accepting the fact that he was the prophesied prince. If he was going to save Tulip, then he was going to save her because he wanted to, not because some prophecy dictated him to. ''There is no use denying fate, human. It is your destiny.'' Before Atlan could even say something, the amulet suddenly flew towards his neck and attached itself to his body just like before. It was far too fast for him to even react. But once it had taken its cozy place in his chest, the glowing died down and acted as nothing more than a normal amulet. Chapter 352 Three gifts Atlan looked at the amulet in his chest and saw no sign of hostility from the magical item.Just then, he finally realized something. Carmine told them that they were searching for something in the forest that could help them defeat the creature in the castle, which Atlan now knew as Malificient, the Magical Queen. Experience new tales on My Virtual Library Empire When they reached Tulip''s burned house, they searched through the entire wreckage trying to find a magical item that glowed with power. But, they found nothing after searching for a long time. The only thing they found was this amulet, which turned out to be Tulip''s possession. But because it looked like a normal amulet, with no glowing power or leaking magic, Carmine and Atlan both thought that this wasn''t the object that they were looking for. However, it seemed that he had it now all this time. ''The amulet only works if all the parts are completed. We kept one part to ourselves, and the last one was kept by Tulip. Now, all the parts have gathered because you, the fated prince, have come just like the prophecies said.'' The reason it looked like a normal amulet was because it was missing the parts that would make it into a tulip shape. In a very strange coincidence, Atlan met Tulip''s mothers in this prison, where all the parts of the amulet finally connected. According to their prophecies, this was an amulet that could help in defeating the Magical Queen. The fairies'' prophecies coincided perfectly with Carmine''s sources. Now that he had it in his possession, there was no use throwing it away anymore. If it was going to help him defeat Malificient, then he needed all the help he could get. He would even let the fairies think that he was their prophesied prince or whatever. ''So, how am I going to use this amulet?'' The three good fairies looked at Atlan with hopeful expressions. ''So you accept your destiny?'' ''Yeah, sure. As long as we defeat the Magical Queen at the end of this, then I''m willing to be your ally.'' The three good fairies nodded, satisfied with his answer. ''That amulet works by empowering yourself into a magnificent warrior of the olden past. This will allow you to have the power to be able to fight against the Queen. Be careful. Do not use it unless you have to because the power inside that amulet is a precious resource. It will not return.'' Having another trump card in his sleeves was what he needed to fight against the Magical Queen. If he could time the use of this power at the most opportune moment, he could get the Queen off guard and he would get the chance to kill her in one go. Of course, that was if he saw an opportune moment. ''If you want the power inside that amulet, touch it for a few seconds and you will feel a magic course through your veins. Do not fight it, let it run its course.'' Atlan nodded. And without waiting any longer, he unfurled his Angel Wings and got ready to get out of this dungeon prison. ''Hang on to me,'' he said. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Wait, human. I can see that even though you have the power of an Angel, you do not have the appropriate control to be able to use it correctly. If you haphazardly try to travel through the dimensions, you may get trapped in it and never return. After all, this dungeon formed with Malificient''s magic and will interfere with any teleportation spell.'' Atlan looked at the three fairies. ''Then, can you help me?'' The green fairy nodded. ''Yes, we will be your guide in the dimensions, while you use the power of those wings to get us out of this space.'' ''But before we get to that, there is something else we must do.'' The three fairies waved their hands and cast another spell, creating a portal behind them. ''From our estimations, you are not strong enough to fight against the Queen or her horde. If you were to use the amulet while fighting her minions, then you would stand no chance to fight against her dragon form. So, we have no other choice but to endow you with gifts from our world.'' A single sword and shield shot out from the fairies'' portal and landed on the floor in front of Atlan. ''This?'' When the fairies said that they would give him some gifts to help him fight, he thought they''d be giving him something special. But from what he could see, that sword and shield was nothing special at all. Suddenly, the fairies started chanting their spells again, gathering all the power in the area to their bodies. ''I grant the sword a sharp edge that can slay thousands of monsters and Canzers in a single move¡­'' the red fairy said, throwing her hands towards the sword on the floor. Suddenly, red glowing runes appeared on the sword and gave it a sharpness that would even terrify the best swordsman. ''I grant the shield the ability to protect and deflect the attacks from monsters of all shapes and sizes,'' the green fairy said as she threw her hands to the shield. Just like before, the shield suddenly gained glowing green runes that seemed to have strengthened the material and structure of the very shield itself. ''I grant these two weapons¡­luck and fortune¡­may this be the sword that strikes down the dragon that rules the skies,'' said the blue fairy, throwing her hands on both the sword and the shield. The runes on both reappeared again, but this time, the glow had turned into a golden color. And this time, the runes didn''t disappear into the metal. It continued to glow, finally giving off the appearance that these two weapons were magical. The three fairies looked at Atlan and gestured for him to take their gifts. Atlan bent down and picked up both magical weapons. The sword fit perfectly in his hands and was the perfect length in companion with his height. Meanwhile, the shield was neither too small nor too big for his body. It was the perfect defense while allowing mobility in a close fight. Chapter 353 Echoing of crows Atlan genuinely accepted the sword and shield from the fairies. Just from holding it in his hands alone, he knew that these were weapons of mass destruction. His hands were shivering just from the mere fact that he was holding the sword and shield.He was fighting the weapons to settle down. It was as if he was holding the leash of two massively powerful bears who wanted to tear down everything in their sight. ''You''ll need these weapons, as well as luck, to save our Tulip from certain doom,'' the red fairy said. Atlan looked at the weapon in his hands. To truly defeat the Magical Queen Malificient, he would need the help of Tulip, who was her weakness. Before he started clashing his sword with her claws, he needed to make sure Tulip was okay. ''I''m ready,'' he said to the three fairies. They nodded and floated over to his shoulders. They hung on to his battle suit tight, because even with their powers, if they ended up getting lost in the different dimensions, they probably wouldn''t be able to leave it again. ''You use the power of your wings to get us out of here, and we''ll guide you in the right direction,'' the green fairy said. Atlan did as they said and powered up his Angel Wings. Suddenly, the pure white luster of his feathers began to shine with a silvery glint. These sparkles began to intensify and multiply as the power began to gather in his wings. Then, at the crescendo, those silvery particles suddenly shot forward and tore open the very space itself, showing the eternal mystery of the different dimensions. It felt like he was looking at a combination of all the stars in the galaxy as well as its deepest depths. ''Don''t get distracted, human. You must go before this dimension figures out what we''re doing.'' Atlan didn''t hesitate any longer and flapped his wings, rushing his body toward the portal to the other dimension. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Ninth, what are we going to do?" The rest of her team looked at her with eyes full of confusion and anxiousness. They were facing a monstrous Spinning Wheel with the same strength as a Specialist Canzer, but they had no help from Atlan or Carmine as to how they were going to defeat it. But that wasn''t what bugged Ninth the most. She looked behind her team and saw the Canzer on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Ninth was conflicted. Even though all she wanted was to leave the Canzer behind and let the Spinning Wheel monster get to her, her better judgment told her that it was not a good idea. "Tsk. Hey you!" Ninth shouted to Tulip. But the Canzer wasn''t listening to her. She was knee-deep in despair after once again putting another being she cared about in danger. The Spinning Wheel monster wasn''t just going to wait for them to sort things out. It shot out a needle-like yarn and aimed it at Tulip. Ninth didn''t have any choice and dove towards Tulip and saved her from the attack. Tulip wasn''t expecting this and looked at Ninth, with their gaze locking into each other. Ninth was clearly showing hate and disdain for the Canzer. But when Ninth looked at the Canzer, she was surprised to see that she saw the same. Tulip was also hating herself. "Get a grip! Do you want to live or not? Will you throw away the chance that Atlan gave you?!" Even though they didn''t understand each other''s language, Ninth''s outrage somehow reached into Tulip. Her eyes started to clear, as she remembered Atlan. If he were here, what would he have done? Tulip nodded to Ninth and stood up for herself. Even though Ninth wanted Tulip to do this, she was still a little bit surprised that her words seemed to have affected a Canzer. It made her think that maybe, Canzers weren''t all that different from humans if they could understand each other like this. Ninth pointed towards the center of her team''s position, where Atlan would have stood. Tulip quickly understood what Ninth wanted to do and rushed towards the center, where she could be protected from all sides. "Listen up, everyone. First, we''ll take down this monster and only then we''ll be able to search for our Star Porter." The rest of the team shouted in unison, "Yes!" With this newfound energy, the team faced the Spinning Wheel monster and started their usual routine of killing, as if this was just another mission. The mage and the sniper took shots at the Spinning Wheel monster, while Ninth and the scout went forward to attack it at its weakest, the legs. All the while, the two tanks protected the whole team if the monster tried to attack them. LifeSkill after Lifeskill was thrown around, creating destruction around the forest. Tulip stood back and marveled at how powerful these humans were. There was even a thought in the back of her mind where she wanted to become just like Ninth, with how powerful she looked as she sliced through the Spinning Wheel monster''s leg with nothing but her sword. As expected, the Spinning Wheel monster was no trouble at all once the team started their assault. To finish it off, Ninth summoned her swordmaid, whose figure was two times bigger than the Spinning Wheel monster itself. With one slashing movement from her head, Ninth cleaved the monster into two, stopping its spinning wheel and turning it into nothing but a large corpse in the forest. "Haaa¡­haaa¡­" Everyone tried to catch their breath after this battle. "We did it!" they screamed. A small smile broke out in Ninth''s mouth, celebrating this small victory amidst the tragedy. "Okay, me and the scout will search the remains of the monster for any clues. You all stay here and search as well. Whoever abducted Atlan should have left some sort of clue that will lead us to his location." Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire But just as they were about to move, they felt the entire ground reverberate. Then, the crows and birds flew away from the trees, as if they were spooked by something in the distance. Chapter 354 Renewed sense "Is that an earthquake?" the mage asked.But the scout, with his enhanced vision and senses, knew that something was wrong. "No. It''s not that. It''s something much worse." He asked permission from Ninth to separate from the group and try to see what was going on in the distance. Their leader agreed, only with the caveat that he should not go too far off. The scout rushed to the direction of the rumbling, while the rest of the team remained in their places. Their hands were still placed on their weapons, ready to strike whenever something appeared. After a few minutes, the scout finally returned. But this time, his face was aghast. It was as if he had seen a ghost. "Haa..haaa¡­" And judging by how exhausted he looked, it seemed that the scout was forced to run away from whatever he saw, or else he would have been caught by them. "What did you see?" Ninth asked. The scout walked to Ninth and grabbed her shoulders. "It''s¡­it''s a horde! There are about a thousand monsters and Canzers marching towards our location right now! And with how fast they were going, they''ll reach us in a matter of minutes!" The rest of the team was shocked to their core. It was one thing to fight against one Specialist-level Canzer. It was one thing to fight two of them at the same time. But to fight a thousand Canzer marching towards them with the express thought of killing them was far too much to think about. "We should go! Leave, leave right now!" the scout said. Even the rest of her team agreed. "Ninth, let''s retreat now." "They''re right. We can''t possibly fight against all of them." But for some reason, Ninth didn''t move. She looked at the Scout and saw that he was far too distraught. Even though a thousand Canzers were nothing to scoff at, it wasn''t entirely too frightening. With that many Canzers, their weakness was their slowness. "What aren''t you telling me?" Ninth asked. But the scout kept his mouth shut. "I don''t want to tell you. You don''t want to know." Ninth was annoyed. She was supposed to be their leader, yet one of her teammates wasn''t treating her with the respect a leader should have. "Out with it! Or I''ll have to go there myself to look." The scout immediately wrapped his arms around Ninth''s legs. "No, please. Don''t!" But Ninth didn''t stop. She continued to walk, dragging the scout with her. "Stop! Okay, I''ll tell you. But the reason I don''t want to is because I know how you''ll react." "How will I react?" The scout looked at his teammates, and they knew what he was talking about. "Don''t think we haven''t noticed," the scout said. "Ever since we encountered that¡­that¡­.that dragon, you''ve been acting weird. You''re too aggressive and too emotional. It''s clear that you felt something when you faced that dragon." Ninth''s eyes widened as she looked at her team. She didn''t think they knew. She thought she kept it a secret, but it seemed her emotions were as clear as day. She felt even more vulnerable now. "You¡­you knew¡­" "Yes! Now, let''s go. I saw that the one leading the horde was another dragon! It''s different from the one before, but it''s still as dominating as the last one. We need to leave now." Ninth had her head down, with her eyes moistening. Even though she prided herself as the genius who reached Specialist-level at the youngest age, it turned out that her confidence was not yet earned. Experience exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire If it was any other veteran Savior, they wouldn''t have felt fear when facing a dragon. Instead, they would feel excited at the thought of fighting it. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But she seemed to have lost that. She was afraid of fighting it and wanted to leave the Remedium altogether. If she can''t even fight a dragon, then did she even deserve to be a Savior? Maybe they were right. Maybe, they should leave and escape from the dragon-led horde. Just then, Ninth looked towards Tulip. And she saw something she didn''t think she would ever see in the eyes of a Canzer. There was a belief in those eyes, as if Tulip trusted with her whole chitinous heart that Ninth would somehow get them out of this situation. The strangest thing was that it wasn''t out of desperation, but because of admiration. In Tulip''s eyes, it was as if she believed that Ninth was the hero she needed in these times. A Canzer was treating a human as her Savior. Ninth was reminded of the reason why she became a Savior in the first place. When she was a child, she also idolized a woman of great caliber. Whenever a Symptom appeared and all seemed lost, that woman would always appear and save everyone from harm. She wanted to be like that woman, to be the person everyone looks up to whenever something bad happens. So, she worked hard through the years and was finally able to become one of the top Specialist Saviors in the entire Genesis City. She thought she achieved her dream. But was she really the savior she wanted to become? Would her idol run away from a fight against a mighty dragon like she did? Would she fear for her life trying to fight against a horde of monsters? The answer was a resounding no. "Ninth, we should go now!" her teammates pleaded to her. Everyone looked at her eyes, and they were surprised to see a fire lit in her irises. There was no longer any fear or trepidation present in her soul. It was as if she regained all the confidence she had at her best. "Ninth?" "We can''t run away. We''ll fight the horde and the dragon." The rest of her team was confused. They thought that Ninth was deathly afraid of fighting a dragon. And they wouldn''t be facing it alone, it had an entire army of Canzers at its beck and call. "Are you serious?" they asked. "Yes. Prepare to give it everything you''ve got. Cause I will." Chapter 355 Redemption This was the true terror of fighting the horde of Canzers. Even though most of them were just Student-level Canzers, their special ability as Destruction and Infection Canzers allowed them to practically be indestructible."Oh my gods¡­" "This¡­this is just unfair¡­" Ninth''s team gasped when they saw this horrifying sight. Even though they knew about a Canzer''s ability to regenerate or clone themselves, they hadn''t seen it at this scale. The hundreds that Ninth ''killed'' now grew into a thousand. It would have been better if they hadn''t attacked them in the first place. Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire "We need to kill them all in one go so that we have the time to go after the dragon," Ninth said. This was the reason why she didn''t want her team to waste their energy trying to fight defensively against the horde. They wanted to slowly fight their way through the horde, but Ninth knew that it would only worsen the situation for them. But Ninth didn''t blame her team for forgetting this small fact. After all, they were so used to fighting with a porter in their midst who carried a construct that could disable the Canzers'' abilities. Unfortunately, they had none of those. Atlan was probably abducted by their enemies, which meant that they didn''t have any contact with Carmine or the rest of the Operator Specialists who could help them figure out a way to fight this horde. "What are we going to do," her team asked. Ninth looked ahead and watched as the horde continued to march towards their location. More and more Canzers passed through to the domain, with their strengths becoming much stronger than the first lines of Canzers that entered. "We wait. Once they''re all here, we strike," she said. The Canzers at the back of the horde were now at the strengths of the Intern level. Ninth judged them to be the generals and high-ranking officers of the entire army. They had their own legions under their wing, which they controlled with perfect coordination. Just then, Ninth stumbled forward and held her head as she experienced a mind-splitting headache. The domain she summoned started to shimmer as if it were just moments away from being destroyed. Ninth gritted her teeth and gathered all the strength in her Soul System and increased her control on the domain, allowing it to recover and remain stable. "It''s here," Ninth uttered. There was only one Canzer that could make her domain unstable: the dragon. It came to the domain, with its fiery red wings spread out in the air. As soon as it entered the space, Ninth felt her control of the domain start to weaken. It was as if the dragon was trying to take away her domain. Usually, when two beings this powerful fought against each other, they would clash their domains and try to overwhelm each other in their own spaces. But this dragon didn''t summon her domain. Instead, she tried to take away Ninth''s domain. It was a power play designed to demoralize Ninth. After all, for a second, Ninth felt like she was losing her domain forever. It would have been enough to shock other Saviors into retreating from the dragon before it could steal their domain. "Don''t kid me. This is my space," Ninth said, standing tall and facing the dragon in the distance. "$*&@(#*&$(*&%" The dragon roared as it floated in the air above its army. And all the Canzers under its control raised their weapons in the air and shouted the same words that the dragon uttered. It was a war cry. The whole domain shook with their war cry. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Ninth and her team weren''t that shaken by this display. First of all, they couldn''t even understand what they were saying, and second, they were veterans who did not falter under trivial things like these. But there was one of them who was truly affected. All the color drained from her face. She could hear the dragon and the rest of the Canzers chant out the words, ''I have your mothers and your little friend trapped in my castle. Surrender yourself now or I''ll kill them all.'' Her mothers were alive. This would have been cause for her to celebrate, but it turned out that they were taken captive by the Queen. Not only that, Atlan was also taken by her and threatened to be killed. The worst part about it was that Tulip didn''t know why this was happening to her. She was clueless about her own fate. She didn''t even know that she was the only weakness of the magical Queen Malificient. Tulip wanted to surrender herself. If she simply did as the dragon told her, then her mothers and Atlan would be saved. She knew that if she surrendered herself now, there was a high possibility that she would be killed. But she didn''t care. In her eyes, their lives were so much more important than hers. Tears started to fill her eyes. Then, she started to walk forward. She wanted to end this whole thing now. She didn''t want to be selfish anymore and forget about wanting to live. But just as she was about to leave their formation, Ninth shouted at her. "Don''t you dare. Whatever happens, I will protect you with all I have." Even though Tulip couldn''t understand her words, the meaning was clear. Even now, these humans were trying to protect her at this time. If they had just let her go, then all of this could have ended. Tears streamed down her chitinous cheeks. ''Why is this happening to me?! My mothers¡­my home¡­and now Atlan¡­I just want to live normally! But I can''t. I need to sacrifice myself to stop this whole thing.'' Tulip let out all her frustrations into the air. Even though Ninth couldn''t understand her, the meaning was clear. She left her position in the formation and walked over to Ninth. This was the first time Ninth approached Tulip of her own accord. "I''m sorry. I''ve been hating you even though I don''t know you. You didn''t deserve it. You don''t deserve this." Chapter 356 Secret move With Ninth somehow spurred on to fight the dragon instead of fleeing, the rest of her team was revitalized upon seeing how reliable their leader was. They thought that she would want to leave like them, but due to some circumstances, she was able to overcome her fears against the dragon.They didn''t know that it was all thanks to Tulip. "What are we going to do?" asked the Scout. "They''re getting closer. Since they''re coming to us, I think it''s time for us to create a trap for them." The rest of the team agreed. They usually weren''t on this side of the battlefield. Usually, they were the ones who stormed into Canzers territories, where the Canzers laid out a trap for them. Now, they were on the defensive. "Shall I create a spiked crevice?" asked the mage. She was ready to create an invisible giant hole in the ground where Canzers would fall to their deaths. "I could start firing my shots right now. They already know where we''re here anyway, right?" asked the Sniper, cocking his gun. But Ninth didn''t like those ideas. Even though it was good to take advantage of creating traps and attacking first, she thought that it wasn''t enough with numbers of that magnitude. If they were going to fight the horde of Canzers, then they should hit them with everything they had in one shot. That way, they would kill as many Canzers in a short amount of time, possibly demoralizing the enemy. Ninth looked back at her team. "It''s time we use it now¡ªour special move." Their eyes widened. They didn''t think that Ninth would want to use that move so early in the fight. It would have been best if they saved that attack for when they were facing against the dragon itself. "Are you sure, Ninth? If we do this and we fail, we''ll all be incapacitated at the end of it." The reason why Ninth and her team were so apprehensive about using their ultimate move was that they would end up too exhausted to move once it was finished. It was supposed to be used as a last resort when they were completely beaten by the enemy, with no way to win other than to pull off that move. "I''m sure. We will get ripped apart by those thousands of Canzers if we don''t do it. We wouldn''t even reach the dragon''s toes with our normal strength. We need to act decisively now. We carve through the majority of the horde and immediately focus our fire on the dragon. That is the only way we can defeat this army and their leader." Ninth''s strategy was bold and risky, but had the potential to completely change the outcome of the fight. The rest of the team went silent as they all tried to weigh the costs and benefits of performing this move. If Ninth was simply doing this out of desperation and fear to fight the dragon, then the team would have said no and tried to convince her that running away was the best option. But when they all looked at Ninth''s eyes, they didn''t see any fear in her irises. It was clear blue. She wasn''t trying to fight the dragon because she was afraid for her life, she was trying to fight the dragon because she wanted to conquer it! Even though it may seem the same, they knew the true difference between the two. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. One was motivated by fear, and another by excitement. It was a trademark personality needed to become the very best of the best Savior in the entire world. And now, Ninth was acting like one of those legends in the Savior business. "Okay. Let''s do it," said the Scout. "I agree. If we''re going to do this, we''re going to do it right," said the Mage. "Oh, what the hell. I''m in!" said the Sniper. It was a unanimous decision, as every one of them jumped on board Ninth''s strategy. This was important because to pull off their secret move, they had to all be in perfect synchronicity, with no deviations. If there were any doubts between them, it could quickly dissolve all their strengths and end up with nothing in the end. "Let''s do it," Ninth said. "Let''s pool all our strengths." They all faced the horde in their usual formation. Ninth closed her eyes and concentrated on her Soul System. As she did, the world around her seemed to suddenly change. Instead of the lush green forest that the Magical kingdom was known for, everything was turned into a desert filled with nothing but sand and swords. Weapons¨Crusted, chipped, or new¨Cwere sticking out the sands as if there had been a large-scale battle here in the deserts. This was Ninth''s domain. Everything that enters this domain will have to be submitted under her rule. It would allow her to slash hundreds of Canzers as they tried to step foot on her domain, even while doing nothing at all. It was all done on her mind, and the world of her domain corresponded to it with no exceptions. Finally, the first line of monsters crashed through the domain space, alerting Ninth of their presence. The first few lines of the horde were made up of chitinous soldiers, with their bodies full of armor and their hands armed with a sharp sword. If Ninth were to estimate their strength, they were probably at the Student-level. Without even having to command the domain, thousands of swords floated up into the air and decimated the weak Canzers with air slashes that reached down to the ground. The carnage of chitin and violet blood filled the sands of Ninth''s domain. With just that one move, she killed about two hundred Canzers all on her own. But she didn''t celebrate. She knew that the trouble had yet to start. Just then, the whole domain trembled. It wasn''t because of her, but because of all the dead bodies of the Canzers starting to move and shake involuntarily. Then, decapitated and mangled bodies of the Canzers began to heal with super fast regeneration, as if they were reborn anew. Some Canzers spawned three new clones from their dead carcass, multiplying the horde''s number to even greater heights. Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire They were true Canzers. They could regenerate or spawn clones infinitely. Chapter 357 Joint domains Tulip finally saw something different in Ninth''s eyes. Instead of the usual hate and anger that flashed whenever Ninth looked at her, there was now only compassion and trust.Somehow, this gave her enough confidence in Ninth. Maybe, hope was not all lost. ''Surrender yourself now, and I will spare everyone else¡­'' The dragon shouted from a distance. Its fiery breath sent out a very real threat by burning the swords in the desert, defying Ninth''s domain as if it were nothing special at all. But no matter how much Tulip wanted everything to end, she knew that it was selfish of her to just give up now. She didn''t even know if the dragon was telling the truth. What if Atlan was still somewhere out there fighting and trying to get to her? She couldn''t just give up now and let all his efforts go to waste. She needed to stay strong and protect herself from harm. ''No¡­I won''t¡­'' Tulip replied to the dragon. Even though her voice wasn''t as booming as the Queen''s voice, it somehow reached all the way to the Queen''s ears and enraged her all the same. She didn''t know why Tulip was so stubborn. If she had simply offered herself as a sacrifice, then everyone would be satisfied. She wouldn''t have to kill all those that she cared for. ''Minions, do you see what our fellow Canzer is doing? She is allying herself with the humans. She is nothing but a traitor!'' The Canzers below her grunted in anger as they looked at Tulip in the distance. She looked to be really chummy with the humans. She was a complete disgrace to the Canzer lineage. ''Anyone that brings me the head of that traitor will become my King, and all the power that it entails!'' S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The rest of the horde shouted at the dragon''s order, showing their complete loyal faith in their leader. They continued to rush towards the humans with staggering numbers and strength. They didn''t care if they trampled on each other, as long as someone was able to reach Tulip and be the first one to kill her. Seeing these savage monsters coming for them, Ninth stood tall in front of her team. This was the moment. They couldn''t run away now. "Are you guys ready?" she asked. "Yes!" they all answered simultaneously. Just then, all members of her team glowed with different auras signifying their powers. The two tanks glowed blue, the Scout glowed yellow, the Sniper glowed red, and the Mage glowed violet. Every single one of them was reaching deep down into their Soul System and bringing out the power that was hidden inside them. They were breaking the limits that they imposed upon themselves to the point that their bodies were starting to deteriorate. But it didn''t matter. If they don''t release all their strength and kill the dragon now, then they won''t survive anyway. "Domain: All-seeing eye!" the Sniper shouted. Suddenly, a huge eye manifested above the sands of the desert. The Sniper''s domain powers allowed him to see everything in his vicinity down to the very atoms of his targets. With this vision, his sniping skills were enhanced by a thousand percent. However, the appearance of this new domain interfered with Ninth''s domain. The sands and sword started to shimmer as if it was just about to disintegrate. But Ninth held on. She kept her focus. "Open up yourself more. We need to connect our domains!" she said to the Sniper. With a little bit more effort and focus, the Sniper was finally able to reign in his domain, allowing it to coexist with Ninth''s domain. As the two coexisted, Ninth and the Sniper felt their minds connect. This intrusion into their minds would have made inexperienced Saviors lose their focus and immediately sabotage the connection between them. But this would only result in a tremendous backlash for both of them. Thankfully, they already practiced this beforehand. Ninth and the Sniper let their minds connect, sharing their thoughts, emotions, and hidden desires. Not only that, Ninth also experienced the power of the Sniper''s domain. Just like him, she could see through the entire domain as if she were a god observing his own territory. She could see every minute detail and even the weaknesses of the Canzers that were running towards them. The Sniper also felt Ninth''s power. He was able to command the swords the same as her. "Everyone! Join up!" The mage shouted as she released her domain called Hands of Oblivion. Read exclusive chapters at My Virtual Library Empire Suddenly a large violet hand manifested in the skies, as if a god was about to grasp the entire world. With this domain, her telekinesis ability was improved by leaps and bounds, allowing her to simply crush Canzers with a single thought in her mind. She reigned in her power, slowly merging it with Ninth and the sniper''s domain. Soon, she joined the mind-melding connection between the two, allowing the three of them to peer into each other''s minds. And with the sharing of their thoughts came the sharing of their powers. They could use each other''s powers as if it was their own, and use them to improve their own powers as well. It wasn''t a few seconds later that the Scout and the two tanks released their domains. The bodyguard tank''s domain was called Cthulhu''s Everlasting Tentacles. Suddenly, large violet octopus tentacles emerged from the ground and wiggled in the air. For as long as these eight tentacles exist, everyone in the team cannot die. Each time they were about to take fatal damage, the tentacles would pull their soul out of their body and turn their dying body into a straw doll. The Scout''s domain was called Historical Peering and it allowed him to see beyond the dimensions, seeing through everyone''s past and their weaknesses as if it was tattooed on their bodies. The main tank''s domain was called Yellow Brick Wall, which allowed him to create as many defensive walls as needed, with their strength being limited only by his imagination. Chapter 358 Buying time As everyone in their team released their domains, each other their powers clashed with one another, creating a lot of chaos and pain in their psyche.No matter how much they practiced this, they could not get rid of the pain and hardship they were experiencing each time all of them released their domains at the same time. It was bearable with two of them, it was hard with three, but it was almost impossible with all six of them. They could feel each other''s thoughts, but since they were all connected, all they could hear was a high-pitched noise that only induced a head-splitting headache. Slowly, their domains started to shimmer and shake. They were starting to lose control of their domains. Some of them were releasing too much of their power, while some of them were only using too little. They had to find the right balance to truly make the combination of their LifeSkills stable. If they weren''t pressed for time, they could have waited a couple of hours till their powers naturally mellowed down, which would have allowed them to combine their powers. But the dragon and the horde of its Canzers weren''t going to wait that long. Each second they spent concentrating and melding their domains together, the horde drew closer and closer. ''You''re mine!'' ''I''m gonna be a king!'' ''Hahaha! I will kill her first!'' The first line of Canzers was already near enough for Tulip to hear their individual voices. This almost scared her to death. Her instincts and entire body were telling her to run. If she ran away now, she could probably still save herself from certain doom. But then, she remembered Atlan. He wouldn''t have run away. She also looked at Ninth and the rest of her team. Their faces were full of pain and exhaustion, but they weren''t giving up. They were using all of their willpower to keep going and find a way to survive this ordeal. Tulip looked towards the horde and knew what she had to do. She looked down at the sands on her chitinous feet and took out a small knife sticking out of the ground. Then, she faced the horde of Canzers before putting the knife near her throat. ''Stop now or else I''ll pierce this knife in my head!'' Her words forced the first line of Canzers to stop in their tracks. The crazed look on her face told them that she wasn''t lying. The Canzers, although completely loyal to the Queen, also had their own desires. If Tulip killed herself, then they wouldn''t have a chance to kill her themselves. They would lose the opportunity to become a King that bowed down only to the Queen. Although the Queen ordered them to advance without a break, the Canzers slowly stopped and gazed at Tulip. Even if she wasn''t serious, they couldn''t take that chance. ''Now, no sudden movements!'' Tulip warned them. The Canzers all looked at each other, not knowing what to do. They didn''t want to be the first ones to move forward. After a few seconds, one brave Canzer took a step forward. He didn''t believe that Tulip was serious. And since no one else was moving, then this was his chance to get ahead of the pack and be the first one to kill her. But as soon as he was about to take the second step, Tulip pressed the knife deeper into her throat, causing violet blood to spill down her chest. She wasn''t joking. Some Canzers immediately pulled the idiot Canzer back. They didn''t want anyone to ruin their chance to become a King. After a minute of standstill, the Malificient Queen finally noticed something wrong with her army. She looked down and noticed her army having a staring contest with Tulip. They were so close to her, but they weren''t moving at all! This would have been the perfect chance given that the humans were busy doing something else and were unprepared for this attack. Then, she saw Tulip with a knife on her throat. Her draconic eyes flashed in realization. She knew what was happening. The dragon in the air breathed fire down to her own army, incinerating them into nothing but ashes in the sand. She did not need useless Canzers who did not obey her words with full obedience. ''I will kill anyone that dares to stop my charge!'' the dragon roared. And that was all the Canzers needed to overcome their hesitance. They rushed towards Tulip and the humans with great speed, hoping that they would be able to kill her before she killed herself. Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire Tulip looked at Ninth and the rest of the humans and saw that they still weren''t done with their strange ritual. At this point, they were going to get overrun by the horde of Canzers. With no choice left, Tulip walked forward and out of the formation. She stood in front of the humans. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If she was going to die, then she was going to die protecting Ninth and the others. It was only natural. She closed her eyes and felt the rumbling in the sand become more and more intense. She could feel the desperate breaths of the Canzers. The first Canzer jumped towards Tulip, with his clawed hands outstretched to decapitate her in one go. Tulip knew that there wasn''t any other option. She steeled herself and pushed the knife into her throat, hoping that it would give her a clean death not in the hands of the vicious monsters. SHINGGG! But then, she found herself unable to control the knife in her hands. She couldn''t push it any deeper, with the knife fighting her with all it''s got. Finally, it freed itself from her grasp and landed back on the ground. But after a few seconds, she still hadn''t died. The Canzers had yet to rip her into shreds. Tulip slowly opened her eyes and saw the Canzers getting pushed away from her with no visible reason as to why. Then, within a fraction of a second, thousands upon thousands of Canzers suddenly burst into nothing but a violet mist. "Thank you," Ninth''s voice echoed behind Tulip. "You bought us enough time." She looked behind and saw Ninth and the rest of the humans glowing with a prismatic aura that surrounded their entire bodies. Chapter 359 Prismatic dragon Ninth and her whole team was glowing with tremendous power. Thanks to Tulip, they were able to have enough time to stabilize their domains and allow them to co-exist within one space.Find your next read on My Virtual Library Empire Everyone felt their powers within each other, as if they were just one single entity. They were more in coordination now than they ever were before. They knew each other''s thoughts, meaning that they could move with perfect fluidity without bumping into each other. With the combination of all their domains, they were able to repel the monstrous Canzers from ripping Tulip into shreds. With just one thought in their mind, they were able to command the space itself to move the hundreds upon hundreds of Canzers back into the forests. Of course, the Canzers didn''t let that slide and became even more ravenous than before. They finally used their skills, throwing out the black and violet auras around their bodies towards the humans. Ninth and the team chuckled simultaneously. Before this collection of monstrous aura could even get close to them, their own monstrous aura manifested in the air and crushed the Canzers'' powers into nothingness. This shocked the Canzers to their core. They wouldn''t have thought that the humans could erase their powers as easily as that. But that wasn''t the end of it. Ninth looked back to her team and nodded towards them. There was a silent agreement amongst them all about what to do next. "Let''s kill these bastards!" Ninth shouted. "RAAAHHHH!" they all screamed, as they took the abstract combination of all their domains and tried to manifest it into one single entity that they could use. Slowly, the prismatic aura around them grew from a simple bonfire into a giant flame that almost engulfed the entire skies. Ninth and everyone put all of their powers and their domains into this entity, manifesting it as something tangible. Slowly, the large prismatic flame started to form into a strange but familiar shape. The Canzers below its feet couldn''t help but look up at the new entity that spawned out of nowhere, made out of nothing but prismatic aura. And as the entity finished molding its own shape, it suddenly emitted a large blinding light that forced all the Canzers to close their eyes or else risk their eyes from burning into smithereens. After the light died down, the Canzers slowly opened their eyes. And what they saw in front of them scared some of them enough to try and run away from this new entity. In front of them was a large dragon made of nothing but prismatic energy. But even still, it had a very strange resemblance to their Queen, Malificient. The fear of their own Queen made them want to escape and run away from the war. After all, they knew from personal experience how terrifying a dragon could be. A stampede occurred within the lines of the Canzers. Their generals tried to stop their troops from devolving into further chaos, but they could do nothing once the prismatic dragon roared in the air, letting out a prismatic fire that lit up the skies. The dragon was the manifestation of Ninth and her team''s combined powers and domains. When they asked themselves about which creature they considered to be the strongest one in the world, they didn''t hesitate to answer: the Dragon. In order to defeat the Dragon in front of them, they had to be a Dragon themselves. The Scout sat inside the Dragon''s head, giving everyone a tremendous field of view of the entire battlefield. The mage and the sniper were on the left and right of its front limbs, because they were the one who controlled the dragon''s offensive capabilities. The two tanks controlled the legs, becoming the pillar of strength and stability for the entire dragon. They were in charge of making sure that they were in the proper place at all times using their defensive sensibilities. Meanwhile, Ninth and Tulip sat at the dragon''s heart. Ninth controlled everything there is about the dragon, supplying it with power and courage to fight the entire battlefield with nothing but their powers. As a show of power, they let the dragon roar out, spouting a prismatic air towards the horde of Canzers, turning them into nothing but ashes. Even when the Canzers tried to regenerate or clone themselves, they quickly found out that the prismatic flame that burned their bodies was everlasting, meaning that it didn''t die out like normal fire. The prismatic fire kept burning the Canzers'' bodies, not letting them regenerate or clone themselves properly. The stronger Canzers at the back of the line couldn''t take it any longer and wanted to retaliate. But just before they were about to attack, the prismatic dragon suddenly opened its mouth and spoke out, ''Bow down to your new Queen!'' sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This spooked the Canzers into freezing. They knew that this dragon was a work of the humans, which meant that it was nothing more than an illusion. But then, it suddenly spoke their language as if it was a real dragon. Of course, this was only due to Tulip being present in the dragon. Ninth and the rest of them figured out that with Tulip on board, they suddenly had the ability to understand the Canzer language. It seemed that Tulip was also able to donate a voice box to the dragon. This unexpected turn of events caused some Canzers to stop what they were doing and surrender to the new dragon. They thought it was real. After all, it was able to speak their language. And if there was one thing they knew for sure, then it was that draconic creatures were the absolute rulers of the Canzer world. They cannot disobey the prismatic dragon in front of them, even if it used to be an illusion from the humans. Using this chance, Ninth commanded the prismatic dragon to fly in the air and torch the entire army of Canzers with their prismatic fire. Chapter 360 Numbered cards Seeing no choice, the general Canzers knew that it was time for them to step up to the plate. They revealed their true forms, with each of them becoming animated playing cards.Most of the lower generals were numbered one through nine, while the face cards like the Jack, Queen, and KIng were reserved for the top three generals that were under the dragon Malificient''s commands. Each of them displayed enormous strength, throwing out their powers at the prismatic dragon corresponding to their number. The general card with the number two threw out two knives towards the prismatic dragon, slowly enlarging until they became as big as the dragon. The two knives then combined with each other to create a giant scissors that tried to cut the prismatic dragon into two. Using their superior maneuverability in the air, the prismatic dragon weaved through the air and dodged the scissors before its two claws grabbed its handles and crushed it with its bare hands. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire But that wasn''t the end of the assault of the generals. The general card with the number three threw out a triangle, which concentrated the power of their aura into one single ray that accurately targeted the dragon''s eyes, the only part that wasn''t protected by its scales. But the Canzers forgot one simple thing: the dragon''s entire body was made out of nothing but prismatic aura, which meant that everything in its body was as strong as the combined powers of six Specialist-level Saviors. It didn''t matter if the Canzers targeted their eyes, their tail, or their scales. Everything was protected. The general card with the number four threw out a large compass, with the four cardinal directions positioned perfectly. Once it was out into the open, the compass glowed in power as it activated its ability. Suddenly the prismatic dragon plummeted towards the ground at fast speeds. Even though Ninth and the rest of the team were trying to steer the dragon upwards, they only seemed to move it further down to the ground. It was only a fraction of a second later that Ninth realized that the compass the Canzer used was trying to mess with their senses. Everything up was down, and everything down was up. It was topsy turvy. Meanwhile the general with the five card activated his power, throwing out a large starfish that stuck itself on the prismatic dragon''s side, sucking out all the energy from the inside. The general with the six card also attacked at the same time, manifesting a large honeycomb in the air. Suddenly, miniature Canzers with wings came out of this honeycomb and started to swarm the prismatic dragon while it was plummeting through the air. The general with the seven cards also didn''t waste any time and attacked at the prismatic dragon''s most vulnerable state. He held out his chitinous hands and summoned a ray of rainbow, with all seven colors, that hit the dragon''s heart. While they were being attacked, Ninth and the rest of the team stayed calm. They used the Scout''s power in the dragon''s eyes to quickly adjust to the topsy turvy world, allowing them to accurately move their body opposite of what they saw in the dragon''s eyes. Finally, they were able to stabilize themselves. It was only at this point that they finally dealt with their attackers. The dragon raised both of its hands and grabbed nothing but the air. Suddenly, the starfish and the pesky Canzers bees that were trying to injure their body were crushed until they turned into nothing but particles of energy. Even the compass wasn''t safe. The dragon flew up in the air and pointed towards the magical compass that was messing with their senses. The dragon then imitated a gun with its arms, and suddenly, a fiery bullet pierced through its body seemingly at light speed. Now that they were stable, Ninth knew that it was their chance for a counterattack. The mage and the sniper both powered the dragon''s limbs, allowing it to have the power of their domains. One by one, they started to crush the general cards that attacked them. And since these generals just got their powers destroyed by the prismatic dragon, they were still feeling the backlash of having it destroyed. Therefore, they were hopeless as the dragon swooped down and burned them into nothing but coal. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The generals with the eight card and the nine card both knew that they had to save their fellow generals. One of them turned into a Cthulhu-like monster, with eight clawed tentacles and a massive open maw that spilled out even smaller tentacles. The other one manifested an entire solar system of planets in the air, each one almost as big as the prismatic dragon itself. The cthulhu monster charged towards the prismatic dragon and tussled with it using nothing but pure strength. The cthulhu-monster was trying to assert dominance to the dragon, but how could it compare it to the powers of all six Specialist-level domains? The dragon quickly used its immense strength to throw the monster back down to the ground, but not before spewing out a prismatic fire that burned its face and its tentacles. However, it seemed that while the prismatic dragon was fighting the cthulhu-monster, one of the planets was thrown towards it, giving no chance to escape. Not only that, all the other planets converged towards the prismatic dragon, as if it was being attracted by an immense gravitational pull. All nine planets crashed onto the prismatic dragon, giving it the strongest attack out of all the general Canzers. An explosion of energy, light, and soil burst forth from the collision of all planets. The Canzers down below cheered as they witnessed this explosion. The false dragon wouldn''t survive that attack, they thought. But when the dust and light cleared, they saw that the prismatic dragon was still hovering in the air, with its scales barely even hurt from the attack. This was all due to the power of the two tanks, whose domains allowed them to summon infinite numbers of walls that surrounded them. Even if many of them broke during the collision of each planet, they were able to sustain it enough so that no damage was done to the dragon''s body. Chapter 361 The red dragon The general Canzers all looked up at the prismatic dragon with fear in their eyes. Even with all of them working together, they couldn''t even scratch on its shiny scales.It didn''t make any sense. To them, the only creature with that kind of defense and offensive outburst was their Queen. This led them to wonder if this prismatic dragon was truly a dragon or not. Was it truly the conqueror of the skies? Of course, with the numbered general cards stunned, Ninth and her team took this chance to finally make their counterattack. The prismatic dragon raised its hands, and the power of the sniper and the mage both increased in intensity. The dragon was now trying to make the two domains work together as one. It suddenly spat out a prismatic fireball from its throat, gurgling as it did so. But they didn''t fire it towards the horde of Canzers. Instead, the dragon spat it out in its hands and molded it into a giant bullet, reminiscent of the one that the sniper used to love firing. Then, its tail suddenly curled up towards the bullet and used its momentum to throw it down towards the horde of Canzers. The speed that it went down was equivalent to the sniper''s bullet. But that wasn''t the end of it. The mage''s Hand of Oblivion domain allowed the prismatic dragon to grab everything in this domain, including the prismatic fire bullet that was shooting down towards the numbered general card Canzers. With each millisecond that it travelled, the prismatic fire bullet was touched by an invisible hand that allowed the bullet to increase its speed infinitely, almost reaching the speed of light. But that wasn''t the end of it. Using the invisible hands, Ninth and her team controlled the light speed prismatic fire bullet to bend and curve in ways that would otherwise be impossible to achieve with a normal bullet. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Before the general Canzers could even understand what was happening, the light speed prismatic fire bullet pierced through their bodies at least a thousand times in a matter of a milliseconds, In just a blink of an eye, the horde of Canzers that were proudly boasting their numbers were suddenly torn asunder by a ray of light that travelled through their bodies and wrecked it down to a violet mist. ''Kakkkk¡­.'' They couldn''t even understand what happened to their bodies. And as they tried to regenerate their injuries or clone their bodies into more copies, the prismatic fire that spread from their injuries continued to erode and destroy their chitinous flesh from the inside. Normally, in order to fight a Canzer or even a horde of them, Saviors needed to find out their weaknesses and use the appropriate construct to disable their regenerative or cloning skills. That was the norm. But that wasn''t the only way to defeat the Canzers. There was another way that wasn''t taught in any school or dojo in any territory. Another way to defeat Canzers was to beat them with overwhelming power. That was one of the secrets of Saviors. If one was powerful enough, they could continuously destroy a Canzer''s body until they weren''t able to regenerate or clone themselves simply because of the oppression and tyranny of the Savior. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire Right now, that was what Ninth and her team was doing. The product of combining their domain was the prismatic dragon, which turned out to be oppressively strong enough to suppress the Canzers due to her overwhelming strength. They were able to prove to the Canzers that they were able to kill them anyway they wanted. This makes the Canzer fear for their lives and subconsciously disable their own regeneration or cloning ability. "Haa¡­haa¡­we¡ªwe did it!" screamed the scout from the dragon. "I can''t believe it¡­we defeated the horde¡­" the mage uttered. "I thought it was impossible¡­" Right now, the horde that numbered in the tens of thousands was reduced to only a few hundreds. And they weren''t even trying to fight them anymore. They were trying to run away from the tyranny of the prismatic dragon. The rest of them were on the ground either burned into nothing but ashes or charred chitinous corpses. However, the only ones that weren''t celebrating were the two people in the prismatic dragon''s heart. Ninth and Tulip both knew that the fight had barely even started. After all, the greatest threat this horde ever had wasn''t their numbers, it was the creature that was leading them: the Magical Queen and dragon, Malificient. "Uhh..guys¡­what''s the dragon doing?" Everyone turned their attention towards the dragon in the distance. Despite seeing her army getting obliterated by the humans, the dragon barely even fluttered her wings. It was as if she didn''t care about them at all. Only now that her army was defeated did she finally move. She started floating towards the prismatic dragon, with an amused smile written all over her face. Everyone felt it. The dragon was sizing them up, scrutinizing every part of their body as if they were naked. It was trying to see if their prismatic dragon was as genuine as her. ''Interesting magic from you humans¡­I admit, I am impressed.'' Because Tulip was inside their prismatic dragon and connected into their neural network, they were all given the ability to hear and speak to Canzers as if they were one themselves. ''We will defeat you,'' the combined voices of Ninth and her team rang out in the dragon''s throat. A chuckle escaped Malificient''s mouth. It was clear that she wasn''t even considering them as a threat to her. ''This is your last chance, Tulip. Surrender yourself now or else I will kill these humans right in front of your very eyes.'' The prismatic dragon spread out its wings, almost as if it was a subconscious way to try and enlarge themselves, like a prey would do when they were facing a predator. ''You are a Canzer, and it is your destiny to be felled by our hands,'' Ninth and her team remained steadfast. ''Suit yourself,'' Malificient said, before creating a beam of black light from her mouth towards the prismatic dragon. Chapter 362 Damaged morale Ninth and her team was prepared for anything that the dragon would give them. But even when they had their eyes peeled for its attack, they were still unable to fully protect themselves from this current attack.The black beam of light hit their scales, making the prismatic dragon shimmer, as if it was merely an illusion. Ninth and the rest of them felt like their whole neural network was about to disappear. The once united minds of the team started to destabilize, turning all their domains into the chaotic mess of powers it once was. Ninth knew that they had to keep their cool or else they wouldn''t be able to contend with the dragon in the first place. She quickly took control of the dragon while the rest of her team was trying to control their own domains. She flapped the dragon''s wings, allowing them a quick escape away from the red dragon. Ninth felt blood trickling down her nose, but she ignored it. Controlling this prismatic dragon all by herself gave her body too much power that it was starting to destroy her whole body. She was leaking SoulTime by the decades, but she didn''t care. She needed to stay strong while her team was recovering from the mental damage that the red dragon gave them. "Kugh!" the mage groaned. "What is that power?! It''s too fast." "I know. I barely even saw a blur," the scout said, his pride shattered. He prided himself in having the best reaction time and the best eyes out of everyone, but even he couldn''t see the dragon''s attacks. "Our defenses were almost destroyed. We would have been in trouble if I was the only tank," said the main tank. After a few seconds, they were finally able to stabilize themselves. Ninth felt the burden in her mind start to wane, allowing her reprieve. "Are you guys okay," she asked. "We can manage," they all replied. "Good. We need to find a way to crush this dragon," she said, but there was no answer. When the fight first started, they thought that they at least stood at least a sliver of a chance. But once they took that one attack from the red dragon, they felt the difference in strength The worst part about it was that the red dragon could have used this time to attack them and fully destroy them while they were at their weakest. Instead, it let them recover, as if they were just a plaything for her. ''Do you see the difference now between a real dragon and an imitation? I don''t know where you got such an accurate view of a dragon, but even if it looks like the real deal, you can never replicate our strength.'' The red dragon flapped its wings, and the pressure from it reached the prismatic dragon and almost destabilized their flight. They had to flap their wings a little bit harder just to stay afloat. "We need to kill her now. We still stand a chance," Ninth said to her team, hoping to get their morale back up. Since their minds were connected, she could feel the fear and anxiousness in their brains, making them a little bit slower and weaker than they normally were. If they were going to fight the dragon, then they needed to have all the strength they could give out. Malificient, the red dragon, looked at the prismatic dragon and realized something. Even though she showed them the true difference between a real dragon and a fake one, the humans didn''t seem to give up. She thought that they would give her Tulip by now in exchange for leniency, but they stood strong. It was only when she looked down at her own army that she realized something. The humans still thought that they had a chance to win against them because they were somehow able to defeat their army. It boosted their morale. If they could defeat the army, then they could also defeat her. Malificient couldn''t help but chuckle out loud once she realized this. ''Is this why you humans haven''t given up? Well, let me be the bearer of bad news. My army is not dead. They are everlasting for as long as I want them to be.'' Discover stories with My Virtual Library Empire The red dragon soared in the air and spread her wings, allowing the horde of Canzers to see her for all her glory. It was as if a ray of light shone down on them. They could feel the power and majesty of the queen once again, literally revitalizing them from their fatal injuries. When they fought and lost against the prismatic dragon, they thought that they were gone. But once the Queen showed them her power, they once again realized the overbearing strength she had. As long as the Queen was alive, no entity whether they be another dragon or a god, would ever be able to defeat their army. This allowed them to finally break out of the prismatic dragon''s fire, overcoming its corroding effects to regenerate and clone their bodies S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Slowly, the horde started to mend themselves back up to their peak strength. And that wasn''t just that. Since at least half of them cloned themselves into three more bodies, the army once again grew in size and further crowded the battlefield. Once they were at their full strength, they looked up at the skies and roared at their queen, showing them their undying loyalty. After that, they growled at the prismatic dragon, with their eyes full of hate and revenge. Once Ninth and her team saw this, the hope that was once dwindling in their hearts started to die down into a mere ember. The prismatic dragon physically became dimmer, with the strength and majesty it once showed now longer as strong as it used to be. Ninth ignored the feeling in her heart and threw out a fireball of prismatic origin towards the horde, turning thousands of Canzers into mere ashes. But after a few seconds, these Canzers continued to regenerate and clone themselves as if her attack did nothing. Chapter 363 Torch bearer The prismatic dragon started to waver. The vision of thousands of Canzers regenerating and cloning themselves infinitely was not an easy sight to see. They thought they were able to at least focus on the red dragon entirely without having to worry about anything else, but they were dead wrong.The general Canzers tripled in numbers, and so did their firepower. Once the red dragon showed its majesty to them, they became even more united than before. They were no longer afraid of the prismatic dragon that feigned to be a true royal like their queen. They rallied, charging towards the prismatic dragon in the air by building a mountain of Canzer bodies, which the other Canzers used as a stepping stone to reach the air. These Canzers were willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the queen just so that they could reach the prismatic dragon. Ninth could feel dread and anxiousness within her teammates. The sight of the Canzers slowly clamoring towards them felt like an inevitable end that they were going towards. ''Do you see now, my dear Tulip? Surrender yourself now and we will spare these humans¡­ And you¡ª'' Even though the red dragon was a little bit further away from them, Ninth could still feel her piercing gaze towards her. She knew instinctively that the dragon was talking to her. ''Do you not want to save yourselves? Why are you protecting a Canzer of all beings? Do you not have deep-seated hate towards our species? Don''t deny it. I can see it in your eyes¡­.'' Ninth felt the sudden urge to tear the prismatic dragon asunder and push Tulip towards the red dragon. If this was before, then Ninth wouldn''t have fought the urge. After all, she would be absolving herself of the sin of betraying Tulip since it was the Queen who was manipulating her mind. She could simply follow the orders. But things were different now. She shook her head and screamed out, ''Get out of my head!'' And the moment she did, the red dragon flinched imperceptibly. She wasn''t expecting Ninth to fight her with this much resolve. She thought that she, of all people, would be the one to cave and give up the Canzer in their midst. But it turned out she underestimated her. Somehow, Ninth was able to fight the human urge to kill a Canzer. ''If a war is what you want, then a war is what you''re going to get. Men, destroy this false dragon into bits and bring me the traitor!'' The moment she said that, the rest of the general Canzers unleashed their powers once again, manifesting the objects that corresponded to their numbers. It didn''t matter, Ninth and her team thought. If they could defeat the General Canzers once, then they could defeat them again. The only difference this time was that their numbers were a lot larger than before. The mage and sniper once again combined their domain powers, creating a lightspeed prismatic fire bullet that could pierce through the bodies of the Canzers within a fraction of a second. Because there were a lot of them this time, it was going to take a little bit more time before they could destroy the whole horde. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. PSHOO! The prismatic bullet traveled at light speed, with the general Canzers barely even moving as the bullet pierced through their bodies and curved to pierce the Canzer right next to them. In a matter of less than a second, the entire ten thousand army of Canzers was once again torn asunder and turned into nothing but charred corpses or ashes. The prismatic dragon opened its mouth, taking deep breaths as it tried to recover strength. But despite their best efforts, the red dragon barely even felt a serious threat from them. ''Hahahaha¡­there is no use. You are only increasing the number of Canzers under my control,'' Just as the Queen said, the prismatic fire that used to suppress the Canzers from regenerating or cloning themselves was suddenly put out, as if an invisible wind had picked up in the air. This allowed the Canzers to increase their overall strengths once again. They were only making things worse for themselves. "No way¡­." "Is there really no chance for us?" "We can''t¡­.we can''t¡­" Her team started to feel hopelessness and despair, with their emotional distress reflecting onto the physical aura of the prismatic dragon itself. Its strength was waning, and this led the Canzers to gain even more motivation to destroy the prismatic dragon. Ninth was slowly losing her wits as well. She couldn''t understand how they couldn''t destroy the Canzers anymore. ''...it''s¡­it''s¡­it''s the fire¡­'' Just when all hope seemed lost, Tulip''s voice echoed out in their heads. ''What do you mean?'' asked Ninth. ''It''s the fire. It''s the one that is allowing the Canzers to heal themselves back up. I feel¡­I feel the red dragon''s aura on that fire.'' Ninth immediately looked down at the horde of Canzers and scoured it for any large fire. But unfortunately, she couldn''t see anything. Then, when she looked at the very end of the horde, she saw a small little light that seemed so insignificant. At the very end of the Canzer army, there were a few flag bearers and a single torch bearer. Since this wasn''t the first war Carmine witnessed, she knew that a flag bearer and a torch bearer weren''t a rare occurrence. It was only a symbol of the territory fighting. But according to Tulip, the fire was the reason they couldn''t defeat the army. However, no matter how much she looked at the torch, it seemed like it had no mystical energy around it at all. The flame wasn''t even all that impressive either. Then, she finally realized it. Throughout all this chaos, that torch barely seemed to flicker or die out. Even though the flame wasn''t all that big, it wasn''t being affected by the environment like it should have. Ninth finally realized that Tulip may be right. That torch could be the key to finally defeating the army of Canzers. Chapter 364 Fated weakness Ninth transmitted all she learned to her teammates telepathically. And once they understood her, a flicker of hope was finally regained in their eyes.The prismatic dragon once again shined with the luster equivalent to the strengths of six Specialist-level Saviors, surprising the Malificient queen and her horde. It followed up this rejuvenation by spreading its wings out and roaring to the skies, conjuring with it a large dark cloud that seemed to rumble and shake. Then, after a few seconds, it started raining. But it wasn''t water that was falling down in drops, it was small prismatic fire droplets! That wasn''t the only one they used. The dragon raised its hands, conjuring an invisible giant hand that scooped up thousands upon thousands of Canzers in the ground and pushed them together into a single space. The weak Canzers couldn''t handle the invisible hands'' powers and simply died under the pressure. Then, the prismatic fire droplets suddenly stopped in the air and turned their attention towards the grouped-up Canzers. As if being attracted, the droplets defied gravity and rained down towards this single space, turning thousands of Canzers into nothing but ashes. And since the rain continued to pour down more and more prismatic fire droplets, the Canzers couldn''t regenerate or duplicate themselves properly. Of course, this expended a lot more energy from the prismatic dragon, but it would all be worth it in the end. Then, it conjured its strongest attack once again, the lightspeed prismatic fire bullet, and fired off toward the remaining horde of Canzers. This time, however, the prismatic dragon didn''t stay still. It dove down and wreaked havoc upon the horde of Canzers along with the lightspeed prismatic fire bullet near its body, continuing to riddle the Canzers with holes. ''Decided to dirty your hands? You''re truly not a dragon yourself,'' the Queen Malificient laughed in the air. She let the prismatic dragon do whatever it wanted because she knew that it would do nothing to her army. Not only that, the humans would only be spending their powers uselessly. ''Swarm them!'' the Queen ordered. And just like that, the tens of thousands of Canzers converged upon the prismatic dragon that dared to fly low enough for them to reach. Even though the dragon ripped them to shreds the moment they came close, the Canzers didn''t care and continued to pile themselves up onto the prismatic dragon''s body regardless of the consequences. And no matter how strong the prismatic dragon was, it could not contest against the ever-growing number of Canzers that were trying to swarm her. It finally reached a point where the dragon was completely submerged in a sea of Canzers, unable to move forward any longer. The Canzers cheered, thinking that they finally conquered the false dragon. The Malificient dragon realized that something was wrong. According to her estimations, the humans shouldn''t be this weak. They shouldn''t be swarmed by her army this easily. She was hoping that the humans would be stupid enough to continue killing her Canzers so that they could evolve and clone themselves infinitely, turning her ten-thousand army into millions and billions! But it seemed that they were defeated easily, which didn''t seem possible. After all, they had that lightspeed prismatic bullet with them. It could tear through her army like nothing. It was only then that she realized that the prismatic bullet was gone. It wasn''t hovering around the prismatic dragon''s body anymore. It seemed to have vanished entirely. Using her vision, she was able to keep up with the lightspeed bullet relatively easily. But because she was distracted for a little bit, she lost sight of the bullet the moment it disappeared. She looked at her body, thinking that they were planning an ambush attack. But she wasn''t sensing any threat directed towards her. Just then, she saw a flash of light down to her army. Right next to the torch bearer was the prismatic bullet! Somehow, it had sneaked through the rest of the army and targeted the very weakness of the army itself! Using her wings, the Malificient Queen tried to stop the prismatic bullet from hitting the torch that held her entire army afloat. But it was too late. BOOGSHH! The prismatic fire bullet collided with the torch, tearing it asunder and breaking the very foundation of the torch itself. The fire slowly withered until it was nothing but smoke. Suddenly, the air changed. Ninth and her team no longer felt the oppressing aura of the army bearing down on them. It was as if a window had opened, and all the pent-up pressure was finally let out into the open. Ninth smiled. This was their chance! Using all their strength, they spat out a hundred more lightspeed prismatic fire bullets simultaneously. Each one of them was as powerful as the last one. The Queen saw this and screamed out, ''NO!'' S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But she could do nothing as the prismatic dragon threw hundreds of prismatic bullets in the air. The Canzers all looked up, a little bit enchanted by the sight of the prismatic bullets similar to fireworks. But before they could even appreciate the sight, the prismatic bullets disappeared from the air and riddled the tens of thousands of Canzers with burned holes in a matter of a fraction of a second. Each bullet tore through every single Canzer in the army, letting no survivor in their midst. After a second passed, the Canzers all felt a strange cold feeling in their bodies. They looked down and saw their bodies missing large pieces of chitin. That was their last thought as they fell to the ground, unable to regenerate or clone themselves any longer. They felt as if they were abandoned by the light of their queen. They looked up at their queen, begging for mercy, but she could do nothing as they all died without her power. In just a matter of a second, the entire army was finally defeated, marking a very significant victory for the humans. ''TULIP!!!! YOU TRAITOR! YOU SIDED WITH THE HUMANS!'' The Queen immediately knew that it was Tulip who guided the humans to the torch bearer. Tulip was fated to be the weakness of the Queen, after all. Chapter 365 Similarity Ninth finally understood the reason why Carmine said that Tulip was the weakness of the creature in the castle. If it weren''t for her, Ninth and her team would have been swallowed by the endlessly multiplying Canzers of the horde.If Tulip hadn''t spoken to them and gave Ninth the answer to the weakness of the horde, then they wouldn''t have survived the next wave of attack. That was the power of a weakness. Because of that, the dragon no longer had the support of her most loyal soldiers. ''Thank you, Tulip,'' Ninth turned her head and thanked Tulip. The Canzer smiled, but that was short-lived. The red dragon, with her entire army decimated, leaving none for her to rebuild, exploded in a fit of furious anger. The humans were so weak that she was slightly distracted for a moment and forgot that they had Tulip in their midst. Since this was a huge blow to her offensive power, she knew immediately that it was because of Tulip, and not the humans themselves. If it weren''t for her, her army would still be alive. And if she continued to be alive, then it would only be a matter of time until she found a weakness in her! That cannot happen under any circumstance. She had to finish off the humans and kill Tulip at this very second. Because of that, she knew that she had to use all her strength. ''You have crossed the line, humans! Prepare for my wrath!'' The whole domain rumbled, as if there was a giant terrifying archaic monster that was about to awaken from the deepest depths of the ground. Ninth and her team felt their control of the domain start to falter, as if somebody was overpowering them to take control of the territory. And as they lost control, the prismatic dragon once again shimmered, as if it was a mere illusion. If their domain was gone, so was the prismatic dragon. After all, it was a product of the combination of all their domains. If one or more domains faltered during this attack, then the prismatic dragon would cease to exist. Ninth couldn''t let that happen. The prismatic dragon was the only reason why they could survive this long. If they lost that strength, then they wouldn''t be able to survive, much less kill the queen. The prismatic dragon flew away, far from the red dragon as it started to manifest its own domain. They could feel their control over the entire domain start to get eaten up by a dark, malicious, void that seemed to eat up whatever it saw. The red dragon continued to devour the space, even using the dead bodies of her army to nurture her own domain. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Despite how much they tried to resist, Ninth knew that they would eventually get taken over by the Queen''s domain. It was far too strong for them to contend, especially now that they had expended quite a considerable amount of energy in their fight to destroy the army. Ninth had to make an executive decision. She had to let the territory get taken over by the red dragon. This would place them at a disadvantageous place because they wouldn''t be able to exert their strength over a large space now that it had eaten up the entire domain. However, if they continued to fight over the territory, then they would eventually lose their grip on the prismatic dragon. So, Ninth and the team collectively decided to make their domains as small as possible, to the point that it was merely just a thin layer above the scales of the prismatic dragon. At least with this, they would be able to keep their strength as a prismatic dragon. Meanwhile, they watched as the entire territory was transformed into the queen''s territory, with everything under its place considered as her own. She was like a god in this place. It was as if they were transported into the land of the dead, with skulls and blue fire present everywhere. The necrotic aura around the place tried to penetrate the prismatic dragon''s skin, but thanks to its concentrated layer, they were able to defend themselves from being rotted inside and out. "Keep your eyes peeled, everyone. The dragon is somewhere here," Ninth warned. Somehow, the oppressive presence of the red dragon was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was quiet¡ªeerily so. Even though there was nothing or no one around them, it was as if they were being watched and stalked from a distance by a predator. They Just then, they saw a small figure float towards them. The prismatic dragon instinctively opened its wings in a defensive position. Even its jaws were wide open, with a prismatic fire gurgling in its throat. It was not unthinkable for the queen to summon another puppet or a minion to fight its battle for her. But when the small figure floated closer and closer to the prismatic dragon, everyone had a startling realization. The figure as small as a human, was actually the queen! It was the creature in the castle whose true form was a red dragon! Yet now, it was as small as a normal Canzer, with two large horns coming out of its chitinous head. Ninth also realized something. Tulip and the Queen looked eerily alike, as if they were twins or something. The only difference between the two of them was the fact that the Queen looked a lot more mature, with her chitinous armor a lot more sophisticated and grown, while Tulip looked like an adolescent version of the queen. Despite taking on this appearance, Ninth and the others knew that they shouldn''t underestimate her. Just like them, it seemed that the queen''s power was all concentrated in that small figure, making it as powerful as a bullet despite its small size. Ninth had a bad feeling in her heart. Whenever she looked at the eyes of the Queen, it felt as if she was looking at her death. She knew that she had to act now. She commanded the prismatic dragon to dive down and devour the small Queen in one go. Chapter 366 Infection or Destruction? But before they could even move, the Magical Queen disappeared from their sight. Even though the prismatic dragon could see through lightspeed objects, they couldn''t even see a blur when the Queen moved. It was as if she teleported in a mere instant, without giving off any magical waves in the air.Danger! Ninth thought. She immediately tried to turn the prismatic dragon''s body backward, but it was far too late. A large slash made out of a necrotic, black void came hurling toward the prismatic dragon''s back, creating a large cut on the dragon''s scales. "Argh!" Everyone screamed. They all felt the pain of the prismatic dragon, briefly distracting them into another opening. This time, the Queen wasn''t taking it easy on the humans. She was going to get her hands on Tulip whether the humans wanted to or not. The once mighty prismatic dragon who slew tens of thousands of Canzers in one go, was now merely a shell of itself once the shell wreaked havoc on its back. Discover exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire Using this opening the Queen disappeared once again from her position and reappeared on the prismatic dragon''s back. She then shoved both of her chitinous hands onto the large wound on its back and used its strength to rip the wound even wider than it was, transferring an excruciating amount of pain to the humans. "ARGGGH!" "KAAGGH!" Ninth gritted her teeth. Because the Queen dominated the domain of the entire space, she could do everything in this territory without them having to fight for it. This led the Queen to teleport and disappear whenever she wanted, and the Prismatic dragon could do nothing but let her teleport whenever she wanted. ROAR! Ninth and her team tried to retaliate by spitting out another lightspeed prismatic fire bullet and firing it off toward the queen. Since it was moving at lightspeed, they thought that it would be able to keep up with the Queen''s movements. But as the prismatic lightspeed bullet launched in the air, the Queen made a simple ''stop'' gesture, and a strange force somehow enveloped the bullet and slowed it down enough to simply move at a snail''s pace. It was as if an infinite number of void layers were piled on top of the bullet and stopped it in its tracks. "Tsk," Ninth clicked her tongue. But she wasn''t going to give up on her assault on the Queen. The prismatic dragon breathed a giant pillar of prismatic fire directed towards the Queen. But just like before, the Queen just raised her hand and a strange wall somehow prevented the fire from enveloping the Queen. In response, the prismatic dragon didn''t stop its breathing, continuously bringing out more and more prismatic fire to hopefully destroy the defenses of the Queen. And for a second, it seemed that their tactics were working. The invisible wall was starting to melt, with the prismatic fire consuming bits and pieces every time it was hit. After a full minute of prismatic fire breathing, the wall was finally broken through and the pillar of fire headed straight towards the Queen. TUGSSSHH The queen was enveloped by the prismatic fire. This motivated the Ninth and her team to continuously breathe out more and more prismatic fire, even depleting their resources, to finally kill the Queen. After a few seconds, the dragon finally lost all the energy it had stored in its stomach. They couldn''t produce any prismatic fire until a few seconds later. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They knew that this attack wouldn''t kill the Queen¡ªshe was far too strong for that to happen. But they at least hoped that it would be enough to deal some damage to her. At least then, they would know that no matter how impossible it may seem, they at least stood a chance in trying to kill the Queen. But when they looked at the remnants of the Queen, they only saw a charred corpse of the Queen. It was as if the Queen died. Even though this was what they wanted in the first place, they didn''t celebrate. Something was suspicious. After all, the Queen''s domain was still up and running. If she truly died, then the domain would have long been destroyed and they would return to the normal Remedium with the mirror world of Genesis City. ''This is merely an exercise in futility. I am invincible.'' The Queen reappeared again, this time, behind the prismatic dragon. ''I warned you. Harboring a fugitive is worthy of death.'' Another queen appeared on their right, with the exact same physical appearance and magical aura as the original one they faced. ''Now, you humans will pay the price,'' The last Queen appeared on the left, completing a triangle offense that cornered the prismatic dragon into one place. Confusion and fear were obvious on the prismatic dragon''s face. It was clear that Ninth and her team had no idea what they were facing. Not only were they facing one of the strongest Canzers anyone had ever faced, but they were also facing her with absolutely no idea what they were up against. They didn''t know about her powers and they didn''t know her weaknesses. They were completely clueless. ''Confused?'' the three Queens asked. ''Humans¡­don''t tell me this is the first time you''ve faced against Canzers like me?'' Realization flashed in Ninth''s eyes. ''Infection Canzer?'' The Queen nodded her head. An Infection Canzer could completely clone themselves after death infinitely. This shouldn''t have been strange. But somehow, Ninth knew that something was strange. ''No¡­that''s not possible¡­'' Ninth uttered as horror flashed across her face. The Queen, realizing that Ninth figured out the truth, couldn''t help but laugh out loud. ''HAHAHAHA! Yes, your guesses are correct.'' When they were fighting the Queen earlier, Ninth was sure that they saw the Queen regenerate her wounds before she eventually succumbed to the prismatic fire. If she was supposed to be an infection Canzer, then that was supposed to be impossible. She shouldn''t be able to regenerate herself. That only meant one thing: she was both an infection and a destruction type Canzer! Chapter 367 Queens retaliation "How''s that possible," Ninth muttered under her breath. Throughout her life, she was taught by all the best Saviors she knew that Canzers were divided into two categories: Infectious Canzers and Destruction Canzers.One of them was able to clone themselves infinitely, while the other could regenerate their wounds till full health. It was an overpowered ability that all Canzers had, and Saviors were the ones tasked to make sure that their ability was disabled before they could kill them. Of course, things were balanced by the fact that they had their own weaknesses, just like all things in nature were. Infectious Canzers may be able to clone themselves infinitely after death, but that meant that their defenses were extremely weak compared to a normal Destruction Canzer. Their chitinous armor was basically nonexistent. Destruction Canzers had better armor and survivability because of their regeneration, but they couldn''t exert as much pressure as the Infectious Canzers because a team of Saviors only had to fight one or two of them at the same time. Despite how overpowering their abilities were, Saviors like Ninth were comforted by the fact that they could take advantage of their weakness to fight them to the death. For Infectious Canzers, Ninth and her team liked to group them all together and kill them in one big go. This necessitated a long preparation period, even while they were fighting. They had to make sure that they wouldn''t accidentally kill just one of the Infectious Canzers, lest they multiply and snowball into a much bigger threat. For Destruction Canzers, Ninth and her team planned to give it all they got at the very start of the fight. If they attacked the Canzer and didn''t relent on their offense, then it wouldn''t have time to regenerate its wounds. This would give them time to set up their construct and disable its regenerative abilities before killing it. That was how they dealt with Canzers, and how Ninth survived all this time after fighting thousands of Canzers. But the Queen¡­she was a beast all on her own. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With her strength alone, Ninth thought that the Queen was a Destruction-type Canzers. That was the reason why she wanted to manifest the prismatic dragon so early in the fight so that they could try to kill the Queen as quickly as possible. But then, the Queen suddenly multiplied after her death. One became three. It was such an absurd sight that Ninth and her team thought they were seeing a mere illusion. After all, that was supposed to be impossible. Having the regenerative abilities of the Destruction type Canzer and the cloning ability of the Infection type Canzer was the recipe to become an unkillable demon. They almost used all of their resources, their energy, and all their effort trying to kill the Queen''s body. But as it turned out, it only spawned three more bodies as if fate was playing a joke on them. ''This is the true difference between a true dragon and a Canzer. I am different. I am transcendent,'' the Queen said, spreading her arms to the heavens and proclaiming it as hers. Ninth felt disheartened. She didn''t know how to proceed. She knew how to kill an infinitely cloning Infectious Canzer. She knew how to deal with a regenerating Destruction Canzer. But she didn''t know how to deal with the Queen who could do both. There was nothing they could do. If they tried to fight and kill the Queen before it could kill them, then it would only spawn more clones of her. And if they did nothing but defend themselves, then they would quickly lose the battle of attrition since they had just expended all that energy trying to fight the horde and killing just one clone. She didn''t know what to do. And in her desperation, she turned to Tulip, the only being who could give them a way out of this situation. Continue your journey at My Virtual Library Empire ''Please, do you know how we can kill her?'' Tulip could feel the frustration and desperation in Ninth''s voice. But no matter how much she tried to think of something, Tulip had no idea how to kill the Queen. After all, this was the first time she even saw her pursuer. ''I''m sorry¡­I¡­I don''t know¡­" But Ninth wasn''t going to accept that answer. ''What do you mean?! You''re supposed to know that! It''s the entire reason why we protected you all this time!'' Carmine promised them that Tulip was the weakness of the Queen, the creature in the castle. It was for that reason that they took her all this way without abandoning her. Ninth simply couldn''t believe that Tulip had no idea how to kill the Queen. After all, their similarity was truly alike. It was as if they were twins. And because they looked so much alike, her anger toward the Queen transferred to the innocent Tulip. ''You''re useless!'' she screamed. In this stressful situation, Ninth couldn''t help but feel as if everything had gone to the sewers. No matter how much she tried, no matter how much energy she expended, she still couldn''t overcome the dragon. She thought that it was only her frightful thinking that prevented her from reaching her true potential and killing the dragon, but as it turned out, she was outclassed from the very beginning. Even when they combined all their domains and achieved perfect coordination with her teammates, they still fell short of slaying the dragon. It was at this point that the Queen approached the prismatic dragon. All three clones surrounded the dragon, raising their hands in the air and summoning magic in their hands. Suddenly, Ninth and her team felt as if their body was getting ripped apart from their very bones. A strange void had captured the dragon''s limbs, head, and wings. It was as if a black hole had appeared and sucked in the different parts of the dragon, trying to dismember the once powerful being into mere pieces. No matter how much Ninth and her team struggled, they were helpless as the prismatic dragon''s body started to spaghettify, turning the prismatic dragon into a stream of particles that got sucked in by the void. Chapter 368 Queens vanity In one last spurt of energy, the prismatic dragon let out a burst of energy, turning all the remaining energy inside its body to explode outwards, hopefully taking out the Queen''s three clones in one fell swoop.BOOGGSH! A blinding light followed the explosion, briefly destabilizing the domain that the Queen created. The deathly territory that she had used as her domain started to shimmer as if it were a virtual illusion. One could even see a brief moment in time when the Queen''s domain disappeared and the normal Remedium of Genesis City returned. But after a fraction of a second, the Queen''s domain returned to its overpowering deathly energy. Continue reading on My Virtual Library Empire "Haaa¡­haaaa¡­.haaa¡­" Ninth panted as she tried to catch her breath. She looked down and saw her own body, with blood spilling out from her forehead. She raised her head and looked around her, and her worst fears had come true. Her whole team, the scout, the mage, the sniper, and the two tanks, were sprawled all over the skull-filled ground of the Queen''s domain. Their bodies were full of injury, but that wasn''t even the worst part of it. Injuries could always be healed by using their Soul Time. However, they could do nothing to heal their fractured confidence. He could see it in their eyes. They wanted to give up. It was taught to them even before they became a Savior that they should never stay prone in the Remedium. After all, it would leave them vulnerable to any attacks from a Canzer. Their training was embedded so deep into their minds that they would subconsciously get up and take a defensive position no matter how exhausted they were. However, as Ninth looked at her teammates, she saw them staying still, lying on the ground. They didn''t get up. They chose not to. Fighting a monster like the Queen was simply a futile gesture. If they were going to die anyway, then they would rather die on the spot rather than waste their energy struggling to survive. At least then, they wouldn''t feel the dread and exhaustion they were feeling right now. Ninth too, was feeling the urge to simply lay down and take a sleep forever. However, something inside her heart forced her to get up. She couldn''t give up now. If she was going to die anyway, then she was going to die fighting. She pushed herself off the ground, cracking the skulls that were underneath her feet. She looked up at the three Queens above her and showed no sign of fear. This surprised Malificient. She would have thought that the humans would give up now that they had seen the difference in strength between them. Almost all of them had given up on trying to defy her. But there was just one holdout. Their assumed leader, the woman whose strength lightly impressed her, was still standing against her. She could see a fire in those human eyes. She had never seen that before. All her enemies, be they human or Canzers, would always lower their eyes whenever they met hers. After all, her strength was far too overwhelming for them to feel comfortable in making eye contact. But this one human was looking at her in defiance. I truly irritated the Queen. Nobody should feel as if they were strong enough to defeat her. They should feel oppressed. The Queen, to satisfy her vanity, decided to teach the human a lesson first before she killed Tulip. After all, they all lay helpless now. They couldn''t do anything to her even if they tried. The Queen wouldn''t even flinch if Tulip tried to run. She could chase the little runt through the ends of the world even in her sleep. But, the traitor didn''t even try to run. She curled up on the ground and sobbed. Pathetic, the Queen thought. She was going to take her time. ''I warned you, humans. You should have never harbored that fugitive.'' Now that they weren''t connected to Tulip via the prismatic dragon, they couldn''t understand the Queen''s words. But even so, the threat was clear. Ninth tried to raise her sword but found that she didn''t even have the strength to lift it up She could do nothing as the Queen''s three clones raised their hands and summoned another black hole, this time pulling the humans up off the ground and dragging them toward the Queen. "You monster! Let them go!" Ninth screamed, her voice hoarse. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. For some reason, she was the only one who the Queen didn''t move. Meanwhile, all her teammates were floating up off the ground, with miniature black holes near their hands, as if they were handcuffs. ''I will make you regret that you ever defied me in the first place,'' the Queen said. The Queen smiled and addressed Ninth who still stood in the ground, who was barely even keeping herself standing still. ''Now, choose. Will you save your own kind, or will you give in to your human nature and become mortal enemies with Canzers?'' Ninth was given a choice. She could either save her own teammates or give in to the Queen and surrender Tulip on her own accord. She looked back and saw Tulip still on the ground, sobbing as she felt pain all over her body. The backlash from the prismatic dragon''s death was far too much for a simple Canzer like her to bear. ''I will spare your kind, if you give me that traitorous Canzer.'' Even though Ninth couldn''t understand her words, she knew that the Queen was evil enough to go to such lengths. She immediately knew what the Queen was trying to do. With her body battered and exhausted, her entire mind and body were telling her to simply give in. It would be so easy to lift Tulip off the ground and offer it to the Queen. This little action could end up saving her and her entire team from death. And since Tulip was going to get caught by the Queen either way, it didn''t matter if Ninth was the one who gave her up. It would have been so easy, but could she do that to Tulip? Chapter 369 Third choice Ninth had to decide now. The Queen''s vengeful hand was nearing towards her teammates, her friends, who she has called her family for years on end. The only thing she had to do was to push Tulip towards the Queen, and she would save not only herself, but her teammates.It would be so easy. Just when Ninth was wracking her mind over this monumental decision, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She looked behind and saw Tulip looking at her with the kindest of eyes. The Canzer nodded, giving the implicit assurance that she was okay. Tulip was letting Ninth choose her teammates. After all, Ninth knew she was going to do either way. At least now, there wouldn''t be more casualties because of her. Ninth and the other humans that had been so kind to her didn''t deserve this kind of fate. Tulip wanted to make sure that they didn''t get caught up in her death. Tulip began walking over to the Queen, offering herself up to be killed in exchange for the lives of the humans. ''A traitor till the very end, huh?'' the Queen ridiculed Tulip. In her opinion, Tulip should have at least struggled a little bit. She should have tried to manipulate the human to save her. After all, that''s what humans were good for. However, Tulip acted unlike her own kind. She was willing to save the humans who killed thousands upon thousands of her soldiers. They might have been monsters, but they were still citizens of the kingdom. No matter what, Tulip should have acted a little bit more sympathetic towards her own kind. But no. Tulip sided with the humans. This infuriated the Queen. If the prophecy became true, and Tulip became the one to surpass her to become the Queen of this kingdom, then Malificient was worried about what she would do to her subjects. Tulip showed no loyalty to the Canzers. She was willing to befriend and side with the humans. If she became Queen, then the whole kingdom would be in danger. She would surely want to make peace with the humans¡ªor worse, trust them. That would spell the end for the entire kingdom. Malificient couldn''t let that happen. She had to stop the prophecy and keep her throne in the kingdom, ensuring that she would be able to lead the Canzers into the righteous path. ''Please get it over quickly,'' Tulip begged, with her body shaking in fear. One of the Queen''s clones floated down to Tulip. She looked ready to receive her prize. Her eyes shone in excitement, feeling triumphant that she was about to defeat the prophecy. And in her elation, she wasn''t able to notice the subtle movement behind Tulip. Ninth suddenly appeared next to Tulip, with her one-handed greatsword about to pierce through Malificient''s heart. The Queen''s eyes widened, not expecting this kind of outcome. But after a fraction of a second, her face returned to normal. She raised her hand and used the power of the void in her domain to defend against Ninth''s attack. ''You could have saved yourselves the trouble, human,'' But just as the Queen was about to repel Ninth away into another dimension, Ninth''s sword suddenly glowed white with power. If the Queen was paying attention, then the power that emanated from the blade was extremely similar to the prismatic dragon''s power. With this brief spike in power, Ninth was able to overcome the black hole void that was manifested to block her attack. SHING! The prismatic energy collided with the dark void, sending bursts of energy everywhere. The mere fact that Ninth could contend with her void surprised the Queen. She would have never thought that a single human could produce this kind of power. The sword sliced the void in half before continuing to pierce towards the Queen''s heart. Ninth''s eyes were full of focus and determination. As soon as she decided to attack, her mind was as sharp as it had ever been. But using this much power overclocked her body. Blood trickled from her nose. She shouldn''t have been able to manifest the power of the prismatic aura alone. After all, it was the combination of their team''s domain powers. But Ninth was able to reach down deep inside her Soul System to use the remnants of the prismatic aura for one last fight. This would allow her to temporarily have the power of the prismatic dragon. However, doing this meant that she would do permanent untold damage towards her body. Her Soul Time was ticking down by hundreds of years every second. But she didn''t care. The Queen gave her a choice whether she was going to save her teammates or save Tulip. Ninth''s answer was none of those. She chose to save all of them, even if it meant it would result in her death. In this moment of crisis, Ninth was able to overcome her fear of the dragon. Her mind was clear. Despite facing death in the face, she was not scared at all. She was at peace with her own choice. This allowed her to push herself even stronger, pushing the sword towards the Queen''s chitinous chest. The Queen felt a stinging pain as the sword pierced through the chitin as if it was made out of rubber. Slowly, the blade pierced through her heart, killing her in an instant. "RAGGHHH!" Ninth screamed as her entire body got engulfed in the power of the prismatic aura. The prismatic aura slowly spread towards the Queen, infecting it with the ever-lasting destroying properties of the aura. It wasn''t able to regenerate itself, and it wasn''t able to clone itself. With one of the clones dealt with, Ninth set her sights on the two other clones in the air. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire She leapt up, with a transparent outline of dragon wings behind her back, and sliced her sword towards the two clones. The clones tried to use the power of the void to protect themselves, but Ninth didn''t let them have the chance to defend. She gathered all the prismatic energy inside her body and pushed it out of her Soul System, damaging it in the process. BOOM! S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But in the end, she was able to let out one giant explosion that destroyed the void protection of the two clones. Soon enough, the clones were engulfed in a blinding white explosion. Chapter 370 Unexpected appearance Once the dust settled, Tulip opened her eyes to see Ninth, standing alone in the chasm of darkness.Her right arm was mangled beyond belief¡ªa side effect of unleashing all the prismatic power in her body to destroy the other two clones in a giant explosion. Her entire body was bleeding from every orifice. Her Soul Time was now reaching dangerously low levels. Ninth then turned around and looked at Tulip. Her legs soon gave up, making her knees buckle. Tulip rushed over to her side and supported her in the ground. "What¡­what are you doing¡­here¡­.go¡­go now¡­" Ninth''s breathing was getting more and more shallow. VOMIT! Ninth coughed up blood, leaking blood to her mouth. ''No¡­no¡­.this can''t be happening,'' said Tulip. She couldn''t understand why the human tried to fight the Queen. She could have saved herself and her team if she had just let Tulip die. But instead, she fought. And now, even though they couldn''t understand each other''s words, Tulip knew that Ninth was telling her to run away now. But how could she run away after seeing a human sacrifice her life for her? "Go..go before she¡­she returns¡­" Even when she sacrificed her body to try and kill the Queen, Ninth knew that she had failed. Even though they couldn''t see the Queen''s body or her clones in their sight, Ninth still felt the oppressive aura of the dragon in the air. If the Queen truly died, then her domain would have disappeared with her. But they were still trapped in the deathscape. And Ninth knew that she couldn''t fight the Queen a second time. Her Soul System was too damaged. She couldn''t even feel power down in her body, meaning that she couldn''t use any of her LifeSkills, much less her domain, to fight another futile battle with the Queen. ''This is getting annoying,'' a floating voice said. Dread and fear flashed on Tulip''s face. Even when the human sacrificed herself, they could do nothing against the Queen. It was as if she was an invincible monster. ''It''s time for me to kill all of you.'' A large shadow cast over the entire battlefield. Tulip looked up and saw the majestic red dragon in the air. It emitted strength and power unlike anything she had ever felt before. This time, the Queen wasn''t playing around. She was serious. It finally decided to kill Tulip and the humans in one giant explosion. Ninth squinted her eyes and looked at the dragon. Then, a smile formed on her face. On the dragon''s side was a circular scar, reminiscent of an explosion. It looked like everything Ninth did wasn''t in vain. She was able to inflict enough damage towards the dragon''s body that its scales couldn''t protect it. That was enough. Ninth was satisfied. Her eyes slowly closed as a violet storm of energy gathered in the dragon''s mouth. Slowly, power gathered at the dragon''s mouth, growing the dark violet ball into a large sphere bigger than its head. The atmosphere turned turbulent, with huge winds that could uproot trees from the ground. Lightning rumbled in the skies, signalling the Queen''s furious state. It was going to kill everything and turn this battlefield into a wasteland. She was going to make the world forget she was ever disgraced to such a degree. No matter how much she tried to regenerate her body, she couldn''t get rid of the scarring on her body. Explore stories at My Virtual Library Empire The Queen glared at Ninth. That human was able to reach her. That was supposed to be impossible, but she did. She needed to get rid of them all. She let out of all her anger into the ball of energy and released it with a fiery breath. GRAGGHH!!! The dark violet sphere crashed towards the ground, with the rumbling intensifying as it came close to making contact with the floor. BUUGGSHH!!! An explosion larger than the one Ninth emitted spread throughout the domain, turning everything into a desert wasteland. It tore every fiber of everything it touched, turning it into mere atoms. The explosion continued to persist much longer than a usual bomb, and created an even larger crater as an aftermath. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The mighty red dragon floated in the air. She took a deep breath and a sense of superiority returned on her face. Now that all her enemies were gone, she was the only superior being in her kingdom. Nobody shall ever threaten her throne again. The prophecy was destroyed by her own hands. But¡­there was something wrong. Even though Tulip and the humans were dead, destroyed into mere atoms by her Atomic Void Explosion, she felt as if there was a different presence inside her own domain. Then, the dragon''s head looked down, right at the very center of the crater she created. She noticed them. Tulip and the rest of the humans were alive and well. Somehow, a circular area of the ground they stood on was able to withstand the tremendous power of her explosion. She couldn''t understand it. The humans were barely even alive, meaning they would have had the power to create a defense that could withstand that much power. Tulip was a normal Canzer without any powers, meaning she wasn''t the one who was responsible. Just then, the Queen noticed something different. There was a new human in their midst. This human was healthy and uninjured, unlike the rest of the humans. Strangest of all, the human seemed as if he was too busy tending to the other injured humans to even notice the tyrannic red dragon staring down at him. No, he knows I''m looking at him¡­he just doesn''t care, thought the Queen. And upon closer inspection, the Queen recognized the man. It was the human who she imprisoned in her dungeon! Somehow, he escaped! ¡ª "Are you okay?" Atlan asked as he wiped blood off of Ninth''s mouth. Ninth''s eyes widened as she realized who was speaking to her. "Atlan¡­is that you?" Her eyes were no longer working as good as it used to. "Yes¡­I''m here," Atlan said, holding her arms. "Get out¡­run away with Tulip¡­before¡­before¡­the dragon¡­" Just then, the entire ground trembled as the dragon landed behind Atlan, with its gigantic body posturing its superiority towards Atlan. But even then, Atlan kept his eyes on Ninth. "Don''t worry. I''ll deal with the lizard." Chapter 371 Reunion Because Atlan activated the False Mutation of his Canzer Polyglot mutation, the Queen was able to understand his words even though he was using human language.She was speechless with his audacity. A mere human treated her as nothing but an oversized lizard. The thought was so absurd that the Queen wasn''t immediately offended but felt that it was a little bit amusing. ''I wonder where you get your confidence, human. Careful. If I wasn''t so magnanimous, I would have crushed your skull along with the humans back there.'' Atlan, instead of answering, continued to put his attention towards Ninth, who was bleeding out of every orifice. He had to rip off part of her battle suit just to make a make-shift bandage to at least patch her up a bit. "Porter¡­what are you¡­doing¡ªCOUGH!'' Ninth wanted Atlan to escape with Tulip before the Queen had the chance to get her hands on him. She didn''t want him to end up like him. "You should worry about yourself," Atlan said as he twisted a knot to stop the bleeding in her arm. "You''re losing a lot of SoulTime." Ninth couldn''t even access her Soul System to see her SoulTime. That was how much she damaged her body. So, she knew that her time was coming to an end soon. So, she wasn''t fighting it anymore. But Atlan could still live. He could still escape with his life intact. Instead, he came here and¡­ It was at that moment that Ninth finally realized that something was wrong. After all, she had never felt Atlan''s presence before he arrived on this battlefield. Her mind and body were so damaged that it took her this long to remember that they were about to die from the Queen''s atomic bomb. They should have all perished into nothing but atoms. But instead, they were alive. Not only that but somehow, Atlan was able to arrive in this place without the Queen immediately noticing him. It didn''t make sense. Ninth blinked her blurry eyes. It was only then that she noticed a peculiar white object behind Atlan. It looked¡­pure. The aura and power it emitted were familiar¡ªlike a warm hug in the deepest of winters. Then, she finally realized. Those were wings. Normally, having a wing mutation wasn''t all that strange. However, Atlan was only a Student-level Savior. He shouldn''t have been given the chance to obtain this kind of mutation at least before his third year as a Savior. And from what she could sense with her limited aura, the power emanating from those wings was something that only top-notch mutations emitted. It was probably above a 6-star rarity, judging from its aesthetic beauty alone. But perhaps the biggest mystery of them all was the origin of those wings. It didn''t look like any of the wings that she was familiar with. Its feathers were too white¡ªthe kind of white that would still glow even in the darkest of nights. It felt like it was forever illuminated by some kind of light that came from nowhere. Just then, she saw the dragon behind Atlan open its mouth and release a ball of void, with violet and black mists of energy swirling around it. The Queen finally had enough of Atlan ignoring her, so she decided to simply punish him by killing him without him knowing it. Ninth, even in her most damaged state, couldn''t help but push past her limits to try and help Atlan. She was willing to put herself in between the destructive void and Atlan. But before she could get up, Atlan pushed her back down and stopped her from doing something unnecessary. Atlan turned around and faced the destructive void. Suddenly, a sword and shield manifested in his hands, atom by atom in a mere fraction of a second. Atlan brandished the shield in front of him and protected himself and everyone behind him from the void''s destructive properties. And as it hit the shield, a strange force counter-acted the tyrannical aura left by the dragon, fighting it till it disintegrated into nothingness. The shield rendered the dragon''s attack useless. Atlan didn''t even feel any recoil from using the shield. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The moment Ninth saw the sword and shield, she felt the power those weapons emanated and knew that they weren''t normal objects. If she was reading it right, then those weapons alone were stronger than her at her best! That didn''t seem possible. Ninth didn''t even know why such ordinary-looking weapons would have so much power hidden inside them. The only one who knew the significance of this weapon was the Queen. The moment it appeared in Michael''s hands, was the moment the Queen realized that she hadn''t destroyed the prophecy as of yet. Just as she feared, it seemed as if Atlan was the chosen one. He was the one who was going to help Tulip in killing her. When she first heard that Atlan knew about Tulip''s name, she became suspicious of his real identity. She still wasn''t sure he was the chosen one, but to be sure, she imprisoned him in the infinite void thinking that he would never be able to escape. But he proved her wrong. ''Where did you get that¡­'' the Queen asked, but it seemed as though she knew the answer already. She just didn''t want to accept it. "I got it from a few friends I met in your prison. You might know them," Atlan said with a smile. Just then, three blobs of light emerged out of his battle suit and showed themselves to the Queen. Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire The Queen, upon seeing the three good fairies, couldn''t help but take a step back from surprise. She knew that the shield and sword could only come from the three fairies, but she didn''t think that they would come out of the prison with the human! This completely changed the battlefield. Her previous lack of seriousness in the fight quickly turned around, with her body tensing up as it expected a hard battle. But contrary to the Queen''s thoughts, the three good fairies ignored her. Instead, they floated towards Tulip, showing their faces to their daughter for the first time in a long time. Chapter 372 Atlans power ''Mothers?''Tulip felt like she was dreaming or perhaps passed over into the next life. She thought she would never see her mothers again in this lifetime. She thought she was the reason they died. Her emotions bubbled up to the surface as tears streamed down her cheeks. The three good fairies couldn''t help themselves as well and wiped the tears off their faces. Then, they floated towards Tulip and rubbed her tears, just like what they did back when Tulip was a child. They all cuddled in this monumental moment. ''Uwaaa!'' ''Calm now, dear. This is not the time for tears,'' said the blue fairy. ''That''s right. That''s right. We have more important things to do right now,'' said the green fairy. ''We have to help your friend,'' said the red fairy. Tulip sniffed and rubbed her eyes. ''Friend?'' She was so distraught about everything that happened that she didn''t notice the appearance of a certain human. The red fairy had to turn Tulip''s head for her to finally notice that Atlan was facing the dragon all by himself. ''Atlan?! He''s¡­he''s alive¡­'' Relief flashed across Tulip''s face. ''I thought¡­I thought¡­I thought he died because of me,'' Tulip cried. The three good fairies comforted her yet again. ''It wasn''t your fault.'' ''Yes. It was the Queen who imprisoned him.'' ''And it led to the best outcome. If he hadn''t been imprisoned by the Queen, we wouldn''t have met him at all. And we wouldn''t have been able to get out of that prison.'' Tulip stopped her tears. She watched as Atlan defended against the Queen''s attacks with just one bash of his shield. This surprised her greatly. She knew first-hand how powerful the Queen was in her dragon form. But now, Atlan parried her attacks as if they were made out of nothing but air. It didn''t make sense. ''We gave him those weapons to fight against Malificient," the red fairy explained. ''Fight? We should run away!'' Tulip warned. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire ''No, dear. This is his destiny, as well as yours. You trusted him enough to give your name to him, right?'' Tulip didn''t understand, but she nodded her head. Atlan was perhaps the first and only friend she had ever trusted in her life apart from her mothers. He was reliable and treated her not as a Canzer, but as a friend. Her mothers warned her that she shouldn''t give away her name to people she didn''t trust, but Atlan was none of that. ''The reason we told you to conceal your name is because the prophecy told us that the chosen one would come and be the only being you gave your name to.'' ''What prophecy?'' The three good fairies looked at each other and braced themselves. They were finally going to tell Tulip about her real identity. ''The prophecy is a long tale back in the olden days. It has been predicted that you will be the one to succeed Queen Malificient and lead the kingdom into prosperity.'' Tulip couldn''t believe it. ''Me?'' ''Yes. You are the key to defeating Malificient.'' ''But..but..but I don''t¡­I don''t know what you''re talking about.'' The three good fairies knew that this would be overwhelming for Tulip, but they didn''t have the time to explain. ''You''ll know. The answer is hidden deep within you. You know how to kill the Queen, you just don''t know that you know it yet.'' ¡ª Atlan faced the dragon with his two overpowered weapons in hand. The gifts he got from the three good fairies proved very useful after they deflected one of the Queen''s attacks with barely any recoil. With this power, it didn''t seem as impossible to kill her. ''Those weapons are not for mere mortals like you,'' said the Queen. "I know. I think it fits right through your chest. You think I can leave it in there for some time?" Atlan''s banter with the Queen made it seem like he was at the same level as her. But Ninth knew that the Queen was far more powerful than a normal Specialist Savior. She didn''t know where Atlan got those weapons, but she didn''t think it would be enough to kill the Dragon. After all, no matter how powerful the weapons were, it didn''t matter if they were not wielded by the right person. Atlan was only a Student-level Porter. He was far too weak to fight against a being like the Queen. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She wanted to say to Atlan that he should retreat now and ask for backup from Genesis City but found her voice to be too strained to say anything. "Truth is, I''ve been hiding some things," Atlan uttered. "I hid a few secrets because I thought that it would lead to further troubles down the line. But now, I think it''s time for me to show my true fangs." Atlan decided to finally show his true powers. He immediately looked down deep in his Soul System and activated one of his LifeSkills. With a single thought, a large yarn and knitting needle manifested in the air. Ninth''s eyes widened once she realized what Atlan was doing. She couldn''t believe it. She thought she was dreaming. Atlan was using a LifeSkill! But this LifeSkill didn''t look like something a porter could do, so it was definitely the LifeSkill of a different job. That was supposed to be impossible. A person should only have one LifeSkill. That was the universal rule. But seeing Atlan manipulate those yarn and needle with his powers made Ninth realize that everything she knew about the world, about Atlan, was a complete lie. And from what she could muster from the strength of this LifeSkill, she knew that it had the strength of an Intern-level Savior! Just then, the needle and yarn finished knitting a human-like figure. But after the final knot was done, the yarns turned into some kind of liquid that soon solidified into human skin. Somehow, Atlan''s second LifeSkill was able to create humanoid puppets. There were three of them now, with two men and one woman, kneeling towards Atlan and awaiting their next orders. But that wasn''t enough. The LifeSkill was creating more puppets! Chapter 373 Strong puppets Atlan''s three original puppets were the Huntsman, the White Beauty, and the Prince. That was the limit of his current strength, and if he tried to create more puppets after that, he found that he had trouble controlling his puppets and they were more prone to disappearing after just a little injury.However, Atlan found that whenever he wielded the sword and shield given to him by the three good fairies, he found that he had much more capacity than before. It was as if he was being supplied with a little bit more power to push himself to the limit. It must have been because these weapons were imbued with ''luck''. Atlan didn''t know how that worked completely, but he knew that it had a significant contribution to how he was able to create two more puppets. A thin puppet with two very big eyes finished its transformation, becoming a full humanoid. Then, a large and stocky figure finished its transformation, turning its skin from yarn to skin in a matter of seconds. This humanoid''s body was covered entirely with thick hairs, almost covering every inch of his body. Atlan used the inspiration he found from the Frog Prince and the Beast to create these two Canzers. ''What are these puppets?'' the Malificient Queen asked. ''You will not be able to survive against me using just these flimsy little things.'' Atlan smiled and nodded his head, signaling for the humanoid puppets to start their assault. Continue your adventure with My Virtual Library Empire With five humanoid puppets, Atlan imbued them with the same LifeSkills that he got from the death of their original inspiration. The Frog humanoid was given the Devour Assimilation LifeSkill, allowing it to take a bite out of anything and use the abilities of whatever it ate. The Beast humanoid, on the other hand, was given the Beastly Thrash LifeSkill, allowing it to show immense strength similar to the real Specialists-level Beast. The Prince used the Protection Lion, allowing him to become the tank for the humanoid puppets. It created a protective bubble around the Prince humanoid, and its strength depended on the injustice that was caused by the attacker. Since the Queen was trying to mercilessly kill an innocent Tulip, then the Prince''s protection was at its strongest. The Huntsman and the White Beauty were the only ones who didn''t have the LifeSkills they originally had when they were Specialist Canzers. The Huntsman got a better LifeSkill, the Apocalyptic Hellfire, while the White Beauty had the Book of Contracts, which allowed her to make contracts with any being and turn them into her puppets, which would become Atlan''s puppet by proxy. With a perfect balance of powers, the group of Intern-level humanoid puppets rushed towards the red dragon, brandishing their powers in their hands. First, the Beast Humanoid jumped up from the ground, immediately reaching high up in the air using only the strength of his legs. The red dragon felt a little creature land on its legs and felt that it was very annoying. It tried to swing her leg to try and throw the thing away, but it stayed on by using its intense grip. Having no other choice, the red dragon fired off a ball of violet destruction. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But before it hit the Beast humanoid, the Prince suddenly appeared right in front of the Beast and used its protective bubble to defend against the attack. The golden bubble shimmered upon making contact with the ball made out of destructive energy, but since its defensive properties were buffed by the injustice caused by the Queen, it was able to keep itself steady. With the Beast protected, it started to thrash around the red dragon''s back, pounding its scales using nothing but its fists. It trashed and thrashed until one of its scales was uprooted from the red dragon''s body. This scale floated into the air before being snatched away by the Frog humanoid with its freakishly long tongue, It immediately swallowed the scale, briefly stretching its mouth because the scale was far too big for it to swallow. But it didn''t matter. As soon as it got swallowed in its throat, a magical power somehow consumed its entire DNA and allowed the Frog humanoid to replicate its powers. Suddenly, the Frog humanoid''s body began to grow scales, similar to the one it just ate. Its slim body slowly bulked, as if he was growing thick thumps of legs. Then, two large wings grew behind its back, similar to the shape of the Malificient Queen''s wings, but a lot smaller. Slowly, the Frog humanoid became a Frog Dragon, with its entire body turning into the scaled tyrant of the air. However, its signature long tongue and big eyes were retained, making it look like a Frog Dragon. Surprisingly, the Malificient Queen could feel the same destructive energy she had emanating from her Frog impostor. She couldn''t let that happen. She rushed towards the Frog Dragon and tried to consume its entire body to swallow the lost scale it had eaten. But of course, the other puppets won''t let that happen. The Huntsman puppet raised its bow to the air and fired a single arrow. As soon as it did, it left a single line of bluish-green fire leading to the arrow''s tail. Malificient Queen ignored the arrow and continued to fly after the Frog Dragon, but that was a mistake. As soon as the arrow made contact with the Queen, a large explosion of bluish-green fire turned the whole air into a cloudy smoke. More scales fell from the smoke until the Malificient Queen dragon emerged from the smoke. Its entire body was damaged, with its side completely injured from where the arrow had hit it. The Queen would have never thought that a bunch of puppets would give her so much trouble. She couldn''t believe it. They weren''t supposed to have this much power. ''How?! How is this possible?'' The truth of the matter was that everything was only possible because of the White Beauty and the three good fairies. He made her have a contract with all three of them, allowing them to lend their powers to his puppets while they were fighting the dragon. Chapter 374 Revelation of Atlans true power Ninth and the rest of the team looked up at the fight of the humanoids against the Malificient Dragon. They couldn''t believe their eyes.Somehow, they were able to fight against the tyrannical Dragon Queen, and injure her at that point! The only way they were able to do that was by combining all of their domain powers. And when they failed, they used up too much energy and ended up becoming useless in the fight. But now, those puppets were fighting toe to toe with the most dangerous Canzer anyone had ever fought. And all of that was only possible because of Atlan. No matter how unbelievable it looked, the evidence was real. Atlan had been hiding his real strength, his real power from the rest of the world. Everyone thought that he was only a porter with a LifeSkill that only allowed him to lift heavy objects, but the truth was far different. It turned out that he could summon puppets as well. No matter how much they tried to deny it in their minds, they were looking at the evidence right in their eyes. The puppets were listening to Atlan''s voice as if he were their creator. Not only that, all of the puppets, despite having different powers, all emanated the same signature of power. If anyone was looking closely, they would notice that this signature of power was emanating from Atlan and only him alone. This meant that he truly was the one who created these puppets that could fight against the Malificient Queen Dragon. "How¡­is this possible¡­." "Was he lying to us?" "That''s not true. He''s a porter and has a porter LifeSkill. Or else he wouldn''t have been able to lift a construct," said Ninth. She finally figured out why Atlan had been through so much yet was able to survive them each and every time. He was called the Star Porter because he went through so many anomalies in his missions and performed admirably throughout its entirety. Most people attributed this to mere luck. They thought that Atlan survived those encounters through nothing but lady luck looking down at him kindly. Find your next adventure on My Virtual Library Empire But now that they saw his true powers, they realized that it was not true. The more likely conclusion they could come to was that Atlan saved himself! He probably killed those Canzers that tried to kill him! It was unbelievable to think about, but that was the truth. Not only that but upon closer investigation, Ninth remembered that most summon-type LifeSkills weren''t all that powerful. That was because most puppets were simply that: they were puppets. They could move, they could pick up objects, and they could even brandish a sword just like a human. But there was one stark difference between normal puppets and Atlan''s puppets: the LifeSkills. Puppets weren''t supposed to have LifeSkills! They were puppets after all. They didn''t have a Soul System, and they didn''t go through their awakening. There was no way they were going to have a LifeSkill. There was only one way that a puppet could have a LifeSkill. And that was when their creator lent them their own LifeSkill! Atlan''s puppets all had LifeSkills, and all of them were powerful enough to contend against the Malificient Queen Dragon. This only meant one thing: Atlan had multiple LifeSkills in his Soul System. Other people might find that absurd and untrue, but he already proved that he had more than one LifeSkill by having the ability to summon puppets. After all, he was only supposed to be a porter. So, it wasn''t hard to accept the thought that Atlan had multiple LifeSkills that he could lend to his puppets. Just then, one of the puppets fired off a bluish-green fire from an arrow. It caused an explosion that took out a large portion of the Malificient Queen Dragon''s scales. Their eyes flashed with recognition, and then surprise and shock filled their face. They knew that LifeSkill. They had seen that iconic bluish-green fire thousands of times before when they were just kids. Practically everyone in Genesis City knew about that bluish-green fire. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was the LifeSkill of the First Savior, Quinto Kindle. Ninth and the rest of the team looked at Atlan and a cold breeze brushed past their skin, making their hair stand on end. Somehow, Atlan was able to acquire the LifeSkill of the greatest Savior in mankind''s history. Everyone in Genesis City thought that Quinto Kindle was simply sick. But, the more knowledgeable and important people like Specialist Saviors knew that the First Savior was dead. Yes, they knew that death was permanent now that the Angels had died. However, they weren''t supposed to act like they knew it. They didn''t want to alert the general public about it just yet. Everyone in the world was still looking for a way to reverse the situation and return immortality to the world. So, they were still holding out hope that it would happen soon before the rest of the world found out that they could die permanently now. And it wasn''t such a hard leap for Ninth and the others to learn how Atlan obtained those LifeSkills. He must have somehow gotten those powers through death. Now that they thought about it more, the Beast humanoid looked eerily similar to The Beast Canzer they faced recently. Even the Frog Humanoid was very similar to the Frog Prince they faced a while back. Everything was starting to connect. Ninth and the others weren''t stupid. They reached the Specialist level because they were both strong and intelligent. They quickly figured out Atlan''s powers. He had a LifeSkill that could steal the powers of the dead. Just the thought of it sent chills down their spine. It finally made sense how the Star Porter could advance so easily through the ranks without so much trouble. A power like Atlan''s was dangerous. It was too dangerous to leave alive. But, somehow, the team didn''t feel any kind of hostility for Atlan. They all went on this dangerous mission and almost experienced permanent death because of it. They realized that Atlan had been protecting them from the shadows all this time. He always had their back. Even now, when they all thought they would die in the hands of the Malificient Dragon, Atlan came just in time and saved them from certain death. Chapter 375 Temporary Specialist Instead of feeling dread and fear at the betrayal of trust from Atlan, Ninth and the rest of the team felt hope.They should be wondering if Atlan was even a human being at this point. After all, he was able to have more than one LifeSkill and all of his LifeSkills had the power to wipe out an entire horde of Canzers all by himself. Experience exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire It was a fearsome kind of strength, something that would make a human wonder if he was still a part of their race, or simply someone that was pretending to be one. But in these dire times, Ninth and the others couldn''t help but put their trust and their faith in Atlan. He could have let them die. If he wanted to keep his secret a secret for a long time, then he could have let the dragon kill them so that there wouldn''t be any witnesses as he revealed all his powers to fight the dragon for survival. But instead, Atlan saved them and risked being called a heretic for it. This meant that Atlan himself wanted Ninth and her team to know about his true powers. "Atlan¡­" Ninth uttered. Atlan didn''t look back. "Don''t waste your energy. You have to focus on healing yourself back up." Ninth nodded, and silence ensued before being broken. "If we survive¡­we won''t tell anyone." Atlan didn''t answer back, but on the inside, he was thankful for their discretion. Now that he was facing his greatest opponent, this wasn''t the time to be pulling any kind of punches. He couldn''t worry about his powers being discovered by Ninth and the others. He had to focus solely on killing the Queen and trying to survive this encounter. Case in point, it seemed as if he was getting the advantage against the Malificient Dragon Queen. But he knew that her strength was far more fearsome than this. He could see her eyes. Those eyes weren''t someone afraid of their life. It was the eyes of someone who was observing everything in her surroundings, trying to find an opening that she could use to destroy the annoying puppets that kept trying to kill her. Atlan knew that he had to focus and control his puppets better. ''This is getting ridiculous,'' said the Malificient Dragon Queen. ''If you can have puppets of your own, then so can I¡­'' The dragon raised her head in the sky and opened its maws, bringing with it an intense screech that made everyone cover their ears. Atlan felt as if his entire being was shaken by that scream. His soul was trembling. He didn''t have to know what it was to know that whatever the Malificient Dragon Queen did was dangerous. Before he could try and figure out what was happening, he suddenly heard the sound of wings flapping in the distance. There, amid the mountain ranges and the thick luscious forest, three new red dragons emerged from the horizon, each having the same strength and aura as the Dragon Queen. "Careful, Atlan¡­it can regenerate its wounds¡­and summon clones¡­it''s an anomaly¡­," Ninth warned. Atlan wondered about that too. After all, the damage done by the Apocalyptic Hellfire was already being healed at an extremely fast rate. The dragon''s body was slowly growing back its scales, to the point that it would only take a few seconds before it was back in its prime state. His puppets continued to pester the original dragon, using their LifeSkills and perfect coordination to deal enough damage to the dragon to prevent her from going anywhere. But with the addition of three new dragons in the fight, Atlan knew that the balance of the fight would quickly tip toward the Queen''s direction. He had to do something. "Can I use my powers now?" Atlan asked the three good fairies. The three blobs of light nodded their heads, permitting him to fight the dragon using the powers that they gave him. Atlan raised his magical sword and shield, bringing with it an intense light that almost blinded everything that looked at it. As the power emerged from the cold steel of the blade, some of it leaked out into the air and quickly got absorbed by Atlan. He felt his powers increase from the Student realm, to the Pre-Intern realm, to the Intern realm, and finally to the Specialist realm. Ninth and her team watched on in shock as they felt Atlan''s power rise to their levels. This was another surprising feat because this was supposed to be impossible. A summoner''s weakness was that they were physically weak. But Atlan proved that wrong. He became even stronger than his puppets! And they simply couldn''t attribute it to the strange and mystical sword and shield he wielded. After all, no kind of weapon could increase a Savior''s strength from the Student level all the way to the Specialist realm. That was simply impossible. Of course, everything was only possible because the three good fairies were beings of powers that were on the same level as the Queen itself. However, for some reason, Atlan couldn''t understand, they didn''t want to fight the Queen at all. They said that it was not their destiny to defeat her. So, they instead pooled all of their strength and lent it to Atlan to use. But of course, if he was a normal human, this would have been impossible. But they found that because of his strange death powers, he could absorb their powers and use them to nurture himself into the Specialist realm. Of course, this was only temporary and only lasted until the Queen was dead. For Atlan, this was enough. He bent his legs and jumped into the air, sending his body flying like a bullet toward the Malificient Dragon Queen in the skies. He had his sword pointed towards the Queen''s heart, ready to pierce it and kill her once and for all. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But of course, the Queen knew about the sword and shield. It was part of the prophecy after all. She would be stupid to disregard its threat to her life. So, she quickly used all her strength and shook off the humanoid puppets that tried to hold her in place. Then, she spat out a sphere made out of void and destruction towards Atlan''s face. Chapter 376 Dragons clones And even though his strength was in the Specialist realm now, Atlan couldn''t disregard a full-on attack from the Queen.He put his shield in front of him and braced himself. As the sphere of void and destruction hit his shield, an explosion of pure energy emanated out from the point of impact, obscuring Atlan''s vision of the Queen. Once he pushed past the smoke and leftover energy, Michael saw nothing but an empty sky in front of him. The sword that was supposed to pierce through the Dragon Queen''s heart instead pierced through nothing but air. Atlan stopped himself with a punch, counteracting the force he used to propel himself. Then, he started kicking his legs in the air like a swimmer trying to keep himself afloat. Since he was originally a porter whose strength lay in their physical strength, Atlan''s brute force increased tremendously once he advanced over to the Specialist realm in one go. He felt like he could crush an entire mountain with just one punch. And he used that force to ''fly'' in the air. GRAOOO! Before he could look for the Dragon Queen, it initiated a surprise attack and tried to rip him into shreds by swallowing him whole. Atlan looked back and saw the Dragon''s sharp teeth about to close down on his body. But he didn''t worry. A single well-timed Apocalyptic Hellfire arrow from the Huntsman humanoid shot towards the Dragon''s throat. Atlan moved his head slightly to the left as the arrow shot past him and headed straight for the dragon''s throat, creating another explosion that propelled Atlan out into safety. The Dragon Queen coughed, with the bluish-green fire wreaking havoc in its throat and insides. Atlan could see its skin starting to melt and make a hole in its body. Unfortunately, the Dragon''s immense regenerative abilities allowed it to recover relatively quickly. Of course, Atlan used this opportunity to command his puppets to harass the Queen again, with the Beast humanoid trying to rip the dragon''s wings into shreds and the Frog Dragon spewing green acid towards its eyes to try and blind it. ''Enough! We will kill you all!'' The presence of the three dragon clones made themselves clear, creating a very tyrannic environment on the battlefield. If Atlan hadn''t advanced to the Specialist realm temporarily, then he could have possibly suffocated from the mere fact that four dragons existed in the air above him simultaneously. The three dragons swooped down from the zenith of the sky and headed straight for his puppets, intending to rip them into shreds. The Prince quickly moved, using his protective bubble to try and protect the other Beast and the Frog Dragon from the assault. The golden bubble expanded, enveloping Atlan and the two puppets in its safety. The three dragons simultaneously crashed onto the bubble, cracking it into pieces before bursting into nothingness. The force of three Dragon Queens was far too much for the Prince to defend against. However, it still saved them from certain harm. The three Dragon clones shook their heads and flew up into the air again, intending to repeat their failed attack. They thought that once the bubble was destroyed, the Prince had no way of protecting his master and the other puppets. But they were wrong. Another bubble expanded outwards from the Prince''s body. This time, its golden luster was a lot stronger than before, signifying that its defensive quality had gotten stronger yet again. After all, his protective bubble was based on the injustice that they were facing. What could be more unfair than having three dragon clones assaulting them with a surprise attack? Not only that, because of the White Beauty making a contract with the three good fairies, their powers were also temporarily increased to the Specialist realm. Meanwhile, the Huntsman continued to fire bluish-green arrows toward the original Malificient Dragon Queen, not letting it recover from its injuries. However, that was not for long. The original Dragon Queen raised its injured throat to the skies and opened its mouth, creating yet another shriek that shook everyone''s soul. Then, three more dragon clones came out of the horizon, coming towards the battlefield with the express intent of dominating the battle through an advantage of quantity. This was perhaps the hardest battle Atlan had ever experienced. Although he could fight against the four Dragon Queens at the same time, adding another three clones on top of it was far too much. It would have been good if he could summon more puppets, but that was the limit of his LifeSkill. After all, the buff that he got from the three good fairies only raised his physical strength to the Specialist realm, not his LifeSkills. To make matters worse, the three dragons on the horizon opened their giant maws, creating a black hole in their mouths and spewing it out in front of them. The black hole traveled through the air and continued to grow until it stopped in the air. The three clone dragons flew through the black hole, with their entire body disappearing into the void. And a fraction of a second later, Atlan felt a disturbance in the air below him. As he looked down, he was alarmed to find out that three black holes had appeared in the thick of the battle. The three dragons soon emerged from the black holes and immediately rushed toward the Ninth and the rest of the team. Atlan didn''t expect them to have the ability to teleport. ''Hahaha¡­this is just a little secret of mine. Be proud.'' Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This surprise attack truly shocked Ninth and the rest of the team. They could barely even sit up, much less fight another three dragon clones. Atlan immediately commanded his puppets, the White Beauty and the Huntsman down on the ground, to protect Ninth and the whole team. The Huntsman fired off shot after shot, denying one of the dragons that tried to rush toward the humans. The White Beauty summoned its beast, the Giant Rat, and used it to subdue the other dragon. However, there was one dragon left. It rushed towards Ninth and the others, with its maws wide open. Chapter 377 Atlans clones With no one else left to defend them, Atlan directed the White Beauty humanoid to put herself in between the two, using her body to defend against the dragon.The White Beauty didn''t hesitate for a single second before it rushed towards the dragon. Then, before it could reach Ninth and the others, the White Beauty put herself inside the Dragon''s maws, letting it swallow her instead. The dragon, upon having its maws full with the humanoid White Beauty, started to cough as if it had swallowed a fly accidentally. But no matter how much the Dragon Queen clone coughed, it could not get rid of the pesky fly in its mouth. It had no choice but to swallow the whole thing. That was part of the plan. Atlan, using his complete control of the White Beauty, started to overwhelm her with power, turning her insides into a mix of energy and acid from the Dragon''s stomach. This was not a good combination¡ªat least, for the Dragon. The White Beauty inside the Dragon''s stomach started to vibrate and convulse, as the skin on her body started to fray and pop, like a string being stretched far too long. Slowly, the Dragon felt its stomach rumble. It had eaten something bad. And before the Dragon could even do anything about it, the White Beauty couldn''t hold on to her figure anymore and turned into pure energy, creating an enormous explosion inside the Dragon''s stomach. This was an explosion equal to all the energy stored inside a Specialist-level Savior. The strength of the aftereffects was enough to tear through the Dragon''s stomach lining and continue to wreak havoc inside its body. It was unfortunate for the Dragon that its scales were far too strong and durable. The explosion wasn''t able to pierce outside its body, meaning all of the explosion was contained inside its body. This caused further damage to the Dragon''s insides, turning everything into a mushy mess of organs and chitinous bones. The dragon, feeling weakness in its body, fell to the ground with a large thud. The unfortunate trees and nature on the ground were crushed under its enormous weight, creating a dragon-shaped indent on the soil below. With the help of his puppets, he was able to subdue the Dragon clones from killing injured Ninth and her team. They all sighed a breath of relief once they saw the light in the dragon''s eyes start to dim, signaling its death. But they knew that this wasn''t the end of their troubles. Where there''s death, there was life. Now that they killed another dragon clone, three more would pop up in its place. GRAOOO! S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Out in the distance, another three dragon clones came out of the horizon and showed their fierce roar to the overwhelmed humans. They already had trouble facing the clones, but now, three more had come and rushed towards them at fast speeds. The worst thing was that they didn''t have anyone else to protect Ninth and the others. Atlan and his two clones: the Prince and the Beast, were busy keeping the original Dragon Queen Malificient at bay. They already had their hands full with her, they couldn''t go and assist the others because it would lead the Dragon Queen to make a full recovery and cause further havoc in the battlefield. ''HAHAHAHA! This is your end, humans. Don''t think I haven''t noticed the importance of that puppet.'' The Dragon Queen Malificient knew about the significance of the White Beauty on this battlefield. After all, she was the one who kept the humanoid puppets in Atlan''s hands a powerhouse capable of producing the strength of a Specialist-level Savior. Thanks to her book of contracts, she was able to create a contract with the three good fairies, lending her strength to the puppets and creating more power inside their bodies. But now that the White Beauty was gone, there was no more book of contracts. And without that contract, the puppets returned to their original strength at the Intern level. Although that could be considered quite strong, it was wholly inadequate to survive against the Dragon Queen Malificient, much less fight her. The Dragon Queen was already on the brink of winning the tides of the battle before the White Beauty died, but now that she was fully gone, the Dragon Queen had a complete advantage on this battlefield. And now that three more dragon clones emerged, the Queen knew that she was about to win against the humans. However, something was bugging her. Even though she was about to demolish the humans, the strange human boy didn''t show any signs of trouble. It was as if he wasn''t worried about her in the slightest. ''Stop pretending, human. This is my win.'' But of course, Atlan didn''t think that was true. After all, by having his White Beauty destroyed, Atlan would gain a new slot as a puppet. Atlan closed his eyes and pictured the new puppet in his mind. The process this time was quite easy since he was intimately familiar with this figure. The puppet he created this time was completely faithful to the original and didn''t have any deviations. The giant needle and yarn ball appeared in the air and started to knit together another puppet in the middle of the battlefield. Its speed in executing this task was far faster than anything it had ever created. Slowly, the figure of another human appeared in their midst. Once the needle finished knitting the final knot, the figure suddenly glowed with a blinding light before the figure turned into a completely humanoid figure. It had black hair, striking eyes, and a tall figure. Ninth and the others looked up at the puppet and immediately recognized the puppet. After all, the original was standing right beside it! Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire Atlan created a puppet version of himself! Because he was borrowing from his understanding of himself, he was able to completely duplicate his every human quality onto the puppets. Then, the original Atlan summoned a book of contracts in his hands. With a simple look at the three good fairies, another contract appeared in between its pages, allowing all of his puppets to have the power of a Specialist-level Savior. Chapter 378 Infinite cloning The Dragon Queen scoffed at Atlan, feeling as if she had been cheated. She thought that she had finally cornered the humans into realizing their stupidity in fighting her, but she underestimated how crafty this one boy could be.''It''s a crafty neat trick, but it doesn''t matter. As long as I can continue to die, my clones will multiply infinitely and eventually overwhelm you into submission. I will not repeat this again. Surrender the traitor or face the consequences.'' Atlan didn''t even bother to respond to the Queen. After all, he would never give up Tulip to her scheming hands, not now that he was already fighting her with everything he had. Just as the Queen said, the three dragon clones finally reached the battlefield and entered the space with a triumphant screech. GRAOOO! This time, the clones seemed to have realized their mistake after the last time. They moved together as one, protecting each other from any type of distraction or attack that the humanoid puppets could create. The Frog Dragon, one of Atlan''s puppets, tried to rush towards the three clones and rain forth a ball of acid in their direction. Now that they were all curled up in a small space, it was the perfect time to spew acid in their faces. However, the three dragons countered the acid by spitting out three spheres of void and destruction toward the acid ball, turning it into nothing but mere atoms upon contact. And the three balls didn''t stop there. They continued to rush up towards the Frog Dragon and combine into one single giant black hole that swallowed everything in its path. The Frog Dragon used its giant legs to ''jump'' up to a higher altitude, but not before having the black hole graze one of its legs. Upon contact, its legs were destroyed and devoured down to the bone. Atlan''s puppet started to fall. The loss of its legs led to a disharmony in its flight path. Thankfully, since his puppets were at the level of a Specialist Savior, it was able to recover its legs in a relatively fast manner. However, it was not fast enough for it to stop its descent, forcing it to crash down into the forest and land on several trees. Meanwhile, the three Dragon clones continued to rush toward the humans, with their intent clear as day. They wanted to devour the humans. It was at this point that Atlan finally made a move. He commanded his clone puppet to intercept the three dragon clones in their flight path. ''What is your clone gonna do? This is utterly ridiculous!'' the Dragon Queen ridiculed. But Atlan knew what he was doing. The clone puppet flew down to protect Ninth and the other, using its intense physical strength to defy gravity. Then, it simply raised its hands and pointed at the three dragons. At first, the Dragon Queen didn''t see anything significant with the clone puppet. In her eyes, it was as weak as the original or even much weaker. It did not pose a lot of trouble to her own three dragon clones. She even ridiculed Atlan. After all, her clones were a source of pride for her. It was ridiculous to think that the puny human would think that his clone would be better than hers. But then, the clone suddenly closed its eyes and raised its hands. Suddenly, a familiar power emanated from the clone. It was something that everyone had seen before. A giant needle and a giant ball of yarn suddenly appeared beside the clone. And just like the original, the clone ball of yarn and needle started to move on its own, creating another puppet at a fast speed. It didn''t take long before it created another four puppets in its midst: the Beast, the Prince, the Frog Prince, and the Huntsman. The Dragon Queen Malificient felt that something was wrong. This wasn''t supposed to happen. It wasn''t supposed to be possible. The new puppets then raised their hands. Power surged from their humanoid bodies, the same one that the other humanoid puppets emanated. Then, a single command from Atlan''s clone puppet made the other puppets unleash their LifeSkills. The Huntsman fired off an Apocalyptic Hellfire arrow at the three dragon clones, creating a ruinous explosion that knocked off their scales. The Beast rushed towards the three dragon clones and started to wreak havoc on one of its backs, tearing scales with his bare hands. The Frog Prince swallowed another scale from the Dragon clones and started to transform into a dragon as well. The Prince used his protective bubble to protect the three clones from being destroyed by the dragon clones'' retaliation, which consisted of another three black holes. With the combined strength of the 2nd generation puppets, the three dragon clones were helpless as they got bombarded with Specialist-level LifeSkills. The Dragon Queen Malificient felt her pride get shattered once she saw this. ''YOU BASTARDS!'' Somehow, Atlan''s clones were able to beat her own clones. This shattered her pride into a million pieces and evoked a furious reaction from the Queen. In her anger, she summoned more and more clones, this time bringing a total of twenty Dragon clones from the death of the three dragons. This would have made other people tremble in fear, but Atlan didn''t even break a sweat. "You''re not the only one who can summon an infinite amount of clones." Atlan''s clone puppet summoned the giant needle and yarn again to create the last puppet. The Queen thought he''d create another White Beauty. But instead, Atlan''s clone puppet started to create another clone puppet of its own, with all the powers and abilities of the original Atlan. The Dragon Queen''s jaw dropped once she saw the 3rd generation clone puppet start to manifest its own giant yarn ball and needle. She couldn''t believe it. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She thought she would have the advantage of numbers against the human boy. But this ''skill'' completely evened out the battlefield. "That''s right, you lizard. I can infinitely create puppets too." Chapter 379 War of the clones Because he created a perfect clone copy of himself, Atlan was able to create a clone that had all of his powers in its own Soul System.The reason why he hadn''t been doing this all this time was because he didn''t think it was possible. However, when the White Beauty puppet died, he found that it wasn''t possible to revive her by creating another puppet in her likeness. So, he was forced to think about other sources of inspiration for his new puppet. However, he didn''t have any other figure that he could come up with. After all, he needed to be intimately familiar with the subject he was trying to make into a puppet. With no other choice left, Atlan was forced to draw from himself. After all, he knew himself the best, so he thought that it would be easy to create a clone of himself. When he created the clone, he instinctively knew that this was what he should have been doing in the first place. When he looked at the clone, it was as if he was looking at himself. He couldn''t distinguish it from himself, meaning that it had the exact same properties and aura as him. And since he could telepathically communicate with his puppets, he knew that the puppet had the same LifeSkills as him. The idea of creating a never-ending loop of clones emerged from his mind when he realized that his clone puppet had the same Spinster LifeSkill that could create its own puppets. And since the clone was the same as him, it had the same idea as him at the same time. Slowly, the air got filled with copies of Atlan and his puppets. One became two, two became four, and four became eight until there were about tens of thousands of clones in the air in a matter of minutes. The Dragon couldn''t believe what she was seeing. She thought that Canzers like her were the only ones who could clone themselves perfectly, but it seemed as if this human boy was the sole exception. The more she fought Atlan, the more she realized that he was special. Not only was he able to communicate with her through some weird power, but he was also able to pull off moves that not even the strongest of humans could make. The Dragon Queen Malificient looked down at Tulip, who was sitting safe and sound amid hundreds of clones. She was sure. The human boy named Atlan was the chosen one in the prophecy. He was the one who could threaten her life. This infuriated the Queen. Just when she thought that she had gotten rid of the pesky prophecy, it kept coming towards her any way she did. She regretted taking her leisurely time killing Tulip. If she had simply killed her and not tried to make Ninth and the humans submit to her, then she could have been done with this whole thing before Atlan arrived on this battlefield. Without Atlan, the prophecy would have no chance of being fulfilled. She cursed her own vanity. This was all her fault. But it didn''t matter now. Just because Atlan could clone himself infinitely didn''t mean that he could kill a being like her. The difference in strength was simply far too wide for him to overcome. The Dragon Queen Malificient roared to the skies, with her shout rumbling the entire Remedium. The trees in the magical forest shook, shedding off the leaves from their branches as a massive horde of Dragon clones emerged from the horizon and rushed towards the battlefield. This time, the Queen wasn''t going to hold back her strength. She was going to demolish Atlan before he could even try to kill her. ''You''re just a cheap imitation! Let me show you the true power of Canzers!'' The Dragon Queen Malificient roared, and the tens of thousands of dragon clones surrounding the battlefield roared with her, creating a sound that was only comparable to the breaking of the entire world in half. To protect himself, Atlan commanded his puppets to command their own puppets to prepare for a large battle. As the first horde of Dragon clones came rushing from all sides towards the humans, a fiery bluish-green sea of arrows fired off from the thousands of Huntsman clones. They all targeted their own dragon clones, making sure to target their wings, which was the only source of their flight. The dragon clones, in retaliation, opened their mouths and created mini black holes that arbored death and destruction. Upon screaming at the top of their lungs, the dragon launched the black holes toward the humans. As the thousands of Apocalyptic Hellfire arrows hit their target, a large explosion with great magnitude propagated through the air. A large green plume of smoke emerged from the point of contact, almost creating a mushroom cloud. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Immediately, tens of Dragons fell from the skies, with their wings burned or destroyed from the explosion. However, most of the Dragons came out of the volley of arrows unscathed. They were ruthless in using their dragon clones as a defensive shield to defend against the arrows. Meanwhile, the thousands of black sped through the air, continuously sucking up the air and atom particles, making itself bigger by the second. And as its mass increased, so did its force of attraction. Atlan and his tens of thousands of clones and puppets felt their bodies slowly starting to get sucked towards the black holes. To defend against this attack, Atlan made contact with the Prince puppet. With a single snap of its fingers, the thousands of Prince puppets used their Protective bubble LifeSkill to protect themselves. And as the golden bubbles intersected with each other, they popped and joined together. As thousands of them joined into one, the whole protective bubble became a giant golden dome with enough defensive properties to even defend against an atomic bomb. Case in point, the black holes collided with the golden luster of the dome, creating sparks of energy as plasma. But no matter how much the black holes tried to swallow the energy of the golden dome, it could not do so as it pleased. As the seconds passed, the black holes started to get smaller and smaller before dissipating into nothingness. Chapter 380 Improvising Unfortunately, some of the black holes were able to pool their strength and were able to break through the golden dome and rush towards its target.Hundreds of Atlan''s clones and puppets were swallowed by the black holes, shredding them into nothing but their atoms, turning them spaghettified. Even though both sides lost hundreds of their clones, Atlan and the Queen both felt nothing from the clash. After all, the Queen could spawn three more copies for each dragon clone that died. That was her inherent skill. Meanwhile, Atlan found that he could infinitely create clones of himself as well. There was no drawback or limit to how much he could create puppets of himself who could create their own puppets. The battle of the two of them now became a battle of how fast they could kill each other''s troops. Atlan could double his current clones any time he wanted, which made his clones explode in numbers. However, it took a long time for this to happen because he needed the clones to summon their giant yarn and needle to create the puppets. Meanwhile, the Queen could summon only three new dragon clones for each clone that died. However, they could spawn immediately. Also, one single dragon had enough strength to go against five of Atlan''s puppets at the same time. This led to a stalemate on both sides, with no side having the advantage over the other. The original Atlan watched on the sidelines as his hundreds of puppets swarmed the hundreds of Dragons, with most of them getting demolished just to destroy the clones. Just then, Atlan felt a touch on his shoulders. He looked to the side and saw Tulip behind him. ''Atlan?'' Even though there were thousands of identical clones all around him, somehow, Tulip was able to figure out that he was the original one. ''How did you know it was me?'' Atlan asked in perfect Canzer language. This surprised Tulip. Back then, whenever they talked to each other, Atlan would still speak the human language and she would barely be able to understand him. But now, he was speaking in the perfect Canzer language that she spoke. ''Surprised?'' Atlan asked. ''No,'' Tulip muttered. ''I..I had a feeling that you could speak like me¡­there''s something special with you¡­that''s why I ¡­. That''s why I¡­'' Find adventures on My Virtual Library Empire Tulip didn''t continue her words and turned away from facing Atlan. The clueless boy would have never thought that a Canzer would have a little crush on him. ''I''m glad you''re okay¡­'' said Tulip. ''Yeah¡­the Queen trapped me, but she didn''t kill me. If you ask me, that''s her biggest mistake.'' They didn''t know this, but the three good fairies were looking at the two of them and giggling to themselves. After all, they could see that the prophecy was coming true. The chosen one and the inheritor were in the same place. This meant that they had a chance to kill the Malificient Queen once and for all. ''My mothers told me about what happened¡­they told me that you were the chosen one¡­I don''t know what that is, trust me. I didn''t know you would get caught up in this just because you got involved with me.'' Even in this situation, Tulip was still worrying about other people rather than herself. It was as if she was more afraid of Atlan and the others dying than her. ''It''s fine. I would have helped you even if I wasn''t the chosen one.'' Tulip turned away again, hiding the bumps on her chitinous skin. She was lucky that Atlan didn''t know much about Chitin physiology. If he did, then he would have known that Tulip was feeling embarrassed, shy, and a little bit excited at the same time. He would see that her chitinous body vibrated every time he spoke because she liked listening to his voice. ''By the way,'' Atlan turned to the three good fairies watching by the sidelines. ''You say that I''m the chosen one. But how am I supposed to kill the Queen? She can''t kill me, but I can''t kill her as well. We are at a stalemate right now.'' The red fairy looked at the other three good fairies before floating towards Atlan. ''We don''t know exactly how you will best the Dragon Queen Malificient. But it has been foretold in the prophecy that the chosen one and the inheritor would combine their powers to stab at the heart of darkness.'' Atlan looked at the enchanted sword in his hands. The ''stab'' part was probably talking about the sword in his hands. He would probably need it for the final kill. However, he didn''t understand how he and Tulip were supposed to combine their powers. After all, Tulip didn''t have any sort of powers at all. She was useless on the battlefield. If he were to take the prophecy literally, then it could mean that Tulip and he needed to hold the sword together as they pierce it toward the Dragon Queen Malificient''s heart. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, if they were wrong, it could lead to the worst outcome possible. To stab the heart of the Dragon, he and Tulip needed to get close to the original Queen. The problem with this was that he would be bringing Tulip right in front of the Queen, giving her a chance to kill her. Right now, he was protecting her with thousands upon thousands of clones. But if he were to bring her to the front lines, he wasn''t sure he could protect her any longer. ''What am I supposed to do?'' asked Atlan. ''This stalemate can''t last forever. I don''t know which one of us will reach the limit, but I don''t like my odds.'' The three good fairies shook their heads. ''We do not know the answer, young man. You do, deep inside you. You are the chosen one, and you will know the right move at the right time.'' Without a proper clue as to how he was going to defeat the Dragon Queen, Atlan had to improvise. Chapter 381 Trying to talk sense Atlan had no choice but to try and beat the Dragon Queen Malificient under her own game. If she could triple the amount of her dragon clones the moment one of them dies, then he would keep multiplying all of his clones by two each time.By now, his number of clones kept growing at an exponential rate. At this point, the skies would be completely covered with his clones and his puppets. At that point, even if the Dragon Queen summoned more and more of her clones, she would not be able to keep up with his numbers. ''Atlan¡­we can''t keep going on like this,'' Tulip walked towards Atlan. ''We need¡­we need to finish this once and for all.'' Atlan was trying to do that, but he didn''t know what to do. ''I''ll keep her occupied till I find the right idea. After all, that''s what your mothers said, right? I will not have the right idea when I think of it.'' But Tulip remained unconvinced. Even though she was still a lowly Canzer who didn''t have the strength or power to take control of the situation, she knew that she had to do something. It was as if something deep inside her was trying to say that she needed to be the one to spur everything on. ''You have to let me meet her,'' Tulip said. Atlan looked back at her like she was crazy. ''The Queen? Are you kidding me?! May I remind you that she is trying to kill you. Bringing you to her, I will be bringing what she wants the most on a silver platter.'' Right now, they were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of clones. No matter how much the Dragon Queen Malificient tried to go through the clones, she would never be able to penetrate the clones. But if Atlan and Tulip voluntarily got out of this protective bubble, the Queen would immediately take that chance and take both of them out at the same time. However, it seemed that he was the only one who was thinking about the consequences. Tulip was still adamant in her request. ''What''s the reason why she wants to kill me in the first place?'' Tulip asked. ''Your mothers didn''t tell you?" ''No¡­they said that you would tell me.'' Atlan cursed the three good fairies. They didn''t have to put that burden on him. They already burdened him by having him fight the Dragon Queen Malificient all on his own, but now, he also had to tell the truth to Tulip. If he complained about it to them, Atlan was sure that their excuse would be that they didn''t want to interfere with the prophecy. ''The reason the Queen wants you dead is because you are her weakness. There''s a prophecy that says that you will be the one to succeed her throne,'' Atlan explained. ''What? I don''t want to do that¡­'' Tulip said, desperate in her plea. ''It doesn''t matter. That''s what she thinks, and that''s what the prophecy says. Even when I say that I''m not the chosen one, that is what it is said in whatever prophecy your mothers are following.'' Tulip thought for a second, and a dangerous thought flowed through her mind. ''What if I explain to her that I mean her no harm? I don''t want to succeed her; I just want to return to my normal life. She can keep running the kingdom, and I won''t ever appear in front of her face.'' Atlan listened to Tulip''s words and couldn''t believe how naivete. ''That won''t work. Before you even get close enough to talk to her, she will blast you out of the sky the moment she sees you. She has already wasted enough time, she won''t hesitate to kill you when she sees a chance. And even if you can talk to her, do you think that she will believe you? I don''t know why, but beings like the Queen and your mothers believe in this prophecy thing like it was set in stone.'''' Atlan tried to reason with Tulip, but he could see the determination in her eyes. It was as if she had finally found the answer to her question. She had always wondered why she was in this situation at all. She only wanted a normal life in the forest with her mothers, but now, she finally understood why she had to be the one to do it. She needed to reason with the Queen. That was the only way they could get out of this. Somehow, Tulip was sure of this. ''Atlan, please escort me near enough for me to talk to the Queen,'' begged Tulip. But Atlan immediately shook his head. ''No. That''s too dangerous.'' Experience new tales on My Virtual Library Empire Tulip took a big breath and said, ''Fine. I''ll do it by myself.'' Tulip then began walking towards the large collection of dragon clones all by herself. Atlan couldn''t believe how stubborn Tulip had become. He looked at the three good fairies, begging them for help. But instead of helping him convince Tulip out of her decision, the three good fairies nodded their heads towards him. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''What?'' he asked them. ''She has made her decision,'' said the blue fairy. ''We told you that if you have an idea, and it feels right, then it is what is meant to happen,'' said the green fairy. ''Tulip will meet with the Queen. That is in the prophecy. The reason why we didn''t say anything was because we couldn''t be the one to put the idea in her head. She had to be the one to decide for herself.'' Atlan shook his head. He couldn''t believe that even in this situation, the three good fairies were still thinking about the prophecy and its rules. Why couldn''t they just tell them the truth so that things would become so much easier? Well, she''s already decided. So, I guess I have no choice, Atlan thought to himself. And maybe, it was a good thing as well. After all, Tulip was the weakness of the Queen. Maybe, Tulip would show him the way to kill the Queen. Chapter 382 Destiny The original Atlan walked up to Tulip and grabbed her waist. Using his immense physical strength, he was able to lift her and himself into the air, as if he was walking on the ground.The hundreds of thousands of clones that filled the skies slowly made way for Atlan and Tulip, showing a direct line toward the horde of dragon clones. And further back there was the original Dragon Queen Malificient. Seeing this opportunity, the dragon clones immediately rushed toward the original Atland and Tulip. They looked like hungry dogs that had just gotten a glimpse of a meaty bone in the street. Of course, the moment they got close, Atlan''s clones and puppets converged on them and destroyed them into bits. Thousands of Apocalyptic Hellfire arrows were fired, and thousands of the humanoid Beast jumped from the ground and mounted the dragons, ripping the scales and wings from their back. Meanwhile, an infinite amount of golden bubbles protected Atlan and Tulip. Even when the thousands of dragon clones all shot a black hole toward them before their death, the infinite golden bubbles stopped them from penetrating deep into their territory. The moment one golden bubble shattered, two more took its place, hence the infinite golden bubble. Atlan''s clones moved to surround Atlan and Tulip at the center, creating a sphere of safety as they traveled closer and closer to the enemy territory. Meanwhile, the original Dragon Queen Malificient floated in the air, looking directly at Atlan and Tulip with eyes that could kill. It was clear that the moment she saw an opening, she would pounce and kill the two of them in a mere instant. ''Last chance. Do you really want to do this?'' Atlan asked. ''Yes. I do. I have to do this,'' replied Tulip. Knowing that he could do nothing to convince Tulip, he continued to move closer and closer to the dragon clones. He made sure to keep his eye peeled, making sure that anytime the dragon tried to do something, the clones were ready to make a decisive response. As they got closer and closer, Atlan realized that the dragon clones weren''t moving at all. They all started to move away from Atlan and Tulip. The thousands of dragon clones continued to make way for Atlan and Tulip to get closer to the Dragon Queen Malificient. This is a trap, Atlan thought to himself. After all, there was no way that the Queen would so graciously accept a truce with them without planning something under the shadows. However, Atlan didn''t have a choice. He had to trust Tulip and hope that she was able to convince the Queen out of this useless war. They continued to walk in the air. Atlan and Tulip were surrounded by his clones and puppets. Meanwhile, his clones and puppets were surrounded by a horde of dragon clones, ready to pounce at any time. Of course, this was extremely disadvantageous for Atlan and Tulip. If worse came to worst, then Atlan would have to use his trump card to escape. ''Have you come to surrender yourself,'' the Queen uttered from high up in the air. She slowly made her way towards Atlan and Tulip with a sly smile on her face. There was even a hint of ridicule in her eyes as if she thought that Tulip was stupid for bringing herself so close to her. ''Human, if you want mercy, that boat has long passed. We will not settle this fight until one of us will kill each other,'' the Queen said coldly. Back then, the Malificient Dragon Queen treated Atlan as nothing more than a little human boy. She didn''t treat him as any sort of threat and thought that she could kill him at any time he wanted. But she was quickly proven wrong. The fact that Atlan could keep up with her strength now, when he was just a little kid, meant that he had the potential to kill her in the future. That was what she wanted to avoid in the future. She finally realized why the prophecy treated Atlan as the chosen one. He was different from any human she had ever encountered. He was far too strong and overpowered. Just his ability to clone himself infinitely was enough to put him into one of the most dangerous beings in the Canzer world. ''Right back at ya, you lizard,'' Atlan replied. ''But I''m not here to settle our grudge. I''m here because someone wants to talk to you.'' The Dragon Queen Malificient looked at Tulip, who was right next to him. ''Miss¡­miss Queen¡­.'' Tulip could barely even stand up straight under the Dragon Queen''s gaze. If it weren''t for Atlan''s aura protecting her, her measly little body would be crushed under the weight of the Dragon Queen''s aura. ''I have no words for you,'' replied the Queen, making sure to increase her tyrannical aura to the maximum. Stay connected through My Virtual Library Empire But even when Tulip felt like her heart wanted to escape, she endured everything and opened her mouth. ''I want to stop this whole thing¡­I don''t want to inherit your throne. I have no desire for it¡­so, please. Just let us all go and I will never show myself in this kingdom ever again. You can rule this entire kingdom for as long as you can!'' Tulip''s words became louder and louder, turning into a shout. Her emotions got the better of her. In response to her charged message, the Dragon Queen Malificient simply laughed. ''HAHAHAHAHAHA! How amusing!'' S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Tulip frowned, not understanding why her words sounded so funny. From her perspective, her request was fully reasonable. ''Let me tell you something, little Canzer. Prophecies are strange, unpredictable knots of fate. Unless I kill you, then the prophecy will not change. You will eventually lead my downfall. Even if you go to the other side of the world, you will eventually find yourself back in this kingdom one way or another. There is a saying; One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.'' Chapter 383 Surrender The Dragon Queen Malificient was not receptive to Tulip''s suggestion. Unlike Tulip, the Queen knew a lot more about the true power of a prophecy. She treated it as nothing more than truth, plain and simple.Tulip may feel nothing for the Queen right now. But who''s to say that it won''t change in the future? It could very well be possible that Tulip would gain hatred and anger for the Malificient Queen in the future. After all, she did imprison her three mothers and burned their house down. The Queen also did not like to live a life filled with caution and worry. If Tulip lived somewhere in the world, then she would always have to worry about having her backstabbed out of nowhere. She didn''t like that. She would turn paranoid. ''Please. Let''s stop this nonsensical killing. I will not become your downfall!'' Tulip tried to convince the Queen. But the Dragon Queen Malificient had other plans. ''How about you kill yourself right now? That would solve all our problems.'' The Queen''s words made Tulip hesitate. If she wasn''t going to budge on this, then maybe the best way to go about this was to sacrifice herself and let other people live their lives. But Atlan''s warm hand on her chitinous shoulders told her that this was a bad idea. They weren''t sure that if Tulip died, the Queen would stop her reign of terror. It was more than possible that she would try to kill them all to get rid of all loose ends. Tulip was the Dragon Queen Malificient''s only weakness. This meant that if Tulip died, then the Queen would no longer have any weakness for Atlan and the humans to exploit. She would practically be invincible and impossible to defeat. This would eventually lead to their deaths. Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire Either way, they were too deep in this thing to give up now. There were only two options where this could go. Either they convince the Queen to stop, or they kill her. That was it. ''I can''t¡­do that,'' Tulip said meekly. ''Well then, we have no more to talk about.'' Just as the Queen said that, the thousands upon thousands of dragon clones all converged toward Atlan''s clones in the hopes of penetrating through their defense and reaching Tulip. Michael grabbed Tulip by the waist, ready to burst out of there the moment things got too dangerous. Atlan''s clones and puppets were ravaged by the dragon clones. The Beast puppets jumped atop the dragon''s back and tried to steer them to collide with other dragons. The Frog Dragon puppet continued to bite pieces of dragon clones, improving its strength in the process. The Huntsman puppet remained on the ground to protect Ninth and the team. But still, they fired shot after shot, creating a massive explosion that decimated the dragon clone population. With how many dragon clones there were in the sky, the Huntsman couldn''t miss even if he wanted to. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Meanwhile, a group of Prince puppets remained close to Atlan and Tulip. Their golden bubbles intersected and combined to create an indestructible barrier. But of course, the Dragon clones continued to multiply by three with each death. They fired black holes after black holes, each growing in size as it devoured Atlan''s puppets. Tulip watched as the onslaught continued to rain down all around her. She couldn''t help but close her eyes. She didn''t want to see all of this. Even if they were mere puppets, Tulip felt as if they were real people. After all, even Atlan''s clones were starting to fall from the attacks of the Dragon clones. Everything happened all because of her. This meant that only she could end everything. Tulip wriggled out of Atlan''s grip and rushed towards the original Dragon Queen Malificient. ''Okay! Okay! I will surrender myself!" she said. Atlan tried to stop her but found that his strength started to wane. It was as if all of his powers were draining from his body for a mere second. This allowed Tulip to walk forward and present herself to the Dragon Queen Malificient. ''Ahh¡­see? That wasn''t so hard now, was it?'' The Dragon Clones made way for Tulip to float up towards the dwelling place of the original Dragon Queen Malificient. Atlan watched, helpless as Tulip went all on her own. ''What¡­what are you doing?!'' he tried to scream at her. But, Tulip just looked back at him and flashed him a smile. It looked like she had just given up, but Atlan could see a glimmer of determination in her eyes. What is she trying to do? Atlan asked himself. But even then, he couldn''t understand anything. Slowly, Atlan felt the power returning to his body. His Student-level strength shot back up to the specialist level, allowing him to have the strength he had back then. However, it was too late. Tulip was already amid the Dragon Clones as she floated up towards the Dragon Queen Malificient. ''Do not worry, little one. I will be gentle. I will only need your heart to consume for myself. I will not desecrate your body, and even leave a funeral for you at the end.'' Tulip looked down at the ground as the Queen pulled her closer to herself. The Queen, knowing that she was about to have whatever she wanted, transformed her body back to her Canzer form. If one looked at the Queen and Tulip, one would think that they were mother and daughter, if not sisters. They almost looked entirely the same, except for the signs of aging on the Queen''s chitin. Tulip floated close enough for the Queen to reach out her hand and grab Tulip''s chest. She was about to rip the heart of her weakness! Atlan could only watch on, helpless. He couldn''t understand what happened to him. If only he didn''t have that moment of weakness, then he could have prevented Tulip from doing something so stupid. But then, a flash of understanding crossed his eyes. He looked back down at the three good fairies, who were looking at him as well. Their expressions were solemn, but they were not sad. Atlan realized that they were the ones who caused his moment of weakness! This meant only one thing: they wanted Tulip to go to the Queen! Chapter 384 Sacrifice to kill Atlan made a contract with the three good fairies. In exchange for fighting the Dragon Queen Malificient, then they would lend him their powers, allowing him to surpass his current limitation of power and reach the Specialist level.But at that moment, his strength dropped back down to the Student level. It was as if the contract was voided for a brief second, which was enough of a time gap for Tulip to escape from his grasp. Atlan couldn''t interpret this any other way. The three good fairies wanted Tulip to surrender herself to the Queen! He couldn''t understand this. He thought that they cared deeply for their daughter, but this action led him to believe that they wanted her to be killed! His eyes and expression displayed the anger and frustration he had for them. He demanded answers. The three good fairies, knowing what Atlan must feel right now, nodded their heads. They couldn''t tell him anything, but they could at least give him some sort of sign that everything was proceeding as it was supposed to proceed. Atlan''s eyebrows furrowed. This is part of the plan? He couldn''t understand it. Tulip''s heart was about to be wrenched out of her chest, yet this was part of the plan? It was counterintuitive, if you asked him. But Atlan could do nothing but have faith. Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire Just then, Atlan realized something all around him. The thousands of dragon clones, all started to fall a slight bit from their usual flight pattern. It was as if they were losing energy fast. The Queen, in her excitement, only focused on Tulip''s heart. Once she consumed her heart, then she could be sure that the prophecy would be over. If she killed Tulip, she would be invincible under the sun! No human could ever kill her. But because she was so focused on that, she didn''t realize that her own body was starting to betray her strength. As Tulip got closer and closer to her, the Malificient Dragon Queen''s body started to get weaker and weaker. After all, she was in the presence of her very weakness. She was like a construct. The presence of Tulip in close proximity to her allowed a tiny brief moment of weakness. But the Queen didn''t care. She was about to be invincible after she killed Tulip. And even if the humans tried to attack her now, there were still thousands upon thousands of dragon clones ready to sacrifice their lives to buy her enough time to shove her hands into Tulip''s heart. They would never reach her in time. The Queen''s hands felt weak as it was about to reach Tulip''s chest. It started to shake. But the Queen continued to push her hands closer and closer, letting the sharpness of her nails pierce through Tulip''s weak chitin armor. But just as she was about to go deeper, Tulip suddenly lunged towards her and embraced her deeply. The Queen, not expecting this, could do nothing as Tulip had her in her embrace. No matter how much she tried to struggle, the Queen could not wriggle herself out of Tulip''s hands. She was at the peak of strength, and Tulip was at the bottom. Yet, the Queen didn''t have the strength to push her away. Since Tulip was making close contact with her, the Queen was weakened to such a state that she was even weaker than Tulip herself. Then, Tulip shouted back at Atlan. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Do it now! Kill us both!'' she shouted. Atlan looked up at Tulip and the Queen. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing, but his first response was a definite no. Now that Tulip and the Queen were in the same place, it would be easy to kill the Queen. But, was it so easy? Just then, he remembered the three good fairies. They said that he was the chosen one, the being that would be the one to help kill the Magical Queen Malificient. Atlan didn''t believe the prophecy at all. But now, it kind of made sense. After all, if it was any other human in his place, they wouldn''t have been able to fight the Queen at all. It was only because of Atlan and his strange and overpowered abilities that allowed him to struggle with the Queen for this long. If it was any other Savior, they would have not been able to fight against a horde of Dragon clones all by themselves. But Atlan could do it. Only he could have done it. And even in this situation, where he was faced with killing both Tulip and the Queen, Atlan was the only one who could do it. Since he was a human and he didn''t have a construct, he could never kill a Canzer. This meant that he would never be able to kill the Queen, no matter how weakened she became. But Atlan was special. He had a secret power. He had the SSS class LifeSkill Cherubic Retribution, which was made out of the powers of an angel. With that LifeSkill, he could kill the Queen even if he didn''t have a construct with him. He only needed her to be weakened, just like she was now. But that also meant that he could kill Tulip. Since they were holding each other so close, Atlan couldn''t target just one of them. He had to hit both of them. It finally made sense why the three good fairies all told him to conceal his Angel Wings and his angel power. If he had shown his trump card early, then the Queen would have become too wary of him to let down her guard like she did now. He looked back at the three good fairies, and they all nodded at him with a smile. They were saying to him that this was the time. Atlan finally knew what to do. ''Tulip¡­don''t die.'' he muttered. Atlan commanded the thousands upon thousands of his clones to look up and face the Queen. As he raised his hand, his ten thousand clone army all raised their hand with him. They all pointed at the Queen and Tulip. Slowly, the power of the Angels gathered in his hands. Chapter 385 Sword pierced The combination of ten thousand Atlan clones allowed the Cherubic Retribution cloud to become as big as an ocean. Of course, the lightning bolt that it would unleash was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before.The cloud was so strong that Atlan even doubted that he could control it by himself. It was starting to go out of control, spewing little bolts of lighting everywhere. But it didn''t matter. As long as it hit the Queen, then she would disintegrate beyond a doubt. Even her tremendous regeneration ability wouldn''t save her from the onslaught of the Angel power coursing through her chitinous body. Atlan just needed to snap his fingers to unleash the final bolt needed to kill the Queen. ''Begone,'' he said in the Canzer language. He could have simply said it in the human language, but he didn''t. He wanted the Dragon Queen Malificient to understand that she would perish soon. As soon as he said that, the giant cumulonimbus cloud above her head started to shake and vibrate as if it was about to explode. Then, a giant golden bolt of lightning came down from the heavens and emerged down the cloud. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even though a bolt of lightning was extremely fast, everyone saw it unfold like it was in slow motion. The bolt of golden lighting crawled down, with little sparks of electricity surrounding the large bolt. Ninth and the others watched on with wonder and amazement as the lightning bolt resembled the peak power of the Angels they were so used to back in the day. For them, it was a symbol of hope. But for the Queen, it was a symbol of death. Even though she could see the golden lightning bolt and follow its movements, she could do nothing but watch as it moved closer down to her body. She couldn''t escape. Her chitinous heart was beating a thousand times per second. She was starting to think that this might be truly the end of her life. Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire Even when she tried to take control of her Dragon clones, they were unable to get close to the giant golden bolt of lightning. The inherent weakness they had against Angel power made them unable to go against their better nature. The Dragon Queen Malificient cursed her clones. She wanted them to swarm the clouds and the golden lightning in an attempt to try and disperse it out of the air, but they refused her request. They all knew that they would die the moment they tried to enter the cloud or put themselves in harm''s way by the bolt of lightning. That was permanent death. They won''t be able to clone themselves after they die from Angel power. ''Curse you, Tulip! Is this truly what you want? Death for both of us?! You are condemning the deaths of millions of Canzers in our kingdom. Without me, they are helpless against the onslaught of both humans and Canzers. Is the life of these humans so much more worth to you? In a choice between millions of Canzers and a handful of humans, you would choose the humans?! Preposterous. This is the reason why you cannot be allowed to inherit my kingdom!'' Seeing the determined face on Tulip, the Dragon Queen Malificient knew that it would be useless to speak to Tulip. ''I''m not doing this for others,'' Tulip said. ''I''m doing it for myself. For my revenge. This is for burning down my house. This is for imprisoning my mothers. This is for trying to hurt my friend!'' Just as she said that, the golden bolt of lightning finally hit the Dragon Queen Malificient''s body. Since her body was in her Canzer form, all the Angel power was absorbed quickly into her body, wreaking havoc and continuing to revolve around her body. She felt her strength waning as if she was about to fall asleep. But the Queen didn''t want to die yet. She was trying to fight the Angel power. As the most powerful being in this kingdom, she couldn''t let herself be bested by a mere human. She even realized that the bolt of lightning wasn''t as strong as she expected. Atlan didn''t use its full strength. If he did, then she would have died the moment the golden bolt of lightning hit her chitinous body. But even after a fraction of a second had passed, the Queen still felt as if she could try to overcome the lightning Angel power. It still hurt as if her entire body was on fire, but the Queen could ignore that and try to endure the power of the Angels. As long as she endured enough, Tulip would eventually pass away before her, allowing her to regain most of her strength. Once the bolt of lightning dissipated, the Malificient Queen would regain enough strength to escape or try to kill Atlan while he was at his most vulnerable. ''Come die, Tulip!'' Slowly, the Malificient Queen felt Tulip''s grip on her body start to lighten. As expected, a weak Canzer like her would be unable to hold on for much longer against an onslaught of the golden bolt of lightning. Even if Tulip wasn''t hit by the bolt directly, she was still holding onto the Queen tightly, meaning the excess Angel power coursed through her body as well. Since she was weak, Tulip felt herself becoming more and more weak, until, her hands finally gave way. She let go of her grip on the Queen, letting her regain some of her strength. The Dragon Queen Malificient smiled, feeling as if she was close to victory. With Tulip falling to the ground, she was getting further and further away from the Queen, dissipating the weakening effect she had on the Queen. And with that power restored, she had more energy to try and resist the golden bolt of lightning. Previously, her chitinous armor was starting to fade away bit by bit as it turned into ash, but now, the Queen was regenerating her wounds. ''HAHAHAHA¡­I WILL WIN. I WILL BEAT THE PROPHECY¡ª'' Before she could speak any further, she suddenly felt a piercing pain in her heart. When she opened her eyes, she saw Atlan in front of her, with his sword pierced towards her heart. Chapter 386 Finish her off The Malificient Dragon Queen''s eyes suddenly widened as she realized what was happening. The presence of something that even she feared was suddenly present in the little human boy, surprised her into shock.That was the power of the Angels. But that was supposed to be impossible. Not to mention that they were extinct, a human shouldn''t even be able to wield their power at all! Just then, Atlan and all ten thousand of his clones all burst out Angel Wings from behind his back, empowering the Angel power in his body. If the angel power the Queen felt before was like a small drop in the bucket, now, the presence of Angel power in this place was like an entire ocean! She almost suffocated from the pressure of her greatest enemies. After all, Angels were Canzers'' weakness. Now, all of his clones were clouded in a shroud of Angel divinity. And the fact that Atlan only revealed this kind of power meant that he had been planning for this to happen from the beginning. Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire Atlan could have used his Angel Wings much earlier in the fight, and probably have gained the advantage in the battlefield. After all, Angel Wings allowed him to have a tremendous amount of speed and maneuverability in the air. Even if it wasn''t as strong as the original Angel Wings, it was still strong enough to beat the Dragon Queen Malificient and her dragon clones'' speed. But since he kept it hidden all this time, the Dragon Queen thought that Atlan had given all that he had got. This led the Queen to let her guard down and let Tulip get close to her, making her temporarily weak. Now, she was in a very precarious situation. Because of the presence of Tulip, she couldn''t bring up any sort of power to try and get out of this situation. She didn''t even have any power to push Tulip away! Now was the perfect time for Atlan to use his Angel Power. If it was before, then the Dragon Queen Malificient would have been able to get out of this battlefield as soon as possible, taking no chance to fight against someone with the power of the Angels by his side. The Dragon Queen Malificient cursed the prophecy. Just like what others said, it wouldn''t be easy to break what was meant to happen. Meanwhile, Ninth and the other Specialist Saviors looked on at Atlan with surprise written all over their faces. They couldn''t help but force their injured bodies to sit up and stare at the pure white Angel Wings on Atlan''s back. The presence of the Angels brought back a familiar memory within them, like a mother''s hug. Because they were at the top of their field, they were privy to a lot of sensitive information that others wouldn''t have been able to know. As soon as the Angels went extinct, all the high-level Saviors were informed of their death. At first, of course, everyone couldn''t believe the news. After all, Angels were supposed to be an extension of the God itself. There were even some people who didn''t care that the Angels died off. But that was before they all realized that with the death of the Angels, came the death of all living beings. They were made to realize that without the Angels, their immortality came with them. This meant that they could die! This led a lot of the Specialist Saviors to be afraid. After all, they had lived for far too long and lived a life in luxury just so that they would die. So, even though the fate of the City was at stake, some of the most powerful Saviors in the City refused to do this mission, leaving the relatively new Ninth and her team to go on this church mission instead. It didn''t matter to Ninth though. She was going on this mission whether they still had their immortality or not. She cared about this City and didn''t want it to be destroyed. They were all prepared to die during this mission if that''s what it took. But there were still traces of fear and uncertainty in their hearts. No one was ever ready to die. However, when they saw the presence of the Angel Wings in Atlan''s back, they were once again reminded of their aura. It made them realize that the Genesis God hadn''t forsaken them after all. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That must have been the reason why the Elder Heads insisted on Atlan becoming part of this mission. They must have known about his Angel powers, simply because the Genesis God foretold them about it. After all, they were the only ones who could communicate with Him. The Genesis God knew this would happen, and knew that Atlan would be the only one to stop it! It finally made sense why a Student-level porter was allowed to be in such a difficult Specialist-level mission. Now, Ninth and her team had hope in their eyes. Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to come out of this unscathed and with the safety of the entire City intact. "Go¡­go kill her, Atlan," Ninth muttered. Just then, Atlan finished his preparation. Even though it took a few seconds for him to lock towards his target, it was easy since they weren''t moving at all. Tulip made sure that the Malificient Dragon Queen wouldn''t be able to escape. As Atlan''s power surged through his veins, all the Angel power seemed to have gathered in the air at the top of Tulip and the Queen''s head. Slowly, a large, dark cloud gathered from out of nowhere and obscured the entire heavens. It rumbled with lightning, warning everyone of its eventual explosion. The Queen felt fear from the cloud above her. This was the first time where she felt as if her own life was being threatened. She started shaking. She was about to die. The most powerful being in the kingdom was cowering under the strength of the Angel Power, yet in contrast, Tulip wasn''t afraid at all. She was even relieved, knowing that all would be over soon. Chapter 387 Same circumstance Atlan pierced through the heart of the Queen. His sword sunk deeply into her chitinous armor, penetrating her innards and reaching the most vital part of her body.She might have escaped from her weakness, Tulip, which allowed her to regenerate some of her health, however, Atlan just came in time to finish the job. Just when the Dragon Queen Malificient thought that she would come out of this unscathed, Atlan suddenly made another injury to her body, weakening it enough to have the Cherubic Retribution lightning tear through her body. The regenerating chitin on the Queen''s body stopped as the chaos and destruction caused by the Angel power in her body started to retake control. Her strong chitin, which would have allowed her to survive even in the toughest of situations, was now starting to burn into nothing but ashes. Slowly, the Malificient Dragon Queen''s face turned paler and paler, with cracks appearing under her skin. She had lost. If only she had known that Atlan had the power of the Angels, then she would have made sure to kill him first. Or if that wasn''t possible, she could have run away for now. In the last dredges of her life, the Dragon Queen Malificient looked Atlan in the eyes, conveying her anger and her fury at him for one last time. And by resisting the disintegration effect of the Cherubic Retribution had on her body, using the last energy spurt in her mind, she opened her mouth and spoke to Atlan. ''Ha..hahaha¡­human¡­you will pay¡­.they will come¡­'' And in her last words, the Dragon Queen finally turned into nothing but ashes, slowly dissipating away from the wind in the air. Atlan felt the power in his sword weaken, finally having finished its job. He looked around and saw the dragon clones fading just like the original, turning their magnificent scales that could protect them from an atomic bomb, into nothing but ashes. Finally, it was just him at the top of the skies, looking down at everything under his feet. He couldn''t believe it. He had done it. He had killed a Specialist-level Canzer all by himself. And it wasn''t just a regular old Specialist Canzer, it was a Dragon of all species. It was perhaps the strongest one out there in the world. Of course, he couldn''t have done it without other people''s help, but it was the undeniable truth that he was the one that injured her to this extent, and sunk the final blow to her death. He killed her. Plain and simple. But it didn''t come at a cost. Atlan unfurled the Angel Wings in his back, allowing him strength and speed, unlike anything he had ever experienced before. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He disappeared from the air and reappeared further below, holding the lifeless body of Tulip in his hands. He looked at her face and saw nothing but relief in her expression. Just as she thought, Atlan would be able to fulfill her wishes to the very end. And because of that, she would gladly welcome death that came for her. Atlan couldn''t help but shed a tear for the helpless little Canzer. Even though she was the weakest out of all of them, she turned out to be the strongest. She was able to hold her own against the Dragon Queen Canzer, allowing herself to be taken captive by her, only to turn things around and capture the Queen instead. It was a moment of brilliance that Atlan would never forget in his life. Atlan was only able to kill her because of Tulip''s sacrifice. If she hadn''t weakened the Dragon Queen Malificient to the point of immobility, then Atlan wouldn''t have had the time to target her with his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill. But now, her bravery came at a cost. Because she was so close to the Queen, she was also affected by the Cherubic Retribution. It wreaked havoc on her small and fragile body. Atlan had to be careful because he felt as if any large movements and Tulip''s body would start to fade away into the wind. He looked at her face and saw the cracks starting to propagate throughout her body. She was also starting to disintegrate, but he didn''t want that to happen. He wanted her to have a proper burial. At least then, she would be at peace in her home. He floated back towards the three good fairies. They all surrounded Tulip with tears in their eyes. But just when he thought they''d cry their hearts out at this tragedy, the three good fairies looked at Atlan with a tinge of hope and desperation. Atlan looked at their eyes, but couldn''t decipher their intentions. ''What do you want me to do?'' he asked them. But the three good fairies kept their mouths shut. Even though they wanted to tell him, they couldn''t. The prophecy forbids them from doing so. After all, if they told him the truth, then it wouldn''t happen. Atlan needed to figure it out for himself. But still, the three good fairies could give him hints. ''Human¡­have you seen this before? You must have felt that all of this is familiar¡­'' the red fairy said. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire Atlan looked at the fairies with a confused face. He didn''t understand what they were talking about. I''ve seen this before? Atlan asked himself. But of course, he would remember whether he experienced this specific moment before. Maybe they''re not talking about this specific moment¡­where have I experienced a similar moment?...where have I seen this before¡­ And as he kept trying to remember, it finally clicked. And the revelation in his mind was so shocking that he couldn''t help but take a step back. He looked at Tulip, and then back at the memory in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He couldn''t believe it. Tulip almost had the same exact circumstances as the White Beauty! They were both princesses who were being hunted down by their Queen who turned out to be a dragon! Chapter 388 Metamorphosis Even though the two were completely different, Atlan couldn''t help but find a small similarity between the two.The White Canzer was forced out of her castle by the Enchanted Queen because she killed the royal family. So, she ended up fleeing far away from the castle until she settled into the forest. Tulip didn''t know why she was forced out of the castle, but she still ended up settling into the forest, where she hid all her life until Atlan found her. The two situations were completely the same, albeit the small differences. Both of them were being hunted by the Dragon Queens. The only difference was that the Enchanted Queen, the one that Atlan met earlier and became his ally, wanted to kill the White Canzer because she had committed a crime. Meanwhile, the Magical Queen wanted to kill Tulip simply because she wanted to stop the prophecy from being fulfilled. Tulip lived a life of silence and peace with her mothers. And she would have probably continued to do so if the Queen hadn''t been so hell-bent on trying to kill her. And the similarities between the two women Canzers didn''t end there. After all, the White Beauty had a Prince by her side. He was the one who was destined to protect and save her from harm. Continue reading on My Virtual Library Empire Back then, Atlan was able to defeat the White Canzer with the poisoned apple construct. This put her into an eternal sleep that would have finished off the job so much earlier than it did. However, her Prince suddenly arrived and revived her from her eternal slumber. If Atlan were to think about it some more, then the equivalent of the Prince in this situation was none other than himself! And if he were to follow that logic, then there is only one possible way that he could interpret this situation. ''I can still save Tulip¡­'' he asked the three good fairies. Even though they didn''t say anything, he could see it in their eyes that they were holding out onto the hope that he would somehow realize what they were trying to imply to him. After all, he was the chosen one in the prophecy. It was already foretold that once the Magical Queen Malificient was dead, Tulip''s death would follow. That was unless the chosen one would save her from death''s grasp. Now, they truly hoped that Atlan was the true chosen one in this prophecy. Atlan slowly put Tulip''s lifeless body into the ground. He noticed that she was paler than she was a minute ago, which meant that the window for her revival was nearing its closure. If he wanted to save her, then he had to do it not. Atlan slowly puckered up his lips as he kissed Tulip''s lips. This was how the Prince revived the White Canzer before. A single kiss was able to revive the White Canzer from her eternal slumber. Atlan hoped that this would be the one to bring Tulip back to life. And just as their lips touched, Tulip''s body suddenly began to glow a golden light. Her previously frozen heart was now slowly starting to beat again, spreading blood all over her body and beginning to give her a pinkish complexion. DADUMM¡­DADUM¡­ Slowly, he could hear her heartbeat start to rise as if she was about to wake up from a deep sleep. Atlan pulled away from her and observed her. After a few seconds, the golden light faded away. Atlan thought that it worked. After all, he could hear her chitinous heart beating once again. But as he observed her face, he noticed something weird. The cracks brought on by the effects of the Cherubic Retribution were getting larger and larger as if Tulip''s entire body was starting to break apart. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He was getting worried, thinking that Tulip would die out completely. But as he looked at the three good fairies, he realized that they weren''t worried at all. In fact, they looked like they were celebrating with a joyous expression. ''She has awakened!'' ''Human! Thank you!'' ''Do not worry, for Tulip is not nearing death. It is the opposite. She is starting her rebirth!'' Atlan watched as Tulip''s body began to break down even further, with fragments of her chitin cracking down and popping right out of her body. But it was then that Atlan realized that Tulip wasn''t dying, she was undergoing a metamorphosis. Her old body was like a cocoon, allowing her juvenile self to mature. And now that she has fully reached maturation, she no longer needed that cocoon. Her old chitin finally broke down, letting everyone see the new, polished chitin underneath. CRACK! POP! In the small-scale explosion, Tulip''s new body emerged out of her old body and floated into the air. Then, Tulip opened her eyes. She looked everywhere, confused as to what had happened to her. But as she looked down and saw the familiar faces of Atlan and her mothers, her expression softened. Atlan looked at Tulip''s new body and realized that she no longer looked as small as before. She had matured. Her physical appearance was something similar to the appearance of the Magical Queen Malificient, but there weren''t any malicious horns or spikes growing everywhere on her body. Tulip was the embodiment of peace and serenity, with her chitin colored green and white. She looked at her own hands, unable to reconcile that this was now her true body. She held power that was unfamiliar to her yet felt like it was hers this whole time. ''She has finally reached her final form!'' ''She is our new Queen! Our new Dragon Queen!'' ''She will lead us on the right path for the future!'' The three good fairies couldn''t help but praise the prophecy for being right. They believed in it all this time, and now, they were being proven right. ''The old Queen is finally dead. Rejoice, human. For you have accomplished everything that you needed to accomplish!'' Chapter 389 Green-White Dragon Tulip felt a different kind of power in her body. It felt as if her new body wasn''t enough to contain the magic and power that was hidden inside her soul.Instinctively, she knew what to do. She knew how to unleash this power outside and transform her body into something completely different. She looked at her mothers, and they gave her an assuring nod. They were saying to her that it was okay. That it was natural. Now that she had changed into her final form, she was no longer the weak old Tulip that she was before. She was stronger. And in the future, she would be even stronger than the Dragon Queen Malificient herself. That was the prophecy. Tulip looked at Atlan. This human boy was the reason why she had survived all this time. He was the reason why the Queen was dead. She felt indebted to him. She would do anything she could for him. And even though she had no desire to rule over an entire kingdom, she knew that she had to. There was something deep inside her heart that was telling her that governing the Magical Kingdom was the answer to how she could help Atlan. So, if in the future, Atlan would need the help of the entire kingdom, then Tulip would wait for that moment. And in the crescendo of her emotions, Tulip let go of all restrictions that were binding her body. Her green and white chitinous body started to glow white, turning everyone almost blind from the luminescence. Slowly, Tulip''s body started to grow and enlarge, so much so that she had to float up into the air so that she wouldn''t disturb anyone. She felt her legs grow, her arms extend, and her head become larger. And most of all, she felt a pair of wings behind her, giving her the power to defy gravity and float in the air. She felt superior in the air. She felt like she would never lose in terms of speed. As Tulip''s transformation finished, the glow faded, letting everyone see her new form. She was a Dragon. Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire Her scales were a combination of white and green, allowing her to be eye-catching even at large distances. They would be able to see her in all her beauty, no matter if they were from the other side of the world or not. And even though the power she had now wasn''t all that great compared to the original Queen, Atlan could feel a sense of power hiding deep inside her. It was like a seed, which would slowly grow into a magnificent tree in the future. Tulip spread her wings and soared through the skies, with her expression showing relief and happiness. This was the first time she had ever been this free. She felt as if she could do anything and go anywhere she wanted. Power surged through her body until her scales were glowing a bright neon green. She knew instinctively what this was. She looked down and spotted Ninth on the ground. Even though she was safe for now, it couldn''t be denied that she was in a bad situation. Her body was destroyed beyond belief. She wasn''t in any position to walk, much less continue the mission. And without Ninth, no one can continue the mission. This meant that they would have to retreat for now. Which would be such a shame because they were so close to the Church. Tulip knew what to do. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She gathered all the power in his body and released it into the form of a glowing ball of energy in her mouth. The sphere glowed and rotated around itself before being launched directly at Ninth''s body. The team of Specialist Saviors was a little bit wary. But once Atlan motioned for them to stop, they quickly backed down. Atlan knew that Tulip meant no harm. The sphere of power wasn''t emanating chaos and destruction like the Malificient Queen''s attack. It was emanating warmth and radiance. As it was about to reach Ninth, the ball suddenly slowed down to a crawl before gently making contact with Ninth''s head. As soon as the energy hit Ninth, a strange power coursed through her entire body. It went through all of her veins, fixing the mess that was once wreaking havoc on her body. Slowly, her cuts started to close up. The bruises started to clear. And most of all, the pained expression on Ninth''s face slowly faded and was replaced by an expression of relief. Miraculously, Ninth recovered enough energy to slowly wake from unconsciousness. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see her Soul Time recover from its dire state. She was previously only hours away from death, but somehow, she had gained a thousand years of Soul Time! She couldn''t believe it. She looked up at the dragon in the skies, and she knew instinctively that it was a friend. That was Tulip. She used to feel afraid and anxious whenever she looked at a dragon, but somehow, she felt safe and warm whenever she looked at the white and green dragon in the skies. She chuckled to herself. So much had changed inside her because of this mission. She thought Canzers and humans were mortal enemies, where one could not rest until the other was exterminated. For her, Canzers were killed on sight. But now, her perspective has changed. Just like humans, Canzers had good and bad personalities. Some Canzers deserve to die, just like the Magical Queen Malificient, and there were Canzers who deserved to live, like Tulip. It made her wonder about her previous Canzer kills. If she had tried to talk to them, would they have shown a different personality? Would she have become friends with some of them? She took that even further. Why did Canzers and humans have to fight at all? Why weren''t they making efforts to work together, to make peace between the two worlds? She decided right at this moment. She was going to do everything she could from here on out, to fulfill the peace between Canzers and humans. Chapter 390 Rewards for the Queens death Atlan was approached by the three good fairies.''Human. We want to thank you again for everything you have done.'' ''Yes. We''re extremely grateful.'' ''And for your troubles, we have decided to let you keep the magical sword and shield.'' Atlan looked at the weapons in his hand. The shield allowed him to defend against a serious attack from the Magical Queen Malificient, even while he was at the Student-level. With this shield, he could be sure that no Canzer could even come close to him. As for the sword, it was even more powerful than the sword. After all, it was the piece of metal that was able to pierce through the Dragon Queen Malificient''s chest, through its hard and dense scales and ribs. It was supposed to be the most protected part of the Dragon, but Atlan''s sword was somehow able to pierce through it with nothing but a small shove. Not only that, but ever since it had been drenched in Dragon Queen blood, Atlan felt as if there was some kind of power hidden inside his sword. ''Do not worry, human. The magical sword has the chance to absorb power from anything that it kills. And because we endowed it with luck, it is practically guaranteed that the sword will grow with every death it takes.'' Atlan nodded happily as he wielded the sword and shield. It was very strong, and he doubted whether he could even get a stronger weapon than this in the real world. However, it simply didn''t fit right in his hands. It was ''perfect'' in every sense of the word, but Atlan felt like it wasn''t perfect for him. He felt like there was a better weapon for him¡ªsomething like the scythe that he found back in the garden. ''Although we would like to give you a permanent boost in power, we must retract the power that we have given you to fight the Queen Malificient'' Atlan nodded. After all, it was stated in the contract that they made from his LifeSkill Book of Contracts, that the lending of their power was only viable until the Dragon Queen Malificient was dead. Now that the fight was over, that contract was null and voided. He also didn''t want to borrow someone else''s power for very long. It always felt like there was something foreign inside his body that he couldn''t quite describe. Atlan closed his eyes and let the power leave his body. His figure glowed, and small blobs of light left his skin and floated over to the three good fairies. Atlan was back to being in the Student-level realm. But he wasn''t sad in the least. After all, by killing the Dragon Queen Malificient all by himself, he was able to gain all the rewards in her death. [You have reaped an absolute being.] [You have defied all the odds.] [Multiplying all rewards by 10] [You have gained 999,999,999 experience.] [You have witnessed the extinction of the Magical Queen Malificient.] [You have gained 100,000,000 upgrade points] [You have gained the SSS-class LifeSkill: Tyrannical Dragon Tamer] ¡ªTamer: (SSS) Tyrannical Dragon Tamer ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Specialist realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª Allows the user to have complete and total domination over any dragon that he has seen. The user can summon the tamed dragon from anywhere in the world or universe. And if they so desire, he could improve the strength of his dragons, just as the user can improve his strength [You have gained 999,999 F class fragments] S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [You have gained 10-star genus: Draco Vulgaris] [You have gained 999,999 fragments] Atlan felt power coursing through his veins, power that was even greater than the power given to him by the three good fairies. The power given to him by the contract felt shallow. Even though it gave him enough power to fight against the Dragon Queen Malificient, Atlan knew that it wasn''t his. He knew that as fast as he obtained it, the faster it would be to leave. But with this power, he knew that it was his. It would never leave his side. It was now embedded deep into his bones, his veins, and his Soul System. Right now, his power was in the 1st stage Specialist realm. And for the new LifeSkill he obtained, he couldn''t help but smile. As far as he knew Dragons were the ultimate race in this world or universe. And the fact that he could now tame all of them meant that he now held absolute power in his hands. He no longer had to worry about any Dragon that tried to attack him. He would actually welcome it. After all, it would give him a chance to tame them and keep them for himself! It was as amazing as it seemed. Your next chapter awaits on My Virtual Library Empire Speaking of which, he wondered if he could try it out right now. ''Tulip¡­can you do me a favor?'' The green and white dragon in the skies immediately landed down next to Atlan with excitement. Tulip was so eager that she forgot that she weighed more than a thousand kilograms and was even more massive than some hills. As soon as she landed on the ground, the ground shook and cracked. ''Oops¡­hehe, sorry,'' Tulip said, with her tail shyly covering her head. ''It''s fine, Tulip. You''re still getting used to your new body. By the way, have I complimented you yet about your new look? It''s good.'' Tulip couldn''t help but smack her tail on the ground hard as she tried not to get embarrassed. ''Oh, you! It''s okay, I guess¡­hehe¡­'' Atlan then looked up at her with a sincere look. ''Tulip, do you trust me?'' The green and white dragon didn''t even hesitate as she nodded her head up and down, creating a gust of wind that almost knocked Atlan off his feet. ''Of course I do, Atlan!'' she replied. ''I have this new LifeSkill called Dragon Tamer, which allows me to¡­'' Atlan explained everything to Tulip, making sure to tell her the whole truth, with no secrets. ''Hehehe! Tame me, Atlan!" Chapter 391 Enchanted Queen Atlan thought that Tulip would deny his request outright. At least, he thought that she would think it through for a long time before ultimately rejecting it.After all, being tamed could be considered a demeaning action, especially to a dragon like her. Now that she had reached the peak of her ultimate form, she was no longer the simple Tulip that she was before. She was now the Queen of the kingdom and the ruler of the skies. ''Hehehe tame me, Atlan!'' But contrary to all his expectations, Tulip agreed to his words as soon as he stopped talking. It was as if she wasn''t even listening in the first place. "Are you sure about this, Tulip? This isn''t some simple contract. Being tamed means that you will always be connected to me. It means that I will always be able to summon you whenever I want, and wherever I want." Instead of getting afraid of those words, Tulip instead became very shy, putting both of her dragon hands on her head and shaking her head shyly. ''Connected¡­with Atlan¡­at all times¡­hehehe¡­'' Seeing her unable to think properly, Atlan looked to the three good fairies for help. "Can you help her make sense of this?" At this point, Atlan wanted Tulip to reject his request. He was worried for her because she answered his request too easily. And since the three good fairies were Tulip''s parents, he hoped that they would convince her to go out of this decision. ''Congratulations, honey!'' ''You bagged a good one there!'' ''This is cause for celebration!'' The three good fairies ignored Atlan and swarmed Tulip. And with their powers, they made fireworks in the sky. They were celebrating more now than they were celebrating surviving the Queen! It was quite an absurd sight to see. "What''s wrong with you all?" he asked the three good fairies. "Don''t you want to protect your child from being tamed by me?" The red fairy looked at Atlan and smiled. ''Human, this is all part of the prophecy too. It is said that after triumphing against the Malificient Queen, the inheritor and the chosen one will intertwine and live happily ever after. We thought you two would mate and become lovers. But, becoming tamed is good too.'' Atlan sighed. He shouldn''t have expected them to be on his side. They were also trying to further their cause. ''It''s okay, Atlan. I know what I''m doing,'' Tulip said. ''You have always protected me whenever I needed it. You even sacrificed yourself just so that I wouldn''t be abducted by the Queen. Now that I have the power, I want to repay all that you''ve done for me. I want to become tamed so that whenever you need me, you can call on me and I will go to your aid.'' sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan looked at Tulip and saw the sincere intentions in her eyes. He smiled. It seemed that he was underestimating Tulip. She was no longer the innocent Canzer that she was before. She was a dragon, who could think and decide for herself. "Fine. It''s your decision." Atlan closed his eyes and focused on the new LifeSkill planet in his Soul System. And as he did, he suddenly felt something change in his vision. Somehow, even with his eyes closed, he could see the outline of Tulip in front of him. He could see a fire inside her body. Somehow, he felt like he could touch that fire. He felt like he could interact with it. He knew instinctively what to do. His ''soul'' left his body and traveled towards Tulip. And in this strange, dark, world, Atlan grabbed Tulip''s fire inside her body. And once he did, a connection was established between the two of them. A red line was suddenly connected from his heart to her heart, allowing him to feel her presence no matter where he was. [Connection established with the Serene Dragon.] [Taming¡­.] [Complete!] [You have tamed the Serene Dragon. You can summon your tamed being at any time you want.] [You can change your tamed being''s appearance whenever you are out of the Remedium.] Somehow, Atlan felt stronger than he was before. Even when he had officially stepped into the Specialist realm, it felt like his natural bump had been increased once again. It''s probably because I tamed a strong being. He was still not getting used to the fact that he was now on the same level as Ninth and the others. It felt like nothing had changed, but in truth, everything had changed. His body felt super strong. Even when he wasn''t using the False Mutation of his Angel Wings, he could now move freely even with the immense weight of the battle suit he was wearing. He could jump, run, and swim, much faster than when he didn''t have his battle suit before. Just then, the whole Remedium reverberated. It was subtle, but beings like Atlan and Tulip could feel the difference from a mile away. ''Something''s coming,'' Tulip said. ''And¡­it feels familiar¡­it feels like¡ª'' Before she could even say something, the space in the sky suddenly split apart, creating a crevice in reality itself. Then, a creature from beyond suddenly put his hands out, grabbing the edges of the crevices and opening them larger with its bare hands. Just from the hand alone, which was full of scales, Atlan knew what he was looking at. ''It''s¡­it''s¡­.it''s another Dragon!'' Tulip shouted in fear. A black dragon with immense pressure and size came out of the portal, showing itself to Atlan and Tulip. The poor Serene Dragon was terrified. After all, even though she was a dragon now, she still wasn''t used to her strength. Compared to a real dragon with decades and decades of experience, she would be of no use. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire ''Atlan¡­le¨Cleave¡­now¡­I''ll..I''ll. ta-take care of this¡­.'' Even though Tulip was scared to her wits, she still put herself in between the black dragon and Atlan. Even if she was going to sacrifice her life to save Atlan, then she would gladly do so. But Atlan put his hand up to stop her. "You don''t have to," he said. "We know each other." The black dragon smiled, looking down at Atlan. ''You''ve done quite a lot while I was gone,'' said the Enchanted Queen. She was the first Dragon Atlan encountered, and the one he had a contract with. Chapter 392 Unkillable Atlan looked up at the Queen with an unfriendly look.After all, the Queen was supposed to help Atlan kill Specialist-level Canzers. When they first entered this special Remedium, he came in with the confidence that the Queen had his back. He thought that she would come to his aid whenever he found trouble that he couldn''t solve. However, even though they''d been in this place for more than a day, he still couldn''t feel the presence of the Queen. It was as if she was gone. He thought she''d be the one to defeat the Dragon Queen Malificient since they were both dragons, but it turned out, the Enchanted Queen didn''t even show up. This forced Atlan to be the one to kill the Dragon Queen Malificient herself, which was not as easy as it looked. If he didn''t have the help of the three good fairies, then he wouldn''t have been able to kill the Dragon Queen Malifcient. He, Tulip, Ninth, and the rest of the Specialist Saviors would have been killed. "You''re late," he said, scorning the Queen. The Enchanted Queen shrugged her shoulders. ''This is not something that I could have interfered with. You can ask the three little fairies over there. The power of the prophecy obscured your location from me. I was unable to find you until you killed the Queen.'' "And what if I didn''t? I would have died. I thought we had an agreement." Her protection was the main reason why he trusted her in the first place. And since she couldn''t protect him this time, all his trust in her disappeared. Not only that, he also realized something back then. "Also¡­you didn''t tell me the truth." ''Have you finally realized something?'' the Enchanted Queen asked, a little bit jokingly. When Tulip almost died, Atlan was forced to recognize the fact that there were a lot of similarities between the White Canzer and Tulip. First of all, they were both princesses who were exiled from their castle because of one reason or another. Then, they both almost died. And a prince was the one who saved them from eternal slumber through a kiss. Tulip and the White Beauty were also being chased by a Queen who wanted them dead. This was what Atlan realized. The Dragon Queen Malificient wanted to kill Tulip because she was prophesied to inherit the kingdom upon the Malificient Queen''s death. Tulip was the Malificient Queen''s weakness, so the Queen wanted to get rid of her. Atlan wondered. Was it the same situation with the Enchanted Queen and the White Beauty? Could it be possible that the White Beauty was also the Enchanted Queen''s weakness? And now that Atlan killed the White Beauty, the Enchanted Queen no longer had a weakness of her own? Just the thought of it sent shivers down his body. "Was the White Canzer your weakness?" Atlan asked plainly. The black dragon looked at Atlan with an amused expression. She didn''t think that he would figure this out so soon. But, she wasn''t angry that he discovered the secret. She was more impressed at his intelligence. ''Yes. That is right. The White Canzer was indeed my only weakness,'' she explained. Atlan looked up at the black dragon. "This means that you can''t be killed by a human. Any human. Even me." Without a weakness, the Enchanted Black Dragon could no longer be killed by any human. She was practically invincible. ''Fufufu¡­yes. That is right. I cannot be killed by your kind.'' "And now that the Dragon Queen Malifcieint is dead, there is no Canzer that is strong enough to kill you," Michael guessed. ''You are partially correct. There are still some beings that can kill me, but they are all in hiding. So, yes. In the current world of the Canzers, I cannot be killed by anyone. That is unless, of course, your little friend over there becomes strong enough to surpass the old Malifcient.'' Atlan glared at the Queen. "Was this the reason you made a contract to help me? You wanted me to be the one to kill the Dragon Queen Malificient?" The black dragon shook her head. ''I do not have that kind of foresight, Atlan. I wanted to help you because you helped me become invincible against humans. That is the reason why despite your very strong and strange powers, I wanted to become your ally. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I never thought that the Dragon Queen Malifcient would try to kill you and the other humans. I thought she would stay in hiding.'' Atlan couldn''t quite believe her story. After all, everything turned out to benefit the Enchanted Dragon Queen even though she did nothing to help. It was all Atlan''s efforts. "Then why are you here now? If you''re here to kill Tulip and prevent her from being strong enough to kill you, then I will prove to you that a human can kill you," Atlan warned. Atlan''s words sent a shock to Tulip, making her act defensive around the black dragon. But the Enchanted Queen shook her head and sighed. ''Is this what you really think of me, Atlan? I am not some malicious being as you think. I could have killed the White Canzer and gotten rid of my weakness even before you arrived in the Remedium. However, I didn''t. I let her live because I didn''t want to waste a precious life. Do you think I would want to kill an innocent baby dragon like her?'' Tulip looked at the black dragon and felt as if she was telling the truth. Now that they were facing dragon to dragon, there was an unspeakable bond between them that could not be explained through normal means. ''Atlan, she''s telling the truth. I don''t think she''s a bad dragon.'' Though Tulip vouched for the Enchanted Queen, he was still hesitant to trust her. She should have told him the truth from the start. Find adventures on My Virtual Library Empire ''Atlan, I couldn''t help you fight the Dragon Queen Malificient. But I can help you right now. You''ll need it. After all, they''re coming¡­'' Chapter 393 Kingdom up for grabs "What are you talking about?" Atlan asked.''I heard it. In the last dredges of her life, the Malifcient Dragon Queen made a global announcement to the entire Canzer society,'' the Enchanted Queen said. Atlan did not like the sound of that. "What did she say?" he asked her. ''She told everyone that the Magical Kingdom is up for grabs. Anyone that could kill the humans that killed her would inherit the entire Kingdom for themselves,'' the Queen said with a grave voice. Atlan frowned. That was definitely not a good sign for them. After all, if he treated Canzers just like humans, then there would definitely be a lot of Canzers who would be tempted to go after them. "Why is this kingdom any good in the first place? Why are Canzers so hell-bent on becoming its ruler?" ''A kingdom allows a Canzer power and influence, unlike anything they had ever seen before. Not only could they have thousands of Canzers under their banner, but their strength would also increase manifold. This is because in the Canzer world, status equals power. The more influential you become, the stronger you can get.'' Atlan finally understood why the Canzers wanted to become the ruler of a Kingdom. If Atlan also shot up to become a Specialist-level Savior by simply becoming the ruler of a kingdom, then even he would be tempted to fight for the inheritance. ''As soon as I heard that, I knew that you were going to be in trouble,'' the Queen said. "Do you think there''s going to be a lot of them?" he asked. And before the Queen could answer his question, they suddenly heard a rumbling in the distance. Trees were being shot off into the skies, a cloud of dust emerged, and a mixture of power and pressure emanated from all sides. ''There must be thousands here¡­most of them at the Specialist level,'' the Queen said. "Damn. I thought it would at least be a combination of small fries who want a quick shot at becoming stronger. Why is it all Specialist-level Canzers?" Atlan asked. ''These Canzers are strong, but they are not the strongest. If they don''t become a royal and rule their own kingdom, then they will never be able to surpass their current strength. It makes sense that there''s a lot of Specialist-level Canzers trying to fight for the kingdom,'' the Queen explained. ''Oh no¡­oh no¡­what are we going to do?!'' Tulip panicked. Even though Atlan had become a Specialist-level Savior, he still wasn''t confident in fighting thousands of Canzers at the same time. Yes, he could always multiply himself into the thousands, but so could the other Canzers. He wasn''t just fighting one being like the Dragon Queen Malificient, he was fighting against thousands of different unique Canzers. This meant that he would have to find the weakness of a thousand different Canzers, which would be an impossible task for other people. "Why are we even still in this Remedium?" Ninth asked from the side. "The Dragon Queen is dead. We should be returning to the normal Remedium by now." "It doesn''t work that way," Atlan answered, translating the Queen''s answer. "We need to defeat this last horde because it is still an attack from the Queen beyond her death. She summoned this horde." Even though Ninth and her team had recovered from their previous injury thanks to Tulip''s help, they still weren''t in any shape to fight a thousand more Specialist-level Canzers. They barely even had enough energy to stand up, much less fight another horde of Canzers. Thankfully, Atlan was more than energized to fight. He had just gotten a lot of power from killing the Dragon Queen Malificient, so he was raring to fight. If his Cherubic Retribution was still at the Specialist level, Atlan would have simply multiplied himself by a thousand times and led each of his clones to target a single Canzer by themselves. However, it wasn''t that strong anymore. It was back at the Student level. Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire And even if Atlan put his Cherubic Retribution to his puppets, which would immediately turn the LifeSkil into an Intern-level LifeSkill, it still wouldn''t be enough to deal with the Specialist-level Canzers. He needed the powers of the three good fairies. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Can you help me? Can you give me that power again?" he asked them. Unfortunately, the three good fairies all shook their heads. ''It is not that easy, young human. We had given you all that we had when you fought the Dragon Queen Malificient. We are also recovering our strength so we cannot spare you any strength.'' Atlan bit his lips. Without their help, he would have to rely on himself. Even though it would be a lot harder, he could still use his previous tactic. He would give his Cherubic Retribution to his puppets and let them attack the horde of Canzers. Even though it would take at least a couple of lightning strikes, it would probably be enough to kill the Canzers. ''Hahaha,'' the Enchanted Queen laughed as she saw the worried look in Atlan. "What are you laughing about?" he asked her, a bit annoyed. ''Why are you worrying so much? Did you forget that I am here?'' the Enchanted Queen asked. "Are you going to help me this time? I almost forgot that we were allies this time. After all, you didn''t help me with the Dragon Queen Malificient." ''I told you, I couldn''t help you back then. But now, I am here. I''ll earn your trust back by taking care of this. You don''t have to do anything,'' the black dragon said. And just as she said, the Enchanted Queen looked up at the skies and soared to the heavens, showing its majestic appearance to the thousands of hungry Canzers in the distance. GRAOOO! She screamed. This sent a shiver down the Canzers'' spine. All those who were hesitating for a fight immediately turned back around and left the place. But most of them still went on. This was a chance for a lifetime for them. Chapter 394 Served up in a plate As soon as the black dragon showed itself in the skies, the rest of the Canzers felt its oppressive aura try and repel them from coming forward.If they were just by themselves, they would have immediately turned around and left the place. Who cared if they were going to inherit a kingdom if they were going to die for it? However, there were thousands upon thousands of other Specialist-level Canzers here with them. They weren''t alone. This gave them the hope that maybe, the black dragon wouldn''t be able to kill all of them. And somehow, one of them would be able to penetrate their defenses and kill the humans. They were hoping that others would get killed, and they would survive long enough to inherit the Kingdom. That was what they were all thinking when they faced the black dragon. They rallied under the assumption that the black dragon couldn''t kill all of them. But that was faulty from the very beginning. She was a dragon. No matter if there were a million of them in this world, they couldn''t hope to defeat a Dragon that had already lost its weakness. Not only that, they thought that the humans were easy pickings. After all, when the Dragon Queen Malificient announced to the world that anyone could inherit her kingdom, she didn''t tell them about Atlan. So, they thought he was simply just one of the weak humans that were close to dying. They charged, stomping on each other and the forest trees to try and get to them as fast as possible. Find exclusive stories on My Virtual Library Empire But as soon as they stepped into the dragon''s territory, the environment around them suddenly changed. They looked around and saw blackness above their heads. And within this dark heaven were a couple of white spots that twinkled in the distance. Some Canzers marveled at the scenery. After all, this was outer space! They had never seen this kind of thing before. For others, they ignored it. They thought it was mere decoration. But as soon as they tried to dash towards the humans, they suddenly found themselves unable to push their feet to the ground. No matter how much muscle and chitin they used, they couldn''t feel the ground underneath their soles. When they looked down, they were stunned to find out that they were slowly floating up! The worst thing about it was that they seemed to be unable to do anything about it. No matter how much they tried to move their body to jump or fall, they couldn''t move their body the way that they wanted to. These Canzers had never experienced zero gravity before, meaning they didn''t know how to move or even balance themselves in the air. A lot of them ended up rotating around themselves, making them nauseous. And there were some who were unlucky and ended up far too high above the ground, unable to move themselves down. They struggled and struggled, but there seemed to be a strange force that pushed them further up and into the stars. As they got higher and higher up in the atmosphere, they realized that they were leaving the ground faster and faster than before. It was as if they were accelerating at a constant rate! It only takes a few minutes for those unfortunate Canzers to find themselves shot off the planet, and onto the endless chasm of outer space. And no matter how much they screamed, they couldn''t seem to utter any sound out of their bodies. It didn''t even matter if they had multiple clones beside them. They all fell into the deepest depths of outer space regardless of how many clones they could create. The black dragon smiled as she watched this. No matter how much the little Canzers struggled, they could not escape from her Domain. This whole place was her territory. There was nothing that they could do. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Of course, some Canzers seemed to be able to find a balance within themselves. Some also had a fortunate physiology that allowed them to propel themselves in a zero-gravity environment, making traversing the domain easier than before. But that was only limited to movement. As for defense or attack, they were useless. Thousands upon thousands of Specialist-level Canzers were flailing around in the air, trying desperately to move towards the humans. The Enchanted Queen then looked at Atlan with a smile. ''Here. I served them up to you in a nice platter,'' she said. Atlan looked at her, confused as to what she was implying. ''Fufu¡­don''t you get stronger with every kill you get? This is the perfect opportunity for you to improve your strength a lot more. There are about a thousand Specialist-level Canzers out there waiting to be killed and harvested for power. Why do you think I created this domain? I could have just decimated them all with a fraction of my power, but I didn''t. I wanted to give that honor to you as a way to atone for my tardiness earlier.'' Atlan couldn''t believe the Queen''s words. She treated Specialist-level Canzers as if they were mere easy pickings. But Atlan couldn''t help but agree with her words. This was the perfect time for him to gather more power and more experience. Now that the Canzers were floating in the air, they were easy to target with his Cherubic Retribution. As long as Atlan created double the amount of clones than the current number of Specialist-level Canzers, then he could make sure that two clones would target one Canzer, dealing enough damage to kill the beast. "This¡­this could be really good," Atlan uttered to himself. Perhaps the rewards he would get with these Canzers would be greater than what he got from killing the Dragon Queen Malificient. Atlan closed his eyes and manifested the giant needle and giant ball of yarn. It started to stitch a very accurate clone of himself. After a second, this clone used its own giant ball of yarn and needle to create its own clone. This continued onward, with Atlan''s clones increasing at an exponential rate. Chapter 395 Nothing but ashes Within a few minutes, Atlans clones more than doubled the amount of helpless Specialist-level Canzers floating aimlessly in space.All the Specialist Canzers had no idea what the strange human was doing. Even though he had multiplied himself a thousand times, they still didn''t think that it was enough to deal with the likes of them. So, they ignored Atlan and continued to try and get themselves out of this situation. However, that was probably the biggest mistake they have ever made in their entire lives. It was unfortunate for them that the Dragon Queen Malificient told them nothing about who they were facing. After all, the Dragon Queen Malificient already underestimated Atlan once and paid the price for it dearly. Now, it would be the thousands of Specialist-level Canzers that were going to pay. As Atlan continued to create clones, he slowly prepared his Soul System with the Angel Power in his body. In his mind, he targeted a Specialist-level Canzer in front of him. It didn''t even have to be the strongest one out of all of them. Atlan just had to target one. Meanwhile, the other clones also began selecting their own Specialist-level Canzers to target. Using their telepathic communication, there was no misunderstanding between all of them. They knew each other''s roles, meaning there wouldn''t be any kind of overlap in their missions. Atlan told them that two clones would target one Specialist-level Canzer. That would be enough to kill them despite his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill only at the Intern level. As he finished his preparations, Atlan raised his hand and pointed at the Canzer in front of him. The Canzer wasn''t even looking at him. It was busy trying to find something to hold on to so that he wouldn''t float around aimlessly like the other Canzers. But then, his vision started to dim. Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire He suddenly looked down to notice a large cumulonimbus cloud overlooking them all. The previous starry night of space was replaced by a very ominous cloud, which began rumbling with electricity. At first, the Specialist-level Canzers didn''t think much of them. After all, they never minded the weather even back when they were younger. They weren''t going to be afraid of a little lightning now that they were Specialist-level Canzers of their own. But soon, they suddenly felt the growing power of something oppressing. It was the kind of pressure that made them immediately look up at the dark clouds in fear. Somehow, even if they couldn''t see what was hidden in the dark clouds, they instinctively felt that they were being hunted down by their worst enemy. These Specialist-level Canzers had lived long enough to know about the oppressing force of the Angels against the Canzers. But ever since they became extinct, the Canzers never had to worry about them again. So, they were utterly shocked when they felt the same power from the clouds as those Angels sent by God. They couldn''t believe it. Their hairs stood up on end, their chitin rumbled in fear. The ones who were floating up into the clouds because of the zero gravity environment screamed for his Canzer comrades to save him, but they could do nothing but watch as the Canzer floated up into the clouds and disappeared into its midst. The last thing they saw was a brief light illuminating the part where the Canzer disappeared. Then, silence. Eerie silence. They didn''t have to see to know that the Canzer was dead. This immediately sent a panic throughout the Canzers. They thought that the Angels were hiding over those clouds, waiting to kill them one by one. They started to hang onto whatever they could hang on to, even if it was another Canzer in their midst. However, this only ended up taking both of them into the skies, slowly going up into the dark cloud filled with Angel power. Atlan didn''t know why they were so adamant in trying to stay on the ground. After all, they would all die regardless. Atlan and the thousand of his clones behind him all uttered one single word. "Begone." And as soon as he said that, holy lightning started to rain down upon the helpless Specialist-level Canzers. BOOM! BUGSH! CRUSH! sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Golden lightning struck down from the heavens and dealt a heavy blow to the Canzers. Its Angel power coursed through the Canzer''s body and destroyed it from the inside and out. But, after one lightning strike, the Canzer still found themselves alive. They were barely hanging onto their lives, but they were still alive. Because of this, some of them even thought that the Angels had lost their power after their supposed ''extinction''. This gave them a little bit of hope. After all, they were still Specialist-level Canzers. They could regenerate any kind of wound they sustained after a few seconds. The others were even ready to multiply themselves into different clones. But just as they thought they were about to escape from this onslaught, another lightning strike suddenly rained down upon them, truly destroying their insides and killing them outright. They couldn''t even understand what happened. All the Canzers stood still. Their chitins no longer rumbled. And after a few seconds, they all started to turn into nothing but dust. They were dead. Soon, the whole field was filled with nothing but ashes scattering in the wind. Everyone watched this sight with an expression of disbelief. The Enchanted Queen smiled, but on the inside, she was a little bit frightened of Atlan''s powers. It was a good thing that she decided to become friends with him. Tulip, on the other hand, smiled and became proud of her friend. She had already expected Atlan to be able to do this, so she wasn''t that surprised. She felt like Atlan could do anything he wanted. Meanwhile, Ninth and the rest of the Specialist Saviors couldn''t close their jaws from the surprise. After all, they knew that all those were Specialist-level Canzers. They weren''t supposed to die so easily like that. But Atlan did it. Chapter 396 Lost the fight, won the war Their disbelief was logical. After all, they were also a team of Specialist Saviors. And compared to other teams in Genesis City or the world, they were considered to be one of the best out there.But even then, the best they could do was fight against two Specialist-level Canzers at once. That was their limit. But somehow, Atlan was able to kill a thousand of them. Not three, not ten, not a hundred, a thousand! This was a scary number. But perhaps the most surprising fact out of all of them was that Atlan used no kind of construct to defeat them. They simply died with that one attack. This overturned everything they knew about Canzers. They always thought that they needed to use constructs to defeat Canzers no matter if they were just at the Student level or in the highest level Specialist realm. They thought that Atlan simply wanted to kill the thousand Canzers just so that they could be bought enough time to run away. They were even expecting the Canzers to suddenly respawn from those ashes. But after a few seconds, nothing happened. The Canzers were dead. They couldn''t regenerate or spawn any clones! S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was a mind-blowing fact that they couldn''t understand. "This is because of my angel power," Atlan explained. Ninth and the rest of the team looked up at Atlan, who had pure white feathered angel wings on his back. They all looked at him with disbelief. But before they could even say anything else, something rumbled in the ground. They were all forced to look around. ''Humans¡­the price you pay for killing me is not something you can afford.'' Surprisingly, Atlan and the rest of them heard the voice of the Dragon Queen Malificient echoing in the forest. This made Atlan wary of his surroundings, thinking that somehow, the Dragon Queen Malificient was able to regenerate from her death and come back to finish him off. Tulip also became afraid. She turned back into her Canzer form and stayed close to Atlan. Experience exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire "How is she alive?" Atlan asked the Enchanted Queen. The black dragon looked up at the skies and smelled the air. Even she was surprised that the Dragon Queen Malificient was still able to speak beyond her death. ''She isn''t alive. She is dead. This is merely a remnant of her power. She must have left more of her magic before her death, more than I thought.'' The Queen thought that Malificient only used the remnant of her power to announce to the world that her kingdom was up for grabs. But it looked like she had something else planned as well. ''You may have won the fight, but you lost the war,'' the Dragon Queen Malificient''s voice echoed. ''No. We won,'' Tulip uttered out loud. She couldn''t help but speak up against the Dragon Queen Malificient. But since this was essentially just a recording of the Queen''s voice, it didn''t respond to Tulip''s provocation. ''Let me remind you of what you''ve forgotten.'' Just as Malificient said that, the whole Remedium suddenly changed. The Magical Forest that they were in was starting to change, from the very skies down to the very ground. It was as if the environment was melting, showing the true scenery that was hidden from their sight. ''Atlan¡­'' Tulip said, as she tried to touch Atlan. But it seemed as if she couldn''t even touch him. Her chitinous hands just phased through his body, as if he was just a projection. This confused Atlan. He looked over at the Enchanted Queen, who seemed to be looking at him even with the difference in dimension between them. ''Be careful Atlan. I don''t know what she''s planning but¡ª'' Then, even the Enchanted Queen''s words were cut off she her black dragon body shimmered out of existence. The only ones left that Atlan could see were Ninth and the rest of her team. Tulip and the Queen were gone. And when Atlan looked at where he was, he suddenly realized why he couldn''t see the other Canzers again. All around him, he could see the tall buildings and skyscrapers of Genesis City. And on the horizon, he could see its great walls protecting the city from the Unclaimed Lands. And in front of him was the Church. This was their very goal for this mission from the start. But because of all the things that had happened, he seemed to have forgotten that. Now that the Malificient Queen was dead, there was no longer any reason for Atlan and the other humans to remain in the Magical forest. They were transported back into the normal Remedium, where the world was the mirror image of the City itself. He knew that this was normal, but he couldn''t help but feel as if something was off. Just then, he suddenly saw something in front of him. There was a large rift portal opening, made up of nothing but chaos and destruction. This was very similar to the black hole that the Dragon Queen Malificient had used back in their fight. This put Atlan on high alert. And as the portal became larger, a single figure came out on the other side. It was a simple raven. This raven, with its black and shiny feather, hovered in the air and looked Atlan in the eyes. And somehow, Atlan felt as if this raven was sentient. Not only that, but it also had the same power signature as the Dragon Queen Malificient. This was a remnant of her power. The raven suddenly turned around and flew inside the Church. Goosebumps. Atlan''s hair stood on end. He finally realized what the Queen wanted to do. She wanted to blow up the Church by killing the Ifrit that was holding the Genesis God hostage! Atlan couldn''t let that happen. He unfurled his Angel Wings and tried to move towards the raven in an attempt to catch it. But before he could even move, he suddenly felt something aching in his chest. [You have reaped the death of a Specialist Canzer.] [You have reaped the death of a Specialist Canzer.] [You have reaped the death of a Specialist Canzer.] ¡­ [WARNING! There is an overload of power contained in the user''s body!] Atlan fell to his knees, unable to move. Chapter 397 Summoned dragon Atlan felt an overload of power inside his body, tearing it from the bones and tendons so much that he couldn''t even try to stand up.No matter how much he tried to go after the Raven, he couldn''t even muster up any strength to speak out. He tried to use his LifeSkills to try and at least kill the Raven before it could go inside the Church, but the moment he did, he felt an even more excruciating pain. He couldn''t believe it. This pain was the worst feeling he had ever experienced. [Overload! Warning! If left unchecked, the power inside your body will continue to react within your Soul System] Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What does¡­that mean?!?! Atlan could only guess that it was not good. After all, every second that passed, he felt his body start to expand more and more like a balloon that was about to pop. "Atlan?! What''s wrong?" Ninth and the rest of the specialist-level humans finally regained their composure. They immediately went towards Atlan to see how he was doing. Even if it was eating him from the inside, Atlan forced his body to move and speak to Ninth. "The¡­Raven¡­inside¡­church¡­ explode!" Even though his words were barely even a sentence, Ninth and the others were smart enough to decode his sentence. And once they understood what he was trying to say, hair stood up on their body. The main reason why they even started this mission was so that they could save the church from a total explosion. They didn''t come here to kill Specialist-level Canzers or the Dragon Queen Malificient, they came here to save their city. Altan had forgotten that. He had been so focused on killing the Queen that he didn''t expect her to move from beyond the dead. He didn''t even think that was possible. He could only blame his incomplete knowledge of Specialist-level Canzers. If only he knew that Canzers could leave behind a remnant of their power to do stuff like this, then he wouldn''t have let down his guard. Not only that, if he hadn''t been experiencing this overload, he could have stopped that Raven from even entering the Church. But now, all seems to have become too late. The only thing he could do was to try and control the overload in his body from destroying everything inside him. "Come on! Let''s find that Raven!" Ninth rallied to her teammates. Even though they were still injured to a good extent, compared to Atlan who couldn''t even sit up from his position, they were in a much better place to try and save this mission. This wasn''t just a matter of pride for them. They weren''t thinking of the win percentage in their mission list. They only thought about the safety of the City first and foremost. If they failed now, all the hard work they went through these past few days would have been all for nothing. They couldn''t let that happen. If they failed now, millions upon millions of innocent citizens would blow up along with the entire City. Huge responsibility was placed on their shoulders. They can''t fail now. Just then, two rifts in space suddenly appeared right next to Atlan. The rift in space on the left was colored green, while the right in space on the right was colored red. After a few moments, two distinct figures traveled from the different dimensions to finally end up right next to Atlan. ''Atlan! You''re here!'' Tulip said, immediately coming over to Atlan''s side. ''You''re in a terrible state,'' the Enchanted Queen said on the other portal. If Atlan could move his face right now, he would have exhibited surprise after hearing the voices of those two. After all, he thought that they were still back at the Magical Forest. And as far as he knew, Canzers couldn''t simply travel from one Remedium to the other. They needed to bring their own Remedium to this space, which was why back then, the Genesis Cit Remedium had turned into the Magical Forest. If the Dragon Queen Malificient hadn''t done that, then she wouldn''t have been able to fight Atlan and the others. Despite feeling like his entire would explode at any second, Atlan opened his eyes. And once he saw the figures of the two dragons, he couldn''t help but almost laugh out loud. "Kuku¡­.kukuku¡­.what happened¡­to your bodies?" he asked them with a hoarse voice. The two mighty dragons, tyrannical overlords of the sky, had suddenly turned into cute ''mini'' versions of themselves similar to a doll. Atlan could basically hold them in his chest with both arms! ''''Atlan, don''t laugh! I''ll try to heal your first,'' lectured Tulip. Even though this was such a situation, she couldn''t believe that Atlan had the gall to laugh. Her body glowed a green light, showing off her powers as a White-Green Dragon that could heal any kind of ailment known to the universe. She was even able to bring back Ninth from the brink of death. But somehow, as she focused her power on Atlan, she felt as if she had just stared into the very surface of the sun! She couldn''t help but jump backward to save herself from the backlash. ''Ah! What¡­what is that?! I couldn''t heal him!'' Tulip felt that if she continued to force the healing magic onto Atlan''s body, it would only make things worse. She didn''t know what to do. She turned to the Queen, who inspected Atlan''s body with a serious gaze. ''You can''t heal him because he''s not sick,'' the Queen explained. ''He''s strong. Too strong, in fact, that his body cannot handle the strength of his soul. It is on the brink of exploding into a million pieces.'' Tulip jumped up. ''That can''t happen!'' "I know¡­what''s happening to me¡­but first¡­how did you guys get here?" Atlan asked them, his curiosity getting the better of him. ''Did you forget your own power? We are your tamed Dragons, meaning that we have an intangible connection with each other. You can summon us any time you want, and if we think that you''re in danger, we can summon ourselves to your location.'' Chapter 398 Fight explosion with explosion Atlan couldn''t forget about his first Specialist-level LifeSkill. However, he didn''t think it would be powerful enough to bend space and allow them to travel wherever he was."Why do you guys¡­look like this?" Atlan asked them. ''That''s because our true bodies are way too big for this Remedium. But don''t worry, our bodies are the only things that are different. We still have all our powers at our disposal,'' the Enchanted Queen explained. "I remember¡­I only¡­tamed Tulip¡­Queen, why are you¡­here too?" As far as Atlan remembered, he only made an agreement with Tulip about becoming his tamed dragon. He was sure that he made no such connection with the Queen. ''Oh, that? Well, I made you tame me when you weren''t looking. It''s easy since we already have a contract that binds us together, right?'' the Queen said, with a little bit of a sly smile on her plush-dragon face. Atlan couldn''t believe that the almighty Enchanted Queen would bow down so low just to be tamed by a mere human. Even though he couldn''t access his Soul System yet, he felt an intangible connection with the Queen the same way that he was connected with Tulip. This meant that she truly was his tamed Dragon. Because of this, Atlan had to re-evaluate his thoughts on the Enchanted Queen. At first, he thought that she was just having fun and playing with a small human like him. And once she was no longer interested in him, she would throw him away and simply sever the connection between them. Once the mission with the church was over, their contract was supposed to be null and void. But by becoming his tamed Dragon, the Queen was now forever bonded to Atlan, with no way of ever breaking free of him. He thought she was just a selfish Dragon who used him for her own gains. But this unselfish act made him trust her again. Perhaps, she truly couldn''t try to save him from the Dragon Queen Malificient. Maybe, she was telling the truth. ''This is not the time for this, Queen!'' Tulip couldn''t help but panic by herself seeing as Atlan and the Queen were just talking to themselves casually as if Atlan wasn''t going to burst into an explosion any second later. ''How do we save him?!'' she begged the Queen. The black dragon plushie floated up into the air and looked at the Church. ''Your human friends are far too late. The Raven has already reached the basement and is now on the verge of killing the Ifrit clone, meaning that it will blow up at any second.'' Atlan gathered all the strength in his body to sit up on the ground. Because of this, skin started to crack, with a bright white light glowing in the crevices of the cracks. He was about to explode. But even still, he couldn''t help but try and do the impossible. He wanted to go over there right now and kill the Raven before it killed the Ifrit. He knew it was impossible, but he couldn''t just give up. ''Don''t worry, Atlan. This is actually the best situation for you,'' the Queen said in a hopeful manner. Atlan looked at the black dragon plushie and couldn''t help but flash her a confused look. He couldn''t understand how blowing up the entire City would be something beneficial to him. Did she want to kill all the humans? "What do you mean?" he asked her. ''Right now, I''m assuming your body has an overload of power from all the Specialist-level Canzer deaths you consumed. Your soul is now an uncontrollable beast, unable to unleash all of its power.'' "Are you saying¡­that I can somehow calm down my soul?" Continue your journey with My Virtual Library Empire ''That is right, Atlan. At the very moment of the explosion in the church, you must also unleash all the power in your body. You must let yourself explode.'' Upon hearing that, Tulip couldn''t help but scream out in panic. ''What? Isn''t that dangerous?'' "What will my explosion do?" he asked her. ''By counteracting the force of the explosion, you will be able to control your soul and temper your body at the same time! Think about this. The church explosion will prevent your body explosion from fully destroying your body and soul. Instead, the church explosion will allow you to unleash all that power without having to destroy yourself. This is the only way you can save yourself, and the City!'' Atlan could barely understand the Enchanted Queen''s reasoning for this kind of plan, but he understood what he needed to do. However, he couldn''t believe that this plan would even bear some kind of fruit. Seeing his doubtful expression, the Enchanted Queen asked him one simple question. ''Do you trust me?'' There were plenty of reasons why Atlan shouldn''t trust someone like the Queen. First of all, she was a mighty Dragon, Queen of Canzers in her kingdom. He shouldn''t be trusting Canzers in the first place. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Second, Atlan didn''t know her true motives for helping him. She said that she wanted his help, but Atlan didn''t know what kind of help he would be able to contribute to her. Not only that, he left her alone to deal with the Magical Queen Malficient all by himself. But despite all these reasons, Atlan couldn''t help but want to trust this Black Dragon. "I trust you," he said. The Black Dragon plushie nodded her head, with a bit of a smile forming on her face. ''Well, then you better prepare yourself. The pain you will feel is much harsher than the pain you''ll feel right now.'' Then, the Enchanted Queen moved over to Tulip''s side and locked arms with her. ''Come on, Tulip. We can''t help him right now. We need to go to a different dimension.'' But Tulip knew that she could still do something to help Atlan. ''I''ll save the other humans. You''ll be safe in the explosion, but they won''t. I''ll try to save them!'' She immediately rushed out into the Church to protect Ninth and her team from the eventual explosion. Atlan looked at the Queen. "Protect her," he said. The Queen playfully shook her head. ''Hahaha¡­these brats¡­'' But of course, she too, went into the Church to help Tulip. Chapter 399 Explosion in the church Atlan was now all alone by himself, with nothing but the Remedium by his side.Anyone would have trouble with blowing themselves up. After all, it was in a human''s self-preservation instincts to always protect oneself. Even if they were told that they should do it because it was the right thing, they would still have trouble letting go of that last protection they had of themselves. It was like telling someone to hold their breaths for a long time until they passed out into unconsciousness. Even if they tried their hardest, anyone would heave for a breath as soon as things got too tough. They wouldn''t be able to make themselves unconscious. But there was one person who could do that. That was Atlan. This was the reason why he was able to impress the God of Death in the first place and inherited all his powers. If he didn''t have that decisiveness to do the things that needed to be done, then he wouldn''t have jumped into the God of Death''s maws. Atlan felt the powers in his body start to become more and more wild. All the LifeSkills that he gained normally like the Spinster, the Apocalyptic Hellfire, and the others were on his side. They were helping make things a lot more peaceful. However, the influx of all the powers he gained from the Specialist-level Canzers were far too much. They ravaged through his Soul System, destroying everything that made it what it was. They were rampaging, as if they wanted to be unleashed out into the world. It would have been easy if there were only tens of them. Atlan could simply bring out the LifeSkill one by one and let them show their power to the world. However, there were more than a hundred thousand new LifeSkills in his repertoire. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They were like newborn chicks wanting to be fed. And in their chaos and desperation, they started to eat through the very hen house they stood on. That was what was happening to Atlan right now. Atlan looked at all around him. Even though it was in an inverted color, it was still the Genesis City that he was so familiar with. If he failed to counteract the explosion, then the whole City would be blown up into bits. He needed to do this. Slowly, the pained expression on Atlan''s face became clearer and clearer. There was now peace and serenity on his face, as if he had accepted his fate. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Meanwhile in the Church, in the deepest part of its basement, the Raven had finally come across the giant door in the wall. And in front of that door was a single Ifirt, whose attitude was starting to get weary. Just then, the Raven appeared in its sights. The Ifrit, upon seeing the Raven, thought that it was finally rescued. The very reason why it stayed inside the basement was because it eventually wanted to leave this place. It took the Door hostage because it wanted the humans to give it a way to be able to leave this Remedium and come back to its home. And now, its luck seemed to have finally turned around. A Canzer was here to save it. But strangely enough, there wasn''t any sort of friendliness in the Raven''s eyes. There was sadness, grief, and whole lot of craziness. The Raven was ready to die to fulfill the last mission given to it by its Queen. This was the whole reason why the Queen prevented the Raven from fighting in the battle against the humans. It wanted to remain in the shadows, and only act once things had gone down hill. She wanted him to exact revenge in the best possible way. And so it did. Explore more stories at My Virtual Library Empire It spread its wings and put forward its beak. And with a strength and speed of a Specialist-level Canzer, it dove down towards the unsuspecting Ifrit who couldn''t even see the Raven''s movements. TSSHHH In just a matter of a fraction of a second, the Ifrit suddenly had a hole in its body. It looked down, unable to understand what had happened. And before it could even try to look for the Raven that was suddenly gone from its sight, it felt its body losing control. All the power and energy stored up in the Ifrit''s body started to multiply and expand until¡­ BOOM! The explosion of the Ifrit was far weaker than any explosion that happened during Atlan and the Queen''s fight. It could even be compared as the difference between a small matchstick ember and a full on forest fire that consumed everything in its path. Atlan wouldn''t even get hurt from that explosion. However, the problem wasn''t the intensity of the explosion, but the location. Behind the Ifrit was the Door, the literal heart of the Genesis God. As soon as the fire of the explosion hit the surface of the giant Wooden door, another explosion occured. This time, the explosion wasn''t made out of fire, but pure Holy aura and energy that only beings like Gods and Angels could ever emit. The white explosion disintegrated the exploding Ifrit and the Raven into mere nothingness in an instant. There was nothing left of them. Then, the explosion continued to spread, destroying the very foundation of the church itself. All the pillars and floors above were consumed into an explosion that continued to fuel the holy explosion. And as it continued to spread outwards, the explosion would continue to grow and grow exponentially, potentially growing to destroy the very City itself and beyond. The unsuspecting Ninth and the other Specialist Saviors were above the Church. They were frozen in time, unaware of the danger that was hiding just a few feet below them. Tulip, with her cute plush dragon form, was hovering above them and trying to warn them of something. But seeing as they weren''t understanding what she was saying, Tulip was forced to simply use up all her energy to create a bubble of protection around them. A green translucent energy shield encompassed Ninth and the other humans. Just a fraction of a second later, the explosion finally reached the first floor. It continued to tear through the pews and pillars until it reached the bubble. Chapter 400 Holy explosion Tulip''s bubble of protection continued to stay up even when the holy aura explosion tried to tear through its defenses.This gave Ninth and the others a moment to finally realize the situation that they were in. One second, they were looking at the intricate and moody interior of the gothic Genesis Church. But in the next second, they could only see nothing but a white explosion that tried to tear through everything that was previously there. "What''s happening?" "What about the church?" "The Raven! We should stop it!" The rest of her teammates were still holding out onto the hope that they could save the Church. But Ninth knew that it was already too late. The explosion had already started, and it was on its way to destroy the entire Genesis City. Then, she looked at the cute plush dragon in front of her. Even though she was in a strange adorable form right now, she knew that this was Tulip, the Canzer and dragon that they all knew and learned to trust. They tried to warn them about something, but because they couldn''t understand each other, they still weren''t on the same page. Despite that, Tulip was still trying to save them. The White-Green Dragon plushie''s face were contorted into one of pain and endurance as she tried to keep the protective bubble in place as the explosion continued to try and spread towards the humans. She was using all her energy. She was even able to use power that she didn''t think she had! Everything was brought out of her because of this tumultuous situation. It was do or die. But, no matter how much she tried to resist, she could feel the protective bubble starting to disintegrate. The power of the holy aura was completely winning against her power. Since she was a Canzer, anything she made was immediately weaker than any explosion made out of holy aura. Even the original Dragon Queen Malificient would not be able to hold on to this kind of holy power explosion for a long time. Even so, Tulip continued to protect them. She had to. Just then, as the power of the explosion was about to overwhelm them all, a huge rift in space suddenly appeared in the air. This red black hole continued to grow in size, increasing the sucking force that was inside. Ninth didn''t fight the force and let herself be taken inside the red black hole. And since she voluntarily let herself go, the rest of her team did so as well. Even though they didn''t know what would happen to them once they did, they felt as if they would be safe. Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire After all, the pressure and aura being emitted by that red black hole was similar to the black dragon that Atlan befriended. Tulip was left all alone, with the protective bubble starting to get smaller and smaller. ''Come, Tulip. You have done your job well.'' The Enchanted Queen''s voice seemed to have broken Tulip out of her hyper fixation. Only now did she realize that Ninth and the others were gone, saved by the Queen. Seeing this, Tulip felt all the power in her body go away. The adrenaline in her body started to wane, making her power lose strength. With no power supply from Tulip, the green protective bubble started to shake and wobble in and out of existence. Until finally, it disappeared. But, not before the black hole swallowed Tulip back into safety. The holy explosion continued to spread, tearing through space and time itself. It continued to tear through the church, destroying the thousands upon thousands of years in its history. It continued to spread, until finally, it reached Atlan. The Star Porter faced the holy aura explosion with a calm face. The cracks in his body were spreading more and more, with his entire body looking like a cracked statue. There were even some seams in his body that were already on the verge of explosion. Power was starting to leak out of his body. But Atlan didn''t want to explode. Not yet. He waited for the exact moment. As the holy power continued to spread outwards, it finally reached Atlan. Just mere inches away from his body, Atlan finally let go of all the inhibitions inside his body. He let the power in his Soul System go off, letting all the pent up LifeSkills wreak havoc and chaos towards his body. Just as Atlan''s body was about to be consumed by the holy aura, another explosion destroyed his entire body first. A black explosion, filled with all the deaths of the hundreds of thousands of Specialist-level Canzers spread outwards, clashing with the white holy aura of the explosion. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The holy explosion tried to tear through the black explosion, but was not able to penetrate through its defenses. So, the holy explosion decided to ignore the black death explosion and go around him. It wanted to consume the whole City behind Atlan. But of course, he wasn''t going to let that happen. The black explosion expanded in size, pushing the white explosion inwards. And that wasn''t even the end of it. The black death explosion elongated, encompassing the entire Church and holy explosion into a protective dome. The White Holy explosion found itself unable to spread any further. It tried to tear through the black death explosion. But just like any other being, Holy power had a weakness too. If humans were weak against Canzers, and Canzesr were weak against holy beings, then it meant that holy beings were weak against death beings! The death explosion, instead of wreaking havoc around Genesis City, chose to pursue and destroy the holy explosion instead! It started to corner the explosion into a smaller and smaller space, consuming the holy explosion by taking one bite and another. The black explosion continued to consume the holy explosion until finally, it was cornered into nothingness. The holy explosion was extinguished! With nothing else to consume, the black explosion slowly dissipated, turning into nothingness as well. Chapter 401 Nonexistence In the aftermath of the explosion, there was nothing but ashes and charred concrete on the ground. The Church, which had once stood mighty on the ground of the Genesis City Remedium, was now gone, with just some of its pillars standing as a reminder that it had once existed.After a few seconds, a red rift in space appeared hovering in the air. The rift got bigger and bigger until it became an oval portal that suddenly spat out a few different figures. Ninth and the others felt themselves freed out of the Enchanted Queen''s dimension after the holy explosion of the church. They looked around, and all they could see was chaos and destruction all around. "Where¡­where are we?" "This¡­this can''t be¡­" "The church¡­it''s gone!" Her teammates looked all over, but found only pieces of the church lying around. They couldn''t believe it. They failed. Their only mission this time around was to make sure that the Church was protected, safe and sound. But because of their less than stellar performances, the church blew up. "But wait! If the church is gone, shouldn''t we all be dead by now?" That was the question in Ninth''s mind as well. The Church was the Genesis God''s heart, which meant that once it had blown up, the Genesis God would essentially die. But somehow, they were still alive. They were still standing on solid ground. They couldn''t understand it. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Suddenly, two dragon plushie figures appeared and hovered above them. It was the Enchanted Queen, with her black dragon plushie, and Tulip, with her white-green plushie dragon. The only ones that could explain this whole situation to them were these two beings. After all, they were the one that saved them from the holy explosion of the church. They would know what happened. Unfortunately, they were made of different species. They were Canzers, while they were humans. It was impossible to talk unless Atlan was here. But just then, the black dragon opened her mouth and suddenly let out a sound that was familiar to Ninth and the other Saviors. "Hello¡­hello¡­can you understand me?" the Enchanted Queen said, with her voice in a complete human language. It was a bit robotic, as if her voice was being replayed on a stereo, but Ninth and the others could still understand her words. "You can speak human? How is that possible?!" "That''s not possible. You''re a Canzer!" Ninth stayed calm. Somehow, she knew that this ability somehow had to do something with Atlan. After all, somehow, he was the one who could speak Canzer despite being human. They didn''t question this because he was the one that saved them, but it was still strange nonetheless. "How can you speak human?" asked Ninth. The black dragon flashed a smile. "It looks like you already know the answer. It was through Atlan. Because we are his tamed dragons, we gain the ability to speak the human language as long as we are in this form." The rest of the humans were surprised that this was even possible. But perhaps, the most surprising part that they heard was that Atlan had tamed these two dragons! They couldn''t believe it. They had never even heard of a tamer that tamed Canzers! "Hello¡­" Tulip said shyly, greeting the humans for the first time. After a minute of shock and awe, Ninth and the other humans stopped being surprised. After all, this wasn''t the first time that they were surprised with something that Atlan showed them. Somehow, that Star Porter was able to perform miracle after miracle, showing incredible strength and power unlike anything they had ever seen before. Somehow, even as a Student-level Savior, he was able to show the power of a Specialist-level Savior. That was supposed to be impossible. But he did it. And somehow, they didn''t know how, but Atlan continued to get stronger and stronger every time they encountered a Canzer. Unlike them, who would always need time to recuperate and regain their strength, somehow, Atlan gained more and more power as he killed and fought Canzers. It didn''t make sense. "Speaking of Atlan¡­where is he?" asked Ninth. After all, in the midst of all this destruction and chaos, they saw no sign of the Star Porter. "Atlan¡­is the reason why we all survived this explosion," the Enchanted Queen explained. "What do you mean?" asked Ninth. "During the holy explosion of the church, he also experienced an explosion of his own. He became¡­too powerful. He was about to burst into nothingness. But through a stroke of luck, or you could even call it fate, Atlan''s explosion was able to counteract the holy explosion of the church. It was the perfect opposite. He has the power of death, while the church has the power of life. Once the church exploded, Atlan let go of all controls in his body and let himself explode as well. And because of this, the holy explosion of the church was only contained inside the church. Your life, our life, and millions of other lives inside your City is saved because of him," the Enchanted Queen said, with her voice a bit melancholic. Ninth and the others shared a moment of silence as they thought about Atlan. Even now, they were still being saved by the Star Porter. "Where is he now? Why isn''t he here?" asked Ninth. The black dragon shook her head. "That, I don''t know. Only he knows where he is right now. But¡­there is one thing that I do know. Somehow, if he is able to overcome this trial, he will become even stronger than before, stronger than anything we have ever seen." Ninth and the others looked at the black dragon and saw her looking up at the skies. Even though they didn''t know what she was talking about, they still held out on the hope that somehow, Atlan could survive wherever he was right now. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Explore more adventures at My Virtual Library Empire Atlan couldn''t see anything, for he had no eyes. He couldn''t move his body, for he had none. All he was, was a floating soul in the middle of nowhere. Chapter 402 Star points After the explosion, Atlan''s entire body, his entire Soul System, was destroyed into mere particles. He was just nothingness, floating around in the middle of nowhere.If he was a normal human being, he wouldn''t even be able to think and become conscious at this moment in time. They would be dead, plain and simple. But Atlan was no simple being. He was the inheritor of the God of Death''s legacy. He was poised to become its next ruler. So, death had no meaning for him. However, he felt even weaker than when he was a child. He felt like he had no such power at all. Where am I? Atlan asked himself, but there was no answer for there was only himself in this dimension. Where am I? He continued to ask himself, and yet, no one ever answered his question. He continued in this state of fugue for an indeterminate amount of time. He didn''t know how much time had passed, but it felt like thousands upon thousands of years had passed. He continued to ask this question to himself, with no one answering him. It was only when a million years had passed did he finally remember. He died. The explosion had destroyed both his body and mind. And once this realization had set upon his soul, he finally came to remember who he was. He was Atlan. And as he remembered his own identity, he looked around himself and felt pieces of his own power scattered around like gas in a room. It was just spread around haphazardly with no one there to collect it. Despite his limited mobility, Atlan slowly made his way through the rest of his powers. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He felt like he would come back to himself once he had collected all of the pieces of himself back in one place. Millions more years passed until finally, he had collected all of his powers inside a ball of indeterminate size. It looked like a fuzzy white ball with fire raging from the inside. This was his power. This was the Soul System that he had lost when the explosion occurred. But, he could never bring it back the way it was before. After all, that was gone. He had to create something new¡ªsomething completely different. So, he spent more and more years trying to change and mold the ball of power in this unknown space and dimension. He continued to make it denser and denser, consolidating it into a very fine point, with no dimensions. It was just a point in space. It was only then that a substantial change came upon his body. He looked around and suddenly saw himself among a sea of stars. These stars also had the same point of power that had no dimensions. It was infinitely small, yet infinitely filled with power. And somehow, Atlan felt as if these stars were looking at him. Some looked at him with curiosity, some looked at him with indifference, and some with hostility. Atlan knew. These were Gods. Because they could see him, it meant that he could see them. He was no longer a regular human being. It felt as if he had gone and transcended into something different. It wasn''t necessarily better, but it was different. Way different. After all, he felt like he was among those stars in the sky. It felt like he could touch them and be with them. This meant only one thing. He had reached the starting point of his ascension to godhood. After harvesting the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Specialist-level Canzer, he had finally reached the threshold of power that could be considered godlike. He still had a long way from becoming part of the biggest stars in the sky, but he had reached the threshold. He finally realized why they were looking at him with those eyes. They were looking at the birth of a new god! Upon this realization, Atlan finally found the power within himself to rebuild his body. He wanted to rebuild his body into something better than before, without all the weaknesses that made him human. His Soul System was gone, but despite that, Atlan felt as if he was even more free than before. It was as if the shackles put onto him by a different God were destroyed. He felt like he could finally start his journey as the inheritor of the God of Death. Slowly, he rebuilt his body, one atom at a time. Slowly, flesh and body began to gather around the single point of power that contained all the godhood of his Soul. And somehow, this point of power supplied the flesh and blood, bathing it with power and turning it into something much stronger, something that could not be compared to normal humans. He felt like his entire being was rejuvenated. After a while, his body had been reborn! His physical features remained the same, but there was something different with him. His eyes looked ever so distant, his aura seemed ever so powerful. Atlan opened his eyes. He looked up at the Gods in the skies, who were looking down at him. He opened his mouth and said, "I will come for you," Those were his last words for the gods. Once he had reached this level of godhood, he finally realized why the God of Death hated the other Gods with a passion. He finally understood the crime they committed that was worthy of death. And retribution would come. He will come for them. Atlan opened a rift in space and left the haven of the Gods. He had to return to the dimension of the humans in order to fulfill his plans. As soon as he did, the points of stars in the skies started to tremble. Some, out of fear, but most out of anger. They would have never thought that the God of Death was able to relay his legacy to a human. That was supposed to be impossible. But now, he was led free into the world. Apocalypse had begun. Chapter 403 Death emerges A sudden emergence of a black liquid substance surprised everyone in the Genesis City Remedium.Ninth and the rest of her team stepped backward as they saw the black liquid form in front of them into what seemed like pillars. Even the Enchanted Queen didn''t know what was happening. She eyed the black liquid with suspicion. She was ready to act whenever this black liquid did something with malice towards them. What was most unsettling about the black liquid was the strange skulls forming around the surface of the black liquid. It looked like they were humans, who were trying to break through the black liquid to gasp for air. But unfortunately, they would be forever trapped in the black liquid with no way out. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This led them to believe that the Black Dragon Malificient had come crawling back from the dead. But the only one who didn''t feel afraid was Tulip. Somehow, the power and aura emanating from the black liquid was something familiar to her. It was as if she could feel Atlan''s presence within it. Knowing Atlan''s power to absorb the deaths of all those he had witnessed, everything made sense for Tulip. She watched with bated breaths as the black liquid continued to form into a black door, with deathly symbols and creatures embedded deep into the very door itself. It looked like the doorway to hell itself. A few seconds later, the double door that led to the infernal lands of the dead suddenly creaked open, showing a glimpse of the void and nothingness beyond. TAP TAP TAP The sounds of delicate footsteps rang out into the Remedium, surprising Ninth and the rest of them. Just the fact that those footsteps sounded human led them to believe that this was someone they knew! This was Atlan. And just as they guessed, the one that came walking out of the depths of hell was none other than Atlan himself. Somehow, he only had a black robe donned upon himself and nothing else. The battle suit that he once wore was gone, destroyed from the very explosion that should have killed him from the very beginning. Tulip immediately ran towards Atlan and embraced him. She was worried for a second there that he truly died, but she was glad that she was wrong. Atlan would never die! The Enchanted Queen chuckled to herself. She knew just how low the chances of Atlan surviving that explosion were. After all, it was the combination of the holy explosion and his own explosion that would have certainly doomed his entire being before he could even try to do something about it. But somehow, he was able to do it. Not only that, the power and aura he was emitting now was unlike anything she had ever seen before. If Atlan was a simple worm back then, then now he had grown into his own dragon of death, who emanated a subtle but terrifying aura of nonchalance. It was as if he didn''t care if people died or not, because it all benefited him in the end. "I see you''ve consolidated your new strength," said the Enchanted Queen. Somehow, the chaos and destruction caused by the holy explosion allowed Atlan to forcibly consolidate all the power and strength he gained from the hundreds of thousands of Specialist-level Canzers. That would have been impossible through any other circumstance. But through a stroke of luck, the holy explosion occurred just in time as his own explosion, allowing a very rare moment in time where Atlan and the power he gained were all destroyed into mere atoms. The power he gained turned from a hostile entity into a collection of pure energy. So, when he rebuilt his body, it was easy to incorporate the new energy into his own power, increasing it tremendously without any of the downsides. This was a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and somehow, Atlan was able to achieve it. She didn''t know if this was luck or fate at this point. But there was one thing for sure. The Enchanted Queen was glad that she allied herself with Atlan. Now that he had consolidated into a near demi-god being of death, she was sure that all the other gods of the humans were starting to get afraid. "I still don''t know the full extent of my powers," said Atlan. Right now, he felt both human and godlike at the same time. He felt full of power, yet unable to assess how much. He was still getting used to his new body. Even the Soul System that he was so familiar with back then was gone, and replaced by that dimensionless point in the middle of his body. "Atlan, is¡­is that you?" Ninth and the other Saviors slowly approached the Star Porter. Even though he looked the same, his presence was completely different from the porter that they knew at the beginning. It was as if they were looking at a more mature, scarred Atlan who was ready to do anything to achieve his goals. "Yes, it''s me," Atlan replied. "But I''ve changed. I needed to. We need to. After all, our way of life has been completely overturned. Chaos and destruction are happening in our City at this very moment." Ninth and the others couldn''t understand the further meaning inside his words. "What do you mean?" Ninth asked. Atlan pointed at the remnants of the church beneath their feet. There was nothing but ashes and coal in this place. "The Church is destroyed. The whole City is panicking at this moment," Atlan replied, looking out into the distance. This led Ninth and the others to panic as well. "That''s not possible." "You stopped the explosion, right?" "This is the Remedium. Anything that happens here stays in the Remedium." With regard to their confusion, the Enchanted Queen had to give them the true spiel. "The Church is a critical point in your territory. Once it is destroyed here, then it is destroyed in the real world as well." Chapter 404 Chaos in the city Back in the real world, Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators were having a meltdown ever since they couldn''t connect to Atlan''s battle suit for the longest time.This told them that something wrong had happened. However, they could do nothing to help because all forms of communication with Atlan and the rest of the team were through the battle suit. This was the worst thing that could happen to them. Carmine and his team continued to look for solutions, blurting out ideas left and right even if they were utterly stupid. It didn''t matter. They just wanted something to do to try and solve this communication problem. But of course, they were simply beating a dead horse. Even if they couldn''t accept it, it was a fact that Atlan''s battle suit had completely lost its ability to transmit audio and video to them. While the Saviors were busy panicking, the Elder Heads all looked at each other with concern building up in their foreheads. They opened up a private communication to talk to each other. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "We can do nothing at this point," the bald guy said. "That is right," the elderly woman replied. "Our Genesis God has already foretold us that this would happen. He told us not to worry." "But even so," the old man with gray hair said. "One wrong move with the mission could spell the doom of our entire City!" The Elder Heads continued to argue amongst each other, some advocating for a different plan, and some trying to calm them down and let things pass as they would pass. Of course, the last decision would come from their leader, the old man at the center of their seats. "Our God has spoken. He told us not to worry, so we should not worry. He has a plan. There is a reason why he chose that Star Porter to lead this mission. Although we do not know why, he seems to regard that young one with high value." The main reason why they insisted on Atlan becoming the porter for this mission was because the Genesis God instructed them to do so. Although they didn''t agree that the fate of the entire city should rest on a talented but inexperienced porter, they had to accept his request because he was their God. Now, they would finally know why God chose Atlan. Just then, a large tremor resounded through the Emergency Meeting room. Everyone stopped what they were doing. They all looked at each other, confused if they were the only ones who felt that or not. After all, this was the Emergency Meeting room. It was supposed to be the most protected and undisturbed place in the entire City. Yet somehow, a tremor was able to shake through their defenses and reach the Emergency Meeting room. Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators looked towards the Elder Heads, with confusion on their faces. But when they looked at the Elder Heads, they realized that they too weren''t expecting this result. Their eyes showed confusion and fear. After all, there was only one reason why they would feel a tremor in this room. And before any of them could even speak, the pure white infinite room that surrounded the Emergency room started to bleed red. The words EMERGENCY were plastered around the walls numerous times. Bells and ringing resounded through the room, bringing everyone''s attention to a halt. "What''s¡­what''s happening¡­" Carmine uttered to himself in despair. Just then, the leader of the Elder Heads finally made a move. He reached for the holographic projector in the middle of the large table. With a few inputs, he was able to show the current situation of Genesis City. They didn''t even have to look for the problem. It was staring at them right in their faces. The Church exploded. Plain and simple. There was nothing but dust, ashes, and coal inside the crater that was supposed to be their beacon of hope. Everyone gasped, unable to take a breath as they looked at the destruction that surrounded the Church. They couldn''t believe it. The church was gone. Just like that. "What¡­." "The Church¡­" "How¡­" There was only one reason why the Church was gone. The mission failed. But even that was an undetermined answer. After all, if the mission did fail, then they weren''t supposed to even know that the mission failed. They would have just blown up into pieces along with the entire City. Somehow, only the Church blew up, which was completely out of their predictions. According to all knowledge, scripture, and teachings, a church was the heart of a God. Once it was gone, then the God was gone as well. And if the God was gone, then the territory they once held would soon perish with the God. However, that wasn''t happening. They were still alive. "What is happening?!" Carmine said, grabbing his head in a panic. Carmine was worrying about the Church itself and their well-being. But for the Elder Heads, their concern was directed at something else. They all looked at the projection on the table and saw people coming out of their homes and gazing at the church in the distance. They all couldn''t help but kneel on the ground in despair, feeling as if everything was starting to go downhill. More and more people started to walk towards the Church with blank, empty faces. And as they approached, they suddenly saw the dead bodies of the guards and soldiers that were caught by the explosion. And deep down, they realized it themselves. Their immortality was gone. People could die now. This realization sent a shiver down their spines. Some of them simply fell to the floor, giving up on their life once they figured out the truth. Some people shouted in anger and despair, cursing the gods and the destiny that befell them. But more people started to run away. They wanted to get out of Genesis City. They shouted at everyone that were just starting to walk towards the Church. They wanted to warn them. "God is dead! Immortality is dead! Save yourselves now!" Chapter 405 Dont trust gods "What''s happening to our City?" Ninth asked, feeling an ominous hunch in her heart. If the black dragon''s words were indeed true, then that meant that the Church of Genesis had blown up into pieces.This would send the entire City into an uproar, creating chaos and bloodshed unlike anything they had ever seen before. Peace was only maintained inside the City because they believed that the Genesis God was protecting them. And if the church, which was the symbol of the God himself, was destroyed, then that sense of security within the citizens would also be destroyed. The fact that people could actually die now only made things a lot worse. Surely, there would be some kind of accidents that would happen as they rioted towards the church. Someone would eventually end up dead, with the Saviors unable to cover it up before the general public found out that immortality was gone. It would only end up with the citizens freaking out even more as they realize they could truly die without a second chance of reviving. Ninth could only shudder at the thought. "We have to get back now," she said to Atlan and the rest of her team. Everyone agreed with her words. After all, now that the mission had failed, they had no other reason to be in this Remedium. They had to go back to the real world and try to help with the aftermath of the explosion. Ninth and the other Specialist Saviors all pushed themselves to stand up. The portal to the real world was still a couple of ways back from where they came from, which meant that they had to walk quite a long distance before they could leave. Their bodies were still hurting, but they ignored it and kept going. However, just before they were about to completely leave, Atlan stopped them in their tracks. "There''s no need to go that far. I can take us back to the real world," he said to them. Atlan then unfurled the Angel Wings in his back. Somehow, the power emanating from his Angel Wings had increased tremendously, as if they were the real thing! The truth was that in Atlan''s transition to become somewhat of a God, he was able to transform all of his mutations into their full potential. This included the Angel Wings, which had now become the same as what the Angels had originally used. This meant that he could travel anywhere he wanted in a matter of an instant. Even the different dimensions were of no trouble to him. If he wanted to, he could even make his Angel Wings invisible to the naked eye, just like how Angels were completely invisible to humans. However, Atlan chose not to hide it this time. Ninth and the rest of the team looked at the Angel Wings in his back and felt that he truly could do as he said. After all, traveling through the different dimensions was the least impressive thing they had seen the Star Porter do. "Just stand near me and let the Angel power overcome your bodies," Atlan said. Ninth and the others huddled closer to Atlan, with the two plushie dragons landing on Atlan''s shoulders. Within just a second, a bright white light suddenly came from above them and shone down onto their feet. Ninth and the others felt a warm sensation flood their entire senses, as if they were completely immersed in a warm temperature bath. They closed their eyes and let the Angel Power envelop them. And after a few seconds, the light died down. When they looked around their surroundings, they were surprised to see nothing but blackness everywhere they looked. At first, they thought that they were still back in the Remedium, where everything was in a negative color. But as they looked at the sky, they saw its normal blue luster, meaning that they were truly back in the real Genesis City. The blackness they were currently seeing was the charred remains of the Genesis Church. They were standing in the very middle of the explosion''s aftermath. "How horrible¡­" Ninth commented. They couldn''t believe that the Church they grew up in had been destroyed just like this. They still remember when they went to mass every week and prayed to become Saviors of great renown. As they became Saviors, they visited the Church less and less because of their busy schedules. But now, when they finally returned to the church''s embrace, they found nothing but a burned ruin. And the worst part was that they were directly involved in its destruction. If only they were a little bit stronger, they could have prevented this from happening. "Don''t blame yourselves," Atlan said to Ninth and the others. "This would have happened either way." sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His words sent a shock to the others. "What do you mean, Atlan?" Ninth asked. Atlan looked up at the sky and saw the stars all watching them from up above. Stay tuned to My Virtual Library Empire When he underwent his transformation, he came across the truth. And that truth led him to despise the Gods and everything they stood for. "You''ll find out soon enough," Atlan said to them. "I''ll just give you one piece of advice. Don''t trust the Gods. Any of them," he said with a serious voice. Ninth and the others couldn''t believe Atlan''s words. After all, they were taught that Gods were benevolent beings that helped humans advance and prosper in their lives. But from what Atlan seemed to imply, it seemed as if the Gods were not as good as they were taught. Even though they trusted Atlan with all of their hearts because he saved their lives, they couldn''t help but doubt his words. Unless they saw something that definitively proved his accusations, then they were going to keep believing in the Gods. But of course, because he warned them, they would become a lot more suspicious. "AAAHHHH!" "HE''S DEAD! THEY''RE ALL DEAD!" Atlan and the others heard screaming and shouting everywhere. As they looked all around the City, they saw nothing but chaos and destruction. Buildings were burning, people were rioting, and many more were trying to get out of this mess. Chapter 406 Chaos and bloodshed Slowly, the news was spreading to the entire City. Everyone quickly found out that they had lost their immortality.But stupidly enough, the humans didn''t try to preserve the life they had left. No. Instead of hiding themselves from any harm, they went outside and started to riot. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They burned buildings, sieged government offices, and stole from businesses wherever they wanted. Their current mentality was to let loose all their hidden desires. If they were going to die anyway, then they decided that they were going to die with a flare. They were going to do whatever they wanted. They were going to get that necklace they''ve always wanted, they''re going to kill that pesky neighbor they''ve had all their life, or they''re going to satisfy their desires to get their hands bloodied. Everyone went into a chaos. Seeing this sight, Ninth and the others couldn''t help but fall to their knees. They couldn''t believe how in just a matter of a few days, everything had collapsed in their society. Everything turned even more lawless than the Unclaimed Lands. "We have to get to the HeadQuarters. They''ll know what to do," said Ninth. Atlan nodded. Just then, Ninth and the others spotted a few Saviors in their battle suit uniform trying to assuage the citizens from creating more chaos than they''ve already caused. "Please, stand down. Everything will be fine," said one of the Student-level Vanguard Saviors. "Calm down? CALM DOWN?!?!?! Everything has gone to shit! And now, you ask us to calm down?!" said the angry citizen with a pitchfork. "Please. I don''t know what''s going on, but I know that HeadQuarters will soon fix this mess. Trust me," said the newbie Savior. "Haa¡­.I''m getting tired of you, boy! You don''t know anything. Get out now, or we will force our way inside and burn everything down!" rallied the angry citizens, which was cheered by the mob behind him. "I¡­.I can''t do that," said the Savior, his voice faltering. Seeing this, the angry citizen thought he saw an opportunity to slip by. He quickly pushed himself towards the newbie Savior and tried to storm through the building. But just as he was about to slip by the Savior, the ordinary citizen suddenly felt something in his chest. And when he looked down, he a blade pierced right through his heart. He couldn''t even utter anything as he vomited blood. He soon fell to the floor, dead on the spot. Find adventures at My Virtual Library Empire The rest of the angry mob couldn''t believe what just happened. A Savior, the supposed protector of the City, had just killed a citizen in cold blood. They were named Saviors because they were supposed to save the citizens of a territory. But now, one of them had just killed a citizen. This should have scared the other citizens, thought the newbie Saviors. He thought that if he killed the angry man, then the rest of the angry mob would soon follow his words. Then, after everything had been calm, he would bring the angry man into the HeadQuarters so that they could revive him. This Savior, naively, still thought that they were all still immortal and that everything could be fixed by the HeadQuarters. However, it seemed that the angry mob was a little bit smarter than him. They knew that death was permanent. And now, a Savior had committed murder right in front of their very eyes. This only seemed to consolidate in their minds that the HeadQuarters was a corrupt governmental body that needed to be destroyed. After all, if they were any good, they would have prevented this from happening in the first place. "You bastard!" "You''ll pay for this, you scum!" "Kill him!" The angry mob began to surround the newbie Savior, overwhelming him with their numbers. Then, they soon used their pitchforks and their kitchen knives to fill him with cuts and pierces, leaving him to die right next to the man he murdered. "RAHHH!! Let''s burn this place down!" said the angry mob. Ninth and the others could only watch as they witnessed similar events all around the City. Even if they tried to stop the chaos, they would only end up making it worse. After all, these citizens were no longer with a sound mind. They were angry, and they needed to vent out that anger. No amount of talking would solve this problem. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at the dead bodies lying around in the City as an aftermath of all the chaos and destruction happening. He watched as blobs of light left their bodies and slowly floated towards him. Atlan opened his hands and let the blobs of light land on his palm. Once they made contact with his skin, Atlan began to absorb the souls of all the dead in his vicinity. He felt power coursing through his veins, slowly filling the infinite hunger he had for souls. If he needed to fully transcend into godhood and fight the other gods, he needed more souls. A lot of them. "Is this what humanity has fallen to?" the Enchanted Queen muttered to herself as she floated next to Atlan. "It''s even worse than in our world." "It''s horrible. Both humans and Canzers are so obsessed with killing. Why can''t we all coexist?" Tulip commented. Now that they became Atlan''s tamed dragons, they could freely visit the human world as plushies. They thought it would be a nice little vacation, but this horrible sight was not relaxing at all. They continued to run through the streets of Genesis City, slowly making their way to the center where the HeadQuarters was located. And as they continued going deeper and deeper, the more chaos filled the streets. People were throwing down furniture, TVs, and even themselves off the buildings, making it a hazard just for anyone that wanted to cross the street. Finally, they saw the HeadQuarters just a mile ahead of them. And on the steps leading up to the very building, they saw piles and piles of angry citizens shouting at their doors. They were all trying to get inside, even if it meant they had to tear down the very walls of the building. Chapter 407 New currency Atlan, Ninth and the rest of the team were unable to get anywhere near inside the HeadQuarters. There were thousands upon thousands of angry citizens demanding an explanation from the top Saviors about the current situation.Many were blaming them for the loss of immortality. They thought that because of the Church''s explosion, their immortality went with it as well. Of course, that wasn''t true. They just didn''t know that Angels had turned extinct. "What are we going to do?" "Should we try to sneak in?" Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire "How? Every door is blocked by an angry mob!" The team tried to debate whether they should even go inside the HeadQuarters to begin with. After all, it looked like the entire building had been barricaded from the inside and out to prevent the rioters from getting inside. "We can''t go inside," Atlan said. "There''s no one there." With his newly gained supernatural abilities, Atlan was able to assess the situation on the inside of the HeadQuarters. And from what he could see, there wasn''t anyone present inside. "They''re probably at a secure Pocket Remedium trying to have a meeting with the rest of the Saviors to try and deal with the current situation," Atlan muttered. Ninth and the rest of the team were unnerved with those words. After all, they were hoping that they could return to the HeadQuarters and report about what happened during the mission. They also wanted to know what they could do to help the situation. Their heart grew heavy with guilt knowing that they may have become part of the reason why chaos and bloodshed was spreading throughout the City. As the rioting continued to grow larger and larger, everyone was suddenly forced to look up into the skies to witness the projections of faces in the air. Everyone looked up to see five distinct floating heads, each one looking quite old and experienced. Atlan, Ninth and the rest of the team immediately recognized them to be the Elder Heads in charge of everything inside Genesis City. It looked like they had finished their meeting and were ready to relay the information to the people to try and calm them down. "Greetings, citizens of Genesis City. As you may not know, we are the Elder Heads of this territory, meaning that we govern everything that is going on inside this land. I''m sure most of you have already figured out that the cone of safety that once protected us is now gone. Death is now permanent." Once he said those words, despair and angry shouting overcame the rioters. Even though they already knew this to be true, the fact that there was an official announcement meant that it was genuinely true. "But that does not mean God is dead. Just because our church has been destroyed doesn''t mean that our faith in the Genesis God has wavered!" the old man shouted with pride, influencing some of the rioters watching from below to put down their pitchforks and simply cry on their knees. "He has not abandoned us. Fear not, because the whole world is experiencing this phenomenon. Every one of us has lost our immortality, even the biggest of Metropolises and Cities in the world." Upon hearing this, some of the citizens trying to escape out of the Genesis City walls couldn''t help but feel all their strength sapped out of their bodies. They thought that if they were able to leave this City, then they would be able to save themselves from death. But it turned out that they had nowhere else to turn to. Every City has lost their immortality. "This is not the time for despair, citizens of Genesis City. We have hope. The Genesis God has given us hope. We were contacted by Him and was given a solution to our current problem." The old man''s words became more and more pronounced as he went on with his speech. His charisma and hopeful words seemed to have affected the rioters and the angry citizens by a large margin. Everyone stopped burning down buildings, they stopped robbing stores, and they stopped trying to destroy the City in anger. They all watched for the old man''s next words. "There is still a chance for us to become ''immortal''. That is through the use of Soul Time! As long as you have done the City a great service, the Genesis God will bestow upon you a Time Stim, a device that will transfer more Soul Time into your body that will heal any ailments or extend your life for as long as you want! In order to make sure that only those deserving are given the chance to live longer, we are implementing a new system in the City. If you want to buy water and food in this territory, then you must pay using your Soul Time! If you want more Soul Time to heal your wounds, then you must earn Soul Time in the market by offering your unique talents and services to everyone in the City. Soul Time will now become our currency!" Just as the old man announced that, everyone suddenly saw their wrist light up in a blinding light. A few seconds later, everyone saw numbers flashing on their wrists. [250 yrs : 111 d : 01 hrs : 40 min : 34 s] Everyone could now see their Soul Times plastered on their wrists. Of course, they had the option to hide their Soul Time from others, but this also meant that they could flash their Soul Time to others as a form of bragging. Ninth and the others looked at their Soul Times and couldn''t help but wince. Back when they started the mission, their Soul Times were in the tens of thousands of years. But now, due to the injuries they sustained through the multiple fights they had to fight through, they were now down to their last decade. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at his wrist and saw a strange sight. [------------] sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His Soul Time wasn''t displayed on his wrist. But as he looked closer, he suddenly realised that those lines were flashing a thousand times per second. As he used his advanced sight, he slowed down his perception of the world and saw the world turn in slow motion. Then, he saw his Soul Time was actually increasing so much that it wasn''t registering into the system! Chapter 408 Unfair outcome Atlan, right at this very second, saw blobs of light flowing out of every single human in his vicinity.These blobs of light signalled life itself in the form of Soul Time. And each second, everyone''s Soul Time ticked down a second, meaning that they were losing life for every second that they were alive. And somehow, Atlan could now absorb those lost Soul Time from the air and implement it into his own life, increasing his Soul Time in absurd numbers. If Soul Time did become the current currency of the world, then Atlan could be considered to be the richest man alive possible. Even if he wasn''t the one with the most Soul Time for now, he would certainly become one in the future. After all, while everybody was losing their lives, Atlan was actually gaining them at an even faster rate than most people died. Meanwhile, Ninth and her team couldn''t help but worry about their own situation. Usually, after a mission, the God would give them back their lost Soul Time during the mission and give them extra for their efforts. Even when the mission was a failure, they were at least given a few years extra of Soul Time as consolation. However, now, they experienced no such thing after the mission in the church. They didn''t expect it as well, after how horrific things turned out to be. And as the Elder Heads continued to explain about the current situation of Genesis City, Ninth and the others couldn''t help but feel as if they were extremely unlucky. After today, all missions of Saviors were now getting paid through Time Stims only, meaning that the God wouldn''t give them back lost Soul Time, and just pay them for their efforts as long as the mission was successful. To balance things out, the reward for a successful mission had more than doubled, making this job very lucrative. But for those that failed the mission, they would get nothing, not even a consolation prize. This type of system incentivized Saviors to keep on accepting more and more missions. After all, missions were the only way they were going to get more Soul Time. And if they wanted to live forever, then they would have to gather a lot of Soul Time before they retired. Ninth and her team were no slackers. They were one of the strongest teams in Genesis City, even within Specialist Saviors. However, they knew the pitfalls this system would introduce to newbie Saviors. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After all, if beginner Saviors failed their mission, they would have nothing to fall back to. Once they encounter a mission too hard for them, they would end up getting injured a lot and losing a lot of SoulTime in the process. And because they didn''t finish the mission, they wouldn''t receive any Time Stim compensation for their troubles. This would only end up becoming an ever growing problem for the rookie Savior. Because they don''t have enough SoulTime, they would be less inclined to risk their life on a mission. And because they weren''t taking on missions, they weren''t going to earn any Soul Time. It would end up with the newbie Savior getting desperate and forcing himself to do missions that are way above his strength just for the chance to get more Soul Time. More often than not, they would end up dead. Ninth felt sorry for the beginner Saviors. They wouldn''t have the proper environment for them to fully develop as Saviors because they would always become too worried about their SoulTime. If Ninth experienced this situation back when she was a newbie, then she doubted she could have become the Specialist Savior she was right now. "Atlan, I think we''re going to go our separate ways now," Ninth said to Atlan. "Yes. We have a lot of things to prepare." "Our SoulTime is getting dangerously low. We must prepare for another mission so that we could have enough to live." The general consensus between Ninth and the team was that they were going to continue performing missions after this. After all, they needed the Time Stim. Not only that, there was also a lingering guilt in their hearts that they could not get rid of until they saved the City from another Canzer. They wanted to prove to themselves that they could still fight Canzers and protect the City. Atlan watched as Ninth and the team slowly backed away from HeadQuarters to head back to their houses. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ninth and her team. [50 yrs : 23 d : 01 hrs : 53 min : 22 s] [42 yrs : 304 d : 15 hrs : 03 min : 52 s] [66 yrs : 153 d : 05 hrs : 14 min : 41 s] Using his innate powers in death, he was able to see the SoulTime of Ninth and the others even though they hadn''t shown him their wrists. He found it unfair for them that they had to suffer for this unfortunate situation. They did their best during the mission and gave it everything they''ve got. However, their opponent this time was truly something that they couldn''t have defeated on their own no matter how much they tried. It wasn''t their fault that the Church exploded. It was the Elder Heads'' fault for not preparing more Saviors to fight in the mission. After all, they had to fight multiple Specialist-level Canzers before they even reached the Church. So, Ninth and the others shouldn''t have to live with worry that they would soon die because of their injuries from the church mission. Atlan raised his hand and gathered a small portion of the light blobs that he had been absorbing each second. Then, he directed these blobs of light towards Ninth and her team, enveloping them with a warm sensation that made them feel as if they were near a fireplace. Immediately, they all looked at their wrists and saw that their SoulTime had increased by a thousand years! It was unbelievable. Too unbelievable, in fact, that they all looked back at Atlan and knew that he was the one who gifted them this new lease on life. Chapter 409 Change in the City Atlan gave Ninth and the others a silent look. And they accepted his gift with a solemn nod, having the implicit agreement that they would never talk about what happened inside the mission to others.After all, the things that they learned about Atlan were truly mind-breaking. Anyone would start to wonder if he was even human at this point, especially since he could talk and communicate with Canzers as if he were a Canzer himself. Because they knew Atlan personally and saw him fighting for the good of humanity, they knew that he was a good person. However, not a lot of people know about Atlan. They only knew the Star Porter. And if they quickly found out that he had these strange powers, powers that were once originally from Canzers, then they would start to wonder about his true motives. This was especially true in this current chaotic climate. The citizens were both angry and confused. They would quickly turn to Atlan and make him the scapegoat for everything that happened in this City. Ninth and the others looked at their SoulTime and saw it not as a bribe, but as a gift. After all, Atlan didn''t ask them to keep his secret. It was only because Ninth and the others wanted to repay Atlan and keep him safe that they kept their mouths shut. "We''ll convene some other time," said Ninth to everyone in her team. "I''ll call for everyone once the HeadQuarters is open for us to enter. Right now, let''s let the citizens calm down for a few days." Atlan agreed with Ninth''s assessment and knew that in a few days, the citizens would soon get bored trying to enter inside the HeadQuarters. And since everyone now had to worry about their own SoulTime, they wouldn''t want to risk their lives by creating more chaos in the City. Atlan soon bid goodbye to Ninth and the others and went directly to his house. Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire When he arrived at the Suburban village of his property, he saw that most of the houses were either trashed or destroyed by the rioters. After all, this was a famed village that only Saviors lived in. And despite everything that the Saviors did for the City, the citizens all thought that the Saviors were the ones responsible for everything bad happening to their lives. His house was no stranger to this. The doors were broken down, the window glasses were shattered by thrown stones, and even part of his roof was spray painted with some kind of vulgarity. Atlan actually thought that he got it better compared to the other Savior houses in the vicinity. When he went inside, he was thankful that his bedroom and the rest of the rooms weren''t affected by the rioting. It looks like the angry mob only threw stuff at the front of his house, leaving his bedroom squeaky clean. Atlan never cared for how the interior of his house looked, so he didn''t care that it was trashed. As long as he had a roof to sleep in, then he considered himself lucky. "This is your house? You should have stayed in my kingdom and we could have given you a room fit for a king," said the black dragon plushie floating beside him. "It''s nice¡­ it''s not as homely as our cottage in the forest, but it''s nice enough," commented Tulip, the white-green dragon plushie. Both of his tamed dragons floated around his house and inspected everything there was to see in the human world. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was the first time they could freely look around in this dimension without triggering a symptom in the Remedium. So, they quickly tried to fiddle with everything in Atlan''s room. "Oooh! Moving pictures!" said Tulip in wonder as she looked at the TV. "Strange magic, humans have. But I must admit that it is quite amazing," said the Enchanted Queen. Atlan wanted them to explore to their heart''s content, so he let them do whatever they pleased. While the dragons were busy being surprised by the flushing of the toilet, Atlan laid down on his bed and took a nap. As a demigod of death, he didn''t need any sleep to keep his body working. However, a lot of things happened during the mission in quite a small amount of time. He needed this peace and quiet. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ The next day, Atlan got up and found himself looking around him. He took a peek at the window and saw no rioting, heard no chaos, nor felt any disturbance that was so prevalent yesterday. He stepped outside and saw people cleaning the houses that were once thrashed. "Make sure you clean this properly," said one of his neighbors. "Yes, yes," replied the guy with the broom in his hand. "Now, about my payment¡­you''ll give me a tip, right?" The Savior nodded his head. "As long as you finish all the work today and make my house the same way it was before, then I''ll give you a bonus. Here, I''ll give you some compensation now so that you''ll feel motivated." Upon hearing this, the guy with the broom couldn''t help but express his excitement. "Thank you!" Then, the Savior took out a strange syringe-like object from his pockets and stuck it onto his wrist. And with a single push of a button, the syringe suddenly lit up in a strange yellow glow. Atlan saw the same blobs of light that he saw yesterday slowly fill up the syringe, creating that yellow glow. After that, the Savior then gave the syringe to the guy with the broom, who happily accepted the gift. The guy with the broom stuck the syringe into his wrist, letting all of the stored blobs of light in the syringe directly towards his body. The man showed a euphoric expression as he felt the warmth flowing into his veins. Once the syringe had completely emptied, he gave it back to the Savior and thanked him profusely before going back to sweep all the mess in the house. Atlan couldn''t believe his eyes. They exchanged SoulTime! Somehow, in a matter of hours, the people already accepted SoulTime as the de facto currency of Genesis City. Chapter 410 New social order Only a few days had passed since that fateful day, but everything had completely changed in Genesis City.Everything used to be free. Water, food, and even housing could be gained only by virtue of becoming a citizen of Genesis City. Anyone who became part of this city would gain everything they needed to survive without worrying about anything else for their infinite life. And if you wanted something more back then, then you would need to prove your worth to the City by performing a great merit. If you want a bigger house, then you must give the City your services like distributing food or tending to the crops. It was a paradise. However, now that everyone found out that they could die, that paradise was shattered and replaced by a cruel reality. People started to charge everyone for their services. If they wanted to drink water, then they had to pay the workers who gathered water with their SoulTime. And if they wanted to buy food to eat, then they would have given their SoulTime to the farmers and the herders who took care of all the animals. Atlan slowly walked through the streets of Genesis City and felt the change in everyone''s expression. There seemed to be a hidden anger within everyone, as if this life that they were so hell-bent on keeping, was not as enjoyable as they wanted. "Are you kidding me? A month''s worth of SoulTime for this little burger? At least give me a bigger bun!" "Honey, we can''t buy that dress you want. It costs a year of SoulTime, and we barely have enough to keep eating for the week." "If you don''t have any SoulTime to spend, then you can''t stay in this house! Pay your rent!" The world had gone to become more cruel. Those with more SoulTime became much more powerful, as they were able to control those that did not have any SoulTime in their Soul Systems. For example, those with more Soul Time to spend immediately started buying out all the apartments and houses in their vicinity. Then, they started taking rent from the inhabitants by asking for exorbitant amounts of SoulTime. The inhabitants could only keep their mouths shut and pay the price. After all, if they were kicked out of their homes, then they would have nowhere else to turn to. And perhaps, the most revered citizens of the City became the Saviors. After all, they were the ones with the most Soul Time in the entire City. The SoulTime they gained from their missions led them to have thousands upon thousands of years left in their lifespans. They were called Thousandairs, for they had thousands of years left in their SoulTime. The top of the very top, the Specialist level Saviors, were the ones who were most revered. After all, they were the ones who were paid the most during their missions. But even the Student Saviors were becoming a part of the higher echelon of the City. Even though the SoulTime they were paid from missions wasn''t all that much compared to Specialist-level Saviors, they were still so much more than the normal citizens were earning during their daily lives. This led a lot of parents to ask for their child to be taught how to become a Savior. The Saviors, of course, accepted this tutoring job in exchange for SoulTime. Of course, the better the Savior, the more SoulTime their time was worth. Just a few days earlier, all citizens were extremely mad at the Saviors. They were blaming them for the church''s explosion and the loss of immortality. But everyone seemed to have quickly forgotten that once the currency of SoulTime was introduced in the City. That was due to the fact that some Specialist-level Saviors donated some of their SoulTime to everyone in the City. In everyone''s desperation, they quickly forgot their anger at the Saviors and even thanked them for their generosity. After all, although Saviors were still saviors. They were doing their job and protecting the City from being destroyed by Canzers. There was one particular incident about two days after the explosion of the church that completely changed the perception of Saviors in the eyes of the normal citizens of Genesis City. A symptom had arrived in one of the districts, creating a tremendous earthquake that continued to ravage the buildings in the streets. Not only that, the earthquake seemed to spread larger and larger from its original position, threatening to damage the other districts. The original earthquake already took a substantial amount of SoulTime from a lot of people, with some completely dying from the incident. And if the symptom continued to spread, then more and more people would be affected and lose their SoulTime¡ªor worse, lose their lives. But thanks to the timely help of some Saviors, the symptom was quickly taken care of, turning the City into normal once again. Continue your saga on My Virtual Library Empire After their return to the real world, the citizens clapped and praised the Saviors who saved their lives. Even though this incident was routine, and nothing more special than the ones that happened before the incident, their help became so much more impactful now that the citizens knew that they could die if the Saviors hadn''t done their job. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And as the days passed, more symptoms occurred, leading the citizens to depend on the Saviors for help. So, in a matter of a few days, the whole situation was turned around. Saviors were once again saviors. Of course, there were still a handful of people who retained an extreme hatred for the Saviors, but anyone who publicly showed their resentment for the Saviors was ostracized. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Atlan was walking around the streets of Genesis City, deep in thought about his next plans, when someone accidentally bumped into him, causing that someone to crash to the ground. Atlan''s physical strength had reached tremendous levels, probably even higher than Specialist-level Saviors. So, anyone who bumps into him would experience something akin to being hit by a truck. "What the fuck? Watch where you''re going, prick! Don''t you know who I am? Look at my SoulTime. You can''t treat me like this." Chapter 411 Bragging Soul Time? Atlan looked at the man and saw him wearing a green battle suit, which meant that he was a Vanguard Savior like him. However, he didn''t recognize the guy. But judging from the emblem on his chest, it seemed that this guy was in the Pre-Intern realm, just above the Student level and below the Intern realm. Atlan''s reputation as the Star Porter had spread far and wide in the City, however, due to the church''s explosion and the advent of the Time Stims to transfer Soul Time, everyone seemed to have forgotten about him and his supposed talent. After all, from their perspective, Atlan was nothing more than a porter whose skill was a little bit better than most Student-level Saviors. Sure, in terms of Student Saviors, he was probably one of the best. But in the matter of other Saviors, he was but another newbie. And skill as a porter was not that needed nowadays. After all, ever since Soul Time became much more scarce, every Savior was now looking for any opportunity they could earn Soul Time. This included taking the place of porters during missions. Since Atlan was the only Porter available in the City, most of the missions were done without a porter at all. They used multiple Saviors to carry the heavy construct inside the Remedium. And since the job was relatively easy with virtually no risk, everyone was now vying to be in the porter position. So, all in all, Atlan''s value in the City had gone down considerably. After all, he was still a newbie in the Student realm. This particular guy who bumped into Atlan thought that too. He thought that Atlan had remained at the Student level. After all, it had only been a few weeks since he had first started. How would he have guessed that Atlan had the same power as Specialist-level Canzers. Not only that, but he had two dragons by his side ready to support him at any time he needed it. "Apologies," Atlan said. "But you''re the one who bumped into me." The guy couldn''t believe that Atlan wasn''t prostrating himself on the ground right now to beg for forgiveness. "I have five hundred years of Soul Time in my Soul System, buddy. You don''t get to mess with me," the guy said, disdain written on his face. But Atlan couldn''t understand why the guy was bragging about his Soul Time. He didn''t think it mattered. "So?" Atlan asked. "So?! Are you stupid or something? This means that I''m more powerful than you. Plain and simple. With more Soul Time, I have more health than you and even more power to kill you. And once I kill you, well¡­" The guy eyed Atlan''s wrist, hoping to see the Soul Time hidden inside. Atlan finally realized what the guy wanted to do. He seemed to have bumped into him on purpose, with the very goal of starting a fight. "What are you, a Student? And I''m at the peak of the Pre-Intern realm. We are not the same. If you don''t want to get your ass handed to you, then I''m willing to soothe my anger if you give me 10 years of Soul Time as compensation." Atlan couldn''t believe that this guy was doing all of this effort just to get ten years of Soul Time. Even back when Atlan was just a Student Savior, he could earn that much Soul Time in a few hours just by activating his mutation. It seems things have truly changed in this society. When he first entered Genesis City, he thought that everyone was nice and caring to other people. But now, things have completely changed. "Hey, hey! Are you going to give me your Soul Time or not? I''m getting impatient here," the guy said, slowly taking out the sword from the sheath on his back. Atlan shook his head in disappointment. He then looked around and saw a discreet hall by the side of the street. He started going in that direction, leading the guy away from any prying eyes. "Now, give me your Soul Time!" the guy threatened, brandishing his sword. But Atlan didn''t even flinch. He simply gave the man a stern eye. "I''m probably not the first one that you cornered like this, right? How many Student-level Saviors have you extorted out of precious Soul Time?" Atlan asked, his anger showing on his eyebrows. "You bastard. How dare you say that to me? And here I thought I wouldn''t have to teach you a lesson. But now, you''ve forced my hand. If you don''t want to give me your Soul Time, then I''ll take it away from you!" The guy raised his sword with such speed and ferocity that his blade almost looked invisible. He looked like he barely moved, but in truth, he had completely cleaved his sword towards Atlan''s hand, hoping to sever it clean. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The man waited, with a conceited expression on his face, for Atlan to show a pained expression as he realized that he lost his hand. But after a few seconds, nothing happened. The man looked confused. He didn''t know what happened. He knew that his sword had cleaved through Atlan''s hand just from feeling alone, yet none of that happened. "Tsk. You got lucky," said the man. This time, he wasn''t going to miss again. His body started to glow a strange red hue, as if his whole body was encompassed by a great fire. Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire The sword in his hands emanated a dangerous sharpness, enough to cut through layers and layers of steel. As a Pre-Intern level Savior, the man was confident in his strength. Just a normal attack of his could inflict a year of Soul Time damage! The man raised his sword and concentrated all of his strength and cleaving power towards Atlan''s hand, which was resting by the side of his body. SHIIING! A small cut appeared on Atlans hand, but after a second, the cut had seemingly healed and showed no sign of being affected at all. Chapter 412 Stealing? The man couldn''t believe his eyes. His most proudest skill, that used to cleave through Destruction Canzers with ease, was now treated as nothing more than a surface wound. Not only that, the wound he inflicted was healed in just a matter of a few seconds. "So you''re a little bit sturdier than others, so what? I''ll still cut you up into pieces!" He thought that Atlan had simply expended a lot of his Soul Time to protect himself from the wound. He thought that Atlan wasted some of his Soul Time to heal the wound in a matter of seconds. This led the man to believe that Atlan had a lot more Soul Time than the average person, which motivated him to fight Atlan more so that he could extract all of the Soul Time in his body later. "Let''s see how you deal with this. LifeSkill: Fury of Blazing Blade!" the man screamed, with his entire body and blade becoming enveloped with an even bigger fire. The man started to perform moves and stances with his blade, starting his strongest flurry of attacks. This was a combo that the man relied on to kill lots and lots of Canzers in a matter of a few seconds. The combination of his sharp sword and his intense burning fire would be enough to deal at least ten years of damage for each second he continued the attacks. Finally, the guy began his onslaught on Atlan, slicing towards his body with speed and power that would most certainly impress those who knew nothing but swordsmanship. Slowly, Atlan''s skin began to be inundated with cuts and slashes from the man''s attacks. The man smiled. A second had passed and he had performed about 50 slashes towards Atlan''s body, meaning that in total, he must have lost about 10 years of his Soul Time. This was a precious amount of Soul Time. And if he wanted to heal all of the cuts and open wounds on his body, then Atlan would have to spend more of his Soul Time to accelerate his healing capabilities. The man thought that Atlan would give up at this point. After all, surrendering now would save him from further humiliation and pain. Compared to what he was asking, Atlan would save a lot more Soul Time by relenting to the man''s wishes and giving him the Soul Time he needed. But somehow, Atlan''s face was stone cold. He still looked sternly at the man with absolutely no change in facial expression as his body got filled with cuts and injuries. The man was a little bit unnerved upon seeing this. Just then, he saw that Atlan''s body began to start healing again. All of the cuts that the man inflicted upon him were closing back up even faster than when the man inflicted them. "Are you stupid?! Why are you wasting so much Soul Time?!" the guy shouted. From his perspective, the man thought that Atlan was simply throwing away Soul Time for nothing. After all, he could have just surrendered and made all of this over in just a few more seconds. But no. Atlan refused to surrender. This activated the guy''s stubbornness. He vowed to himself that he wouldn''t stop until Atlan gave up and begged for mercy. He didn''t want to truly hurt Atlan before this and only wanted to extort him out of a few years of Soul Time, yet now, the man''s pride as a swordsman was hurt. He was going to prove to Atlan that no amount of Soul Time could protect him from his burning sword! The man continued his furry of slashes toward Atlan, increasing his movements and deepening his contact with Atlan''s skin. By now, Atlan must have been losing 20 or more years for each second that the man continued his onslaught of sword swings. Yet as the seconds passed, Atlan continued to be unbothered. It was not without reason, for all of his cuts¡ªno matter how deep or how many¡ªwere simply healed in a matter of a fraction of a second. It came to a point where the man was struggling to even cut through Atlan''s skin because Atlan was regenerating his injuries so fast that the cuts were being healed back up the moment they were cut! Explore more adventures at My Virtual Library Empire As the man slowly slowly felt his energy weaken, and exhaustion take over his body, the man realized something terrifying. Atlan seemed to have thousands upon thousands of Soul Time in reserve! Atlan had used up hundreds upon hundreds of years just from the cuts alone, not even including the Soul Time needed to accelerate its healing. It was as if Atlan''s Soul Time was endless. He couldn''t believe it! It was as if Soul Time was nothing for him. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The man slowly stopped his sword, with his hands slowly trembling from both terror and exhaustion. "You¡­ give me your Soul Time!" the man screamed as he took out a Time Stim from his pocket and stabbed it toward Atlan''s wrist. This syringe was used to extract and transfer Soul Time from one person to another. And since the act of taking a Soul Time was as easy as stabbing the syringe onto their body, then anyone could theoretically steal a person''s Soul Time. Of course, this was dangerous for the person being stabbed because it was not controlled. The man knew that Atlan must have thousands upon thousands of years of Soul Time. He wanted that. He wanted all of it. So, he stabbed the Time Stim in Atlan''s arm and started to extract all of the Soul Time he could fit in the syringe. The man''s face glowed as he saw the syringe start to light up more and more, sucking up every Soul Time that it could from Atlan''s body. After a few seconds, the Time Stim was completely full to the brim. Ecstasy filled the man''s face as he realized that he had just extracted a thousand years from Atlan. He immediately poked the syringe into his own wrist, transferring all of the Soul Time he stole from Atlan into his body. But then, instead of feeling the warmth of Soul Time flowing through his body, he suddenly felt a coldness overcome his body. He looked down at his wrist and realized that his Soul Time was actually going down! Chapter 413 Territorial dispute Horror filled the man''s face as he realized what was happening. Instead of filling himself with thousands upon thousands of years of Soul Time, his own lifespan was the one actually going down! He didn''t understand what was going on. The Time Stim was supposed to suck out all of Atlan''s Soul Time and transfer it onto himself. Slowly, the man''s face began to age, from being a man in his healthy twenties, to a man going through the years and turning ninety. His face had wrinkles all over, with his eyes turning grayish and blurry. The once great physique that he boasted was now nothing more than skin and bones. His hair, once flush with black and healthy strands, now turned grayish-white and slowly fell off his head. Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire It was as if age had finally chased after this man. After living in immortality for all this time, only now did time finally catch up and take matters into its own hands. "What¡­" S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Those were the last words of the man as he fell to the floor. But not before his body turned into nothing but ashes. He was completely dead, with nothing left to even bury him. Atlan looked at the man and felt no sympathy. If he had simply asked for a favor nicely, then Atlan would have given him a little bit of a Soul Time for him to live on. But no. The man was a scumbag that preyed on the weak so that he could keep himself living much younger than everybody else. Not only that, he was the one who tried to kill him. If Atlan was a normal human, then all of his Soul Time would have been taken by that guy without even a shred of guilt and conscience on his face. It was only unfortunate for the man that Atlan had become the demigod of death. The only thing he could get from Atlan was death particles, which quickly killed all the healthy and living cells in his body until he turned into nothing but bones. Atlan walked out of the discreet hallway and onto the streets as if nothing happened at all. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Atlan went on his day, walking along the streets of Genesis City. Suddenly, he came across someone who brought out a smile on his face. "Lizzie¡­" She was the first woman he kissed, the woman whose feistiness rivaled even that of cats. Even though it had only been a couple of days since they saw each other, Atlan felt as if he hadn''t seen her for an entire year. Things passed way too long for him to meet her again. He walked towards her with a smile, ready to greet her. But then, he noticed that she had a frown on her face as she confronted quite a chubby man. "You can''t be serious!" she shouted. "I''ve been living here for my whole life. It doesn''t make sense that I have to move." The chubby man awkwardly rubbed his hands together. "I am sorry, madam. However, the acquisition had already gone through. Someone has offered a lot of Soul Time for this house, so unless you can give the same amount, I''m afraid you are going to have to leave." "That''s what I''m talking about! How is it sold when I own this house in the first place?! Make that make sense!" she screamed. Just then, another woman slowly approached the two of them and shoved Lizzie away from the house. "Excuse me, I just bought this place and I don''t want you entering my house. Now, would you please get out?!" The chubby man immediately bowed towards the woman and gave her a forced smile as he tried to curry favor with his customer. "Ahh¡­Missus! Worry not, for I have already asked for soldiers to make her leave this place." Lizzie glared at the chubby man and the woman, unable to believe that they could be so callous. She couldn''t believe it. She had spent her whole life in service of the City, yet now, her house was being taken away without even any explanation. Atlan could see that she was close to bringing out her mutation and hissing at the man. He knew he had to interfere. "What''s going on here?" he asked with calmness. "Atlan¡­" Lizzie''s eyes immediately calmed down when she saw Atlan. Meanwhile, the chubby man and the woman immediately glared at Atlan, as if he had been rude to them. "Sir, please go. This is none of your business," said the chubby man. "Lizzie is mine. This is my business," he declared, making Lizzie''s cheeks blush in embarrassment. "Hmph, so what?!" asked the woman. "It doesn''t change the fact that we already own this house! Now get out before the soldiers get here. Ahh! Here they are. Officers, over here!" The woman called over the group of soldiers towards their location. "What''s going on here?" asked the soldier as he bumped his fists onto his chest two times. "They''re bothering me on my property!" said the woman. "Get them out of my face!" The woman gave Lizzie a nasty side-eye as if she had already won. But as the soldiers looked at Lizzie, their eyes suddenly widened as they realized who she was. "Miss Lizzie! We didn''t know you were here." The chubby man and the woman couldn''t believe their ears. The soldiers were actually being respectful to Lizzie! For normal people, Lizzie was an unknown figure. But for soldiers and Saviors alike, Lizzie was like a legendary figure within their circles. After all, she was one of if not the only one in this City whose mutation had surpassed the normal strength. Many were fans of Lizzie''s talent and strength, as well as her beauty. And apparently, these soldiers were fans of her as well. "What''s going on here, Miss Lizzie?" the soldier asked respectfully, ignoring the chubby man and the annoying woman. Lizzie then began to explain what happened to her, including getting thrown out of her own house. The soldiers, upon hearing the story, couldn''t help but frown. They looked at the tablets in their hands and saw some unfortunate news. "I''m sorry, Miss Lizzie. However, the paperwork does suggest that this woman here bought this house yesterday." Chapter 414 Rich in time The woman and the chubby man both showed their conceit towards Lizzie once the soldier confirmed their story. "See? Now soldiers, please get this peasant woman out of my face!" the woman said, almost spitting at Lizzie''s feet. "Haha, Missus. It''s better not to bother yourselves with these things. Now, would you like to talk about more properties you would like to buy? I''ll process the paperwork this time as well," the chubby man said, rubbing his hands as he felt the Soul Time coming in his direction. "Very well, my husband is a famous Savior, after all. He has a lot of Soul Time that we can spend," said the woman. Then, she looked at Lizzie and saw the Student-level badge on her shoulders. "Hmph. Only Student-level? How dare you try to mess with the wife of a Savior in the Pre-Intern realm? My husband is on a whole other level than you?" Lizzie was indeed only at the Student-level. However, that was only the case for her LifeSkill, not her mutation powers. If she were to fight against a Specialist-level Savior, then she could go toe to toe with them without losing! But of course, ordinary people like this woman didn''t know the intricacies of the power realm of Saviors. "Now, take your loser boyfriend with you as well. He''s been staring at me rudely for quite some time now," said the woman. Then, the woman took out a Time Stim from her pockets and stuck it onto her wrist, bringing a small amount of Soul Time out of her Soul System. Then, she brought the syringe to the chubby man. "Here is your bonus. It''s a 50-year tip. Enjoy your time." The chubby man couldn''t help but jump as he heard the woman''s words. He immediately bowed towards her and took the syringe, stabbing it onto his own wrist and taking the Soul Time for himself. "You soldiers. If you arrest this woman and her boyfriend, then you too can be the owner of 50 years of Soul Time," the woman said, trying to bribe the soldiers. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire Even though the soldiers respected Lizzie, they were still human. 50 years was a long time. They would need that for themselves, and their family. It was not like being a soldier paid off handsomely like other jobs like Saviors. The soldiers debated within themselves and were about to open their mouths to talk, when all of a sudden, Atlan approached them first. "Wait a minute," he said. "Why is she allowed to take Lizzie''s house?" The soldiers rubbed their heads awkwardly. "Recently, the City had started to sell some of its assets to get more Soul Time in reserve. So, they started to sell houses they owned to rich people like this woman''s husband. Since the City was the one who provided this land to Miss Lizzie in the first place, then they have all the right to take it away from her," the soldier explained. Lizzie sighed to herself. Even though she had lived in this house for all her life, she had no choice but to surrender it to the City. "Atlan, let''s go. I''ll find another house to live in," Lizzie said dejectedly. But Atlan didn''t budge from his spot even as Lizzie tugged on his shirt. "Wait. So, if Lizzie had enough money, then she could buy the house from the City itself, right?" The soldier nodded his head. "Hah! Do you know how much I paid for this house, young man? A Student-level Savior like her can''t afford this kind of place," the woman exclaimed. Atlan looked her in the eyes and replied, "Who said she''d be the one to pay for it?" The woman was taken aback by Atlan''s words. But once she realized that Atlan also had the same Student-level epaulet on his shoulders, she realized that Atlan was doing nothing more than posturing. "And what? You''re going to be the one to pay for it? Newbie, you don''t have to lie," the woman said, shaking her head. But Atlan ignored her. He looked at the soldiers with a serious face. "How much is it and where do I give the Soul Time to?" The soldiers looked at each other, not knowing if Atlan was being serious or not. After all, they knew that Student-level missions certainly did not pay very high Soul Time as a salary. Sometimes, even soldiers earned more Soul Time than Student-level Saviors. "Atlan, it''s okay. I wouldn''t want you to waste your Soul Time for this. I''ll just find something cheaper," she said. But Atlan didn''t want that. Lizzie deserved only the best. "Tell me," he said to the soldiers. One of them finally took out a Time Stim from his pockets, which looked a little bit more official and advanced than most syringes he saw people using. "This house costs 900 years," the soldier said. "You can pay the Soul Time to this Time Stim." Lizzie winced upon hearing that. She definitely couldn''t afford that much to pay for her house. If she did, then she wouldn''t have enough to live much longer. "See? Now, get out of my¡ª" But before the woman could finish her sentence, Atlan suddenly took the soldier''s Time Stim and stuck it onto his wrist. He focused on the power in his body, separating the death energy from the life energy he absorbed in his surroundings. Everyone watched as the syringe started to fill up. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And it didn''t seem to stop. The woman, the chubby man, and the soldiers all had increasingly shocked faces as the syringe slowly filled to the very top. "Only 900 years?" Atlan asked. "That''s nothing." He passed the Time Stim to the soldier, who inspected the syringe and saw that it indeed had 900 years of Soul Time inside! They couldn''t believe it. Atlan was able to bring out 900 years of Soul Time in one go without even breaking a sweat! "How¡­how...that''s impossible!" screamed the woman. Chapter 415 Buying the neighborhood The soldiers accepted the Time Stim from Atlan and processed the paperwork on their tablets. After a few seconds, they looked towards Atlan and gave him the good news. "Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of this house," he said. The woman and the chubby man couldn''t help but crash out once they heard that. "That''s unfair!" the woman screamed. "How is that possible?" asked the chubby man, his anger visible from the jiggling of his fatty neck. "We already processed the paperwork for the purchase of this house. No one should be able to buy it back!" The reason why the woman and the chubby man were so conceited was because they thought that the house was already a done deal. After all, the woman''s husband was a very famous Pre-Intern level Savior who was part of the leaderboard of Rising Saviors. That was the reason they were even able to purchase the house ahead of time. They used the woman''s connections so that they would be able to purchase the house that she wanted. She even processed the paperwork, and only had to give out the necessary Soul Time before she could fully get the house for herself. Your next chapter awaits on My Virtual Library Empire "My husband is a famous Savior, far ahead of these two! How come they could get the house instead of me?! Do you know who you are offending right now?" screamed the woman to the soldier. But the soldier just awkwardly scratched his head. After processing the paperwork, the soldier saw something impossible about the unassuming youth right next to Miss Lizzie. "According to his profile, this young gentleman here has a priority rating of 1, meaning he has the same privilege as the top Specialists in the City," said the soldier. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The chubby man and the woman''s jaws dropped on the ground. They couldn''t believe that the young man they were berating was actually such a big shot. "That doesn''t make sense! I don''t know him at all. How is he a top priority?!" they both screamed. The soldier looked at Atlan, silently asking him if it was okay to reveal his identity. To which, Atlan just shrugged his shoulders and gave a nod. The soldier then respectfully pointed at Atlan and said, "This young man here is Atlan, the Star Porter of Genesis City." Upon hearing that, the chubby man and the woman finally shut up. Now that they knew who he was, they found no courage to speak up any further. After all, the Star Porter was very famous for all of his talent as an up-and-coming Savior. Now, they finally knew the reason why the City allowed Lizzie to buy her house back using Atlan''s Soul Time. The City would definitely favor the Star Porter compared to a Pre-Intern unknown Savior. The woman bit her fingernails in annoyance. She couldn''t believe how her pride was utterly shattered by this one interaction. She thought she was berating some unknown loser from the City, but as it turned out, she was messing with someone she shouldn''t have messed with from the beginning. The chubby man, upon seeing his client''s bad mood, tried to cheer her up by consoling her mood. "It''s okay, Madam. There are still plenty of high-priced properties in this area. To be honest, this house is kind of the worst house in this neighborhood. It''s actually a good thing that you won''t be buying this piece of garbage," the chubby man said. Even though they were just about to buy this property, the chubby man went to great lengths to try and disparage it to the woman. He was afraid that the woman would back out of their agreement and refuse to buy another house because of this. The chubby man really wanted that commission. He wanted to be rich in Soul Time! "Hmph¡­you''re right. Now that I think about it, this house does suck. Let''s quickly get out of this garbage dump and find a much better house," the woman said, not forgetting to smirk at Lizzie with malice. Atlan would have let them go if they had just gone quietly. But after being so rude to Lizzie, they brought this onto themselves. "Wait a minute," said Atlan. "Soldiers, I''ll buy this whole neighborhood. How much will it take?" The woman and the chubby man both immediately turned back and stared daggers at Atlan. They couldn''t believe he would say something so ridiculous. They even started to berate him because of his stupidity to try and lie to them. "Ha! Do you really think you can buy this entire neighborhood? You know how that much costs?" "Young man, I know it''s good to brag about your Soul Time, but lying about it is too much!" said the chubby man. Atlan ignored them and just looked at their soldiers. He waited for them to tell him the price to buy this entire neighborhood. But the soldier once again didn''t know what to do. He didn''t know if Atlan was serious or not. However, since he was asked, he had to answer. "It costs around¡­100,000 years of Soul Time," the soldier said, not even believing that he uttered such an unbelievable amount of Soul Time. "See? Who could even afford that? Surely not this young man. Soldiers, please arrest this young man for even trying to suggest that he had enough time to buy this whole neighborhood," the woman said to the soldiers. The soldier looked towards Atlan again and saw him have a casual attitude towards everything. "Is that Time Stim enough to store a hundred thousand Soul Time," Atlan asked. And upon realizing he was serious, the soldier immediately shook his head. "No, sir. This Time Stim is not rated to transfer a hundred thousand years. You would have to visit the HeadQuarters yourself to transfer the required Soul Time to the city. However, we do have a Soul Time verifier, allowing us to verify that you do have the needed funds to buy the entire neighborhood." The chubby man and the woman both looked at Atlan. "Stop this now, young man. You don''t want to get humiliated for lying about such things, right?" Instead, Atlan just gave the soldiers his hand voluntarily, waiting for them to verify that he did have enough Soul Time. Chapter 416 Lizzies yearning The chubby man and the woman both looked on at Atlan with a nervous expression. Of course, they didn''t believe that Atlan actually had a hundred thousand years in his Soul Time. That would be absurd. However, Atlan had a casual and confident attitude within him that the two of them couldn''t understand. It was as if he truly had that much Soul Time in his body. It was as if he wasn''t lying about it. After all, why then would he voluntarily let the soldiers verify the Soul Time in his body? If he was lying, then he wouldn''t want others to check and see that he was lying. Which meant only one thing for the two of them: they were probably in trouble. They were 99 percent sure that Atlan was simply just lying out of his mouth. However, that remaining 1 percent truly scared the chubby man and the woman. In the lowest of odds that Atlan truly has the amount of Soul Time that he said he had, then that meant that they had offended someone they shouldn''t have offended. After all, having a hundred thousand years on his Soul Time meant that he was part of the upper one percent of people in the City who had tremendous amounts of Soul Time. He was a part of that upper echelon that they couldn''t even touch the toes of. Finally, the soldiers took out a thermometer-like object and poked it onto Atlan''s wrist. Atlan felt the underlying mechanism of the object and felt its powers trying to probe his Soul System and take a look at his Soul Time. If he didn''t do anything, then the probe would quickly find out that his body had no Soul System at all. It was just a collection of death energy that seemed to destroy everything in its path. Enjoy new chapters from My Virtual Library Empire So, Atlan had to command the death energy in his body to act like a different structure. Then, he closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings, feeling all the life energy just floating around in the air. He quickly absorbed everything that he could see and feel, allocating enough Soul Time in his body. Slowly, the object began to take a reading at Atlan''s Soul Time. The number on the screen went from one year, to ten years, to a hundred years, to a thousand years, and finally, a hundred years. Everyone couldn''t believe their eyes. The soldier even almost dropped the object onto the ground from his shock. Just like the woman and the chubby man, he also thought that Atlan was just exaggerating what he had. He would have never thought that Atlan actually did have a hundred thousand Soul Time in his body! "Hukk!" "A hun¡­hun¡­hundred thousand years¡­" The woman felt her knees go weak, letting herself fall onto the floor. It was as if her reality had shattered. She thought that she was finally part of the small group of people in the City with power in their hands. She thought she was special because she had a lot more Soul Time than the normal person. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But upon encountering Atlan, she quickly realized that she was nothing more than an above-average being. Her most prideful Soul Time was like nothing more than a small drop in front of an ocean. It made her feel extremely small. The chubby man couldn''t believe his unluckiness as well. After all, he finally realized that he should have tried to curry favor with Atlan from the very beginning. If he hadn''t judged Atlan from the beginning, then he could have been the one helping Atlan buy the houses he wanted, earning him a lot of commission. However, it was too late now. Atlan had already shown his disdain for the two of them. "Sir¡­ I didn''t¡­ I didn''t know that you were of such great importance¡­" the woman went on her knees. "Please forgive me for my actions!" she said, putting her head on the ground. The chubby man did the same as well, asking Atlan for his forgiveness in the small chance that he would someday want his help in buying a house. "Please forgive our rudeness!" But Atlan didn''t want to deal with them anymore. "Get out of my sight," he said to them. The woman and the chubby man both hurried away from the neighborhood, glad that this incident only ended with nothing but a lecture. If Atlan had truly wanted them to suffer, he could have simply made their lives a lot worse by paying Soul Time to others and harassing them in their everyday lives. He could even pay Soul Time to the soldiers to have them arrested. With the two of them gone, the neighborhood had gotten a lot quieter. The soldiers also bid their peace to Atlan and Lizzie, leaving just the two of them alone. "Atlan¡­" Lizzie said, looking up at the young man. Unlike most people, she knew the truth of what happened in the church. She knew that Atlan and Ninth were tasked to save the church from a hostage situation. Unfortunately, it seemed that they had both failed and succeeded in the mission. After all, everyone thought that if the church exploded, then the whole city would go with it. But somehow, they were able to prevent the destruction of the entire city and only limited it to the church. So, it wasn''t a failure, but it wasn''t a success as well. But Lizzie didn''t care about any of that. She just looked at Atlan with her eyes slowly getting teary-eyed. "I''m glad you''re okay," she said, before running to his arms and embracing him with all of her body. She was deathly worried for him for the whole entirety of the mission. She almost had a heart attack when she heard Carmine say that they lost communications with Atlan''s battle suit. She thought something wrong had happened to him. She had to be restrained by other Saviors or else she would have braved the Remedium and tried to search for Atlan. And now, he was finally back in his life. She was more than glad. Even if immortality was gone, she didn''t care. Atlan was back. Chapter 417 Reinforcements ambush Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire The two of them spent a few minutes in a quiet embrace. They didn''t talk and just let the moment pass with just the two of them alone. If it was before, then Lizzie would be far too embarrassed to do this out in public. There were a couple of passers-by giving them strange looks and chuckling to themselves, teasing the two of them to ''get a room''. But Lizzie ignored them. After finding out that the world had gone out of order and that everything she knew could soon disappear from her sight, things like embarrassment were nothing to worry about. Finally, she broke the silence by asking Atlan the question that had been bugging her and everyone else in the HeadQuarters. "What happened in the mission?" she asked him. If it was before, then Atlan would have told her some kind of excuse so that she wouldn''t know about his secret. But Atlan changed. He had seen what was out there in the stars and knew that there was no point in hiding his powers any longer. "I am not what you think I am," he said to her. "From the very beginning, after I underwent my awakening, I experienced something that none had ever experienced before." Atlan took a deep breath. "I killed the God of Death and took his place¡­" He then began to tell her everything that he had been hiding from her this entire time. He told her how he became stronger each time he witnessed death and how he obtained angel power after he witnessed the extinction of the angels. Lizzie listened to him with an indiscernible expression. But she didn''t interrupt him. She let him explain everything without saying anything. He also told her about their exploits in the mission, and how everything had been going as planned right up until the Magical Queen sent a raven to the church and started the explosion. He told her that because of that explosion, he was able to transcend into the next plane of strength, lower only to the Gods. Lizzie, upon hearing the whole truth come out of Atlan''s mouth, couldn''t even utter a single word from hers. She didn''t know what to say. Just the fact that he had multiple SSS+ class LifeSkills was enough to shake her whole foundation of reality. But then, he also talked about Canzers and their society, he talked about death, and he even talked about how he was immortal since his Soul Time was forever going upwards by the second. She finally understood how he could so casually buy an entire upper-class neighborhood without even batting a single eyelid. "Can¡­ can I see your Soul Time?" she asked him. Atlan raised his wrist and showed her everything. [--------------] "So¡­ you''re practically immortal because of this¡­ because you''re absorbing all the death around you¡­" "That''s right," he said. Lizzie touched her forehead and felt a little bit woozy. "Sorry, that''s too much information to take in. Can you escort me back to my place?" she asked him. Atlan, being the gentleman that he was, put her arms around his shoulder and guided her back to her house. As he got inside, he immediately noticed the quaint interior of Lizzie''s house. There were all sorts of cat decorations in her furniture, and even a large-sized cat obstacle course running through the walls, presumably not just decoration but a training module for her. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He escorted her to bed and laid her down, with her cheeks flushed and her forehead sweating. Atlan used his eyes to sense the life energy inside her body. Thankfully enough, she wasn''t emitting a large amount of death energy for him to be concerned about. And even if he did see those signs, he could have easily reversed them himself. Lizzie wasn''t sick, she was just overwhelmed by everything she learned about Atlan. With a little bit of sleep, she would be okay. Atlan tucked her into bed and slowly walked out the door. But before he could leave completely, Lizzie opened her mouth and uttered a few words for him. "I''m¡­ glad you''re still the same old Atlan that I liked¡­" she said. He could only chuckle at her words. Even though everything she knew about him turned out to be just a facade, she wasn''t mad at him. She looked like she understood why he had to keep it a secret. She just didn''t think that the secret he hid was a world-breaking fact that involved even the gods themselves. "Recover well, my Lizzie," he said to her before walking out her door. Atlan slowly walked out of Lizzie''s house with a casual attitude. He even tidied some of her mess in the living room before he walked out the door. Then, as he stepped foot outside, he suddenly stopped. He looked up at the skies and talked to someone that wasn''t there. "There''s no need for any violence," Atlan said to the air. "I don''t want Lizzie''s front porch to be painted with blood." Just as he said that, the air above him suddenly shimmered and revealed an entire armada of floating Saviors, each with their weapons at the ready. Carmine was one of them, and he slowly approached Atlan. "I''m sorry about this, Atlan. But we have to take you in," he said. Atlan knew that this would happen eventually. He was even surprised that they let an entire day pass before they took him in. "I''m not going to resist," Atlan said. "There was no need to bring in so much reinforcement," he said, pointing to the floating Saviors above his head ready to attack at a moment''s notice. "It''s not my fault," Carmine apologized. "There are a lot of important people who wish to know why the mission failed. Ninth and her team refused to talk, no matter how much we forced them to. It seems like they were protecting something. Was it you they were trying to protect by keeping their silence?" Atlan didn''t answer. But in truth, that was not the reason why Ninth and her team refused to speak. They didn''t do it to protect Ataln. They did it to protect the City after knowing what Atlan''s powers could do. Chapter 418 Sudden appearance Atlan looked on at Carmine and the rest of the Saviors looking at him. Judging from the Saviors'' looks, it seemed as if they treated Atlan as nothing more than an easy target. Their lax behaviors were indicative of the fact that they thought they could catch him whenever they felt like it. There was also a little bit of a disdain in their looks. These Saviors weren''t told much, but they did know that Atlan was a part of the mission that led to the destruction of the church. Once they found out that Atlan was nothing more than a Student-level Savior, they couldn''t help but question him and the officers who deemed him fit for such an important mission. There were at least a few Saviors here who thought that Atlan was probably responsible for the failure of the mission in its entirety. "So, where am I going?" asked Atlan. Carmine touched a button installed near the chest piece of his battle suit. "All the important people of the City are gathering at HeadQuarters for a meeting to talk about everything that has happened. They want you to personally tell them everything that occurred in the mission, especially those moments when the video and audio transmission were interrupted," Carmine said. Because of the Magical Queen''s influence, the entire ending to that mission was cut off from what Carmine and the others could see. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Before that, everything had been going well for the party. Yet, after that, the camera no longer returned to its full functions. So, Carmine and his team of Specialist Operators have no idea what happened. "So I have to go to the HeadQuarters, right? I''ll just meet you there," Atlan said. But before Carmine and the others could even question him about what he meant with those words, Atlan suddenly unfurled the Angel Wings in his back and disappeared from their sight in a fraction of a second. Carmine and the rest of the Saviors couldn''t believe their eyes. They couldn''t even see how he was able to get away from their sight. He was too fast for one of them to even see what happened. Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire When they finally came to their senses, Atlan was already gone. The Saviors went into a panic mode and immediately searched the area. They even tried to survey from where he disappeared, but they found no sort of signature that they could recognize. "How is this possible?! He''s a Student-level porter!" "I couldn''t even keep up with his speed¡­" "What''s going on here? What were those white wings?!" Everyone was in disarray as they realized that Atlan completely outclassed them in every way possible. It finally made sense why Atlan still had an air of confidence and casualness that the others couldn''t understand. They all thought that he was just trying to act tough in front of fifty Saviors locking him down on sight, but as it turned out, he could have escaped them at any time he wanted. "Carmine, how is this possible?! How did a Student Porter escape from fifty Intern-level Saviors?! That does not make sense." The Specialist Operator was at a loss for words. He had no explanation for what he just witnessed. It was way beyond the realm of what was currently known in the world. "I don''t know¡­" Carmine uttered. "But I think I''m starting to get a sense of what happened in the mission¡­" The rest of the Saviors continued to search their surroundings in search of Atlan. They even went to the ends of the City walls, thinking that Atlan tried to escape Genesis City. But after a few minutes, Carmine was contacted by someone from the HeadQuarters and they said that Atlan suddenly appeared in the middle of the meeting without any sort of explanation. His sudden appearance sent everyone into a frenzied panic. "Boys, call off the search. Atlan''s been found," he said to the Saviors. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ A few minutes later, Carmine finally arrived at the HeadQuarters and he immediately entered the meeting room. This auditorium was large and could house about a thousand people in the stands. Once he entered, Carmine was met with a lot of people who had their shields and their weapons brandished toward the lone man on stage. "Tsk! Why haven''t you taken him down yet? Aren''t you my bodyguards?!" asked a terrified politician. "Boss, we don''t know! Somehow, he can destroy all of our LifeSkills the moment we get close." This meeting was composed of all the important people inside Genesis City. This included influential people from the governmental body of the City, it included representatives of the strongest and oldest families in the city, and there were even a few Specialist-level Saviors who stayed their hand and observed Atlan with curiosity. Because of his sudden appearance, many clueless people thought that Atlan was there to kill them. So, there were a lot of bodyguards who tried to kill him from a distance. One such bodyguard summoned a flaming spear in the air, which was an A-class DPS LifeSkill in the Intern level. This attack could decimate a whole horde of Canzers, and could inflict about 90 years of Soul Time! However, just as the flaming spear was about to hit Atlan, the fire seemed to weaken at a substantial rate, before the power dissipated completely. By the end, the attack had turned into a small ember that barely even hit Atlan''s body. There were also some greater attacks done by the bodyguards, but somehow, none of them affected Atlan. His wounds would heal even before the weapon was taken out of his body. It was as if he had an unlimited amount of Soul Time! Carmine finally had enough and stood in front of Atlan, preventing the bodyguards from attacking him anymore. "What are you all doing? This is supposed to be a civilized meeting!" he shouted. Then, he turned to Atlan and was angry at him as well. "And you¡­ I don''t know how you disappeared from our sight, but you can''t just re-appear in the middle of the meeting room and expect them to treat you with civility." Atlan couldn''t care any less. "You wanted me here, so I''m here." Chapter 419 Kobra Atlan''s attitude was nothing less than apathetic. He didn''t care that he antagonized the entirety of the people inside this meeting, people who had a large influence on how this meeting was going to go. They could decide that he was guilty of the crime of the church''s explosion even though they hadn''t started the meeting yet. But Atlan didn''t care. That was because once he had ascended to demigodhood, all things seemed trivial. The people around him were still trying to clamor to their old lives, trying to blame someone for making them live the reality of the apocalypse. But if you ask Atlan, then the apocalypse would have happened either way without him. It was just a matter of time. "Stand down," a commanding voice said. Upon hearing this, all the paranoid and scared people in the stands had relieved looks on their faces. After all, the person who just spoke was none other than the current strongest Savior in Genesis City, Kobra. They didn''t think he was sure, but sure enough, he seemed to have just been hiding in their midst without saying anything. Only now did he finally speak up and show his presence to the whole query. Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire Since they now had, in their midst, a master of combat and the strongest Savior in the current world, some of the people who were deathly scared of Atlan now became extremely arrogant and antagonistic against him. They felt as if they could finally do whatever they wanted with his protection. After all, he was a Specialist-level Savior at the top of his field, while Atlan was only at the top of the Student-level field. There was a huge difference between them. "Ha! See that?! The Star Savior says that you should shut up!" "You better listen now, young man, if you don''t want your head blown straight off!" "What are we even waiting for? He rudely appeared right in front of our eyes, we should have him arrested right now!" Atlan just stood there, ignoring all their words. After all, words were nothing but an illusion. However, if they started to make their words into action, then he wouldn''t hesitate to act to defend himself. "WAIT!" Kobra said, standing up to show himself to everyone. The man, with his green battle suit, had all sorts of medals and pins on his chest, lauding him for all the achievements he had made throughout his life. It was clear that this man was the strongest person in the room, evidenced by the amount of attention he commanded from the room. "I didn''t ask for him to shut up, I said it to all of you," he said, looking at the crowd of people among him. He wanted everyone to shut up and let Atlan be at peace. He didn''t want them to antagonize him any longer. Even though he was confident with his own strength, this was the first time that Kobra felt him lose against someone else. When Atlan first arrived in this place, he didn''t even sense him coming. He simply just appeared right in front of the podium, without even any evidence of him coming in through other means aside from teleportation. This was the first time in a long time Kobra felt as if he was unaware of his surroundings. He wouldn''t have been able to prepare himself if Atlan had decided to attack him right there and then. And that fact scared Kobra for a little bit. After all, he wouldn''t be surprised if another Specialist-level Savior was able to best him in speed and reaction times. However, from what he knew, Atlan was only a Student-level porter. A porter. Not even a speedster or a scout that specializes in speed. Just a porter, whose only power should be the immense strength that helps them lift tremendous amounts of weight from the construct. This was extremely weird. Suspicious. Somehow, when Kobra looked at Atlan, he felt as if he was looking down the maws of giant Dragon Canzer, looking uninterested in doing anything, yet ready to devour him at any second. He didn''t know why he felt this way, but his intuition told him that it was best for everyone inside this room, no, best for everyone inside this City to leave Atlan alone and not to antagonize a man like him. So, as the strongest Savior in the room, he decided to put his foot down and stop the others from making the biggest mistake of their lives. "Settle down. This is a place of civility. We are not here to antagonize this young man, we are simply here to ask him for the truth," Kobra said calmly to the agitated crowd. Upon his words, the rest of them finally came to a rest. They all slowly sat down on their seats and commanded their bodyguards to return their weapons to their sheaths. Carmine sighed a heave of relief once he saw this. It was good that Kobra was here, or else things could have gone worse. Though, Carmine didn''t know why Kobra interfered this time. Usually, he would be disinterested in these kinds of stuff. He would always just stand in a corner and observe everything around him without saying a single word. Carmine just passed this off as a one-time thing due to the heaviness of the situation. After all, they were going to talk about the incident of the Church mission. After a few more minutes, the Elder Heads finally arrived at the meeting room, sending the whole room into silence. The five of them all looked dignified, standing tall as if they had everything under their control. Finally, the old man in the middle spoke up. "First of all, I would like to thank you for gathering at this eve for this meeting. I know you all value your time, so let''s not waste it anymore. As you all know, the Church mission has failed, leading to the destruction of our cathedral. The Saviors involved in the incident are unable to talk due to their injuries, so we can only ask the porter of the group, Atlan the Star Porter." Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 420 Meeting gone awry The crowd of spectators all looked at the Elder Heads with a confused face. They all thought that they were here to disparage the failure of the team in their mission. They thought they were here to see the punishment given to this porter and his team for leading the church to destruction. However, judging from the tone of the Elder Head''s voice, it was as if he was still lauding and praising Atlan for his actions. This was because the Elder Heads knew more than others about what happened. Of course, they knew that if the church blew up, the whole City would have blown up with it. But somehow, Atlan and the others were able to limit the explosion only to the Church itself. They thought this was impossible, but Atlan was able to do it. "Care to tell us about what happened during your mission?" the old man asked. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Being put in the spotlight, Atlan decided to just tell the truth to everybody, plain and simple. "We encountered a dragon¡­" Continue your journey on My Virtual Library Empire He began to explain the details about what happened when they encountered the Magical Queen Malificient, and how they won against her and killed her. He also told them about the Malificient Queen''s lingering power that allowed a Raven to visit the church and agitate the Ifrit enough to blow up the church. As soon as he finished speaking, the rest of the common folk in the audience couldn''t help but chuckle at his words "You met a dragon, and somehow, you killed it? It would have been a lot more believable if you told us that Ninth killed it instead!" "Don''t make us laugh, Star Porter. You may be talented enough among the Student realm, but you are nearly not enough to deal with the dangers of a Specialist-level Canzer, especially not the apex creatures." "Why haven''t we arrested him for his blatant lies?" The common folk, the people who weren''t top Saviors in the crowd, all thought that Atlan was lying. There was no way that he was able to defeat a dragon all on his own. The only ones with a serious face and treated Atlan''s words at face value were Kobra, Carmine, and the Elder Heads. Somehow, they believed that Atlan''s words were true. Kobra already sensed that there was something different with Atlan. And if he was able to defeat a Dragon, then it would more than make sense that he was able to teleport here in this space without him knowing about it. Meanwhile, Carmine''s mind began to click. All this time, he had been reviewing the footage of the battle suit and he couldn''t help but notice that the fog would always come whenever Atlan was in trouble or when something bad was about to happen. He always thought that this was a coincidence, but after seeing it multiple times, there became a pattern. Once the fog appeared, Atlan would suddenly come out on top without any explanation. He would survive tremendously low odds. But now that Atlan told them the truth about everything, Carmine finally understood everything. Atlan had been hiding his true powers this entire time. He was the one who was creating those fogs that obscured everything for them. Meanwhile, the Elder Heads all nodded to each other, finally understanding the truth as to how they were able to survive the mission. "So, please tell us how the explosion was mitigated?" asked the old man. Atlan told them the truth, about how he used the explosion in his own body to counteract the explosion of the church. He couldn''t go into detail about how that was possible because he himself didn''t know the reason. He just knew that the explosion in his body was enough to cover the whole City from the explosion. Once everyone heard this, the crowd shook their heads in resignation. They didn''t know why everyone was still bothering to listen to Atlan when all he did was lie to them. Everything he said was absurd. Most of them were already tuning out of Atlan''s explanation. But of course, the Elder Heads listened to Atlan''s explanation and treated it as the truth. "Thank you for sharing that," said the old guy. Then, he turned to the crowd behind him. "As you can see, the team assigned to the mission is not to blame for this incident. And most likely, they have saved the City from total destruction," the old man said. But of course, the normal crowd refused to believe Atlan''s words. They believed that he must have been lying due to the trauma he received from fighting Specialist-level Canzers and dragons in the mission. "This meeting is therefore adjourned," the old man said. The Elder Heads could have made this meeting private, with just them and Atlan. However, they decided to let others hear about it because they needed to be placated for what happened. If they had kept it a secret, they would have demanded answers and rioted at their doors. But now, whether they believe Atlan''s story or not, they would stop their inquiry about what happened during the mission. And so, the rest of the group was about to leave when all of a sudden, the whole room started to tremble. Everyone thought that this was a simple earthquake, but the faces of the Elder Heads, Kobra, and even Carmine showed that of shock and horror. Slowly, the four walls of the auditorium changed colors, from pure white to midnight black. All the leafy green plants decorated in pots all turned into a purplish hue. The crowd of normal people didn''t know what was happening. But the Saviors in the room knew exactly what was happening. However, they were helpless to do anything about it. "What''s happening? Why can''t I open the door to the outside?" asked one of the normal people in the room. "Bodyguard! Take me home. I don''t want to be in this room anymore." But instead of moving to his boss''s words, the bodyguard trembled. "Sir¡­we can''t¡­we¡­we''re in the Remedium!" Chapter 421 Unusual Remedium "WHAT?! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "We''re in the Remedium?! But how?!" "There must be some kind of mistake!" "Remedium?! As in the place where Canzers roam and try to kill humans?!" The crowd immediately began to stir, a horrified panic setting on their faces. These normal people had never even seen a Canzer in their lives before, but now, they were forced to enter their territory. "Sir Kobra! Please tell us this isn''t the Remedium." But Kobra, considered the strongest Specialist Savior in the whole of Genesis City, didn''t have a pretty expression on his face. There was worry, and a mix of anger on his face, as if he couldn''t believe that the Canzers dared to do this right in front of his eyes. "I have no good news to tell," he said with a grave voice. "Somehow, we are in the Remedium. There''s nothing we can do about it but defeat the one who put us here in the first place." "AUGHH!" screamed the normal people. Just the thought that they were in the Remedium made their backs sweat profusely. They couldn''t have prepared for this, after all, this wasn''t the usual way someone would be transported to a Remedium. It didn''t make sense. This wasn''t even supposed to be possible. Previously, the only way a Savior could enter the Remedium was through an elaborate portal constructed by the very best Specialist Operators like Carmine. They would bend the laws of physics just to try and peer through the different dimensions and send humans to the Remedium. That was the only way they could defeat the Canzer, wreaking havoc and causing a Symptom in the City. But now, things have gone awry. Somehow, the Canzers were able to forcefully transfer humans out of the real world and into the Remedium. Carmine''s mind immediately began to wonder. He tried to explain this phenomenon through his current understanding of Canzers and Remediums, but he could not find the answer he was looking for. This wasn''t supposed to be possible! He looked at the Elder Heads. If anyone knew what to do, then they were the ones with the answer. After all, they were the ones with the most knowledge out of everyone in here, and in the City itself. However, it was clear from their distressed expressions that they did not expect this as well. The Elder Heads immediately instructed Kobra to protect them at all times, and make sure that no Canzer would be able to reach their hands onto them. Kobra did as he was told and accompanied the Elder Heads. "Protect me too!" "Me too! I don''t want to be here!" "Help me!" All the normal people started to crowd around Kobra, thinking that he was the best protection they had in this Remedium. Even if they had their own bodyguards at the Intern-level, they still didn''t trust them enough to protect them in such a precarious place. Only the best of the best could protect them. "Settle down, everyone. I can protect you, but only if you behave and don''t cause any problems. Just stay in your seats, and I will make sure that you will not be affected by any Canzers that dare to invade us," Kobra announced to the group. Hearing his commanding voice led them to be at ease. As expected of the strongest Savior, he was able to give everyone a sense of peace and security with just his voice alone. They felt as if he could truly protect them from the Canzer that was about to come. Kobra then walked over to Carmine and consulted him for his opinion. "What do you think, Carmine? What are we dealing with here?" Carmine, the Specialist Operator who had tremendous amounts of knowledge about Canzers, couldn''t speak for a little bit. He was still a little bit frazzled about arriving in the Remedium. Carmine was an Operator. He wasn''t trained to be inside the Remedium at all. They were only supposed to remain in the real world and support the team whenever through their immense knowledge about Canzers. While Vanguards were training their bodies and their LifeSkills to survive against the perilous Remedium, Operators just stayed in the library to study Canzer behavior. Now, he was forced to be inside a Remedium, a place he knew very well, but knew nothing about. "Carmine?" Kobra asked worriedly. "I''m fine," Carmine said, shaking his head. "I just needed a little bit of time¡­" "I hope you won''t take long because we''re in a bit of a situation here." Carmine slapped his own cheeks, waking him from his stupor. "I''m okay," he said. Then, he looked around him and tried to find clues as to how or why they were forced inside the Remedium. "From what I could see, it seems that we are dealing with three or more Canzers in the vicinity." Kobra frowned. "That bad, huh? But still, you''ll be able to tell me the weakness of each Canzer, yeah?" Carmine nodded, albeit a little bit unsure of himself. "Yes, but I can''t guarantee it. After all, this is an unprecedented event. I don''t know if the Canzer we''ll face today will be the same Canzer we''ve known all this time." Kobra looked around him and gauged the help he could get. From what he could see, there were about thirty able-bodied Saviors in the room. Most of them were in the Intern-realm, which was good to know because they needed a lot of help in this mission. "All Saviors, please come to me and we''ll work together to protect the civilians!" Kobra said, taking control of the situation. The Saviors all convened in his place, taking his direction and implementing his words. Meanwhile, Atlan stood alone, looking up at the Remedium around him. Just then, two dragon plushie figures popped into existence right beside him. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire "Woah¡­ we''re back¡­" Tulip muttered to herself. "This is wildly unusual," commented the Queen. "Atlan, I think there''s something wrong going on in the Canzer world." Chapter 422 No trust Atlan agreed with the Enchanted Queen''s words. There was something wrong, he just couldn''t point it out. There was something wrong with the Remedium, and the Canzer world itself. Otherwise, this wouldn''t have happened in the first place. "Don''t leave just yet, Atlan. I think we need to see what''s in store in the Remedium," advised the Queen. He agreed with her sentiment. Although he could have easily left the Remedium using his Angel Wings, Atlan chose not to. If there was something wrong with the Remedium, then it was better if he could see it for himself. "Hey, kid! You better listen to Kobra''s words. He''s going to lead us out of this." "If you''re not going to listen, then just make sure that you get out of our way." "Don''t wander around, or else we won''t be able to save you." The Intern-level Saviors lectured Atlan for his inattentiveness during Kobra''s debriefing. He was teaching them all they needed to know when facing a Specialist-level Canzer of this magnitude, but the weakest person in the group, the Star Porter, wasn''t even listening to his words at all. He was disregarding it as if there were better things to do. Atlan ignored them and continued to observe the Remedium. Right now, they were confined with four walls surrounding them. Atlan was curious. If he went out of this room, would he still see the same inverted color Genesis City Remedium that everyone was so familiar with, or would he see something completely different? He decided not to get out for now. If he wanted to see the anomaly for what it was normally, then he should not show himself just yet. He should let it all pass without interfering. Meanwhile, Kobra and the rest of the Saviors were finally done with their briefing. They decided that they were going to act as one big team, with Kobra on the lead, and the rest of them following closely behind. Carmine, the civilians, and Atlan were all positioned at the very back, where they would be at the safest. This was chosen after a long time of debating with each other. Some wanted to explore outwards and kill the Canzer as fast as possible so that they could return home quickly. However, some also argued for the choice of staying in this place the entire time. Both choices had merits and weaknesses. If they wanted to explore outwards and seek the Canzer for themselves, then it would leave the civilians vulnerable to any sneak attacks. After all, they were wholly unprepared for this kind of situation. They were untrained, unruly, and unpredictable. They were worse than Student Saviors. At least with Student Saviors, they would know not to do anything stupid. They would know the basics of fighting a Canzer. But Civilians knew nothing. And most of all, they were a panicky little bunch. If a Canzer appeared, Kobra and the others couldn''t be sure that they would stay in the same place. Some of them would probably try to run away out of fear, but this would only lead them into further trouble. The civilians would not be able to stay in their positions for long. The terrifying Canzer in front of them would make all their thoughts go into disarray, leading them to act chaotic. This would only make Kobra and the Saviors work a lot harder. So, it would be much safer for everybody to just stay in one place. However, that choice had its flaws as well. If they stayed here and didn''t dare to venture outwards, then they would only waste their time. If they don''t kill the Canzer that brought this Remedium to them, then they won''t be able to return home to the real world. Not only that, everyone knew that a Remedium came with a Symptom. They didn''t know it right now, but there could be a terrible disaster happening in the real world right now. It was the worst-case scenario as well since they were located at the heart of the HeadQuarters. This meant that if they continued to stay their hand and delay the killing of the Canzer, then they could be putting their HeadQuarters in further harm. "Hmph¡­these humans don''t know what they''re talking about. They''re afraid, and that is influencing their choices," the Enchanted Queen said. "But¡­but¡­it''s good that they''re talking about it, right? They are working together to try and make everyone as safe as possible," said Tulip. Atlan agreed with both of them. However, he knew that this equilibrium won''t be for long. He knew that both choices weren''t ideal. This made the whole group hesitant to go with either choice. But Atlan wasn''t that confused. He knew that there was only one answer that they could do right now that would solve both problems. "There''s only one thing we can do," Atlan said, gathering the attention of the entire group. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Some Saviors were immediately annoyed that a porter in the Student realm dared to speak up when the adults were speaking. However, they didn''t say anything to Atlan and just gave him a nasty gaze. The only ones who took him seriously were Kobra, Carmine, and the Elder Heads. "What is it, Atlan?" Carmine asked. "We should lure the Canzer here and fight it on our territory." His words made them all think for a second. Atlan''s suggestion did seem to solve both problems. They wouldn''t have to worry about venturing further out of the Remedium, while having the chance to kill the Canzer at the same time. Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire It was brilliant, and the other Intern Saviors couldn''t believe that they hadn''t thought of it themselves. "You think it''s that easy, kid? How are we going to lure a Canzer here?" "That''s right. It''s impossible¡­" "And why are we even believing in this child''s words? Isn''t he completely lying about everything?" The civilians immediately tried to disparage Atlan. They didn''t want to follow his suggestion, not because it was bad, but because he was the one who made it. They didn''t trust him, plain and simple. Chapter 423 Basilisk "Everyone please, settle down. There''s no need to antagonize each other. In fact, we need to work together. And I think that Atlan''s suggestion is the only one we can make right now," Carmine said, placating both sides. "That is right. Our Star Porter is right. We should try to lure the Canzer here to our location," said Kobra. Once the two Specialist Saviors said those words, the normal folk finally settled down and accepted Atlan''s suggestion. Carmine and some of the Operator Saviors in the room gathered together to brainstorm some ideas. First, they tried to figure out what kind of Canzer they were dealing with, and what they could do to lure them out. It was also imperative for them to find out if they could even kill this Canzer through normal means because if they couldn''t, then luring the Canzer here could mean their deaths. Meanwhile, Kobra and the rest of the Vanguard Saviors convened with Carmine for their suggestions. But an hour after brainstorming, they hadn''t gone anywhere at all. The main problem they had with this was that they didn''t know what kind of Canzer they were facing. After all, the only way they could figure that out was through observing the Symptoms manifested by the Canzer on the outside world. This means that unless they were outside, observing what was happening in the area, then they wouldn''t be able to figure it out. They could try to guess all they want, but each guess would ultimately lead to a weakness in their plans that the real Canzer could exploit. This was the problem with an anomaly. There would still be a chance that with Carmine''s expertise and the help of the rest of the Operator Saviors, they could try to figure out the truth of the matter one way or another. It would probably take them more hours, but at least they could have been able to solve the problem. But this was an anomaly. They had never seen this before, which meant that in all likelihood, they had never seen the Canzer behind it as well. This makes all the preparation they try to do obsolete. After all, this Canzer could work under totally different rules than their current assumption. Atlan just waited patiently as he watched the team argue back and forth about what to do. "You know, you could try to lure the Canzer by yourself," whispered the Enchanted Queen dragon by his side. "Ah." It seemed that Atlan had forgotten his own powers. After all, he only obtained this power about a few days ago. He thought he was still a normal Student-level Savior. But no. His true strength could only be compared to that of Specialist-level Saviors and beyond. He was a demi-god, after all. "You''re right. Thanks for reminding me," Atlan said as he closed his eyes. He searched through his body, finding all the death particles that were hiding in the crevices of his bones and ligaments. And once he found them, he gave them a simple nod of approval. And once the death particles saw that, they started to multiply into greater and greater numbers, up until his whole body was filled with death particles. Atlan started to release all the pent-up death energy in his body. Letting them all out into the Remedium. They seemed to love the air in the Remedium. They began to bounce and jump all over the place, wreaking havoc wherever they could. Meanwhile, the humans below were none the wiser. They didn''t see that their Soul Time was slowly ticking down two seconds for every second that passed once they were in the presence of death energy. As the death energy continued to cause chaos in the Remedium, a certain creature in the darkness lifted its head and looked in their direction. Its eyes widened, unable to believe that there was so much death energy in that place. Its eyes showed greed, showing its intent to devour every single death energy in that place to further its own powers. With great strength and speed, it raced through the Remedium and reached the humans in a matter of a few seconds. Kobra and a few other perceptive Vanguard Saviors immediately noticed the presence of the Canzer and immediately tried to warn the others. "It''s coming!" he shouted. The Vanguard Saviors were able to prepare themselves due to Kobra''s shout. However, the Operator Saviors and the civilians reacted far too late. After all, they weren''t used to such a high-stakes situation where every millisecond was as precious as gold. BOOM! The giant creature burst through the walls of the room, taking with it the very roof of the auditorium. Kobra immediately used his LifeSkill: Sting Ray, to manifest a giant scorpion tail from his back. Using this manifestation, he began to shoot the debris and falling concrete away from the civilians, saving them from harm. The other Saviors worked as well, doing everything they could to put the civilians and the Operator Savrios in a safe position. TSSSS! The giant creature now showed itself to the humans. It looked like a giant snake, with its thin split tongue slithering out of its mouth. However, it had four legs behind it, making it look like a giant lizard instead. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Carmine looked up at the creature, shock filled his face. "Ba..ba¡­basilisk!" he shouted. It seemed that they were facing one of the most dangerous Specialist-level Canzers in the world. However, it was not its strength nor its speed that was the most dangerous out there, it was the poison in its body that could destroy even the sturdiest of metals with one breath. Kobra felt pressured as well. Even though he was also famed for his poison, the Basilisk was a creature that he knew he had no chance against. In other words, his strongest weapon, the cobra tail on his back, was useless against the poison-immune Basilisk. This was a very dangerous situation, one where both Carmine and Kobra almost gave up after seeing the creature in front of them. It was the worst match-up possible. Chapter 424 Let me handle this "Gods help us!" "Ahhh! Monster! There''s a monster!" "He''s going to eat me! I want to get out of here!" The civilians acted as they would upon seeing their very first Canzer. All the preparations and the warnings the professional Saviors gave them were all thrown out the window once they were faced with an actual giant Canzer that could swallow ten humans in one go without a single problem. Their instincts as humans took over, and they panicked. They started to back away from the monster, no matter if there was somebody else they had to crawl over. It created chaos and injuries that could have been totally prevented if they had just remained calm and stayed in their positions. And there was no use in them trying to crawl up the walls for safety. If the creature wanted to kill them, then it didn''t matter if they tried to run 10 kilometers away from this location. The Basilisk would be able to find them and kill them without a problem. But, these civilians weren''t acting rationally. They were scared out of their wits. Unfortunately, this chaos also broke the Saviors'' formation, leading them to be toppled down or stepped on by the civilians. Carmine, himself, felt the intense urge to try and run away from the Basilisk just like the rest of them. However, his wisdom and greater judgment allowed him to remain calm and in position. As long as Kobra was in front of him, then he could be assured that he would be safe. And if Kobra died, then there was absolutely no hope for them at all. They would die either way. KRAOOO! the Basilisk screamed. It tried to search for the death energy it had seen in this room, but somehow, it had disappeared the moment that it burst through the walls. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Basilisk was an intelligent creature. It immediately knew that this was a trap. After all, the Basilisk was famous for its maze lair. The humans were supposed to get lost in the Remedium, and slowly, the Basilisk would kill them one by one without any of them the wiser. But now, the Basilisk was lured out of his lair, meaning that it had lost its greatest defense. The humans no longer had to tread through the maze to find its real body. The Basilisk looked at all the humans in front of him with great hatred and intensity. He was lured here by a human in the crowd, he just didn''t know who. There were a couple of strong humans in the crowd, but none of them gave the Basilisk a feeling of death and danger. Since he knew that the humans had no way of defeating him, the Basilisk decided to simply kill all of them and wait for the humans hiding in the shadows. The Basilisk thought that no one in the room could emanate that kind of death energy. Meanwhile, Atlan looked up at the Basilisk with absolutely no fear on his face. He observed it with great curiosity. "Altan, you mustn''t let the other humans get to the Basilisk before you," said the Enchanted Queen dragon. "We need to speak with the Basilisk and find out how it''s able to break the rules of reality and summon humans into the Remedium." He would have done that even if the Queen didn''t tell him. He was also curious as to how a Canzer was able to transfer a human onto the Remedium without a portal. And who better to ask than the Canzer responsible for this whole thing. Meanwhile, Kobra slowly approached the Basilisk, braving the dangers and trying to protect his fellow humans. But before he could even take another step, he suddenly heard a carefree voice at his side. "Let me handle this," said Atlan. Kobra, Carmine, and the rest of the humans all watched as Atlan slowly approached the Basilisk with a casualness that completely disregarded the danger and threat of the giant Basilisk in front of him. "Star Porter, what are you doing?" Kobra asked. "Atlan! Get out of there!" Carmine urgently shouted. But despite their warnings, Atlan ignored them. He continued to walk towards the Basilisk step by step, with the creature looking down at him with a bit of amusement on its face. It couldn''t believe that this weak human was trying to face a legendary creature such as itself. With a single poison breath, this human would turn into nothing but mulch. "I''ll fight with you," said Kobra. But Atlan stopped and turned to him with a serious face. "I told you, I''ll handle this myself," As he said those words, a burst of death energy exploded out of Atlan''s body, filling everything and everyone around him with dread. Kobra couldn''t help but take a step back until he tripped and fell on his back. His eyes showed fear. Whenever he looked at Atlan, he felt as if he could see a black ominous figure floating above him¡ªa giant skull that personified death! Even the Basilisk was surprised with the sudden onslaught of death energy. It jumped away from Atlan, afraid that the death energy would somehow affect its own body and degrade it through touch alone. ''What is this¡­who are you¡­'' the basilisk asked. "I am human, and you are Canzer. So tell me, how are you able to transport us into this Remedium?" Atlan asked, his feet slowly walking towards the Basilisk. The giant half-snake half-lizard monster couldn''t help but instinctually step back as Atlan was getting closer to it. The Basilisk couldn''t believe what was happening. A human was able to make him retreat! This was preposterous! SHAAA! ''I''m not going to tell you!'' the Basilisk screamed. Its split tongue suddenly shot down towards Atlan, coming with it an intense cloud of poison fog that would disintegrate anything that it touched. But as it landed on the ground, its target suddenly disappeared. The Basilisk didn''t even see Atlan move, yet he was gone nonetheless. Just then, it felt a strong presence above. The Basilisk looked up and saw Atlan with Angel Wings on his back. Chapter 425 Basilisk clones Atlan stared down at the Basilisk with a cold gaze. With the power of the pure Angels in his wings, and the power of death coursing through his veins, Atlan was now a creature no one had ever seen before. He was both angel and devil, pure and monstrous. The Basilisk thought it had come across a large clump of death energy ready to be consumed. But as it turned out, it was only a lure for him to be face to face with the very personification of death itself. Only he would end up as nourishment for this deathly demigod. The Basilisk immediately spat out a cloud of poisonous smoke. He knew that this wouldn''t have worked, but its only purpose was to distract Atlan enough for it to escape. But of course, Atlan didn''t get tricked by such things. He could see all kinds of death energy in the world, which meant that Canzers who emanate death would be visible to Atlan at all times. There was no hiding from him. His body suddenly disappeared and reappeared just beneath the Basilisk''s chin. He kicked upwards, sending the creature flying above, and through the cloud of poisonous smoke. Kobra, Carmine, and the rest of the spectators suddenly watched as the Basilisk rose from the cloud of smoke. They thought that it was finally going to attack them. But then, they noticed the dazed expression in its eyes. Not only that, there was a human by its side, with his hands reared back ready for a punch. Atlan''s fist suddenly glowed with a black energy fluctuation, with death energy concentrating in his very fist. He punched the Basilisk''s stomach upwards again, keeping it afloat in the air. As soon as his fist touched the Basilisk''s tough skin, its body started to convulse. After all, ominous death energy had suddenly been injected into its skin. And like poison, this death energy continued to spread throughout his body and infect healthy cells, turning them close to death. The Basilisk was alarmed. It thought that it was immune to all kinds of poisons. However, Atlan''s power was not poisonous. It was death itself, meaning that he held the power to turn anything into decay. Atlan continued his assault on the Basilisk, juggling it in the air with a couple of well-placed attacks. The crowd couldn''t believe what they were seeing. A Basilisk, a Specialist-level Canzer, was being juggled by a mere Student-level Porter! They couldn''t believe it. Even Kobra himself wouldn''t have been able to do this kind of feat even if the situation was beneficial to him. "Is this real¡­" "How is this possible? How is he this strong?...." "Was he¡­was he always telling the truth?" Enjoy exclusive chapters from My Virtual Library Empire The crowd began to realize the dire mistake they had made when dealing with Atlan. They had always thought that he was lying to them about all the things he did in the Church mission. They thought that he was simply embellishing his accomplishments to sound good to others. But now, after seeing his strength and power, dealing with the Basilisk as if it were a mere small lizard, they finally realized that he was telling the truth. Atlan did have the power to kill a Specialist-level Canzer by himself. This was a fact that they wouldn''t have thought was possible. If someone else told them what they were seeing right now, they wouldn''t have believed them. But, they were staring at the truth with their own eyes. They could feel the vibrations in the ground as Atlan punched the Basilisk''s head into the ground, pounding it with more kicks and slams. This was true. Atlan was beating a Specialist-level Canzer using his fists alone! Finally, Carmine had an answer as to what had happened. Although Atlan told him about his exploits in the Church mission, there was still a part of him that didn''t believe. But now, his curiosity had been sated. Atlan, somehow, had the power to kill a Basilisk! Kobra was surprised as well. He knew that Atlan was no ordinary human being, but he would have never thought that he had hidden this kind of power. He even found it unfair. After all, he built his power and strength through a thousand years of gruesome and risky work in the Remedium. But somehow, a Student-level Savior who hadn''t even awakened less than a month ago had suddenly become a figure much stronger than he was. But of course, in this situation, he was very grateful that Atlan had this kind of power to save them. He couldn''t have done anything against a Basilisk, so it was fortunate that there was someone else they could rely on. Meanwhile, Atlan kept on punching the Basilisk, filling its body with death energy that decayed its body. The black, shiny luster of its scales had soon turned into a grayish, dull, and cracking chitin. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Tell me. How did you move us to the Remedium without a portal!" Atlan threatened the Basilisk. He wanted to inflict the most pain on the Basilisk to torture it into telling the truth. He wanted to find out how it was able to capture humans and bring them into the Remedium, or else this could happen again. ''Tsss¡­ no¡­ I will never betray our own!'' the Basilisk screamed. Just as its body was about to decay completely, its scales suddenly shot off from its own body and sunk deep into the flooring. Then, the scales began to form and mutate into a slim worm, which began to grow exponentially larger, reaching the Basilisk''s original size in just a few seconds. Right now, there were hundreds of Basilisks spawned in the ground. Each of them showed disdain and anger for Atlan. ''You cannot kill me tsss¡­ you kill one, three more will spawn in its place tss..!'' As it turned out, the Basilisk was an Infection-type Canzer, meaning that it could clone itself infinitely. This alarmed Carmine and the rest of the civilians. With hundreds of Basilisks, they would soon be surrounded by those creatures with no other way to escape. They thought that Atlan was strong enough to fight with one Basilisk, but wasn''t strong enough to fight against hundreds of them at the same time. Chapter 426 Interrogating a lizard Despite the numerous Basilisks looking at him as if he were a buffet of death energy ready to be consumed, Atlan didn''t show any sign of distress. Instead, there was a smile forming on his face. With more Basilisks, there were more chances of him finding out the real truth as to how it was able to kidnap humans and trap them in the Remedium! Finally, he could kill one without worrying that he wouldn''t get the answer he wanted. He could continue to inflict all kinds of suffering onto the Basilisk! "Bad move," he told the Basilisk. Suddenly, a string floated out from a portal to another dimension and began to stitch itself into Atlan''s likeness. Upon completion, the life-size plushie version of Atlan suddenly became enveloped in a blinding light. And once the light subsided, everyone could see that the plushie version of Atlan became indistinguishable from the original one! The Basilisk''s eyes showed that of surprise, and then dread. It thought that it finally had the advantage against Atlan, but as it turned out, he also could clone himself. The Basilisk had to console himself that Atlan could only clone himself by a limited amount. After all, he was still human. But of course, his assumption was soon proved wrong. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan''s clone summoned its string from another dimension and began to make another clone. Soon after that, that clone began to create more clones, exponentially growing the number of clones that Atlan had by his side. Soon enough, Atlan had hundreds of clones by his side. Truthfully, he could have kept going and made clones up to the thousands, but Atlan didn''t need that. He only needed one clone for each of the Basilisk''s clones. "Oh my gods! He can clone himself?!" "I thought he was a porter?! Why does he have another LifeSkill within him?!" The crowd of civilians didn''t know a lot about Saviors, but they knew that Saviors only had one LifeSkill. That was it. No one knew that fact more than the Saviors like Kobra, Carmine, and the rest of the Intern-level Saviors among them. They all thought that Atlan''s strength could be explained by a very strong Physique LifeSkill probably in the SSS class rating. However, a Physique LifeSkill would not explain how he was able to clone himself through strings! That would only be possible through a different job and a different LifeSkill! "He has multiple LifeSkills¡­ probably even more than he is showing right now," Carmine muttered to himself. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. He thought he knew everything there was to know about Saviors. But as he kept watching Atlan, the more that reality broke and shattered into a million little pieces. Atlan kept changing the status quo of Saviors into something impossible! Meanwhile, the Basilisk stuck out its split tongue and glared at Atlan. With hundreds of his clones ready to fight them, the Basilisk knew that he had no other choice. He had to run away. So, his real body secretly ran away from the sea of Basilisk clones crowding the ground. However, how could it run away from Atlan, who saw the Basilisk''s death energy from a mile away? Atlan used his Angel wings to arrive just in front of the fleeing Basilisk. "There''s no running away until I find out the truth," he said to the Canzer. The Basilisk hissed at Atlan. Then, it commanded the hundreds of its clones to swarm Atlan and kill him in one go. Even if Atlan could fight against one Canzer, the Basilisk was holding out hope for the fact that he couldn''t fight a hundred all at once. But of course, as soon as that happened, Atlan''s clones all brought out their own Angel wings, each having the power and speed of the original angels. Then, they disappeared and reappeared just in front of each Basilisk clone, with their fists ready to punch them into the air. What happened next was a series of beatdowns that were completely one-sided. Atlan''s clones began to assault the Basilisk clones with his tremendous physical strength. Each punch had the force of thousands of tons of weight, as well as endowing the clones'' bodies with death energy. And of course, no matter how much the Basilisk''s clones got injured or destroyed, Atlan would make sure that it wouldn''t die out just yet. He kept the death energy in the clone''s body just at the right amount where it would feel the most pain. ''AAAHHHH! TSSSS!'' The original Basilisk suddenly felt the pain of a thousand deaths. All the pain and suffering that the clones were feeling was now being transmitted over to the real body, letting it experience death a thousand times. It began to recoil and twist like a dead snake. It couldn''t bear this pain any longer. ''No¡­no more¡­I can''t take it¡­ no more¡­kill me¡­ kill me now¡­'' The Basilisk begged. But of course, Atlan wasn''t going to give it the satisfaction just yet. "Tell me what I want to know," he demanded. ''I don''t know¡­ they only told me to come here¡­ they didn''t tell me how they did it," the Basilisk confessed. Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire Atlan, of course, wasn''t going to believe those lies. However, the Enchanted Queen suddenly appeared beside him with her plushie-dragon figure. "Tell us the truth." And upon seeing the plushie figure, the Basilisk looked confused at first. It was as if he was looking at something familiar, but also unfamiliar at the same time. The black shimmer was familiar, but its small stature was not. The wings symbolized power, yet the small body it was connected to did not. However, as the Basilisk looked closer, he noticed something undeniable. That aura of tyranny was not something that could be replicated. The Basilisk was looking at his ancestor, the olden one, and the original slithering monster in the world: a Dragon! "They talk of an object! One with the power to forcefully break the barrier between Remedium and reality, allowing us to pull humans to the Remedium!" Chapter 427 Begone Basilisk Atlan and the Enchanted Queen both stared at the Basilisk. And judging from the fear on its face, it looked like it was telling the truth this time. "What kind of object would allow the Canzers to blur the lines between reality and Remedium?" Atlan asked. "There''s no such thing," the black dragon plushie replied. "If there was, then I would have known about it long ago." "Do you think he''s telling the truth?" he asked her. "Yes. Unfortunately, this is all that this creature knows. No matter how much more we press it, it will not know anything more precise than that. The powers that are controlling this event kept this secret object to heart, telling no mere Canzer about it," the Enchanted Queen explained. Meanwhile, Tulip felt completely out of place with their conversation. Even still, she wanted to contribute to their talk. "Um.. isn''t it possible that they were able to get their hands on a portal? You know, the one that humans like Atlan use to travel to the Remedium?" she asked. Atlan looked at Tulip and wondered why he never thought of that possibility in the first place. "Is that possible?" he asked the Enchanted Queen. However, even the ancient black dragon had no definitive answer to give to both of them. "I don''t know," she admitted. "But whatever it is, we know that it is dangerous and must be destroyed at all costs. Atlan, you must try and search for more Canzers to interrogate. Some way or another, we will find what this magical object truly is." Atlan nodded, agreeing with the Enchanted Queen. This encounter was far too dangerous for normal humans. After all, if he weren''t here, then there could have been a lot more casualties in the end. And there could have been a possibility in which the Saviors caught up in the Remedium were far too unprepared to take on the task of killing the Canzer. For example, a Student-level Savior may get mismatched with a Specialist-level Canzer. Most of all, there could be a possibility that this could happen again, but would only contain normal humans, without any Saviors to protect them. In that scenario, they had a sure death. This was a problem that involved everyone in Genesis City. It was another thing that HeadQuarters had to worry about since now, anything could happen. At least back then, they could prepare for a mission. They could assign the proper and most fitted Saviors for the job after scouting what kind of Canzer was wreaking havoc in the Remedium. There was a sense of choice in that matter, and gave security to everyone. Enjoy new chapters from My Virtual Library Empire However, now, it was lawless. Saviors could end up in Remediums whether they were prepared for it or not. And the fact that they no longer had their immortality did not help either. At least back then, they could be sure that even if their entire body was shredded into pieces, they could still be revived through a single drop of blood. But now, if they were dead, then they were dead. There was no coming back from that. Saviors were already alarmed, anxious, and worried about going on a mission in the Remedium. Now, they would probably be too scared to even go out of their house. "Queen, if there is another incident like this, can you sense it?" Atlan asked. "Yes. As long as it is within the vicinity of Genesis City, then I can see the vibrations in reality, and will tell me where a Remedium has spawned," she replied. "Good. We need to interrogate more Canzers to find out what''s happening with this object." Now that everything was settled, Atlan knew that it was time to kill the Basilisk. And secretly, while Atlan and the Enchanted Queen were too busy chatting about their plans for the future, the Basilisk had slipped out of their sight and tried to escape from their grasp. In response, Atlan had only one thing to say to the Basilisk. "I hereby declare your actions into death." Suddenly, a pure beam of death energy emanated out of Atlan and soon reached the Basilisk slithering away out of sight. It was running on all four of its limbs, but even then, it could not seem to get rid of the soul-piercing gaze from Atlan. Not only that, but the death energy he emanated reached the Basilisk''s body at light speed! There was no chance that the Basilisk could have escaped. The death energy, which looked like black circles, suddenly entered the Basilisk''s body. And immediately, its body stopped working. Its legs, which had been running with full force away from Atlan, suddenly felt as if they had been cut off from the Basilisk''s body. He couldn''t feel his legs! Soon, the ''death'' spread all over the Basilisk''s body, turning it paralyzed within a few seconds. Even its eyes were prohibited from moving. It could only lie there as good as dead. This was one of Atlan''s abilities that he gained when he became a demigod of Death. Action Death! He used the death energy in his body to completely ''kill'' the movement of a target, turning them paralyzed. Once it had been completely immobilized, Atlan then raised his hand and pointed at the basilisk. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Suddenly, his body began to emanate a completely different power. It was the contrast to the death power he had just used. It was light! Angel power began to surge out of the deepest parts of his soul, slowly manifesting itself in reality through a pure white cloud above the Basilisk''s head. Thunder rumbled above the Basilisk. However, it was far too paralyzed to even exhibit any sort of fear from the pure Angel power emerging out of those clouds. But that wasn''t even the worst part for the Basilisk. After all, the hundreds of Atlan''s clones also began to raise their hands and use the Angel power in their souls. Each clone targeted a Basilisk clone, creating a cloud above their heads that thundered with Angel power. "Begone," Atlan uttered. Suddenly, a golden lightning pierced through the clouds and reached the Basilisk and its clones, turning them into mere ashes in just a few seconds. Chapter 428 Unbelievable witness reports Just like that, a Specialist-level Canzer famed for its difficulty in being killed, was killed with just a single word from Atlan. Kobra, Carmine, and the rest of the humans watching this scene couldn''t believe their eyes. It was almost as if they were dreaming. After all, they had just watched a Student-level Savior demolish a Specialist-level Canzer all by himself, without any help from anyone at all. But that wasn''t even the most impressive part. It was the ease with which he killed the Specialist-level Canzer that made all of them speechless. Somehow, without even using a single construct, he was able to destroy a Canzer into ashes. That was a feat that could not be achieved through hard work alone. The civilians in the group finally realized what kind of strength Atlan had, and why he was so confident in his stories back then. They now looked at him in a completely different light, probably at the same level as Kobra in their eyes. But for Kobra himself, he couldn''t help but put Atlan way above. After all, even if the matchup was favorable to him, he still wouldn''t be able to kill a Canzer so easily by himself. He would always need a team to support him, or else he would find it hard to even survive the encounter. Yet somehow, Atlan didn''t need help. He had all the aid he needed with his clones, which seemed to be able to multiply infinitely if he wanted it to. After all, Kobra could see much more deeply into the situation than normal people. He saw the power and pressure emanating from those clones. And from what he could see, they were virtually indistinguishable from the original Atlan. This meant that they all had the same power to kill a Specialist-level Canzer by themselves. And with each clone, that similarity didn''t go down one bit. Each of them, no matter how many times a clone created a clone, inherited Atlan''s skills without limit. Infinite cloning was a scary thought just by itself. But if paired with Atlan''s strange powers, then it became a whole different beast. Explore more adventures at My Virtual Library Empire And Kobra had a feeling that Atlan wasn''t even using his full strength in that fight. There was always a sense of casualness and easiness in the way he approached the Basilisk that made Kobra think that Atlan always knew that he could kill the Basilisk any time he wanted. He wouldn''t have had that confidence if he didn''t have the power to back it up. Now that they had fully understood the power of the Star Porter, Kobra was incredibly grateful that he was still a part of humanity. Atlan could have easily left by himself. He could have easily let the Basilisk kill every single one of them here, and he would have still been safe in the end. After all, almost everyone here had underestimated him from the very beginning. They insulted and dishonored him through malicious words, even though all he said was nothing but the truth. He had all the reasons to let the other civilians die, yet he didn''t. In the end, he still saved them. And if there was still any doubt that Atlan truly killed the Basilisk, the inverted colors of the Remedium slowly faded back down, replaced by the true colors of reality. Finally, they were back in the real world. Suddenly, soldiers, guards, and Saviors all swarmed their location trying to see if anyone needed any help. It seemed that in their absence, the other Saviors in the HeadQuarters noticed what had happened. After all, the destruction that happened in the Remedium also reflected in reality. The buildings and concrete walls that the Basilisk destroyed during its rampage remained in the real world. This was what alarmed the others that something wrong had happened. The HeadQuarters issued another state of emergency and asked for any able-bodied Savior to wait by the outskirts of the affected area. This was a big deal, not only because it was unprecedented, but also because there were a lot of lives at stake during this anomaly. After all, the Elder Heads were caught up in this situation! The rest of the Operators were doing their very best to try and create a portal that would let them try to save the ones trapped in the Remedium. But before they could, the destruction finally stopped, and everyone that was lost, suddenly returned to their original places in the meeting. So, when they finally returned, they were swarmed by a lot of people to try and see if anything bad had happened. "What happened?!" "Are you guys okay? Are the Elder Heads fine?!" "Don''t worry, we''ll get you all sorted out." The rest of the rescuers thought that something bad had happened to the survivors. After all, they all had a look of shock still plastered all over their faces. They didn''t know that this expression was not due to the Canzer, but because of the man that killed it. Atlan, with his job done, slowly faded away into the background and left the situation, leaving the others completely dumbfounded about what happened. It took a couple of hours before things finally settled down and witness reports were finally taken. "What kind of Canzer did you all encounter? Did you guys find any clue as to how you were all transported to the Remedium without a portal? Who killed the Canzer? How did it happen?" Those last two questions were the most important ones. After all, most people would have thought that Kobra, the man hailed to be the strongest Savior in the entirety of Genesis City, would have been the one to save everyone from harm and kill the Canzer. But when they started taking witness accounts, a completely different person emerged. Atlan, the Star Porter. The reviewers couldn''t help but question the survivors'' answers. After all, it was incredibly unbelievable to think that a Student-level Savior could do the things that they all saw him do. Because of that, the current theory was that they were all confused about what truly happened in the Remedium due to some kind of phenomenon. Of course, the survivors vehemently disagreed with that, and stuck with their truth. Atlan did kill that Basilisk by himself. In the end, the Elder Heads had to order the HeadQuarters to stop questioning them about it, leaving it to become a mystery with the others. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 429 Visiting Custodire Despite not a lot of people believing the stories about the Star Porter''s true strength, it soon spread to the different Savior communities. Some treated it as nothing more than hearsay, some treated it as if it had a kernel of truth hidden within the stories, while some treated it as a challenge, as if they wanted to prove to the City that Atlan was not as strong as they said he was. Of course, Atlan didn''t care about any of that. He walked through the streets of the Masamune District, where the commerce of the City was at its highest. Everyone was far too busy either selling their wares at a very high Soul Time price, or trying to get those prices down to somewhere they could afford. The last time he was here, it wasn''t this hectic. Sure, there was a lot of shouting and bartering, but now, it seemed as if it became a battlefield itself. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The customers, who were supposed to work together, were now fighting against each other. For example, one of the vendors wanted to sell the full metal armor in his stock for at least 20 years. Of course, this price was far too much for one customer and tried to get it down to just 15 years of Soul Time. However, since this was quite a popular product, other customers also wanted to buy the full metal armor. Now, they would try to barter with the vendor to get it in just 16 years. Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire Of course, the other customer wanted the armor as well. So, he would be forced to increase his bid as well. "Fine! I''ll buy it for 16.5 years." "I''ll buy it for 17 years!" Now, this may have seemed good for the vendor. Unfortunately for him, he wasn''t the only one who was selling the steel armor. "I''ll sell my armor for 19 years!" The other vendor was clearly trying to get the customers to his side of the street. And of course, since his price was a lot smaller, a lot of the customers who bid for the original vendor''s product immediately switched to the other vendor. This would force the original vendor to lessen his original price as well just to be able to compete with his competitor''s prices. "You can have it for yourself for just 18 years!" It was a total bloodbath, especially since they were all bartering in exchange for more Soul Time, which was their lifespan. This was why the commerce and market were much more brutal this time around. After all, they were dealing with their own lives now. Back then, people just ignored these vendors. After all, they could get whatever they wanted without buying it. Back in the days of immortality in Genesis City, anyone could get anything without having to pay for it. They could get water, food, housing, and other such amenities for free just by being a citizen of Genesis City alone. Now, they had to pay for it with their own life. And previously, the only ones who bought armor and weapons were those who were Saviors, or at least training to become one. After all, the civilians had no reason to purchase any defensive or offensive artifacts for themselves. After all, they were immortal. And not only that, there was no such danger here in the real world. But now, they had a reason to protect themselves. There were a lot of desperate people who resorted to killing and stealing other people''s Soul Time from others. Because of that, it became normal for people to carry weapons around to protect themselves. And if people found out that Canzers could now kidnap humans and forcefully bring them to the Remedium, then they would fully panic even more than they were doing right now. Thankfully, the HeadQuarters had the good thinking to prevent the news from spreading. Or else, they would be faced with another riot from the whole City. Meanwhile, Atlan continued to stroll through the busy streets. For him, he didn''t have to worry about his Soul Time. After all, as people shed away a second of their lives for every second they were alive, Atlan was able to siphon off that death energy and use it for himself. However, he still felt like he needed a weapon of his own. There were a lot of weird things happening in the Canzer world. And he wouldn''t feel satisfied if he didn''t have the proper weapons to fight against those forces of evil. Right now, he had two weapons, the Sword and the Shield that the three good fairies gave him. These were pretty good weapons, all things considered. It was probably the best thing anyone could have ever wanted. However, Atlan felt as if it didn''t fit him quite right. His hands felt awkward when holding those two weapons. So, he wanted to seek the help of his good friend Custodire, who was a specialist blacksmith. She was probably the only one who could help him with his problem. When he finally arrived at her store, he was surprised to see it already full of people. There were dwarves and humans alike, crowded themselves in her store as they looked at her wares. And since Custodire was one of the premier blacksmiths in the City, her weapons were very much highly sought after within the Savior community. That meant that the prices she had to put on the weapons reached the high hundreds or even thousands of years of Soul Time. "Miss Custodire. Please, my boss is willing to offer you a thousand years of Soul Time if you custom-make his weapons," one human wearing a formal black suit and tie said. "No can do. Can''t you see I''m extremely busy? There are much more important things to do than to make the weapon of an Intern-level Savior," Custodire said, her eyes never leaving the metal in her hands as she slammed it with a hammer. Chapter 430 Dwarves repaying favor "This is not over, Miss Custodire," threatened the black suit man. "You will regret making my boss angry. He is the son of a very important man in the HeadQuarters!" "Whatever," Custodire waved off the man''s threats with a shrug of her shoulders. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was not the first time that someone threatened her life. Ever since immortality had been discovered to be gone, there had been a huge increase in people wanting better weapons and armor for themselves. And since she was considered one of the best, those entitled and rich folks, despite being in the low ranks, wanted Custodire to make one for themselves. However, they were far from the most important people that Custodire wanted to serve. As a Specialist-level Savior herself, she knew how much this City needed the help of Specialist-level Vanguards. She knew that they were the only ones they could count on whenever there was an anomaly. And if one of them dies, then the whole City suffers. They would all lose a very big part of their defense. In her perspective, a thousand Intern-level Savior was not enough to equate to a single Specialist-level Savior. After all, Specialist-level Saviors had their own domains, which could turn the tides of a battle extremely quickly. She had a feeling that things would only get worse much later. So, right now, she was preparing for that inevitable crisis. She was creating weapons and armor for Specialist-level Saviors, making sure that they had the best defenses and the best offenses possible to fight against the onslaught of Canzers that plagued their city. Explore more stories at My Virtual Library Empire But since Specialist-level armor and weapons needed a lot of time to make, she couldn''t spare any time for lesser Saviors who didn''t need custom-made weapons. "Hello, Miss Custodire. It''s been a while." Custodire, hearing the youthful voice of the man approaching her, was about to reject his request before he could even make it. But when she turned her head to look in his direction, she realized that this wasn''t just anybody. This was Atlan, the Star Porter. "Atlan¡­ it''s been a while. How have you been?" This was the first time that Custodire stopped her hammering on her anvil. She wouldn''t even do that for Specialist-level Saviors who came to talk to her. But somehow, Atlan was different. He was special. Ever since she found out about his powers, she treated Atlan with the same care as other Specialist-level Saviors. "Why have you come here?" she asked hurriedly. "I was hoping that you could custom make a weapon for me. I want you to remold a weapon of mine and make it into a different weapon," Atlan said. Custodire sighed and shook her head. She didn''t like refusing Atlan''s request, but she had no choice. "I''m sorry, Star Porter. I don''t have time to deal with things like this. I suggest that you just get one of the best Student-level weapons I have in my stock. Don''t worry, I won''t ask you to pay for them. It''s yours for free." Custodire had been in her smithy for far too long, and she didn''t hear about the rumors going about in the City. She didn''t hear the stories going around about how Atlan was able to kill a Specialist-level Canzer by himself without any help from a team. So, she was treating him as nothing more than a Student-level Savior. It was quite unfortunate. She was one of the people who would have believed the stories. After all, she already knew that Atlan was special, so it wouldn''t be that surprising for her. "Is there nothing else that you can do?" Atlan asked. Since he saw how busy she was, he didn''t want to impose on her. After all, the sword and shield were still very much usable for him. If the need arose, then he would use the sword and shield. But just then, one of the dwarves strolling through the store suddenly came upon Atlan. "Wait a minute, young man¡­ you''re the one who saved us during that fire, right?" The dwarf looked familiar to Atlan. And after a few seconds, he finally realized where he had seen him before. He was one of the dwarves he saved during the Heat Wave symptom in the Masamune district caused by the Ifrits. "Yes! You''re the one who saved us!" Another dwarf came and recognized Atlan. They would never forget the face of the man that saved them. Soon, the dwarves called the other dwarves and showed them Atlan. It seemed that all of them were extremely grateful for Atlan because he saved them during that time. The dwarves vowed to themselves back then that they would do anything to repay the debt they had for Atlan. His efforts in saving them were appreciated greatly, especially after it was announced that immortality had long been gone. This meant that if Atlan hadn''t saved them back then, they would have truly died! Because of that, their debt to him became much greater. "Star Porter! We thank you for saving us!" the dwarves said as they bowed towards Atlan. "Don''t worry about it. You''re welcome," Atlan replied. "Is there anything we can do to repay you?" "Yes, yes, we would do anything!" "Wait a minute, Star Porter. You said something earlier about wanting to have something made to Custodire, right?" One of the dwarves seemed to have heard his conversation with Custodire. "Yes. I want to remold my weapons into something new entirely," he replied to them. "However, Custodire is busy right now, so she can''t help me." The dwarves all looked at each other, their faces full of determination. Then, they all faced Custodire. "Miss Custodire, I know that we are competitors, but can you do us a favor and repay our life debt to this young man over here? We will lend our powers to you to create a weapon suitable for the Star Porter." Custodire stopped what she was doing and looked at the dwarves. She knew that they were all competent blacksmiths, so she knew that if they helped, then they could make Atlan''s weapon in less than a day! Chapter 431 Remold perfection Custodire looked at the dwarves, then at Atlan before finally nodding her head to agree with their request. "If I have their help, then I can make a suitable weapon for you," she said to Atlan. This ended up making all of them happy. First of all, Atlan now had a chance to have a well-crafted weapon made specifically for him. This would bolster his strengths to even greater heights, especially since he would be using the magical sword and shield that the three good fairies gave him. Second of all, the dwarves finally had a chance to repay the life debt they had for Atlan. As a prideful bunch, they would never let this debt go unpaid, especially since Atlan had saved them from death. If it was possible, then they would even be willing to give some Soul Time of theirs to make sure that the creation of this weapon would go smoothly. Third of all, Custodire would be able to make sure that Atlan was safe in these dire times. From her perspective, Atlan may not be strong now, but he had the potential to become one of the best Saviors this City had ever seen. But of course, he needed a lot of time to progress and mature before that happened. Of course, she didn''t know that Atlan had already gone through a substantial transformation and become equal to or even greater than those Specialist Saviors that she was talking about. "Before we start, we need to find a suitable material for this weapon of yours," Custodire said, convening with the dwarves to plan for this project. "We have some Student-level chitin leftovers in our place," one dwarf said. "Just Student-level? We should go all in and give him a Pre-Intern level or even an Intern-level weapon so that he wouldn''t need to upgrade his weapon for a long time," another dwarf chimed in. "But an Intern-level chitin material is too strong for a Student Savior. We should pick a Pre-Intern chitin material that is just half-step away from becoming an Intern-level chitin." Custodire and the dwarves all talked to each other about which material would best be used in creating Atlan''s weapons. The chitin material that they were talking about was leftover materials from Canzers'' corpses that most Saviors salvage after missions. This is usually found on Destruction-type Canzers, especially since they were famed for their very strong and durable chitin. "It is unfortunate, but we only have a Pre-Intern level chitin in my forge," Custodire said, a bit disappointed. The higher the level of chitin, the rarer it was to get. Even back then, the amount of high-level chitin materials that she would get was few and scarce. It was even more rarer and more expensive now, especially since everything was paid for by using Soul Time. "I''ll fork over 20 years!" a dwarf said. "I''ll give 15 years as well," another dwarf said. "With our leftover Soul Time, surely we can buy the right materials!" The dwarves were willing to give so much Soul Time for this project because if it weren''t for Atlan saving them, then they would have lost all of their Soul Time. Losing a few years of Soul Time was nothing compared to losing their whole life! But of course, Atlan didn''t think they needed to do that. After all, he had the best material in his hands right now. "Is there any way we can recycle the material from these weapons?" Atlan pulled out the magical sword and shield from the death dimension in his body, which acted like an inventory space for all of his belongings. As soon as the sword and shield were brought out into the real world, Custodire and the dwarves couldn''t help but gasp and stare at the magnificently crafted weapon in Atlan''s hands. They had never seen such a beautiful craft. Not only that, the weapons themselves were emanating a kind of power that they only saw in Specialist-level weapons using the very best chitin materials that couldn''t be obtained through normal means. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire Not only that, the sword and shield seemed to be infused with a different kind of magic, something that was completely out of the ordinary and could not be explained through human means. It felt as if they were looking at a real Canzer! That was how pure the chitin material used in the creation of the sword and shield. "Atlan¡­ What are those weapons? Where did you get these?" He explained to Custodire and the rest of the dwarves that it was a present he received after finishing a mission in the Remedium. He told them the truth about how the three good fairies lent the sword and shield to him to help him defeat the Dragon Queen Malificient once and for all. After he killed her, the three good fairies decided to give the weapons to him. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "..." Custodire and the dwarves couldn''t close their jaws shut after hearing about Atlan''s stories in the Remedium. "So it was true¡­ those stories about the Star Porter were real!" said one dwarf. They had heard some rumors that the Star Porter, who was only a Student-level Savior just a few weeks ago, was somehow able to defeat a Specialist-level Basilisk all on his own. They never thought it was possible, but judging from the power of that sword and shield alone, Atlan did have the capacity to kill a Specialist-level Canzer on his own! After all, if he was any weaker, that magical sword and shield would have melted his hands off the moment he tried to touch them. The power contained in those two weapons was far too great for a Student-level Savior to handle them. But in Atlan''s hands, the sword and shield were as tame as if they were just ordinary objects. As blacksmiths, this only told them one thing: the weapons considered Atlan as someone much stronger than them! "Do you think it''s possible to melt these weapons down and use them to create my weapon?" Atlan asked casually. Custodire and the dwarves looked at him as if he were crazy. Chapter 432 Scythe The dwarves considered the sword and shield to be the pinnacle of craftsmanship. And yet, Atlan was asking them to melt it all down and re-use its materials as if it was just made out of iron or some other lowly material. As blacksmiths, this was akin to blasphemy! After all, they might be great blacksmiths on their own, but even they could only cower in front of the beings that made these weapons. If they were going to melt it down and remake it from the start, then they would only make an inferior version of it. "Atlan, this is far too precious of a weapon for you to simply just melt down!" Custodire shouted. "That''s right, that''s right! Why not just use these weapons instead of making a new one?" the dwarves asked. Continue your journey on My Virtual Library Empire Although Atlan didn''t hate a sword and shield, it simply didn''t fit his style of fighting. He didn''t like to carry a shield around because he had no need for it. First of all, had his SSS Grim Reaper Physique, which transformed all the death energy he accumulated in his body to create an almost invincible skin that could withstand anything. Second of all, all the injuries that he incurred could easily be healed back up using the infinite amount of Soul Time at his disposal. There was death happening all around Genesis City, which powered the death energy in his body, and in turn, made him almost immortal. He also didn''t need a sword to fight. For him, it had far too short of a reach for his kind of style of fighting. A sword was best used in one-on-one fights, which wasn''t that much of use in a battle against Canzers that could duplicate themselves a thousand times in just a few minutes. He needed something that could cleave through those clones in just one swing of his weapon. "I need something like a scythe as a weapon," Atlan said to the dwarves. "That''s what I need." Custodire and the dwarves didn''t know why Atlan needed a farming tool to use as a weapon, but the look in his eyes meant that he was serious. This was the same look that truly dedicated people had when they knew the right weapon they needed for an intense fight. "Fine," Custodire said. "We''ll try our best to create a suitable Scythe for you, but don''t expect too much. We are operating in uncharted territories. This is the first time any one of us will try to melt down a perfect artifact such as this." Atlan handed over the sword and shield to Cutodire, who handled it with care and caution. As she made contact with the weapons, she immediately winced, as the power contained within them was surprisingly a lot stronger than she anticipated. Atlan is even stronger than these weapons?! Custodire thought to herself. She estimated that even the top Specialist-level Saviors in Genesis City wouldn''t even be able to touch these weapons for a few seconds before they had to let go of them because of the backlash. But somehow, Atlan could handle it with ease. This gave her an estimate of Atlan''s strength, and she couldn''t believe that the once baby cub Savior that she met had now fully turned into a lion that could triumph over even the strongest of monsters. "Let''s work carefully," she said to the other dwarves as they placed the weapons into the fire. Using a combination of their LifeSkills as blacksmiths, they were able to create a fire strong enough to reach a very high temperature. An hour later, the weapons began to glow as they reached a temperature enough to break down their structure and slowly turn into a liquid. Custodire and the dwarves worked with great cooperation and efficiency despite this being the first time they had ever worked with each other. They were spurred on to do their very best by two things: The first was that they were doing this for Atlan''s sake. The second was that this was probably the only time in their lives that they would get to handle such a precious weapon. The power and the magic contained in the sword and shield were unlike anything they had ever seen and ever will see. At first, they were incredibly slow and careful when dealing with the weapon. They struck it gently and molded it carefully. But as they continued to work on the weapons, the more and more they were incredibly inspired by its design. They were led into the deeper secrets of Canzers and their body morphology, allowing them to work even faster than they had anticipated. They stopped communicating and just started working. They were in a flow state where they didn''t need to think about the right decision to make for the weapon, they just made it instinctively and intuitively. Slowly, the form of the Scythe''s handle was done. They just needed to get its blades created. This was the most precarious moment of the whole forging process. After all, the blade was where all the power and strength would be stored, so any wrong movement they made could seriously compromise the weapon''s effectiveness in battle. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The hours passed, with Custodire and the dwarves keeping their intense focus on the forge, making sure that there were no mistakes in their smithing. Atlan stayed behind, watching everything unfold. Finally, they were at the last step of their process. The whole weapon was molded into the shape of a flaming scythe. They just needed to cool it down and let it solidify. Custodire and the rest of the dwarves held their breaths as they watched the Scythe slowly lose its glow from the heat. If it successfully cooled down without breaking into pieces, then they would know that they finished creating this masterful weapon. If it broke then, that was it. There would be no do-overs. CRACK¡­ Unfortunately, it seemed that their craftsmanship wasn''t enough to fully mold the sword and shield into a scythe without breaking it down. Custodire and the dwarves panicked, but they knew that they could do nothing else. They thought everything was over. But just then, Atlan felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down and saw his chest plate was trying to get out of his body and meld into the scythe! Chapter 433 Scythe complete Atlan, feeling the chest plate wanting to get out, immediately released it from his inventory. And as soon as he did, the chestplate immediately flew towards the glowing Scythe. "What''s happening?!" asked the dwarves. They had never seen this type of thing before and were alarmed. "Stay your hand. That is a semi-sentient chest plate. It''s not trying to sabotage the Scythe, it''s trying to help it. It knows what it''s doing," said Custodire as she eyed the chest plate with a bit of a smile on her face. She would have never thought that things could end up like this. After all, she knew best what kind of item that chest plate was. It was not even just a normal semi-sentient piece. It was a relic from the olden days, worn only by the very First Savior of the world! This could only be a work of fate. After all, a semi-sentient weapon could be considered to be broken. After all, it wasn''t a normal weapon, but it wasn''t fully sentient as well. It seemed to have lost any capacity for sentience due to the loss of time and its owner. But now, the chest plate was willing to sacrifice itself to complete the Scythe. It was willing to sacrifice its semi-sentience to give the Scythe a new life, a new chance to become sentient! Custodire couldn''t believe this sight. As the chest plate melded into the Scythe, the Scythe glowed a bright light even brighter, turning its inside temperature a lot higher than before. The chest plate, trying to envelop the Scythe, was caught up inside the hot temperature and started to melt as well. This was painful for the semi-sentient chest plate, but it endured. It was going to save this Scythe no matter what happened. The Scythe, which was supposed to explode into a million pieces due to its complexity, was suddenly subdued by the chest plate. It was being embraced, just like a mother embracing her child. The Scythe soon began to dim, as the internal temperature inside its body became lower and lower, slowly solidifying the process that Custodire and the dwarves worked on. After a few seconds, the Scythe was finally cold to the touch. It had finished forming without exploding into a million pieces. It was done! They couldn''t believe it. Continue your journey on My Virtual Library Empire But they couldn''t celebrate just yet. The chest plate, which had done its job, soon lost all its luster. Its semi-sentience was slowly fading away into death. The chest plate had been far too damaged after enveloping the Scythe that it had now turned into a melted piece of metal. But just before it fell to the floor, a mystical force suddenly pulled it back up. The Scythe itself was welcoming the broken chestplate! Slowly, the melted chest plate began to be pieced back into pieces and fully melded with the Scythe, creating a kind of metallic look for the Scythe''s handle. To symbolize its new birth, the Scythe''s blades suddenly lit up in flames, showing everyone the true strength and luster that it had from the start. Custodire and the dwarves couldn''t believe that the Scythe was complete! The complexity and strength that the Scythe exuded were far stronger than they had anticipated. They could hardly believe that they were the ones who created this weapon in the first place. It was as if it was suddenly birthed by the heavens, not made by their grimy hands. If they were to compare it to the masterpiece of the magical sword and shield, the Scythe was somehow much better than that! They couldn''t believe it. Usually, when a weapon is broken down and made into something new, the quality will always go down. Even the very best blacksmiths in the world and history would have not been able to keep more than 90% of the original weapon''s strength. But now, Custodire and the dwarves were able to make a weapon that was greater than 100%! The Scythe far exceeded the sword and shield. They could feel it just from the aura alone. This was a weapon that only the very peak of Saviors could look at, much less wield. Not only that, it felt as if they were looking at something alive. It wasn''t just a weapon, it was a living being! This was the side effect of the chest plate''s sacrifice. It was able to imbue the Scythe with the potential to be alive, to have its own life, and be able to transcend the title of semi-sentient. Someday, it could become fully sentient! Custodire and the dwarves felt their hair stand on end. After all, this was a dream of all dwarves and blacksmiths. It was in their very blood to dream of that time when they could create something that had consciousness. And now, they seemed to have achieved that. It was not because of their skill, but it was because of the materials they used to create this Scythe. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even still, this was a breakthrough for them. It gave them a lot of insight into weapons that they otherwise wouldn''t have been able to gain. It transformed their smithing by leaps and bounds! Even Custodire felt as if she had increased her knowledge and skill by at least two stages! This was a tremendous leap forward! The dwarves could only chuckle to themselves about this situation. After all, they were trying to repay Atlan the life debt they had for him, saving their lives. But now, after completing the Scythe and repaying their debts, they were once again in his debt. After all, they had experienced a great transformation in their smithing knowledge, and it was all thanks to Atlan. So, in the end, they weren''t able to repay all their debts to Atlan. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at the floating black and flaming Scythe in front of him. Even though this was the first time he was seeing this Scythe, it felt like he had been waiting for this his entire life. Slowly, he walked forward until he touched the Scythe''s handle. Chapter 434 Finding a symptom Atlan slowly took Scythe''s handle, taking it out of the air and letting all of its weight fall into his hands. And as soon as he did, he felt the Scythe try to pull him down to the very ground. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He was surprised! The Scythe was trying to test him if he was worthy of becoming its owner. The Scythe increased its weight, almost a thousand tons weighing down on Atlan''s hands. But the Scythe didn''t know who it was dealing with. Atlan was originally a porter, with a physical strength unlike this world had ever seen. Not only that, he had an SSS class Grim Reaper Physique LifeSkill that allowed him to harness death energy to become physical strength. He slowly lifted the Scythe and swung it around casually, as it weighed nothing more than a few kilograms! The Scythe was surprised and tried to fight against Atlan''s power by increasing the fire in its blades. But it was no use. Atlan was able to handle the Scythe without any problem at all. He would have been able to do this even before he had his transformation into a demigod of death. So, the Scythe truly had no chance of trying to intimidate and test him. There was no way it was going to win against Atlan in a contest of strength. The Scythe seemed to have realized this and started to use a different approach. Its reddish flames, which seemed to have been caught from the very hell itself, suddenly became brighter and spread itself down to the handle. It was trying to see if Atlan was going to burn! But of course, Atlan held the handle even as it got burned with fire. Atlan could harness the Apocalyptic Hellfire itself! There was no way he was going to get burned by a small campfire. "Had enough?" he asked the Scythe. And the Scythe, realizing its loss, immediately tamed down and lost all its fire. Then, it floated out of its hands and jumped up and down, like a very loyal puppy. "Good. We''ll be working together from now on, so it would have been awkward if you kept trying to test me," Atlan said. The Scythe, knowing that Atlan was slightly annoyed that he was tested, immediately started to endear to Atlan by acting like a lost puppy. Atlan laughed, making the Scythe happy. Then, it voluntarily placed itself on Atlan''s back, making itself smaller, waiting for the right time when Atlan would need its help and it would expand to its full size. "This is beyond my expectations. Thank you for making my new weapon," Atlan said to Custodire and the dwarves. He even bowed towards them to show his respect. "No, no, we did nothing. The Scythe would have been destroyed if the semi-sentient chestplate had not moved and sacrificed itself," Custodire said, waving her hands in Atlan''s thanks. She didn''t feel as if she deserved his thanks. As a blacksmith, she had failed. She was supposed to have been able to handle all kinds of materials, but this was something that she could not handle. "Do not thank us, Star Porter. We helped you because of our debt. But now, it seems like we also owe you another debt. We have learned a lot from making the Scythe, so do not thank us. We have to thank you," the dwarves said. In response, Atlan shook his head. "No, if it weren''t for all of you, I wouldn''t have my Scythe, plain and simple. I''m sure that if I had gone to any other blacksmith, they wouldn''t have been able to make a Scythe in the first place," he said to them. Atlan thanked them again before leaving Custodire''s smithy. Now that he had his weapon, it was time for him to search for more Canzers to interrogate. Just like the Enchanted Queen said, they needed to find more clues about this mysterious object that could blur the lines between reality and Remedium. And just in time, Atlan felt a surge of death energy coming from the southern direction. He looked over and saw death particles almost flooding the very streets. Atlan took out his Angel Wings and immediately teleported over there. And as soon as he reappeared, he suddenly felt the whole ground shaking wildly, as if there was a war going on underground. He was in a Symptom! This meant that there was a Canzer wreaking havoc inside the Remedium right now. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire Atlan looked to his left and saw that there was a collection of Saviors standing around and preparing for the mission. He walked over to them, and they immediately noticed him. "Huh? Student Savior, why haven''t you evacuated yet? Get out of the Symptom!" Their leader gestured for Atlan to come towards them, and he did. Atlan looked at their epaulet and saw that they were Pre-Intern Saviors, which meant that they were a realm above Student-level Saviors. Right now, they all thought he was a Student-level Savior because of the epaulet on his shoulders. However, one of them seemed to have recognized Atlan''s face. "Hey, wait a minute. Isn''t he the Star Porter?" As soon as the guy said that, the whole team looked at Atlan and scrutinized his features. Only then did a flash of recognition breeze past their faces. "Oh, the Star Porter from the stories? The one who is rumored to have defeated a Specialist-level Canzer all by himself?" The rumor about Atlan defeating the Basilisk had already spread far and wide. And it seemed to have reached this group as well. However, it was clear from their expressions that they didn''t believe an inch of the rumors. After all, they were Pre-Intern Saviors. They were above Student-level Saviors like Atlan, and they knew that fighting against a Specialist-level Canzer was way beyond their strength. So, they had no other choice but to treat the rumors as nothing but lies. Just then, the earthquake seemed to have gotten worse and worse. There was now a large fissure growing in the middle of the road, slowly spreading outwards and starting to affect the other streets. "Damn it! We don''t have time. We need to get to the Remedium right now!" shouted the leader. "But, we still don''t have a porter!" And as soon as one of them said that, they all looked at Atlan, the Star Porter. Chapter 435 Already over? "Can you please be our porter?" the leader asked. And as soon as he said that, his team immediately started arguing with each other. The others didn''t want a Student-level Porter going with them because the mission was far above his pay grade. In a state of emergency, they didn''t have any capacity to save themselves, much less another Student-level porter who clearly could not contend with a Pre-Intern level Canzer. So, in their minds, Atlan would just end up as unnecessary baggage. In any other scenario, they would have all probably been welcoming Atlan''s help. However, this is already the end of time. They could truly die now. They couldn''t risk their lives just to be nice to someone. However, they didn''t really have any choice. They needed a porter, plain and simple. They wouldn''t be able to carry the construct with them without a proper porter. They tried to get other Saviors to join them and fill in as a porter, but none of them were available, at least at this time. They were all either too busy doing their own missions or training for an upcoming mission. Some of them even quit being a Savior entirely. They figured that a mission in the Remedium was far too dangerous for them to undertake. They just wished to become a normal citizen and live through the Soul Time that they saved throughout all the years that they were active. Although joining a mission rewarded them with a lot of Soul Time, the risk in their life was very real now. In trying to chase a hundred years of Soul Time, they could end up paying their whole lives for it. And for some, this was not a chance they were willing to take. Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire That was the true reason why there weren''t so many Saviors trying to help them right now. "We don''t have a choice. If we want to earn Soul Time, then we have to do this mission. And to do this mission, then we have to ask a porter for help!" their leader screamed, stopping all of the arguing in their team. "Star Porter. Please, help us." the leader begged Atlan. In his eyes, Atlan could see the Soul Time in their bodies. Most of them only had about 5 years or less of Soul Time left. They were truly desperate to complete this mission. Atlan was going to just do this mission himself, but it didn''t hurt to have a few more people with him. "Sure. But don''t get in my way," he said to them. His words sent confusion to the whole team. They didn''t get what they meant, especially since they were the ones who were supposed to say that to him. From their perspective, he was the novice. The leader then approached Atlan and showed him the construct. It was placed in a black box, ready to be taken by a porter. However, when the leader pointed at the construct, Atlan shook his head and refused. "There''s no need for that. Let''s just go inside and find that Canzer. If we don''t, then more people will get hurt," Atlan said, looking over the infected district. Even now, there were still a lot of soldiers inside who were trying to evacuate the people to safety. But because of the earthquakes that destroyed the very foundation of houses and toppled them over, it was hard for the soldiers to effectively search for more survivors. No matter what they did, they could not push through the mountain of rubble to save the woman trapped inside, even if she was shouting for them to save them. The only way that they could be saved was if the Canzer was defeated and the symptom was cured. Only then could HeadQuarters issue a rescue operation to save all those trapped in the buildings. And if team of Pre-Intern Saviors took their time and argued over inconsequential stuff, then the earthquakes would continue and destroy more homes, potentially crushing those that were already trapped inside. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was a dire situation, especially since there was no reviving this time. Atlan could already feel the death energy filling this place. From what he estimated, about 15 people had already died. And if they continued here, there would be more casualties. "Just follow me through the portal," he said to the team. Without waiting for their response, Atlanta walked through the black portal and entered the Remedium. This left the team of Pre-Intern Saviors utterly confused. They could not understand why Atlan was taking over control of the situation, when he was only a Student-level Porter. Not only that, he even left the construct in the real world! This alarmed the team since they thought that they couldn''t kill a Canzer without a construct. "Damn newbie!" "He''s looking to get himself killed!" "This is why I told you to not recruit him! He doesn''t even know that we need a construct to kill a Canzer!'' The leader and his team, feeling guilty that they might have caused the death of the Star Porter, couldn''t help but chase after him inside the Remedium. They were going to pull him back to the real world even if he wanted to or not. ''"Hey, porter! Get back there and get the construct!" the leader shouted as soon as he crossed over the portal. But as soon as he looked at the inverted-color palette of the Remedium, he saw something incredulous. He almost couldn''t believe it even after he was looking at it with his own eyes. Just then, his other teammates crossed over the portal and saw their leader just standing there, dumbfounded over something. "We''re here," they said. "Where''s the porter? Did you bring him back yet?" But in response, their leader just silently pointed ahead of him, where the Star Porter was located. And as soon as they gazed in front, they gasped, unable to believe what they were looking at. Atlan was holding the giant mole-like Canzer by the throat, with the monster kicking and struggling to get out of his grip. Chapter 436 Wishing for death They couldn''t believe their eyes. The Pre-Intern level Canzer, the monster that they were dreading to face, was already in the hands of Atlan. He had already caught it by himself and was tormenting its life. They couldn''t believe that this was even possible. Even the stronger person in their group, the leader, even if he used his greatest punching LifeSkill, couldn''t bring the monster airborne. Yet, Atlan was holding the Mole Canzer with one hand, all while floating in the air. No one could believe what they were seeing. "How¡­how is this possible¡­" "He''s a Student-level Porter¡­ I can''t understand what''s going on!" "Is that a Student-level Canzer? Were we given the wrong information?" But as they focused on the Mole Canzer, they found that the aura and energy that it was giving off as it tried to get out of Atlan''s grip, was a power that only Pre-Intern level Canzer could bring out. And if they thought about it more, the Pre-Intern level Canzer was even stronger than they thought. Yet somehow, Atlan could catch and subdue this monster in just under a few seconds without any help whatsoever. There wasn''t even a minute of delay from when Atlan entered the Remedium and when their leader entered it as well. This meant that Atlan must have caught the Mole Canzer in just under thirty seconds! That was an insane thought that they could not wrap their heads around. "Could it be¡­ could the rumors be true?" One of the Pre-Intern Saviors looked at Atlan with shock and awe. The only way to explain what they were seeing right now was if the rumor about him killing a Specialist-level Canzer was true. If he could kill a Basilisk by himself, then a little Mole Canzer in the Pre-Intern realm would pose no problem to Atlan. And it seemed that they were seeing that exact thing right now. "Oh my gods¡­" "It''s true?...it''s true!" S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "But how¡­ he was only a Student-level Savior just a few weeks ago?! Heck, he just awakened less than a month ago!" They could only watch on with are and shock as Atlan handled the Mole Canzer with absolute ease. He could have crushed the monster''s neck in just a second, but he didn''t. He seemed to be doing something to the Canzer. Even though they were curious as to what he was doing, the team didn''t want to move closer to him. They couldn''t. They were too stunned to move. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at the Mole Canzer with coldness in his eyes. "What is that object? Where is it?" Atlan asked, his grip on the monster''s neck getting tighter. ''I don''t¡­ I don''t know¡­ they didn''t tell me¡­'' the mole said. Of course, Atlan didn''t believe the monster''s words for a single second. He began crushing the mole''s neck, killing it with a resounding CRACK. A few seconds later, the Mole Canzer came back to life, gasping for air. This particular monster was a Destruction-type Canzer, meaning that it could regenerate its wounds, no matter how severe it was. Usually, this would bring the Canzer joy, and the Saviors dread. After all, this would show that no matter how much the Saviors tried to kill the Mole Canzer, it would always regenerate its wounds. But in this case, the Mole Canzer couldn''t help but curse its own power. After all, just when it thought that it had been freed from Atlan''s grip by dying, it would always come back to life and be caught in Atlan''s deathly grip. "What is the object? Where can I find it?" Atlan asked again. ''I don''t¡ª'' Before the Canzer could even finish its lies, Atlan crushed its neck again, killing it instantly. Then, he waited patiently for the Canzer''s broken neck to suddenly reconnect again as its body regenerated its fatal injuries. ''GAAH!'' the Mole Canzer gasped for breath. ''NO MORE! PLEASE, NO MORE!'' the Canzer begged. Find your next adventure on My Virtual Library Empire Atlan looked at it dead in its eyes and reiterated his question. "Tell me. What is the object, and where can I find it?" The Mole Canzer shivered. It didn''t know what it was going to do. After all, if it continued to lie to Atlan and say that he didn''t know anything, then he would continue to feel suffering and pain from being killed a thousand times. But if he told the truth, he would die from the other Canzers anyway. They would surely find out that he blabbed to a human, and he would get killed by them. It was a lose-lose scenario, something that the Mole Canzer dreaded. Just then, a black plushie dragon popped out of Atlan''s shoulder and talked to the monster. "Just tell us the truth now. At least with Atlan, he would give you the relief of being killed in an instant. But do you think the other Canzers would do that? Now, who do you like to be killed by? Atlan, or the other Canzers in your world?" she asked. As a Canzer herself, the Enchanted Queen knew how Canzers operated. She knew the kinds of horrible punishments, something even worse than death, waiting for the Canzer once he got back home. Even if the Canzer didn''t tell the secret to Atlan, then it would still be punished for failing its mission. So, the Mole Canzer had no other choice but to tell the truth to Atlan. ''Please¡­ I only heard that the object is going to be used soon¡­ that''s all I was told!'' Atlan looked to the Enchanted Queen, who nodded her head. This time, the Mole Canzer was telling the truth. This was all he truly knew. After all, it was only a Pre-Intern level Canzer. It wasn''t going to be told the big secrets, simply because it was too weak. If Atlan wanted to find out more about this object, then he would need to interrogate higher-level Canzers in the future. "For telling the truth, I will give you what you wish. An instant death," Atlan said as he brought out his flaming Scythe. Chapter 437 Reward for bravery Atlan raises the Scythe in his hands and brings it down swiftly towards the Mole Canzer. A direct line appeared in the monster''s body, separating its body. After a few seconds, both parts separated, showing that Atlan''s Scythe had cleaved the monster clean in half. Suddenly, the ends of the Mole Canzer''s body suddenly caught on fire, with the embers left from the Scythe''s flaming blades letting it burn asunder. The Mole Canzer showed a pained expression at first, but as the flames consumed its whole body, relief started to wash over the monster. It was as if it was being taken to a better place, to a place free from suffering. Soon enough, the Mole Canzer was nothing but ashes on the ground. Atlan, knowing that the job was finished, swung his flaming Scythe in the air, extinguishing the flame that it showed. Then, he put it back on his back as if everything was normal. However, the Pre-Intern level Saviors knew that this was anything but normal! First of all, Atlan wasn''t even supposed to be able to kill a Pre-Intern level Canzer with just one move. Second of all, that Scythe of his seemed to emanate a kind of strength that even they could not estimate. It was the kind of strength that only the weapons of Specialist-level veteran Saviors had. And perhaps the most surprising of all was the fact that the Mole Canzer had not yet regenerated at all. Even after they waited a few seconds and a full minute, the Canzer didn''t return to life. It remained as ash flowing through the air. This meant only one thing: the Mole Canzer was dead. This was supposed to be the one thing that was impossible. They could believe that Atlan, through some fortunate encounter, was able to improve his strength tremendously. However, the fact that he could kill a Canzer without using a construct was another thing entirely. They believed that Canzers had their own weaknesses, and the only ones who could figure out those weaknesses were Operator Saviors. After that, they would create a construct with that specific weakness to counter the Canzer''s ability to regenerate or clone itself, allowing them to kill it without problem. However, Atlan killed Mole Canzer only with his flaming Scythe. He didn''t even use a construct because he left it in the real world! It was only now that they understood why Atlan was so confident in going on this mission. He didn''t get the construct because he didn''t need it. He told them not to disturb him because he knew that he could deal with the Canzer all by himself! After a few seconds, a bright light suddenly appeared in the skies and showered everyone with a beam of light. Find your next read on My Virtual Library Empire The blue wisps of experience points and Time Stim containing Soul Time suddenly floated down towards each of them. This was the greatest confirmation they could ever get that the mission was finished, that the Canzer was truly dead. Slowly, blue experience filled their bodies and got them closer to advancing to the next stage of their LifeSkill. Then, they took the Time Stim from the air and saw that it contained 50 years of Soul Time. This was their reward for finishing a mission. In any other case, they would have immediately accepted these rewards. After all, 50 years of Soul Time was a pretty hefty sum of rewards. They could buy a lot of things with 50 years of Soul Time such as a new house or a new set of armor and weapons. However, they were all reluctant to accept it this time. After all, they did nothing to deserve these rewards. Atlan was the one who killed the Canzer, and they barely did anything but stay on the sidelines and watch everything unfold with their very own eyes. "Take it," Atlan said to them. They all looked up and saw that Atlan threw the experience points and the Time Stim toward their direction, disregarding the rewards as if they were nothing to him. "But..sir..Atlan. We don''t deserve this," said the leader. "You do deserve this. You didn''t cower under the pressure and took this mission. I''ve seen many other Saviors let fear take over their hearts and refuse to do any missions for the City. But at least you guys, you still braved the mission and risked your life. And you could have left me here all alone when I went in. Instead, you all went inside with me and tried to pull me back into safety. Even though I didn''t need it, I appreciated it. If you still think you''re not worthy then don''t think of this as a reward. Think of this as a gift. Take it, or else I''ll be giving it to someone else." Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan said those words and walked towards the portal, leaving the Remedium entirely. The Pre-Intern Saviors all looked at each other and took Atlan''s gift with them with appreciation. Because of this incident, their view towards the Star Porter would be changed forever. They no longer believed the rumors that he was lying about killing a Specialist-level Canzer all by himself. They truly believed it now and would try to convince others to believe it too. After all, everyone''s been treating him as a liar, when in truth, he was simply being a Savior¡ªhe was killing Canzers. They all left the Remedium soon after Atlan did. A few minutes later, they were swarmed by a lot of survivors thanking them for their service. Because of the quick action and termination of the Canzer, the earthquakes stopped entirely and they were able to evacuate the affected area, preventing any more casualties. Many were cheering and clapping for them, but they could only awkwardly stand there and look around the area. They couldn''t see Atlan. They couldn''t see the man who was the true savior in this scenario. "If you want to thank anyone, then you must thank Atlan, the Star Porter! He''s the one who killed the Canzer!" the leader of the Saviors shouted, announcing to everyone what he had seen. Chapter 438 Finishing missions Atlan spent the next few days monitoring the situation in Genesis City. He used his unique sense of death energy to sense any Tymptom in the City, allowing him to be the first one to respond even before the Saviors could get there. He would use his Angel Wings to bypass the dimensions between the real world and the Remedium. This allowed him to get to the Canzer without using the HeadQuarter-sanctioned black portals. After all, even with how fast HeadQuarters reacted during a Symptom, it would take them at least thirty minutes to respond after they realized there was a Symptom in the City. For the first fifteen minutes, the Operator Saviors were alerted of the Symptom. Then, they would start to analyze the Symptoms to learn what kind of Canzer was wreaking havoc in the Remedium. Then for the last fifteen minutes, the portal is then constructed in the affected area. This will give the Vanguard Saviors who were enlisted the chance to begin their preparations. After the portal is finished, only then would they be able to start the extermination process of the Canzer. But that wasn''t even the end of it. It would take even the best of teams about an hour to kill the Canzer inside and finally stop them from creating the Symptoms in the real world. So in total, the best response time that a Savior could have when dealing with a Symptom would be around an hour and a half. That was already the best time they could ever do when things were all normal and there wasn''t any anomaly. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But if things had an anomaly, or the Canzer they were dealing with was rarer than normal, it would probably take the Operator Saviors hours of preparation before they could fully assess what kind of Canzer they were dealing with. Not only that, they would also need to create the rare construct, which will take even more hours. However, Atlan could bypass all of that. He could go straight to the Remedium in just a matter of a few minutes at the very latest. With his Angel Wings, he could teleport anywhere he wanted inside Genesis City. He also didn''t need to wait for Operator Saviors to teach him about what kind of monster he was dealing with and how to defeat them. If there was a Canzer that was a little bit trickier to deal with, then the Enchanted Queen dragon could always elaborate for him about what kind of monster he was dealing with. After all, who would best know about all things Canzer-related? Of course, it was the Queen of Canzers herself! And he also didn''t need a construct to be able to kill a Canzer. With his new flaming Scythe, Atlan was able to infuse Angel Power into his very weapon itself, allowing it to wield the power of purity to purge the very atoms of a Canzer. He was able to imbue the Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill to his weapon! So, all he needed was his Scythe, and he could kill any Canzer that he wanted. As for a team, he didn''t need any. He only needed himself, and that was enough. And since most of the missions popping up around the city were around the Pre-Intern and Intern level, Atlan had no trouble killing the Canzerse responsible for the Symptoms. If he could kill a Specialist-level Canzer in just a few minutes by himself, then a Canzer, even if it was at the peak of the Intern realm, would stand no chance against Atlan. His speed and power were far too strong for those Canzers to contend with. Because of that, Atlan was able to cure a Symptom in just under ten minutes. This meant that while the Operator Saviors were busy consulting their books to try and find out what kind of Canzer they were facing, Atlan had already gone inside and exterminated the Canzer without anyone knowing about it. By the time the Operator Saviors were finished deliberating, they would then be told by the guards that the Symptom had already passed and that there was no more Canzer wreaking havoc in the Remedium. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire Atlan spent the rest of the week finishing about 30 missions without anybody knowing about it. At first, people thought that it was just a simple anomaly. They thought that the Canzer somehow died on its own and nothing else. This kind of thing wasn''t common, but it did happen now and then. However, the rate at which these mysterious Canzer deaths kept happening was far too frequent to simply say that the Canzer ''somehow'' died on their own. By the tenth time this happened, most of the Saviors knew that something was up. However, no matter how much they tried to report this to the HeadQuarters, they were told to simply ignore it. After all, if Canzers were being killed before it could affect the civilians, then they should just be thankful that it happened. Because of this, there were fewer casualties happening every day. But, people were still curious as to what was happening. Then, a few days after this all started, there were reports of seeing a black hooded figure entering the premises and leaving only after the Canzer was dealt with. This black hooded figure then became a local legend. Most people believed that it was a secret Savior, while most believed that it was just a rumor. Meanwhile, Atlan didn''t care about what people thought. He didn''t try to hide that he was the one killing the Canzers, but he also didn''t announce it to everyone. After all, his only goal in doing this was to find more information about this mysterious object that the Canzers knew about. And in his investigation, almost every Canzer that he interrogated under the threat of death, all said the same thing: there was something big going to happen soon, and it would involve the ''object'' that they had. Atlan and the Enchanted Queen both tried to find more high-level Canzers who may know more details about this, but they were far too sparse during this time. They just had to prepare for that eventual big event. Chapter 439 Return of Otis Meanwhile, in a secluded room where there were no windows nor any light source, a man was sitting in the corner of the room. This man was Otis Orioness, the older brother of Obek Orioness, the prideful young master that Atlan had encountered back in the Pocket Remedium. Even though it was an anomaly and a horde of Canzers that killed his brother, Otis Orioness still blamed Atlan for the death of his younger brother. After all, there were a lot of people who witnessed Obek Orioness arguing with Atlan, the Star Porter. So, in Otis'' mind, Atlan had something to do with his younger brother''s death. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Back then, Otis planned for his lackeys to harass Atlan and give him a hard time. After all, while his brother was dead in the church, Atlan was still being hailed as the Star Porter of the City who had tremendous potential. However, Otis could only think that his younger brother had an even better potential than Atlan, but he was killed in cold blood. When the lackeys he instructed to harass Atlan came back with no memory of it happening, Otis decided not to pursue the matter any further. It had been long enough that he was able to see logic in what happened. He decided to spare Atlan. However, something happened in the City. They suddenly announced that there was no longer any immortality in the world. If someone died, then they were truly dead, with no chance of ever reviving in the future. Otis wallowed in despair. He thought that after a few years, his younger brother would be able to revive from a single drop of blood and grow into the young man he was supposed to be. But that was all over. His younger brother was dead, and there was nothing else he could do about it. As the days passed, Otis was depressed. That was until he heard a certain piece of news from his father, Byron Orioness. During one of his late-night talks with his advisors, Otis sneaked in and listened in on their conversation without them knowing about it. This was supposed to be a privileged conversation, with no one knowing about it because it was supposed to be reserved only for those higher-ups. Otis was only an Intern-level Savior. Even though he was already half-step towards the Specialist realm, he was still not allowed to listen in on this conversation. "Is this true?" Byron asked his trusted advisor and butler. "Yes. Atlan, the Star Porter, was said to have been the one to join Ninth and the others in their mission to save the church. Unfortunately, they failed, leading to the destruction of the church," the butler muttered to the room. And once he heard this, Otis'' eyes widened with a realization. Atlan, the Star Porter, was the one responsible for the Church''s destruction. In Otis'' mind, this meant only one thing: he was also responsible for the disappearance of their immortality. This meant that Otis'' younger brother, Obek, could have still been revived if Atlan had not failed in his mission in the church. Slowly, the sadness in Otis'' heart turned into furious anger. He stopped listening to his father''s conversation and returned to his room to sulk alone. There, he planned all kinds of torture and pain he was going to inflict on Atlan, the Star Porter. He began to have designs on how he was going to capture Atlan and make him pay for his sins. He was going to make him pay for killing his younger brother! Back then, he didn''t get his hands dirty because Atlan was only a Student-level Savior, while he was an Intern-level Savior. Otis thought that he was too good to get blood in his hands if he was the one who harassed Atlan. But now, Otis wanted to do it himself. He wanted to choke the life out of Atlan and see his pained expression himself. He didn''t care that Atlan was only a Student-level Porter with no way to defend himself. Otis only cared about enacting his revenge. Of course, if he had listened a bit longer to his father''s conversation, then he would quickly know that Atlan was far stronger than he had anticipated. They talked about how Atlan had killed a Basilisk, a Specialist-level Canzer, all by himself without any help from Kobra. They even talked about the mysterious disappearance of symptoms in the city just a few minutes after they appeared on their radar. They would have never thought that Atlan was the one who had been finishing these missions even before the news spread to the HeadQuarters. But, the news of Atlan easily killing a Specialist-level Canzer with his own hands was an eye-opening ordeal. If he could kill a Basilisk, then he could definitely finish weak Pre-Intern and intern-level Canzers in just under a few minutes. Atlan was the only explanation as to how those symptoms disappeared so quickly. If Otis had heard this part of the conversation, then he would have known that Atlan had far outclassed him in every way possible. However, Otis'' blind rage and prejudice against Atlan led him to come to the wrong conclusions. He had been wanting to find an excuse to kill Atlan, and now, his mind forced a reasonable motive for him to get his hands bloody with Atlan''s blood. Otis began to call all of his friends and allies, promising them large amounts of Soul Time in compensation for their help. He also decided to have Atlan tailed all around the City so that Otis could know what he was doing at all times. Finally, after a few days, Otis found a way. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Explore more stories at My Virtual Library Empire BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP Atlan was awoken by a relentless alarm from his wristband. He quickly parsed through the messages and saw that he was asked to be the porter in a high-stakes mission in the City. He looked around his room and found that it was teeming with death energy. Something terrible was happening in the city. Chapter 440 Big event Atlan saw the unusual number of death energy in the area and knew that there was something wrong with the City. He quickly got out of bed and looked through the window and saw military vehicles and guards quickly moving through the streets to send aid to those affected. To get a better look at what was happening in the City, Atlan unfurled the Angel Wings from his back and used them to teleport hundreds of meters in the air, giving him a bird''s eye view of the symptoms plaguing the City. He set his sights on a residential district on the eastern side of the City. Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire The ground in this district seemed to have turned into a muddy wasteland, as if a landslide had ravaged through the place. The buildings were slowly sinking down this muddy quagmire, causing chaos through the structures closely constructed together. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But that wasn''t even the worst part. Anyone in the district who was unlucky enough to be standing on the ground when the Symptom appeared found themselves trapped and unable to get out of the muddy quagmire. Not only that, the strange liquid seemed to be pulling them deeper into the ground like quicksand. People found that they couldn''t push themselves up from the quagmire no matter how much they tried, leading them to panic and only push themselves even deeper into the quagmire. Some of them had already been buried six feet deep, with no way to breathe air. They eventually suffocated and turned all the Soul Time in their body into death energy, which Atlan could sense all around him. The only way that they could be saved was if the symptom was cured, and the Canzer was killed in the Remedium. This was already a situation that caused panic all around. However, that wasn''t all that was happening in the City. The muddy quagmire symptom was continuing to spread outwards and infect the other districts. HeadQuarters saw this and immediately ordered the guards and soldiers to evacuate the citizens into a safer place. However, an unexpected event forced them to be pushed even deeper into the muddy quagmire. A tornado had suddenly spawned on the edges of the safe district. These tornadoes continued to suck up everything in their path and caused them to grow bigger and bigger, all the while having cars, buildings, and even people flying all around. The evacuating citizens found themselves trapped between a rock and a hard place. If they continued to escape outwards, then they would soon face the wrath of the tornadoes. But if they just stayed still or retreated, then the muddy quagmire would have caught up with them and they would eventually drown in the strange liquid with the same consistency as wet concrete. Soldiers and Saviors all around tried to make sure that the civilians did not cause panic. They tried to tell them that it was best to stand still and wait for the HeadQuarters to send aid to them. Once HeadQuarters finished their preparation, a team of Saviors would then go into the Remedium and kill the Canzers causing these symptoms. It was much better to let the muddy quagmire reach them because its danger was slow-moving. People would only fully drown in the liquid in a couple of minutes. If they stayed still, then they would buy themselves enough time for the Saviors to save them. Compared to the tornado, then they could immediately be swept upwards and thrown thousands of meters away, killing them instantly. So in a choice between two symptoms, choosing the muddy quagmire was the better option. However, some citizens panicked and some simply distrusted the words of HeadQuarters. They quickly tried to run towards the tornado, hoping that they could somehow survive the gust of wind that could tear entire buildings out of the ground. Of course, it was a futile attempt. They were quickly sucked into the tornado, killing them instantly, before throwing their lifeless bodies into the air and out of the affected district. And if that couldn''t get any much worse, there were also a couple of small streets and places in the affected area showing a completely different symptom. Some had a crevice suddenly show up in the middle of the road and spouted lava in the air, while some had poisonous green gas emanating from the ground. "This is it," Atlan muttered to himself. "Yes. This must be what they were talking about," a black dragon plushie said, appearing right next to his shoulders. "Whatever happens, I''ll support you, Atlan!" Tulip, the white-green dragon plushie, also showed up next to Atlan and offered her help. These symptoms were far too severe to just be a normal Canzer. The Canzers must be trying to use the mysterious object again, trying to pull humans into the Remedium whether they want to or not. Atlan knew that this had to be stopped. He had to get into that Remedium and kill those Canzers to get the answer he wanted to get. He quickly looked at his wristwatch and accepted the mission. They wanted him to be a porter in this high-stakes mission, but Atlan was going to do more than that. After all, he was the only one who knew that this situation was much more dangerous than they even expected. The Canzers that could appear in this mission could have the same power as the Malificient Dragon Queen or even greater. So, he was the only one who could kill them. Only he had the power to defeat those Canzers. After all, he had the help of two Dragons by his side. With their help, there was virtually no Canzer that could stand in their way. Not only that, but Atlan also felt stronger himself. It was unfortunate, but there was a lot of chaos in the City. this meant that there was a large increase in death all around him. And all those death energy were quickly being absorbed into his body, nourishing his demi-god of death physique and turning him even stronger than before! Chapter 441 Fighting for control Atlan arrived at the big gathering of Saviors on the ground. Judging from the power emanating from this group, it seemed that they were quite strong and experienced veterans of the field. He even saw Kobra, who was supposed to be the strongest Savior of the current Genesis City. It seemed that the HeadQuarters deemed this mission to be a very hard one. After all, there were far more people here in the mission, just about enough for ten missions entirely. There were about sixty or more of them here. They were all tasked to gather at this location and wait for further instructions from the HeadQuarters. From what they could gather from the symptoms, it seemed that there were multiple Canzers wreaking havoc in the Remedium at the same time. This was the reason why there were a lot of Saviors gathered here on this mission. "Wow! What a big gathering of respected seniors!" A man with wavy hair down to his shoulders greeted everyone with confidence and bravado that should not be present in such a disastrous situation. People were dying each second, but he didn''t care. He acted as if everything was just a joke. "Otis Orioness. We welcome your presence here in our group because of your strength but make sure not to get too rowdy. This is a place of work," Kobra warned. It turned out that Otis Orioness was also enlisted to join this mission. Otis took this opportunity once he saw that Atlan was enlisted to join this mission. This was the only chance he was going to get to finally get rid of his younger brother''s killer, so he used his father''s influence to get him and his friends a spot on this mission. Once they were inside the Remedium, then they would try to discretely kidnap Atlan and kill him inside. Then, they would just tell the others that it was a Canzer who killed Atlan. No one would be the wiser. After all, nobody knew that Otis hated Atlan this much. If one looked closely at Otis, then one would notice that his eyes sometimes flashed toward Atlan and showed him a look of disdain and rage. But after a second, that look would completely disappear and he would act like the foolish and arrogant young master that he was known to be. "It looks like we have Intern and Specialist-level Saviors here in our mission. I wonder what the HeadQuarters are planning¡­" Kobra muttered to himself, with the others agreeing with his question. Usually, even if there were multiple Canzers in the mission like in the Church mission, then there would still only be one group who would handle them. That was because they feared that more Canzers would come if many more Saviors were dispatched, then it would incite more Canzers to join the fight and try to even the odds. This was a disadvantage for the Saviors because they wouldn''t know how to defeat those new Canzers. Not only that, they wouldn''t be able to defeat them because they didn''t have the proper construct to disable their powers. But now, it seemed as if HeadQuarters didn''t care that there were too many Saviors in this mission. There were only two reasons why they would do this: either they expected there to be a lot of Canzers in the Remedium or they simply wanted to ensure that the symptom would be taken care of in the shortest time possible. Everyone convened with each other, talking to each other about their situations. Kobra, as the undisputed strongest Savior in the City, became the leader of the Saviors. He took control of all the Specialist-level Saviors especially since he had their respect. "Okay, no matter what happens inside, all of you must listen to my words. The Canzers that we will be fighting are very strong, and we can''t defeat them if we don''t have total coordination. With one mistake, we could even have some deaths in our hands. So, it is important that we are all working together," Kobra announced to the group. Everyone knew the stakes in this mission, so they didn''t disagree with his opinion. Of course, some people disliked Kobra, but they knew that it was much better for them if they simply listened to his words at this time. After all, he was the best Specialist-level Savior in this group. Everyone nodded to themselves, giving their agreement to Kobra. However, there seemed to be one person who didn''t agree. Stay connected with My Virtual Library Empire S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Wait a minute," Otis said as he raised his hand. "I don''t think this is appropriate. After all, you are a Specialist-level Savior. You are in a completely different league than us at the intern level. If you tell us to teleport a hundred meters away from a location, then we won''t be able to do that because we don''t have that ability yet. Only Specialist-level Saviors can do that. It has been far too long since you were an Intern-level Savior yourself. How can we be sure that you won''t mess up your instructions and lead us Intern-level Saviors into ruin?" Otis'' words were met with a lot of agreement. After all, a Specialist-level Savior was completely different from an Intern-level Savior. It was the difference between heaven and earth. However, Kobra didn''t agree. He wasn''t stupid enough to mistake the Intern-level Saviors for being capable of something they were not. "We all should stick together," Kobra said. But Otis wasn''t going to let this go. "All the Intern-level Saviors raise their hands if you agree with my words." And just as he said, about half of the entire group raised their hands, meaning all of the Intern-level Saviors raised their hands. Of course, most of them were Otis'' friends who were instructed before this to always agree with his words. And even if they weren''t his friends, they were easily influenced after he promised them Soul Time as compensation for being on his side. Kobra, seeing that the majority was agreeing with Otis, had no choice but to relinquish control. Chapter 442 Volunteering "Fine. You take control of all the Intern-level Saviors in the group. But make sure that you don''t interfere with us Specialist Saviors." Kobra knew that Intern-level Saviors were basically just assistants in a mission of this magnitude. So, he didn''t think it was that important. As long as they didn''t get in the way of the real Saviors who were going to fight the Canzers, then they could do whatever they wanted. However, he didn''t know that this was all under Otis'' plan. After all, now that he was the leader of all Intern-level Saviors, then he would be able to isolate Atlan from the whole group. It wouldn''t be weird if he asked Atlan to join them on an excursion out of everyone''s eyes. Meanwhile, Atlan just looked bored as he waited for the preparations to be finished. Of course, he noticed the hostility and anger that was being flashed to him. The bloodlust was almost visible. He just didn''t show that he noticed the fury directed at him. And to be honest, Atlan didn''t care. He was a demigod of death with the power of death energy flowing through his veins this very second. As more and more casualties appeared in the City, the more powerful he became. In his perspective, Otis was just like a little kid preparing a very harmless prank. He didn''t pay him any mind. Instead, Atlan kept his mind active in trying to find out what was happening with the Canzers. He was sure that they were planning something big using the ''object''. He and the Enchanted Queen both scanned the area to try and find any anomalies. But for now, it looked like just a simple mission. "Are we sure that this is the event that those Canzers were talking about," Atlan whispered to the black dragon on his shoulders. "We''ll know for sure once we''re inside. But for now, you should keep your eyes open. Especially because of that boy who keeps flashing his bloodlust towards you," the black dragon said. "Don''t worry about him. He''s nothing," Atlan said. And he wasn''t even exaggerating. "Everyone listen up!" Finally, Carmine got off the military truck and arrived at the scene. Read latest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire He immediately got everyone''s attention and started to explain everything there was to know about the current situation. From their estimation, there seemed to be more than five Canzers roaming around the district, each exhibiting a symptom in the real world that they needed to stop. HeadQuarters deemed this to be a very crucial mission, and that they must dispose of the Canzers in the shortest time possible. Under no circumstance do they linger inside the Remedium longer than they were supposed to. After all, if they remained in the Remedium for too long, then other Canzers could also spawn in the Remedium and cause a chain reaction that would cause more and more symptoms, essentially making it impossible to cure the city. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He also told them about the suspected Canzers they were going to face. He told them of their strengths, their weaknesses, and the constructs needed to kill them. All Saviors listened except for Atlan. He kept his ears peeled towards the environment to sense for any changes. Meanwhile, Carmine and his group of Specialist-level Saviors hauled the constructs towards the Saviors, putting them in the hands of the Intern-level Saviors. This was the main reason why the HeadQuarters enlisted the help of Intern-level Saviors in a mission meant for Specialist-level Saviors fighting Specialist-level Canzers. They needed porters. It would be a tremendous waste of resources if a Specialist-level Savior were to bring in the construct. After all, their strength was better served to defeat the Canzers in the shortest time possible. That was where the Intern-level Saviors came in. They would pool their strength so that they could carry the construct into the Remedium. The Intern-level Saviors weren''t here to fight. They were here to haul constructs. Of course, Otis Orioness had different plans. He had other people carry the construct for him, while he could do whatever he pleased in the Remedium. "Is everyone ready? You are all divided into groups, with each one in charge of a Canzer." Carmine then began to list out the groups. Each group had at least one Specialist-level Savior and a couple of Intern-level Saviors as their assistant. "For the next group in charge of defeating the Intern-level Chupacabra and the Kappa, we have Lizzie and Ninth, supported by our porter, Atlan, and another group of Intern-level Saviors." Atlan looked towards his left and was surprised to see both Lizzie and Ninth coming towards him with a smile on their faces. He didn''t expect to see them here. "Atlan!" Lizzie immediately dove towards Atlan and gave him a big hug, which garnered a lot of attention from the Saviors. After all, Lizzie was famous for being very beautiful with a lot of suitors who tried to get her hand in marriage. Unfortunately, none of them ever succeeded. But now, she hugged a Student-level porter as if they had a very close relationship. "Lizzie, you''re here¡­ and Ninth too. I didn''t expect you both to be here," Atlan said to them. Ninth awkwardly scratched her head after seeing Lizzie hugging Atlan. "I thought I would lay down my battle suit for good after what happened in our mission. But¡­ then I saw the suffering and casualties in this symptom and I just couldn''t help myself. I volunteered," she said. "And I knew that you were going to be assigned to this mission, so I also volunteered to join," said Lizzie. "I asked Carmine to give us an easy mission, just killing two Intern-level Canzers. Me and Ninth can take care of them on our own, so you don''t have to worry about anything." Atlan didn''t care about anything and was just glad that he could be with Lizzie again. "Is everyone ready? We need to go to the portal!" Carmine shouted. And so, Kobra and his team entered the portal first, followed by the other Specialist-level Saviors. Atlan and his team entered last. Chapter 443 Otis trap Lizzie and Ninth both followed Atlan inside, where they were immediately met with the negative color scheme of the Remedium. Almost every other group had already left to find their own Canzers. Kobra and his team went forward, trying to find the strongest Canzer they could find. After all, they were in charge of killing the Specialist-level Canzer that led this whole situation. And since Atlan''s team was the last one to enter, they were the only ones left near the portal. "Where''s our teammate?" Lizzie asked. No matter where they looked around, their teammates who were supposed to join them in the portal were nowhere to be seen. Atlan, on the other hand, had a feeling that this was deliberate. His eyes darted to the side, where multiple people suddenly came out of the building with a strange smile on their faces. And in the middle of that group was a man who kept on giving out bloodlust directed towards Atlan. It was Otis Orioness. "What''s going on here?" Lizzie asked, Her whiskers popped out of her cheeks and started to wriggle. Her cat senses telling her that something suspicious was going on. "Nothing is going on," Otis said. "We''re just here to support all of you." "You''re not our teammates? Where are they?" Ninth asked, with her hand already near her sword. Otis shrugged his shoulders. "I don''t know. They''re probably already gone. Maybe, they were doing their job as they were told." It was clear that there were no good intentions with Otis'' appearance here. After all, the bloodlust he was emanating was as clear as day. Now that Atlan was here in the Remedium, there was no more need for him to disguise his pure hatred for the Star Porter. "What are you doing, Otis?" Lizzie asked. "This is not the time to be doing something so risky." Lizzie couldn''t believe that Otis was trying to incite a fight between them. After all, things had already been so hectic for everyone. He didn''t need to add to their worries more with this kind of stunt. It was especially important for them to work together and preserve their strength now. After all, if more and more Saviors died, then this would only give the Canzers the chance to completely wreak havoc in the Remedium without anyone to stop them. However, Otis was too blind to his own rage to see past his own desires. He just wanted to kill Atlan as a form of twisted justice for his younger brother''s death. "Surround them," Otis said. About twenty Intern-level Saviors slowly approached Atlan, Lizzie, and Ninth. They made sure to block their exit to the portal and made sure that they wouldn''t be able to escape from their enclosure. "Are you sure this is a good idea for you?" Lizzie asked. "If you hurt Atlan or any one of us, then we will not hold back and protect ourselves. Let me remind you that both of us are in the Specialist realm, while all of you are only in the Intern realm." Then, she turned to the other Intern-level Saviors, hoping to dissuade them from following Otis'' stupid actions. "You know the difference between Specialist-level and Intern-level Saviors. It doesn''t matter if you have twenty of you there, you still won''t stand a chance against us," Lizzie warned. "Save yourselves the Soul Time. We will not hesitate to take it away from you," Ninth added. However, no matter how much they tried to persuade the others to give way, they kept their original intentions. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Otis promised them a lot of Soul Time as compensation for Atlan''s death. Each of them was offered 1000 years of Soul Time, which was life-changing for them. If they pulled this off, then they wouldn''t have to risk their lives in missions anymore. They could just live the rest of their lives in comfort. And even if they died right now trying to kill Atlan, then Otis assured them that the Soul Time would still go to their families waiting for them in the real world. That was the main reason why they weren''t afraid to fight against two Specialist-level Saviors like Lizzie and Ninth. They continued to get closer and closer to Atlan, encircling him like he was prey. "Don''t think you''ll get away with this," Lizzie shouted. Her anger was truly provoked this time. She couldn''t believe that they were trying to hurt her precious friend even though Atlan hadn''t done anything to them. "HeadQuarters will not let you go for this crime," she warned. But Otis didn''t care. "Maybe they will," he said without a tone as if he didn''t have a care in the world. "But it would have already been too late. I would have already cut off Atlan''s head and offered it up in a plate to my younger brother''s tombstone." Lizzie clicked her tongue. "I know that you''re sad that your brother died, but Atlan is innocent. If you want anyone to blame, then blame the Canzers who killed Obek! Turn your anger into killing them instead!" Lizzie pleaded. "Don''t utter his name!" Otis roared. "Atlan is guilty. He has led my brother to his death. Even if he didn''t kill him with his own hands, he still let my brother fall into the hands of those Canzers." Lizzie finally realized that there was no arguing with Otis. His eyes showed a craziness that could not be persuaded. He was way too invested in this to stop now. Fearing what was about to happen next, she turned to Ninth. "You take Atlan and run away," she said. "I''ll try to fight them and hold them off." Ninth knew that Lizzie had good intentions. But it seemed that she didn''t realize who she was trying to protect. Atlan was not the one who needed protection. It was the stupid boys who thought that they could kill someone who had defeated countless Specialist-level Canzers all by himself. Ninth wasn''t afraid of what Otis would do to Atlan, she was afraid about what Atlan would do to Otis. Chapter 444 Debating to kill "Nuh-uh!" Otis said, waving his finger conceitedly. "You can''t get away from us no matter how much you want to protect that little bastard." Their circle turned even tighter, leaving no gaps for them to escape towards. Lizzie clicked her tongue. Even with her speed, she wouldn''t be able to break through the tough defenses of the circle. Otis was smart. He made sure to bring Tank Saviors into this fight to make sure that they couldn''t escape so fast. If Ninth or Lizzie tried to break through and escape, then they would quickly find that it would take them at least a couple of seconds before they could completely get away. During that time, Otis and the rest of them would converge toward their location and stab them in the back. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The only way that they could truly break free was if Lizzie or Ninth used their full strength and summoned their domains. With their full power as Specialist-level Saviors, they would be able to kill their way out of this trap. However, they didn''t want to do that. After all, they still had their conscience. They might be extremely proficient in killing Canzers, but this would be the first time that they would have to draw human blood. They definitely didn''t have the stomach to do that, especially since the one they were going to kill didn''t deserve it. "We have no choice," Lizzie said. "We have to fight together. If we pool our strength, we can incapacitate them and leave." Although it would take a lot more effort, this would save them from having to bloody their hands. "Hahaha! You can''t do that either!" Otis laughed maniacally. "Don''t you think we haven''t planned for this?" Just as he said that, the whole Remedium suddenly started to rumble. Lizzie and Ninth both looked to the side and felt the tremors coming from that direction. With their enhanced senses as Specialist-level Saviors, they knew that a Canzer was coming. Not only that, the Canzer seemed to be very strong as well, almost being in the Specialist-level realm. But that wasn''t the worst part. They were able to distinguish from the steps that there wasn''t just one Canzer coming towards them. There were two of them! There were a couple of Saviors running away from them, and leading the Canzers towards their direction. Explore stories on My Virtual Library Empire It was clear that this was on purpose. Otis had instructed them to lead the Canzers into this place in order to distract Lizzie and Ninth from protecting Atlan. After all, they were the only ones who could fight against these creatures. If they didn''t want to die, then they would have to fight the Canzers, leaving Atlan unattended and Otis could finally have his revenge. Of course, this plan could easily backfire. However, Otis didn''t care. As long as it gave him the chance to get close to Atlan and rip his throat out of his body, then he was willing to sacrifice as many bodies as possible. The two Canzers were twin Canzers, with one of them being a black floating fish, and the other being a white floating fish. These Canzer fishes swam through the air as if it were water, wading through it with ease. And as their fins flapped, a vibration occurred in the air that toppled everything close to it. Lizzie estimated that she would have to bring out her true strength if she wanted to defeat at least one of these fishes. It was going to be a tough battle, especially since she would be fighting it all alone without any support. But if she wanted to succeed, then she would have to use all of her focus and strength, which meant that she wouldn''t be able to protect Atlan. The same went with Ninth. If she wanted to defeat the black fish Canzer, then she would have to use all of her strength and power to defeat it with just herself. But unlike Lizzie, Ninth didn''t worry about Atlan. She knew just how strong the Star Porter was. "How are we going to do this?" Lizzie asked Ninth, with her voice clearly showing her worry. "There''s nothing left to do," Ninth replied. "You fight the white fish, and I fight the black fish." "But how about Atlan? He''s going to get ganged up on by Otis and his group!" NInth looked at Lizzie, with her eyes showing seriousness and intensity. "Trust me, there''s nothing to worry about in that regard. You are treating Atlan as if he couldn''t protect himself. When in truth, he has more power than you can ever imagine." "What are you talking about?" Lizzie asked, completely lost as to why Ninth had this kind of confidence in Atlan. Sure, he was the Star Porter and showed great talent in being a porter. However, fighting multiple Intern-level Saviors was still way above what he could do. Ninth pointed at Atlan and showed Lizzie just how relaxed he was even in this situation. "If he wanted to, he could have dealt with Otis and the rest of his group in just a single second," Ninth said. "That''s impossible," Lizzie exclaimed. "It''s possible. I saw it with my own eyes. You must have not heard the rumors about him, but it''s true. He has killed multiple Specialist-level Canzers all by himself without any help," Ninth said, with her mind recalling that time when she saw him eradicate thousands of black dragon clones in just one second. "Why isn''t he doing it right now?" Lizzie asked. Ninth looked at Atlan and saw that there was still uncertainty in his eyes. She had seen that face before. It was the same face she had when she was debating on whether she was going to kill Tulip back then. "He''s trying to decide," she said. "Decide about what?" Lizzie asked. "Whether he''s going to spare them. He''s trying to see which one of them will try to kill him. And if he sees that they have malice in their actions, then he will not hesitate to kill them with his own hands." Chapter 445 Afraid? No way! Atlan looked at Otis as if he was a little fly. It was buzzing around, being annoying as hell. Since it was a harmless fly, Atlan knew that he wouldn''t get hurt by its little antics. So, the better option would be to simply ignore the fly. However, the fly seemed to buzz even louder as Atlan ignored it. Finally, it came to a point where it was annoying. Atlan wanted to spare the fly''s life, but at this point, maybe it would be better to get rid of him and just let it be over with. "What are you doing, Atlan? Why are you not killing him?" the Enchanted Queen asked, appearing beside his shoulders as a black dragon plushie. "I don''t want to make the first move. If he won''t try to kill me, I won''t kill him. Plain and simple," he answered. "Don''t worry, Atlan. I''ll heal any of your injuries and protect you if needed," Tulip said, appearing on his opposite shoulder as a white-green dragon plushie. Meanwhile, Otis looked at Atlan and couldn''t figure out why he wasn''t acting all scared. There were at least ten Intern-level Saviors about to collapse onto him and go for his head, but it seemed as if Atlan wasn''t even concentrating on him or the Saviors around him. He seemed to be preoccupied with looking everywhere as if he wasn''t seeing him at all. "What are you mumbling about?!" Otis screamed at Atlan. "Haha! I got it. You''re probably too scared to even react. I see, so that''s it!" Stay connected with My Virtual Library Empire Otis laughed maniacally, thinking that Atlan was too stunned to even react. After all, he was only a Student-level Savior. Of course, he was going to be scared witless when going against ten Saviors two realms above his own level. It seemed that the fear even broke Atlan''s mind. After all, he seemed to be talking to nothing but the air. "I want this to be slow and painful," Otis said. "I want you to experience the pain that my brother experienced. I want you to watch as your own body gets mangled into pieces, trampled till your bones crack, and eaten while you''re still alive!" Otis raised his hand, activating his LifeSkil. Small portal circles appeared behind Otis. A couple of seconds later, each of those portals suddenly spat out sharp swords, each having the quality of a high-level sword. "This is my Unlimited Sword Works!" Otis screamed. Since he was part of the Orioness family, Otis was endowed with the power of the Genesis God. Their whole family had LifeSkills that related to portals, opening up the dimensions and peeking through them with their bodies. Obek Orioness, the one that Atlan ''allegedly'' killed, had the power to make his punches teleport to wherever he wanted. People hailed this ability to be very powerful and could have led him to be the next Specialist-level Savior in the Orioness family. This made his death extremely saddening for his older brother, who treasured his younger brother because of his talents. Their father, Byron Orionness, became a high-ranking person within the entirety of the HeadQuarters because he was the one who could create portals that led to the Remedium itself. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Whenever the HeadQuarters used the portal to enter the Remedium, Bryon was the one who oversaw everything that happened, including the construction of the very portal itself. It also wouldn''t work anymore if he didn''t want it to since all portals acted on his behalf. This was how the Orioness family became part of the elite families in the entire city. They amassed a lot of wealth, prestige, and most importantly, Soul Time for their services to the city. This was the reason how Otis could hire Intern-level Saviors to try and kill Atlan. They had a lot of Soul Time in their reservoir, enough to give each and every one of them a thousand years of Soul Time as compensation for their help. Meanwhile, Otis'' power was not all that much different from Obek''s power. His LifeSkill allowed him to summon weapons from a different location, no matter the distance or the difference in dimensions. Of course, his power was still limited to the amount and quality of his swords. But thanks to his father''s amassed wealth of Soul Time, Otis was able to obtain a lot of high-quality swords and weapons to use, each one of them a masterpiece of some kind. This meant that hundreds if not thousands of swords pointed in Atlan''s direction, was a surefire way to kill a Student-level Savior. With a simple gesture from Otis, the swords halfway out of the portal, suddenly shot towards Atlan at very high speeds, almost surpassing that of a bullet''s speed and almost created a sonic boom. Swords rained down on Atlan''s location. But strangely enough, none of them hit his body. They were just positioned just right so that Atlan couldn''t move away from his position or else he would be cut by a thousand different sword edges. This was on purpose. Otis didn''t want Atlan to escape from his grasp. In Otis'' mind, he could have easily killed Atlan by using his LifeSkill and propelling a sword directly to his head, killing him instantly, but Otis knew that this was too easy. He wanted Atlan to suffer more. Otis walked towards Atlan with an arrogant stride. There was certainty in his movements as if he knew that he had already won this fight. However, just as he walked towards Atlan, he suddenly looked at him straight in the eyes. Otis realized that there was no such fear in Atlan''s eyes. Not only that, Atlan''s eyes felt like he was just observing and waiting for the right chance that he could pounce. Otis felt like he was staring right at a tiger, ready to pounce. It felt like he was staring at the barrel of a gun, with the gun cocked and ready to fire. Cold sweat poured down his back. "Tsk. What is this sorcery? There is no way that I''m afraid of this bastard!" Chapter 446 Hidden anomaly But no matter how much Otis wanted to push his body forward, it didn''t move a single inch. It was as if his instinct was telling him that he shouldn''t go anywhere near Atlan. Otis was not a novice in fighting against Canzers. He was a bona fide Intern-level Savior, which meant that he fought against very strong Canzers during his whole tenure as a Savior for the HeadQuarters. And during his time fighting in missions, there was rarely any time when he would feel this kind of fear. He always knew that he was going to make it out eventually. One of the times that he felt fear was when he experienced an anomaly in the mission. The Intern-level Canzer that they were supposed to fight was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was a Specialist-level Canzer waiting for them inside the Remedium. Even though they couldn''t see the monster, they could feel it. The tyrannic and oppressing aura that it emitted even from far away was enough to turn their legs into jelly. They almost collapsed from fear of facing this ancient creature of darkness. That was the only time when Otis truly felt fear. But somehow, he was feeling the same thing now when he looked at Atlan''s eyes. There was a strange and subtle feeling of oppression and tyranny emanating out of Atlan as if there was a monster hidden inside him, and that monster''s power was leaking out from the seams of his human body. Otis could only shake his head, knowing that he was simply imagining things. After all, how could a Student-level Savior make him feel afraid? It was absurd to think about. But of course, he didn''t want to move to kill Atlan just yet. "Hey, you! Give me his hand!" Otis screamed to one of the Intern-level Saviors he employed. "Me?" the guy asked. "But you said we only had to corner him! You didn''t say that we had to fight him!" Otis clicked his tongue. "Do it, or else I won''t give you your Soul Time!" With this threat, the guy knew that he had no choice but to follow Otis'' words. After all, he had already committed a crime by doing this in the first place. If he ended up not getting paid for his troubles, then it would truly be a waste. So, he picked up his sword from the ground and slowly approached Atlan. It was clear from his face that he didn''t want to do this. Although he could kill Canzers without batting an eye, hurting another human being was another thing. By doing so, he could forever be named as a murderer. As he got close to Atlan, he closed his eyes and raised his sword in the air. He just had to swing his sword and his job would be done. After all, Atlan was trapped with the hundreds of swords stuck in the ground around him. He couldn''t miss even if he wanted to. However, just as he was about to do so, he suddenly heard Atlan speak to him. "Save yourself," Atlan said to the man. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Huh?" "Run away now or else you''ll get caught up in the fight," Atlan reiterated. The man was confused. After all, Atlan made it seem like he was threatening a fight, even though he couldn''t move at all. He was basically a dummy target right now. He was in no position to threaten anybody. "Hah!" Otis jeered. "Don''t think you can try and threaten us. We aren''t stupid!" Then, he turned to the man with his sword in the air. "What are you waiting for? Give me his hand!" The man looked at Otis, and then back to Atlan. "I''m not talking about myself. I am saying that you brought something here that you didn''t know you brought," Atlan said. "Huh?" "What are you talking about?!" Otis screamed. Meanwhile, Atlan looked around the Remedium and felt the strange vibrations in the air. It felt like something was hiding in the shadows, someone who didn''t want to show himself yet and only waited for the right moment. "You sense it, right?" the black dragon plushie asked Atlan. "That''s a Specialist-level Canzer. And it''s waiting until everyone is tired to fight. Only then would it swoop down and try to go for the kill." "Ughh¡­ I feel it too. Atlan, you can kill it, right?" asked the white-green dragon. Atlan nodded, then turned to Otis. "When you lured the two Intern-level Canzers here to distract Lizzie and Ninth, you have inadvertently caught the attention of a Specialist-level Canzer." Upon mentioning a Specialist-level Canzer, everyone was suddenly jolted awake. A Specialist-level Canzer was not something that they could fight against. Even Otis was unnerved for a brief second. However, his haughty demeanor returned just a second later. "Don''t lie your way out of this. There''s no such Specialist-level Canzer here. According to Carmine and his team, all the Specialist-level Canzers are accounted for and are being fought by Kobra and the other teams. There''s not supposed to be another Specialist-level Canzer anywhere near here." Once Otis explained this, the rest of his team breathed a sigh of relief. He was right. According to the report given to them by the Operator Saviors, there was no such Specialist-level Canzer that could threaten them in this place. If there was, then Carmine and the others would have seen signs of its existence and warned them beforehand. But of course, Atlan knew what he was feeling. There was no mistaking it. "This is an anomaly," he said. "A Specialist-level Canzer is lurking in the shadows. The moment you try to fight me, it will pounce on all of you while you''re busy." The Intern-level Saviors on Otis'' side were suddenly anxious about their surroundings. After all, his words rang true. There could be an anomaly here. After all, having anomalies in this current era is not that uncommon nowadays. Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire "Don''t listen to him!" Otis screamed. "Go and cut his body up or else I will not give your families the Soul Time you so desperately want!" Chapter 447 Hypocritical Otis The rest of the Intern-level Saviors had no other choice. They had to do as Otis said or else all of this would have been for naught. They raised their swords high up in the air, about to cut off Atlan''s body into pieces, when all of a sudden, a shadow in the outskirts of the Remedium suddenly flashed into existence, lunging towards the ten or so Intern-level Saviors that were about to cut up Atlan. The appearance of this Canzer caught everybody off guard, except for Atlan who had seen the creature from the very beginning. The creature seemed to be a monster made out of pure shadow, with its body engrossed in full blackness. It had the body type of a lizard of some kind, with two wings as its front legs and two legs to stand on. SCRAAA! the Specialist-level Canzer screamed as it raised its wings and swung it towards the stunned Intern-level Saviors. And because of the difference in strength between them, the humans were sent flying outwards at the speed of a bullet, crashing into buildings and turning their internal bodies broken beyond repair. They couldn''t even react. This only meant one thing. The Canzer was a Specialist-level Canzer, just as Atlan said it was. If they had heeded his warning, then they would have been in this position in the first place. After all, the shadow Canzer seemed to only attack once it knew that it could surprise every one of them into submission. And it worked. "What is this?!?! A Specialist Canzer?!?! This is supposed to be impossible!" Otis screamed. He would have never expected Atlan to be telling the truth. After all, they had asked Carmine and the rest of the other Specialist Operators about the Canzers in the Remedium and they explicitly told them that there were no other Specialist-level Canzer in this Remedium. Even though he was very arrogant, Otis was only at the peak of the intern level. He still wasn''t strong enough to contend against Specialist-level Canzers by himself. He probably couldn''t even solo an Intern-level Canzer by himself as well. Dread and fear overcame his body as the shadow creature suddenly turned its head towards him. It seemed to put its nose up as if it was searching for his scent. And once it locked onto his position, it didn''t let its eyes go far away from him. Otis didn''t know why, but it seemed that this Specialist-level Canzer was trying to catch him for one reason or another. "You! KIll that Canzer!" Otis screamed to his helpers. However, no one was capable of helping him but himself. After all, the rest of the Intern-level Saviors that he brought with him on this mission were already down for the count. The Shadow Canzer seemed to spread its shadow tentacles to each and every human that tried to get close, rooting them in place and slowly crushing their bones into bits and pieces. "Argh!" "That hurts!!" "Help me!" The Intern-level Saviors turned to Otis for help. After all, he had the power to help them. He could use his LifeSKill and summon more swords to rain down toward the shadow tentacles that tried to squeeze them into a blood paste. However, it was clear that Otis had no intention of helping them. He immediately turned around and started running in the opposite direction. "Otis!? You bastard!" "Don''t leave us here with the Canzer!" S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You can take your Soul Time and shove it in your¡ª-" Just then, one of the Intern-level Saviors was able to break free from the shadow Canzer''s tentacles due to his special LifeSkill that turned his body into a weird jelly. As he broke free from the grasp of the Canzer, he quickly tried to run away from the Canzer as fast as possible. But just as he was about to catch up to Otis, a single sword suddenly appeared above the guy and pierced through his thighs. "GRAHH!" he screamed as he fell to the floor. The immense pain in his legs told him that he could no longer run as fast as he wanted. He couldn''t even walk if he wanted to. The only way he could get out of this situation was to try and crawl outwards. "Stay there! Keep the shadow monster occupied!" screamed Otis. It turned out that he purposefully injured his fellow human so that he would act as bait and a lure for the shadow Canzer. Otis didn''t care about other people. He never did. He was willing to sacrifice their lives just so that he could survive himself. He was willing to feed his fellow humans and friends into the mouth of the shadow Canzer if it meant that he would be free from its grasp. He could have tried to save them, of course. With his unique summoning sword LifeSkill, he could have broken the shadow tentacles that binded them. But he didn''t. He wanted them to be caught by the Shadow Canzer so that it would be too preoccupied to chase after him. If he had tried to save them all, then they at least would have had the chance to fight against the Canzer. With their numbers and their coordination, they could have definitely held on for a while until more people showed up to save them. After all, they were not the only ones here in this Remedium. Somehow or another, it was possible that other teams in this mission could find out that there was something wrong happening in this place and come to aid them. But Otis, because of his fear and dread, chose not to do any of that. He chose to flee. It was incredibly hypocritical of him. After all, he was blaming Atlan for the death of his younger brother. But now, he was also killing the sons, brothers, and fathers of many other families back in the real world by letting them be caught by the Canzer. Of course, he didn''t care about that. He just wanted to run away. Stay tuned with My Virtual Library Empire Chapter 448 Kidnapping Otis tried to run away as fast as possible, but it seemed that the shadow Canzer was hell-bent on catching him and only him. "What are you doing, you monster?! Why aren''t you trying to kill them, or that bastard Atlan?!" Otis screamed to the shadow creature. He even tried to run towards Atlan''s location to try and get the shadow creature to turn on him, but it was to no avail. It seemed that the Canzer was hungry only for him. "Damn bastards!" Otis screamed. He chose to bolt away from the Shadow Canzer to try and find other teams, preferably Kobra''s team so that they could kill the Shadow Canzer for him. Although he wasn''t proficient in it, Otis could transport himself to another location in the Remedium. It was another perk of being the chosen family of the Genesis God. They were all given the innate ability to teleport themselves through the different dimensions without getting hurt. So, he quickly closed his eyes and scrunched his face as he concentrated on the location of Kobra. He thought hard about Kobra''s presence and tried to locate him throughout the Remedium. And after a few seconds, he was able to find him. His body suddenly glowed with a golden light as a wooden door suddenly appeared right in front of him. This was his teleportation ability, allowing him to traverse to a different location. He just needed to use the door and he would reach Kobra''s location somewhere inside this Remedium. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire But just as he was about to walk towards the door, Atlan suddenly felt something wrong. His eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He suddenly felt numerous more oppressing auras simultaneously appear around their location. Atlan couldn''t believe it. There were at least five more Specialist-level Canzers that suddenly showed themselves in their surroundings. As Atlan observed these new Canzers, he realized that all of them were shadow Canzers just like the original Canzers that they saw. As soon as Otis used his teleportation door ability, these Canzers suddenly appeared as if they were hound dogs sensing the smell of blood. Atlan knew that there was something wrong going on. There was something suspicious with this whole encounter. After all, if this was an ambush from the Canzers, then they should have just ambushed Kobra and his team. After all, they were the strongest team here in the Remedium. Instead, they targeted Otis, just a single Intern-level Savior who was probably one of the weakest people here in the Remedium. If the Canzers wanted to prevent the humans from killing more Canzers, then it was only natural that they would try to kill the strongest person there. But this time, they didn''t. They targeted a lowly Intern-level Savior. And it looked like this wasn''t just a spur-of-the-moment thing for the Canzers. They looked like they were all waiting just for the right moment when Otis would use his ability to teleport out into another location. Otis'' eyes widened as he realized that there were at least five more shadow Canzers surrounding him, each one of them had their eyes fixed on him as they concentrated all their effort into catching their prize. In his panic, Otis tried to rush towards his door. The only way he could escape these Specialist-level Canzers was if he could reach the door and teleport into another location. His desperation for his life allowed him to reach speeds so much faster than before. However, his speed was still within the limits of an Intern-level Savior. These Canzers were in the Specialist realm. No matter how much Otis hurried his body to move faster, it would still look like slow motion in front of the Shadow Canzers, especially since these creatures specialized in speed. Atlan knew that he had to do something. Even though he didn''t like Otis and would like nothing more than to just let the guy be devoured by Canzers, Atlan knew that there was something suspicious going on. The Canzers were trying to achieve something by catching Otis. Atlan didn''t want that to happen so he knew that he had to save him. "Wait Atlan," the Enchanted Queen whispered to him. "Let him be caught." "Why?" Atlan asked. "We need to find out why they want that human. I have a feeling that it has something to do with the mysterious object that they possess. It looks like they have no intention of killing him just yet. If they did, then they could have killed him a million times already. This means that they want him alive. This is good. I will secretly follow them and find out what they are up to and why they want that human." The Black Dragon plushie could become invisible due to her being Atlan''s tamed dragon. Her body was halfway corporeal and incorporeal, allowing her to traverse unseen in both the Remedium and the real world. "Be careful. If you need me, you know what to do," Atlan whispered to the Enchanted Queen. Since she was his tamed dragon, he was connected with her and would know if something wrong was going on. In the worst-case scenario, she could simply go back into nonexistence and leave any dangerous situation. But of course, the Enchanted Queen did not need to worry about anything. After all, she was a very proud black dragon, the pinnacle of their species without any weakness. "Good luck! I''ll stay here and support Atlan," Tulip said as she appeared as a white-green dragon plushie. So, the black dragon plushie flapped her wings and flew through the air, reaching Otis'' body in just a few milliseconds. She then attached herself to his shoulders. Meanwhile, just before Otis was about to reach for the door, the five other Specialist-level Shadow Canzers immediately dove towards him and dragged his body away from the door. Otis was helpless as the shadow creatures wrapped their tentacles into his body. His eyes darted over to Atlan, who just stood there and did nothing. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 449 Queen Slayer Atlan watched as the shadow creatures took Otis away into the darkness. And to make sure that it was a successful escape, the other four Shadow Canzers stayed behind and eyed Atlan with a careful eye. If Atlan tried to rescue Otis, then they would immediately pounce and kill him. Of course, Atlan had no intention of going after Otis. The Enchanted Queen had already attached herself to Otis without the Shadow Canzers knowing, so he would be able to track them anytime he wanted. That was one of the perks of having a tamed dragon by your side. But it seemed that the Canzers wanted to make sure that there would be no other complications. They slowly walked towards Atlan, with the intention of silencing him forever. In their eyes, Atlan would come and ask others for help, altering the humans of what happened here in the darkness. They didn''t want that to happen. They wanted to keep this a secret for a lot longer. And the only way to do that was to kill Atlan and the rest of the humans here. Of course, they didn''t know that this was a huge mistake. If they had simply walked away with Otis, then Atlan would have spared them and let them escape with their lives intact. But now, if they were planning on attacking him, then there was no other choice but to attack as well. "Atlan! Run away!" Lizzie screamed. She was way too busy fighting with the Intern-level fish Canzer that she couldn''t try to help Atlan in this predicament. Right now, her whole body was filled with cat mutations that enhanced her physical and reflexive abilities up to the standards of Specialist-level Saviors. She had cat ears, fur, whiskers, claws, and a tail, each one giving her enhanced abilities of a cat. But even then, fighting against a Canzer alone was a hard job. Even though it was only at the intern level, she was still fighting it alone without any help. Ninth was busy and occupied with the other fish Canzer as well so there was no one there to help her. She knew that she could kill this Canzer by herself. However, it would take all of her focus and time to do so. It was not a matter of if she won, it was when. But in her perspective, she didn''t have any time left. Atlan might have been saved from Otis'' ambush, but he was still in danger from the lurking Specialist-level Shadow Canzer that was slowly coming in his direction. She wanted to come towards him and help him, but the fish Canzer saw her distracted state and took advantage of the opportunity. It suddenly spat out a burst of water towards her, which could cut even the toughest of metals. Lizzie had no other choice but to jump away, getting her further away from Atlan. "This will all be over soon, Lizzie. I''ll help you deal with that fish later," Atlan said with utter confidence in his voice. There was an absolute tone in his voice as if he could easily kill the four Specialist-level Canzers that were coming towards him. He was so confident that he even turned around and faced Lizzie, turning his back to the Canzers. The shadow creatures could easily lunge towards Atlan now that he had his back turned against them. This would have been the perfect opportunity for them. But somehow, they didn''t. None of them moved. Just like Otis, they were paralyzed at the thought. Whenever they looked at Atlan, they saw nothing but a void blank state. There was no fear nor perturbation in his body. Yet, the shadow creatures felt as if they were looking at a volcano about to erupt. "What are you saying, Atlan?! We have to run away. Those four are Specialist-level Canzers! Even Kobra would need to run away from those creatures!" Fighting one Specialist-level Canzer was hard enough, especially since they didn''t have a team to support them. But four? There would be nothing but a massacre in the end. Ninth was the only one who knew that Atlan was telling the truth. She faced Lizzie and tried to calm her down. Read latest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire "He''s more than capable of that, Lizzie." "What do you mean?" Lizzie asked. "Just watch him. I''m sure you''ll see for yourself just how strong your boyfriend is," Ninth said. Before Lizzie could even question her again, she suddenly felt a burst of energy behind her. It was strong, oppressing, and something that she had never felt before. It felt like she was in the presence of the embodiment of death and power. She immediately looked back and saw Atlan''s whole body with black flames surrounding his body. Immediately, she knew that the power came from him. Her eyes widened as her initial perception of Atlan had been shattered into pieces. She thought that he was just a helpless but talented kid who needed her help. But as it turned out, he was already a man who was even stronger than her, and stronger than anyone she had ever met before. Atlan looked at the shadow creatures, who all flinched backward once they felt Altan''s true power. ''It''s him!... Queen slayer!'' ''Dragon killer!!!'' ''He''s real?!?!'' The four Shadow Canzer expressed their surprise once they felt Atlan''s true power. And as it turned out, they recognized him as well. After all, it was no secret that the Malificient Dragon Queen had been killed by a powerful entity whose body emitted black flames and his strength emanated death. This story circulated around the Canzer circles, with most of them thinking that the ''Queen Slayer'' was a fellow Canzer. So they were entirely stunned when they found out that it was a human! They didn''t even think that that was possible. But the truth was staring at them right in their faces. This also meant that they were facing the only person who could kill all four Specialist-level Canzers like them. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Immediately, thoughts of escaping formed in their minds. They must inform the others about the presence of the Queen Slayer. However, before they could even react, Atlan already had four clones by his side. Chapter 450 Atlans trap Four of Atlan''s clones immediately locked in one shadow creature, never letting it out of his sight. Before the Canzers could even morph into their shadow form and escape through the void, Atlan''s clones had already used their Angel Wings and teleported right next to the shadow Canzers. With a single hand, the clones grasped the shadow bodies of the Canzers, with a grip that could somehow grasp the incorporeal form of the creatures. This utterly scared the Shadow Canzers. One of the reasons why they were so strong was because of their ability to just slip away from anyone''s grasp before they could even catch them. But somehow, Atlan''s clones could touch their bodies and prevent them from teleporting out into a safe environment. Find more to read at My Virtual Library Empire But once they saw the Angel Wings on the clones, they finally figured out the reason. It was because of the holy energy in the clones that disabled the shadow powers in their bodies. The shadow creatures tried to use their tentacles to fight back against the clones, but it seemed that their clones felt a burning and searing pain whenever they tried to touch Atlan. They couldn''t even try to attack him! They were helpless as Atlan''s clones caught them one by one. The shadow creatures prepared themselves to be killed or pummelled to death. With his clones and his tremendous strength, the Shadow Canzers did not doubt that Atlan could kill them in an instant. After all, they were much weaker than the Malificient Dragon Queen, and yet he was able to kill her without a problem. However, the beating they expected never came. Instead, Atlan''s real body slowly hovered toward their location. "Tell me. What did you kidnap Otis? Is it related to that object?" Upon hearing his words, the Shadow Creatures were terrified to know that Atlan, a human, could speak their language. But perhaps they were more surprised when they found out that Atlan knew about their ''object''. All this time, they thought that their plans had been a secret without the humans knowing about it. They thought that the humans were completely oblivious to the presence of this ''object''. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But as it turned out, the Dragon Slayer knew about it in the first place! He was the worst person to have known about it because he was the only one who could do something about it. The shadow creatures were alarmed. They couldn''t let Atlan know about the object and destroy their only way to victory against the humans. ''Kill us!'' ''We tell nothing!'' ''We take it to our deaths!'' The shadow creatures were fiercely loyal to their cause. They would rather die than spill out the secrets of the ''object''. Atlan knew that he couldn''t persuade these Canzers. They were much stronger than the other Canzers that they had been interrogating, which meant that they were a lot smarter and more resistant to torture techniques. "But judging from your reactions, it seems that I''m right. Otis is related to the object," he said to the Canzers. And despite how much the Canzers tried to hide it, their micro reaction to his words told him that he was right. They kidnapped Otis for this reason. ''Kill us now! We not tell you!'' the Shadow Canzers roared. Atlan didn''t argue with them any longer. After all, he didn''t even need to interrogate them at all. "It''s fine if you don''t tell me. I''ll know soon enough," Atlan said with nothing but confidence. It was at this point that the Shadow Canzers realized something. Atlan was strong enough to have killed them in an instant, which meant that he could have saved Otis if he had wanted to. But for some reason, he didn''t. He stayed his hand and let the shadow creatures take them into their lair. These Canzers were not stupid. They quickly realized the only reason why Atlan would do such a thing. Atlan set up a trap! ''No¡­We must alert others! Human is infiltrating lair! We must alert them!'' the Canzers roared, trying to get away from the clones'' grip. But no matter how much they struggled, they were powerless against Atlan''s strong grip, coupled with his Angel power that could weaken any Canzer even if they were Specialist-level Canzers. It was practically a checkmate the moment Atlan''s clones got near them. Yet, they kept struggling. They wanted to inform their comrades to stop bringing Otis to their lair. They knew that Atlan planted a trap and could somehow locate their lair using Otis. That was the only way they could explain Atlan''s cocky attitude. And they were right. Atlan did plant a trap there, or more specifically, a dragon. "If you''re not going to tell me anything, then you''re of no use to me," Atlan said as he commanded his clones to finish the job. The clones then raised their hands, taking the Canzers''s body up with it, and started to pummel the monster into the ground, weakening it to the point that the Canzers wished they were dead. They couldn''t fight and were helpless as Atlan''s clones threw them around the Remedium like a ragdoll. Meanwhile, Lizzie watched this with her eyes widened and her jaw slacked wide open. Somehow, the four Specialist-level Canzers were being treated like a small little toy being thrown around haphazardly. It didn''t make sense to her. After all, these were Specialist-level Canzers. She would need an entire team of Specialist-level Saviors to defeat just a single one of those Shadow Canzers. But somehow, Atlan only needed his clones with him and he could somehow do it just by himself. It was a surreal sight to see. If it weren''t for her tremendous reflex as a cat person, the fish Canzer that she was currently fighting would have already taken advantage of the fact that she was so distracted at seeing Atlan beat up four Specialist-level Canzers by himself. As for Ninth, this wasn''t the first time she saw this sight. But even still, she couldn''t help but still be in awe of his strength every time. Chapter 451 Spared "How is this possible¡­" Lizzie uttered in pure disbelief. She always thought Atlan was special, and that he had the potential to be strong, but she would have never thought he would be able to beat up four Specialist-level Canzers just a month from his awakening. It was truly mind-boggling that she even thought that she was simply imagining stuff. He was supposed to be a Porter. Yet the LifeSkill to clone himself in perfect form, with all the power and skills as the original, was not something that a porter could do. She looked at Ninth, who seemed to be completely used to this sight. Enjoy new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire "This is not even his limit," Ninth said. At this point, Lizzie didn''t even know what to say. Beating up four Specialist-level Canzers was not Atlan''s limit? Beating one Specialist-level Canzer by himself without any help from other people was already a feat that was otherworldly. But somehow, beating up four of them wasn''t Atlan''s greatest show of strength. At this point, Atlan seemed to have finished beating up the poor shadow Canzers. The four clones took the shadow creatures by their scruffs and lifted them up towards the original Atlan. They couldn''t even struggle even if they wanted to. Atlan''s clones had shown the shadow creatures that any time they tried to fight back, they would experience a beatdown that was even worse than before. Unfortunately for them, they didn''t seem to learn this fact only after they were all beaten to a pulp, turning the chitin hiding underneath their shadow form into mere powdered shells. They were supposed to be Destruction type Canzers, famed for their ability to regenerate their injuries. Yet somehow, Atlan''s clones were able to disable their powers without any trouble. "I''ll make this quick," Atlan said as he took out the scythe from his back. Immediately, the blades caught on fire and emanated a power that only Canzers could recognize. That was Angel Power, and a very concentrated dose at that. They could feel the heat and purity of the flames even from far away. It was searing their injuries like adding salt to a wound. As the clones gathered the shadow Canzers into one position, the original Atlan just swung his scythe, seemingly hitting nothing but the air. But slowly, the pain on the shadow Canzer''s eyes had faded, now being replaced by a sense of peace and serenity. A second later, a single cut from their waste had appeared, completely dismembering the shadow creatures into two. The flames left behind the Scythe consumed the remains of the Canzer, turning it into nothing but ashes that scattered to the wind. Just like that, four Specialist-level Canzers were killed. Atlan didn''t need the help of fellow Specialist-level Saviors. He didn''t need the help of Operators telling him what their weaknesses was. He didn''t need a construct to disable their regenerative abilities. All he needed was himself, and that was enough. Lizzie, and the other surviving Intern-level Saviors couldn''t believe their eyes. They had never seen this thing happen before, nor would they have imagined that it could happen. They all looked up at Atlan with his Angel Wings spread out as he floated in the air. Even after killing four Specialist-level Canzers, he didn''t seem to be impressed with himself one bit. He was indifferent, as if this was something normal and to be expected. The Intern-level Saviors couldn''t help but shiver when they looked at Atlan. After all, they had done him wrong. They had sided with Otis and planned to kill Atlan in this Remedium. Even though they weren''t the one who was going to kill them, they were still complicit to the crime since they were the one who would have helped Otis do it. They were afraid that Atlan would enact his revenge on them. After all, it was only fair. But even after a few seconds had passed, Atlan did nothing. In fact, he ignored the Intern-level Saviors and went towards Lizzie and Ninth. It was as if they were invisible. One man, the one who was going to cut off Atlan''s hands because of Otis'' orders, couldn''t stand the fear and trepidation in his heart and charged towards Atlan with his sword. "AAHHH!" he screamed, with his blade pointed at Atlan yet his eyes were closed. As someone who was guilty, the man was sure that Atlan was going to kill him, just like how he killed the Specialist-level Canzers. In his mind, if he was going to die, then he wanted to do it himself. He didn''t want to wait in agony as Atlan deliberated whether he was going to kill them or not. The man closed his eyes as he ran towards Atlan, waiting for the inevitable death coming towards his way. Atlan caught the sword by his hands and did nothing else. The man waited, but there was no death coming his way. "Don''t throw away your life," Atlan said. "I understand the desperation you have in wanting to live. You had to do what you had to do." Atlan used to live in the Unclaimed Lands. Many people were forced to do what they had to do in order to survive. Atlan knew that this guy just wanted to live, and Otis took advantage of that fact and forced him to do something that he didn''t want to do. "Go. Run away. Tell the others what you saw here. Tell them that the Canzers have kidnapped Otis," Atlan said to the Intern-level Saviors. At first, they were all confused and just stood still. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Go!" Atlan roared. Only then did they all disperse, running away in different directions away from Atlan. They were saved. Atlan had all the rights to kill them, but they didn''t. He gave them mercy and allowed them to live. Meanwhile, Atlan looked over to Ninth and Lizzie. Even now, the two of them were busy fighting the two Intern-level Fish Canzers that arrived. Atlan raised his Scythe again and swung it in the air, instantly killing the Canzers and turning them into dust. Chapter 452 Telling the truth to Lizzie Lizzie fell on her knees, exhausted. She had fought an Intern-level Canzer by herself. This was very impressive in her own right, since most Saviors wouldn''t be able to do what she had done and survive. This was why a team was needed in order to survive an attack against a Canzer. But Atlan had easily killed the Canzers with just one swing of his Scythe. It was absurd to think about. She couldn''t even understand it. She turned to Atlan. "How?" she asked him. Stay tuned to My Virtual Library Empire Atlan, knowing that Lizzie was a trustworthy person and someone that he valued greatly, decided to tell her the truth¡ªthe whole truth. "When you saw me in the Unclaimed Lands and I had my awakening, I somehow ended up meeting the God of Death¡­" Atlan began to tell the story of everything that happened to him from the very beginning, without missing anything at all. He told her about how he gained the powers of the god of death after killing him. He told her about how he got stronger with every death that he witnessed. He gained experience, Soul Time, LifeSkills, and mutations from any and every death that came his way. He also told her about the Angel''s extinction, and how he found out that Angels were the natural weakness of Canzers. He explained that this was how he was able to kill Canzers without using a construct. He was using Angle power all this time. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He told her about the missions in the Remedium, about the anomalies that had been happening to him all the time. He told her how he was the one who killed those Canzers. That was the reason why he miraculously survived those missions. "This is my tamed dragon, Tulip. She''s the one who helped me in the church mission," Atlan said as he pointed in the air. Suddenly, a plushie figure of a white-green dragon appeared in their vision, surprising both Ninth and Lizzie. "Hello¡­ nice to meet you!" Tulip said, a bit meekly. She was still a little bit shy when meeting other people. "Tulip?! No way¡­ that''s you?!" Ninth had developed a bond with Tulip because of the Malificient Dragon Queen incident. She didn''t get to say goodbye to Tulip, but she had always kept it in her heart. She was also surprised that she could understand Tulip''s words. Atlan explained that this was a benefit to her becoming his tamed dragon. He bestowed her the ability to talk in the human language. After all, the plushie figurine that she was currently using was Atlan''s own invention, which meant that he could change it however he liked, including changing the voice box to accommodate human speech. As Ninth and Tulip both introduced each other, they quickly found out that they enjoyed each other''s company. Tulip was the only Canzer that changed Ninth''s perspective on Canzers. And now that they could talk to each other, the more Ninth found out that Canzers were just like any other human. They quickly became friends, especially now that they could talk to each other. Meanwhile, Lizzie and Atlan were left all alone. "This is a lot to take in," she said. "I know this is a lot. But I had to tell you the truth. There are a lot of things happening right now, and I need you to know the truth." There are a lot of things that Lizzie had to process. Most of all, she had to process the fact that she had witnessed the deaths of the Angels first hand, yet she was still in denial at that point. Now that Atlan had explained everything, it suddenly made sense for her. It made sense how he was always so strong and capable compared to the other Saviors in his league. She had to change her whole look on Atlan, turning him from an adorable kid that needed protection, into someone capable of killing Specialist-level Canzers by himself. "The Canzers¡­ they''re trying to do something?" she asked him. "Yes. they''re trying to achieve something terrible for the human race. If they succeed, this could mean the end of our lives as we know it. That is why we have to find out what happened to Otis," Atlan said with a serious tone. "And I need your help, Lizzie. I need you." Although Lizzie wanted nothing more than to just return to the real world and just forget about the worries of the world, she still couldn''t leave Atlan behind all alone. Even though he was already much stronger than her, she still couldn''t help but feel as if she was responsible for him. She had an obligation to help him. It was at this point that Lizzie realized her true feelings for Atlan. If any other man had told her that she was lying about his entire identity, then she would want nothing to do with that man. But somehow, Atlan was the only exception. Even when she found out that there were a lot of things that Atlan hid from her, she still cared for him and wanted to see him safe. "Atlan¡­ I¡­" But before she could say anything, Atlan raised his finger and stopped her from saying anything. "Don''t tell me now. Let''s wait until everything is over," he said to her. Right now, there were a lot of things they needed to do. They couldn''t afford to be distracted. If Atlan heard Lizzie say the words that he''d been wanting to hear this entire time, then he wouldn''t be able to stop himself and immediately want to take her as his woman right here. He wouldn''t have cared about the Canzers'' plans and the destruction of the world. He would have only wanted Lizzie. So, he decided to postpone it for now. "Okay. We''ll wait," Lizzie said, looking up at him with a blush on her cheeks. "For now, we need to find the others and tell them about this." Atlan agreed. He took Lizzie and Ninth in his hands and spread his Angel Wings. With just one thought on his mind, he teleported them into another location, right in front of Kobra and his team. Chapter 453 Kobras domain It was a tense situation with Kobra and his team. Since he was considered to be the strongest Savior in the city, he was tasked to kill the strongest Canzer in the Remedium. Not only that, but there were two of them here. As expected of Kobra, he was able to hold his ground against two Specialist-level Canzers. It must be mentioned that he had the support of multiple other Intern-level Saviors, but it was still impressive that he could take them on. His LifeSkill allowed him to summon a huge stinger from his back, stinging any Canzer that tried to go near him. The poison in his stinger was enough to deter even the Canzer with the toughest skins. Cast in point, the Canzers he was facing right now learned a very hard lesson about approaching him. He was able to sting both of them, injecting them with enough poison to slightly lessen their regenerative properties. This was enough to even the odds. And thanks to his active domain, he was able to get the upper hand. His domain was a sea of snakes, turning the very ground itself into the lair of snakes that would bite anyone that Kobra wanted to be attacked. The Canzers found themselves unable to move without having snakes wriggling up to their giant bodies and trying to constrict them into unconsciousness. And if that wasn''t annoying enough, then snakes were also biting the Canzers and injecting them with even more poison, fully counteracting their regenerative properties and now slowly destroying their bodies from the inside and out. This was what made Kobra the best Savior in the entire City. His unique set of skills allowed him to fight against large hordes of Canzer and still come out on top. In fact, he was actually stronger when facing larger groups of enemies. His domain, his poison, and his snakes all became stronger the more Canzers were present. This made him into an Infection type Canzer specialist. He was the one usually dispatched in missions that involved Canzers that could clone themselves infinitely. With Kobra''s power, he could also power himself up infinitely the more Canzers were present in the battlefield. Right now, facing against two Specialist-level Canzers had activated some of his latent powers to be able to deal with these two Canzers. The Intern-level Saviors watching the veteran do his job was something that they appreciated to see. It was not everyday that they would get to witness greatness first hand. They would learn a lot from this experience. But just then, right in the middle of the battlefield, a person carrying two women suddenly appeared right in front of Kobra and the others, surprising the rest of them. "Kobra, we need to talk," Atlan said with a serious voice. Kobra was utterly shocked upon seeing Atlan appear out of nowhere without even a warning. Since he was named as the strongest Savior in the city, he wasn''t used to someone being faster than him. But when he saw that it was Atlan, it finally made sense for him. Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire "What are you doing?" Kobra asked. It wasn''t exactly the best time to chat. After all, there were still two Specialist-level Canzers behind Atlan, who were slowly gearing up to attack them. Kobra knew that this was a crucial time. He needed to attack these two Canzers or else all the preparation he made would be for nothing. He could see that the poison inside the Canzers body was starting to wear off as they produced antibodies to defeat the poison. He needed to attack now and keep reapplying the poison in order for the paralysis to take effect. "Who is this guy?!" "What is he doing here?" "Wait, isn''t he that Star Porter?!" The Intern-level Saviors supporting Kobra were utterly confused as well. First of all, they would have never expected the Student-level porter to be able to suddenly teleport out of nowhere. They didn''t even see him arrive. One second he was gone, the next he was suddenly right in front of their eyes. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "The Canzers are behind you!" "They''re attacking!" The Intern-level tried their hardest to warn Atlan of the upcoming Canzer attacks, but he didn''t seem to hear their voices. He was too busy talking to Kobra to even notice that there were two Canzers gunning for his life right now. But just when the Canzers were about to arrive, Atlan took out the Flaming Scythe on his back and turned around to face the Canzers. With just one swing of his weapon, the two Canzers suddenly stopped their bodily movements, yet the inertia of their bodies continued to move forward. The two Canzers were frozen and paralyzed, but their momentum was still going forward towards Atlan. But just before they could collide with Atlan, their bodies suddenly split in half from the upper and lower torso. It was a clean cut, so much so that it wasn''t even visible the first time when the torsos hadn''t separated yet. The two Canzers, split up into four parts, glided away from Atlan and soon turned into dust. Just like that, the two Canzers that they were all having trouble killing were dead just a few seconds after Atlan arrived at the scene. The Intern-level Saviors who witnessed this couldn''t believe their eyes. They tried to look for the remains of the Canzer thinking that it was going to regenerate back into its former self, but there was not even a single drop of violet blood left from the Canzers. They were gone. The five Intern-level Saviors who were carrying the two constructs couldn''t believe their eyes. They hadn''t even activated the constructs, but the Canzers were already dead. They couldn''t believe it. Kobra was the only one who was surprised. He had already seen Atlan kill a Specialist-level Canzer by himself in just a few seconds. He had already expected that as soon as Atlan appeared in this place. However, Kobra wasn''t expecting Atlan to be able to suppress his domain. Even though he tried to exert control over his domain, he couldn''t help but feel as if his domain was slowly losing strength as the seconds passed. And it was all due to Atlan. Chapter 454 Star Porter is too strong Somehow, Atlan wasn''t affected by Kobra''s domain. The snakes that were supposed to always stay calm whenever they were in the presence of Kobra''s allies were now starting to hiss and bare their fangs at Atlan. Kobra controlled these snakes. He needed full control of them because the domain made everything in the surroundings into snakes. This meant that his allies would also be in the domain and be in the presence of the snakes. Kobra always made sure to will the snakes to differentiate between ally and foe. They would always protect the allies and attack the foes. But somehow, even when Kobra was telling the snakes to calm down and stay away from Atlan, they were all still looking towards the Star Porter and showing him a defensive stance. It was as if they were threatened by his very existence. Kobra couldn''t believe it. Somehow, Atlan''s presence had weakened his control over his own domain. He never even thought this was possible because a domain was supposed to be a god in his own world. There was only one possibility for this to happen. Atlan had his own domain. That was the only way that the snakes would act they way they were acting right now. They must have felt Atlan''s domineering presence and domain and tried to fight against it. But no matter how much they tried to get near him and assimilate him into Kobra''s domain, Atlan had remained steadfast and continued to have his own space for himself, which the snakes didn''t like one bit. That was the only possibility, yet Kobra still couldn''t believe it. After all, he hadn''t seen Atlan use his domain at all. He wasn''t even emanating an aura signature of someone using his domain. He and the rest of the other Specialist-level Saviors capable of a domain would always know when someone else was using a domain. But somehow, Kobra couldn''t feel anything from Atlan at all. He couldn''t feel energy, he couldn''t feel power, and most of all, he couldn''t feel the life inside his body. Does he have his domain active all the time? Kobra thought to himself. "Kobra, this is not the time for deep thoughts. We need to get to Otis now," Atlan said. Upon the mention of Otis Orioness, Kobra shook himself from his stupor and refocused on the task at hand. "What happened to Otis?" Kobra asked. Atlan revealed to him about everything that happened in the Remedium. Of course, he only told him the essential parts. Like how the shadow creatures ambushed them from out of nowhere and kidnapped Otis. "You''re right¡­ this is strange. Very strange. I feel like the Canzers are planning something big¡­ " Kobra understood clearly what Atlan was trying to get at. As a veteran Savior, he knew that this was a very strange behavior from the Canzers. They weren''t the type to kidnap a human. They would rather kill humans. And four Specialist-level Canzers could easily kill Otis whenever they wanted. But they didn''t. They kept him alive and kidnapped him. "What do you want us to do? I think we should go back and inform Carmine about what happened," Kobra said. After all, they were a little bit out of their wheelhouse. Kobra didn''t know anything about Canzer behavior and they wouldn''t be able to decipher this mystery without the help of the Specialist Operator Saviors. "No. We can''t. We have to go after Otis now or else it will be too late," Atlan said. "But we don''t know where we''re going!" "Don''t worry. I know where they are," Atlan said with absolute confidence. Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire Kobra had a hard decision to make. Should he trust Atlan''s words, or should he try to find a second opinion? If this was any other Student-level Savior, Kobra wouldn''t have hesitated and simply just returned to the real world to ask Carmine for help. But somehow, Kobra felt as if Atlan was telling the truth. There were a lot of things that were mysterious about the Star Porter. For example, it didn''t make sense how he could become so strong in so little time. It was impossible to improve that fast, especially since LifeSkills needed a lot of consolidation to advance to the next level. But if there was one thing that Kobra knew about Atlan, it was that he wanted to kill Canzers too. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So, if Atlan wanted to go after Otis and the other Canzers, then it was probably the right decision to do so. Kobra couldn''t explain it, but somehow, he believed Atlan''s words. Maybe it was because of Atlan''s overwhelming strength. He had shown tremendous strength, enough to even kill Kobra and the other Intern-level Saviors with just a single swing of his Scythe. It wouldn''t make sense if he was luring them into a trap. After all, he could have easily just killed them right here and now and they wouldn''t be able to do anything about it. "I trust you, Star Porter. We''ll have to gather the rest of the Saviors here to try and find where they brought Otis. I''ll ask some of the Intern-level Saviors to spread the word. I''ll also employ one of them to go back to the real world and tell Carmine about what''s happening here. If they know something, then they''ll send reinforcements here to us." Atlan nodded, agreeing with Kobra''s course of action. It seemed that Kobra wasn''t called the best Savior in the city just for his strength. He was also good at leading his group into victory with his leadership skills. The Intern-level Saviors supporting Kobra soon had their own missions. They ran in all directions, hoping to find the other teams of Specialist-level Saviors to help them find Otis. But in the back of their minds, they were still incredibly shocked at what they had just witnessed. The scene of Atlan raising his Scythe and killing two Specialist-level Canzers with just one swing lingered on their minds. The Star Porter is too strong¡­ Chapter 455 One man reinforcements The rest of the teams in the Remedium were quickly informed about what happened. They were told that the Canzers had kidnapped Otis Orioness, and that they seemed to be planning something big. At first, some of the Specialist-level Saviors couldn''t believe what they''d heard. After all, Specialist-level Canzers were not known to have that type of behavior. They just knew them as ruthless animals that would kill and maim a human any chance they could get. However, they were given a command from Kobra himself that they should drop whatever they were doing and come to the designated location. The Specialist-level Saviors couldn''t simply run away from the Canzers they were fighting. However, they were told from the very beginning of this mission that they should always answer to Kobra''s word because he was the whole leader of the mission. They would be committing a crime if they didn''t heed his call. So, the Specialist-level Saviors ordered their team to commence a retreat against the Canzers that they were fighting. However, when they started to retreat, the Canzers seemed to be even more panicked and rushed after them. This was very unusual. Running away from the Canzers was supposed to be the easy part. After all, if there was one thing that the Canzers loved more than killing humans, then it was wreaking havoc in the Remedium. They always seemed to celebrate and taunt humans whenever they saw them retreating out. The hardest part about retreating used to be the Canzers'' taunts and watching as they wreaked havoc in the Remedium, which would further worsen the Symptom in the real world. But now, the Canzers seemed to be agitated or even worried at the fact that the humans were retreating. They became so much more aggressive towards the humans, not letting them retreat away safely. And even if the Saviors were fast enough to retreat, they would suddenly see the Canzer showing its own weakness and its critical spot to the Saviors, as if taunting them to want to kill them. They couldn''t believe it. They had never seen Canzers act this way. It was as if the Canzers didn''t want them to run away. It was at this point that they knew that something was wrong. Perhaps Kobra''s announcement was right. There was something that the Canzers were planning, and these Canzers were supposed to keep the humans company while they tried to achieve what they wanted to achieve. "Kobra is right. There is something wrong with the Canzers. We must go to his location now," the Specialist-level Savior said to his Intern-level support. "But sir! The Canzer looks so vulnerable right now. We can kill him in less than a minute!" S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Intern-level Saviors were still wet behind their ears and couldn''t understand the truth of what was going on. "Didn''t you hear what I said? We''ll retreat right now! He''s only acting this way so that we''ll get distracted. Go now!" The Intern-level Saviors had no choice but to follow their leader''s order. Despite the fact that the Canzer was showing its weak spot to them, the leader had no intention of fighting with the Canzer again. He was smart enough to know that it was just playing with them to try and buy more time. However, just as they were retreating, they suddenly felt a strange and new oppressing aura come towards them from the other side. "No way¡­" the Specialist Savior said as he looked at two new Specialist-level Canzers in front of him. Because the Intern-level Saviors hesitated in their retreat, the Canzer somehow bought enough time for some reinforcements to arrive. Now, they were sandwiched by four Canzers with no way out. He was the only Specialist-level Savior in this team while the rest of them were inexperienced and weak Intern-level Saviors. They didn''t even have any construct to try and kill these Canzers. Slowly, the four Canzers walked closer and closer to the team, turning their formation into a tight-knit circle. The four Specialist-level Canzers opened their mouths, with a tremendous ball of energy forming at the tip of their canine teeth. Just from the wind pressure alone, they knew that this was a deadly attack that they could not defend against, especially with four of them at the same time. "Damn¡­ we''re going to die." But just as the Canzers were about to release their ball of energy towards the Saviors, a single line appeared in the middle of the Canzers'' torso. As soon as that line appeared, the energy ball in their mouths suddenly disappeared, dissipating in the air. Their eyes suddenly turned cloudy before their bodies separated into two, cleaved perfectly from their waists. The Saviors all watched as the four Canzers simultaneously turned into ashes that scattered perfectly in the wind. They were dead. Four Specialist-level Canzers were dead just like that. And then, they saw one man beyond the ashes. He wore a black battle suit and a Flaming Scythe in his hands. Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire "Star Porter¡­" the Specialist Savior uttered. He was the only one who saw things clearly. He felt Atlan''s power surge through the air and cleave through the Canzers without any resistance at all. As unbelievable as it sounded, it seemed that the Student-level porter had killed four Specialist-level Canzers with just one swing of his Scythe. "What are you all waiting for?" Atlan said to the team. "Go. Kobra is there waiting for you in our designated location." Atlan knew that the Canzers wouldn''t let the humans retreat away safely, so he took it upon himself to save them. His other clones had already reached the other teams and saved them from yet another impossible situation, killing multiple Specialist-level Canzers in just less than a minute. "You heard the man! Let''s go!" the Specialist Savior said to his team. Only then did they finally move, but not before taking another peek at the Star Porter and his flaming scythe.. As the Specialist Savior passed Atlan, he couldn''t help but say, "Thank you, Atlan. You saved us." Chapter 1 - 1: Draft Altan calmed his beating heart. There was no need to worry. He reminded himself that he could overcome this if he just took one breath at a time. Everyone here was also 18 years old like him, they were all feeling nervous too, probably. Nothing bad happened to the previous ones who went ahead of him. They were fine. The rest of the youths who hadn''t had their chance yet were all gathered sitting on the floor of a gymnasium, feeling the safety of the solid wooden deck underneath them. They felt awkward; they were used to the cold and damp ground. Aside from a few murmurs, everyone was as silent as they could be. They tried not to let the excitement disturb their visitor from another land. "Atlan of the Unclaimed Lands, step forward." The woman in front of them said. She had long curly hair and wore a black suit that covered her entire body in protective pads. She was the only one there with clothing that wasn''t tattered and dirtied. Atlan looked up at her and he couldn''t help but admire her beautiful face up on the podium. Even in the expanse of the gymnasium behind her, she kept everyone''s eyes on her. Her skin was as smooth as pearls and she emanated a sweet vanilla scent. Meanwhile, every youth looking at her smelled of soil and grime. Even though she didn''t look a few years older than them, she confessed that she was a hundred years old! That was the difference between people who lived in a God''s Territory and those who lived in the Unclaimed Lands. They lived in a place protected by a god. They were given health, safety, and abundance. They were given immortality. While people like Atlan and the rest of these youths could only fend for themselves in the wilds. However, with this Draft, they could change their destiny. They can break out of the Unclaimed Lands and live on a God''s Territory! Altan walked up to the podium. There was a large pill-looking contraption that the woman stood next to. It was as tall as her, about less than two meters. It was made of metal, yet there was wood and vines wrapped around the patches of the machine. "Ever since Gods descended into our reality and settled on their lands, they have given us humans everything we ever wanted. We are no longer a species struggling to find food or suffering from disease. However, it hasn''t been easy for Them. They have been plagued by these wicked Canzers, and They need soldiers to fight them." she roared. Some youths winced and cowered at the mention of Canzers. While some''s eyes gleamed in excitement when they heard the word ''soldier''. "Only humans can defeat these Canzers. They are called Saviors! This is your chance to become a Savior and hopefully become drafted by a God to join them in their territory." The woman''s words started a fire within everyone''s souls. They yearned for that paradise. "Saviors who live in a God''s Territory will be given power, wealth, and fame. They will give you an eternal life." These youths never even knew life past the age of twenty. Yet, there were those who lived for a thousand years in luxury. "As long as you help kill Canzers that threaten the sanctity of Gods, then you will be rewarded with anything you want." Now that the rest of the youths were fired up, the woman then looked at Atlan. "Let me inform you again of what would happen to you when you enter the Draft. Your mind will be transported to the Remedium, the dimension where the Gods reside. In this place, you will encounter monsters and beasts that you must vanquish." The woman pushed some buttons on her tablet, making last-minute preparations before another one entered the Draft. "The monsters come in batches. They will become more and more stronger with each batch. If you survive 5 batches of enemies, you can get an F-class LifeSkill. If you defeat 10 batches, you can get a D-class LifeSkill, and so on." LifeSkills were the powers that the Saviors used to kill Canzers. "The better class LifeSkill you have, the better chance you have of being drafted by a Town, or a City even." The bigger the place, the stronger the god, and the more prosperous it was for their citizens. Everyone hoped to be in a City, but they were more than satisfied with a Town. This time, she addressed everyone. "If you performed above normal and showed your talent, then you may be personally drafted by a God or maybe even multiple ones. They will personally visit you in the Draft," she added. "If that happens, don''t panic. They will be offering you lots of rewards including a unique Genus so that you can evolve your bloodline. If you''re feeling overwhelmed, just think about where you want to live. If you fear the water, then don''t accept the offer of the Seven Seas god." Realistically, there was no chance that these kids would perform above average. The poor lifestyle in the Unclaimed Lands did not cultivate talent. However, she still liked to inform these unfortunate juveniles about the intricacies of the Draft. Who knew, maybe there would be one transcendent talent here. "Atlan, was it? Are you ready to enter the Pre-Remedium chamber?" Atlan gulped, hoping to swallow his fear. "Yes, I think." The woman looked at Atlan and felt that there was something unusual about him. He wasn''t arrogant, nor was he frightful. Even though his demeanor showed fear, she could see a sense of steadiness and calm in his eyes. This was something she only saw with veteran Saviors. "What type of Savior do you want to become? There are two types: the ones in the front line and the ones in the back." the woman asked. Atlan answered without any hesitation. "The one in the backline." "Really?" The woman was surprised. Usually, most youths liked to be on the front lines and be in the thick of it all. Saviors who fought on the front lines were awarded the most. They were also the most renowned and celebrated in the lands. If they were going to fight, why not fight up front? There was no harm in it. After all, no one could die in God''s Territory. "Yes. I don''t like to see suffering. I hate blood. I''m a pacifist." Atlan said, calming his nerves. It was unusual to find such a youth. She looked over to the rest of the group and they all nodded their heads. Atlan was known for being a pacifist. He didn''t even eat worms and forced himself to live by eating grass. "No worries. Some Saviors can kill Canzers while staying in their homes," assured the woman. "Step inside." The large water tank-like contraption opened by itself. The Pre-Remedium Chamber was simply an empty compartment with nozzles placed in the cardinal directions: up, down, left, right, front, and back. Atlan stepped inside and faced the door. There was no glass window, leaving only darkness for him when the woman closed the chamber. And despite the confinement, Atlan felt safer. It reminded him of countless nights spent living underground. "Get ready. The Draft is about to start," warned the woman, her voice muffled. "Oh, and don''t worry about your injuries. This is just a simulation," she added before activating the chamber. TSHHHHHH The nozzles sprayed Atlan''s entire body with a strange violet mist that glowed even in total darkness. Even when he tried not to breathe it in, the mist seeped into his skin and mixed into his blood, intoxicating him into a hallucination. Atlan''s body went stiff, but his brain went into a deep sleep psychosis and forced his eyelids shut. When he opened his eyes again, the only thing he saw was an endless white space. He was standing, yet he could not see the ground. He was still wearing his tattered white shirt and old, ragged jogging pants. The horizon blended with the foreground, everything was white. ZINGG Atlan suddenly saw a holographic banner in front of him saying; [1st Batch of Monsters appearing in 3¡­2¡­1] After the countdown, a small ant suddenly materialized a few meters away from him. An ant. A literal red ant. It was so small. He wouldn''t have even noticed it if it weren''t for the holographic effect of the summoning. [Defeat the first batch of monsters to reach the next stage] The beauty''s words echoed back in his mind. ''If you survive 5 batches of enemies, you can get an F-class LifeSkill.'' An F-class LifeSkill was the most basic power that anyone could have. At most, it would only give you extra resistance against elements. Even a fur coat could give you more protection than an F-class LifeSkill. All Atlan had to do was crush this ant and he''d move on to the next stage. It wasn''t even moving. It didn''t even try to attack him. Yet, Atlan couldn''t bring himself to do it. He bent down and brought the red ant closer to his face. How could he kill such an adorable creature? Its little mandibles were tapping in happiness as it looked back at him. "No. I refuse," he declared. He put the ant back down. "I don''t like to see suffering. I hate blood. I''m a pacifist." The moment he did, the whole scenery changed. The world of vast whiteness was tainted by crimson red waves, propagating and conquering the purity of the white background. He now stood upon a cracked road, with boiling lava spurting out its crevices. A wall of hellfire covered the horizon, inducing fear and damnation. "You human¡­why have you not killed this pesky little animal?" sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan heard a dark, low, growling voice behind him. But instead of answering the question, Atlan looked back to the demon that was waiting for him behind. He looked at it dead in its 666 eyes, with no fear, no trepidation, and no terror. He was deathly calm. "Are you a God?" The demon was a large worm-like creature ten times bigger than Atlan. Its mouth covered more than half of its face, with millions upon millions of layered hair-like teeth that circled its ''lips''. Beyond the mouth, complete darkness. Looking inside the mouth of the demon was akin to looking at an abyss that led directly down to the deepest depths of space. I am the God of Death, it said telepathically, its teeth clacking upon each other. Its 666 eyes looked like beads of blood above its mouth. The induced trypophobia gave discomfort to anyone who dared to lay its eyes upon the God. Each one of those eyes looked down at Atlan. Yet instead of cowering upon this gigantic creature, Atlan stood tall in defiance. The God of Death, Grim Reaper himself, was stupefied by Atlan''s lack of fear. His hideous appearance should have scared Atlan''s very soul into fright, unable to even utter a single word. Yet he did, mutinous gaze and all. And before the God of Death could try and threaten Atlan that he would suffer a fate worse than death¡­ Atland jumped inside its sinister and dusky mouth. "YOU DARE!!!!" Chapter 2 - 2: Essence The Grim Reaper didn''t think that the human would be so insane as to voluntarily jump into its mouth. Was he suicidal? But Atlan had a different thought. After all, this was an opportunity unlike anything he would ever get. The woman''s words echoed back in his mind. ''If you showed your talent, then Gods may personally visit you in the Draft. They will be offering you rewards including a unique Genus to evolve your bloodline.'' He knew that this was his chance to gain powers that he wouldn''t have gotten from the Draft. And as for the dangers¡­Atlan simply took the woman''s words to heart. She said, ''Oh, and don''t worry about your injuries. This is just a simulation.'' So, he dived right in without any hesitation. He didn''t know why he felt this urge, but it was the first thing on his mind when he saw the worm. He jumped head-first into the most dangerous place in hell. As soon as he was inside, he was enveloped by the absence of light. It felt like he entered an abyss. Atlan felt weightlessness in the darkness. He looked back yet he could not see where he came from. He was at the belly of the beast; there was no going back. "Insolent human! You know not where you are. Only death and suffering await you inside¡­" Yet he kept going. Atlan floated forward with nothing but confidence in his eyes. The chasm of darkness would have left most humans disoriented, confused as to which was up or down, seconds from hours, and end from the beginning. It would have made them insane, especially after floating with nothing but the deafening silence of shadows beside him. But Atlan persisted. The God of Death couldn''t believe it. He thought this human was nothing more than a coward afraid of death. After all, he couldn''t even get past the first batch of the Draft. Even the weakest of humans get past the 3rd batch. He should have been cowering in fear. Yet he still pushed himself deeper into the chasm. After an unknown amount of time, Atlan finally saw a red ant floating right in front of him. It was glowing with a white transcendence. "You have passed the test," lied the God of Death. "You have saved the ant from me." The Grim Reaper thought Atlan would finally stop his journey now that the ant was alive again. It must have been the reason why he braved the Grim Reaper''s jaws of death. But he didn''t. Atlan continued forward until he saw a bright white light in the distance. He moved closer until he was an ever-changing object. In one instance, it was a cube emitting neon blue lights from its edges. Then it changed into a golden eye. And next, it quickly morphed into a non-geometrical blob of meaty muscle. It was as if the 3rd dimension couldn''t fully manifest the majesty of this object. Atlan raised his hand, about to touch it when the God of Death roared at him. "STOP RIGHT THERE. Don''t move closer if you don''t want the ant to die." The red ant suddenly materialized beside the ever-changing object. Above it was the rotting hand of a demon, ready to squish it into nothing but smithereens. "You are a pacifist. Stop now or the ant dies along with you." For someone who touted himself as a pacifist, Atlan was paradoxically indifferent to the Grim Reaper''s threats. It was as if he didn''t care about the ant in the first place. Atlan raised his hand and continued to reach for the mysterious object. "CURSE YOU! If you touch that, billions would die and suffer!" But even with the God of Death''s guttural roar that shook the very fabric of space, Atlan persisted. When his hands finally touched the object, it changed into its final shape; A red apple. It was only then that the God of Death realized who he was dealing with. Atlan''s tranquil yet menacing demeanor in the face of the Almighty Divine God of Death was not something a coward could do. This human was not a lowly being whose weakness led him to fail the Draft. He was a wolf in sheep''s clothing! He was someone who gave the God of Death a taste of his own medicine, fear. "THE IMPUDENCE! You have reached far beyond your authority, human!" Atlan felt the bones in his body shake. But he didn''t care. He opened his mouth and said; "I don''t like to see suffering." He put the red apple between his teeth and took his first bite. A spray of misty red blood followed the crunch, enveloping the whole darkness. It was a bloodbath. The whiteness of his eyes and his teeth contrasted with the pure red blood dripping out of his face. Yet even with blood dripping down to his tongue, letting him taste the metallicness of it all, Atlan stayed uncaring. "I hate blood," he said as he took his second bite. As his front teeth reached the core of the apple, the whole thing disintegrated into a cloud of grayish-black smoke. The blackness of everything turned into tendrils that spiraled toward Atlan''s skin. The darkness spread towards his body like roots, reaching far away and digging deep into his flesh. "What have you done?! This is irreparable!" Atlan, knowing or not, consumed the God of Death''s very essence. All of His powers, His authority over death passed over to a human¡ªan insignificant little human. This was an unprecedented tragedy in the history of the universe. The Grim Reaper was helpless to undo this walking disaster. The black tendrils wrapped around Atlan''s body glowed a bright golden aura as it pumped divine magic in Atlan''s veins. The God of Death felt his powers weakening by the second, slowly transferring to the pesky little human. A God was beginning to perish. In his very last moments, the God of Death wondered how a human could be so brazen. Who would be so bold as to consume a God''s power? He wanted to know more about Atlan. He peeked through Atlan''s memories. And what he saw¡­amused him. "HAHAHAHAHA You are no fool after all. That woman told you that the Draft was merely a simulation. Your injuries¨Ceverything would be nothing but a dream in the Remedium. You used that to your advantage. You braved through hell knowing that you''d survive no matter what. You saw the opportunity as soon as I materialized my real body in this space. KUKUKUHAHAHAHAHA!" The God of Death couldn''t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. He underestimated Atlan. He was going to suffer an ironic fate of death, yet He couldn''t help but be charmed. After all, with His powers transferred over to this human, the world would soon turn upside down. An apocalypse would doom the world. When he thought about the implications this had for the other gods, he was filled with satisfaction and euphoria. "YES! Take my power! Only a killer masquerading as a pacifist could take those gods off guard." The God of death laughed once again. "Succeed where I have failed! Bring death and destruction to those wretched gods! Bring back the fear of death in their eyes! Kill them. Kill all the gods! And show those who have only lived with immortality that they, too, shall not escape from the clutches of death! Show them who you are. Who are you, Atlan of the Unclaimed Lands?" Atlan, with his entire body merging into the darkness, muttered under his breath. "I''m a pacifist." [10-star rarity God of Death Genus acquired] [Your bloodline has evolved to Grim Reaper of Souls] [Your soul has mutated to accommodate the consumption of souls] [You can now reap any death] [You have gained SSS class LifeSkill Death Physique] S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 3 - 3: Physique TSHHHHH The chamber opened just as Atlan regained his senses. With his eyes blurry, the first thing he saw was the long curly hair draped over the beautiful face of the woman. Behind her were the rest of the teens sitting in the gym looking on at him curiously. Atlan awkwardly got out of the chamber, stumbling as he did so. His leg muscles moved too fast than what he was used to. The first thing he noticed was the view. He seemed to have grown a few inches taller, matching the woman face-to-face. "How are you feeling?" she asked, simultaneously looking at him and the tablet in her hands. The technology allowed her to see the physical qualities of his body, but unfortunately, it couldn''t gauge his mental status. Many get exhausted fighting monsters nonstop, but most get traumatized from experiencing death. Atlan was different. Everyone got out of the Draft by dying; they failed to advance to the next batch. He got out by doing the exact opposite; he killed a god. "I''m fine?" He didn''t know the right response. How could he even explain the feeling of gaining dominion over all aspects of Death? He didn''t even remember much of what happened. Everything felt like a distant dream. "I''m guessing you did well. You were there for 30 minutes." Most candidates from the Unclaimed Lands lasted for only 10 minutes. Maximum. By lasting longer, he must have defeated more batches of monsters. In her experience, those who lasted that long gained C class LifeSkills. That would be mighty impressive. He could get accepted by a Village with that LifeSkill. "I didn''t do well. I didn''t even get past the first batch." The woman chuckled. It was a funny joke. DING The tablet finally finished its assessment of Atlan''s Draft. She expected to see the usual scores. F class to D class obscure LifeSkills that didn''t stand out. However, when she looked at her tablet, her eyes visibly widened. The measurements of his durability, physical strength, and musculature were off the charts! She couldn''t believe it. She expected to see this amazing score with talented kids in the Inner City trained by their Savior parents. But not of a kid like Atlan. She looked at it again, thinking that she saw it wrong, but it still displayed the same result. "This¡­this says that you have a B class LifeSkill!" Atlan frowned. Even in a half-asleep state, he seemed to have remembered his LifeSkill being more than B class¡­ Meanwhile, the rest of the teens in the gymnasium all gasped. They all looked at Atlan with eyes of amazement. Nobody expected that a gem would emerge from this ragtag group of teens from the Unclaimed Lands. A B class LifeSkill was enough to get drafted into a Town! He''d get to live in his own house! He''d get to eat delicious meals every day for free! And most of all¡­ He''d finally shake off his mortality! "Woah¡­I can''t believe Atlan''s going to get Drafted." "I want to get drafted too!" "Keep dreaming. Even all the other kids from before only got D class LifeSkills at the most." The rest of the teens were excited for Atlan. This was the best thing that could have happened for him. The woman, however, thought differently. They were underestimating his results! She knew that Atlan''s powers were more amazing than what they were giving him credit for. She faced him directly, matching eye to eye with him. "Close your eyes and focus on the burning feeling inside your heart. It''s hard for beginners to sense their Soul System, but you just have to concentrate¨C" "I feel it," answered Atlan. This surprised her. Usually, new Saviors were too weak to even feel their Soul System. They''d need a few days for their natural strength to accumulate. "That''s unusual," she commented. His Soul seemed to display an early strength equivalent to those with A-class LifeSkills. "Whatever. It must be different for Porters. The Soul System is a visual representation of your powers. Can you tell me what you see?" [Atlan] [Bloodline: Grim Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (3-star) Human sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm "I see my name, my bloodline, my genus¨C" The woman interrupted him. "That''s good. Let me explain to you quickly what those are. What is a Genus? It''s the DNA of a species, it''s the very blueprint of your body. Right now you''re seeing one genus, the human genus. And because of that one genus, your Bloodline is a human. I said before, if a God deems you worthy, then they will give you an extra Genus. For example, if you were given a Mermaid Genus, you could evolve your bloodline from a human to a Merman. And once you have a different bloodline, you''ll have a chance of getting a Mutation." The woman thought her explanation was too complicated for a beginner like Atlan. So she didn''t expect him to understand it immediately. But surprisingly¡­ "The Genus changes your Bloodline and the Bloodline dictates your mutation," Atlan muttered. This greatly impressed her. Atlan looked over at his Soul system. He not only had the Human genus, but an extra one as well. He must have gained it when he ate that ''apple''. Since he got the God of Death''s Genus, his bloodline changed into the Grim Reaper of Souls. And because of his bloodline, he gained the mutation Gluttonous Soul. "What are the star ratings on the Genus?" he asked her while eyeing the 10-star Grim Reaper genus on his Soul System. "That''s the rarity of the genus. The human genus has a base 3-star rating; it''s one of the weakest out there. The higher the star rating, the rarer the genus. The rarer the genus, the stronger the mutation you can get. The mutation follows your genus ratings, so if you have a 4-star genus, you''ll get an equivalent 4-star mutation." Atlan nodded. "Hmm¡­so the rating system goes from 1 star to 10 star rating?" The woman giggled. "No, silly. It only goes up to 9 stars. You''ll only get a genus after you''ve proven yourself worthy of it. Usually, a God would give you a new low-rated Genus after 3 years of missions. You''ll only be given 6 stars and above genus from a God if you''re a proven hero with hundreds of years of experience in the field. So work hard and be patient, okay? Of course, it doesn''t hurt if you curry favor with the God first." He looked back at his Soul System and saw 10 stars depicted on it. He wasn''t wrong. Atlan stayed quiet about his true bloodline. Even if he told her the truth, she wouldn''t believe that he got a 10-star genus from a God. "Next, let''s talk about your LifeSkill. Does it say Physique on it?" Atlan nodded. Not only that, but it confirmed his suspicions that the estimation of his powers was wrong! It was SSS class! "Just as I guessed. You have a very good and very rare B-class Physique LifeSkill. Ordinarily, a B class LifeSkill will only get you drafted by a Town. However¡­because of your Physique LifeSkill, you have a unique job. You are a porter!" From her excited voice, Atlan guessed that this was somehow a good thing. But he was clueless as to what this exactly meant. "What''s a porter?" She saw his confusion and quickly explained. "I asked you earlier if you wanted to fight in the frontlines or the backlines, right?" Atlan nodded. "Well, those that fight in the frontlines need specialized equipment to fight different Canzers. Having Saviors carrying heavy equipment while journeying through the Remedium is simply too risky. That''s why we need Porters! They have Physique LifeSkills that allow them to have superhuman strength. With their powers, they can carry the heavy loads for the Saviors. They are essential in the success of a mission!" Despite her enthusiasm, Atlan didn''t see how good his job was supposed to be. "You''ll learn more about it later, but the thing that you need to know right now is¡­ You can be recruited directly by a City! Porters are rare, especially high-class ones like yours. You can pick any City in the world and they''d be happy to draft you in their territory!" That was a big upgrade. Usually, only A class LifeSkills tempted Cities into action. They wouldn''t draft anyone from the Unclaimed Lands for any less. Only now did the rest of them understand the hype and eagerness in her voice. They couldn''t believe it. Atlan was a transcendent talent that would soar to the high heavens. They never thought that he''d get a B class LifeSkill, much less a rare and in-demand job like a Porter. His incomparable prowess squashed their envious looks. His powers weren''t something they could even try to replicate. In their minds, he must have defeated batch after batch of monsters with ease. They didn''t know Atlan never even killed a single monster. Well¡­maybe one. Not only that, they were making a big deal about his LifeSkill being only B class. It was actually SSS class! The woman knew that the tablet analysis only went as high as B class, but she never even considered the possibility that he went above and beyond that. It was too unbelievable. Chapter 4 - 4: The Fall She then explained more about what made Porters special. "I remember you saying that you don''t like to see suffering. That''s not going to be too much of a problem. After all, you''ll be standing far away from the fighting. The only thing you have to do is haul their equipment. After that, you can just stand back and watch as the Saviors massacre the Canzers. It''s as easy as that!" One of the teens from the group raised his hand and asked a question. "Miss¡­if I have a different job, can I also be a porter? I don''t want to fight Canzers. I don''t want to die!" Some of the teens expressed the same fear. After all, they didn''t want to die just after they got drafted into a territory. The woman chuckled. She forgot she was dealing with clueless kids from the Unclaimed Lands. "First of all, you can''t. Porters are rare for that very reason. They have specialized powers that allow them to move quickly even while carrying tons of weight on their shoulders. Second of all, you don''t have to worry about dying, silly kids. In a God''s Territory, no one can die, even in the Remedium." They became even more confused. The concept of immortality was so foreign to them. Even Atlan wanted to know how immortality worked in a God''s Territory. She couldn''t blame them. They didn''t attend 3rd-grade history lessons like she did. "After the 4th order dimension crashed into Earth, Gods and Myths descended upon the world. These Gods, because of their power and majesty, could only manifest themselves as spirits who watch over and protect a territory. One of their spirits is called ANGELS. They are the species¨C" TING! BANG! DUG! Just as she was about to explain how immortality worked, loud banging sounds erupted from the ceiling above. It sounded like thousands of rocks hitting the roof. The gymnasium roof was an oval shape made out of metal, amplifying the ruckus from outside. The woman found this strange. There wasn''t supposed to be anything in the Unclaimed Lands. There was no rain, no hail, and no sandstorm. Her intuition told her to go out and investigate. "Urgh! Loud sounds!" "I can''t dig down to safety! I hate this wooden floor!" "Miss, what''s that noise?" She ignored the questions from the teens and walked over to the backdoor. The banging sounds got louder and louder the closer she got to the door. She hesitated as she grabbed the doorknob. She was used to bizarre events happening in the Remedium. But not in the real world. She didn''t even have the safety of a God protecting her in the Unclaimed Lands. This whole thing was completely unusual. Finally, she reminded herself that nothing bad could happen to her. She was immortal. She finally got the courage to open it. And just as she did, Atlan suddenly saw holographic words appear in front of him. [There is death near you] [You can reap the souls of the dead] His eyes widened. He and everyone else watched as the woman opened the door and walked outside. The light from outside shone through the backdoor, leaving a diagonal pillar of light inside the gymnasium. Her pace was measured as if she was treading on thin ice. The banging on the roof hadn''t stopped; it only got louder as she walked outside. From the open door, they saw the bleak gray sands outside in the Unclaimed Lands. It wasn''t anything different from what they were used to. As the woman took a good look at her surroundings, the commotion led her head to turn upwards. She followed whatever she saw towards the roof of the gymnasium. She was now facing towards the door¨Cher face clearly seen. Everyone saw her face change. Her calm and serene expression brought by her natural beauty was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and her eyebrows furrowed. She couldn''t take her eyes off what was happening in the sky. What could make her react like that? If it was something dangerous, she would have evacuated the rest of the teens immediately. But she didn''t. She stayed there stunned in silence. That meant that the disturbance was harmless. It must be mentioned that she was an inhabitant of a City. She was a bona fide Savior in her own right with a hundred years of experience. Yet even she didn''t know what was happening in front of her. The rest of the teens couldn''t take it anymore and dared to go outside too. Their curiosity got the better of them. Atlan was one of those people. He was intrigued by the words that lay floating in front of him. [There is death near you] The rest of the teens walked out of the gymnasium and onto the Unclaimed Lands. The familiar gray, colorless skies entered their eyes. However, just out of the corner of their eyes, they saw a glint of golden light come out of the sky. TIK! DUG! BANG! The knocking loud sounds from the roof led their eyes behind them. And what they saw¡­made them exhibit surprise not dissimilar to the woman''s expression. They were speechless. The desolate and empty skies of the Unclaimed Lands were replaced by white clouds, with golden rays of sunshine seeping out from the edges. These golden cumulonimbus clouds littered the horizon. And every second, thousands of miniature cavities appeared on the clouds as something fell from the heavens. They didn''t know what it was. She didn''t know what it was. But these things looked like humanoid specters with a golden aura surrounding them. If one looked closely enough, they''d see a halo on their heads. These ''things'' fell through the skies and landed everywhere. They landed on the gray sands and they landed on the gymnasium roof, creating those banging sounds. As it crashed into Earth, it disintegrated into golden particles that dispersed into the air. They couldn''t see what it was before it disappeared. The clouds moved closer to them. The falling objects landed near the woman just enough for her to see what it was. Her eyes, for a split second, glinted in recognition. That can''t be, she thought to herself. The woman''s mouth quivered. She tried to mutter out something, afraid that if she said it out loud, it would become true. She seemed familiar with whatever she saw. But she couldn''t believe it. She didn''t want to. "Angels¡­" Atlan heard her mutter those words. "What are Angels?" She kept looking up, but she answered his question. "Angels¡­angels are the invisible spirits that protect everyone inside God''s Territory. They are the hands of a God. Through them, they give life and blessings to Their citizens. They follow every citizen like a shadow. They save them from harm, from disease¡­from death. No matter where you are, no matter how severe your injuries are, an angel is there to inject you with life. Even in the Remedium¡­" She paused for a second, gulping her voice. She didn''t want to complete the thought. "Even in the Remedium, they prevent Saviors from taking their last breath." She kept looking up, her eyes trying to discern the things that were falling out of the sky. "They make everyone immortal?" Atlan tried to confirm. She nodded. "Yes." Atlan paused for a second. "What happens if Angels die?" She looked at him as if he was crazy. His words were incredulous. There was absolutely no possibility of angels dying. After all, angels are intimately connected to their God. They were immortality itself. "That''s not possible." She shook her head fervently as if she also wanted to convince herself. Atlan looked at her dead in the eyes. "But what if they do?" She didn''t answer. The implications of that possibility were more than what she could take. She didn''t want to imagine a world where angels died. After all, if angels died¡­ What would happen to their immortality? "Don''t worry. Angels will never die," she assured herself. And just as she said that, the bright golden rays on the clouds became duller. The pure white clouds dispersed into the dull and bleak sky. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Those things stopped falling from the sky. Everything finally went back to normal. The woman smiled. This was good news. "See, I told you. Angels can''t die." She looked back at Atlan, but his eyes were unfocused. He was clutching his chest in pain. Atlan felt a strange pressure near his heart as if it was about to burst. His eyes got blurry. The call of unconsciousness got louder. The last thing he saw was a new set of words in front of his eyes. [You have witnessed the extinction of Angels] [10-star rarity Angelic Genus acquired!] [Your Bloodline has evolved to Angelic Reaper of Gods] [You have reaped the deaths of 10,000 Angels] [You have gained 1,000,000 Upgrade points] [You have gained 10,000 experience] [Lightspeed Angel Wings body mutation acquired!] [You have gained SSS class LifeSkill Cherubic Retribution] Unbeknownst to him, Atlan''s soul reaped all of the thousands of angel souls inside his very own. But this was far too much for him to take in one go. His body shut down to accommodate his new powers. Chapter 5 - 5: Specialty Atlan felt the shaking of the ground as he opened his eyes. When he came to his senses, he saw that he was in the back of a moving vehicle. It was the same truck that the woman came in when she visited them for the Draft. It was shaking as it traversed the mounds of gray sands in the Unclaimed Lands. Atlan lay on the horizontal seats alone, with just the woman on the other side. She was looking far out the window, observing the desolateness of the Unclaimed Lands. Her long curly hair obscured her emotions. Atlan massaged his head. Receiving those messages felt like being hit in the head by a giant rock the size of his fist. The only thing he remembered was seeing the apparent extinction of angels. After that, he passed out. "What happened?" he asked out loud. She turned towards him and her expression turned into relief. She seemed to show genuine care for him after seeing him fall suddenly into unconsciousness. "It''s really good that you''re feeling better now. I thought you wouldn''t wake up till you''re in the hospital." "Where am I?" She showed a smile that brought out the natural beauty of her lips. "This is a military convoy on the way to Genesis City. It''s the place where I''m from and¡­It''s the place where you''ll live!" Atlan looked confused. Why was he suddenly going to this Genesis City after passing out? "Congratulations!" she clapped. "You have officially been Drafted by Genesis City!" She congratulated him and he smiled at her awkwardly in return. "Oh¡­hehe¡­cool." The woman chuckled to herself. Most teens who got this incredible news would either weep from joy or shout in excitement. She never saw someone only say ''cool'' after being drafted by a City. But although Atlan might seem indifferent, he was celebrating on the inside. He got Drafted! By a City, no less. He was living the dream of most of the inhabitants of the Unclaimed Lands. He was living the dream of those who wanted to live forever. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But how could Atlan celebrate? He was still too shocked at seeing the angels die off and fall from the sky. He was still filled with questions in his mind. What happened to the Draft after he passed out? What happened to the extinction of angels? And why did she look okay even after that bizarre rainfall of dead angels? She was acting as if it never even happened. "Now that you''ve been Drafted, you''ll live in Genesis City where food and wealth are abundant." He interrupted her. "What happened to the draft?" "I immediately ordered a trip back to the City the moment you passed out. I can''t have our star recruit getting ill now, can I?" She looked at him like a diamond in the rough, like a treasure she found in the woods. I can''t wait to brag about drafting a B class Porter to my friends, she thought. She couldn''t risk losing such an amazing prospect in the Unclaimed Lands. She made the decision to return to Genesis City where Altan could receive the proper healing he needed. After all, he was officially a citizen of the City. He was entitled to immortality. "What happened to you?" she asked him. Atlan wanted to know that too. "I don''t know." He closed his eyes and recalled the feeling of the burning sensation near his heart. He tried to locate where his Soul resided. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) He did see the extinction of angels. This proved it. He also noticed that he got another 10-star genus. Not only that, his bloodline changed because of it. He was now an ''Angelic Reaper of Souls'' As for what that meant, he didn''t know. "Miss?" She looked back at him fondly. He wasn''t a kid from the Unclaimed Lands anymore, he was a future comrade. "Call me Lizzie." "Lizzie¡­can you tell me more about LifeSkills?" She nodded. They were still about a few hours away from Genesis City, so now would be a good time to get him up to speed with Savior lingo. She raised her hand and showed two fingers. "There are two kinds of Saviors in this world." Atlan answered, "The ones in the front line and the ones in the back." She smiled and nodded. She appreciated the fact that he was so attentive. "Yes. The ones in the front lines have a specialty called Vanguards. They are the ones who fight the Canzers in the Remedium¨Cthe dimension where the Gods body resided." Atlan looked at his Soul System and saw that one of his LifeSkill had a specialty of a Vanguard. "Under that specialty, you''ll see your job. For Vanguards, the usual jobs would be the Tanks, the DPS, the Mages, the Scouts, and even the rare Porter job like yours!" Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution Atlan looked at his Soul System. Unlike most people, he had two different LifeSkills. From what he knew, Saviors only get one. He didn''t know if that was good or bad. After all, he''d have two realms to advance. He didn''t even know how he got another LifeSkill. People only acquired LifeSkills through the Draft. However, he inadvertently acquired this second LifeSkill after he witnessed the extinction of angels. His powers seemed to derive from reaping deaths, or more exactly, Souls. That begged the question. Will he get more LifeSkills in the future if he reaped more deaths? He didn''t know the exact criteria for acquiring powers. Did he only get LifeSkills after witnessing an extinction? Or was it because he reaped 10,000 souls of the same species that he was able to acquire a genus and a LifeSkill? He didn''t know. Atlan looked back at Lizzie. He wanted to know more about LifeSkills. "You said there''s another specialty besides the Vanguards¡­Lizzie," Atlan added awkwardly. "Yes. The second specialty is called Operators. They are the ones that stay behind in the real world while the Vanguards fight in the Remedium. They are the ones in the backline" Atlan was confused. "They don''t enter the Remedium to fight Canzers?" "No. Their job is different. They kill Canzers using machines or concoctions specially made to exterminate Canzers. Exterminating Canzers doesn''t just mean killing all of them. Sometimes, you have to purge their very lair so that they don''t respawn. That''s the job of Operators. I can''t really go into detail because it''s not my specialty. I''m sure they''d want to brag about themselves, so just ask anyone you meet later." This was very informative for Atlan. However, it didn''t fully unveil the mystery of his Soul System. After all, there was a third Specialty for him. "There are only two specialties? Vanguards and Operators? That''s it?" "Yup. Those are the only ones." Atlan looked at his first LifeSkill. Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique This was a new speciality. GLOBAL. How am I supposed to know what this is when I don''t even know the first two basic specialties? Not only that, it had a new job. A God. How could that even be considered a job? But no matter how curious he was about his LifeSkill, he couldn''t ask Lizzie. He would have to find out more about this LifeSkill on his own. "I see you''re wondering about your Power Realm," she misunderstood the confusion on his face. "Everyone starts out in the 1st stage Student Realm at first. Then, as you kill more Canzers, you get more experience. With 1000 experience, you can advance to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm, and so on until the 9th stage. After that, you can advance to the Pre-Internship Realm. But that''s too far into the future. You''ll have to accumulate experience by going on missions in the Remedium." Lizzie looked at Atlan and saw that he was even more confused than he was before. "Is there something you don''t understand?" Atlan kept his focus on his Soul System, but he forced out a response. "No." "Then what is it?" Atlan looked at the words in front of him. "It''s nothing," he lied. [Available Experience: 10,000] Chapter 6 - 6: Grass "Is there any other way I can gain experience?" Lizzie gave him a warm smile. "I appreciate you wanting to become stronger. But unfortunately, there''s no other way to get experience other than to do missions in the Remedium, killing Canzers and all that." This made Atlan even more surprised to see that he already had 10,000 experience even though he hadn''t done anything yet. From what Lizzie said, Saviors only gained exp from defeating Canzers in a mission to the Remedium. How do I have this? I don''t even know what the Remedium is! I haven''t even seen a Canzer yet¡­ The only explanation would be the powers he gained from the God of Death. A faint memory resurfaced in his mind. This was what he saw before he exited the Draft. [Your soul has mutated to accommodate the consumption of souls] [You can now reap any death] It made sense. After all, he did see an extinction-level event, with thousands of angels dying and falling from the heavens. He reaped their deaths and gained experience from it. That''s the power of his mutated soul. Atlan looked at the Soul System and saw a black expanse with thousands of blue wisps that gathered into one giant ball akin to a sun. They vibrated like atoms, reorganizing themselves so fast that they looked like they were teleporting. This was the physical manifestation of Experience in his Soul System. Off to the side, there were two empty planet-sized transparent spheres that orbited each other. They looked like glass balls with nothing but darkness inside. The first planet had barely visible designs of horrified skulls, melting into each other. The second planet had a pattern of wings and a halo stamped all over the sphere. He didn''t have to guess to know that these two planets were his LifeSkills. He remembered what Lizzie said to him earlier. Using experience, you can advance to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm, so on and so forth until the 9th stage. Could he advance his LifeSkills now? He had enough experience¡­ With this thought, Atlan decided to test it out. Using the innate knowledge and instincts in his mind, Atlan ordered the thousands of blue wisps to swarm his two planets. And with just a thought, the blue spirits flew through the darkness and entered the empty spheres, filling it up as the wisps coagulated at the core. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) [Available Experience: 8000] But even though he still had a ton of experience left, the wisps refused to enter the planets anymore. The LifeSkill created an invisible barrier that prevented Atlan from advancing it to the second level. Why can''t I advance? How do I break through? If she found out that he advanced through to the peak 1st stage of the Student Realm in just a few seconds, she would implode from shock. Everyone sane would. Even talented A class LifeSkill Saviors took at least a month to advance that fast. And that''s if they rushed through mission after mission to accumulate experience. Not only that, he advanced through two SSS class LifeSkills! He couldn''t directly ask Lizzie if there was a reason he couldn''t advance to the 2nd stage. She would be suspicious as to how a kid like him knew about this ''barrier'' when he hadn''t even gone through one Remedium mission yet. "Um¡­so as long as I get enough experience, I can advance through to the 9th stage in one fell swoop?" Lizzie looked at him and thought for a second. She was deciding whether it would be wise to tell all of this to a new Savior and burden them with things they didn''t need to know till months later. However, she decided to reveal it to him. "You aren''t supposed to know this yet, but to advance in the next stage¡ª" BEEP BEEP Her words were interrupted by an alarm from the truck. A green overhead light rotated on the roof like a lighthouse. Atlan didn''t know what was happening, so he looked towards Lizzie. He wanted to know if this was an emergency. But on the contrary, Lizzie seemed happy and excited. She opened the blinds on her window as she searched for something in the distance. In the wide region of gray sands of the Unclaimed Lands, there was a small patch of green on the horizon. Her eyes glinted when she saw the city in the distance. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She looked over towards Atlan and pointed in the horizon. "That''s Genesis City! We''re finally here!" She seemed even more excited than Atlan, who was supposed to be jumping in joy from finally breaking free from the dangers of the Unclaimed Lands. She looked at him and said, "Are you ready to become an immortal?" Her words were casual and full of enthusiasm. Seeing a curly-haired beauty with a full smile on her face would have made most men unable to resist smiling. Atlan would have smiled too, if it weren''t for what she said. Are you ready to become an IMMORTAL? If it was back then, he would feel like he could walk on air from joy. He would no longer have to worry about death each and every day. But she seemed to be forgetting something. "What happened before I passed out," he asked her curiously. "Why aren''t you more excited about this?" But he kept her eyes on her with all seriousness. So, she relented and answered his question. "Nothing much happened after you passed out. I postponed the Draft for the other kids and quickly ordered the truck to take us back to the City." But that wasn''t the answer he was looking for. Atlan asked her again. "Why?" he asked, subtly prodding for more information. She looked at him confused. "Why what?" "Why did you go outside? What happened before I passed out? Why did you show that worried look on your face?" Atlan wanted her to recall the moment when they all saw the angels fall from the sky. He wanted her to acknowledge the fact that the Angels died. They were extinct. And according to her, Angels were the very reason why humanity was blessed with immortality. And if they were gone, so was everyone''s eternal life. If so, then why did she say that he was going to be an immortal? But she didn''t seem to get his words. If his subtle wording didn''t work, then he decided to ask her straight up. Point blank. "What happened to the Angels?" It was only then that she finally understood Atlan''s strange behavior. She smiled and waved off the seriousness in his tone. "I thought you forgot about that. But it''s nothing to worry about, really. That was my fault. I said something that wasn''t true. I thought those were angels too, so I blurted it out without thinking. But after you passed out and I carried you to the truck, I contacted Savior HeadQuarters back in the City and they said that it''s nothing more than a misunderstanding. Those things were just a result of an unexpected solar activity from the Sun. They said it was something about magnetic storms and solar flares, but I didn''t understand it. It''s kind of like the Aurora Borealis." Atlan''s jaws dropped. He couldn''t believe what she said. Unexpected solar activity? She seemed to believe it wholeheartedly, and Atlan would have believed it too¡­ Except for the fact that he gained a Genus from the extinction of the Angels! That was enough evidence for Atlan to know that the excuse was bogus! He looked at Lizzie, but she didn''t seem like she lied to him. She was clueless. It finally made sense why her behavior made a quick turn. It made sense why she didn''t mention anything about ''that'' incident. It was because she dismissed it as nothing more than a bizarre weather event. She didn''t know that it was the actual extinction of Angels. And for all Atlan knew, he was the only who knew this fact¡­ "Don''t worry about that stuff anymore. We''re finally here!" She looked eager to return home. Atlan looked out the window and saw that the city was inside a giant transparent blue dome that encompassed the whole territory. And on the outer layer, before reaching the ten meter walls of the City, there was a field of grass and meadows. The military truck rolled towards the dome, leaving the Unclaimed Lands. This transparent barrier prevented dust and gray sands from entering inside. Atlan opened his windows and smelled, for the first time, the air of fresh greenery. "You don''t have to worry about Angels. They''re still present, giving life to every living thing and being in this territory." Atlan put his head over the window and looked down on the supposed eternal lands. In the midst of healthy, green grass, he saw brown blades sparsely scattered through the plains. They looked dead. "Everything here is immortal!" she proclaimed. "Trees, plants, flowers, and even all individual blades of grass live in perpetuity." Atlan looked at the words in front of him. [You have reaped the deaths of simple life forms: grass] x62 [You have gained 6.2 experience] Chapter 7 - 7: Entry Well, that was false¡­ Even though Genesis City was supposed to be a place where even simple life could live forever, Atlan witnessed the death of grass. A simple life form it may be, but it was still a life nonetheless. Inside this dome of protection of Genesis City, there wasn''t supposed to be any kind of death. Lizzie even said so. This was another form of evidence to the theory that Angels really did go extinct. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, the people of Genesis City either refused to believe it''s true and continued their ignorance. Or¡­ They could have purposefully kept this information under wraps. Who knew the chaos that could unfold once people found out that their bubble of safety already popped like a balloon. For now, Atlan was the only one sure of this fact. Should I be happy? Atlan wondered. After all, he did get more powerful with more deaths¡­No. I don''t like suffering. I hate blood. I am a pacifist, he reminded himself. The truck continued its journey through the (decaying) meadows and towards the reinforced steel walls of Genesis City. Atlan saw towering buildings made out of metal and clay popping up out of the walls, with varying architectures. He also saw black spires throughout the City, going up to a sharp point. The truck stopped just a few meters away from the giant wooden door that was almost as tall as the wall itself. Atlan found it weird that the entrance to the City itself was made out of wood instead of steel like the rest of the walls. "This wall is made by an Operator, you remember what they are, right?" He nodded. "The Saviors in the backline." She chuckled. "Yeah, some of them don''t only fight Canzers, they can also contribute to the City itself. A group of Operators constructed this entrance that can literally root intruders into place. They wouldn''t even be able to take a step inside the city." "There''s intruders?" "Of course, there are." She looked proud of that fact. "This is a magnificent City! Anyone would want to live in this paradise. There are some citizens from smaller Towns and Villages who try their luck to get inside. But, most of our intruders are those from the Unclaimed Lands." Atlan went silent when he heard that. Even though he had never done that, nor seen anyone do it, he wasn''t surprised. There were a lot of desperate people wanting immortality. "Now, let''s go inside and you''ll finally see the beauty of a City!" She took out her high-tech tablet and inputted the proper protocol when returning from the Unclaimed Lands. It was basically just a formality to confirm her identity as a citizen. Usually, it would only take a few seconds and the verification would go through. Lizzie frowned. "Why isn''t the entrance open yet?" The tablet in her hands kept showing her an error, saying that the system was unable to verify her identity. This is weird, she thought. Just then, a smaller door to the side of the main entrance opened. Two men came and approached the truck. The two soldiers wore the same skin-tight black uniform as Lizzie. Except, they had more padding all over their bodies. Lizzie got out of the truck and walked towards them. "What''s the problem?" One of the two soldiers, the skinnier and taller one, saluted towards her by bumping his chest with his fist two times. "I''m sorry, Miss Lizzie. The Entrance System''s been having an error ever since that solar storm hit. No one''s been able to properly enter the City ever since. The merchants have been giving us a hard time about it, but what can we do? We''re not Operators¡­and you know how they get when we try to rush them." The soldier was exasperated, with his eyes sunken in and his hair disheveled. Lizzie thought that this was unusual, but an expected outcome from that freak weather event. However, Atlan, who knew the truth about this solar event, thought differently. Is their entrance system related to Angels? It was possible¡­ Atlan did remember Lizzie saying that Angels followed every citizen like a shadow, never leaving them alone. Is that their way of verifying their identity? Through the invisible angels that followed them? Although it was just a guess, Atlan felt that it was close to the truth. "Is there an E.T.A. on the hotfix? It''s already sunset and I really need to get our new recruit to his dorm. He''s a B class prospect as a Porter." The two soldiers never even spared a glance at Atlan before. He was a kid from the Unclaimed Lands. How talented could he be? They even thought he was part of a charity work, like adopting unfortunate kids from the Unclaimed Lands. But when Lizzie mentioned his class. Their eyes changed into one of amazement. It was rare to find someone with a B class talent, but it was even rarer to see that he had a job as a Porter! Their temperament changed. "It''s estimated that the error will be fixed in a few hours, but if you really need to enter, then we can bypass the system to open the door." "That would be ideal," she thanked them. And with that, the two soldiers went back to their post and used their authority to bypass the main entrance. They manually pushed the door from the inside and the giant door opened with ease. Of course, this wasn''t advisable to do when the visitor was an unknown and unverified person like a foreign merchant. That would get them court-martialed. But since it''s only Lizzie and the genius prospect, they decided to let them pass. Soon enough the two giant wooden doors swung open, creaking from the friction in the ground. It only opened just enough for the truck to be able to pass properly. "Thanks, guys!" Lizzie copied their salute and bumped her fist in her chest two times as she passed the guards. When the truck finally passed through the gate and onto the main City, a whole new world opened up to Atlan. Chapter 8 - 8: Mutation He was used to the bleak and gray sands of the Unclaimed Lands. He was used to mounds of nothing but dust and an endless horizon in front of him. Now, he saw buildings that towered the skies in the distance, he saw homely houses built by happy people, and he saw structures and constructs made for the sole reason of empowering culture. "Genesis City is structured like a layered circle so that each street, each subdivision, and each house will be accessible to everyone. Do you see that white palace in the distance?" Down the road, which led straight to the center of the very city itself, was a giant white palace made of marble and limestone. It was majestic. "Each main road, like the one we''re on, leads directly to the center of the City, the Savior HeadQuarters!" As the truck moved forward, Atlan noticed that the main road had three lanes on each side. However, the truck was only on the very outskirts of the road. The vehicles that took the majority of lanes in the road weren''t vehicles at all. They were horses! These horses had great, silky manes and had unnaturally different colors. Some had horns, some had six legs, and some were abnormally large. "Oh, those are mounts," explained Lizzie. "Our preferred method of transportation here is mutated horses like those. I''ll show you mine later." If she could, Lizzie would have used her horse to traverse the Unclaimed Lands instead of this lifeless vehicle. It was at this point that Atlan noticed that as they got closer and closer to the center, there were more and more humans with vastly different features. There were some with pointy ears and pointy noses and some had tentacles for hands. Those people were living their daily lives, tending to their houses or working their jobs, with strange body parts as if it were normal. Are those mutations? "You''ll get used to seeing those. I told you before that a different bloodline will get you a mutation, right?" He nodded. "See that guy over there with that strange thing over his forehead?" On the side of the street was a man in his thirties directing traffic. Everything about him looked normal except for a dangling brown ball attached to his forehead. "He has a mutation of a 2-star Anglerfish. That thing on his head lights up in the dark so it''s easier to see in the night. He must have worked 10 years to get that mutation. But it all worked out now because he''s the main traffic enforcer of this district. Mutation serves as an integral part of this City. With better work, you''ll get the chance to have a mutation. And with a mutation, you''ll get a better job and the cycle continues." Atlan looked at his Soul System, specifically, his mutations. [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings He had two 10-star mutations, which was considered an anomaly because Lizzie, and presumably the rest of the world, only recognized 9-star rarity as the peak. And unlike the rest of the citizens he saw brandishing their mutations with pride, he saw no indication of wings in his back. I understand not having a physical manifestation of my mutated soul, but why don''t I have my angel wings? He had to ask this to her in a very subtle way. "If I get a mutation, will my body also change?" S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "That depends. If you have a 4-star mutation and below, you can''t hide your mutation. But if the rarity is high enough, you can hide the mutation but still get the benefit of its effects. If you touch a seemingly normal woman and it feels like you touched a hot kettle, then she probably has the lava skin mutation. But that has a 6-star rarity, so you probably won''t find them in the crowd." Atlan subtly put his hands over his back, trying to feel if there was any kind of bump in it. But he didn''t find any. "This is a bit embarrassing, but I have a confession to make," Lizzie said as she brushed her curly hair away from her face. "I''m a half-feline." The moment she said that, cat ears suddenly flopped up from her curly hair. It was bright red on the outside and white on the inside of her ''ears''. A red tail shyly came out of her back. "Oh¡­" "Yeah, I was fortunate enough to get a 5-star Feline Genus a while back. And now, I got these lil things," she said as her ears wiggled alternately. "Can I ask why? What''s the use of a mutation?" Lizzie smiled. "I''ll show you." Her pupils turned vertical as she looked outside the truck. She then pointed to a woman out in the street carrying a paper bag filled with bread and vegetables. "Look at her. She''ll fall on the street in three¡­two¡­one¡­" And just as she said, the woman suddenly tripped because of a small rubber ball that rolled towards her. "My feline mutations allow me to hear and see things better with an enhanced reaction time. I heard those kids in the street arguing and being careless with their rubber ball. Then, I saw the slight decline in the streets and judged that the ball would roll towards the woman. I saw all of those in a split second." Atlan noticed that she still had her cat eyes. He wondered whether her observation powers got stronger because she showed her mutations. "Is there a reason why Saviors would even want to show their mutations? Shouldn''t they keep it hidden?" "Manifesting mutations in reality boosts the power they give. Because I manifested my mutations, my senses are extremely enhanced to the point where I can hear and see everything within a 100-meter radius around me. If I don''t show my mutation, the radius lowers down to about 10 meters. Mutations are like an extra muscle¨Cjust like a bicep. Your muscles will be stronger if you flex rather than if you don''t. The downside is: you''ll get tired easily if you keep flexing." Chapter 9 - 9: House If she has the powers of a cat because of her mutation, then what would my Angel Wings give me? Because he was limited in what he knew about Angels, he couldn''t figure out what kind of powers it could give him. Is it empowering me right now? Just like Lizzie''s feline mutations, Atlan should have a diminished power inside him constantly active. Even if he didn''t bring out his Angel Wings, he should be under a boosting effect. As for what that was, he was clueless. "But what about those who have 4-star mutations? You said that they always have their mutations active and they can''t retract it like¡­you¡­?" "Low rarity mutations are different. The powers they have are much weaker. They suffer the side effects of always having an active mutation." The truck finally stopped when they reached their intended destination. Atlan didn''t notice it but they were currently at the center of the City, full of the hustle and bustle of thousands of people both mutated and not, going about their days. "Everyone''s hurrying home, with the sun setting and all." Lizzie got out of the truck and stretched her body. At this point, she already hid away her feline mutations, but her stretching looked strangely familiar to a cat. She looked back at Atlan and asked teasingly, "Are you not going out?" He awkwardly scooted through the backseats until he finally reached the door. Before he took his first step outside, he realized this momentous occasion. He took a deep breath and finally took that step. "How are you feeling?" He looked around. The first thing he noticed was that he was surrounded by healthy people. They didn''t suffer from malnutrition. They didn''t have that sunken look on their face. The buildings around him were made of all kinds of metals with creative architecture. It was better than seeing nothing but gray sands. But that wasn''t the most striking thing he saw. In front of him was the full majesty of the Savior HeadQuarters. It had elevated footsteps, and he saw hundreds of people walking in and out of the palace. Most of those were wearing either blue or green skin-tight suits with protective padding. The whole place was painted white, with gold embellishments on the edges, giving it a pure and holy feel around it. He was amazed at its enormity. Even the main gate was larger than anything he had ever seen. And even though the total area of the HeadQuarters was insignificant compared to the vastness of the Unclaimed Lands, Atlan felt as if this building was even more immense than the desolate gray desert. "I remember when I was a child and finally got to visit this place. How nostalgic. It''s something else, isn''t it?" "Yes¡­it''s amazing." Lizzie smiled. "Well don''t miss it too much. You''ll be spending hundreds of years in that place, you''ll end up sick of it." "Are we going there?" "We''ll go there tomorrow. It''s too late in the day and no one will be there to attend to your official registration. I''ll show you to your apartment first!" Lizzie guided Atlan through the streets of the City Center. On the way, Atlan was able to see mutations close up. He was amazed at how integrated those alien body parts were to everybody. "Your apartment house is provided to you by the City itself as part of your signing bonus. Since you''re a B class Porter, you''ll have a better bonus than others." Lizzie walked while simultaneously explaining stuff to Atlan. She skillfully navigated her way through the crowd even when she was looking backward. Benefits of having feline instincts, I guess. No matter how much he tried to listen to her, Atlan couldn''t help but let his eyes wander. There were food stalls selling all kinds of food. "Try our hot chip challenge! It''s to die for!" Kids were running around everywhere, playing and fighting at the same time with no supervision. "Hahaha, I''ll cut you with this knife if I catch you!" Everyone he saw was acting with no thoughts behind their actions. They were taking risks with no regard for their safety. Why would they? They had the security of God''s grace behind them. They all thought they were immortal. Should I tell them? He pondered before shaking off the thought. "Keep up! We''re almost there," shouted Lizzie a little bit further up ahead of the road. Atlan then walked a little bit faster to catch up to her. "Are you that excited? You didn''t have to run." Was I running? I was just walking¡­ Soon enough, the two of them walked to the end of the busy street and onto the residential area reserved for Saviors. "Are they always like that?" asked Atlan as he looked back at the children poking each other with dangerous knives. "Oh, yeah," she said proudly. "There''s a lot of foot traffic on that street because it''s in the City Center. People go there to have fun and relax, including some Saviors. You should see them when it''s festival time. It gets crazy." A bunch of super-powered humans getting crazy with no regard for safety? Sounds¡­crazy. "We''re here. This is your house." Atlan saw a single-floor modern house complete with a backyard and a white picket fence. It was in the midst of a full neighborhood of houses similar to each other. They walked inside the unlocked house and Lizzie gave him the full tour. It had a decent-sized living room complete with a couch facing the TV, a separate bedroom all to himself, a bathroom equipped with a shower, and a kitchen. It was everything he needed to live by himself for a thousand years if needed. But Atlan didn''t know what to do. He lived in the Unclaimed Lands where everything was made out of gray sand. He didn''t even know how to flush a toilet. Lizzie saw how overwhelmed he was and explained the uses of every machine in the house, including how to turn on the lights. It took less than half an hour for Atlan to get the gist of everything. "That''s about it. You better take a sleep now and prepare yourself for tomorrow morning. You''ll have to show off your skills in the training center in front of everyone, so reserve your energy, okay?" Atlan nodded. "Thank you." She smiled. "No problem." And just as she was about to close the door behind her, she finally remembered what she was trying to say before she got interrupted. "Oh, I forgot to answer your question." "What?" "You asked me earlier if you can advance through the LifeSkill stages continuously with enough experience." "Ah¡­yes. Can you elaborate?" Lizzie nodded. "If you have enough experience, you can''t simply advance to the next stage. You need to head over to the Remedium so that you can advance. Only in those places can you get the power to break through to the next stage. After that, you''ll need a consolidation period where your power realm will start to settle into the next stage." Atlan took her words and etched them in his mind. He wanted to ask more, but he refrained. "Thank you again." S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She smiled and waved him goodbye before leaving his house. A few minutes after she left, Atlan lay on the wooden floor and closed his eyes. He contemplated. It turned out that the reason why he couldn''t advance to the next stage was because he wasn''t in the proper place. The Remedium is a place where the God resides¡­is there something special in that place? Since he didn''t know where that was, Atlan couldn''t do anything about it. He would just have to be patient and wait till Lizzie told him more about the Remedium. He closed his eyes and focused on his Soul System. And as he did so¡­ [You have successfully advanced through the 1st Stage Student Realm of your SSS class LifeSkill Cherubic Retribution] [Consolidation period: 12 hrs: 59 mins: 50secs] His consciousness slowly faded into the darkness as he slept on the floor. Chapter 10 - 10: Battle suit Atlan awoke and immediately sat up. He looked around, trying to feel the safety of the soft gray sands underground the Unclaimed Lands. Shit! Did I sleep on the surface?! But when he realized that he wasn''t in the Unclaimed Lands, he heaved a sigh of relief. He looked around and saw bright rays of sunshine seep through the window sills in his new house. He still wasn''t comfortable with anything, so he ended up sleeping on the floor. The bed felt too soft; it was too comfortable. He then remembered about his advancement to the next stage of his LifeSkill. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ªConsolidating the 2nd Stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª2hrs : 30 mins : 12 secs Surprisingly, he was able to advance to the next stage of his LifeSkill. I thought I could only advance in the Remedium. According to Lizzie, Saviors could only advance their powers in the Remedium. Is this because my skills are SSS class-rated? Or is it because of my 10-star genus? But then why couldn''t I advance back in the Unclaimed Lands? Atlan already tried to advance back then, but nothing happened. He only advanced once he entered Genesis City, a God''s Territory. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But why did only my Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill advance? Why didn''t my Physique LifeSkill advance with it? It has enough experience¡­ Atlan could only guess that it had something to do with the mysterious specialty it had. There should only be two specialties: Vanguard and Operator. There wasn''t supposed to be a third one called GLOBAL, with a job such as a God. He then looked at the consolidation period and saw that he still had a few hours left till he fully advanced to the 2nd stage. Should I test out my skills? DING DONG A bell rang inside the house followed by a knock on the door. "Good morning, Atlan. Are you ready for today?" Lizzie opened the door and walked inside. She was wearing a green version of her skin-tight suit with padding. "Why are you sitting on the floor? Whatever, you better hurry up and take a shower." "Are we going to the HeadQuarters?" he asked her as he got up off the floor. "Yes, you''ll be tested on your physical capabilities. After that, you''ll be able to take on missions according to your skill level. Now go and put this on." Lizzie handed him a suitcase. "This is your battle suit." Atlan opened it and saw the same green skin-tight suit with paddings that she was wearing, neatly folded into the case. He quickly went over to the bathroom and took a shower. After ten minutes, he came out with steam coming out of the bathroom. He was wearing his first battle suit. She was surprised to see how natural he looked with it. The green skin-tight suit fitted well with Atlan''s body, making him look like a full-fledged Savior. He slowly stretched his body, feeling the suit expand and retract along with his movements. It felt very comfortable, like a second skin. "It''s nice," he commented. "Good. You''ll be wearing that for most of the time, so tell me if you''re uncomfortable and we can change it. Are you ready?" Atlan took a deep breath and nodded. "I''m ready." The two of them walked out of the house and onto the streets. They followed the road back to the way they came yesterday, moving past the busy morning streets of the City Center. As they walked, Atlan noticed that people were looking at them with lingering eyes. When he looked back at them, they nodded at him with a very thankful smile. "It''s because of your battle suit," Lizzie explained. "The people here are very thankful to Saviors like us. We keep the peace in the City and make it a comfortable place to live in." Only now did he feel the responsibility of wearing the suit. He thought it was just another piece of clothing. He didn''t know it was a symbol that people looked up to. As they got closer to the Savior HeadQuarters, he saw more and more people wearing battle suits like him. But they didn''t all wear green ones like him; some of them were blue. "The color of your battle suit distinguishes your LifeSkill specialty. Green battle suits are worn by Vanguards. They have more defensive paddings for more protection in the Remedium. It''s a little heavier, but Vanguards generally have better strength than their counterparts. Blue battle suits are worn by Operators. Theirs might look simple but don''t underestimate it. They have complex circuitry and mechanisms embedded deep into the fabric. It''s kind of like their toolbelt to help with their work." Atlan''s green battle suit looked simple and crude compared to some of the ones he saw others wearing. The older Saviors he saw were on their mounts, with strange weapons slung on their backs. He also noticed that their battle suits had symbols on their shoulders. Lizzie tapped his back. "Don''t worry. You''ll get your epaulet once you advance." Atlan and Lizzie walked up the stairs and reached the main lobby of the Savior HeadQuarters. As soon as he stepped foot inside, he immediately saw a large electronic map of Genesis City just behind the reception area. Some specific parts of the map had disturbances, like a rock dropping on a still pond. "Good morning," Lizzie said to the receptionist. She wore a blue battlesuit, which meant that she was an Operator. "Good morning. What can I help you with?" Lizzie pointed towards Atlan and said, "I''m here to register him. I already recorded it yesterday, so it should be in the system by now." The receptionist looked through her computer and saw that Atlan only had a B class LifeSkill. But when she saw his job, her face completely changed. "Wow! You''re a B class Porter! That''s great news. Your registration is complete, you only need to finish your assessment today and you''re all good! Just follow Miss Lizzie over to the testing center. Good luck, Savior!" The receptionist bumped her fist on her chest two times, and Atlan awkwardly returned the salute. Chapter 11 - 11: Training hall Lizzie led Atlan through the elevators to the side of the reception and picked the 2nd floor underground. DING Once the elevator door opened, Atlan saw a strange swirling black barrier in front of him. It looked like a viscous water dyed with a very potent ink, but the chaos in its waves defied every physical law. "Come follow me," Lizzie said as she walked towards the barrier and disappeared to the other side. Her entrance disturbed the swirls and emanated through the barrier. Atlan raised his hand and touched the black barrier and felt no different than if he was touching air. His finger created a small wave that slowly dissipated. Once he knew that nothing bad happened to him, he got the courage to step through to the other side. And when he stepped over, his jaw dropped. He was back on the reception floor! In front of him was the same reception desk where he registered his identity. Opposite that was the large entrance of the main lobby of HeadQuarters. He even saw the crooked chairs and potted plants decorated around the room. Everything looked the same, down to the minute details. It was devoid of any people, but nothing changed¨Cexcept for one thing: the color. The original lobby was made out of pure white marble, exuding a sense of righteousness that perfectly encapsulated the responsibility of Saviors. However, the flooring, the ceiling, and the magnificent white walls of the room were changed into a black color, with the marbling turning into white. Everything changed into its opposite color. White turned into black. Black turned into white. The natural green color of the potted fern plant on the corner turned into a bright purple color. The blinking red light on top of the elevator turned into a baby blue color. Everything was in their negative color. "Welcome to the Remedium!" Lizzie said. Lizzie was the only one who maintained her original color, wearing her green battle suit. He looked down at his body and was relieved to see that he looked normal and wasn''t affected by this weird, reality-bending effect of the Remedium. "This is the Remedium?" "Technically, yes. But this is just a recreation of the Remedium so that we Saviors have the chance to hone our skills while outside of missions." "Why are we back at the reception area?" Lizzie spread her hands. "The Remedium is the dimension where the Gods reside. This whole city, Genesis City, is under the protection of one God named Genesis. By going to the Remedium, we can enter His body and His body is the City itself, so it mirrors reality." Atlan frowned. He looked at his surroundings and felt uncomfortable. This is his body? "Canzers are the sickness in a God''s body and they manifest as monsters inside the Remedium. It is our job as Saviors to kill these Canzers and keep Him healthy." Lizzie then walked over to the main entrance of the lobby and walked outside. Atlan followed suit, with his steps filled with carefulness. Once she opened the door, Atlan saw the majesty of Genesis City once again. The dense buildings of different architecture remained, but their colors changed into something unfamiliar. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The whole sky turned reddish brown. There were other Saviors down the steps, talking and relaxing as they conversed with each other. Beyond them were the wide three-lane streets, except there wasn''t any mount or vehicles running around. Instead, there were Saviors using swords and spears to strike at straw human targets. "Oh, it''s been a while, Lizzie!" A few of the veteran Saviors greeted Lizzie as she went down the steps. Everyone was familiar with each other, given that most of them were hundreds of years old. "How''ve you guys been?" She greeted them back. One of them was bald and had an epaulet on his shoulders that indicated: 4th stage Student. "Who do we have here?" the man sized up Atlan. "My name is Neuman the eighth, what''s yours?" Neuman VIII held out his hands to Atlan and he accepted it. The two men met hands, and for a moment, Atlan felt a slight increase in pressure with the handshake. "Atlan." He didn''t think much of it and simply returned the effort. The bald man''s eyes went wide. "Strong! Looks like we got a tiger over here." Lizzie chuckled when she realized Neumann''s little test. "He''s a B class Porter. Of course his physical strength would be good." Neumann''s eyebrows raised. But he still didn''t understand how such a small kid could show such power. "But you don''t understand how strong¨C" "PORTER? Finally!" A young man who looked just a few years older than Atlan, interrupted Neuman''s words. "You don''t know how long we''ve been waiting for a new porter. The other one was recruited by a different City and the last one''s already too powerful to join beginner missions." "Don''t overwhelm the newbie, Wemby." Neumann reigned in his friend. "Is my job really that rare?" Wemby nodded his head fervently. "Yes! You''ll definitely feel the difference later. You''ll be drowning in Mission requests. You''re practically the only one that we low-level Students rely on to be our Porter." Atlan didn''t know how to feel knowing that. More missions meant more deaths. More deaths meant getting more powerful, but it also meant seeing more suffering. Neumann saw the expression on Atlan''s face. "I know you''re from the Unclaimed Lands, but don''t worry. Let us handle all the killing and all you have to do is watch how we massacre those Canzers. And you don''t have to worry about death. Angels will always keep you and everyone else safe and sound." ¡­that wasn''t comforting¡­ "What are we waiting for? Let''s go on a mission now!" Wemby said, running up the stairs. Lizzie got a hold of his arm and stopped him in his tracks. "Wait, Atlan still hasn''t finished his test." "Aww¡­" Suddenly, Neumann got an idea in his head. "You know, we were just about to have a little competition within everyone here. Why don''t Atlan join us?" Wemby immediately protested. "Are you crazy? Most of us are in the 2nd stage and even some in the 3rd stage! It''s unfair for someone who barely just got his LifeSkill. He won''t stand a chance! Do you want him to fail his test?!" Chapter 12 - 12: Flag competition "I think he''ll surprise us," commented Neumann, but Wemby remained unconvinced. The gap between 1st and 3rd stage was massive, not to mention the fact that Atlan gained his LifeSkill only a day ago. It''s the difference between a newborn child and a walking, talking toddler. But Neumann VIII, with his 150 years of wisdom on this Earth, thought it would be a good idea to go ahead with it. Lizzie thought it would be an interesting sight, but she still asked Atlan if he was okay with it. After all, this competition would decide whether he got higher-class missions or not. The more high-classed missions Atlan participated in, the faster he''d gain experience, literally and figuratively. "What do you think? Do you want to join their competition?" Atlan didn''t even think for a second before he agreed. "Yes. I want to see what I''m capable of." "That''s the spirit!" Neumann was overjoyed. Ever since he felt the strength of this new kid, he felt like he was more capable than he seemed. My fist still hurts after that handshake. Wemby shrugged. "Whatever. Just because you''re a beginner doesn''t mean I''ll go easy on you. I plan on dominating the competition. But since you''re Porter, I''ll help you out if you need it. Good luck, man!" Wemby walked towards the streets where other Saviors were practicing their skills. He started to stretch and warm up his body for the competition. "Each week, we Saviors in the Student Realm have a little competition between us to decide who is more capable. This isn''t just some playtime for us. The results of this competition are sent directly to HeadQuarters, where they can judge if we have what it takes to take on harder missions." Neumann guided Atlan down the steps, explaining why the Saviors all around them looked serious. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "We''ve been missing a proper Porter for years, so a lot of other Saviors took it upon themselves to pick up the slack. Wemby over there has a job of a Scout, but he sometimes moonlights as a Porter when needed since he has the speed to keep up. That oval-headed guy with a shield and a spear has the job of an infantryman. He hates being a Porter, but we force him to since he''s pretty fast." Neumann introduced Atlan to the rest of the Saviors who he was supposed to be competing against. They all had varying jobs on their LifeSkills, but they were all competent in their speed. From the symbol on their shoulders, Atlan saw that most of them were in the 2nd stage, with some like Wemby and the oval-headed guy being in the 3rd stage. In total, there were about 25 Saviors that Atlan was competing against, all much more experienced than him. "Feeling nervous?" Lizzie asked. He shook his head. "I''m looking forward to it." "Good!" Neumann then pointed to the horizon of the City, towards the towering walls in the distance. "Your goal is that wall. At the start of the competition, you''ll see shining red flags pop up around the street. They''ll either be at the top of houses or in a hidden and secluded street somewhere. Your job is to get to those flags before the others get to them first and bring them to the finish line. The Savior with the most flags at the finish line will win this competition and be given a gracious reward from the HeadQuarters." Atlan gulped and looked at his competitors. Unlike them, he was a complete stranger in the City. He didn''t know the streets by their name like them. I just have to look for the shining flags. It doesn''t matter if I don''t know my way around the City. "Once you''re ready, join your competitors in the street." Atlan walked down the steps and blended himself into the group. He positioned himself at the very back of the pack. This would be disadvantageous in a race, but Atlan wanted to see his seniors'' tactics and try to incorporate them with his own. They''re all facing in different directions? The first thing he noticed was that each Savior positioned themselves to run towards different parts of the City. The oval-headed guy faced back toward the HeadQuarters, which seemed completely counterproductive. Some faced slightly away from the wall and aimed toward the houses and buildings along the street. Atlan was the only one facing directly towards the road up the wall. Isn''t the fastest way towards the flags is by going straight? Wemby walked back and positioned himself beside Atlan. "A little advice for you, my friend. You better take height first." "Why?" But before Wemby could reply, Neumann shouted to the group from above the stairs. "The competitions will start on 3¡­2¡­" Wemby then looked towards Atlan and said, "You need to take advantage of gravity or else you''ll lag behind." "...1! GO!" Atlan had no chance to ask more questions from Wemby. The competition already started and the rest of the Saviors already accelerated towards their paths. Out in the distance, Atlan saw a column of glowing red flags that led straight toward the wall. In the midst of the white roads and black buildings, the bright red waving flags in the middle of the street immediately caught his attention. He immediately started running towards them. These flags looked the easiest to capture, yet none of the other Saviors chose to run in a straight line like Atlan. They all chose to jump to the top of the buildings and get the flags up there. I have no time to contemplate. I just have to get those flags! After just a few seconds of running in the middle of the street, Atlan finally grasped his first red flag. Back at the top of the stairs, Lizzie asked Neumann why none of the other competitors copied Atlan''s strategy. It seemed like it was the easiest route. Neumann saw Atlan pick up his first flag and slow down. "He must be noticing by now." "What is it?" "Those aren''t normal flags. They each weigh about 100 kilos each. Just that one flag will slow all of them down by almost half their original speed." Atlan observed the flag in his hands and slowed down his pace on purpose. Neumann thought it was because of the weight. On the contrary¡­ I got the flag just like that? It''s this easy? Why aren''t they capturing the flags like me? Atlan barely even felt anything from the flag. Chapter 13 - 13: Speed The rest of the competitors didn''t follow Atlan''s strategy. They quickly climbed to the roofs of the buildings to get some height. It didn''t take them long after climbing to get their first flags placed at the chimneys and roofs. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Their speeds got visibly slower, with the flags on their belt weighing them down significantly. They struggled with their jumps from building to building as they chased that bright red flag in the distance. Some of them kept themselves on top of the buildings even with the equivalent of three hundred kilograms weighing them down. These Saviors were either at the 3rd stage or near the peak of the 2nd stage. Most of the competitors, after getting two flags and having 200 kilos weigh them down, felt their speed slow down to the point where they couldn''t bridge the gap between the buildings. They were forced to jump down. But this was still part of their strategy. They used the weight of the flags as an accelerator to speed them diagonally down the streets, giving them a boost in speed. Soon enough, there were some already running towards Atlan''s tail. But, surprisingly, they couldn''t catch up to Atlan, a newbie who was only at the first stage. They wanted to pass him by so they immediately used their LifeSkills. Their entire bodies glowed in different colors. One of the men raised his hand and thrust it forward shouting, "Wind-cutting Spear Thrust!" His body surged forward, his hand spearing through the air and creating a frictionless running space for him. He was able to catch up just behind Atlan. The rest of them used their LifeSkills to keep their momentum while carrying hundreds of kilograms worth of flags. Atlan, at this point, already picked up his third flag and was on his way to pick up the fourth. He had no trouble picking them up because everything was lined up for him nicely in the middle of the road. Fourth flag picked up! It was at this point that the Saviors behind Atlan were sweating and laboring hard with each stride. They pushed their bodies and powers to the limit. Yet they couldn''t surpass Atlan. He kept running at the top of the pack, picking up flags along the way. Why isn''t he slowing down? He''s got five flags! That''s five hundred kilograms! Is he really at the first stage? No way, man! I''m only at two flags and I can''t even keep up. How''s that possible? I''m near the peak of the 1st stage! They couldn''t believe that they were losing to a kid who was only at the beginning of the 1st stage Student Realm. Even if he was a Porter, they should still have the advantage in strength. They should be able to keep up with him at the least! Then, just as Atlan picked up his sixth flag, someone landed beside him from one of the buildings above. "Wow! Six flags. That''s impressive!" Wemby praised Atlan when he saw him leading the pack. "With that much, you''ll be able to secure third place easily! Good luck, man!" Wemby then used his B class Scout LifeSkill ''Rope Gain''. A brown string made out of fiber and hemp shot out of his palms and tied itself to a lamppost in the distance. With one pull, Wemby was able to propel himself forward, taking the lead from Atlan. But his reign wasn''t long. Another guy from the top of the buildings finally landed down. It was the oval-faced guy, whose natural speed coupled with gravity allowed him to surpass Atlan. He then raised his arm as if he was wielding a shield. He activated his B class Infantryman LifeSkill called ''Shield Thrust''. His stationary pose of holding a shield suddenly moved forward, as if he was gliding down the street. The only thing left behind was a blurry image of his pose. Soon enough, he was able to overtake Wemby. The two of them were head to head, bumping shoulders with each other in a bid to take the lead from one another. The rest of the competitors knew this would happen. Those two were at the 3rd stage of the Student Realm; it was natural for either of them to be the winner. Although Atlan was impressive, the difference between 1st stage and 3rd stage was far too large. Atlan already had six flags under his belt. It was enough to get third place, a very admirable show of talent and prowess. At least, that''s what they thought. He must be running out of steam by now¡­ But Atlan wasn''t going down without a fight. He saw that both Wemby and the oval-faced guy had 8 flags each, and they were going to get more soon enough. I want to win. Atlan stopped jogging. He started to run with all his might. For the first time since he acquired his powers, Atlan let go of the beast hidden inside his body. He pushed his leg muscles even harder, letting it burn and strain. The rest of the competitors were stunned and awestruck when they saw Atlan accelerate at much higher speeds. He was leaving them all in the dust! They all thought it was already impressive for Atlan to keep up with them. But they didn''t think that he''d be able to speed up and try to outrace the two 3rd stage competitors. Atlan didn''t have to worry about getting flags, so he ran as fast as he could to catch up to the two leaders of the pack. Meanwhile, the two at the top of the pack weren''t paying attention to what was happening behind them. They thought they only had to worry about each other. Wemby jostled the oval-faced guy, as they both went for their ninth flag. Everything was normal until they suddenly felt a slight vibration from behind. They wanted to look back and see what was happening, but they couldn''t take their eyes off the flag. The two of them extended their hands to try and reach for the flag first. Their hands pushed each other as they reached for the staff. Wemby was about to take the lead, but then he saw something incredulous. He saw a third hand suddenly snatch the flag right under their noses! Both of their jaws dropped as they suddenly saw Atlan run forward ahead of them with the flag in his hands! They couldn''t believe what they were seeing! They thought he would be exhausted and weighed down by now. But instead, Atlan sped up even more! That wasn''t his fastest speed?! Atlan quickly took another flag in the distance, making his total the same as them. They all held the same eight flags, with the same weights. Wemby didn''t want to do this, but he couldn''t let a 1st stage novice beat someone like him at the 3rd stage. He had his pride to protect. He activated his frog legs mutation, turning his thighs thicker but his foot thinner. On his next stride, he squatted down and gathered the power in his legs. With one burst of motion, he soared through the air and landed just beside Atlan. The oval-faced guy didn''t want to be left behind either and also used his Minotaur mutation. His extremities, his arms and legs, turned larger and hairier like that of a horse''s legs. With four legs running in total, he sped up and ran beside Atlan. The three front runners saw the final flag in the distance. At this point, the two of them were gasping for air, their thighs burning and their strength on their last leg. They used all their energy just to keep up with Atlan. Yet unbelievably, they saw Atlan gaining distance from them. HE WAS STILL ACCELERATING! Wemby and the oval-faced guy were helpless as they watched Atlan effortlessly speed past them and take the last flag for himself. Atlan crossed the finish line. Chapter 14 - 14: Impressive All of them were gasping for air, with Wemby laying on the ground and letting his legs cool off. He couldn''t believe what he saw. How was it possible that a 1st stage Student was able to speed past two Saviors who were in the 3rd stage? That was absurd! Sure, Atlan had a Physique LifeSkill perfect for running while carrying heavy weights. But that still wasn''t enough explanation as to how Atlan overpowered the combination of a speed LifeSkill and a mutation working together. Were Porters that impressive? Or was it just Atlan''s innate talent? "Ha¡­ha¡­.that was amazing. You¡­you''re so much faster than me. I almost can''t believe it." Wemby forced himself up and congratulated Atlan. How embarrassing would it be for him if he stayed lying on the ground while Atlan stood tall barely even catching his breath? "Thanks. That''s the first time I''ve ever run that fast. It''s¡­freeing." The oval-faced guy walked over to Atlan and held out his hand. "Oliver. Congrats." Atlan shook hands with the guy and was happy to finally know his name. "Looks like he''s really impressed with you. He even gave you his name!" Lizzie and Neumann both walked over to Atlan and congratulated him on his very unexpected win. Lizzie was very proud of Atlan. She was the one who recruited him, and she felt a fraction of his achievements as her achievements. Neumann, on the other hand, was speechless. He knew that Atlan was strong, evidenced by his strong grip, but Neumann didn''t think that Atlan would be able to beat two of the fastest 3rd stage Saviors head to head. "You won this competition fair and square." Atlan finally let go of the flags in his belt, and a slight earthquake emanated from the crash. After a moment, the flags disintegrated into particles and disappeared. "Looks like we have a very reliable Porter in our midst. We''ll be relying on you for most of our missions, and I hope you show that amazing power of yours in our adventures." The rest of the competitors all approached Atlan and congratulated him. They introduced themselves to him, in the hopes that he would be the Porter in their missions. If they had a teammate like Atlan, they could be sure that their missions would go smoothly. Everyone returned to the HeadQuarters and they relaxed on the steps and conversed with each other. Atlan learned that most of them were older than 100 years old. "Believe it or not, I only started this Savior business 25 years ago. At that time, I never thought I had the talent to fight Canzers. So, I postponed my Draft. I never bothered with it because I was content with my life. But everything changed because of my daughter. She participated in the Draft as soon as she could and it turned out that she had an A class LifeSkill! She rose through the ranks, and I felt alienated from her. In an attempt to understand her better, I did my Draft to become a Savior and the rest was history." Neumann had a very noble reason as to why he became a Savior. Atlan found it interesting that even at more than a hundred years old, Neumann was still able to make life-changing decisions like a kid trying to find his way. Meanwhile, people in the Unclaimed Lands barely even live past the age of 20¡­ Must be the effect of immortality, Atlan thought. "I''m not like old Neumann the eighth over here," Wemby teased. "I didn''t start my Savior journey till I was only a hundred years old. I was a regular old noodle shop owner but after 80 years, I got tired of it." Wemby and Neumann both started late in their years. But it still took them a significant amount of time to advance through the stages. 20 years might seem like a blink to them, but to Atlan, it was a whole lifespan. "Does it take that long to advance through the stages?" Neumann and Wemby had a shared self-deprecating laugh. "If you''re like us plebs, then yeah it''ll take you tens of years to advance. One of the reasons why we''re stuck in this stage is because there are a lot of Saviors with the same job as us. We''re a bit overpopulated. And there are barely any missions that are suitable for low-level Saviors like us. We only get about 3 missions a month in a good year. So, it''ll take us years to accumulate experience." Wemby patted Atlan on the back. "But you have talent. You''ll be getting more and more missions in the future. And last I heard, there''s been a surge of missions ever since the Solar Event. So, it''ll be easier to get experience now more than ever." "Oh yeah, have you guys heard about that Solar Storm? I heard it''s been messing up some of the systems in the City," one of the Saviors commented. "Oliver, you''re the oldest out of all of us. Has this ever happened before?" The infamous oval-faced guy who was sitting on the railing of the stairs all by himself spoke only one word. "No." Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Either way, I know it''s bad to say this, but I''m glad there are more missions. More experience for us. Who knows. Maybe after this, there''ll be a drought." "And lucky for you, newbie! I think that you''ll be able to advance to the second stage in just a month!" Atlan remained silent as they talked about the ''fortunate'' Solar Event. Knowing the ominous reason behind it, he couldn''t celebrate quite as well as those guys. Should I tell them? Would they even believe me? Lizzie saw the worried expression on Atlan''s face and felt partially responsible. She was the one who put those thoughts of Angels and extinction in Atlan''s head. She regretted ever saying those words aloud when it wasn''t even true. Those things that fell from the sky weren''t angels. It was a weird solar event, nothing more. So, she subtly changed the conversation. "You did quite well in the competition," she praised him. "But I suggest that you don''t activate your LifeSkill all the time. You get tired easily, right? Atlan''s mouth opened in shock. "It''s like a muscle. You have to deactivate it to recover from the strain," Lizzie added but Atlan wasn''t listening. Wait. I have to activate my LifeSkill? Chapter 15 - 15: Activate? Atlan didn''t know that he had to activate his LifeSkill in order to use it. He always thought it was a passive power, something that was always active. But now that he thought about it, those Saviors he competed against all used their LifeSkill. Their bodies glowed in a different light as they activated their powers. This meant that he won against all of them only by his sheer physical prowess. His muscles were the only factor in his speed. If he was already that fast in his base form, what would happen if he used his LifeSkill? He couldn''t even imagine it. The problem was¨Che didn''t even know how to activate his LifeSkill. He couldn''t even ask his question out loud. How would they react if they found out that Atlan never used his LifeSkill at all during the race where he defeated two Saviors in the 3rd stage Student Realm? They would freak out. They wouldn''t believe it. And if Atlan showed them the truth, then they would wonder and doubt if his skill was only B class. "Lizzie. I had a little bit of trouble activating my LifeSkill a couple of times during the race. Is there a reason for that?" Lizzie nodded. "It''s normal for beginners like you to feel difficulty in using your LifeSkill for the first time. I''m surprised that you were able to use it in the first place. That last sprint of yours when you activated your Physique LifeSkill to overtake both Oliver and Wemby was a sight to behold. Porters truly are a different breed. It looked like you were just running harder." I didn''t use my LifeSkill¡­I was just running¡­ "Is there a way to master that?" "Yes. You just need to reach deep down your Soul System and¡­um¡­I don''t know the right words for it, but it''s sort of like turning on a switch in the dark. At first, you''ll stumble and miss the switch. But if you do it enough times, you''ll hit it and know the general direction of the switch. Do it more, and you''ll be able to navigate through the darkness and turn the switch on anytime you like." Atlan looked at his hands and frowned. "I just have to practice and hope that I''ll activate it?" "Yeah. it''ll be easier for you the next time since you already got a feel for the switch during the competition." "...yeah¡­" BEEP BEEP BEEP Suddenly Lizzie''s wrist started to blink in a red light. She looked at it and saw that she was being summoned. "What is it?" "It''s HeadQuarters. I have been selected for a mission." "Already?" commented Neumann. "You just completed a mission last week and just came back from the Unclaimed Lands." Lizzie helplessly smiled. "It can''t be helped. That Solar Event upped the frequency of missions." She looked towards Atlan and apologized. "Sorry, I''m going to have to leave you in their care while I finish this mission." "You don''t have to feel sorry for him. We''ll take good care of him," Wemby said as he held Atlan by the shoulders. "Should I go home?" "No. It''ll be beneficial for you to stay here and watch more competitions among other Saviors." "Yes. You''ll get to see your very first Canzer. Some of our damage dealers are having a little competition to see who can defeat the most Canzers," Neumann added. Canzers? I''ll finally get to see what they are? BZZ BZZ Lizzie''s wrist buzzed again as it warned her to prepare for her upcoming mission. "I have to go now. Congrats again, Atlan!" She walked up the stairs and back towards the elevator that led back to the real world. She waved everyone goodbye before entering the door of the HeadQuarters. "Want to spar?" Wemby asked Atlan. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Stop it, Wemby. Let the newbie rest." "Can you tell me more about Canzers?" "Oh, what''s this? Is our newbie getting excited to see those sweet, sweet experiences? You want to go on a mission that badly?" Wemby poked his ribs and teased him. Atlan waved his hands trying to solve the misunderstanding. "No, no. I''m just a little bit curious." "Don''t worry, kid. All of us have felt the same way before. It''s fine. I''ll teach you everything you need to know on how to kill a Canzer." Neumann lightly punched Wemby''s head. "He''s a Porter. It''s not his job to kill Canzers. That''s ours." "Hehe, but the newbie seemed like he wanted to know." "I don''t need to know how to kill Canzers. I want to know if there are different kinds of Canzers and all that. Are they all the same?" Wemby raised his chin all proudly. "If you want to know that, then I can tell you." Neumann had to intervene quickly before Wemby spread more misinformation. "Wemby, you don''t know anything about Canzers." "You don''t?" Atlan asked. How can they kill Canzers if they don''t even know anything about them? "Others don''t like to admit this, but in truth, we Vanguards don''t have to know anything about Canzers. All we have to do is kill them. As for knowing what kind of Canzers we''re facing and how to deal with them, that''s the Operators'' job. Lizzie told you about the two different specialties, right?" Atlan nodded. Vanguards fought in the Remedium, on the frontlines. Operators stayed in the real world. "Well, the Operator''s job is to find the Canzer''s location, find out what type of Canzer they are, and know how to deal with them. Then, once they figure all that out, they send out an order in the HeadQuarters and they find suitable Saviors to finish the job. You saw Lizzie get a mission, right? That means that a group of Operators found her unique set of skills suitable to defeat the Canzers. It''s a well-oiled machine where every Savior, whether they are Operators or Vanguards, contributes equally to keeping the City safe." Wemby felt that Neumann''s explanation was a little bit too unbiased. "The only thing you have to know about Operators is that they''re standoffish, arrogant, and think they''re better than everyone else." Chapter 16 - 16: Competition "Don''t mind him." "It''s true though. Those Quills don''t do anything but order us around. If you even try to talk to them about mission placements, they''ll ignore you like a ghost." Neumann felt helpless as Wemby let out his frustrations. Although he didn''t necessarily deny the words of Wemby, it still wasn''t right to bash the other party in front of a newbie. "Quills?" "It''s what we call them, those Operators. They''re called that because the only thing they do is stay in their offices and write, hence Quill." Atlan didn''t know that there was a sense of friction between the two specialties. And by the looks of it, there was a deep-seated frustration pent up from one side rather than the other. "They call us something too," Neumann added. "They call us Vanguards as Knives. After all, according to them, that''s all we''re good for¨Cas blades. They diagnose the Canzers we''re fighting, they are the ones who think up a solution, and they''re the ones who decide which Savior fights the Canzers¨C" Wemby couldn''t help himself and finished the thought. "We''re just mindless tools that cut wherever they want us to cut. We''re just the knives of a ''magnificent'' surgeon." I didn''t know the dynamic between the two was so strained. But if what they said was true, I can see how they would feel underappreciated. "Let''s stop the talk here," Neumann saw that Wemby was getting worked up again. Just then, the doors at the top of the HeadQuarters opened wide. "Looks like the stars of the show have arrived." Neumann was glad that they arrived so early. If they didn''t, then Wemby could get so worked up he''d start a fight with the Quills again. "Who are they?" asked Atlan. They all wore green battle suits, which meant that they were all Vanguards¨Cor Knives as others liked to call it. He also noticed that they had weapons slung behind their backs. Wemby, Neumann, and the rest didn''t have any weapons on them. But this new group had it. "They''re here to see who can kill the most Canzers under a time limit in an intense competition. And unlike us old folks, these are real talents. Even though they''re so young, they''ve already surpassed us at the 3rd stage and above. And to answer your question, this particular group of Saviors are the Damage Dealers, they are the ones that actually fight the Canzer head-on with their LifeSkills." "You guys don''t fight Canzers?" "We do. We can fight Canzers in a pinch, but that''s not our job. Wemby''s a Scout, which means he''s running around and distracting the enemy. I''m a Tank, so I just soak up the damage and protect my team. Oliver is an infantryman, which means he can deal and take damage. But that means he won''t be good at both." Wemby then pointed to one guy whose green battle suit was altered to have a hoodie. The hood obscured his eyes. "That guy''s already at the 3rd stage but he''s only been doing this for 10 years. He''s a mage, which means he can deal AOE (area of effect) damage to a large group of Canzers. I think he''ll win this week''s competition because mages have an inherent advantage at dealing with lots of Canzers." There were a lot of jobs within the group. There was a sniper, a rogue, an assassin, and other jobs whose main responsibility was to damage the Canzer in lots of different ways. The group of ''geniuses'' walked down the steps and had an aura of seriousness around them. Even though they were part of the same group, there was a sense of competition between them. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As they all walked past Atlan and the group, everyone''s eyes subconsciously went toward the young woman at the very back of the line. Even within the group of geniuses, she had an air of superiority that could not be ignored. In the Remedium where black is white, and white is black, her straight golden hair seemed to have an inherent glow that further attracted everyone who had eyes. "Woah¡­I didn''t think she''d join the competition. Atlan, forget what I said about them being talented. She is the real talent. She''s a recruit from overseas. Our City snatched her away from a Metropolis by offering her more benefits, the most important of which is a rare Genus. She joined us just a few days ago, and she''s already causing quite a ruckus. She''s the real deal. She has an S class LifeSkill with a DPS job!" Atlan watched as the girl walked down without glancing at anyone. She looks young. She looked to be the same age as him. One representative of the group walked over to Neumann and greeted him by saluting. They both bumped their fist on their chest two times as a sign of respect. "Sir Neumann. How''ve you been?" The man had a great head full of brown hair down to his waist. "Been doing good, Zonald. It''s surprising you got her to join the competition." Zonald sighed. "You don''t know how much I had to pester her. That kid doesn''t listen to anyone¨Ctypical golden child and all that. The only way I was able to convince her was when I said that the prize for the competition would be a mission to the Remedium. The kid''s enthusiastic, I''ll give her that." Even though Zonald was exasperated from dealing with an aloof girl like her, there was a hint of pride on his face. After all, it wasn''t every day that he got to mentor an S class talent. Wemby couldn''t take it anymore and dragged Atlan to face Zonald. "Have you met our newest recruit? He''s a B class Porter!" Zonald and the rest of his group stopped and looked at Atlan. Even they knew the importance of a Porter, especially since there was a lack of one in the Student Realm. The only one who didn''t bother to look was the girl. "Not only that, he was able to beat all of us in our competition! He''s able to beat two 3rd stage Students in a fair race, with mutations and all that while just being in the 1st stage!" Everyone''s eyes were filled with amazement and awe when they heard that. Meanwhile, the girl and Atlan finally saw eye to eye. A competitive fire lit up in her eyes. Chapter 17 - 17: Damage dealers After a moment, she retracted her gaze. She flicked her hair away from him and continued to practice her sword stance. "That''s amazing! He''s able to do that at just the 1st stage? How long¨C" "He just got drafted yesterday." Zoland''s jaws dropped, and so did everyone in the group who considered themselves geniuses. Even they didn''t think they could accomplish that feat when they just started out. The innate talent it took to do that was out of their grasp. And if they found out that Atlan hadn''t even used his LifeSkill to do it, they''d probably fall from shock. "Hear that Yasmine? We have a transcendental talent over here," Zoland said out loud, purposefully egging her on. He knew that she was a competitive one who wanted to outshine everybody. Swish swish Just like he predicted, Yasmine increased the intensity of her sword stances. "We gotta go now and start the competition or else she''ll be having a fit." Zonald said goodbye to Neumann and the rest before going down the steps and onto the streets. When Zonald left, Atlan asked Neumann what kind of competition they were going to have. "It''s just like the Draft. They have batches of Canzers coming at them. The more Canzers they kill, the better." Wemby butted in. "You know the drill. You must have killed dozens of monsters in your draft, mister B class" Atlan simply laughed and didn''t answer. Once everyone was gathered, Zonald faced the street and explained the rules of the competition. "Okay. Each of you is assigned an area you''re going to protect. Canzers are going to be swarming you. Most kills win, got it?" Once everyone nodded their heads, Zonald signaled to everyone, "3¡­2¡­1¡­GO!" Once the countdown ended, the competitors all took their spots. Some stayed on the streets and some took spots atop the buildings. They chose whichever place they could leverage their skills. Soon enough, large insect arthropods the size of a human torso came crawling out of the sewers on the curb. Its layered chitinous exoskeleton gleamed an azure blue color. Under its torso were three pairs of thin, spiky legs that allowed it to traverse any terrain. The few ones stopped and waved their two antennae around, trying to sense their target. Then, tens of these monsters spread around and chose their prey evenly. All 20 competitors faced 5 Canzers each, giving them the same difficulty. "Those are Canzers?" Neumann nodded. "Yes. Technically. These are the watered-down versions of the real thing. It''s not that we can''t capture a live specimen of Canzer, it''s more that we don''t want to. It''s way too dangerous to play around with. Some Operators tried to do it, but it always ended in disaster." Atlan looked at the monsters that crawled towards the competitors like a tsunami. "Don''t underestimate them. They can still do real damage, that''s why a lot of Saviors use them as practice. Of course, it''s way better to fight real Canzers, but like I said, a mission is hard to come by. Well¡­was hard to come by." Despite being overwhelmed by these monsters, the competitors didn''t panic. They all had their tactics to deal with the assault. The hooded mage chose the perfect spot for his LifeSkill. He positioned himself at a choke point in the street. The monsters had to squish themselves at a very thin gap between the buildings to get to him. With one chant: "Cone of Fiery Rage!" A tornado made out of flames erupted from his palms and toward the group of arthropod monsters. In just mere seconds, he was able to burn their shells black, heating their innards till death. [You have reaped the death of simple creatures: Pseudo Canzers]x5 S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [You have gained 25 experience] Atlan was surprised to see that he was able to reap the deaths of these monsters. This Gluttonous Soul mutation is like a cheat! It wasn''t that Atlan was ungrateful, but it seemed unfair of him to benefit from their hard work. The other competitors continued to defeat those monsters batch by batch, and Atlan gained experience from all of them. [You have reaped the death of simple creatures: Pseudo Canzers]x20 [You have gained 100 experience] Out of all the competitors, there was one of them who moved with grace and strength. She skillfully used her sword to cut any Canzers she saw coming towards her. For her, this wasn''t a competition. This was practice. She let some monsters come near her, only for her to use her reflexes and skills to dodge them at the very last second before she used the tip of her sword to skewer her prey. As the competition went underway and batch after batch of Pseudo Canzers were killed, the difficulty slowly rose. The monsters grew wings that allowed them to lunge towards the competitors at surprising speeds. Not only that, their heads grew a sharp beetle''s horn that could cut through concrete. The sniper who used a gun to kill the monsters started having difficulty as the monsters learned how to fly. He lost his high ground. Soon enough, he was enveloped by the monsters who threatened to skewer his body. "I give up!" he shouted just as he was about to get hit in his stomach. Just then, the Pseudo Canzers around him stopped in their tracks and stopped moving. The sniper was safe. "Unlike what Wemby tried to tell you, Operators aren''t that bad. Without them, we wouldn''t be able to have this safe training ground. They are the ones that created this and programmed all its functions," explained Neumann. Wemby indignantly crossed his arms. "Hmph. Maybe just a little bit." As the competition continued, more and more Saviors dropped out. Soon enough, it was just the mage and Yasmine left competing. The arthropod monsters continued evolving each batch, with their exoskeletons getting harder and harder to penetrate. The mage''s weakness was soon discovered. They were great at dealing damage with a lot of enemies at once, but they couldn''t concentrate that on a single enemy. Unable to kill the monsters with just one casting of his skill, the mage was soon overwhelmed with angry monsters. The smoke emitted from their burning exoskeletons sent a very frightening image to the mage. "I quit!" he said. The only one left standing, as expected, was the transcendent talent with the S class DPS LifeSkill. She had no trouble piercing through the exoskeletons that the mage had trouble with. Everyone watched with amazement as she handled these monsters with ease. Her talent in the sword was truly a sight to behold. "What an insane talent!" praised Neumann. He looked at Atlan and said, "Do you know that she''s the same age as you?" "Really?" No wonder she looked as young as me. "From what I heard, she was able to reach the 2nd stage of the Student Realm just two weeks after her Draft! Can you believe it?" Just then, Atlan saw a few words pop out in front of him. [Consolidation period over] [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] "I can''t believe it¡­" Chapter 18 - 18: Solid "How many batches have there been? Wait! She''s already fighting Canzers at the 3rd stage Student difficulty when she''s only at the 2nd stage?" The swarm of monsters coming her way was designed only for those in the 3rd stage Student Realm. She wasn''t supposed to be able to stand a chance against these! A one-stage difference in the Canzer''s difficulty was a chasm that almost none of the other Saviors could surpass. Yet she was able to do it. The fact that she was still able to survive was impressive enough, but the fact that she was still striving on without quitting meant that she was trying to go to the next batch. She wanted to try and reach the 4th stage difficulty! Unfortunately, the difference in the Canzer''s hard shells and her thrusting prowess was too hard to overcome. Not to mention the Canzers getting smarter as the other monsters learned from the deaths of their comrades, she was getting too overwhelmed. Her graceful movements turned sloppy and forced as she tried to exert more power. This led to gaps in her sword stances that the Canzers were able to exploit. The weaknesses in DPS were seen in her battle. She might be good at dealing tons of damage to one enemy, but she''s vulnerable to a swarm of them coming her way. She tried as hard as she could, but she still fell short of defeating the final batch of monsters that came her way. She wasn''t able to even touch the feet of the 4th stage Student difficulty. "I¡­lost¡­" She knelt on the street, devastated at her lack of power. But for the rest of the spectators and the competitors who knew how difficult the feat she showed, they all clapped at her with amazement. She truly showed the difference in having an S class LifeSkill. She was able to defeat Canzers a whole stage above her strength! But that wasn''t enough for her. As soon as she heard that there was another beginner who was able to beat Saviors two stages higher than his own, she vowed to break his record. Unfortunately, she underestimated the difficulty in doing that. "Why are you so down? You won!" Zoland went over to Yasmine and comforted her. "But I didn''t get to the 4th stage¡­" she muttered. Zoland looked back at Atlan and realized that she was competing with him. He underestimated how competitive she was. "Haaa," he sighed. "You kids are so impatient. Don''t worry. You''ll get your chance to outshine him some other time. You''re an S class talent, you''ll get better much faster and much further." Meanwhile, Atlan looked at his Soul System and saw his new advancement. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª2nd stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 2000) [Available Experience: 12,131.2] Atlan saw the planet in his Soul System that corresponded to his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill. The blue wisps that gathered at the very core of the planet were now completely solid. It had stabilized into a firm and well-grounded foundation for his LifeSkill. In comparison, his Physique LifeSkill planet was still filled with vibrating wisps, with no sign of it ever congealing into one solid piece. He also noticed that he could advance his Vanguard LifeSkill to the 3rd stage of the Student Realm immediately. I have enough experience, so why not? He gained a total of 4000 extra experience just from reaping the deaths of the Pseudo Canzers in the competition. With just a thought, he was able to command 2000 wisps by the side of his Soul System and flood the second layer of the planet until it couldn''t take any more wisps. An invisible barrier prevented the wisps from overpopulating the second layer. And as soon as the core filled up, another set of words popped up in front of him. [You have successfully advanced through the 2nd Stage Student Realm of your SSS class LifeSkill Cherubic Retribution] [Consolidation period: 47 hrs: 59 mins: 50secs] Atlan only had to wait for 2 days until he fully consolidated his power to the 3rd stage Student Realm. If anyone found out that he was advancing through the stages like this, they would lose their minds and curse the gods for their unfairness. Atlan''s way of getting experience by just reaping the souls of the dead was nothing more than an overpowered cheat. As amazing as it sounded, Atlan didn''t like that he had to see the death and suffering of a lot of living beings just to get stronger. Just as he said that, he suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a little twitch, a very minute movement from one of the Pseudo Canzers that lay frozen on the streets. One of its thin cockroach legs moved by a quarter inch. He didn''t know if it was because of his enhanced physique or because of his attentiveness, but he saw it as clear as day. "Okay, this week''s competition is over and I think we saw two of the best performances ever. And it was done by two beginners at that! Let''s give them a round of applause!" Zoland faced all the Saviors in the Remedium and started clapping, and all of them followed in turn. All of them were rejoicing for the recruits. They were more than happy to welcome these overwhelming transcendent talents in their midst, especially a capable Porter like Atlan. CLAP CLAP CLAP Atlan secretly turned towards Neumann and whispered to him. "What happens to those monsters?" When the contestants couldn''t handle the monsters anymore, they quit the competition, and the monsters were forced to stay still through some sort of invisible mechanism. "Oh, are you talking about the twitching? Those Canzers are still alive, but they are being forced by the Remedium itself to stay locked in place." "What happens to them?" "They stay there till they die. Don''t worry about them. They won''t be able to move again. They''ll rot in place." Atlan looked at the frozen Canzers and felt¡­pity. Those poor monsters were suffering. He didn''t like suffering. He didn''t like blood. He was a pacifist. I need to kill them, he thought. Chapter 19 - 19: It’s mercy Atlan couldn''t bear to live with the thought that those monsters lived the rest of their pitiful lives suffering in place without being able to do anything. While the rest of the Saviors were congratulating both him and Yasmine, Atlan ignored all of their applause and headed down the steps toward the battlefield. Everyone wondered where he was going. "Atlan?" Neumann shouted towards him, but he didn''t seem to hear it. "Where are you going?" He walked the streets filled with the corpses of the fallen Pseudo Canzers. Some were burned to crisps, some had been decapitated, and most died from cuts and pierces from blades. He ignored all of them; he already reaped their souls. He walked towards where Yasmine positioned herself in the competition. He saw a group of blue monstrous arthropods about the same size as his torso, all facing the same direction. They encircled the spot where Yasmine stood in place. Green blood was splattered everywhere. Her blade was like a paintbrush that used the corpses of monsters as her canvas. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But these groups of Pseudo Canzers were different from the corpses around. These had their mandibles spread wide open and ready to bite their prey. Some even had their wings open and ready to fly. These Pseudo Canzers were still full of life, yet they lay there frozen in time. Even though they didn''t move, he saw them struggle to find freedom¨Cto find life. He had to free them. He had to relieve their suffering. It was his responsibility. He saw a wooden sword in the ground. It was one of those practice swords that the Saviors used to practice their skills on straw dummies. He picked it up and used both of his hands to grip it on its handle. He raised it above his head and explosively brought it down towards the monster below him. CRACK The monster''s carapace cracked into pieces from the force, but unfortunately, it wasn''t enough to kill the creature. Atlan continued to bash the sword to the Pseudo Canzer''s head, with green blood splattering on his face. But he didn''t care. He didn''t stop until he saw the words in front of him; [You have assisted in killing a Pseudo Canzer] [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [You have gained 15 experience] Wemby shouted towards him. "Atlan, you don''t have to do that. You won the competition! Let the loser do all the dirty work!" "He''s right. Let Wemby do it!" Zoland shouted back. "Hey! I''m in second place!" Zoland shrugged. The burden of cleaning up the Pseudo Canzers usually ended up being the responsibility of those who lost the competition. This wasn''t a hard rule, but an unwritten one that they all followed. It''s also one of the reasons why the rest of them were so competitive. It''s fine if they didn''t win, but they couldn''t be last place. Nobody wanted to do it because it was a tiresome job that could last hours upon hours of hard work. It would take time away from their break and their training. And the fact that they didn''t get any experience from it gave them even less incentive to do it. It was also tradition for the beginners to have their first day involve cleaning up the Canzers. However, when they saw how talented and capable their new Porter was, they all unanimously decided to let Atlan free from this responsibility. It was the reason why they didn''t mention anything about cleaning up the Canzers to him. But despite that, Atlan voluntarily did the dirty work nobody wanted to do, seemingly out of nowhere. It was a very noble and respectable sacrifice that the veteran Saviors appreciated. Their impression of Atlan improved drastically. They were pleased to know that even though he was a transcendent talent, he was still humble enough to show respect to his seniors. They appreciated the fact that Atlan didn''t feel that it was beneath him to do this dirty work. "What a kid! Our new Porter is truly someone to behold." "He''ll be popular among the veterans. I''m sure he''ll be invited to missions all the time." "See that? I taught him that," Wemby lied. Of course, the others quickly saw through it and berated him. Unlike Atlan, Wemby was one of the guys who always wanted to shirk away from the dirty work. Atlan continued to find more poor Canzers that needed the release of death. [You have assisted in killing a Pseudo Canzer] [You have reaped the death of simple creatures: Pseudo Canzers] x3 [You have gained 45 experience] But on his last kill, the wooden sword suddenly snapped in half. It didn''t shatter into a thousand splinters. It split in half. This was because Atlan had no experience holding a sword at all. Nobody even noticed that he was holding onto it wrong. Instead of using the sharp edges of the sword, Atlan was instead using the flat part of the blade to smash the head of the monsters! Not only that, the Pseudo Canzers he was killing were from Yasmine''s last failed batch. It was close to the 4th stage difficulty. This meant that he was able to kill a Pseudo Canzer at almost the 4th stage difficulty with just his brute strength. If he used the blade, he''d be able to easily kill it in one strike. Atlan felt a sudden tap behind him. He was surprised to see a brand new wooden sword held out towards him. He was even more surprised to see that it was Yasmine who gave it to him. "Congrats," she said while looking away from him. "I''ll win next time." And before she left, she gave him one piece of advice. "Try to pierce through the boundary between its carapace and its wings. It''s their weak point." She didn''t notice that Atlan''s grip on the sword was completely wrong. After that, she quickly left and walked back up the stairs of the HeadQuarters. Atlan appreciated her gesture and kept it in his mind, but he didn''t know what she was talking about. I''ll win next time? We didn''t compete in the same competition¡­ But since she already left, he couldn''t ask her about it. He took his attention back to the matter at hand. He looked at one of the Pseudo Canzers in front of him and coincidentally, it had its wings spread open, ready to fly and pierce its prey. Unfortunately, it was frozen in time. He followed her advice and used the tip of his sword to pierce through the small gap between the monster''s hard shell and underbelly. His eyes widened as he felt it easily slip through the defenses and stab its innards, instantly killing it. [You have killed a Pseudo Canzer] [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [You have gained 20 experience] [You have gained a 1-star Genus Pseudo Canzer] [You have gained an F class LifeSkill Mucus Spray] Chapter 20 - 20: More? Atlan couldn''t believe what he saw. He not only gained another Genus, but he also got another LifeSkill. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ªConsolidating to 3rd Stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 47 hrs : 40 mins: 32 s ¡ªMage: (F) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) [Available Experience: 10,191.2] Does any death give me Genus and LifeSkills? It''s not just because of extinctions and killing a God? The only Genus and LifeSkills he acquired were from those two very dramatic and once-in-a-lifetime events. He thought he''d only get Genus and LifeSkills from those kinds of circumstances. He didn''t think he''d get it from just killing one monster. Sure, the Genus only had a 1-star rarity while the LifeSkill was only F class, but the fact that he was able to acquire them was groundbreaking in and of itself. He was already an anomaly because he had two LifeSkills, one of which had a specialty that wasn''t supposed to exist at all. Now, he had two jobs in the Vanguard Specialty. A DPS and a Mage. Can I get more? Atlan knew he was being greedy, but he couldn''t help but think of the possibilities. He walked towards the next poor soul who was just waiting to be released from their eternal suffering. I''m not killing them, I''m freeing them, he reminded himself. He kept doing the dirty work, killing the blue monstrous arthropods that were frozen in place. He had trouble wielding the sword properly at the start, but he got better and used the edge of the blade now. He kept Yasmine''s words to heart. He kept targeting their weak point. Pseudo Canzers who had their wings open were easy to kill. He only had to place the tip of the blade in the right position and push with minimal strength. [You have assisted in killing a Pseudo Canzer] [You have reaped the death of simple creatures: Pseudo Canzers] x13 [You have gained 195 experience] However, not all of them had their weak points exposed quite easily. Some were frozen in their defensive positions, defending from the attacks of the Saviors that tried to kill them. They were harder to kill. His novice way with the sword hindered his killing¨Cno, the liberation of the monsters trapped in their suffering. He had to spend minutes trying to wedge his sword in the weak points. Most of the time, he missed and nicked the carapace of the monster. He remembered how Yasmine skillfully pierced through the monsters with ease and grace, with each strike as precise as her steps to avoid the other monsters trying to hit her. He was far from her skill. Very far. But he couldn''t help it. He had never held any kind of weapon before, much less a sword. Am I just that bad? Or maybe I just need a different weapon¡­ As he dealt with the rest of the Pseudo Canzers, he was disappointed to see that it didn''t give him any additional genus or LifeSkills. He didn''t know if that monster was just different, or if the acquisition of the Genus and the LifeSkill depended on some type of luck. "Hey, Atlan. Are you finished over there?" Neumann called out to him. "You''ve been doing that for hours, kid." Atlan finally looked back and saw that most of the Saviors had already left the Remedium. The only ones left were him, Neumann, Wemby, and Oliver. He didn''t even notice that the time passed. "Sorry. I got too absorbed." "Newbie, it''s good that you''re so enthusiastic, but it''s good to relax too man," Wemby said and Oliver agreed. "We should go soon. Those Quills are going to get ticked off when they see the Remedium still open this late," Wemby added. "It''s bad if we stay in the Remedium?" "It''s not bad that we stay in the Remedium. It''s bad that the Remedium stays open because we''re here too long. If we stay here for another day or so, there''s going to be some adverse effects in the real world. We''re gonna get more than a reprimand if that happens." Atlan didn''t know that keeping the Training Hall open would be so bad. He was planning on staying here and killing more monsters, but that''s not possible. He then noticed that there was just one more Pseudo Canzer left still standing. He was going to kill it and then leave. "Can I come back here tomorrow?" "Look at our newbie, all excited," Wemby commented. Neumann nodded. "Yes. you can¨Cit''s highly encouraged especially since you''re going to receive your reward in a week." Reward? Wemby saw Atlan''s head tilt and laughed. "You won the competition, man. Of course, you''re going to get a reward, kukuku." "I don''t know if you will consider this a reward, but this is something that all of us envy and want. Next week, you''re going to be assigned to a mission in the Remedium¨Cyour very first." Atlan didn''t know how to feel about that. "Don''t get worried, newbie. Your first mission is going to be very easy, just in the 1st stage Student difficulty. And you don''t have to fight the Canzers. Your teammates are going to be the ones to do that. The only thing you need to do is be a Porter. If something bad does happen, the worst thing that could happen is just a little bit of injury. Never fear. The Angels are always there to save your life." ¡­that wasn''t comforting at all. Atlan subconsciously raised his sword and stabbed the final Pseudo Canzer that was still left alive. It easily slipped past its carapace and pierced through its innards, killing it instantly. [You have killed a Pseudo Canzer] [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [You have gained 20 experience] [You have gained an F class LifeSkill Mucus Spray] [You have two of the same LifeSkills. Do you want to fuse them?] [Upgrade Points required: 1,000] Chapter 21 - 21: Porter "Atlan, you coming?" Neumann and the rest of them walked up the stairs of the HeadQuarters. Atlan stayed at the bottom of the stairs, still looking at the words in front of him. He slowly caught up to them as he tried to understand everything. [You have the two same LifeSkills. Do you want to fuse?] [Upgrade Points required: 1,000] First of all, he unexpectedly gained another LifeSkill from killing the Pseudo Canzer. This proved that getting that kind of benefit was luck-based. Is a Genus rarer than a LifeSkill? It must have also been the reason why he didn''t get a Genus this time. He also gained the exact same LifeSkill as before. When he looked at his Soul System, he saw the same two brown, transparent planets beside each other. ¡ªMage: (F) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) ¡ªMage: (F) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) According to the words, he was able to merge these two LifeSkills into one. As for what the effect would be, he didn''t know. The only way he was going to know was to find out. And even if fusing the two LifeSkills were somehow adverse to his progress, then he wouldn''t feel that regretful. These two LifeSkills were only F class. He wouldn''t be wasting much. The problem was that merging these two required something called Upgrade Points. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Wait a minute¡­ Atlan massaged his head and tried to recall his memories from the day before. Aside from getting 10,000 Experience from reaping the extinction of the Angels, Atlan seemed to have remembered gaining something else. Because he passed out before seeing the words, his memory had been all messed up since. It was only now that he remembered it. [You have gained 1,000,000 Upgrade Points] All this time, he obtained a million Upgrade Points from reaping the extinction of Angels! He just forgot about it. He looked down at his Soul System and saw geometrical objects: triangles, squares, and polygons gathered together into a giant fuzzy ball. The blue wisps represented his current Experience Points. The red geometrical objects represented his Upgrade Points. And even though his Experience points were much fewer than his Upgrade points, both of them had roughly the same volume sphere like an asteroid. This was only possible because the red shapes of his Upgrade Points were much smaller than the blue wisps, almost microscopical. When he decided to fuse the two F class LifeSkills, a thousand of the red shapes suddenly shot out into a string towards the two LifeSkill planets. The string of Upgrade Points then wove the two planets together tightly. The mysterious force from the glowing red shapes pushed the two LifeSkills together until they overlapped. And as the planets got pushed further into each other, an opposite force from the planets tried to resist the union of the LifeSkills. Fortunately, the strength of the red shapes was enough to finally push the two together. The union resulted in a large shockwave that destroyed the string of red shapes. It disintegrated into nothing after completing its job. [You have fused the two LifeSkills] ¡ªMage: (D) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(0 / 1000) The result ended up changing the LifeSkill''s class from (F) class to (D) class! This was a feat that would leave the entire world in an uproar if they found out. As far as Atlan knew, there was no way for a Savior to change their LifeSkill''s class. If someone got drafted with a (C) class LifeSkill, then that would be their class forever. The class of a LifeSkill either made or broke a person''s dream of entering a God''s Territory. Those in the Unclaimed Lands who got drafted with an (F) class LifeSkill had no chance to ever step foot into a City or a Town. They would die in the Unclaimed Lands. But somehow, Atlan could do it. He successfully turned a worthless LifeSkill into something that could get accepted into a small village. That could be the difference between living for ten years or living a hundred. The implications of this burned a fire in Atlan''s imagination. Can I keep upgrading LifeSkills till they all turn into S class? SS class? Or maybe even SSS class? "Woah! That was close!" Neumann grabbed Atlan''s shoulders before he bumped into someone who was in a hurry. Atlan looked around and noticed he was back at the reception area of the HeadQuarters. Not only that, his surroundings returned to their normal color. The walls and flooring turned back into the pure white marble that he saw the first time. Unknowingly, he already left the Remedium and was back in the real world. He was so absorbed in looking at the Soul System that he didn''t notice it at all! And he almost bumped into someone by the looks of it. "Sorry." He quickly apologized. He looked up and saw that the man he almost bumped into looked a little bit older than a middle-aged man, with side-shaven gray and pepper hair. The man also wore the same green battle suit that Atlan was wearing, but it had more modifications as well as medals and ribbons adorned around his chest. "It''s fine, hahaha! The young man was clearly too absorbed in his Soul System. I was like you once. What''s your name, young''un?" "Atlan¡­sir." "My name is Garuun. I hope to see you defending the City in the future. But for now, I''ll have to carry the burden. So, you''ll have to excuse me as I go do my job." Garuun, without a second word, left the HeadQuarters with the rest of his team. As they opened the doors, Atlan was able to see a glimpse of the City and its outskirts. A large billowing cloud of smoke enveloped one of the districts in the distance. Garuun and his team all mounted their horses and took off in that direction. "Hmmm¡­the symptoms must be serious. They''re bringing out the big guns," commented Wemby. "Who was that?" "That''s Garuun and his team. They''re all in the Specialist Realm. That''s three realms above us. He''s also like you. He''s a Porter." Chapter 22 - 22: Smoke "He''s a porter?" Atlan didn''t think he would run into the guy with the same job as him. "Yes. Since he''s already in the Specialist Realm, he can''t be bothered to be our Porter in missions with only a Student Realm difficulty. That''s why we''ve been clamoring for the City to recruit a new beginner Porter. Thankfully, Lizzie found a gem like you among the gray sands." Neumann still remembered the hard times of giving less-than-stellar performances in missions because they didn''t have a proper Porter. "Where are they going?" Neumann walked outside the reception and Atlan followed him. Once they were outside, Neumann pointed at the dark smoke cloud in the distance. "See that? That''s what happens if there''s an outbreak of Canzers in the city" The whole thing enveloped an entire chunk of the city, swallowing a lot of the residential buildings. Even from a distance, Atlan could see people coming out of the smoke in a hurry to seek safety. Some soldiers tried to calm them down, but they couldn''t contain the chaos. "There''s Canzers in there?" "No. There are Canzers in the Remedium. Think of this City as God''s body and Canzers are the disease inside Him. The disease is not on His skin. It''s inside His body. In this case, the inside of God''s body is the Remedium. To get rid of those diseases, we have to enter inside his body, the Remedium, and destroy it from there." Atlan nodded as he quickly understood the concept. "Those Canzers wreak havoc inside the God''s body, or in the Remedium?" Neumann nodded. "Yes. And as they continue to destroy the sanctity of His body, it would show up in our reality as a disturbance in reality, just like that plume of smoke. That is called a Symptom." Atlan finally understood why the citizens of Genesis City were so grateful to the Saviors. If it weren''t for them, the Canzers would continue to destroy the Remedium, which converted to more destruction in the City. "That''s how we detect where Canzers are. If there''s a symptom, then there''s a Canzer present." Neumann then pointed back to the giant Genesis City map behind the reception desk of the HeadQuarters lobby. "Every time there''s a symptom, it shows up in that map so that everyone knows that there''s a problem to be solved." Atlan looked back at the smoke in the distance. "Is that always the symptom? A giant cloud of smoke enveloping the city?" Neumann shook his head. "The symptoms vary depending on the type of Canzer. Us Vanguards don''t know what kind of symptoms correspond to which Canzer. There are so many things it could be based on. Things like location, frequency, side effect, and other kinds of criteria to narrow down which Canzers we are dealing with." "Only those nerdy Quills know that," added Wemby. "Call them Operators out in public," Neumann reprimanded him. Looks like the Operators have a harder job than I thought. They had to know all of those things to know which Canzer they were dealing with. Atlan wished that Garuun and those Saviors were able to deal with the Canzers quickly before more destruction appeared in the City. After all, he was the only one who knew the Angels were already extinct. They weren''t immortal anymore. "Don''t burden yourself with these things yet," Neumann patted him on the back. "Just go home and relax for now. It''s been a long day for you." "I guess¡­" "You can keep training in the Remedium every day starting tomorrow if you want. We''ll be there to help you out." "I''ll teach you all my cool moves," Wemby winked. Oliver simply gave Atlan a thumbs up. Since Neumann and the rest had actual families to attend to, they couldn''t stay in the HeadQuarters for long. They all fetched their mounts from the parking lot and went on their way back home. As expected of Wemby, his horse had a great red mane that was very gaudy. He teased Neumann about his normal-looking horse. Meanwhile, Oliver had an unexpected white horse. Atlan walked home since he didn''t have any, and his house was relatively close to the HeadQuarters. He was surprised to see that people were still lounging and walking the streets even though there was a disaster not far from here. But he couldn''t do anything about it. They were all confident that they''d survive anything¡ªa side effect of thinking they had immortality. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Once he got home, he forced himself to lie on his bed. Even though it was uncomfortable, he needed to get used to living in luxury. He took a look at his Soul System and decided to upgrade his Mage LifeSkill to the 2nd stage since he had enough experience anyway. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 3rd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 46 hrs : 25 mins: 01 s ¡ªMage: (D) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 2nd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 12 hrs: 59 mins: 50 s [Experience: 9,231.2] [Upgrade Points: 999,000] Once he did, Atlan had nothing else to do so he decided to sleep it off. ##### When he woke up the next morning, he was surprised to see that the consolidation period for his Mage LifeSkill was already over. [Consolidation period over] [You have successfully advanced your D class Mucus Spray LifeSkill to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] It turned out that he slept for more than twelve hours yesterday, which was surprising given that he always slept for only four to six hours in the Unclaimed Lands. He slept very soundly. Maybe this soft bed isn''t all that bad after all¡­ He was also surprised to see that his closet was filled with new green battle suits to wear. It must have been Miss Lizzie. He quickly took a shower and put on a new battle suit. And once he was ready, he made his way back towards the HeadQuarters. Among the sea of green and blue battlesuits walking up the steps, Atlan saw Wemby, Neumann, and Oliver all waiting for him near the steps. As he walked towards them, he suddenly got the urge to look back. And when he did, he saw the same black smoke still present in the distance. Did it get bigger? Chapter 23 - 23: Quinto "Good morning, newbie!" Wemby was the first one to see him. "Good morning," Atlan replied. "Did you sleep well last night?" asked Neumann. "I did¡­" He nodded in satisfaction. "That''s good. My daughter made sure to keep her health in good shape, and that''s what allowed her to become a better Savior. You should follow her lead so that you can become stronger and advance through the stages in a breeze." "But don''t advance too fast or else we''ll have no Porter again." teased Wemby. "He''s kidding¡­partially." "Um.." "What is it?" "Why is that still here? I thought those Saviors already took care of it?" He pointed at the bigger cloud of smoke enveloping almost two districts at this point. Neumann and the others didn''t look concerned. "That''s normal. Sometimes, it takes a day or two to completely purge the Canzers." "Don''t worry. The rest of the soldiers already evacuated all of the residents affected. Come on, let''s go back to the Training Hall!" Wemby raced up the stairs to be the first one to enter the Remedium. The rest of them quickly followed suit. Atlan took one last look towards the clouds before he entered the HeadQuarters. Soon after that, they were back in the strange negative-color Remedium Training Hall where they could practice killing as many Canzers as they could. There were already a lot of Saviors inside, practicing their skills separately or with groups. "Look at them practicing team drills. That''s very important to us Vanguards especially since each mission is team-based. The tanks will protect the support and the DPS, the scouts will distract the Canzers, and so on." They put themselves through different scenarios inside the Remedium City. They tried to fight in a secluded street with little to no space to use the AOE of mages. They also tried out some formations in case they had to fight out in the open with no natural defenses around them. And finally, some of the Saviors got permission from HeadQuarters to summon Pseudo Canzers so that they''d be able to practice their skills on a real enemy. After they quit the drill, Atlan would come up and finish the frozen monsters for them, and they happily let him do so. Since they were the ones who requested the drill, they were responsible for disposing of them. But since Atlan volunteered, the burden on them lessened. It was a win-win scenario for all parties. They all thought Atlan was just a naturally good guy who wanted to help everybody free of charge, but they didn''t know that he was earning lots of experience from doing it. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x149 [You have gained 2,235 experience] He gained a respectable amount of experience throughout his whole day of mercy killing the Pseudo Canzers. And in all that time, he was only able to get one LifeSkill copy. [You have gained an F class LifeSkill Mucus Spray] [Since you already have the same LifeSkill in a higher class, this LifeSkill will turn into a fragment] [You cannot level up a fragment] [Needs one (1) more F class Mucus LifeSkill fragment for fusion] He also advanced his Mage LifeSkill to the third stage just before he started the grind for more LifeSkills. At the end of the day, he had 35 hours left. [LifeSkills] ¡ªMage: (D) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 35 hrs : 58 mins: 30 s ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 1x F class fragment He needed another F class fragment to turn both of them into a D class LifeSkill. If he was able to do that, then he could merge the two D class LifeSkills and turn them into a C class LifeSkill! However, the allotted time for the Training Hall already passed. They weren''t allowed to stay anymore because they were going to close the Remedium for safety reasons. "Why didn''t we see Garuun and the other Saviors in the Remedium?" asked Atlan as they waited in the elevator back up to the real world. "Because that''s a different dimension. Each Canzer that pops up inhabits a different dimension. It''s hard to explain and understand because it involves the 4th dimension, and we humans simply can''t get a grasp of that naturally. Just think of it as each Canzer and symptom being a different space in the Remedium." "I''m starving! Let''s go eat something at the cafeteria." Wemby massaged his stomach and begged for the others to join him. Oliver and Neumann would have rejected the invitation, but since they hadn''t had a proper meal with Atlan yet, they decided to join. "You''re gonna love the food here, newbie. They have everything you can think of!" Wemby couldn''t praise the food in the cafeteria any higher. Atlan remembered that he hadn''t eaten anything for at least two days now. Fasting for long periods was normal in the Unclaimed Lands, but this was the first time that Atlan didn''t feel hungry. He felt full. He felt satiated. Neumann guided them through the large campus of the Savior HeadQuarters and Atlan felt like he entered another city. It had a dedicated building for a full garden and forest, it had buildings only for Saviors to relax and unwind, and it even had luxurious housings for those who wanted to sleep inside. Each person he saw wore their respective battle suits, either green or blue. However, in the countless number of groups they encountered, Atlan never saw a green battlesuit talking to one who wore a blue battlesuit. The Quills and Knives kept to themselves. The Operators and Vanguards didn''t interact much with each other. ¡ª------ While they were walking, Atlan saw something out of the corner of his eye. There was a discreet hallway that exuded prestige and exclusivity. It had a red velvet walkway and intimate lighting. But judging from the barrier that blocked anyone from entering, this wasn''t a place where anyone could just enter. "What''s that?" Atlan asked. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "That''s the Hall of Heroes. It showcases the best Saviors in the history of Genesis City." They all took a slight detour and let Atlan take a look at the Hall of Heroes. On the very end of the hall, there was a large picture of a robust man who looked to be the very embodiment of strength and confidence. "That''s the legendary Quinto Kindle. The First Savior¡­" Chapter 24 - 24: Cafeteria "The First Savior¡­" The old man had messy, laid-back white hair like that of a lion''s mane. His aggressive smile could not be hidden by the bushy white hair on his jaws. Just by looking at this painting, Atlan felt as if he was being stared down by the real thing himself. "He was there when the first gods descended on Earth. He was there when the first humans interacted with the Mythical Beings. He was there when they struck the accord. Ever since that agreement, humans were given immortality and power in exchange for the extermination of Canzers." Atlan couldn''t fathom how ancient those times were. It was hard to imagine people still alive today who witnessed that monumental pivot in human history. Back then, the Unclaimed Lands were still habitable¡­ "He must be an amazing guy." His image was placed in the very middle of the hall with golden lights shining down on it. He must have been an amazing guy to get that sort of treatment. "Yes, he was¡­" Neumann''s tone seemed to be one of sadness and melancholy. Atlan wasn''t expecting that sort of emotion from all of them, especially since Quinto seemed like such an amazing guy. Did he die or something? Why did it feel like he had a tragic fate? "What happened to him?" Wemby sighed. He was the one most disappointed with what happened to the First Savior. He grew up idolizing the guy. "Nothing happened to him. It''s just¡­the thousands upon thousands of years of living an immortal life must have taken a large toll on him¨Cmentally." "He became insane," Neumann clarified. "Insane? How? Aren''t there supposed to be no disease or illness in a God''s Territory?" "It''s not that simple. He was born in an ordinary world and only grew up in the now, immortal world. His brain developed differently, I guess." Atlan looked at the image of Quinn''s exploits sketched at the bottom of his name. It showed great feats of strength, killing Canzers left and right with his bare hands. It showed him giving hope and peace to the citizens, symbolically becoming the First Savior. It was hard to believe that such a guy would succumb to mental illness. "Where is he now?" They all look dejected. "He''s out there in the streets, living the life of a derelict hobo. He''s been spouting all kinds of stuff¨C theories that don''t make any sense at all and have no basis for truth. Everyone tries to ignore him now, choosing to ignore his current form to preserve the awe-inspiring image they had of him years ago." "What was he saying?" Wemby shrugged. "You know, the usual conspiracy theories. He thinks that aliens are among us and that the other overseas gods take surveillance on him. He even thinks everything is just a simulation." Neumann shook his head. "He''s been much more vocal now ever since that solar storm hit, saying all kinds of incredulous stuff. It''s best to ignore him when you come across him." "Come on, let''s get going to the cafeteria before I lose my appetite talking about this." Wemby led them back towards the cafeteria, and Atlan took one last look at the Hall of Heroes before he followed them. ##### The cafeteria was a big room filled with long tables and seats perfect for eating and socializing at the same time. Atlan and the others had to wait in line to get their chance to pick out whatever dish they wanted to eat. "Ooh! Try the beef wellington, Atlan. You''ll love it." "Um¡­which?" Wemby picked up the food for Atlan and put it on his large tray. Atlan was from the Unclaimed Lands. The choice for meals there was either worms or mold and if they were lucky, some mushrooms. He didn''t know any of the foods in the selection, so he just copied whatever they picked. Once they filled their trays with colorful foods that just looked like a mash of ingredients, Wemby led them to an empty table. Atlan noticed that both Quills and Knives were dining in the same hall, but not together. He hadn''t seen a blue battle suit mingle with a green one yet. "Oh, look Atlan. It''s that blonde S class genius." Wemby pointed towards a beautiful blonde-haired girl sitting in the middle of a table filled with other girls. Even when she was mingling with women who were much stronger than her, she still had an air of superiority that she did not lose. "She''s quite popular, eh?" Even though she had barely been in Genesis City for a few days, she already integrated herself quite well. "That''s Barbara, a mage in the 5th stage Student Realm. Looks like she wants to mentor the blonde genius. Hmmm¡­and that''s Petra the sixth. Her family has a long line of Saviors, and she''s considered to have a good future like her mother. Looks like she wants to have the genius as her friend." Wemby quickly analyzed the situation. The women around Yasmine were either her seniors or elite girls from prestigious families her age. They knew that Yasmine would someday become a bigshot in the future, so they were trying to ally themselves with her early. "Oh, look at those boys. They''re trying to hit on her, but they keep getting rejected back and forth!" Yasmine was popular among the novice Saviors her age. But of course, she didn''t even spare a glance at them. Her friends quickly shooed her suitors away like an impenetrable fortress. "Yasmine, don''t entertain those boys till you''re at least 50. By that point, you''ll see which one is talented enough to be worthy of you." The other girls agreed. "But if you were to choose, who would you pick? Would you pick the cute guy, the famous guy, or the talented guy?" "Oh come on. No one here''s worthy of her, right?" Yasmine kept silent and whipped her blonde hair away from her hair. From the corner of her eye, she saw a normal-looking youth sitting at a table on the other side of the room. He was awkwardly trying to eat his food with his friends laughing at the side. He was holding a fork in his whole hand and stabbing the peas on his plate. She wouldn''t forget that black hair and dark eyes¨Cthe one who transcended the competition with his talent, the one who she couldn''t overcome. "I have to go practice." She left the cafeteria, leaving her friends speechless. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 25 - 25: Target After they finished eating food, they all went their separate ways and went home. Atlan immediately went to sleep and looked forward to the next day. He hoped that he would get another fragment. #### Just like yesterday, after taking a shower and putting on a new battlesuit, Atlan quickly made his way back to the Savior HeadQuarters. Just like before, his three friends and mentors were there waiting for him. Atlan didn''t dislike the monotony of his daily life, but there was something that bothered him still. When he walked up the stairs of the HeadQuarters, he still saw the plume of smoke in the distance overwhelming a huge chunk of the City. It had grown even larger this time. He was even starting to wonder if his residential district would get affected at this point. Even after two days, the Symptoms still haven''t cleared. This meant that the Saviors still hadn''t finished off the Canzers that were wreaking havoc in the Remedium. When he mentioned this to Neumann, he also found this weird. They all thought that it would be over in just one day. But despite the abnormality of the situation, they didn''t panic. Nobody did. In their eyes, the situation would soon resolve itself given more time. Everyone went into their same life without knowing that the Angels they relied on to be immortal had long gone extinct. Atlan was the only one who knew that fact. But he couldn''t do anything to change it. The only thing he could do was to make himself stronger bit by bit. For his first goal, he wanted to turn his F class Mage LifeSkill to an S class one. However, that would take a lot of LifeSkill fragments to accomplish. When he went to the Training Hall Remedium and continued to ''clean up'' their messes of Pseudo Canzers, all of them wondered how he could keep doing the same things over and over again without getting bored. But for Atlan, doing this for an eternity was infinitely better than doing nothing and dying in the Unclaimed Lands. And by killing the same monster over and over, Atlan was getting used to locating their weak points much more easily now. Even his sword skills were improving at a very fast rate. Unlike before, he wasn''t stumbling and missing his sword thrusts anymore. As long as he knew where he wanted the sword tip to go, he could accurately hit it without a problem. Of course, he also earned a lot of experience from reaping all the deaths. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x169 [You have gained 2,535 experience] However, he failed to gain a single LifeSkill fragment this time. Thankfully though, his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill finished its consolidation period and finally advanced to the 3rd stage. Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª 3rd stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0 / 3000) And since he had enough experience anyway, he decided to upgrade it to the 4th stage immediately. Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6 days : 23 hrs With everything settled, he went back home. As he lay in his bed, he closed his eyes and tried to feel the LifeSkill planets in his Soul System. During his spare time throughout the day, he kept trying to activate his LifeSkill by ''reaching out'' to it and to try and harness its powers. But, it was easier said than done. It felt like he was trying to materialize a giant hand that could hold the LifeSkill planet comfortably in the palm. Whenever he tried to visualize it, he would barely be able to make a hand large enough to grasp the planets. And when he did, the moment he tried to move it, it would disintegrate into nothing but smoke. It was a process of trial and error as he tried to find out the best way to activate his LifeSkill. He didn''t lose hope, though. He was willing to work hard and find a way to finally activate his LifeSkills. He closed his eyes and readied himself for another hard day tomorrow. #### The next day, Atlan was glad to see that the cloud of smoke that ravaged a huge chunk of the City was gone! It seemed that the Saviors finally triumphed against those Canzers. He remembered Garuun, the Savior with the same job as him. He wondered what kind of contributions he made to the success of their mission. When he walked up the steps with Neumann and the others, he noticed that they looked a little bit concerned. "HeadQuarters have been weird since this morning," Wemby muttered. "I agree. They''ve been really silent." Even Oliver, the man of few words, couldn''t help but agree with him. "Why?" Atlan wanted to know what happened. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Usually, once a mission this severe is completed, the HeadQuarters would immediately send out a welcoming parade for the Saviors. It gave a chance for the Saviors to feel appreciated for their hard work, and it also showed the normal citizens that the heroes would always be there to protect them. But now¡­radio silence. Nobody has even seen anyone from the triumphant team ever since." Did something happen during that mission? But since Atlan couldn''t do anything about it, he tried to put it to the back of his mind. They all entered the Training Hall again, with their minds heavy with thoughts. Atlan sat on the steps of the Training Hall Remedium, watching all of the other Saviors practice their LifeSkills on straw dummies. His mind was filled with questions as he tried to juggle his thoughts about the weird situation with the HeadQuarters and his problem with activating his LifeSkills. As he was subconsciously watching a mage Savior create a bullet made of vines and thorns, he suddenly saw something that made him wake up from his stupor. He thought the mage missed his shot, but then the bullet suddenly curved and hit the dummy on the side of the head. Wait¡­what if my SSS class Cherubic Retribution needs a target to activate? Chapter 26 - 26: Mucus spray Atlan went over to Wemby and asked him a simple question. "Why did that mage''s attack suddenly curve towards its target?" "Oh, that''s because his skill probably has a tracking mechanism, so even if his opponent is wildly moving, his attack will still hit them." "So if it doesn''t have a target, then he wouldn''t be able to activate his LifeSkill?" Wemby shook his head. "Not necessarily. He can still shoot out his magical projectiles anytime he wants, even if it''s towards nothing but air." He then raised his hand in the air and demonstrated it to the newbie. "See? I don''t have a target in my mind right now." Just then, his hands glowed a royal blueish color until hemp rope burst out of his palms and shot towards the red sky of the Remedium. It went straight up, slowed down, and fell back to the white ground. "I can still activate my LifeSkill without a target. But if I try to target that lamp post¡­" Wemby raised his right hand, guided by his left, and aimed at the stop light in the intersection of the street. He promptly activated his LifeSkill again and this time, the rope shot towards the post and wrapped itself into a knot. With one tug, Wemby shot towards the stop light until he was able to squat just over the top of the pole. "If I have a target in mind, I can also do that," he shouted back towards Atlan. Wemby used his powers again and maneuvered through the air back beside Atlan without much problem. "Any more questions?" "...Do you know if there''s a LifeSkill that can''t activate without a target?" This time, Neumann was the one to answer. "Yes. My tank LifeSkill allows me to imbue protection to the teammates I target. Without anyone to target, my LifeSkill can''t activate." Neumann raised his hands, which suddenly glowed in a reddish maroon glow. He aimed his hands at Wemby and suddenly, a spherical bubble materialized to cover Wemby''s entire body. And without a warning, Neumann punched the bubble, surprising both Wemby and Atlan. His punch was so strong that it sounded like a large elephant stomping on the ground. "Woah! Uncalled for," complained Wemby in the transparent bubble. But even with Nuemann''s full-powered punch, the bubble barely even wobbled. Atlan guessed that it could withstand the force of a couple more punches before it started to crack. But with this demonstration, Atlan finally found the reason why he couldn''t activate his LifeSkill. It was because he wasn''t thinking of a target! He always tried to use his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill, just for the sake of activating it. He just wanted to see if he could manifest it, so he wasn''t thinking about actually trying to hit anything with it. This led him to be unable to activate it at all. He desperately wanted to try and activate it now that he knew the root of the problem. First, he tried to activate his Mucus Spray. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the brown planet in the distance. Ever since he upgraded it to D class, the pattern on its surface changed to be more complex, having streaks of black everywhere. A giant hand materialized in the dark space of the Soul System. He took great care to make sure that it didn''t dissipate like last time. Thankfully, all those practice sessions paid off as he was able to keep the integrity of the giant hand. He maneuvered the hand to go over to his Mage LifeSkill. And now, the moment of truth came as the hand slowly grasped the planet in its palm. And the moment the giant hand closed and enveloped the whole planet, Atlan suddenly felt a strange power flow from his veins and towards his hand. He opened his eyes and saw that his hands were glowing a slight brown hue. If he continued to hold the planet, the LifeSkill would activate! He quickly stopped himself when he realized where he was. Neumann and the others were still talking beside him. They would definitely notice it. As he let go of his grip on the LifeSkill planet, his hands stopped glowing and he felt the strange power retract back to his veins. He wasn''t sure that this Remedium was safe. Neumann said that this Remedium was built by the Operators from the HeadQuarters. This could mean that they''re surveilling the whole place at all times. Even though that possibility wasn''t that realistic, Atlan still didn''t want to risk it. He couldn''t show his other LifeSkills here. And even in the real world, he had to be careful. This was a place that lied to everyone and kept the extinction of the Angels a secret. What would happen if they suddenly saw Atlan display angelic powers? Atlan could practice his Mucus spray, but he couldn''t show any hint that he had angelic powers. "I want to go to the bathroom," Atlan said. "I don''t think I''ll make it up back to the real world." Wemby, of course, made fun of the newbie. "Kukuku¡­as long as your poop isn''t nuclear, you can drop it anywhere you like. Don''t worry, I''ve done it a hundred times before." S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan quickly went down the steps and jogged to the very edge of the city in a discreet corner just in the middle of two houses. When he was sure no one was looking, he activated his mucus LifeSkill and successfully replicated his previous attempt. His hands glowed until he felt it become filled with power. After a second, a spray of black goo flowed out of the palm of his hands like an intertwined spider''s web. The spray spread out as it traveled out his hands, enveloping a large conical shape in front of him. The Mucus Spray slammed on the walls and stayed there. It enveloped the whole wall about 4 meters tall and 4 meters wide. When he touched the black goo, he found that it wasn''t as sticky as he thought. However, when he tried to pry it off the wall, it took him a tremendous amount of effort to take it off. Chapter 27 - 27: Genus After a few more tests, Atlan was able to figure out that his D class Mage LifeSkill was a power that could entrap enemies using an inherently strong adhesion. After activating his Mucus Spray a couple more times, he was able to familiarize himself with activating the LifeSkill. It took him two seconds in total to use it: one second for preparation and materialization of the giant hand in his Soul System, and one second for the wind up of powers in his hands. Even though it was slow now, he saw that with more practice, he could cut down that time to maybe less than a second. After a few minutes, he returned. Wemby didn''t forget to tease him about doing his first ''business'' in the Remedium. Apparently, it was quite normal during long missions. The whole day unfolded just like any other. Saviors summoned Pseudo Canzers, and Atlan cleaned up the kills for them. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x 87 [You have gained 1,305 experience] It was a slow day and not a lot of Saviors practiced their skills, which was why Atlan only got 87 reaps. It was also unfortunate that he was unable to get another fragment to upgrade his Mucus LifeSkill. But on the other hand, his swordplay got better, which was commended by the other Saviors who watched him kill the Pseudo Canzers for hours. On the other hand, the consolidation period for his Mucus LifeSkill finally ended. ¡ªMage: (D) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª 3rd stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0/3000) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 1x F class fragment [Available Experience: 8,766.2] He quickly advanced it to the 4th stage, [You have successfully advanced through the 3rd Stage Student Realm of your D class LifeSkill Mucus Spray] [Consolidation period: 6 days : 23 hrs] He went home and slept. He hoped that he would get better luck tomorrow and finally advance his Mucus LifeSkill to the C class, if that was even possible. ### His day started like any other. He went over to the Training Hall Remedium and helped the other Saviors clean up their kills. However, on his very first kill, he suddenly saw a set of words pop up in front of his eyes. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [You have gained 15 experience] [You have gained 1-star Genus Pseudo Canzers] After a long drought, he finally got another Genus! At this point, he wasn''t even hoping to get another one of these. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He had killed hundreds of Pseudo Canzers over the span of a few days, yet he never got another Genus. He gave up on it thinking that it was just a one-time thing, unlike the LifeSkills. But as it turned out, he could get another Genus! [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [You have two of the same Genus with the same rarity. Do you want to fuse the two Genus?] [Upgrade Points required: 1000] [Available Upgrade Points: 999,000] He was surprised to see that he could also fuse Genuses! If merging two LifeSkills resulted in advancing its class, then what would result in the fusion of two Genus? Will it become a 2-star rarity genus? Atlan looked at his Soul System and saw two spiraling helixes representing his two 1-star Genuses. The two helixes were made up of a structure that looked like a twisted ladder made up of strange dark blue blobs that resembled the color of the Pseudo Canzers. Once he ordered the fusion of the two helixes, the fuzzy sphere made out of red geometrical objects spurt out a straight line of squares, triangles, and polygons toward the Genuses. These were his Upgrade Points, and they wrapped themselves around the two double-stranded helixes and squeezed them closer together. It forced the two together until the two helix ladders merged and fused into one single structure, with more complex colors and more defined patterns on the very helix itself. [You have successfully merged the two Genus] [You have obtained 2-star Genus Pseudo Canzers] When Atlan looked at his Soul System, he saw that his bloodline remained as the ''Angelic Reaper of Souls.'' According to Lizzie, the Genus dictated what kind of bloodline a person had. When he obtained the Grim Reaper Genus, his bloodline changed to the Grim Reaper of Souls. When he obtained the Angel Genus, his bloodline once again changed into the Angelic Reaper of Souls, which incorporated the two essences of his Genus. However, when he obtained the 1-star Pseudo Canzer genus, the bloodline remained the same. Even when he upgraded it to 2-star, it still didn''t have an effect on his bloodline. He turned towards Neumann and asked him. "Can I ask what mutation you have?" "Sure. I obtained the 4-star Armadillo Mutation. You can''t see it because I''m wearing my battle suit, but the entirety of my back and chest has changed into an Armadillo shell." Neumann stretched the collar of his green battle suit and showed Atlan that his entire chest up to the collarbone had changed into a hard collagen material with a dark brown color. "That means that your bloodline has changed into an Armadillo?" "Kukuku, armadillo man!" Wemby teased. "Yes. My bloodline has fully changed into an Armadillian." "What if you get a 1-star Genus? Will that change your bloodline?" He shook his head. "A lesser or inferior Genus won''t change your bloodline." Atlan paused for a second. "What if you have the same genus rarity?" "Your bloodline will change into which one is the more dominant. Not all the Genus in the same star rating are equal. Some are better than others." "They won''t change your bloodline into a mix of both genes?" Neumann laughed and shook his head. "I wish, but no. If you have a Genus of a whale and a bull, you''re going to be the whale." Then why did my 10-star Genus mix in my bloodline? Chapter 28 - 28: (Bonus chap) Old man Is it because they''re 10-star? Unfortunately, he wouldn''t be able to ask anyone about it. Atlan was a little bit disappointed to know that his bloodline wouldn''t change until he had better Genus. Until he was able to make the 2-star Pseudo Canzer genus into a 10-star rarity genus, it wouldn''t be able to affect his bloodline for now. This also meant that he wouldn''t be able to get a mutation from them. Thankfully though, he was already satisfied with two 10-star genus making his bloodline into something completely unique. The day continued with the usual and the god of luck must have been watching over Atlan because near the end of today''s session, he was able to get another fragment! [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x77 [You have gained 1,155 experience] [You have gained F class Mucus Spray LifeSkill fragment] [You have two of the same fragments with the same class. Do you want to fuse them?] [Upgrade Points required: 1000] Atlan immediately used the points to fuse the two fragments, and it resulted in an equivalent D class fragment. ¡ªMage: (D) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6 days : 01 hrs ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 1x D class fragment [You have an equivalent class fragment of LifeSkill. Do you want to fuse the two?] [Upgrade Points required: 3000] Atlan used the Upgrade Points in his Soul System to fuse the two LifeSkills until it resulted in a new and better class. He looked at his Soul System and was satisfied with what he saw. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (2-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 5 days : 23 hrs ¡ªMage: (C) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6 days : 01 hrs ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 1x F class fragment [Available Experience: 6,766.2] [Upgrade Points: 993,000] He went home that day and went to sleep. He preferred his life to be very monotonous because it gave him enough time to become stronger. If he could stay in this place for a thousand years and only kill Pseudo Canzers, then he would be satisfied with that life. He would be as patient as he could be and turn his Mage LifeSkill Mucus Spray into a very respectable S class power. He also hoped that he would be fortunate again to gain another genus from the Pseudo Canzers and turn them into 10-star rated genuses. He was curious to know if it would change his bloodline just like the other two. However, he had to go on his very first mission in the Remedium, which was due in a week. He only had 4 days left to get as strong as possible. ### The next day, Atlan walked out of his house with a little bit of a pep in his step. He was starting to get used to this kind of life. He had a house and a bed he could sleep on, he had all the kinds of food that he could eat every day in the cafeteria, and he had friends who would help him and give him advice on everything. He got familiar with the optimistic and happy faces of everyone he met on the streets. However, when he walked towards the usually busy streets in the City Center, he noticed that fewer people were walking by than normal. And when he reached the busiest street in the district, he couldn''t see any sign of people anywhere he looked. He saw a lot of unattended stalls with the grill still burning chicken skewers, he saw a jewelry store open with no guards, and he even saw half-eaten lunches on benches. What happened? Atlan continued walking the path toward the Savior HeadQuarters until he finally saw other people. He saw them at the end of the street, all looking towards something in the front of the HeadQuarters itself. Hundreds if not thousands of people were squeezing themselves as they tried to go to the front of the crowd. He walked faster, wanting to know what the commotion was all about. When he finally reached the main road that led to the HeadQuarters, he was surprised to see that almost the whole City was packed closer to this scene. The roads were filled with people. Mounts had nowhere to go. Barely anyone could move. He walked closer and put himself at the very back of the crowd. He raised his feet to try and see above the tall heads in front of him, but he couldn''t see past them. With no other choice, Atlan pushed himself between the gaps. He had to see what was happening. With his enhanced strength, he was able to jostle his way further up the crowd. If his physique wasn''t so sturdy, he would have been crushed by the sheer amount of people around him. As he got closer, he was able to hear the jeering of the crowds. And amongst those noises, he was able to hear a passionate plea within them. "Please, please! Please listen to me!" The voice seemed to come from an old man. He was hoarse, yet he still tried to shout at the top of his lungs towards the crowd. But no one was receptive to his words. They ridiculed him. "Ha! Why would we listen to you? Your words don''t mean anything." S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "The lies you spout are worth less than the clothes you wear." "My ear hurts from hearing all your bare-faced lies." But despite the negative reaction from the crowd, the old man persisted in convincing them of his words. Atlan finally pushed through the crowd close enough to finally see who this old man was. The first thing he noticed was the man was balding, with white hair sparsely attached to his head in small patches. He didn''t seem to wash it as it was filled with grime and oil, dirtying its original white color. Surprisingly, the man still had a white beard on his jaws, but it was so long that it reached the bottom of his feet! The old man wore tattered brown pants, with holes and stains all over the hems. He didn''t wear any shirt, and it showed how malnourished and decrepit he was. His stomach was caved in, his ribcage showed in his torso, and his eyes and cheeks were so sunken that it almost showed the full shape of his skull. I feel like I''ve seen him before¡­ The old man didn''t stop his struggle to make the citizens of Genesis City heed his words. "We should prepare¡­ prepare¡­ PREPARE! The Apocalypse¡­it''s coming!...Death is Coming!" Chapter 29 - 29: Warnings !!! Atlan was surprised to hear the old man mention an apocalypse. All this time, the citizens of Genesis were unaware of the precarious situation they were in. None of them knew that their immortality disappeared the moment the angels fell from the heavens. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They still believed that it was just a simple solar event from the sun. He always refrained from telling everybody this because he knew that no one would believe him. They would label him as nothing more than a liar. He was surprised that this old man knew about the apocalypse and was actually trying to warn the rest of the citizens. And as he guessed, they were treating his words as nothing more than fiction. They were berating and insulting him all because he dared them to open their eyes to the truth. "Please! Don''t you see?! Immortality is an illusion!" The old man, in his desperation, grabbed ahold of one of the citizens in his collar. He didn''t like that. He pushed the old man to the ground with such force that the old man crashed his head on the pavement. Ptooh, the man spit. "Don''t grab me with your dirty hands, you decrepit old fool!" The old man held his head as he felt red blood trickling out of his forehead. There seemed to be a moment of clarity in his head, where his eyes turned clear and his expression turned serious. But it soon melted away after a few seconds. Atlan looked at the crowd and saw that none of them were helping the old guy. Even though he was hurt, no one was moving to give him aid. Everyone was just watching this scene unfold with an indifferent expression. Why are they all just watching? Atlan wondered. It was even more weird that almost all of the citizens of the City were there to watch all of this. Is the old man someone important? "Excuse me, do you know who that is?" Atlan asked someone beside him but instead of answering, the man just shook his head in disappointment. "It''s best if you don''t know, kid." The old man picked himself back up and pointed at the sky. "Don''t you see? The smoke¡­where''s there''s smoke¡­there''s fire¡­" However, when everyone looked at where he was pointing, they saw that there was nothing there but the sky and the buildings beneath it. "You''ve gone senile. There''s nothing there!" Everyone ridiculed him, but when Atlan looked at where the old man was pointing, he noticed that it was the place where the huge plume of smoke appeared a few days ago. Is the old man talking about that? According to Neumann, it was a result of a Symptom because Canzers were causing destruction in the Remedium. It persisted for three days, but it was soon solved by Garuun and his team of Saviors in the Specialist Realm. "What more lies are you spouting? Alien conspiracies? Flat earth? Ha! This is the reason why no one takes you seriously." The old man didn''t seem to hear the insults fired towards him. He didn''t even seem to register anything around him. He looked like a deranged man who was spouting nonsense. Perhaps, it was the reason why no one was taking his words seriously, even if it was the truth. "They fell¡­they''re dead! They''re dead, I tell you!" The old man went on his knees and put his hands together into a praying position. Then, he looked up and wept at the tragedy he remembered. He''s talking about the fall of angels¡­ As Atlan heard more about the old man''s lies, the more Atlan was convinced that he wasn''t insane. He was probably even more sane and lucid than most of the people who ridiculed him. "Why is no one taking him back to the care center?" "It''s such a shame to see him like this." "What a tragedy¡­" Atlan continued to squeeze himself towards the crowd until finally, he was able to shove himself at the very front of the crowd. And as soon as he did, the old man looked in his direction. They made eye contact. Atlan finally got a good look at his features and a glint of recognition flashed in his eyes. He recognized this old man! Meanwhile, the old man was surprised when he looked at Atlan. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He looked at Atlan from his feet to his head, and even further beyond his stature. No one was seeing things like him. He saw the truth of the world. And what he saw from Atlan¡­frightening. Black tendrils made out of the very darkness of space itself were spreading out of Atlan''s body like roots. The blackness branched away from Atlan and connected to each and every person near him. Nobody was safe. No one saw it but him. Nobody knew that they were in the proximity of the maws of death. And when the old man looked up above Atlan, he saw a melting pot of deranged skulls and horrified deaths flowing out of his head. This seemingly normal youth was the personification of his very fear; he was death itself. The old man''s heartbeat sped up to a thousand times per second as he started to palpitate. He was experiencing a nightmare that he could not wake up from. His heart pumped faster and faster, much more than what his fragile body could take. Terror and trepidation forced his heart to beat until, finally, it stopped. His heart no longer worked. And in his last moments, he uttered the words; "Death hath come¡­" The old man flopped on the ground, his body quickly turning cold. Atlan stayed frozen in place until someone grabbed him by his shoulders and broke him out of his stupor. He looked back and saw a familiar face. He recognized that long curly hair anywhere. It was Lizzie. She gave him a concerned look. "Are you okay?" Atlan paused for a second and couldn''t utter the words at the tip of his tongue. He was distracted by the words in front of him. It gave him mixed feelings. [You have assisted in the death of Quinto Kindle] [You have reaped the death of the ''First Savior''] [You have gained 10,000 experience] [10x Booster trait acquired!] [SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire acquired] Chapter 30 - 30: Quinto I can''t believe it¡­ [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª1x (2-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [Trait] ¡ª 10x level booster [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4 days : 23 hrs ¡ªMage: (C) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 5 days : 22 hrs ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 1x F class fragment ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0 / 1000) [Available Experience: 17,921.2] [Upgrade Points: 993,000] He couldn''t believe that the emaciated old man who was spouting about the apocalypse was Quinto Kindle, the First Savior. Those words that flashed in front of him confirmed his suspicions. From the first time he saw the old man, he felt that he was familiar; Atlan felt like he had seen him before. But because he was so far away from the man, he couldn''t remember it. Only when he pushed himself deeper within the crowd and finally reached the very front of the commotion did he finally get a good look at the old man. Gone was the luscious lion''s mane white hair on his head. Gone were the fierce and unrelenting expressions in his eyes. Gone was the arrogant and aggressive smile on his face that intimidated everyone who looked his way. What''s left of him was just skin and bones. He was nothing but a husk of his old self, with his face barely resembling his glorious days. "Oh come on, old man. Stop pretending." "He''s so dramatic." "Will someone wake him up please?" They didn''t know he was dead. Why would they? Immortality was still embedded in their brains and the concept of death was so foreign to them that they hadn''t even thought about it all. Coupled with the fact that they distrusted everything Quinto did, they simply believed that he was faking his ''illness''. After a few minutes, some of the people in the front of the crowd walked over to Quinto''s body and shook him to try and wake him up. They noticed that he was cold to the touch. They found this weird. And just as they were about to voice out their doubts about the whole situation, a few of the soldiers standing by forced themselves through the crowd. They then prevented anyone from coming near him anymore as they transported his body elsewhere. "Okay, folks. The show''s over. He needs to be taken care of." Most of the crowds dispersed when the soldiers intervened. However, the few people who touched the cold corpse of Quinto lingered for a few seconds, with doubts flashing in their eyes. However, they quickly shook their heads and threw away the thought forming in their mind. Quinto passed out, nothing more. "Hey, are you okay?" Lizzi looked at Atlan with a worried expression. She saw the absent-minded look on his face. "Yeah¡­it''s just¡­that was the First Savior. That was the Quinto Kindle." She sighed. Just like everybody who watched everything unfold, she was also disappointed with what happened to him. She still remembered the days when she idolized the legends told about his exploits. "It''s such a shame what happened to him. He''s become a crazed old fool. He used to be the symbol of hope and strength in this City and the whole world, but now¡­" She didn''t want to speak about it anymore because the more she thought about it, the more she regretted the circumstances. "He must''ve been so powerful¡­" Atlan muttered. He looked at his Soul System and the powers he gained from reaping the very First Savior¡ªthe man who lived for thousands of years accumulating strength. He gained another LifeSkill, which had the job of a sniper. Surprisingly, it was SSS class rated. This was the first time he had ever heard of someone else having a SSS class rated LifeSkill. The best one he had ever seen was Yasmine, but she was already considered to be a transcendent talent with a very bright future. But the fact that Quinto had this LifeSkill meant that there were others with SSS class LifeSkills out there. Atlan immediately upgraded this LifeSkill to the 2nd stage. [You have successfully advanced through the 1st Stage Student Realm of your SSS class LifeSkill Apocalyptic Hellfire] [Consolidation period: 12 hrs: 59 mins: 50secs] Getting the SSS class LifeSkill was already a tremendous reward in and of itself, but that wasn''t the only thing he received when he reaped the death of Quinto. He looked at his Soul System and saw that he gained a Trait. [Trait] ¡ª 10x level booster What''s this? "Lizzie, do you know something called Trait?" Lizzie tilted her head and thought for a second. But, in her hundred years of life, she hadn''t heard of something called Trait. "Sorry, I don''t know. Why do you ask?" Atlan waved his hands. "It''s fine. I just thought I heard someone talk about it. I must have misheard them." Lizzie didn''t question it any further. After a few seconds of silence, Lizzie suddenly jolted as she remembered something that she was supposed to say. "Oh right! I forgot to tell you why I''ve been looking for you." "What''s wrong?" "It''s something that''s going to rid your mind of what happened." Lizzie guided Atlan up the steps of the HeadQuarters. When she opened the door, the first thing he saw was a few Saviors with green battle suits gathered around the reception area. They all had youthful faces, and he didn''t recognize any of them¨Cexcept for one. For some reason, Neumann was among the youthful group of Saviors. Once Neumann saw Atlan walking with Lizzie towards him, he waved his hands. "What are we doing in the HeadQuarters?" Atlan asked Lizzie. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She smiled. "You remember your prize for the competition, right?" "Yes. My reward is a mission in the Remedium in a week." "Well, good news. Something happened and your schedule has moved up!" "When?" "Now!" Chapter 31 - 31: Preparation Atlan couldn''t hide the surprise from his face. "Are you happy? Your first mission is only at a 1st stage Student difficulty." Happy is not the right word. When he first found out about his mission in the Remedium, he wasn''t that surprised. He knew that he would eventually have to do his job and go to his first mission. He was given a very gracious one-week period where he could prepare for the mission. Atlan took full advantage of this and killed as many Pseudo Canzers as he could. By doing so, he was able to advance his Mage LifeSkill to C class. And he was even able to get another Genus and advance it to 2-star. It had only been 4 days since then, and he thought he''d have 3 more days to practice. Turns out he didn''t. Fortunately, though, he was able to acquire another SSS class LifeSkill from the unfortunate tragedy earlier. If people found out that his SSS class and his C class LifeSkill were at the 3rd stage Student Realm, they would feel that he was overqualified. This mission was only intended for beginners at the 1st stage Student realm. Yet Atlan had two LifeSkills, which is already a cheat itself, in the 3rd stage difficulty. And the fact that he was a Porter made this extremely interesting. He wasn''t even going to be fighting the Canzers! "Your teammates are right there." She pointed at the youthful group in the reception area. "They are also beginners like you." When Atlan and Lizzie finally arrived at the reception area, Neumann introduced Atlan to the rest of the group. "This here is our star porter, Atlan." Everyone''s eyes gleamed when they finally put a face to the man they had heard so much about. "I can''t believe you''re only in the first stage like us!" "You were able to defeat two 3rd stage Students in a race! How did you do that?" "Even though we''re the same age, you''re so much better than us already." "I''m glad someone as capable as you is our porter." Everyone greeted him with praises and compliments. Even though all of them were roughly the same age, they all looked at Atlan as if he was a senior they deeply respected. Atlan was a little bit overwhelmed with their enthusiasm. He didn''t know how to respond to them, so he looked towards Neumann for help. However, Neumann just winked at him and nodded his head. He hyped up Atlan to the rest of the team so that they''d quickly integrate him into the group. The best part was that Neumann didn''t have to lie. All of Atlan''s achievements were true and weren''t embellished at all. His plan worked as they all got along well. "Hello¡­I''m Atlan," he greeted them. They then introduced themselves one by one and told him about their respective jobs. The oldest out of all of them was a man who was 20 years old, and he had a C class Pugilist LifeSkill. The others were younger than him, about 18 and 19 years old. One boy had a D class Archer LifeSkill, the other had a C class Tank LifeSkill, and the last boy had a D class Scout LifeSkill. The only girl in the group had a C class Stun Wizard LifeSkill. Atlan noticed that all of them had LifeSkills lower than A class. This meant that these groups of youths were natives of Genesis City; they were born here. If they weren''t, then they wouldn''t have been able to enter Genesis City in the first place. "This time, there''s seven of us that are going on this mission," said Neumann, taking the lead. "You''re joining us?" Atlan was surprised because Neumann was at the 4th stage of the Student realm. "Yes. In beginner missions like these, there is always a veteran present to help the newbies. Don''t worry, I won''t interfere with your first mission. I''m only going to act if it becomes dangerous." S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The other newbies were relieved to hear that Neumann was going to be their guardian angel for their first mission. It was reassuring to know that a veteran would be there to cover for their mistakes. "Sir Neumann," greeted the receptionist from behind him. Neumann turned around and replied to her. "Is the Canzer Report ready?" The receptionist smiled. "Yes. The report just came down from HeadQuarters." She handed him a thin stone tablet about 8 inches wide and 12 inches long. Atlan got a glimpse of the stone tablet and saw letter carvings etched into the very stone. Neumann saw Atlan''s curious look and explained. "This is a Canzer Report. This is compiled by the Operators who monitored the Symptoms manifested in the City. It details where the Symptom is, what type of Canzer we''re dealing with, and the equipment needed to defeat them." "Why a stone tablet?" Neumann chuckled and the receptionist answered it for him. "It''s supposed to symbolize that the Canzer Report is final. It''s etched in stone. There are a lot of Vanguards who second-guess the orders of the Operators. Hmph. Knives should stay knives. They shouldn''t have foul mouths." Looks like the two specialties really don''t get along¡­ Neumann awkwardly let out a forced laugh. He understood both sides and knew that both Knives and Quills had their flaws. Some people understood that, but there were also a lot of people who hated the other side regardless. Wemby and the receptionist were two sides of the same coin. "Ahem," the receptionist coughed. "Anyway, we have already packed up the special equipment for the mission. Please pick them up." Neumann walked over to the receptionist''s office and took out a colossal backpack that could easily fit three people together. It must have been extremely heavy because he had trouble with the weight and had to drag it out of the reception area. "This is your job, Atlan. You''ll have to carry this into the Remedium." The rest of the youths in their team gasped when they heard that. They knew the strength of a Savior in the 4th stage Student realm. And if Neumann had trouble picking that up, then it would be unbelievable for a 1st stage youth like Atlan to carry it through the Remedium. "Are you kidding sir? Atlan''s impressive but that''s impossible¡ª" Their complaints were quickly silenced. Atlan walked over to the backpack, casually picked it up with just one hand, and slung it over his back. He secured the straps to his chest and looked at everyone expectantly. "So, when are we going?" Their mouths went agape. Chapter 32 - 32: 2nd Street They were all surprised at seeing Atlan pick up the tons of weight on his shoulders like it was as light as a feather. He didn''t even look like he was struggling at all. "Woah¡­" "As expected of a Porter¡­" Neumann and Lizzie chuckled to themselves because they found the youth''s reactions amusing. They reacted the same way that they did when they first saw Atlan show his strength. "Okay, now that we''re ready, let''s depart," said Neumann as he led the group out of the HeadQuarters. "Where are we going," asked Atlan. Neumann showed him the stone tablet with the engraved Canzer Report. "This says that the Symptom appeared in the SpringField District, specifically the 2nd street." Lizzie added, "They''ll get there by their mounts. But because the equipment you''re carrying is too heavy, we''ll go there by truck." Atlan saw that the youths, along with Neumann, all mounted their horses parked by the side of the street. "Those are presents from their parents. Usually, a beginner like them can''t get access to those mounts as of yet," Lizzie said. Atlan someday wanted a mount of his own. But it seemed that it was unnecessary since he was a Porter carrying hundreds of kilograms on his back. Unless his horse was a colossal monster, then it wouldn''t be able to hold his weight. They all departed and went through the streets of the City, getting away from the City Center and towards the middle layer. The mounts were at the front, and the truck was following them from behind. "You aren''t nervous about your first mission?" asked Lizzie. "Not that much." She smiled. "That''s good. This mission has a 1st stage Student difficulty, which means that it can be completed by a group of novices in the 1st stage. And with Neumann with you to assist, there''s nothing to worry about." Atlan smiled and didn''t say anything further. He watched as the truck traversed through the streets of the City and through a small bridge that separated the inner and middle layers of the City. Along the way, he saw a sign on the street that said, sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
That''s the location of the symptom¡­we''re close. SpringField District was made out of tightly packed residential apartments that were all about two or three floors high. Some were abandoned and some had living residents, but all of the apartments looked to have aged a lot. There were chipped paints, broken windows, and leaking sewers all around. These houses weren''t as good as the houses near the City Center. The roads also got thinner, just enough for the truck to pass by. As they got closer, Atlan saw soldiers guiding residents out of their houses, whether they wanted to or not. Finally, the group of horses at the front of the truck stopped as they finally reached their location. Neumann and the youths dismounted and walked forward. Lizzie and Atlan followed suit after he put the massive bag on his back. A group of soldiers barricaded the whole 2nd street of the district, preventing anyone from coming in or out. In the very middle, there was a large circular construct that was as tall as two humans. Inside the circle was a portal made out of black swirling liquid, just like what Atlan saw at the elevator in the HeadQuarters. This must be the portal to the Remedium, thought Atlan. Suddenly, Atlan felt a shaking on the ground. It was an earthquake. He thought something was wrong, but when he looked around and noticed that none of them were panicking, he calmed down. "Let''s keep this brief. As you all felt just now, the Symptoms are getting worse." Neumann turned around and faced the youths. "We are facing a Destruction Canzer called the Deiztruphia." Neumann then gave specific instructions to the youths to help them in their fight. Meanwhile, Atlan whispered to Lizzie. "Destruction Canzer?" "They''re one of the two types of Canzers. Destruction Canzer specializes in durability and ruination. This means that their symptoms usually involve some kind of destruction around the City." Atlan looked ahead beyond the portal and saw a glimpse of the apartment houses on the other side. He was surprised to see that most of the buildings were leaning on one side or the other. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the walls of the buildings were melting like hot wax! The balconies on the second floor were drooping down. The glass windows, instead of breaking from collision, deformed like wet clay. Bricks, cement, and stone buildings lost all their toughness and melted like hot lava. And because those walls were starting to lose their integrity, the apartments leaned to one side and crashed. And since the buildings were so packed, the destruction created a domino effect that toppled every building in the street. "That''s the symptom?" She nodded. "Yes, and if the Canzer isn''t killed, it could get worse or spread to other places." "If we kill the Canzer, will those houses return to normal?" "Unfortunately, no. The damage is already done. But don''t worry, we have Operators who can rebuild houses in a matter of hours." At this point, Neumann finished his orientation with the youths. They already knew the theory behind teamwork and all that, but he made sure to remind them to stick to what they learned. Then, he walked over to Atlan and told him what he needed to do. "Atlan, your job is simple. You stay behind the backline carrying that equipment. And once we defeat the Canzer, I''m gonna order you to take out the bag and put it down on the ground. After that, you don''t have to worry as the equipment activates on its own. Once everything''s over, you pack up the equipment back into the bag and we go home. Easy." Atlan nodded and took all of Neumann''s words to heart. His job was very easy. "Okay, let''s go and finish your very first mission!" DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Chapter 33 - 33: Beat Atlan felt a slight thumping rhythm in the ground, as if there was a drum that beat beneath the ground he stood on. He looked forward and had the feeling that the thumping was coming from the 2nd street, where the symptoms were. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM He felt it again. "Do you feel that?" "Feel what? It''s probably just an effect of the symptoms." Lizzie didn''t feel what Atlan felt. "Okay, are you all ready?" asked Neumann. The five youths all raised their weapons in the air and cheered on this momentous occasion. This was their first mission. "Hey kiddo, don''t get too worried. You got this. Good luck." Lizzie patted his back and smiled at him. "Thanks." "Now go and beat some Canzers!" she shouted to get him hyped up. Atlan awkwardly raised his hand and uttered, "woOooOh!" Lizzie couldn''t help but laugh at seeing Atlan''s awkward war cry. Atlan was very intelligent and capable most of the time, but Lizzie found it endearing that he had a very awkward side to him sometimes. Neumann led the rest of the youths and entered the black portal in front of them. They quickly disappeared into the Remedium as soon as they stepped foot over the portal construct. Atlan was the only one left behind. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Strengthening his resolve, Atlan stepped forward and entered the Remedium. As soon as he walked inside, he immediately saw the strange inverted colors of the Remedium. The sky was orange, the cement on the ground turned white, and the reddish brown apartment houses all turned sky blue. He wasn''t that surprised when he saw this scene; this wasn''t different from the Training Hall Remedium. However, there was one thing completely different this time. The texture of everything turned into fibers as small as strings intertwined along one direction. Everything was made up of these threads: the roof, the railings, and even the graffiti painted along the walls. And each of these fibers twitched and squirmed sporadically within five seconds. It gave Atlan the impression that he was inside the muscle of a living being. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Be careful," warned Neumann to the team. He led the way and was the first one to see the problem. There were neon green puddles of goo all around the street. Atlan and the others watched as the slime from atop the roof dripped down onto the sidewalk below. The mysterious green goo seeped into the small gaps of the intertwined fibers and as soon as the fibers twitched, they suddenly snapped in half as if the force from its normal spasm was suddenly too much to bear. The fibers soon lost all its luster and no longer squirmed. "The Deiztruphia will continue producing these green biles if we don''t kill it soon. More destroyed fibers mean more destruction in the real world." "How will we find it?" asked Atlan. Neumann looked back at him and said, "We''ll know when it''s near." The group continued to walk through the streets cautiously. The youths were already in their positions, with the C class Tank at the front of the C class Stun Wizard, the D class Archer, and the C class pugilist. The D class scout positioned himself away from the main group and walked a little bit further by himself. Neumann was at the very front guiding everyone while Atlan was at the very back. Finally, after walking for a few minutes, the group came across a secluded back alley of two apartment buildings that were destroyed by green goo all around it. The fibers that made up the walls and the fire exit that led up to the 4th floor of the apartment building were all destroyed and frayed. This place no longer spasmed and twitched like the rest of the street. It looked lifeless. "This is the place. This is its lair," whispered Neumann. He signaled everybody to watch their steps as they traversed through the narrow pathway leading to the Canzer''s den. Neumann peeked out from the corner and saw their target. He carefully signaled for the others to take a look as well. The Deiztruphia Canzer was a creature that walked on all of its four legs, covered with short black fur. Its hind legs were much bigger and more muscular than its front legs. On its back was a hard shell or carapace made out of green honeycomb chitin that protected its torso and its shoulders. The weirdest part of its body was its head. It resembled the shape of a human, yet there were no eyes, no nose, and no ears. There was only a mouth in the middle of its face. Its long and wide tongue lay out of its mouth, dribbling green goo on the ground. The Canzer hadn''t noticed them yet. It sprawled its legs on the floor like a dog relaxing on a hot day. But it didn''t know that there was a group of Saviors positioning themselves to attack its peaceful slumber. "Attack!" Neumann shouted. The D class Archer was the first to move as he activated his LifeSkill, empowering the tip of his arrow to have billowing flames. The arrow flew through the air and landed directly on the Canzer''s head, sinking till the tip was fully embedded into the Canzer''s skin. KYAWWOOOOO, it screamed. The pugilist took this chance to close the distance. He jumped on the garbage bin to the side and used it as a jumping pad up to a balcony. With his pugilist LifeSkill, his arms twisted like screws as he jumped down towards the Canzer, drilling through its forearms. Violet blood spurted everywhere. The Canzer roared and flailed its large tongue everywhere, flinging green goo everywhere. The tank proved his worth as he raised his shield and created a 2-meter by 2-meter holographic shield. The green goo splattered out the shield, protecting the wizard. With the Canzer active and conscious of its attackers, it stood on its two hind legs and flailed its front arms and tongue in a defensive move. The scout looked at the stun wizard and saw that she was casting her spell. He quickly activated his LifeSkill to distract the Canzer. He shouted, and the visible sound waves traveled toward the Canzer, getting its attention. While it wasn''t paying attention to her, the Stun Wizard used her LifeSkill and a ball of ice appeared on her palm. She grasped it in her hands and flung it towards the Canzer. It landed on its hind legs as the ice spread through its thick fur. No matter how much it tried to, it couldn''t move it anymore! The five youths moved with perfect teamwork as they successfully ambushed the Canzer and did as much damage as they could at the start of the battle. Violet blood oozed out of its body and pooled underneath. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Chapter 34 - 34: Heal The scout tried to attack the Canzer while it was in its frozen state. However, sharp claws suddenly came thrashing down towards him. "Argh!" He didn''t expect to see the Canzer recover from the ice in its body so fast. Three gashes appeared on his torso, staining his green battle suit bloody red. The pugilist was caught off guard too. He tried to use his twisting tornado punch again and dealt a heavy blow to the head, but the Canzer suddenly spat out green goo toward him. He thought he''d be able to duck away from it, but he didn''t account for the green goo''s unpredictable splash pattern. The acidic liquid splotched on his left shoulder and a little bit on his neck. Smoke came out as the acid burned away his battle suit and skin. The tank panicked when he saw this. He quickly rushed over to their side and put up his shield. "Are you okay?" The tank tried to save the scout and the pugilist, but that was a mistake. He forgot that he was the only one standing in the way between the Canzer and the Stun Wizard. GYAOOO The Deiztruphia Canzer noticed the lone woman in front of it. It roared and got on all fours. It dug its feet into the fibers on the ground and used them to charge toward the Stun Wizard at fast speeds¨Cmuch faster than what they could all react to. The Stun Wizard was dazed as she saw the Canzer rush towards her. In her panic, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen. SHINGGG Just when she thought that she''d have a thousand kilograms of force slamming on her body at top speeds, a holographic bubble suddenly appeared around her body. The Canzer collided head-first into the bubble and was repelled away, unable to break through. The collision disoriented the Canzer as it stumbled and crashed into the trash bin. "Stop panicking," Neumann shouted to the youths. "Just do what you all practiced. You don''t have to worry about your injuries." Neumann''s reminders broke them out of their stupor. In the midst of all the excitement and nervousness, the group forgot their respective roles in the fight. They got too impatient and that led to mistakes and injuries that could have been easily avoided. "Let''s group up!" shouted the tank. They all nodded as they slowly backed away from the stunned Canzer and used this time to recenter themselves. "I''ll protect the stun wizard and the archer." The tank reminded himself to protect the most vulnerable. Because of his mistake, the stun wizard was almost knocked out. "I''ll have to aim for its legs now." The archer tried to save both the scout and the pugilist, but because he aimed for the head, his shots missed. He got too ambitious. The pugilist took a deep breath and forced himself to be patient. His injuries reminded him of what would happen if he tried to attack at an inopportune moment. The stun wizard remained silent and forced herself to calm her nerves. Yet, her hands still shook from that terrifying experience. "Scout! Are you okay? Can you continue?" asked the tank. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The scout held his bleeding torso and forced himself up. He gave his team a smile and a thumbs up. Now that they knew the consequences of their carelessness, the group became more careful. The Canzer got up from the trash bin and roared at the teens. They steeled themselves and got into their respective positions, just like they practiced. Atlan watched as the group started to work like a well-oiled machine. They stopped acting by themselves and started to communicate their moves to one another. This led them to cover for each other''s downtime. The scout, the tank, and the stun wizard all worked together for defense and distraction. Whenever the Canzer tried to attack their group, they would stun or distract it enough for the others to escape. Meanwhile, the archer and the pugilist took that time to deal as much damage to the Canzer when they found an opening. Slowly but surely, their gears got going and they settled on a safe rhythm in their battle against the Canzer. After half an hour of fighting, the Canzer couldn''t keep itself standing anymore. It limped as it tried to use its front legs to move closer to its attackers. The combined attacks from the archer and the pugilist injured the Canzer''s extremities to the point of crippling them. Atlan thought that the battle would soon be over. "It''s not over yet," muttered Neumann beside him. "What do you mean?" Neumann pointed at the Canzer. "All Destruction Canzers have a special ability¡­like that." Just then, he saw the arrows embedded in its four legs start to fall out till the wounds closed. The twisted fur and skin it suffered from the pugilist''s Tornado Punch LifeSkill turned back to normal. The injuries on the Canzer''s body started to heal! It was at this point that the Canzer fell on the floor and covered its body with its large shell. The youths had no way of penetrating through it. The large tongue on its head peeked out of the shell and shot out green goo up the air like a fountain. No one could approach it unless they wanted to burn their bodies in acid. In just a few more minutes, the Canzer would return to normal and their hard work would all be for naught. Why aren''t they panicking? Is this normal? "Atlan. It''s time!" Neumann patted him on the back. "Put down the bag on the floor." Atlan had more questions, but he knew that this wasn''t the time for it. He immediately took out the large boulder-like bag on his back and put it on the floor. He undid the straps on the bag and let the whole thing unravel. Layers upon layers of fabric laid down on the floor like a carpet until a shiny metallic cube showed itself. This cube was twice as tall as a normal person, and it had intricate wavy and curvy lettering etched onto the very material. As soon as it finished unraveling, its edges suddenly glowed a bright yellow light. "Step back," said Neumann. "It will activate by itself." Just then, the cube suddenly floated up in the air until it was towering over them 10 feet in the air. KUSHHH A grid-like pattern emerged on its surface, separating the whole thing into 27 smaller cubes. And after a few moments, it all flew away in different directions in the sky. It didn''t stop until it encompassed the whole Remedium in a dome. The cubes glowed and shot out glowing lines that connected each cube. A small shockwave emanated from the ''dome'', signaling its completion. Nothing physically changed, but Atlan looked around and felt the difference. It felt like the air got heavier. Why does this feel familiar? GYAOOOO The Deiztruphia Canzer suddenly trembled the same moment Atlan felt the air change. Its whole body spasmed as if it were being electrocuted by lightning. It couldn''t help but extend its arms and head out of its shell. Atlan noticed something then. The Canzer stopped healing! The bruises in its body returned and the cuts on its body let out violet blood again. "Destruction Canzers can keep regenerating as much as they need. That construct prevents them from healing." Neumann muttered. "How?" He shrugged. "I heard it''s something about their weakness. It has something to do with Angels." Atlan was surprised. Canzers have a weakness against Angels? Chapter 35 - 35: Back Atlan finally figured out why that feeling was so familiar. When he felt the air change, he felt a part of himself resonate with it. After all, Atlan''s bloodline was part Angel. He was the Angelic Reaper of Souls. And if that construct was somehow part Angel, then it would make sense why he could feel it. He found it interesting that Canzers seemed to have a weakness with Angelic powers. Will my SSS class Cherubic Retribution work on them? he wondered. Fortunately and unfortunately, he wouldn''t get a chance to use it. But he found it fascinating to know that Operators could somehow harness a power similar to Angels. This made him intensely curious about how constructs were made. How were they able to use an angel''s power? Was it a replication? Operators are much more complex than I thought. He didn''t have much knowledge about what Operators did and what made them so special. However, his encounter with this construct left him more curious to know about this second specialty LifeSkill. "Operators make constructs that specifically target and weaken Canzers. You bring that construct with us. And that helps us Vanguards kill the Canzers and purge them from the Remedium. Do you see how important your job is now? You are the link between the two specialties." Atlan nodded. Without that Construct, he could see them eventually getting dead tired from constantly fighting a regenerating Canzer. "Usually, we set up the construct early in the fight, but I wanted to teach the youngsters a valuable lesson." Atlan looked at the youths and saw them heave a sigh of relief when they saw the weakening Canzer. It had no more energy to even fling green goo towards them. "Don''t get complacent," warned Neumann. "Kill it now or will I have to deprive you of that honor?" They all gathered and watched as the archer notched a flaming arrow in his bow. He took a deep breath and shot it accurately in the Canzer''s forehead. THUMPP The Canzer finally stopped moving. Its long tongue lay lifeless on the pavement. And for good measure, the pugilist punched the arrow deeper into the Canzer''s head till it came out the other side. The Destruction Canzer was dead. Mission completed. "We did it!" They cheered. The scout and the tank jumped in celebration while the rest slumped on the ground, exhausted from the fight. After half an hour of hard fighting, they finally vanquished the Canzer. They didn''t come out of it unscathed though, as they all gained numerous injuries on their body. But it was all worth it in the end. They would gain experience from this fight. [You have reaped the death of a Canzer: Deiztruphia] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 2000 experience] sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan didn''t think he''d get that much experience just from this mission. He didn''t even do anything; he just stayed in the backline and watched everything unfold. His mysterious trait, the one he gained from reaping the death of the First Savior, turned out to be a tremendous gift of luck. It was able to multiply his experience by 10! He was already getting a ton of experience just by reaping any deaths he came across. He only got a small amount of experience from that, but this trait would make him have an excess of it. He didn''t hate it though. "Congratulations on completing your first mission," Neumann clapped. "I know it''s been hard, but I commend you all for finishing it in just half an hour." They all celebrated this win by giving each other a round of applause. The youths thanked Neumann for his protection and his much-needed advice during the fight. If it wasn''t for him, they weren''t even sure if they could have defeated the Canzer. They also thanked Atlan for his part, which made him feel awkward. He did the least out of all of them, but they still appreciated him nonetheless. "What happens now?" asked Atlan. Neumann looked up at the sky and said, "Now, the god will send down his rewards for our mission. He''ll give all of us experience points equally." The youths rejoiced when they heard that. The reason why they worked so hard for this mission was because they needed the experience. They all waited patiently for something to happen, but nothing did. Ten minutes elapsed, yet there was no sign that the god would send down the rewards. "Why haven''t we gotten the experience yet?" "Isn''t there supposed to be a pillar of light that comes down and blesses us with rewards?" "It''s supposed to come down immediately after we defeat the Canzer though¡­" They all looked towards Neumann and gauged his expression. He had a steady face to prevent further fear from the youths, but on the inside, he was panicking. In all the years of his experience in the Remedium, he never saw a delay this long. Something''s wrong, Neumann thought. He looked back at the stone tablet and rechecked the Canzer Report. It said that there was only one Deiztriphia Canzer present in the Remedium. The mission should be over. Yet it didn''t. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Atlan heard it again. This time, it was getting louder and more intense. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM It''s getting closer! Atlan panicked. "I think we should leave." The rest of the youths were a little bit reluctant with this as they wanted to get those experience points. They already killed the Canzer; they deserved the rewards. And if they left now, this would put a stain on their records. But, they all agreed that it was better to retreat now. If there was something they knew, then it was better to be safe than sorry. The Remedium was always unpredictable. The youths all got to their battle stances and walked back from where they came. This time, Neumann was on his toes. He stayed close to the youths. After a few minutes, they could see the black portal swirling in the distance at the end of the street. They were close home. The youths relaxed a bit, feeling the safety of seeing the portal. But then Atlan noticed something. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM The thumping was coming from the direction of the portal! "Run!" warned Atlan. But it was too late. The ground quaked until the fibers on the ground came loose. They felt helpless as the ground that they stood on caved in and they felt the weightlessness of free fall. Chapter 36 - 36: Tunnels Atlan faintly remembered the figures of Neumann and the rest of the teens flailing around as they fell into the same chasm as him. When he opened his eyes again, he seemed to be in a different space. No one was here with him. He stumbled on the wall beside him and felt the texture of wet, slimy, brick in his hands. Moss seemed to grow on this wall. Judging from the fibers he felt from the wall, he knew that he was still in the Remedium. He felt it strange that he could feel the texture of moss on bricks even though the walls were made up of fibers intertwined with each other. He noticed that everything in this place looked white. This meant that the real-world equivalent of this place must be dark and dim, the exact opposite of the tint he was seeing right now. He pinched his nose. The acrid and pungent smell of decay hit his senses. He didn''t think he''d smell this scent again after he left the Unclaimed Lands. From the distance, he heard the faint sounds of water dripping and echoing around the walls. When he looked to the side, he saw that there were running water-like fibers on the channel down a step below. On the other side, he saw a wall similar to the one he was on now. And spaced out evenly along the wall were small alcoves where torches gave out a small blue flame. He looked around and saw that he could either only go forward or backward. This place seemed like a winding narrow tunnel underground. He wasn''t familiar with this place. When he looked backward, he faintly saw a dead end with iron grates preventing him from going back. With no other choice, Atlan decided to walk forward. He needed to find the exit. He needed to reunite with Neumann and the others. He wanted to know if they were safe. Since they all fell from the same place, Atlan guessed that they were also in the same narrow winding tunnels as him. If he kept walking forward, he would eventually run into them. He walked for minutes on end, with his steps faintly echoing in the tunnels. Eventually, he heard scurrying in the distance. His eyes lit up when he thought he was hearing the footsteps of his team, but his expression soon turned grim when he heard four sets of stomps in the distance. This wasn''t from a human. This was a creature who walked on all fours. Is it¡­ Atlan''s guess, unfortunately, turned out right as he soon saw a figure in the distance, frolicking on the liquid-like flowing fibers down steps. It had short black fur, walked on all fours, had thicker and muscular hind legs than the front legs, a hard shell on its torso, and a human-like head with nothing but a mouth and a large tongue that dripped green goo. It was a Deiztruphia Canzer. It hadn''t noticed him yet, but it was walking towards him slowly. If he didn''t do anything, it would eventually notice him and attack him. He quickly decided to turn around and try to escape from the Canzer. However, when he looked back, he suddenly saw a different tunnel than the one he walked away from! There was now an intersection that led to the left and right tunnels. The worst part was that he heard two other sets of hooves clopping from the intersection. His guess turned out correct too as two other Deiztruphia Canzers meandered their way towards him. He was surrounded by a place that didn''t follow the rules of physics. I have no other choice. I have to fight. Atlan knew the difficulty that his team went through just to fight one Canzer. It took five 1st stage Students just to kill one of them in half an hour. And they had a lot of trouble killing it too. They came out of the fight exhausted and injured, barely beating the Canzer. They also needed the protection of a 4th stage Student like Neumann. Fighting one Deiztruphia Canzer was a hard task for a lone man like Atlan. It seemed impossible to fight all three at once. However, he reminded himself that he wasn''t just like any other Savior. He had unique powers that could help him overcome this difficult task. He had four LifeSkills in his repertoire. Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ªMage: (C) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage Two of them were at the 3rd Stage Student Realm, and he had three SSS class LifeSkills. He watched his team''s fight with the Canzer and knew of its attack tendencies. He knew that it liked to spout green acid goo on its enemies or charge at them if they were at a distance. If he got surrounded by a spray of green goo from both sides, he wouldn''t be able to escape it. So, he decided to disable the two Canzers behind him first. Thankfully, he had his Mage LifeSkill: Mucus Spray, which was a sticky substance that could immobilize the two of them and give him a chance to fight one of them head-on. GYAOOOOO The two Canzers behind finally took notice of his presence. They screamed to the top of their lungs and it echoed through the tunnels and reached the Canzer in front of Atlan. This alerted it of his presence. I have no other choice. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The two Canzers used their muscular legs to charge towards him at fast speeds. Fibers from the ground burst as the Canzers ran through them. One of them jumped up to the curved ceiling and used its claws to run upside down! This left Atlan no chance to escape. GRAOOOO The lone Canzer in front of him growled, and Atlan could hear the gurgling sound of green acidic goo on its throat. It was planning to attack. Chapter 37 - 37: (Bonus) Plan Atlan kept his eyes on the Canzer in front of him. He tried his best to calm his nerves as he heard the other two Canzers stomping at the ground and running towards him at top speeds. Those two were still ways away from him. But the immediate threat to his life right now was the gurgling Canzer preparing to spout acid towards his face. TSHHOOO Just as he thought, the Canzer pointed its large red tongue towards him, and a straight line of green goo shot towards him at fast speeds. Atlan saw the goo coming towards him with crystal clear clarity. He knew where it was going and he knew when it was going to hit him. After that, dodging was easy. He bent his back and let the green goo fly past him. He was glad that the Canzer decided to spray it out in such a perfect flow that it came out like a straight line. Atlan felt his heart beating. Unbeknownst to him, there was a slight smile on his face. When he moved his body like that, he felt very free. It felt like he had full control over his body and he could move it any way he wished as long as he could think of it. Why couldn''t they dodge such an easy attack? Atlan wondered why his team wasn''t able to duck away from the slow attack. They had to rely on the Tank''s shielding LifeSkill to defend themselves from the acid. DUG DUG DUG But this was no time to ponder. Atlan looked back and saw the two Canzers from the ground and from up the ceiling lunging at him with their sharp claws. He looked around and saw the recess on the wall, where the torch glowed a bright blue flame. He quickly ran towards it and used the alcove to jump sideways, perfectly dodging the two claws coming for his throat. The two Canzers tumbled and splashed on the free-flowing fibers on the bottom step, unable to keep their balance after their attack failed. Atlan rolled to the side and landed perfectly. He was a natural at this. But the Canzers didn''t let him have a second of reprieve. The lone Canzer charged towards him the moment he landed on the brick flooring. The Canzer pounced toward him, but it didn''t use its sharp front claws to attack. Instead, it gurgled its throat again, preparing to spit out acid at Atlan in point-blank range! Atlan didn''t want to smell the scent of his own burning flesh, so he quickly scooped up the liquid-like fibers flowing from down below and threw them toward the Canzer''s head. The Canzer spat out a mist of green goo towards Atlan, but it was stopped by a swathe of fibrils. TSHHH These fibers had the same consistency as water, and Atlan''s quick thinking allowed him to create a blanket of water to shield him away from the misty spray of green goo. Atlan crawled back away from the Canzer to give himself space. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This barrage of attacks from the Canzers led Atlan to realize that it wasn''t ideal to fight three Canzers at the same time. Even though he could dodge their attacks, it would only be a matter of time till they were able to take advantage of their numbers. Atlan decided to use his C class Mucus Spray to disable the Canzer''s movements. He looked at his opponents and saw that all three of them were getting ready for a full frontal attack. He reached down his Soul System and created a giant hand that grasped the brown planet LifeSkill. Because he practiced it so much, he was able to manifest it quite quickly. His hands glowed a brown light as the magic filled his veins. He felt his palms getting hotter as the Mucus Spray manifested in reality. Now, he just waited for the perfect time. He wanted to catch all three at the same time and immobilize them all. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Two of the Canzers lunged at him from both sides of the wall, using it as their springboard to strike at Atlan and mince his body into pieces. Atlan quickly rolled forward and let himself fall to the shallow water-like fibers down below. This saved him from their dangerous claws, but the third Canzer already shot out its acid towards where he landed. He copied his tactics from before and stomped his feet on the ground, creating a wall of water as a barrier to protect from the acid. After that, he looked back and saw the two Canzers in a line towards him. It was the perfect chance he was waiting for! A spray of black web-like strings shot out from his hands and spread out in a cone until it encompassed both Canzers into a bind. The two Deiztruphia Canzers fell on the floor struggling and flailing their bodies as they tried to get rid of the black web-like strings that stuck to their bodies. His plan worked! However, it wasn''t a permanent solution. He saw that slowly, the Canzers were able to tear through the webs with their brute strength. I need to use this opportunity to deal with the one remaining first. Atlan faced the lone Canzer and saw that it was preparing another straight line of acidic goo towards him. It didn''t learn its lesson that Atlan was too fast for the attack to hit him. As the shot of neon green acid came towards his face, Atlan ducked down and immediately lunged towards the Canzer at his top speed. The Canzer was left stupefied when it saw Atlan suddenly appear in front of it. Atlan had a two-step plan. First, he was finally going to activate his SSS class Physique LifeSkill to push the Canzer on the wall and disorient it. Then, at long last, he would activate his SSS class Cherubic Retribution to finally kill it. After all, he learned that Canzers, at least the Deiztruphia Canzer, had a weakness against Angel power. He had a feeling that his LifeSkill would be able to kill it. As he reached an arm''s length away from the Canzer, Atlan activated his Physique LifeSkill. He easily manifested a giant hand that covered the black, skull-filled LifeSkill planet. Black shadows emerged from his whole body and enveloped him with flames of total and utter darkness. He looked like a being who emerged from the emptiness of space. But despite it, Atlan didn''t feel much different. He closed his fist and punched the Canzer''s torso protected by its hard chitinous shell. He was going to punch it and cause the Canzer to slam on the wall and disorient it. However¡­ CRACK Atlan''s eyes went wide when he saw the Canzer''s shell crumble into a million pieces as his hand pierced through it, turning its inside into mush. Chapter 38 - 38: (Bonus) How strong? Atlan felt the warm violet blood flow down from his arms. He was stunned in silence. He retracted his hands as the Deiztruphia Canzer fell lifelessly on the ground. It had a large hole in its chest, with broken pieces of its shell everywhere. He looked at his hands and saw the black flames surrounding the outline of his arms. This is my Physique LifeSkill? S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. When he first activated his LifeSkill, he found himself no different than he was before. He didn''t feel powerful and he didn''t feel protected; he just felt as if there was a slight change in his skin that was barely noticeable. But since it was a Physique LifeSkill, he knew that it would somehow empower his physical strength to the point of being able to lift thousands of kilograms of weight while running without any problem. Since he could already do that without the help of his LifeSkill, he was already much stronger than normal Porters. His original plan was to use this Physique LifeSkill to disorient the Canzer. This would allow him to use its weakness against Angel powers by activating his Cherubic Retribution. However, he didn''t think that he''d be able to kill the Canzer with it in just one strike. [You have killed a Canzer: Deiztruphia] [You have reaped the death of a complex creature] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 5000 experience] He looked down at the corpse of the Canzer and saw its violet blood pooling beneath his feet. A full team of 5 Saviors at the 1st stage student realm took them half an hour to kill a Canzer like this. And they must have spent years training to perfect their teamwork to take down this Canzer in their fastest time. He saw them struggle and suffer injuries trying to kill an ambushed Canzer. Yet Atlan killed the same Canzer with just one move. Not to mention the fact that he was fighting 3 Canzers at the same time before he performed the killing move. So this is the power of a SSS class LifeSkill. What''s surprising about this fact was that his Physique LifeSkill stayed at the 1st stage Student realm. This meant that Atlan could solo a mission meant for a team of 1st stage Saviors with just a 1st Stage LifeSkill. That was absurd. Does this mean that my other SSS class LifeSkills are just as overpowered? It was a possibility that its SSS class was a huge factor in this impossible feat of strength, but it could also be because of its mysterious specialty and job. Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm GYAAOOO! One of the Canzers trapped in his Mucus Spray finally shook itself loose. It charged towards Atlan and leaped up, trying to use its two claws to slice Atlan''s body into two. If this was back then, Atlan would have immediately dodged away from the attack. But he realized he didn''t need to. These Canzers didn''t seem to be too intelligent. If it was, then it would have noticed that one of its comrades already had a fatal gashing wound on its chest. It would have noticed the terrifying aura around Atlan and immediately ran away. His whole body was engulfed in a tame black flame that contrasted with the white walls of the Remedium. The Canzer didn''t care as it tried to pierce through Atlan''s body with its claws. He raised his hand and met the Canzer''s bladed paws. And for a brief second, his entire body was engulfed in a billowing, raging black flame. The two collided. And Atlan felt no resistance at all as he destroyed the Canzer''s front limb with sheer brute force. The claws couldn''t compete and were cracked into pieces, unable to penetrate through Atlan''s tough physique. But Atlan didn''t stop there. He continued to follow through with his punch until he reached the Canzer''s head. And in one fell swoop, he thwacked it back into its shell forcibly, destroying its neck and skull. The Canzer toppled over the ground, with one of its arms broken and mangled while its head was smashed back into its shell. It lay there, dead. [You have killed a Canzer: Deiztruphia] [You have reaped the death of a complex creature] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 5000 experience] Just like that, he killed another Canzer in one move. He couldn''t believe the kind of strength that his Physique could give him. He was glad that he didn''t show his real skills in the real world because this feat of strength would definitely catch their attention. This was no mere B class Physique LifeSkill, it was SSS class! He didn''t want anybody to know about his true strength. Thankfully, everybody already thought that he had already used his Physique LifeSkill. They didn''t know that it was just his natural strength. Just then, Atlan heard a gurgling sound from the only remaining Canzer. It couldn''t free itself from the Mucus Spray no matter how much it tried, so it decided to use its green acid goo to kill Atlan. A single line of green bile came towards Atlan. This time, he didn''t dodge. He let it hit his chest. And as soon as it did, the acid simply disintegrated into a mist. The black flames around his body created a protective layer that prevented any of the green goo from dissolving his battle suit. The Canzer was surprised that its greatest strength was ineffective against a human. Just then, it saw Atlan walk forward. It tried to scurry away from him, but the adhesive from Atlan''s Mucus Spray prevented it from getting far. As a last resort, the Canzer spat out a fountain mist of green acid towards him. But it didn''t work. Atlan squatted beside the Deiztruphia Canzer and muttered; "Let me free you from your suffering." Atlan raised his hand and brought it down the terrified Canzer''s head, squashing it into nothing but a mushy mix of violet blood, skull fragments, and flesh. [You have killed a Canzer: Deiztruphia] [You have reaped the death of a complex creature] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 5000 experience] Atlan was satisfied with knowing the strength of his Physique LifeSkill but he couldn''t help but wonder how strong his angel powers were. How strong was his 3rd stage SSS class Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill? Chapter 39 - 39: One more? Neumann opened his eyes and saw the white brick walls beside him. He looked to the side and saw water-like fibers flowing on the channel below. The sewers? But that''s impossible¡­ He looked around and knew that he was still in the Remedium, yet the location completely changed. They were supposed to only be in the 2nd Street of the SpringField district. Yet, now he found himself at the bottom of the very city itself. This was unheard of. In all the years of experience he had with being a Savior, he never had an anomaly like this. The worst part about this was that he knew that he wasn''t the only one trapped in this place. Those newbies weren''t equipped to handle this kind of trouble. And he was especially worried for their porter. Atlan was the only one in the group that wasn''t trained in any kind of self-defense. The others trained for years and years to have a basic capacity to keep themselves safe from the dangers of the Remedium, but not Atlan. I blame myself. Neumann knew that he should have hurried the group out of the Remedium as soon as the rewards from the mission got delayed. But things escalated far too quickly. He didn''t expect the floor to suddenly collapse like that. I need to find them. It was his responsibility as the veteran of the group to make sure that all of them came back safely to the real world. During times like these, Neumann was trained to keep his head cool at all times. He was supposed to remind himself that Angels were there to save anyone from death. Yet why do I feel uneasy? Neumann walked the winding tunnels of the sewers, following the flow of the water. It took him a few minutes till he suddenly heard the sounds of water splashing and echoing in the distance. "Kyaaa!" He heard a girl scream and Neumann immediately sprinted towards the sound. That sounded like their Stun Wizard. He didn''t care if his footsteps echoed through the tunnels as he quickly turned the corner. Shock crossed his face as he saw two of the youths slowly crawling away from a Deiztruphia Canzer with its tongue dripping green goo on the ground. Another one? That''s impossible! The Canzer Report indicated only one! Those reports were supposed to be completely accurate, yet Neumann was looking at another monstrous Canzer right in front of him. The Stun Wizard and the Scout both had horrified faces as they saw the Canzer slowly walking towards them. The scout held his injured chest tightly. When he tried to run away from this new Canzer, his wound reopened and blood seeped out of the bandage. The stun wizard was fairly better off, but her whole body was frozen in fear. Terror took hold of her thoughts of running away. GYYAOOOOO The Canzer screamed and raised its claws to finally kill those two humans. But just as it was about to hit them, a bubble of safety suddenly appeared and protected them at the last second. The Canzer''s claws bounced off and it was thrown back from the repulsive force. "Are you guys okay?" Neumann put his hands on both of their shoulders and felt their cold shaking bodies. They were scared witless. "Help us!" screamed the stun wizard with dried tears on her cheeks. Neumann nodded. "Let''s go! It won''t be long until the Canzer catches up." He took the scout''s arms and put it over his shoulder as he helped the guy up. Then, without looking back, they quickly ran away from the Canzer. The two youths felt a little safer when Neumann found them. They thought they were saved. But they didn''t know that Neumann himself was panicking. This group of novices was only capable of defeating one Canzer. They were far too exhausted and injured to fight another one, especially since fear took hold of their hearts. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Not to mention the fact that the team was separated from each other with no certainty of finding each other. In the worst-case scenario, Neumann and these two youths would have to fight the Canzer by themselves. This was bad because they didn''t have any damage dealers. With the Canzer hot on their tails, the three of them ran as fast as they could through the tunnels. They ran and ran until they saw something in the distance. The stun wizard was overjoyed when she saw the other three people in their group! It was the tank, the archer, and the pugilist. "Hey! We''re over here¨C" It was then that Neumann saw the terrified look on their faces. He saw bloody cuts around their battle suits, he saw arrows lodged around the walls, and he saw violet blood on the floor. This was a sign that a battle took place. No way¡­another Canzer?! And just as Neumann feared, on the other side of the three youths was another Deiztruphia Canzer. It had cuts and bruises along its body, but it was still as vigorous as it was before. It looked even more aggressive now. The Canzer was about to attack again, targeting the archer. However, Neumann noticed that the tank was heavily panting and could barely keep himself standing. The tank was too exhausted to use his LifeSkill! He couldn''t protect the archer anymore. Neumann knew that this was a critical situation, so he ran ahead. A bubble appeared on his feet as he used it as a launching pad to save the archer. Just as the Canzer lunged its arms towards the archer, Neumann arrived just in time as he put himself between the two. With swift and technical movement, he grabbed the Canzer''s arms and used them to put the Canzer on his back. Using its weight, Neumann threw the Canzer backward. It flew through the air, with its shell scraping the curved ceiling of the sewers. It landed a long way back and hit the other original Canzer running towards them. It gave them enough time to help the injured and run away together. "Run!" he shouted at them. #### Meanwhile, a large figure was looking down and watching the puny humans run away from the two Canzers. It had a sinister smile on its face. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Chapter 40 - 40: Ecstatic Neumann and the five youths ran as hard as they could, blood oozing out of their injuries and exasperated breaths coming out of their mouths. The feeling of having two Deiztruphia Canzers running on all fours and charging toward them was something that could make the bravest of souls feel a tingling on their spines. But despite how fast they were going, the Canzer''s top speeds were far too fast for them to run away. Neumann had to stay on the backline and protect the newbies from the Canzer''s dangerous claws. He would send out protective bubbles to the team whenever the Canzer was about to attack them. Thankfully, his LifeSkill was enough to repel the attacks just enough for them to stay safe for a short time. "Look! It''s the exit!" All of them looked forward and finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the sewers, there was a rectangular door that glowed a bright white light. The newbies immediately thought they found the exit from this maze. They thought that this exit led back to the surface. Neumann, however, was more skeptical. He had a feeling that this was a trap. His gut told him to stay away from this door. However, they didn''t have any choice. It was either go back and fight the two Canzers or go towards the light. Even if it led to another tunnel in the sewers, it was much better than having to face 2 Canzers all at once. The youths used the last spurt of their energy to run through the end of the tunnel. They gasped for their breath as they stumbled through the entrance. Their eyes were full of hope. But instead of seeing the sky, they looked around and saw a large dome-like area with large pipes hanging out near the top of the ceiling. Water-like fibrils fell from these pipes and filled a small pool in the middle of the room. Their expectant looks were soon crushed when they realized that they were still in the sewers. They were mortified. Their bodies refused to move. They were still in this hellhole! Neumann cautiously looked around the room and surveyed it for any enemies. He kept his eyes peeled and his ears open. Fortunately, the only thing he heard was the dripping sound of water falling from the pipes echoing in the dome-like chamber. He was glad he didn''t hear any gurgling sounds anywhere in this place. The next thing he looked for was any exit. Unfortunately, unless they could fly and reach those pipes at the ceiling, there weren''t any doors around. When he looked back, he was surprised to find that he was staring at a blank exposed brick wall. The rectangular opening they came from disappeared! This is bad. Even though they were safe from the two Canzers, Neumann had a feeling that they got themselves into a much more dangerous place. "Haahaaa¡­I want to go home!" "Sir Neumann. Isn''t there a rescue party coming to save us?!" "GUuuAaaa" The stun wizard vomited. Neumann had no answer for them. He didn''t even know if HeadQuarters knew that something wrong happened with this mission. It hadn''t even been two hours since they started. Nobody would think anything was wrong till the mission lasted for half a day. "Don''t worry. They must have sent out a rescue party by now." Telling the truth now would only affect the morale of the group. He needed them to shape up. Just then, they suddenly felt the whole place rumble. Each of the fibers that made up the whole Remedium vibrated with mad intensity. Neumann remembered this feeling. The same thing happened when they all fell through to the sewers! He braced himself, thinking that he''d fall through another chasm. But that didn''t happen. Instead, the large pool in the middle suddenly opened up, leaving the water-like fibers falling through the dark chasm. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Neumann''s heart palpitated when he saw a figure suddenly float up from the dark chasm in the middle of the dome. This creature stood upright. Its entire body was covered with a light brown layered armor with thousands of spikes covering its body. Behind it were two edged wings that looked like it was ripped straight out of a giant cockroach. Its bodily features had an eerie similarity to a human. It had five fingers on each hand and it had toes on its feet. It was complete with ball joints as its knees and shoulders. It had a broad and robust head, with pure small white eyes and a prominent snout as its nose. Perhaps the strangest similarity it had to a human was the uncanny arrogant smile on its face. It looked down at Neumann and the others like they were mere inferior fodders. Neumann''s hairs stood on end. This was a Canzer. And not a normal one at that. What''s happening?! Multiple Deiztruphia Canzers and now a new one emerges from out of nowhere?! This was beyond an anomaly. This was a disaster. Before Neumann could even react, he suddenly saw the strange Canzer disappear from up in the air and appear right in front of him. His eyes widened and he immediately covered himself with his LifeSkill tank protective bubble. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, the Canzer just smiled at him. It raised its fist and punched through the bubble. CRACKKK With just one punch, Neumann''s Tank LifeSkill burst into millions of pieces. His eyes widened as he realized something. That can''t be! Even the Deiztruphia Canzer couldn''t make a dent in his bubble. Yet somehow, this mysterious monster was able to destroy it with just one punch. Neumann was left speechless when his only source of defense was treated like paper. The worst part about it was the Canzer''s face. It smiled. It understood the fear in Neumann''s eyes. It enjoyed it. Neumann could barely keep himself standing. The Canzer then looked back and saw the terrified faces of the youths. Their hearts were gripped with fear. It walked towards them. The archer felt his stomach churn. The dread led him to relieve himself, creating a pool of urine under him. The Canzer saw this and its face turned into an even twisted expression. It was ecstatic! Chapter 41 - 41: Anticipation "*#!%*@_($#(>@)(&#{}|{?<" The Canzer muttered out unintelligible sounds. It was a combination of gurgling and knocking sounds, completely different from the standard human language. Neumann''s eyes went wide when he heard this. This Canzer was sapient! If it had the mental capacity to talk, then it could communicate with other Canzers. This was a large leap of intelligence compared to the Deiztruphia Canzer. It was like comparing a monkey to a human. Before Neumann could even react, the Canzer appeared right in front of the Scout and kicked him into the wall. Everyone heard his back break. The scout vomited blood before falling into unconsciousness. The pugilist, alarmed, immediately activated his LifeSkill, twisting his fist into a drill toward the monster. Yet the Canzer simply tilted its head to the side and dodged the attack, leaving the pugilist very vulnerable. The tank wanted to protect the pugilist. But he was too exhausted to activate his LifeSkill. He had to save his teammate. He put himself between the Canzer and the pugilist, holding his shield in both hands. Suddenly, the tank felt tremendous force and his metal shield suddenly deformed with a fist-shaped hole piercing through the middle. The force was too much for him to bear as he fell back, taking the pugilist with him to the other side of the wall. They couldn''t keep their consciousness. With three down, the Canzer looked towards its next victim. The Archer''s hands trembled as he failed to notch an arrow in his bow. He was helpless as the Canzer took the bow right from his very hands. The Canzer used the bow to slap the Archer down. The wooden bow splintered into a million pieces, some lodged directly into the Archer''s chest. His ribs shattered, blood dripping down his battle suit. It was clear. This was not a Canzer that no 1st stage Student team could ever hope to beat. Neumann couldn''t believe the situation they were in. They had no hope of ever overcoming this ordeal. It was an impossible situation. "(\\*%?>@&|}" The sapient Canzer kept talking to the scout, berating him with a smile on its face. The Canzer knew it was the strongest out of everyone here. It knew that it was superior to everyone. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It approached the stun wizard and she fell into a fetal position. "{#{#{#{#{#" the Canzer laughed. It found the stun wizard''s cowardice amusing. Neumann gritted his teeth and shouted towards the Canzer. "Begone you monster!" Even if his words and actions were ineffective against the Canzer, he still had a responsibility to these youths. If he had to sacrifice himself to save them, then he would. But instead of getting angry at him, the Canzer simply looked at him with indifference. It knew that Neumann could do nothing to it. Neumann was only a tank and he was far too weak to stand a chance against the Canzer. But that didn''t mean that he wasn''t going to do anything about it. He raised his arm and created a concentrated bubble around his fist. He concentrated it to the point that his bubble turned opaque. The Canzer stayed still and let him prepare his strongest attack. Neumann knew that he was being underestimated, but he didn''t care. His whole fist was now covered in a white pearly bubble made out of the strongest material he could muster. He punched the Canzer, putting all of his weight on his fist. He didn''t care if he was vulnerable to a counter-attack. He only wanted to induce the strongest attack possible. The Canzer smiled and let the punch hit its chest. The bubbled fist hit the strong light brown bio armor of the Canzer. But nothing happened. Neumann''s face twisted when he realized that his strongest attack didn''t even make a dent in the spikes on its armor. His strength was wholly inadequate to save themselves from this new threat. The Canzer then showed its back on Neumann and continued to walk towards the newbies. He couldn''t let that happen. Neumann wanted the Canzer''s attention all to himself. He couldn''t let those newbies suffer. "You ugly beast! Torment me instead!" "Bastard! Stop ignoring me or are you too weak to even destroy my defenses?" "Just wait, you monstrosity! The strongest Saviors are just minutes away from bursting into this place and killing you into smithereens!" Neumann was throwing all kinds of insults towards the Canzer in the hopes of getting its fury directed towards him. And surprisingly, that last one seemed to garner a reaction from the Canzer. It looked back at him with a curious expression. "That''s right!" bluffed Neumann. "Saviors are coming! And they''ll kill you with no mercy!" For a second, the Canzer seemed to recognize the word ''Savior''. Neumann thought that the Canzer would get angry. But then it started to laugh out loud, with its wings flapping in excitement. "{#{#{#{#{#" The Canzer looked at the humans in front of it. It looked up beyond them, but no matter how much it tried to find what it was looking for, it simply could not find it. The Canzer could not see the winged creatures with halos on their head. Those beings used to stand behind each human that came to the Remedium and protect them from harm. Those beings were the only things that prevented humans from meeting their dooms. They were the only things that prevented total Canzer domination. But now, they''re gone. These humans no longer had those ''Angels'' protecting them. They were finally vulnerable. Without those angels, Canzers were finally free to do whatever they wanted. This excited the Canzer so much that it couldn''t hide its euphoria. The Canzer''s wings flapped in a rhythmic pattern, creating soundwaves that reverberated through the ground. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Neumann didn''t know what was happening. He didn''t know how he evoked this kind of reaction from the Canzer. He wanted to infuriate it, but instead, it looked exhilarated! He then watched as the Canzer showed its hands toward him. It opened its fists, showing all five fingers on its left hand. Then, it showed two fingers on the other. Neumann was confused. The Canzer suddenly pointed towards Neumann, then it folded one of its fingers. It pointed at the Stun Wizard, and it folded the next finger. It pointed at the Archer and folded the next. This continued until the Canzer counted down to all six of them in the room. The Canzer only had one finger left still standing. Neumann furrowed his brows trying to understand what the Canzer was trying to say to him. Wait¡­ It was then that he realized something. There was still one more person missing from their group. Atlan was still somewhere out there! The Canzer saw Neumann realize this fact. It smiled and finally folded its last finger. It knew that Neumann was trying to protect the newbies. And it wanted to see the suffering in his eyes as he killed all of them one by one. Its goal was clear. It was going to kill Atlan. Neumann rushed towards the Canzer in his anger. Atlan was the only person in their group who couldn''t protect himself. He stood no chance to fight against this sapient Canzer who could even destroy his protective bubble. Unfortunately, the Canzer was far too fast for Neumann to react. A hand suddenly pierced through his stomach. "Guhhh" Neumann spat out blood as his knees weakened and he fell to the ground. He was helpless. He watched with hazy eyes as the Canzer floated in the air and went back down the well it came from. The smile on its face indicated its anticipation of torturing another helpless human. Chapter 42 - 42: Horrified Atlan walked through the winding tunnels for minutes on end, yet he hadn''t seen anyone yet. It was as desolate as the Unclaimed Lands. At this point, he wouldn''t mind a visit from a few more Deiztruphia Canzers. Now that he knew how powerful his Physique LifeSkill was, he was more inclined to fight Canzers. He closed his eyes and saw the large LifeSkill planet with melting horrified skulls plastered all over the surface. It didn''t take him long to manifest a giant hand to grasp this planet in one hand. Practicing his C class Mage LifeSkill Mucus Spray turned out to be a very good use of his time as he was able to transfer the knowledge of activating that LifeSkill to his other LifeSkills. As long as he knew how to create that giant hand, he could activate any of his LifeSkills any time he wanted. However, he was still limited by his inexperience as he still took a second to activate his powers. Just then, he suddenly heard a very familiar sound. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM The ground trembled subtly, yet Atlan could feel it reverberate in his bones. He had been hearing this sound since the beginning. He heard it outside the Remedium, he heard it inside, and he heard it again just as they fell through the chasm. He kept his eyes peeled and his center of mass low. He already manifested a giant hand in his Soul System, ready to activate his Physique LifeSkill at any second. He knew that whatever produced this sound was something even greater than the Deiztruphia Canzer. Atlan stopped in his tracks. He felt the air get heavy. He looked back and suddenly saw a strange new creature leaning casually on the walls. It had a smug smile on its face, with its snout turned up. This monster was completely different from the animalistic Deiztruphia Canzer he faced before. Immediately, Atlan knew he was facing his greatest enemy as of yet. This Canzer or whatever it was, looked like a complete monster yet it acted strangely human. It was uncanny. It then pushed itself off the wall and walked towards Atlan with an arrogant stride. Their eyes met. It was looking intently at Atlan''s face, observing the expressions on his face. It wanted to see the despair and terror that those humans displayed back then. It wanted to see him suffering from fright. Yet, somehow, Atlan kept his expression neutral. He was looking back at the Canzer right in its bright pupil-less eyes with no fear at all. The Canzer frowned. How dare this puny human look at him dead in the eyes? He was but a mere ant in front of a god-like power like the Canzer. Atlan should be looking down and crying in fear! sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It suddenly spread its wings, making it look much larger than before. It flapped its wings once, and it suddenly disappeared from its original position. Its fast speed made it seem like it suddenly teleported behind Atlan. The Canzer wanted to see the despair in Atlan''s face the moment he realized that he couldn''t even see the Canzer''s movements. The Canzer wanted to see Atlan''s face morph into one of horror as he finally understood their difference in strength. Yet, Atlan kept his face cool. The Canzer finally understood why. It was because Atlan was too terrified to even show his fear. Atlan must be imagining the horrors that he would face against the Canzer. It smiled. It wanted to break Atlan until he finally showed that delicious emotion called fear. It suddenly took out something from its back. Then, it showed it to Atlan with a devious grin on its face. Atlan''s eyes widened when he saw it. It was a torn piece of green battle suit. Wet blood dripped out of the fabric, still fresh from wherever it took. The Canzer provoked him. It wanted to show what happened to the rest of his team. It wanted to show what would eventually happen to Atlan. There was no escaping. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Its excitement led it to flap its wings into a rhythm. It flew through the tunnels, showing off its tremendous speeds and strength. Each time it reached a wall, it would kick it off and induce a shockwave in the tunnel. It bounced everywhere, showing its strength and speed that was unmatched. It wasn''t long before the fibrils in the walls and floor were destroyed by brute force. Meanwhile, Atlan had his head down. He muttered to himself. "I hate blood. I''m a pacifist¡­" The Canzer didn''t know what Atlan was saying. It laughed to itself, thinking that Atlan must have been begging for mercy. "You cause suffering¡­I hate suffering." Atlan kept muttering things to himself that the Canzer couldn''t understand. Finally, the Canzer couldn''t take it anymore and wanted to see blood come out of the puny human''s mouth. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM Its wings flapped and it bounced from the curved ceiling and surged towards Atlan at its fastest speed. It had its arms and fingers extended forward, intending to skewer Atlan''s stomach. The Canzer''s smile grew wider when he realized that Atlan wasn''t even paying attention. He kept his head down. It saw this as a sign of surrender. Sharp nails were about to pierce Atlan''s stomach. The Canzer prepared itself to be bathed in a spray of blood and meat. Yet just as its attack was about to hit, Atlan''s body suddenly disappeared right in front of the Canzer''s eyes. The Canzer''s eyes widened. It didn''t know what happened. From its perspective, it looked like Atlan disappeared out of thin air. Then, it felt the air turn heavy. It felt an invisible pressure envelop its body. It felt a tingling sensation on the back of its neck as if a horrifying monster was about to catch its tail. The Canzer looked back and saw Atlan. Its hands immediately shook. The spikes along its armored body started to vibrate. This only happened when the Canzer felt like it was facing a predator much stronger than itself. When it looked at Atlan, it was horrified to its very core. Chapter 43 - 43: Chase But before it could even react, Atlan disappeared. The Canzer suddenly felt an intense force on its chest, something it had never felt before. Its strongest defense, its multi-layered chitinous chest armor with thousands of spikes around it, easily cracked into a million pieces from Atlan''s punch. It was too much for the Canzer''s armor to bear. Violet blood spurted out of the cracks, and the Canzer was propelled back at fast speeds, with its body skipping through the water-like fibers like a flat stone. Its body crashed through multiple ledges, with the Canzer unable to control itself due to the sheer force of Atlan''s punch. Finally, after hundreds of meters, it crashed into the wall. The smug look on its face was nowhere to be seen. Violet blood flowed out of its forehead. "!@$">$(*" It couldn''t believe what happened. Wasn''t this puny human supposed to be a weak creature it could kill with just a flick of a finger? He looked as weak as those humans he met before. So, how was he able to muster terrifying power that could even crack the defenses of a Canzer like itself? The Canzer looked down and saw its chest caved in, violet blood still spraying out into a mist. It winced in pain. Step¡­step¡­step¡­ The Canzer had no chance for reprieve as it suddenly heard footsteps coming towards itself. It wasn''t fast, yet it caused the Canzer''s face to contort into panic and fear. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan''s strength was unlike anything it had ever seen but that wasn''t the most frightening thing about him. From the distance, it could see Atlan walking through the winding tunnels of the sewers. Behind him were a pair of white wings, with thousands of ethereal feathers layered upon each other. Even in the white brick walls of the reverse-colored Remedium, these wings seemed to glow and shine as if the heavens itself shone a ray of light over them. The Canzer''s mouth quivered as it struggled to say the words; "@^&[-\\" It recognized it as Angel Wings. Its face turned into a mix of confusion and fear. Angels were supposed to be dead. They were supposed to be extinct. Yet, why did this human suddenly have the wings of an Angel? It was impossible. Atlan looked back and felt the Angel Wings on his back. It was connected to him physically, with extra bones connecting his shoulder blades and his wings. He could feel his veins pumping blood into the wings, bringing it to life. He didn''t know how he was able to activate his mutation but now that it was, he felt the world turn slow. The air around him felt like water. He could move up or down and move forward or backward without much effort at all. He was the master of his own space. He flapped his wings, and they followed his command as if it were truly part of his body. It feels like controlling a third arm. The moment the mutation manifested in reality, I feel as if the wings had always been a part of me. Although he could control it with basic functions, he knew that he couldn''t exert fine control over it just yet. It was like a numb arm. He could still feel it and close his fist like normal, but he just couldn''t exert as much strength as he could. Meanwhile, the Canzer stood up, with its cockroach wings flapping awkwardly. In its panic at seeing Atlan slowly walk toward itself, it flew back and crashed into the walls. It wanted to leave. It was scared witless once it saw those angel wings behind Atlan. The very reason why the Canzer infiltrated this place was because it was so sure that Angels were gone. They no longer protected the humans. Yet, somehow one was able to return and give its wings to a mere human. The Canzer flapped its wings and flew through the winding tunnels of the sewers at top speeds. It zoomed through the different tunnels, making sure to keep moving in different directions to escape from that human. The Canzer''s chest slowly healed and mended itself back into its original shape. The cracks patched themselves quickly, preventing any more violet blood from flowing out. In just a matter of a few seconds, the Canzer''s injuries were completely healed. This was one of the innate powers of a Destruction Canzer. Yet, the Canzer still tried to escape away from Atlan. It didn''t want to feel that awful pain from one of his punches. And even though its body was fully healed, its chest twitched in pain whenever it remembered that moment of Atlan, with his wings fully open, punching its chest. It had to return home. It had to tell everybody that the Angels returned! Only that way, he would gather reinforcements and kill this anomalous human. He had to be killed. Otherwise, the complete domination of Canzers could never be fulfilled. The Canzer resolved to escape. However, it suddenly felt a tingling sensation at the back of its neck. And before it knew it, an extreme force punched it on the back, cracking its spine. "$(@\\_#" The Canzer spat out violet blood. It couldn''t understand how Atlan was able to keep up. The Remedium was supposed to be a maze for humans. He wasn''t supposed to find his way here! The Canzer pushed on with escaping, even with its back bent and its body beaten. Within a minute, the Canzer''s body healed and it finally thought it got rid of Atlan''s tail. Yet, without fail, Atlan would suddenly come behind the Canzer and beat it bloody. This cycle continued, with the Canzer unable to get rid of the pesky human. At this point, the Canzer found itself at the very end of the tunnels that led to an open space filled with large open pipes, leaking out water-like fibers everywhere. But before it could get comfortable, Atlan suddenly came from behind and ripped the Canzer''s wings right out of its back. "!(#U%)" It couldn''t understand how Atlan was able to do it. How did he find the Canzer? He should be lost in the sewers! Atlan looked at the large cockroach wings in his hands. It vibrated subtly, slowly losing its powers. dum¡­dum dum¡­dum Unbeknownst to the Canzer, the signature beating pattern of its wings was the very reason how Atlan could locate it in the Remedium. Chapter 44 - 44: Begone The Canzer''s pained cries echoed through the chamber. It scurried away from Atlan, with its back dripping violet blood after its wings were brutally ripped out in one smooth move. It couldn''t escape anymore. It would take at least 10 minutes for the Canzer to regenerate new wings. It crawled away until it had its back against one of the large open pipes intersecting in the middle of the room. It was finally cornered, with no way to escape. If it knew that Atlan had Angel wings, the Canzer would never have tried to attack him. It would have finished off the other humans and escaped away before Atlan could find the exit. However, how could it have known that Atlan was a freak of nature who had tremendous powers that could even destroy its armor? Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "@($!&%" It shouted at Atlan, baring its fangs towards him. But no matter how hard the Canzer tried to intimidate the young man, Atlan continued to walk towards his prey with casual steps. The Canzer glared at him, gathering its anger into energy. It reminded itself that Atlan had no way of killing it. "{#{#{#{#{#" the Canzer laughed. Atlan had none of the strange equipment that Saviors used to kill Canzers. Without those, he wouldn''t be able to kill the Canzer; it could continue to regenerate its injuries infinitely. The puny human would eventually lose energy and show his weakness after a few more hours of fighting. At that point, the Canzer could kill Atlan. It was a battle of attrition, and it was something that the Canzer would win. "(@%*$&" The Canzer pointed towards the healing cracked armor in its chest. It was telling Atlan that his attacks would be useless against a Destruction Canzer''s regenerative properties. The more it thought about it, the better it felt. So what if the human had Angel wings? It didn''t mean that he had the powers to kill a Canzer. He would need that strange cube they came with, and that was lost in the Remedium the moment they fell into its trap. It got cocky. The Canzer walked over to Atlan, thinking that the human realized the futility of his efforts. Unfortunately, he didn''t. Atlan punched the Canzer in the throat, and the Canzer immediately spat out violet blood. It tumbled back, coughing and heaving for air. But Atlan didn''t let the Canzer free. The moment it landed on the floor, Atlan straddled it and started to give it a barrage of punches directly on its face. His face was painted violet from the carnage. The Canzer tried its hardest to put up its arms and defend itself from the rain of intense jabs on its head. This didn''t seem to work out all that well as violet blood continued to spurt out of its injuries. Its snout was continuously mangled and broken. Atlan''s whole body was filled with dark flames. His SSS Grim Reaper Physique was going on overdrive as he squeezed the planet in his Soul System as hard as he could. He wanted to kill the Canzer once and for all. Since he was able to kill those Deiztruphia Canzer by gutting its innards and smashing its head into smithereens, then Atlan guessed that he just needed to kill the Canzer faster than it could regenerate. However, his 1st stage Power realm showed its lack of strength. He wasn''t able to deal enough destruction on the Canzer for it to die fast enough. He could see the Canzer''s cracked skin start to glow and close up before he could truly mangle its body beyond belief. The Canzer finally regenerated enough of its energy to kick Atlan from the back and free itself from the straddle. It quickly dashed away from him and jumped up the pipes. But before it could get away, Atlan flew up with his Angel wings and kicked it back down the floor. The Canzer coughed up violet blood. "@(%*^" It couldn''t believe that Atlan was still as powerful as before! He wasn''t tired at all. Other Saviors would be exhausted from using their LifeSkills by now. But not Atlan. The dark flames on his body never wavered from his skin. With no other choice left, the Canzer chose to fight. The Canzer raised its hands in the air as its whole body faintly glowed a red tint. Power came from its stomach and flowed like roots from its armor to the tips of its human-like fingers. Every last energy reserve on its body was being used for this one attack. Its body stopped regenerating. The Canzer''s body started to deteriorate quickly as it sacrificed its own body to fill up the power in its fingers. This was its final resort. It wanted to kill the puny human now, even if it meant injuring itself to this extent. The Canzer taunted Atlan. This would be his last day. The Canzer could keep regenerating and keep using this final attack as many times as it could. "(#*@&)" I am unkillable, it implied. Atlan would be stuck in this place, unable to kill the Canzer. It laughed maniacally, feeling that in the end, it would eventually kill this human. Atlan looked at the Canzer. With a calm voice, he said; "Are we using our trump cards? Because I''ve been waiting to use mine." He looked down deep within his Soul System and released his grip on the Physique LifeSkill. He looked at the planet beside it, the one colored gold and white with wings and halos stamped all around. Finally, with his target stationary, not even moving a single inch, Atlan could finally grip the planet with his hands. With his mind focused on the Canzer, Atlan finally felt the power flow through his veins. His whole body glowed a golden light. The Canzer felt as if it was gripped by the holy light coming out of Atlan''s body. It couldn''t believe it. The Angels have once again descended. That was impossible! How could a human have the powers of an angel?! Atlan had to die. The Canzer was resolved to sacrifice its own life to destroy this walking calamity. The tips of its fingers glowed magma hot. But before it could muster up enough energy, Atlan moved. He raised his hand and pointed at the Canzer as if he was a God. "Begone." A pure white cloud materialized out of nowhere. And not a second later, golden lightning struck the Canzer accompanied by a blinding light. After a moment, the light dimmed and showed the frozen body of the Canzer. Its whole body was ashen gray. It soon disintegrated into dust. Chapter 45 - 45: Rewards [You have killed a sapient Canzer] [You have reaped the death of a complex creature] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 10,000 experience] [You have gained C class Mage LifeSkill Chitinous Spikes] Atlan fell on his knees, completely exhausted. His Angel wings folded behind him and disappeared into nothingness. He couldn''t keep using his mutation even though he wanted to. Throughout that whole fight, his adrenaline was working overtime and keeping his whole body afloat. His whole body was screaming at him, but the dangerous situation he was in prevented him from taking even a small break. If the fight lasted longer than that, then he didn''t know what would have happened. The giant hand he created in his Soul System was already starting to disappear before he used the last spurt of his strength to activate his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill. He lay on the ground and looked at his hand. He couldn''t believe the power he mustered from that SSS class LifeSkill. With just one move, he was able to disintegrate the Canzer without any problem at all. Is it because my LifeSkill is related to Angels? From what he knew, Canzers seemed to have an inherent weakness against Angels. The cube he carried into the Remedium resonated with his Angel genus, which gave him the idea to use his Cherubic LifeSkill as his trump card. Luck played a part in his win. After all, if the Canzer hadn''t used its final resort, then it wouldn''t have stood still. Only then was Atlan able to target the Canzer with his LifeSkill. Because of his inexperience, he needed at least two seconds to hone in his focus on his target. He would have used his angel LifeSkill earlier if his opponents weren''t such speed demons. They were all aggressive and pounced toward him, leaving him no room to focus and target the LifeSkill on them. Although his LifeSkill had a massive weakness in that he needed a static and stationary target to use it, he still felt assured knowing that it could kill a monstrous Canzer like that. [You have two LifeSkills for the same job. Do you want to fuse the two?] [Upgrade points required: 12,000] [Experience points required: 20,000] Atlan couldn''t believe his eyes. He quickly looked at his Soul System. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ªMage: (C) Mucus Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ªMage: (C) Chitinous Spikes ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Student ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage [Available Experience: 43,921.2] [Upgrade Points: 993,000] Atlan didn''t even notice it, but he had two LifeSkills with the same job! And from the looks of it, by sacrificing a few upgrade points and a few experiences, he could merge the two LifeSkills. Was this possible? Atlan wanted to know if other people could do this. However, he quickly realized that he was the only person who experienced this unique situation. He was probably the only one with multiple LifeSkills in his Soul System with the same job. It cost him 12,000 Upgrade points and 20,000 experience points to merge the two. Atlan thought the price was too steep, especially in the experience department, but when he thought about it, it became a little bit more tolerable. He could earn as many experience points as he could just by reaping the deaths of everything around him. And with his mysterious trait that was somehow able to multiply his rewards by 10, he would earn back that exp in a small amount of time. The upgrade points, however, were a different story. Although he had almost a million of these points, he didn''t know a way to replenish them. He would have to wait until he witnessed another extinction-level event with his eyes before he got another batch of Upgrade points. So, he was glad that it only cost him a small amount of Upgrade points. With his decision set in stone, Atlan fused the two LifeSkills. The red geometrical objects and the blue wisps in his Soul System immediately encircled the two Mage LifeSkill planets. A string of blue and red lines orbited the two planets and slowly forced the two to crash into one another. The Chitinous LifeSkill was an empty planet devoid of any layers, while the Mucus Spray had three layers with solidified blue cores. This represented the difference in power realms between the two. Atlan finally figured out why the fusion also required experience points. It was because the Chitinous Spikes LifeSkill needed to have an equal power realm with the Mucus Spray LifeSkill. Did it double the cost of experience points because it skipped through the consolidation period? The cost of upgrading a LifeSkill from the first stage to the 4th stage cost about 10,000 exp. But the cost for it now took 20,000 exp. Can I skip the consolidation period of a LifeSkill if I just pay twice the amount of experience points? Atlan quickly shook off the thought. Whenever he upgraded a LifeSkill to the maximum experience points it could take, an invisible barrier would always appear and prevent the blue wisps from entering the LifeSkill planet. DUGGSHHH The two LifeSkill planets finally crashed into each other and crumbled into large chunks. But it didn''t stop there. The strings continued to push the two together until chunks from one planet united with each other. The pressure from the strings was so strong that the chunks glowed a bright red and turned into lava. And because the chunks finally turned into a liquid form, they easily merged into the other. With the guidance of the strings, it quickly formed into one giant planet. [The two Mage LifeSkills have successfully combined into one] ¡ªMage: (C) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage Atlan was satisfied to know that he could merge two LifeSkills and combine the powers of both into one skill. But it seemed that it wasn''t the end of that. [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your LifeSkill fragments by 10] [You have received 10x F class Spiked Chitin Spray fragments] [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your Genus by 10] [You have received 10x 1-star Sapient Canzer Genus] Chapter 46 - 46: 10x rewards Atlan was flabbergasted when he saw this. It could already be considered a lucky outcome for him to receive a LifeSkill and especially a Genus with just one kill. But it seemed he underestimated how good his mysterious trait was. It took him three whole days of spending at least 8 hours in Training Hall Remedium killing off hundreds of frozen Pseudo Canzers just to get 2 LifeSkill fragments and one Genus. It took him a long grind. However, his 10x booster trait seemed to have multiplied his rewards ten times, giving him ten of each. He was so surprised that he couldn''t even move. Just like that? I get 10 LifeSkill fragments and 10 Genuses? [You have 10 of the same LifeSkill fragments. Do you want to fuse them?] [Upgrade points required: 5000] [F-class fragments required: 4] Atlan paid the cost and used the Upgrade points to gather the ten asteroids that rotated around his Spiked Chitin Spray. ¡ªMage: (C) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 5 days : 09 hrs ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 10x F class fragment The mix of red geometrical shapes that represented his Upgrade points suddenly came out in a line out of their fuzzy ball. It rounded up four asteroids and forced them together into an amalgamation of all four. And like a lasso, the string of upgrade points threw the large asteroid into the LifeSkill planet. The asteroid burned up in the planet''s atmosphere until it crashed into the surface. The shockwave from the crash reverberated throughout the planet and fundamentally changed its surface. A cloud of smoke made from the particles of the fragments suddenly spread out and enveloped the whole planet. In a few moments, the fog settled down and created new, complex patterns on the surface of the LifeSkill planet. The surface was now inundated with black vines with sharp spikes all wrapping around its stem. ¡ªMage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 5 days : 09 hrs ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6 x F class fragment B class¡­ Atlan couldn''t believe that he was able to upgrade his new Mage LifeSkill to B class so easily. He thought he would have to grind more missions and kill more Canzers to get more fragments, but who knew that his Trait would save him a lot of time? If he had two more F class fragments, then he could combine all eight and get a B-class fragment, which he could use to upgrade the LifeSkill to A class! In just one mission, he was able to obtain a power that anyone would be jealous of. A (B) class LifeSkill was considered to be above average and had a bright future ahead of them. Atlan immediately wanted to test out his new skill. It''s a shame that there''s no more Deiztruphia Canzers lying around. I want to see how effective this LifeSkill is in binding them. If others heard him say that, they would vomit out blood. They already thought that facing one Deiztruphia, let alone two, was already a disastrous situation. But for Atlan, they were nothing more than fodder. His SSS class Physique allowed him to kill them with just one hit. The C class version of the Mucus Spray could only contain the Deiztruphia Canzers in 10 seconds at most. But what about this B class LifeSkill? What will be the effects of mixing the two Mage LifeSkills into one? Atlan closed his eyes and concentrated on manifesting a giant hand. He was still exhausted beyond belief, but he was able to briefly create a hand to grasp the planet with spiked black vines surrounding it. If he was in a real fight, he doubted whether he would be able to activate his LifeSkill. But thankfully, he had all the time he wanted to focus. His hands glowed a brown light until he felt the power flow through his veins. Now! Black vines exploded out of his hands and spread in a cone in front of him. The vines flew through the air but couldn''t find any target. They soon fell to the floor due to gravity. Surprisingly, Atlan saw that some of the vines stuck to the walls on the side. He walked forward and touched one of the vines. It was as thick as a finger and was as tough as steel. He touched the spikes and felt it prick his fingers. If his Physique wasn''t so strong, then he would bleed from touching these spikes. He tried to pry it off the wall and found that he needed a lot of strength to do so. It was much stronger than his Mucus Spray. Overall, he found the improvement in his LifeSkill to be satisfactory. He reckoned it would be able to trap a 1st stage difficulty Deiztruphia Canzer for more than 20 seconds. Not only that, it would receive further damage from the spikes as it tried to free itself from the trap. This is superb! With this binding LifeSkill, I could have enough time to focus on a target and activate my Cherubic Retribution. The biggest drawback of his SSS angel-based LifeSkill was its hard activation. He needed a lot of time to focus on the target and they needed to be staying in one place all the time. He wouldn''t be able to use it on a Canzer that was running around all the time. But with this LifeSkill, he could trap them in one place and allow him to kill them with a taste of angel power. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to get more fragments. Can I use the Mucus Spray fragments to upgrade this new LifeSkill? After all, it is a product of the combination of the Mucus Spray and the Chitinous Spikes¡­ Atlan would have to find out about it more after he got more fragments. For now, he put his focus on the next bout of rewards. [You have 10 of the same Genus. Do you want to fuse them?] [Upgrade points required: 11,000] [8x 1-star Sapient Canzer Genus] SOUL SYSTEM: [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª10x (1-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (2-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings [Trait] ¡ª 10x level booster S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª1st stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(1000 / 1000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ªMage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6x F class fragment ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage [Available Experience: 43,921.2] [Upgrade Points: 976,000] Chapter 47 - 47: Savior has come Atlan quickly paid the price and fused the 10 Genuses he acquired. He saw the Upgrade points once again pull themselves in a line out of the giant fuzzy ball made out of mixed geometrical shapes. The red string wrapped itself to the eight helixes. Then, the Upgrade points tightened their grip on the Genuses until they collapsed under the pressure. What was left of the Genus were listless threads. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But then, due to the innate magic found in the Upgrade points, the threads suddenly found themselves vibrating and getting attracted to each other. It didn''t take long until one fiber smacked into the other, and it continued until it all gathered into a vertical stack of strings. The red geometrical shapes then covered the stack of genus fibers, twisting and turning it into a familiar shape. The listless fibers then wrapped with each other and formed a rope. It didn''t take long until it was morphed into its final shape. It was now a full-fledged helix. [Genus] ¡ª2x (1-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (2-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (4-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel Hmmm¡­I got a 4-star genus now but it''ll be useless until I could upgrade it to 10-star and have it change my bloodline. And just as he said that; [Canzer Mother Tongue mutation acquired!] He got a new mutation! From what Atlan heard, this was a very rare occurrence that only happened once every ten years. Usually, people would receive a mutation as a blessing from the god, but rarely, people get mutations naturally. [Mutation] ¡ª (4-star) Canzer Mother Tongue ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings Atlan suddenly remembered something. Wait, a tongue mutation? Didn''t Lizzie say that 4-star mutations manifest in reality and can''t be hidden?! He quickly put his tongue out as far as he could and tried to see if something changed. But from the tip of his tongue, he couldn''t see anything different from before. He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn''t know what he would do if he suddenly got an enlarged tongue that dripped out green goo everywhere. I wouldn''t be able to explain my way out of that one. Atlan decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being before he got home. Only once he saw himself in the mirror and saw nothing wrong with his tongue would he start talking again. For now, he zipped it. With everything settled, Atlan started to walk. He needed to find the exit. It didn''t take a few steps until; DRRRRGGGGGG Suddenly, he felt the whole place shake. He had to put his hands on the wall to balance himself. This new development forced him to remember; I''m still in the Remedium. I can''t get careless. After a few seconds, the rumbling stopped and Atlan could finally breathe again. He didn''t know if another Sapient Canzer would suddenly appear again and fight him. He didn''t know if he had the energy for another gruesome fight. But when he looked forward, he suddenly saw that the entire room changed. He fought the Sapient Canzer in a large room with large pipes intersecting one another. However, once the earthquake stopped, he suddenly saw himself back in the winding tunnels he was originally in. He didn''t even notice it change! Not only that, he saw that the tunnel in front of him led to two very different paths. On the right was a staircase that led up to a place where sunlight beamed down. On the left was a staircase that led further down, with the darkness shrouding it in mystery. Atlan walked over to the right path and looked up. About a hundred steps forward, he could see an opening that led to a place with orange skies and fresh air. After being trapped in the winding tunnels for what seemed like a whole day, Atlan would recognize that scenery anywhere. This was the path that led outside! If he walked up that path, then he would finally escape this place. He could go find the portal and go back to the real world. However¡­ Atlan thought back to the torn piece of battle suit that the Sapient Canzer showed him. It was bloodied. And if the Canzer could escape and get that, then it wasn''t hard to guess that Neumann and the others encountered the Sapient Canzer before him. Are they still alive? He had a choice. He could escape now and return to the real world. Or, he could go down the other path and search for his team, who could all be dead by now. He had no guarantee that he''d be able to escape this place after he went to the path that led down. These tunnels changed randomly, and he didn''t know if he''d get the chance to leave again. Atlan kept his head down. I¡­I don''t like to see suffering. I hate blood. I''m a pacifist. Atlan walked down the path enshrouded in darkness. He walked down step by step, with no hesitation in his feet even though he couldn''t see anything. His footsteps echoed through the nothingness, reminding him that he was getting further and further away from the exit. ### The Stun Wizard lay in the fetal position, with tears running down her already dried cheeks. She closed her eyes, hoping that she''d soon wake up from this horrible dream. Yet she didn''t. She still heard the horrible groaning from her teammates. They screamed in pain. That¡­that strange Canzer¡­the monster who assaulted their team out of nowhere¡­was gone. It left. Ironically, she wished that the Canzer didn''t leave at all. The torment of having the seconds pass by and expecting that monster to return and torture them was a different kind of hell she didn''t want to experience. But after minutes passed by, it didn''t return. Get a hold of yourself! This¡­this is your dream¡­you need to get up! She forced herself to open her eyes. She had to find a way out of this place. She forced herself up, with her eyes hazy from tears. She tried to walk, but her weak knees trembled and forced her to stumble forward. She fell on the floor and felt something wet on her hands. She looked at it and saw blood dripping down her hands. She finally saw who was lying on the ground in front of her. It was their guardian, the one who was supposed to be their safety net. Mister Neumann lay on his back, bleeding with a hole in his stomach. His eyes were hazy and staring out to the ceiling. BLUERGHH She vomited again. Seeing blood and guts firsthand from a live source was different from seeing it in videos and on cadavers. They didn''t teach her about the smell. Step¡­step¡­step¡­ Just then, she heard footsteps ringing out of the dome. She immediately thought of the worst. That monster returned. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain. But it didn''t come. Instead, a warm hand touched her shoulders. When she opened her eyes, she saw the blurry figure of a man reaching out his hand to help her. There was only one thing in her mind. A savior has come. Chapter 48 - 48: Return The soldier almost got the highest score in his cellphone''s racing game. His face showed his determination, moving his whole body left and right as he dodged meteors coming towards his car. Guarding an ongoing mission in the Remedium was a fairly boring job. The only thing he had to do was stand near the portal and wait until the Saviors finished their jobs. Then, he would assist them with whatever they needed. "Oh come on!" Unfortunately, that last level was just too hard to overcome. He wanted to get another game in, but his watch suddenly beeped. It''s already been an hour since the Saviors went inside the Remedium and judging from previous missions, he judged that the mission was almost finished. After all, it was only a 1st stage Student difficulty mission. It usually only took one hour. However, time passed by and no one came outside. It''s now two hours since they entered. Then, three. Then, four. At this point, the soldier was very worried. He wondered if something had gone wrong with the mission. But that can''t be¡­it''s only a beginner mission¡­ He would have reported this to the HeadQuarters but when he looked around towards the affected area, he saw that the symptoms already stopped. The walls no longer melted like wax and no more buildings were toppling like melted ice cream. This meant that the Saviors already killed the Canzer. However, they still didn''t leave. Just for safety, he was going to request for backup. I don''t care if I get scolded for a false report. This is getting weird. But just as he was about to call, he suddenly heard the sound of water rippling. Somebody went out of the portal! He looked back and saw a youth with black hair and black eyes come out of the Remedium. The soldier recognized him to be the Porter of the group. The soldier looked down and his eyes widened. The youthful Porter was holding a bleeding man in his arms! It was Sir Neumann, the veteran Savior who accompanied the novices. His green battle suit was soaked in blood and his eyes were cloudy and unresponsive. Most of all, his guts and intestines were coming out of a large hole in his stomach! "What happened?!" the soldier screamed but the porter didn''t answer. He simply put Neumann on the floor. Just then, another person came out of the portal. It was the Stun Wizard. She held her shoulders, shivering from the cold and trauma she experienced. She saw the soldier and begged, "Call for help! Please!" The soldier was overwhelmed. He couldn''t take his eyes off Neumann, who was still bleeding on the floor. "O¡­okay¡­I''ll¡­I''ll call!" He quickly dialed on his phone and issued an emergency. In just a few moments, reinforcements would come. "What happened?" The stun wizard muttered under her breath. "The Canzers¡­there''s more¡­the report was wrong! There was another one¡­a different monster!" The soldier gasped. From what he could piece together from her words, it seemed like the mission was wrongly estimated. There were more Canzers than what was reported. And what''s worse, there''s another type of Canzer inside that they didn''t prepare for. "This is a disaster. Okay, I''ve already reported this to HeadQuarters. Wait here and they''ll come and save the others¡ªHey! Where are you going?!" sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The soldier was surprised when he suddenly saw Atlan walk back to the Remedium. What is he doing?! Doesn''t he know that there are stronger Canzers inside? "Miss, don''t you dare go too." Thankfully, the stun wizard didn''t seem to have any thoughts of going back inside. The soldier bit his lips as he paced back and forth. After the stun wizard explained to him what happened inside, he couldn''t help but worry for the porter. After all, things were much worse than he thought possible. The appearance of a new Canzer, one that showed intelligence, was far too much than what a 1st stage student team could face. Even if the team could fight the new Canzer, without the proper equipment from the Operators, the Canzer would continue to regenerate its injuries. It would be an unwinnable situation. Just then, Atlan came out of the portal with two bodies slung over his shoulders. This time, it''s the Scout and the Archer! They were bleeding and groaning in pain. After putting them down on the floor, Atlan came back to the Remedium to get the others. The soldier couldn''t believe it. Even after knowing that there were dangerous Canzers in the Remedium, Atlan still braved the unknown and went to save his teammates. It was a very noble and heroic action. His impression of this youth skyrocketed as the soldier respected his bravery. The stun wizard watched Atlan re-enter the Remedium with a calm look on his face. Even after she warned him that the monster was aiming to kill him, Atlan still went back without any fear in his eyes. None of them knew that the Sapient Canzer was already done and dusted. It was already killed. There were no more monsters he had to worry about in the Remedium. But that didn''t mean that it was safe. After all, Atlan had no idea if the Remedium could suddenly change its layout randomly and trap him inside forever. Back then, when he went down the shrouded path, he saw himself in a large space with a domed ceiling. He saw his teammates sprawled all around, either unconscious or groaning in pain. He helped the stun wizard and Neumann and they walked back from where he came. Luckily, the layout didn''t change and he was able to go up the stairs back to the surface. The exit was coincidentally just a few steps away from the portal. Now, he had the tank and the pugilist on his shoulders. He walked back up to the surface and suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eyes. It was the backpack he carried at the start of the mission. Chapter 49 - 49: Ludicrous Finally, the reinforcements were dispatched. They were all 3rd stage students who were hastily put together for this emergency. Their job was simple: they just had to go and save the beginner Saviors from the Remedium, and nothing else. They were expressly told not to meander off or try to fight the Canzer. They were told nothing about the situation. When they arrived at the scene, they were surprised to see that there were a lot of soldiers crowded around the portal. Once they dismounted from their horses and went forward did they finally see the gruesome sight of a pool of blood. The soldiers were stuffing white gauze around Neumann''s stomach, but the blood still kept gushing out. The leader then saw the Stun Wizard sitting in the corner with a blanket over her shoulders. She was the only one still conscious. "What happened?" the leader asked her. "How did you all fail a simple beginner mission?" The 3rd stage Student reinforcements were told nothing about what happened during this mission. They only assumed that something went wrong due to human error. Although it wasn''t normal, there were instances of novices failing their first missions. They simply thought this was also the case. The Stun Wizard looked up at the reinforcements, and they all saw the dried tears on her cheeks and her sunken eyes. It looked like she had gone through hell. The original soldier who witnessed everything firsthand answered for the Stun Wizard. "They didn''t tell you?" "Tell us what?" "According to her, their mission went just as planned. They killed the Deiztruphia Canzer in just under half an hour." The reinforcements were surprised. Killing a Canzer in 30 minutes was an impressive feat, even by their standards. "Then why didn''t you all leave?" This time, the Stun Wizard answered hoarsely. "We¡­we tried to. But then¡­the floor fell and we ended up in the sewers!" "The sewers?! That''s impossible!" She didn''t argue. "We encountered two more¡­two more Canzers¡­" They all sucked in a cold breath. It turned out they went through a disastrous situation. No one expects a group of 1st stage Saviors to defeat two Canzers at the same time! "But that''s not even the worst part¡­we saw a monster¡­a new Canzer¡­one that could talk." Everyone gasped. A Sapient Canzer. Even though the reinforcements were 3rd stage students, they didn''t dare think they could defeat a monster that complex, especially without specialized equipment from the Operators that could disable its regeneration. Their hearts pumped with anxiousness once they realized they had to go to the Remedium with the threat of a Sapient Canzer looming over their heads. These novices had to fight a Sapient Canzer? They can''t even make a scratch on its armor. And even if they can make it bleed, it''ll just regenerate to full health in a few seconds¡­ Just the thought of it was terrifying. "We''re here to help. We''ll save your teammates. There are four of them inside, right?" "Umm¡­" the soldier said awkwardly. "What is it?" "There used to be four that came out, but the porter came back in." "What?! That''s dangerous! Why would he come back?" The Stun Wizard replied, "Because he''s a savior! He saved me and he''ll save the rest." When they heard this, they couldn''t believe it. The person with the least experience in fighting, the person with no abilities to fight against Canzer, was the one who braved the Remedium to save the others. This wasn''t a porter''s responsibility. Yet, he still took it upon himself to do so. "Even when I told him that¡­the monster¡­was targeting him, he still went ahead." Now, they couldn''t attribute his actions to ignorance. He didn''t do this because he didn''t know the dangers, he braved it despite the dangers. The reinforcements couldn''t admit to themselves that they would still enter the Remedium if they knew that a dangerous Sapient Canzer was targeting them. They especially wouldn''t be coming back multiple times to save other people. And Atlan did it despite being only a Porter! "There''s no way, right?" "Are you sure you are all seeing it right?" "Why would a porter do that?" The whole situation was so ludicrous that they couldn''t believe it. They thought that she was suffering from delusion caused by trauma. She must have imagined a fictional heroic porter so that she''d be able to feel good about their horrible situation. "It''s true!" the stun wizard insisted. However, it was hard to believe. Without anyone to corroborate her story, they were disinclined to take her words as fact. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Don''t worry, miss. We will do our best to save your teammates." Just then, the portal rippled once again. Everyone watched as Atlan came out of the Remedium carrying two more people, the Tank and the Pugilist on his shoulders. Not only that, he carried a gigantic bag on his back! Atlan casually put the two unconscious guys down near the other soldiers so that they''d be given the help they needed. Then, he put down his equipment bag and the whole ground shook from the sheer weight of the baggage. The 3rd stage student reinforcements all looked at Atlan with their jaws dropped. They couldn''t believe that this youthful porter was the heroic Savior that the stun wizard claimed him to be! Not only that, he did it while carrying a thousand kilograms behind his back! Atlan took one big breath. "First mission complete!" Then, he raised his hand and shouted a war cry. "WOOOO!" Now that he was safe, all the adrenaline in his body finally ran out. Atlan passed out on the floor, completely exhausted. "Help him!" The soldiers and the reinforcements quickly went over Atlan and made sure that he was safe. They treated him with respect and admiration. After all, he was the heroic porter who went above and beyond what he was asked to do, all because he wanted to save his teammates. He garnered everyone''s respect. If they knew that Atlan killed three Deiztruphia Canzers all at once, then they''d feel their hearts stop for a moment. And if they knew that he killed the Sapient Canzer, then they''d simply drop on the floor from shock and disbelief. Chapter 50 - 50: Blue After a few hours, Atlan finally woke up. He opened his eyes and immediately saw an intricate painting of heaven on the ceiling. It depicted a serene view of humans wearing pure white robes and calm smiles on their faces. It induced calmness in anyone who saw it. Judging from the correct colors on the painting, Atlan judged this to be the real world. Thankfully, he wasn''t in the Remedium. He sat up and saw that he was in a small room with tall, vaulted ceilings. Off to the side, he saw sunshine gleaming down from stained glass windows with designs of a maidenly woman praying with both hands. Unlike the modern architecture he saw in the City, this place seemed to be made from ancient Gothic materials and designs. The pillars on the corners were made out of stone and lime, with intricate carvings of men and women fighting monstrous creatures. Where am I? Just as he thought that, the door suddenly opened and in came a woman that Atlan immediately recognized. It was Lizzie. Her eyes widened with relief once she saw Atlan awake. She immediately lunged towards him and gave him a big, warm hug. Atlan was speechless. He didn''t know what to do with his hands. He was going to put his hands and hug her back when she muttered something in his ears. "Thank god you''re alright." Atlan didn''t know what god had to do with it, but he didn''t say anything else. Then after a few moments, she immediately pulled away from the hug and grabbed his shoulders with a stern look. She seemed pissed, which left Atlan utterly confused. First, she hugged him very tightly and then she was angry. I didn''t even do anything. "Do you know what you''ve done?" "Uh¡­" "That was a very dangerous stunt you''ve pulled during your mission. If I was there, I would have knocked some sense into your head." Ah. Lizzie was talking about the very heroic and very stupid action of Atlan going back to the Remedium and saving his teammates. "I had to help. I didn''t want them to suffer." Lizzie put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. She was ready to give him a big lecture on not risking his life in the Remedium, but how could she reprimand him for such an admirable reason? Even she was impressed with his valiant efforts. Yet, it was still an unnecessary risk for him. There were other Saviors tasked with the retrieval of the survivors in the mission, and Atlan didn''t have to put that burden on his shoulders. He shouldn''t have. "Even so. You broke protocol." "I didn''t know anything about that." S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She massaged her head. "And that''s my fault. I should have taught you better. Anyway, it''s especially important for you to not risk your life." "Why?" "It''s because you''re the only low-class Porter we have. What if you get trapped in the Remedium and we can''t find you?" Atlan raised his eyebrows. "We can get trapped in the Remedium?" She sighed. "Yes. It''s rare, but it happens. The last time it happened was 300 hundred years ago, and the Savior was trapped for 5 years." Judging from the way the tunnels in the Remedium changed without warning, Atlan guessed that being lost in the Remedium was possible. However, he didn''t think that it had already happened. He re-evaluated the risks of the Remedium in his mind. If things could change in the Remedium at the drop of a hat, then it was much more dangerous than he thought. Their mission was only supposed to be a simple one. They only had to kill a Deiztruphia Canzer and go home. Yet, things happened so fast that none of them could react quickly enough. "What about Neumann? What about my team?" She gave him a terse smile. "They''re fine. Neumann took a lot longer to recover, but he''s already up and running. Your other teammates have recovered well too. The Scout is the only one still unconscious and stuck in his bed." Atlan heaved a sigh of relief. "You did a good job. If you hadn''t acted so quickly, their condition would have been much more critical." They all did their jobs. They killed the Canzer. But, who could have expected that things would go so wrong? "What happened?" he asked her. Lizzie sat beside him in the bed and shook her head. "Nobody knows. HeadQuarters have been working overtime to try and figure out how, what, and why things escalated to such difficulty. As of now, they''ve come up with nothing." "This hasn''t happened before?" "No. In the entire history of Genesis City, a Canzer Report has never been so thoroughly wrong." Even though no one knew what happened, Atlan had a guess. It probably has something to do with the extinction of Angels. Weird things have been happening ever since they fell from the heavens, but nobody ever correlates it with the Angels. After all, they don''t even believe it happened. Atlan looked at Lizzie and saw that she had no idea about it at all. Even though she was there to witness them falling to the ground first-hand, she still believed the City''s words over her own eyes. "Have you heard what happened to them?" she asked him. Atlan slightly nodded his head. When he rescued the Stun Wizard, she told him all the things they went through in the sewers. She told him about the two Deiztruphia Canzers as well as the dangerous Sapient Canzer. She warned him that it was coming for him. "That was really dangerous. You''re lucky that the Sapient Canzer didn''t find you. I''m getting chills just thinking about it." Of course, nobody knew that Atlan already felled that monster. Nobody thought he''d have the power to even hurt the Sapient Canzer, much less actually kill it without disabling its healing factors. "What happened to you after you fell?" asked Lizzie. But just as he was about to answer, the door suddenly opened. A woman suddenly came in without warning. Atlan looked at her body and was surprised to see the color of her garment. She was wearing a blue battle suit. She was an Operator! Chapter 51 - 51: Questions This was the first time that Atlan saw an Operator up close and personal. He observed her battle suit and saw that her garments had small lights weaved along the threads, making it look cybernetic. The woman had straight black hair down to her waist and thin eyes that were accentuated by her narrow glasses. She walked over to Atlan with a tablet in her hands. "Good morning, Atlan the Porter," she said as she walked over opposite him. He looked at her and said, "Good morning. Are you a Quill?" Lizzie immediately felt embarrassed when she heard him say that. "What is Wemby teaching you?! You shouldn''t say that out loud." The Operator waved it off. "It''s fine. I don''t feel offended by it. It depends on the person whether Knives and Quills are both terms of endearment or insults. I see no hate in his eyes, only curiosity." She then walked over to Atlan and gave him her hand. "My name is Pterina Pterodinus and I am an Operator, or as you call it, a Quill." Atlan shook her hand and after, she took a chair and sat down in front of him. "I''m here to ask you some questions about what happened to the mission." He looked towards Lizzie and saw that she nodded her head. "Just tell her what happened. Neumann and the others were already questioned the moment they woke up." With how disastrous the mission could have been, the Savior HeadQuarters were doing everything they could to learn more about what happened. Atlan imagined that the Quills got the brunt of the blame; they were the ones in charge of surveying the symptoms and figuring out the parameters of the mission. They should have known better. "Can you recount what happened when you all stepped foot in the Remedium?" Atlan quickly told the truth about what happened during that time. He told her about them finding the Deiztruphia Canzer''s lair, and he even told her in great detail how they defeated it. However, he didn''t tell her about the weird thumping pattern he heard during the mission. After all, it turned out that it came from the Sapient Canzer itself, and he wasn''t supposed to know anything about that. Pterina took notes and nodded at Atlan''s answer once she cross-referenced it to the other''s answer. They all generally told the same thing, which meant that it was the truth. "Then, we waited for ten minutes for something. Neumann said that a ''blessing'' was supposed to come." Lizzie and Pterina nodded. "Yes. After a successful mission, the god would give out the rewards for completing the job." "The fact that ten minutes elapsed and it still hadn''t appeared meant that the mission still wasn''t completed. The veteran Savior should have escorted you all out sooner. Go on." Atlan then recounted the moment when they decided to go back. "We were just a hundred meters away from the portal when all of a sudden, the floor caved in and we fell into an abyss." Pterina''s eyes then got narrower as she listened intently to his words. This was the very crux of the problem. This shouldn''t have happened at all. "When I opened my eyes, I suddenly saw that I was in a winding tunnel." "And what happened after that? Did you walk forward, or did you walk back? Did you encounter anything?" The truth of the matter was that Atlan did encounter three Deiztruphia Canzers all at once. However, he couldn''t tell her that. Nobody would believe that a 1st stage student porter like him could survive an onslaught from three different Canzers all at once. Even a team of 1st stage students had trouble fighting against just one. They would surely get suspicious if they knew he defeated all three. So, Atlan lied. "At first, I stayed still. I didn''t know where I was, so I didn''t move that much. But when I knew that I had to move to find the exit. So, I walked forward, making sure not to make any noise." At that moment, Atlan suddenly saw something flash in his eyes. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Unauthorized probe detected] [Lie detection denied.] So this is an Operator''s LifeSkill¡­ Pterina''s blue battle suit glimmered a faint violet light as she activated her LifeSkill. The edges of her pupils glowed white as she tried to discern truth from fiction with Atlan''s words. She had a job as an ''Inquisitor'', with the LifeSkill Truth Detection. She was able to see through a person''s blood flow, perspiration, heartbeats, and breathing which helped her judge the authenticity of their words. She could even see how much of a person''s words were lies. She would know if they were subtly putting lies in their truthful words. There were a lot of suspicious instances in Atlan''s story. According to what they knew, the sewers were teeming with Canzers. It was unlikely that Atlan didn''t encounter at least one Canzer. And all of his other teammates found each other in the tunnels. He was the only one they didn''t see at all. No one knew what he did. No one could corroborate his story. But since her LifeSkill didn''t notice any lies in his words, she continued the questioning. "And they all said that the Sapient Canzer left the room to search for you. Did you encounter it?" Atlan shook his head. "No. Thankfully, I didn''t see it." When Pterina looked at Atlan, she only saw tranquility in his body. There was no turbulence in his breathing, no increased palpitations in his heart, and there was no nervousness in his voice. He wasn''t lying. This did not surprise the Inquisitor. After all, if Atlan did encounter other Canzers, then his body would be brought back to the real world mangled into different pieces. "That''s all the questions I have for today. Thank you." Once she got what she needed, she inputted everything she heard on the tablet to record it. She then thanked Atlan and Lizzie for their time and she turned to leave. Before she closed the door behind her, she looked at Atlan with a determined face. "Don''t worry. We''ll get to the bottom of this. We will make sure that this doesn''t happen again." Chapter 52 - 52: Nuns Atlan wiped the cold sweat off his eyebrows. That was close¡­ He was a little bit caught off guard by this interrogation which didn''t seem like an interrogation at all. Perhaps, that was intentional. Pterina was able to make him feel comfortable with her as if he was just conversing with an old friend. He didn''t think that she''d use her LifeSkill to try and see through his lies. I should have known better, he thought to himself. After all, it was not hard to guess that a disaster as large as that one would garner the attention of the HeadQuarters. They''d stop at nothing to find out the truth about what happened. Thankfully, his powers pulled through. Pterina didn''t see through his lie because Atlan had full control over his own body¨Ca side effect of having SSS class Physique LifeSkill. He didn''t show any perturbations in his body as if he was telling the truth, which she believed. He didn''t know what he would have done if they found out he lied. Would I try to explain the truth? Would I try to bury my lies with more? He shook his head. He didn''t have to burden himself with these things. "Are you okay?" Lizzie asked him. He nodded his head. "I''m fine." "She might have jogged up bad memories to you, but it''s all for a good cause. Once they find out the reason why that anomaly happened, then they could prevent it in the future." Atlan guessed why it happened. And he knew that they wouldn''t be able to solve it. Things would continue to escalate until they''re all forced to realize that Angels died, and so did their immortality. "If you''re not feeling fine, we can postpone the ceremony." He looked at her, confused. "What ceremony?" "Well, even though you all technically failed the mission, HeadQuarters recognized all of your efforts and have deemed that the mission be considered a success! You guys did kill a Canzer. And with a successful mission comes a reward. Since you guys weren''t able to get it in the Remedium, it will be given to you guys here, in this church." Atlan looked around the room and finally realized why this room was full of designs depicting heaven. "So this is a church¡­" Churches were the heart of any God''s Territory. This was where the citizens gave their thanks and worship to the God for Their blessings. "Yes, this also the place where Saviors get their injuries taken care of. Nuns and priests call upon the Genesis God to give blessings to those who have suffered. Neumann needed a lot of blessings; his injury was quite severe. Thankfully, you didn''t have any. You just passed out due to exhaustion." Atlan remembered the gruesome sight of Neumann bleeding out, with his innards out in the open. He wondered how they were able to heal such grisly injuries. "Are you ready to go?" Atlan thought for a second and then nodded his head. He wanted to know what this ''blessing'' was supposed to be. "Let''s go," she said as she led the way out the door. When Atlan came out, he saw a hallway with rooms lined up similar to the one he was in. When he looked up, he saw a tall ceiling with more intricate paintings drawn in. He saw women walking around with elegant steps. They wore simple white tunics down to their ankles and a veil on their heads that covered their hair. Nuns, Atlan guessed. As they walked past an open door, Atlan took a peak and saw a nun sitting on the bed and praying to an unconscious man. Suddenly, a white light beamed down from the ceiling and immersed the man in a holy light. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and showed a serene expression. He saw first hand how a nun ''healed'' an unconscious man. Did they do the same to me? And even though most of them were busy doing their jobs, they couldn''t help but take a sneak peek at Atlan when he walked by. Their eyes showed amazement as they whispered to one another. "It''s that porter¡­" "He''s so young!" "How blessed is he¡­" Lizzie saw the confused look on Atlan''s face and she couldn''t help but chuckle. After such heroic acts, didn''t he expect such praise from other people? S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Your name has spread far and wide, Star Porter. I don''t think I''ve ever come across anyone who didn''t hear about the courageous porter who risked his life to save his teammates. You''ve made a splash with your first mission." Atlan didn''t think that they''d react this way. He just simply did what he thought should be done. He hated suffering, and he couldn''t bear to live with the thought that he didn''t help his teammates when he could. "Was it that impressive?" "Of course!" she screamed and her voice echoed through the walls. She gave the nuns a silent apology once she realized she had broken the silence and serenity of the church. "You went back even though multiple Deiztruphia Canzers were roaming through the Remedium. Nobody would have done that, not even Saviors stronger than you. After some investigation, it was deemed that the mission was actually in the 3rd stage Student difficulty! You braved through the Remedium, saved other Saviors, and survived through it all¨Cwhile you were only a 1st stage Student!" That''s a 3rd stage student difficulty? Atlan awkwardly let out a laugh. Even though she apologized for raising her voice, Lizzie couldn''t help but praise Atlan with a booming voice. He wondered how surprised she''d be if she knew that he soloed a 3rd stage Student difficulty mission. "HeadQuarters have been telling everybody about your story. They want you to become the silver lining in this terrible situation. They''re hailing you as an extraordinary talent with a bright future. You''d definitely be given more missions later." Knowing that missions could suddenly escalate for the worse, Atlan didn''t know if this was a good thing or not. They finally stopped walking when they came across grand entry double doors that led directly to the main church. Lizzie opened the door. Chapter 53 - 53: Blessings in church The doors opened and the first thing he saw was a golden statue of a man with two faces, each facing in different directions. This man had a thick beard and stern eyes, wearing nothing but a leaf in his crotch. On his right hand was a key that had a long shaft and two bits of different sizes at the end¨Ca key reminiscent of ancient times. And on the other end of this key was a circular clock that kept ticking without any mechanisms powering it. Is that the Genesis God? Atlan and Lizzie walked down the path and he saw rows of pews on the left and right side of the church. He looked up and saw more paintings of heaven in the ceiling, this time with the two faced man in the center of it all. Even the stained glass windows to the side showed a depiction of this man in different ethereal poses. "The Savior appears!" A few people stood up from the top right pew and greeted Atlan. He was surprised to see that it was Neumann and the rest of his team, all looking at him with smiling eyes. He expected to see them barely standing from the injuries they sustained. But instead, they all stood with no bandages, no crutches, and no sign of scratches on their bodies. They looked as healthy as ever. How is this possible? "It took you long enough, Atlan. We''ve been waiting here for a long time." Neumann walked over to him and grasped his shoulders. Atlan felt power from him, power he didn''t expect from a man recovering from a fatal wound in his stomach. "You''re fine?" "Of course I am!" The tank couldn''t help himself anymore and gave Atlan a bear hug. "Thank you! Thank you, man. Without you, we would have been stuck there in pain." Atlan was still confused, so he wasn''t able to react. "You''re smothering him." The pugilist pulled the tank away from Atlan. "I''m just so thankful to him," the tank said. "You''re a real one." The archer patted him on the shoulders and gave him an approving nod. The Stun Wizard slowly approached him with her head down. She had her hands behind her back, concealing something that she was embarrassed about. "This¡­this is just a thanks¡­thanks¡­" The Stun Wizard pulled out a red box with a neatly wrapped white ribbon on top of it. Her face was tomato red as she gave it to him, avoiding eye contact with him. Is this box something to be embarrassed about? Why did she give it to me then? "It''s just some cheap chocolate I found somewhere. It''s nothing special¡­" Atlan had no idea about the ways of women. He didn''t notice the passion and care she put into conveying her feelings for him in the form of the gift. And if he had Pterina''s LifeSkill, he would have known that she was lying about it being ''nothing special''. He would have seen her heartbeat increase the moment she caught a whiff of his scent. "Thanks," Atlan said as he put away the box. Everyone seemed very thankful for Atlan. Without him, they would have been waiting in agony for hours on end in the Remedium. After all, HeadQuarters didn''t even know something was wrong until he came out of the portal with an injured veteran in his hands. "Are you all ready to be blessed?" Someone from the other side of the altar spoke out. Altan saw a bespectacled man wearing an ankle-length white garment with long sleeves walk towards the group. He noticed that the man had a narrow strip of cloth around his neck that hung down on the front, with the design of the god''s two faces on each side. "This is Reverend Fifty Seventh. He''s the main priest of the church." Lizzie introduced the holy-looking man. "Please, call me Fifty-seventh." The priest then walked over to the center of the altar and addressed everyone. "I''m glad that I''m the one able to give out the blessings to such wonderful people. Are you all ready?" Atlan was the only one who didn''t know anything, so he quickly raised the question. "What are we supposed to do?" The priest gave him a small smile. "The Genesis God will beam down his rewards onto all of you. You''ll gain more life and more experience." "If you have any questions about how to use your experience, you can ask me," Lizzie whispered to him. "Do not worry. I will guide all of you through this magical experience. The only thing you need to do is to stand and accept the grace from God." S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The rest of his teammates gleamed with happiness once they heard that. This was the first time they''d ever get experience, so their excitement was palpable. They thought they''d failed their mission, so getting rewarded like this was a blessing for them. "I''m so excited to get stronger!" "Yes! This is my first step to greatness!" "Aren''t you excited¡­Atlan?" the Stun Wizard asked him with a slight blush on her face. "I''m excited too," he lied. Neumann gave him a slight nudge. "I''m sure you''ll be given lots of experience this time. You''ve done a great job." "We get different Experiences?" "Usually, everybody gets the same experience. But, sometimes, the God gives out extra to those he deems have done a great service¨Clike you. Oh, look. The priest''s starting." Atlan saw Reverend Fifty-seventh take out a golden key from his pocket, the same one that the statue on the altar had, but a bit smaller. He then raised it to the ceiling and closed his eyes. The priest muttered something under his breath, but Atlan couldn''t hear it. Suddenly, a beam of light came down from the ceiling towards them. Atlan noticed that the beam coincided with the center of the Genesis God''s painting. Atlan''s eyes widened as he saw blue wisps come from out of nowhere and descend towards the group. This was Experience, manifested in reality. Soon enough, those wisps separated into smaller wisps and came down and landed on their foreheads. [You have received 10 experience] Once everything settled down, the beam of light disappeared. "Yes! 10 experience!" "Woohoo!" "I didn''t think I''d get this much from our first mission!" The youths celebrated their rewards, and the Stun Wizard turned towards Atlan to celebrate with him. However, she was surprised to see that he was glowing white! [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Grim Reaper Physique LifeSkill to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] Chapter 54 - 54: SoulTime His SSS Physique LifeSkill finally advanced to the 2nd stage! However, he didn''t expect his whole body to suddenly radiate a dim light. Practically everybody''s eyes were on him. "No way¡­" "That fast?! I can''t believe it." Lizzie walked up to him with amazed eyes. "You advanced to 2nd stage Student¡­after just one mission. Wow¡­" The reason why she and everyone else were surprised was because Saviors usually took months if not years to get to the 2nd stage Student realm. Only the most talented could do it earlier. For example, Yasmine with her S class DPS LifeSkill, achieved this feat only one week after she was drafted! And from what Lizzie could remember, Atlan was also drafted exactly one week earlier. This meant that Atlan was equally as talented as an S class genius hailed to be the next great Savior in the City. It could even be argued that Atlan was much more talented than her. After all, Yasmine achieved this after two missions in the Remedium, all in one week. While Atlan achieved it in just one mission. CLAP CLAP CLAP Reverend Fifty-seventh clapped his hands in wonderment. "Amazing! God has deemed you worthy enough to give 1000 experience points just from that one mission. As expected. Your heroism has been rewarded." Everyone''s reaction was a mix of amazement and disbelief. They never thought that he would be blessed this much. The Genesis God must have been really impressed with Atlan. However, Atlan knew that that wasn''t the case. He only received 10 Experience! The God wasn''t the reason why he advanced; he already had enough experience to fill it up multiple times. The problem before was that it didn''t advance even if it was filled up with 1000 experience. Is being ''blessed'' by a God a requirement for me to advance my Physique LifeSkill? This guess wasn''t without merit. After all, his LifeSkill had the job of a God. Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ªConsolidating the 2nd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 12 hrs : 59 mins : 27 s But the most alarming thing about this was that his whole body glowed a white light when he advanced! Everyone saw it with their own eyes. "Why did my body glow?" Lizzie answered him. "That''s normal. Everybody glows like that when they advance to the next stage." Atlan was relieved to know that his case wasn''t abnormal. However, he wondered why his previous advancements showed no physical manifestations. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. When he advanced his SSS class Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill, it didn''t show anything on his body. The same was with his other LifeSkills. Is it because of my Physique? Does it hide the other advancements? But no matter what, he wished that it would stay the same. It would be weird if they suddenly saw his body glowing every time he advanced one of his LifeSkills. "Congratulations!" Lizzie gave him another big hug. Soon after that, Neumann and the rest of his teammates gave their praises to him. They weren''t envious at all, because Atlan proved himself to be a commendable Savior. "I can''t call you Newbie now. You are a full-fledged Savior!" Neumann saluted him by bumping his fist two times in his chest. Atlan awkwardly returned the salute. "Thanks¡­" TICK¡­TOCK¡­TICK¡­ Just then, Atlan suddenly saw something change in his Soul System. He closed his eyes and focused on it. In the dark expanse of his Soul System filled with large planets, asteroids, blue wisps, and red geometric objects, he suddenly saw something new to the side. Just beside his LifeSkill planets, he saw a large construct completely made out of glass. This object was made out of two triangular bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck. And inside this thing were cascading grains of sand, slowly pouring from the top to the bottom. This was an hourglass. [SoulTime] ¡ª40 yrs : 110 d : 20 hrs : 09 min : 01 s "What''s SoulTime?" he asked out loud. Lizzie, completely expecting his question, answered immediately. "Simply put, it''s your lifespan." But this left Atlan confused. He thought everyone was ''immortal''. And If everyone was considered immortal, then they shouldn''t have lifespans to begin with. "I don''t understand." This time, the priest answered. "Well, child. Being immortal doesn''t mean that your lifespan is extended infinitely. It only means that you can''t die. For example, I have a SoulTime of more than 500 years. Even if that is a long time, it is still a finite amount of time. If I don''t do anything and God doesn''t intervene, then I will die in 500 years. However, people like us who live in God''s embrace are given extra time, or SoulTime, to extend our lives. Saviors not only get Experience from doing missions, they also get SoulTime. Normal citizens get blessed with SoulTime for their services towards the City." Atlan was still hazy about the whole thing. "But what about Angels? I thought they were the beings that made everyone immortal." Neumann explained. "If people live a normal life, then their SoulTime ticks normally. However, accidents happen and we Saviors risk our bodies and lives in the Remedium. Each hit, and each injury that we sustain corresponds to a large chunk of decrease in our SoulTime. A simple cut could correspond to a 1-hour decrease in SoulTime. And a critical injury in your heart could decrease your SoulTime to less than 10 percent of what it was originally. When I got mutilated, my SoulTime decreased to dangerously low levels. They estimated my SoulTime was only 30 minutes left." "What if your SoulTime turns to zero?" "That''s where the Angels come in. They follow every person in this City like a shadow, and during times when a person has only a few minutes left in their SoulTime, the Angel injects them with more life, more SoulTime, making them virtually immortal." The priest nodded, feeling that Neumann''s explanation was accurate. Atlan finally figured out the reason how Angels and immortality worked. It turned out that Angels were more like emergency medical officers, rather than immortal beings who gave out immortality to everyone. He then looked at his Soul System. He only had 40 years left, which was a significant improvement to the 20-year-old expected lifespan of those in the Unclaimed Lands. But when he inspected his SoulTime, he noticed something extremely weird. ¡ª40 yrs : 110 d : 20 hrs : 09 min : 01 s ¡ª40 yrs : 110 d : 20 hrs : 09 min : 02 s ¡ª40 yrs : 110 d : 20 hrs : 09 min : 03 s It was ticking up! Chapter 55 - 55: Invited Instead of ticking down like normal people, Atlan''s SoulTime was instead going up! This meant that he was getting more life as time passed by instead of losing it. This is definitely not normal. Is it because of my Physique LifeSkill? Is it because of my bloodline? Either way, he wasn''t mad at this power. He was an actual immortal. If he did nothing and lived a normal life, then he would live forever, and even extend his lifespan as he got older! Neumann also told him that each injury corresponded to a decrease in SoulTime. His increasing SoulTime meant that Atlan had the equivalent of regeneration powers! This was especially helpful in missions to the Remedium. He dared not tell this to other people. And even if he did, would they believe him? The women would envy him because he had the ability to get younger as he got older. "Do you understand SoulTime now?" Lizzie asked. Atlan nodded yes. "Saviors only see their SoulTime after they advance to the 2nd stage, so they only find out about this fact later," Lizzie explained. "It''s also the reason why veterans, usually tanks like me, are needed in beginner missions. Newbies don''t know how much SoulTime they lose when they get injured, so they get a bit reckless thinking they have more," Neumann added. Lizzie looked at her watch and saw the time. "Oh, we should continue our conversation outside. Mass is going to start soon, right Reverend Fifty-seventh?" The priest nodded. "Don''t worry, you can take your time." Then, he turned towards Atlan and clasped his hands. "Once again, I congratulate all of you, especially our star porter. Unfortunately, I won''t be able to join the celebrations as I have a lot of stuff to attend to. If only I could delegate praying, hahaha." The priest congratulated them before saying his goodbye and going back to the side door. "You see your SoulTime now? What does it look like?" "How much time do you have?" The excited youths couldn''t help but crowd over Atlan and ask all sorts of questions. Neumann had to reign them back in. "Guys, don''t be rude. You can''t expect someone to give you sensitive information when he doesn''t even know your names." They all felt embarrassed and quickly introduced themselves. "I''m Semi," the tank said, grasping Atlan''s hand with both hands. "Call me Pacman," said the pugilist. "Robin''s the name." the archer introduced himself. The last one was the Stun Wizard, and Atlan felt like he saw steam come out of her ears, but he must have just imagined it. "...Tryna," she tried to shake Atlan''s hands, but she wasn''t looking at him so she missed quite a few times. It took Semi''s help for her to shake hands with him. Atlan finally knew everyone''s name¡ªexcept for one. Someone was missing from the group. The Scout was nowhere to be seen. "What happened to our scout?" They all gave him a sad but optimistic smile. "He''s still recuperating from his injuries. They said that he got dangerously close to emptying his SoulTime," Pacman said. Atlan was confused. "Can''t the priest bless him with more SoulTime?" Neumann sighed. "They are¨Cthey did¨Cbut he''s still unconscious as of now." Suddenly, Atlan had a bad feeling. What if¡­ What if his SoulTime went to zero? Without the Angles, the scout''s SoulTime wouldn''t be injected with more life as it ticked down to zero. He''d be dead. "Where is he?" "He''s in intensive care in the church, which prohibits any visitors. We''ll just have to wait until he wakes up. He''ll be really jealous once he learns that we got our Experiences before him," Semi joked to lighten the mood. Atlan wasn''t sure that he was dead. If he was dead, I would have sensed it. "Anyway, let''s change the subject. We''re having a small party tomorrow evening to celebrate. It''ll be a big gathering of all of us in the Student Realm. You should join us, Atlan." "No offense to sir Neumann, but you really shouldn''t be hanging out with old people like him. All the people there will be our age." Neumann grunted, but he didn''t argue. He agreed with them that Atlan needed to socialize with people his age. "You''ll get to see a lot of new faces there. Everyone will be there! Geniuses, Young masters, and most importantly, some chicks!" Tryna, the Stun Wizard, elbowed Pacman once he mentioned other girls to Atlan. She could be quite aggressive when she needed to. "I''ve never been to a party before." Pacman put his shoulders over Atlan and whispered. "That''s fine. With your talent, I''m sure there''ll be some beautiful girls lining up over you¨COW!" "You should¡­join us¡­," Tryna said shyly, her arms still embedded in Pacman''s ribs. Since they were inviting him with open arms, Atlan decided to join them. Of course, he had no idea what to do at a ''party''. From the stories he heard, he was supposed to get ''wasted'' or whatever that meant. He''d have to ask Wemby later. "Sounds interesting. I''ll join." The youths, especially Tryna, shouted in happiness when they heard that. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Okay, plan your party some other time. It''s time for all of you to return home," Neumann said, herding the youths out of the church. "See, Atlan. Old men like Sir Neumann hate seeing us young folks having fun," Pacman said jokingly. "Ahem¡­under 200 years old is still very young." Soon, all of them were on their respective mounts out near the entrance of the church. The youths all said goodbyes to Atlan and reminded him of the time and place for the party. They all went on their own ways escorted by Neumann, who gave Atlan a small wave goodbye. Atlan and Lizzie entered her truck as she escorted him back to his house. While inside, Atlan asked her a question. "Will you be at the party?" She chuckled. "That''s only for young''uns like you. I''m old," she said as she tucked her curly hair in her ear. Atlan muttered under his breath. "You look young though¡­" Chapter 56 - 56: Altercation The truck moved through the streets of Genesis City at a steady pace. Atlan looked through the windows and noticed that they passed by the 2nd street of the SpringField district, the same place where the mission took place. He was surprised to see that the houses were already fixed and upright. There was no debris on the streets, the houses had fully refurbished paint, and people were walking out of their houses as if nothing happened. He was surprised to see how fast everything was cleaned. Lizzie said that the City had Operators who could rebuild houses within hours. What more can they do? It seemed like the Operator specialty was more diverse than he thought. They could see through lies, create massive structures instantly, and even target the weaknesses of Canzers. Soon enough, the truck parked just in front of Atlan''s house. Lizzie bid him goodbye and congratulated him again for his accomplishments. In just a few days, she saw him soar through the heavens with his talent. She was very proud. Atlan walked back to his house after Lizzie departed. Just as he slumped on his comfortable bed, he suddenly saw new words pop up in front of him. [Consolidation period over] [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª 2nd stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª (0/2000) Atlan tried to activate this LifeSkill back in the Remedium, but he saw that he couldn''t do it. Since it had the job of a Sniper, Atlan guessed that he needed a gun or something with a projectile to activate it. He remembered that time when he was practicing in the Training Hall Remedium and saw a Savior with a sniper job. He had this strange elongated tube with many attachments on it, and with just one flick of his finger, a powerful explosion shot out of the barrel and hit the Pseudo Canzer. Just like his Cherubic Retribution which needed a target to be able to activate, his Apocalyptic Hellfire needed a medium to be used. However, he didn''t know how he was going to get a gun. Heck, he didn''t even know how people get their weapons. They never told him this because he had no need for them; he was a porter. Maybe I could ask Wemby and the others later. I could just make the excuse that I want to get a sword for self-defense. Atlan quickly put the required experience in his LifeSkill and advanced it to the 3rd stage. [You have successfully advanced through the 2nd Stage Student Realm of your SSS class LifeSkill Apocalyptic Hellfire] [Consolidation period: 47 hrs: 59 mins: 50 secs] He looked down at his body and didn''t see the glowing light seep out of his body like last time. This proved his guess that he''d only show his advancement if his Physique LifeSkill was the one that advanced. This was beneficial to Atlan because he didn''t want others to know about his myriad of LifeSkills in his Soul System. And before going to sleep, Atlan snacked on the strange thing called ''chocolate''. He quite liked the mixture of sweet and bitter flavors he tasted. With everything settled, Atlan closed his eyes and went to sleep. ### The next day, Atlan woke up to another advancement. [Consolidation period over] [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Grim Reaper Physique LifeSkill to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª 2nd stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(2000 / 2000) Atlan tried to put more experience into this LifeSkill, however, just like before, a strange invisible barrier prevented him from overfilling it. And even though he filled it with blue wisps, the LifeSkill planet refused to coagulate into another solid layer. He couldn''t advance to the 3rd stage. Do I need to get blessed with experience from a God to advance it again? Atlan found this a bit disappointing because it meant that he would have to finish missions and get ''blessed'' with experience before he could advance it to the next stage. Can''t I just advance it with my regular experience? I''d even be willing to pay twice the cost¡­ If other people heard his thoughts, they''d go green with envy. He was complaining about his ''slow'' advancement even though it took other Saviors months or even years to accumulate enough experience points to advance to their next stage. But since he couldn''t do anything about it, he would just have to wait until he got another mission. He got out of his house and walked towards the Savior HeadQuarters. The party wasn''t until this evening, so he had a lot of free time this morning. His first order of business was to get some advice from Wemby and the others about what to do at a ''party''. They''d probably have a lot of experience with mingling and socializing with others. As for the rest of the day, he''d pass the time by killing some more Pseudo Canzers in the Training Hall Remedium. When he turned the corner and saw the magnificent building of the HeadQuarters, he saw that fewer Saviors were walking up and down the steps. He didn''t even see Neumann and the others anywhere. They''re probably inside, Atlan thought. But just as he was about to walk up the steps, he suddenly heard a commotion to the side. There was shouting. Aggressive shouting. He turned his head and saw three people arguing near a secluded corner. He was going to ignore them, but his enhanced eyesight caught a familiar face. Wemby? S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. One of the guys arguing was Wemby. Atlan got curious and walked over towards them. As he did, he noticed that Wemby and another person he didn''t know were arguing with another person wearing a blue battle suit! Wemby and his acquaintance were having some disagreements with an Operator. All three parties were angry. Wemby stayed on the sidelines, but the Vanguard and the Operator were having an intense argument, with their faces beet red. These two looked like they were just about to throw hands. Atlan couldn''t help but approach the group. "What''s happening?" Wemby saw Atlan and immediately wanted him to back out. He knew that a fight was about to break out and he didn''t want the newbie to get hurt. The Operator with the blue suit saw Atlan approach and immediately hissed at him. "Stay out of this, you Knife." The other person, the Vanguard with the green suit, also frowned when he saw Atlan approach. "Don''t interfere in other people''s business, kid. Or else this Quill''s not the only one who''s going to know the strength of a 2nd stage Student like me." Atlan ignored their words. The only thing in his mind was; They look like they''re about to hurt each other¡­I hate suffering¡­ Chapter 57 - 57: Knives V Quills "Don''t call me a Quill, you Knife!" the Operator grumbled. The ''Knife'' snickered. He wanted to anger the ''Quill'' and make him do the first move so that he''d have the excuse to retaliate. The Vanguard was just waiting so that he''d be able to teach the pretentious Operator a lesson. He didn''t want a nobody like Atlan to interfere with this. The Operator couldn''t help but be angry at the Vanguard. Knives were always arrogant and disrespected the Quills any time something happened. And if things did go well, then they wouldn''t get the recognition they deserved. So, the Operator wanted to show them that ''Quills'' were just as equal in strength as the ''Knives''. While the Vanguard was laughing to himself, the Operator lunged towards him with a straight right jab right down to his face. He was surprisingly agile with his movements, leaving the Vanguard surprised at the attack. However, the Knife''s experience in the Remedium taught him to react well. He quickly raised his left hand, guarding against the attack. And without a second later, he arced his right hand and counter-attacked with a right hook straight to the Quill''s ribs. The Vanguard smiled. He saw the panic in the Operator''s eyes. Quills were not good with hand-to-hand combat like the Knives. They were mere pampered office workers. But unexpectedly, the Quill''s left hand suddenly and skillfully tucked itself on his side, protecting the Operator from the hook. "What?!" The Operator smiled. "Hmph. Haven''t you seen Cybernetics installed in a battle suit before?" He then performed a perfect roundhouse kick straight to the Knife''s face. The Vanguard backed away with confusion in his face. "The A.I. chip in my battle suit has learned from the best Martial Artists in the City. With just one thought in my brain, I can become a black belt in ancient Taekwondo!" The Knife frowned. He hated Quills even more. As expected, they cheated their way into becoming strong and just reaped the rewards from the hard-working Vanguards who risk their SoulTime in the Remedium. He couldn''t lose this fight. He rushed towards the Quill. Fighting against regenerating Canzers taught the Vanguard to never let his opponents even have a moment to relax. The Knife ran around the Quill, using the tight space around them to jump from wall to wall. The Operator couldn''t keep up with his movements. With each step on the wall, the Knife got higher and higher. He had no fear of falling and even had his eyes focused on the clueless Quill. The Operator couldn''t keep up with the Knife''s movements, leaving him disoriented. It was a moment of weakness. The knife took advantage of this and jumped down with his hands clasped together, intending to smash the Quill''s arrogant head. The Operator had no idea what was happening, but his blue battle suit suddenly emitted a white color as his AI chip recognized the threat. His body performed a near-straight back kick, clashing with the Vanguard''s clasped hands. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The two stumbled back from the force. The Quill''s cybernetic battle suit made up for the guy''s lack of fighting skills. "Tch." But the Vanguard didn''t give up. He looked around and used the environment to his advantage. The Quill was breathing heavily when, all of a sudden, he saw a pot of plant coming towards his face. His computer chip reacted for him, performing a roundhouse kick to sweep the pot and its soil away from his face. But when he looked around, he didn''t see the Knife anywhere. His body automatically turned to the side and saw the Knife''s fist coming toward his face. The Quill''s battle suit had no control over his face, so he couldn''t react to the attack. The punch rocked the Quill''s entire head to the side. The Vanguard thought he won, but he was caught off guard when he felt a crushing pain in his ribs. He looked down and saw the Quill''s leg kicking him just below the armpit. The Operator''s battle suit automatically kicked the Vanguard''s ribs. "Kuh!" Both of them spat out blood. They looked at their Soul System and saw that they lost about 10 days'' worth of SoulTime from that attack. Their anger for each other burned even harder. They couldn''t believe that they let themselves be injured by a Knife/Quill. They should be the superior! To prove that, both of them decided to use their real powers. The Knife''s body glowed a red tint as four meteors suddenly appeared and rotated around his fists. This was his DPS LifeSkill, Crashing Meteor Punch. Meanwhile, the Quill''s entire battle suit suddenly vibrated and buzzed as streaks of electricity erupted from his entire body. Even though the use of LifeSkills out in the public was forbidden, their desire to satiate their anger overcame their reasoning. "Darn it! They''ve gone insane!" Wemby bit his lips. "Atlan, let''s report this so that it doesn''t escalate¨C" But he was talking to no one. Atlan wasn''t there. Wemby was horrified to see Atlan standing in the middle of the two fighters with no regards for his safety. What is he doing?! He could get hurt! The Vanguard and the Operator both saw Atlan stand between them. The Knife scoffed. He couldn''t believe that a youth like Atlan was arrogant enough to think that he could stop a high class Savior like him. Didn''t Atlan know that he was a talented A class DPS talent that advanced to the 2nd stage in just two months? "Your loss, kid! I''ll beat both of you into a pulp!" he said as his meteors rotated faster around his fist. He charged towards Atlan and the Quill. Meanwhile, the Operator charged up his electricity into the maximum voltage. "Ha, You filthy Knives! Know your place!" The Quill rushed towards Atlan and the Knife. Atlan, with two Saviors coming right towards him with their most powerful attacks, simply raised his head. He didn''t look worried at all as they both charged at him with intense hatred. "Why can''t everybody be a pacifist like me?" he lamented. The Knife raised his fist high up in the air, ready to pummel both Atlan and the Quill in the ground. He thought he''d finally see fear and regret in Atlan''s eyes. Instead, Atlan turned around and faced the opposite direction! He didn''t even spare a glance at the Vanguard and treated him as if he was nothing but air. He couldn''t believe this! He was getting disrespected by both the Quill and this youngster! This was unacceptable! His meteors rotated even faster around his fist, increasing the force of his punch. You don''t even turn around to face me? We''ll see how you feel when I smack the back of your skull! He jabbed his right fist towards Atlan''s face, with his meteors increasing the speed and force of his punch. But just as his attack was about to hit the naive youth, Atlan suddenly tilted his head and dodged the Vanguard''s attack. !!!! The Knife couldn''t believe it. And without even turning his face, Atlan raised his right hand and caught the Knife''s attack, stopping it in its tracks. Atlan looked back to the horrified Knife and said; "I''ll deal with you later." Chapter 58 - 58: Spreading pacifism The Vanguard couldn''t understand what happened. He looked at his right hand and saw that the original four meteors that were rotating around his wrist now became only three. He used up one of the meteors in his attack, which meant that his punch should have destroyed any defense it came across. So then how did Atlan catch his fist? Did I misfire my LifeSkill?! He quickly withdrew away from Atlan, jumping back until he could feel the walls against his back. He reached down deep in his Soul System and tried to figure out why his Crashing Meteor Punch didn''t pack as much power as he thought. Atlan shouldn''t have been able to catch his attack. Meanwhile, the Quill looked at Atlan, who was walking towards him with an indecipherable look on his face. The Quill took the initiative and rushed towards Atlan. His blue battle suit buzzed with high-voltage electricity arcing through the air. With the momentum he had, the Quill jumped up and did a side-kick aimed directly at Atlan''s chest. But surprisingly, the unknown youth simply turned his whole body away at the very last second. The Operator didn''t think that Atlan had the reaction skills to even see through his attack. But he did. How? That''s a kick from a taekwondo master! With his back to Atlan, the Operator was vulnerable to any attack. Atlan raised his hand and positioned it to grab the Operator''s shoulders. Ha! The Quill''s battle suit was charged with enough voltage to incapacitate 2nd stage Students and even some in the 3rd stage. It was an impenetrable defense that deterred any attackers. The Operator smiled when he saw Atlan grab his shoulders. He couldn''t wait to see Atlan''s entire body shuddering from a thousand volts coursing through his body. But the smile on the Operator''s face faded once he felt Atlan tighten his grip on his shoulders. Huh?! How''s he able to touch me? He looked at Atlan''s eyes and saw that it was filled with clarity, as if the electricity coursing through his body didn''t affect him. That''s impossible! Atlan''s entire body should be fried inside out by now, with his muscles seizing and unable to move. The Operator thought that his battle suit malfunctioned, but then he saw electricity arcing through Atlan''s body, and one even streaked through his eyes. He was getting electrocuted! Yet, why did it seem like he wasn''t affected at all? "Hurting will only cause further suffering," Atlan said. "??? What are you talking¨C" The Operator didn''t know what Atlan was talking about. But then, he suddenly felt a sharp, cramping pain in his stomach that took all the breath out of his lungs. Atlan gave him a swift punch in the gut that made his brain feel hazy. As a man who hadn''t been through a lot of physical training, this was the first time he felt true pain. It was excruciating. The Quill fell on his knees and passed out in a fetal position. If he didn''t know what suffering was, then he certainly felt it then. Meanwhile, the Vanguard looked at Atlan with confusion with a tinge of fear in his eyes. He started to wonder who he was facing. Was this unassuming youth actually an S class Tank talent? Atlan then turned towards him, and fear gripped his heart. The Knife shook his head and tried to focus. He reactivated his LifeSkill again, with four meteors floating around his fists. This time, he''d make sure to keep his grip on his LifeSkill so that it wouldn''t misfire again. He rushed towards Atlan with both hands in front of him. With double the power of his LifeSkill, there was less chance of Atlan getting lucky and avoiding the full brunt of his meteoric punch. This was a punch that could disorient a 1st stage difficulty Canzer! He used this power to deal tremendous amounts of damage to a Canzer and kill it with his team in just under half an hour! Atlan should be feeling the heat by now. As the attack came towards him, he should have been trying to find a way to escape. But instead of running away, Atlan stood still and only muttered a few words. "I''m only spreading pacifism," Atlan reminded himself. He wasn''t causing violence, he was stopping it. And with that resolution, the Vanguard''s double meteoric punch whistled through the air, leaving only a trail of embers behind his fists. And instead of slowing down, his attack seemed to get faster and faster as it reached Atlan''s chest. This was the last moment to escape. But instead, Atlan closed his eyes! He tried to remember how the Operator moved his body. He recalled how his waist moved to efficiently muster as much power as he could to his legs. And as he visualized it, Atlan moved his body in turn. He raised his left leg and left it bent, until at the last moment, he flicked his foot directly at the Knife''s ribs. "GUAAHH!" The Vanguard felt a few of his ribs crack, leaving him gasping for air. His whole body was cast aside till he crashed onto the wall, unconscious. He didn''t even know what happened. He didn''t see Atlan''s swift kick because it was covered by his own two fists! With just a few moves, Atlan knocked both the Operator and the Vanguard unconscious. Wemby''s mouth was wide agape. He was left speechless. Is this how powerful a Porter really is? Wemby knew the Vanguard personally, and he knew that the guy was an experienced fighter in the 2nd stage Student realm. That meteoric punch of his could take out 1 year off a person''s SoulTime! Yet Atlan tanked that punch like it was nothing. Not only that, he knew that the Quill''s electric battle suit was used to paralyze some criminal Saviors. It wasn''t something that anyone could just shrug off. Yet Atlan did. Here he was worried that Atlan would get accidentally injured, not knowing that he should have been worried for the other two! Atlan walked back to Wemby. "Wow! You beat those guys bloody." Atlan tilted his head and looked confused. "I''m a pacifist¡­" Wemby was speechless. Is he serious? S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 59 - 59: Go to market? "Woah! Did you guys see that? Who is that?" "Wait! I think it''s that famous Porter!" "You mean he''s that one? He''s heroic and he''s also good at self-defense? What a package!" A small crowd gathered near the corner where the fight took place. They all saw Atlan dismantle both of those Saviors with just a few moves. Almost all of them knew about the hot story of the Porter''s brave actions of saving his fellow teammates. However, only a sparse few recognized who Atlan was. And by now, people also found out that Atlan was part of an elite group of geniuses who were able to advance to the 2nd stage Student realm in just one week! That was a kind of talent that could not be replicated just by anyone! They were all surprised to find out that Atlan was also good at Martial Arts. Even though his moves were crude, his insane reaction speeds and robust physique allowed him to overcome those flaws. They knew that a Physique LifeSkill was good, but they didn''t know that it was that good. He took that electrical charge like it was nothing! "Excuse me." Someone pushed themselves through the crowd and walked towards Atlan and Wemby. She had her hands on her waist and a stern look on her face. "What do you all think you''re doing?" Atlan was surprised to see that a crowd had gathered around him. Not only that, Miss Lizzie was also there with an angry look on her face. What did I do this time?! Lizzie glared at both of them, but she especially scowled at Wemby. "Are you fighting with the Operators again? Wemby, I can''t believe you! And now, you even influenced Atlan in your schemes!" Wemby raised his hands innocently. "I didn''t! Even though I wanted to fight, I held myself back! And the newbie is the one who acted by himself, don''t blame me!" He quickly threw Atlan under the bus. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Lizzie had her hands on her waist and scrutinized Atlan. But he just shrugged. "I was advocating for pacifism!" Lizzie looked back and saw the unconscious bodies of the Vanguard and the Operator. That was being a pacifist? She sighed. "I know that you wanted to stop them from fighting, but you didn''t have to do it by yourself. You could have reported to the HeadQuarters and they''d be stopped by other Saviors. Once again, you put yourself in danger. Even though it seemed like you took that without wincing in pain, I know that you lost a lot of SoulTime from that." Lizzie, Wemby, and everyone else who witnessed Atlan fight against the two Saviors all saw him take electric damage from the Operator''s battle suit. That would have been enough to incapacitate 2nd stage Students. They all thought that Atlan used his Physique LifeSkill to resist the paralyzing effect of the electricity. But even so, they all believed that Atlan must have lost a lot of SoulTime from that attack. It only looked like it didn''t affect him because he was brave and lionhearted. But in truth, Atlan didn''t have to do anything. His SSS class Physique LifeSkill just advanced to the 2nd stage, and it enhanced his natural body defenses by a large margin. He truly felt nothing from the electricity that tried to fry his body. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. When he looked at his SoulTime, he didn''t lose any time at all. [SoulTime] ¡ª40 yrs : 111 d : 04 hrs : 16 min : 49 s He even gained a day in his SoulTime because a day has elapsed from when he gained his SoulTime. But they didn''t know that. If he told everybody the truth, they would quickly wonder how he was able to defend against two Saviors who were both in the 2nd stage Student realm. After all, he was only a Porter. He wasn''t a tank who had tremendous defenses around their body. "You must have lost about a month from that, right?" Lizzie asked, disappointed. Atlan nodded his head and didn''t say anything else. "I can see how he was able to return to the Remedium to save his teammates. He doesn''t care about his SoulTime!" "I wish I had that courage. I don''t even get into sparring sessions because I don''t want to waste SoulTime." "He''s the star porter. He''s going to get a lot more missions and get rewarded with a lot more SoulTime. He''ll probably get blessed with more than a year from his next mission." "Ahem!" Lizzie looked at all the onlookers. "Why don''t you guys make yourselves useful and bring those guys to the church, will you?" The crowd quickly dispersed and some carried the Operator and the Vanguard away into their mounts. They need the help of the nuns to wake up from their unconsciousness. "Sorry Lizzie. I just get so angry at those Quills, especially after that debacle with the newbie''s mission. How could they not know that there''s a Sapient Canzer there? Neumann lost a lot of SoulTime from that." Wemby sighed and shook his head. He blamed the Operators for this disaster that affected Atlan and Neumann, two of his friends. If the Quills did their job properly, then Atlan and Neumann wouldn''t have had to suffer during a routine mission. How could he not get angry? "Why were those two arguing?" Atlan asked. "Well, he''s actually my teammate for my next mission and we were given a Canzer Report from the Operators. But how could we trust that report? Who knows if they made a mistake again? So, we both tracked down the Operator and asked him if he double-checked the symptoms. Of course, typical Quill, he immediately scoffed at us and ignored us. And that''s when the argument started." Lizzie shook her head in disappointment. The Operators have been in hot water ever since that disaster with the newbie mission happened. This created further distrust and disrespect from both specialties. She wouldn''t be surprised if this wasn''t the first fight that happened this morning. "Anyway, I have to go and prepare for my mission and just hope that everything goes well. Ugh. Those Quills have one job. One job!" Wemby tried to put his anger behind him. "Oh, and I forgot to congratulate you, newbie. I knew you were going to be a transcendent talent." Wemby gave him a smile and a pat on the back. "Just keep doing what you''re doing, newbie. Oh, and I''m gonna still keep calling you that even if you surpass me, okay?" With that, Wemby called his mount and left the HeadQuarters. Ah! I forgot to ask him how to ''party''. Just as he was about to shout towards Wemby, Lizzie suddenly took his hands and dragged him to her truck. "Atlan, come with me." "Where are we going?" "We''re going to the armory market." She poked his chest. "I''m going to get you some good armor. You can''t just waste your SoulTime like that." Armory market¡­a place to buy armor, swords, and¡­guns. Chapter 60 - 60: Meeting a blacksmith "What can I get from there?" "There''s lots of armor, weapons, and miscellaneous gadgets in the Armory Market." Atlan was intrigued. Ever since he obtained the SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill, he couldn''t wait to try it out. Unfortunately, unless he had a weapon that could fire projectiles, his LifeSkill wouldn''t activate no matter how hard he tried. But if he could buy a gun¡­ "Come on! It''s not like you have anywhere to go anyway. The Training Hall Remedium is closed for the time being." "Closed? Why?" "HeadQuarters shut it down until they find out the reason why things went so wrong during your mission. The Vanguards didn''t want to enter knowing there was a risk, and the Operators didn''t want to get blamed if something bad does happen. So, they closed it. In fact, all non-essential Remedium portals are banned right now. People can''t go to the Remedium unless it''s for a mission." Atlan was planning on killing a few Pseudo Canzers in the Training Hall, but it seemed his plans would have to be scrapped. And unless the Angels returned and things went back to normal, it looked like Atlan wouldn''t be able to farm more Pseudo Canzers for now. "Where do we go?" With nothing else to do, he relented and joined Lizzie to the market. The truck strolled through the streets and away from the City Center down South. On the way, Atlan saw a lot of new architecture and large buildings unlike anything he''d ever seen. It didn''t look like these structures were meant for humans to live in as smoke and steam billowed out of multiple chimneys on the roof. "This is Masamune District, the industrial heart of Genesis City." Atlan''s eyes widened as he saw a hill in the distance with a large crater on the top. Smoke and bits of magma spurted out of the opening every few seconds. It wasn''t just a regular mountain, it was a volcano! This volcanic mountain was surrounded by large, blocky buildings, with large pipes interconnected with each other and eventually all leading back to the volcano. "Mount Infernal looks larger than life, doesn''t it? Without that volcano, we won''t have the power to light our homes, we won''t have water to pump from underground, and we won''t be able to produce food to sustain us. That is where the City''s energy is mostly generated. It is a vital part of the City and we cannot let the Canzers destroy it. That''s why this District has its own Specialist Saviors on standby, ready to go whenever a Symptom appears." Specialist Saviors were three realms above those in the Student Realm like Atlan. It goes from Student, to Pre-Intern, to Intern, and then to Specialist. Atlan saw that almost every house, every building, every street, and even TVs had small pipes that connected to the main pipe and back to the volcano. She wasn''t lying when she said that this volcano powered everything in this City. No wonder they need Specialist Saviors to protect this district. After a few more minutes, they reached the armory marketplace. The truck turned a corner and the large buildings of this street blocked his view from Mount Infernal. When he looked around, he saw an abundance of people walking and inspecting the wares of stalls and stores on the side of the street. Even in the truck, he could still hear the passionate bargains from buyer to seller. The sellers would brandish polished swords and throwing knives to a group of interested buyers, and the customer would throw out a counteroffer of some kind. When he looked at the people buying, he noticed that most of them had distinctly foreign faces, with some being taller, more slender, and had a more bulbous nose than the people he saw in Genesis City. But the buyers weren''t the only special humans he saw in the street. In all the stalls that they passed, almost all of them were managed by dwarfs¨Chumans with a short and stocky stature. They all have the same dwarf mutation? In every district he visited, he always saw a mix of mutations around. Even if people had the same cat mutation, not everyone would have cat ears or tails¡ªsome just had whiskers on their faces. But in this district, the dwarves all had identical mutations. "We''re here," Lizzie said as the truck came to a stop. She then pointed at the building where armor sets and swords were displayed in glass cases on the front. "You''ll have a large selection of armor you can pick out from his store. I''ve been loyal to this place ever since the owner gave me personalized katars and daggers." Lizzie parked the truck in one of the designated spaces beside the building. Atlan noticed that this store was one of the few buildings with parking spaces for both mounts and vehicles. This place must be special. Lizzie entered the shop ahead of him while Atlan looked up at the carved wooden sign at the front. Indirect descendant? What does that mean? Atlan walked inside the shop and immediately, the smell of oil and charcoal hit his nose. And even though it was muffled, the sound of banging metal resounded through the walls and filled his ears. Don''t they get deaf from that? he wondered. CHIME A single dwarf tinkering on his workbench turned to look at who entered his store. And when he saw Lizzie, he immediately dropped what he was working on and greeted her. "Oh, puellula Lizzie! It''s been a while." The owner had curly black hair and a long bushy beard. He was wearing dirty overalls and a white t-shirt underneath with multiple greasy hand marks near his pockets. "What brings you here? Have my claws done you well? I hope you''re not going to tell me that you lost them in the Remedium again." "I''m doing good, Custodire. It''s been doing me well but I''ve been having trouble with grip on my claws¨Cah! That''s not why I''m here. I''m here for another business. I''m hoping that you''d be able to give this new guy better protection. He''s quite careless with his SoulTime." She gestured at Atlan to come and she introduced the dwarf to him. "This is Miss Custodire. She''s my trusted blacksmith." She? Atlan was caught off guard. He would have never thought that the bearded dwarf was a woman. Granted her beard covered half of her face, he didn''t see any hint of femininity on her. She was even more muscular than most men he saw in the City. "What? Never seen a beautiful dwarf like me before?" she said, but Atlan didn''t react. Custodire looked at Lizzie. "What''s wrong with him?" "He''s never seen a dwarf before," she explained. "He''s from the Unclaimed Lands." "I see. Well, nice to meet you kid. I''m Custodire. You''ll never see a more beautiful dwarf like me, so be thankful." S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She offered her greeting and Atlan, after finally shaking off his surprise, shook hands with her. "I''m Atlan." His eyes widened when he felt a strong pressure crushing his hands. Chapter 61 - 61: Custodire This was the first time that Atlan actually felt pain in his hands. Even when he crushed the hard outer shell of the Canzers he fought in his first mission, he never felt even a tinge of pressure from it. But now, he felt like his bones would break if he didn''t stiffen his grip. Atlan had to use his real strength, with no reservations, just to survive the monstrously strong grip of this unassuming dwarf. Little by little, he felt like he was getting the upper hand in this tussle. Custodire''s eyebrows raised as she felt an equal pressure clasping her hands. She was just testing this little cub to see how he''d react, but she didn''t think that he''d be able to withstand her strength. She quickly changed her evaluation of this youth. "Strong body¡­" she said with a smile. "Okay, that''s enough, Miss Custodire. You can''t bully newbies like this anymore. You''re in the Specialist Realm!" Custodire let go of her grip on Atlan and crossed her hands on her chest. "I was just playing around. And it looks like this little cub right here is no newbie at all. He''s pretty strong." Atlan took a deep breath as he took back his hand. She''s a Specialist? That''s three realms above me! No wonder she could crush my bones. "You''re a Specialist?" he asked her. Custodire smiled and raised her bushy chin. "That''s right. I''m an Operator in the Specialist Realm. That means I can create decent weapons and armor that Specialists can use. But I can create even more magnificent armor for newbies like you." Atlan was misled by her attire. She wasn''t wearing the blue battle suit that Operators usually wore, so he thought that she was just an ordinary human. He didn''t think that anyone would ever guess that she was a Savior, much less an elite one in the Specialist realm. Just how strong is she? He couldn''t even fathom the strength of someone three realms above his own. "So, Atlan. What stage are you in right now? 7th? 8th?" "2nd stage," he muttered. "2nd stage Pre-intern? Not bad." Lizzie chuckled. "No, Miss Custodire. He''s only in the 2nd stage Student Realm." "What?!" She couldn''t believe that a mere 2nd stage Student was able to withstand her grip. At that stage, Saviors were barely even superhuman. Yet, the strength he displayed was far above the level she expected. Lizzie saw the look of surprise on her face and she couldn''t help but chuckle. This was also the reason why she wanted to introduce Atlan to her¨Cshe wanted to see the old dwarf get tongue-tied. "And that''s not all. He only advanced to the 2nd stage yesterday. One week after he got drafted. After one mission." Lizzie''s words of praise were filled with pride. Custodire had to lean on the full metal armor next to her as she processed this information. She was a well-sought-after blacksmith with a high-class clientele filled with young masters and geniuses from prestigious families. However, this was the first time she saw someone as talented as this youth. In her opinion, he even surpassed those arrogant youths with S class talents! "What''s your job?" "Porter." She sucked in a big breath. Although being a porter was a good job, she couldn''t help but feel that Atlan''s talents were being wasted. If he had a DPS or Tank LifeSkill, he could easily become one of the premier talents of the City that could even compare to big Metropolises overseas. But she didn''t dare overlook a porter''s importance. They braved the Remedium with no fighting skills to protect themselves, which was why protective gear was so important for porters like Atlan. Custodire finally understood why Lizzie brought him here. She sized up Atlan''s body and got his measurements just from one look. "Well, why don''t you take a look around my wares and tell me if you have anything you like." She pulled a lever on the wall and the sword displays on the side suddenly made way for shiny, metallic armor displayed in stands. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What do you like?" Lizzie said as she surveyed the armors with him. Atlan was a little bit overwhelmed. There were different kinds of armor, and all were different from one another. Some protected only his chest, some were complete down to the shoulders, and there was even one that looked like it was made of glass. He didn''t know if shiny metallic armor was better than those that had a matte finish with a leathery texture. Should I go big and bulky? Or is minimalistic better? "Which one do you think I should choose?" he asked Custodire. As the expert in all things armor, she''d have the best eye for these things. The dwarf nodded and quickly chose the armor at the very front of the selection. It was made out of a black, shiny material, with prominent shoulder guards and gilled designs on the torso. It looked the most complicated out of all the armor. "This is the Eclipse Bayou, an indirect Masamune original." What''s that? Custodire saw Atlan''s confusion and quickly explained. "An indirect Masamune original means that it is made by a blacksmith with an indirect lineage to the Masamune Family. I am one such blacksmith, so anything I make is an indirect Masamune original." "Masamune Family? Isn''t this district also called the Masamune District?" The dwarf nodded. "Yes. This district got its name because almost all of our residents are a part of the Masamune Family." "Are all of you part of one big family?" "Yes. Didn''t you notice that almost all of our blacksmiths and vendors in this place are dwarves? That''s because we all have a bloodline that is part dwarf due to our lineage. Some of us are more connected to the main lineage, and some are further removed. Since I am from a side branch of the main Masamune family, all of my blacksmith works are labeled as an indirect Masamune original. Those that are 2nd removed from the main family can only call their works as 2nd removed originals, and so on." Atlan was surprised to find out that an entire district was dedicated to just one family. He also didn''t know why being further removed from a family was considered bad. But the fact that only one family had a monopoly on an entire blacksmithing district meant that they must be really good at it. He looked at the Eclipse Bayou armor in front of him and knew that it was technically a good armor. Atlan even estimated that it could withstand the claws of the Deiztruphia Canzer for a few attacks at the least. However, it just didn''t feel right for him. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something. It was a simple chest armor made out of iron. It had dents and scratches all around, and it was even rusted in most places. However, a strange feeling in his gut compelled him to get it. Chapter 62 - 62: Plain chestplate Atlan walked towards the rusted chest plate that was buried under scrap metal. Lizzie and Custodire both thought that Atlan would be impressed by the Eclipse Bayou, but instead, they saw him walk toward the junk box. Then, he dug through some scrap metal until he saw the dented and rusty chest plate. "That''s completely worn down. Don''t you want the Eclipse Bayou? It''s the best you''ll find here," Lizzie added. Custodire''s eyebrows raised as she realized what Atlan had his eyes on. "I suggest you pick something else, kid. That piece of thing is picky with its owner." Lizzie was surprised "Wait, that piece of junk is semi-sentient?" The dwarf nodded, but she didn''t elaborate any further. Semi-sentient equipment were weapons that had enough consciousness to choose their own wielders. If a blacksmith had a high enough power realm, then they''d have the power to imbue such intelligence on their work. As an Operator in the Specialist Realm, Custodire had the power to create semi-sentient equipment¨Cbut only with Specialist level weapons with high-class Canzer materials. She couldn''t do that to lower-leveled equipment, like that rusted chest plate that Atlan was looking at. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This meant that it was probably created by a blacksmith that was above the Specialist realm, making it extremely rare and high-quality. This equipment was passed down through her family, and through the generations, many have tried and failed to subdue the armor. Even geniuses hailed as once in a millennia talent couldn''t woo the stubborn old chest plate. It ended up being nothing more than junk in Custodire''s smithy. But now, it seemed that Atlan wanted to try his luck. Custodire considered Atlan as an impressive talent, but she didn''t think he''d be enough for the picky old armor. If Atlan wanted to try his luck, then she wouldn''t stop him. Atlan bent down and reached for the armor. But just as he was about to pick it up, someone suddenly shouted behind him. "Wait a minute young man. I saw this first!" A man with a tall, slender build and a bulbous nose rushed in front of Atlan and prevented him from picking up the armor. Judging from the I.D. strapped on his neck detailing his name and original residence, everyone immediately guessed that this man was a tourist. He was just a window shopper in this smithy when, all of a sudden, he heard from Custodire herself that the junk rusting in the corner was a semi-sentient weapon! He wanted it for himself. Lizzie frowned and shouted at the man. "Hey!" But the tourist didn''t even spare her a glance. His eyes were only locked into the rusted chestplate in front of him. He frowned for a second, feeling as if the chestplate was nothing more than junk. But, he trusted the dwarf''s words more than his eyes. So, he knew that this piece of junk was more valuable than it seemed. "I''ll get this, dwarf." Custodire didn''t respond and simply crossed her arms. "You can''t just take it. Atlan got to it first," Lizzie erupted. The tourist harrumphed. "Ha! Do you know how much trouble I went through just to enter this forsaken trashy City? Your useless soldiers prevented me from entering for three days! It was horrifying! I could see the Unclaimed Lands just outside the bubble. Who knows what could have happened to me? And the only thing that your useless City told me was that your ''system'' was down due to some solar interruption. Bah! Trash City, I tell you. I''ve been to better Cities and even some better Villages." The tourist couldn''t help but spill out his grievances to them. He felt like he deserved compensation for all the suffering he felt from that ordeal. He should at least get a semi-sentient armor from this City before he departed. But just then, he saw Atlan move to the side and pick up the rusted chest plate. How dare this kid?! "Get your dirty hands off that! That''s mine!" The foreigner quickly tried to pry the chestplate away from Atlan''s hands, but his eyes widened when he felt like he was trying to move a mountain. What? Is he a statue or something?! He couldn''t even make the chestplate budge. He tried to grab the wall for better leverage, but he still couldn''t even make it move an inch. His face contorted hideously as he tried to exert as much force as possible. Atlan looked to the side and saw the foreigner. Huh? When did he get here? He was so focused on the chest plate calling to him that he didn''t even notice the foreigner at all. Only when he saw the suffering on the guy''s face did he finally notice him. He wants it? Then he can have it. Atlan let go of his grip, and the foreigner fell to the ground with the chestplate in his hands. At first, he was extremely happy that he finally got the semi-sentient armor in his hands. But then, he suddenly felt as if a thousand elephants were pushing down in his chest. Kughhh! His lungs deflated from the force making his ribs smaller and smaller until they cracked. He couldn''t breathe! With a horrified face, he looked at them with a plea for help. "Haa¡­he¡­lp¡­." Custodire sighed and went over to the foreigner and kicked the rusted armor away from his chest. The foreigner heaved breath after breath, feeling a sharp pain in his chest with every inhale. He was injured! Anger welled up. He blamed them for intentionally harming him. He readied his mouth to spit out insult after insult to everyone in this city, but before he could even spit out the words, Custodire grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the smithy. With one smooth movement, she quickly threw the foreigner out into the street and closed the door behind her. "Hmph. You can''t even carry the chestplate. And you think it''ll accept you? Darned foreigners¡­" She rubbed her hands on her overalls, walked over to Atlan, and saw him trying to pick up the armor. She wanted to warn him. Those that the armor rejected would get injured at the very least. "I''ll tell you what, kid. I''ll custom-make an armor for you instead of that¡­" Her words trailed off as she saw the rusted chest plate in Atlan''s hands suddenly split from the sides and envelope Atlan''s whole torso. It accepted him?! Chapter 63 - 63: Free She couldn''t believe that the rusted chestplate accepted him. After thousands of years doing nothing but rejecting Saviors left and right, this mysterious chest plate chose a 2nd stage Student Porter like Atlan. It had the chance to go for geniuses and young masters who are now powerful beings in their own right, but instead, it chose this unassuming youth. "See, even that semi-sentient armor recognizes talent when it sees one." Lizzie beamed in joy. Atlan looked down and saw that the rusted chestplate fit him perfectly. Then, he suddenly felt his green battle suit vibrate and squirm as it suddenly turned into a liquid-like substance that enveloped the rusted chest plate like a new coat of paint. He looked at the mirror to the side and saw that the chest plate was completely under the battle suit, showing only the edges and the general shape of the armor. "The armor is now completely integrated into your battle suit¡­" Custodire explained half-heartedly, still trying to process what happened. Atlan moved his arms and twisted his body, feeling completely flexible even through his armor. He even jumped up and down to test how it would fare. The dwarf couldn''t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. That rusted iron chestplate was supposed to be at least a thousand kilograms yet Atlan was moving like it was just a simple leather armor. With everything moving smoothly, Atlan nodded in satisfaction. Even though he had the SSS class Physique LifeSkill to protect his body from most injuries, he knew that he couldn''t activate it in front of other people for fear of them finding out about his secret. So, it would be better to have extra protection for his body during times when he''s with other people. "How do I pay for it?" Lizzie chuckled. "You don''t have to pay for anything, silly." "What?" "Yeah. Did you forget where you are? This is a God''s Territory. We are given food, water, and everything else in abundance for free. We don''t have to do anything else. The City gives us everything we need to live in eternity." "Even this armor?" Atlan could understand getting food, water, and housing for free in a God''s Territory. But he didn''t think that he would get armor and weapons for free without paying for it at all. "You''re a 2nd stage Student, right?" Custodire then pointed at the rows of swords on display near the entrance. "That means that every weapon, armor, and equipment that is rated in the 2nd stage Student is free for you to take!" Atlan was stunned. "You just create your works and then somebody could just take your wares for free?" Custodire nodded. "Yes. That is the magic of God''s Territory. Everything is free for everyone to take. Of course, if you want extra, then you could barter other items or other services to them for a fair price." "But how do you earn anything?" Custodire smiled. "Since you''re a 2nd stage Student, then I presume that you already know about SoulTime, right? S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In exchange for giving our services to the City and its people, the Genesis God himself would bless us with rewards. For normal people, they''d get SoulTime. For Saviors like us, we get experience and SoulTime both. And if any of us does the City an incredible service, then the God could give us extra Genus to evolve our bloodline." So that''s how immortality works in a God''s Territory. In exchange for their services, the God would give His citizens more SoulTime so that they''d live forever. "But what if you don''t do anything? What if you just laid in bed for the rest of your life?" Lizzie answered. "Well, you''ll eventually run out of SoulTime." "...and they die?" "Nobody runs out of SoulTime," Custodire said. "If you just performed even a small thing like watering plants or sweeping the streets, then you can get years of SoulTime. And there''s a program in the City that gives odd jobs to those who need SoulTime." "Remember when we talked about Angels and how they inject SoulTime into a person whenever their SoulTime gets dangerously low? Well, that''s not for free. Those that get saved by Angels need to work off those SoulTime that they were given." Atlan contemplated for a second. "What if after they get saved from death, they don''t do anything to pay it back?" Does the City leave them to die? Both Custodire and Lizzie went silent for a second, their faces solemn as if they remembered something tragic. They thought of the same person. "Usually, delinquents who refuse to give service to the City are kicked out. They''re given one last blessing of SoulTime, enough to live for 50 years, and sent them out to live in the Unclaimed Lands. However, there was one exception. Do you remember that old man from before? Quinto Kindle, the First Savior?" Atlan scratched his chest as remembered that day. He died. And Atlan gained another SSS class LifeSkill and a mysterious thing called ''trait'' after he reaped his death. "Well, he hasn''t done anything for the City for a long time now. He''s been wandering the streets, refusing to contribute to society and just spouting nonsense. But since he''s the First Savior, the citizens couldn''t just kick him out to the Unclaimed Lands. Even though he''s just a decrepit old man now, he used to be the symbol of hope and peace in the entire world." Atlan went silent for a few seconds to process all that information. It turned out that immortality in God''s Territory had to be earned through service and work. Everyone worked hard to get blessed with more SoulTime from God. And if they didn''t, then they''d get kicked out to the Unclaimed Lands. Is that what happened to my parents? Were they delinquents who got kicked out of a God''s Territory? Atlan could barely remember anything from his time in the Unclaimed Lands. In that place, he''d have to live day by day, wondering if it would be his last. There were no memories to remember, only suffering. "Are you alright?" Lizzie walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulders. "Don''t worry. You''ll get more SoulTime as you perform more missions. You don''t have to worry about getting kicked out back to the Unclaimed Lands." He was very thankful for Lizzie. She was the one who welcomed him into this world. "Thanks." Lizzie smiled. "Are you ready to go? We can''t bother Miss Custodire any more than this. She has a lot of orders to fulfill." Atlan faced the dwarf. "Thank you for the time." Custodire waved it off, but there was a smile on her face. "It''s nothing, kid." After saying his thanks, Atlan and Lizzie walked out of the smithy. And just as he was about to leave the door, he suddenly remembered something. Atlan ran back to Custodire. "What is it kid? Do you need something else?" Atlan nodded. "Can I have a gun?" Chapter 64 - 64: Gears and spice Atlan looked at the slingshot in his hands. The Y-shaped frame was made out of wood while the elastic band tied around the top edges was made out of natural rubber. Unfortunately, he couldn''t get a sniper from Custodire. She said that those kinds of weapons needed a permit from the Savior HeadQuarters to prevent not just anybody from getting access to such dangerous weapons. Unless he had a LifeSkill that needed guns or projectile weapons, he wouldn''t be able to obtain a gun anytime soon, much less a high-caliber sniper. They said that a gun could take out 90-95% of a person''s SoulTime with a well-placed shot. Letting some normal person buy a gun would just be too irresponsible. But since Atlan made some excuse about wanting some kind of protection for himself, Custodire made an exception and forged for him a new slingshot that he could use while on missions. Although a lot less powerful than a gun, the slingshot''s rubber was made out of some special material that could withstand even Atlan''s greatest physical strength. And with more power he put in, the faster the projectile shot out. Another good thing about this slingshot was that he could use any ammo he could find. It could be a rock, a pellet, or even a pencil. As long as it fits in his slingshot, he could turn it into a high-speed projectile. Although a gun does highly explosive damage, they were limited to the amount of ammo they bring during missions. Once they run out, then they''d be as useless as sitting ducks. "Did you like Miss Custodire''s gift?" asked Lizzie. Atlan nodded. Even though it was made out of wood, Atlan saw that it could withstand a lot more pressure than what was normally possible. Is it because she''s a blacksmith in the Specialist Realm? She must have imbued this slingshot with some magic that allowed it to have stronger tension in the bands. "You must have made a good impression on the old dwarf. She doesn''t just custom-make weapons for anyone. Even her high-class clients have to wait for months or even years before they can request something from her. How does it feel to have an Indirect Masamune Original in your hands?" "It''s good. I think." Because Custodire was from a side branch of the Masamune Family, any weapons or armor that she made herself were immediately labeled as an Indirect Masamune Original. Although he didn''t know what that meant, according to Lizzie, any weapon with that label was considered a treasure. The truck continued to stroll through the Masamune district, with Lizzie showing Atlan the different stalls and buildings with a lot of enthusiasm. "Since we still have a lot of time till your party, I''ll show you some of the good food spots in Masamune district." Lizzie and Atlan toured through the malls of the Masamune District on foot. At noon, they went to a large establishment made out of intertwined gears. The smell of spices and hot steam emanated from the building even before they entered. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There were a lot of people inside, eating hot soups out of bowls fashioned from curved gears. The restaurant''s name ''Gears and Such'' proved to be true as even the spoons, forks, and utensils were made out of gears. Even the table was a giant gear. Lizzie ordered for him because he didn''t know anything about it. She asked him if he liked spicy or not, and Atlan said whatever. That turned out to be the wrong answer because when Atlan tasted the noodle soup and felt the spice hit his nose, he almost did a spit take. Lizzie almost tumbled out of her chair laughing. After recovering from the spice and drinking lots of water, they left the restaurant and she led him to the park where there were a lot of people basking in picnics under the shade of the trees. Dwarf children played, standing on each other''s shoulders and pretending to be a tall human. Next, they went back on the truck and it led them towards the Infernal Mountain. It turned out that the volcanic mountain wasn''t just a place where energy was harvested, it was also a popular visitor spot. There was a slow railcar installed in the mountain where people could enter and see a view of the City from one of the highest vantage points. It was quite popular as Atlan and Lizzie had to wait almost an hour in line to finally get their turn. When the car finally moved up, Atlan immediately saw the wide expanse of the City. He could barely even see the people down below and even the buildings looked small. He always wondered how birds felt like seeing things from up above, and now he knew. It gave him perspective. There was a lot more of the City he hadn''t explored yet, and he couldn''t wait to see everything. Now, he understood why people craved immortality. He wanted to live for a long time and see more of the City. There were lots of other Districts with vastly different architectures and cultures he was excited to see. It made him wonder about the other Cities and the whole world; what would they look like? "It''s amazing, isn''t it?" "It is." Once the railcar did a lap around the volcano, the ride was over. By now, the sun was setting and the street lights were starting to light up, courtesy of the energy generated from the volcano. The two went back to the truck and made their way to the City Center. Atlan requested to be dropped off near the place where the party took place. "Have fun with your party!" "Thank you¡­for today¡­" She smiled. "You''re welcome. I had fun too. Don''t get too crazy over there, alright?" Atlan nodded. As the truck moved through the streets, Lizzie put her head over the windows and waved at Atlan. He reciprocated and smiled at her. He was very thankful for her because he wouldn''t have been able to experience today if it weren''t for her. Even though she wasn''t getting anything from helping him all this time, she still took her time to make him feel accommodated. "Oh! Atlan! It''s me, Pacman!" Atlan saw the pugilist leaning on the light pole. He waved at Atlan and walked over to him. Even though it was supposed to be a party, Atlan didn''t see any sign of everyone. Even the whole neighborhood was very quiet. "Where''s everybody?" "They''re already inside." Pacman led Atlan through the streets and to one secluded corner where a single door was installed on the other side. The pugilist knocked on the door with a distinct pattern and waited for a few seconds. Then, the door opened. Atlan and Pacman walked forward until they saw two men in black suits guarding a circular construct in the middle of an empty room. Inside this circle was a black shimmering liquid suspended inside. "Where is the party again?" Atlan asked. Pacman smiled. "It''s in the Remedium!" Chapter 65 - 65: Party entry Atlan was surprised to find out that the party was inside the Remedium. He didn''t even know how that was possible. However, he was looking at the black shimmering liquid inside the portal in front of his very eyes. It was real. That was the same portal that led to the Remedium. "I thought that the Remedium is only open during missions?" Pacman shook his head. "This is kind of like the Training Hall. That''s in the Remedium too, but it doesn''t have any dangerous Canzers running amok. We can go in and out of there without a mission. That is what we call a Pocket Remedium. The Training Hall is a public Pocket Remedium, which means that anybody can access it if they want to. However, there are also private Pocket Remediums. These places are rewarded by the Genesis God to a certain family or a person if they have proved themselves worthy of it. Usually, only heroes are given private Pocket Remediums, which in turn benefits their descendants and continues their good lineage. People can practice their LifeSkills there safely. For us, we can only practice in the private Pocket Remedium like the Training Hall. But those Saviors from elite families have their own Pocket Remedium where they can practice in secret. Usually, they have private tutors guiding them even while they are very young. This gives them an advantage during their Draft because they can kill more monsters in the simulation and get better class LifeSkills. Ugh¡­it is quite unfair. If you''re born into a good family, getting an A class LifeSkill is all but guaranteed. Anyway, the party we''re going to is arranged by one such lucky young master. He has opened up their private Pocket Remedium where we can party to our heart''s content." How prestigious does a family have to be to have their own Pocket Remedium? Atlan was quite jealous. If he had his own Pocket Remedium, then he could practice using his LifeSkills anytime without having to worry about other people finding out. He could also kill as many Pseudo Canzers as he could and farm experience points that way. "Are you ready? Let''s go!" Pacman held Atlan''s shoulders and dragged him towards the portal. But before they could step in, the two bodyguards with black suits prevented them from going in. "I''m sorry. We can''t just allow anyone to go to the party. Young master''s orders." Pacman frowned. "What do you mean? My name is on the invite list and I just came out of the Remedium to bring a friend." "You are fine." The bodyguard pointed at Pacman. Then, he pointed at Atlan and said, "But you are not. You''re not invited." As the one who invited Atlan, Pacman was very embarrassed. "Why not? They said we could bring a plus one! There''s five of us and we only brought one guest." "Sorry. This party is called ''The Gathering of the Stars''. If you''re not one, then you''re not welcome." Pacman scoffed and looked at the two bodyguards with derision on his face. "Don''t you know who this guy is? He''s Atlan. The Porter." And once they heard that, the two bodyguard''s eyes immediately widened. Of course, they knew about the story of the porter who braved back to the Remedium to save his teammates. Not only that, but it turned out that this porter was extremely talented too. He advanced to the 2nd stage in just one week! A third bodyguard immediately came and smacked the other two. "We''re sorry we didn''t recognize you. Please, go inside. The party will be pleased if you grace them with your presence." They bowed their heads toward Atlan and apologized. Pacman held his head up high as he guided Atlan to the portal. "Ha! Look at how they changed their attitudes." S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan didn''t care much as they both stepped into the portal. The black swirling liquid trembled as both of them entered the Remedium. When Atlan opened his eyes, he saw the familiar negative color of the Remedium. White turned to black, blue turned to orange, and green turned to red. Immediately, Atlan heard the sounds of talking, laughing, and giggling. When he looked around, he was surprised to see at least hundreds of youths, all about the same age as him, mingling and talking with one another. This was a large mansion that could house a hundred people just in the living room by itself. In the front, just below the 115-inch flat-screen TV, there was a large group of people sitting in a circle. They looked on in anticipation as the bottle spun in the middle. Off to the side was an infinity pool that looked out into the City. Both men and women were swimming and playing around with a ball that seemed to be made out of a coconut husk. The women were wearing two-piece bikinis to show off the curves in their bodies while the men only wore shorts to show off their muscles. Further back was the kitchen where food and drinks were served. People there munched on food while talking to each other about their respective first missions. So this is a party¡­ Atlan didn''t know anybody from this place, so he felt extremely out of place. He didn''t even know why they found spinning bottles and swimming in water fun. However, from the looks on their faces, they seemed to be having the time of their life. "I''ll go look for the others. Stay here," said Pacman. Soon, he left and walked up the stairs to the 2nd floor where more people were lounging around. Atlan stood by the entrance, awkwardly waiting by himself. He didn''t know what to do. He regretted not asking Wemby about what to do at the party. Should I try talking to other people? Atlan walked through the crowd, with everybody ignoring him. They didn''t know him, and he didn''t know them. And then, in the chaos of the talking and laughing around the room, he suddenly heard someone muttering beside him. "Humans¡­like¡­pain¡­" Chapter 66 - 66: Understanding gibberish Atlan looked around but he couldn''t find the source of that muttering. Everyone was either laughing or talking loudly about some gossip. He found it weird that he still heard that small whisper even with the rest of the party drowning out any sound that wasn''t bellowed out. "Humans¡­like¡­pain¡­" It was coming from the side. He immediately looked at where the sound came from and saw a few people lounging on the couch with smiles plastered on their faces. They seemed very relaxed. Too relaxed, even. And unlike the rest of the groups here, these people weren''t talking with each other. They were all either looking at nothing but the air or had their eyes closed with a smile on their faces. They seemed extremely happy, but Atlan didn''t know why. He walked over towards them and saw strange black isopods attached to their hands. And as he got closer, Atlan noticed that these isopods were moving! They were wiggling around while firmly attached to the back of their hands. There were also black veins rooting outwards from the ''infected'' area where the isopod resided. One of the guys saw Atlan approaching and immediately welcomed him with a smile on his face. Atlan noticed that the guy''s eyes were red, as if he hadn''t slept in two days. "Yo! Welcome to the party, man. Want a hit?" The guy took out an isopod from his pocket and gave it to Atlan. When he looked at the underside of the creature, he found it was still alive! It had about a hundred small legs and had a very hairy underbelly, with millions of small ''fur'' spiking out. Is this a Pseudo Canzer? Now that he got a closer look, he was pretty sure that this was a Pseudo Canzer. It was a little bit different than the one he saw in the Training Hall, but he guessed that it was a different species. To test this out, Atlan took the isopod in his hands and crushed it with his bare hands. KRUUKKKK [You have killed a Venunum] [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 50 experience] Just like he thought, the isopod was a Pseudo Canzer. However, the guy was horrified to see Atlan waste such a perfectly good Venunum. "Aw, man. Why''d you waste my hit?" Atlan was confused. "Am I not supposed to kill it?" The man shook his head vehemently. "Are you kidding me? This thing''s hard to catch. You don''t kill it, you just put the Venunum on top of your hand and let those stingers sting you. And once it latches onto you, it will pump poison into your veins." Atlan was horrified. "What?! Why? If you get hit by that stinger, don''t you lose your SoulTime because you get injured?" The man smiled. "That''s the point, my guy!" He looked around and noticed that almost everybody in the party had at least one Venunum attached to the back of their hands. There were even some that had it on their chest and their backs. He was the only one who didn''t have any. And while they were being stung by those Pseudo Canzers, everyone had smiles on their faces. They were having fun! But how could they like this? They''re getting injured and losing their SoulTime! "Why?" "Because it feels so good! That feeling of having your veins burning gives me such a euphoric feeling. Ummm! It really gets me going, you know." "Aren''t you worried about your SoulTime?" The man waved off Atlan''s concern. He didn''t seem to be bothered at all. "It''s fine, man. We''re just having fun. We''re only spending the SoulTime that we got from our missions, so we aren''t losing any SoulTime. And SoulTime isn''t that hard to get. You get a year minimum from completing just one mission, so sacrificing a few days for a little bit of fun for a few hours is a small price to pay." Atlan still couldn''t understand it. "What if your SoulTime runs out?" "I''m only losing about a minute every second like most of the people here. But, some hardcore guys put so much Venunum on their bodies that they lose an hour every second, but I don''t do that. They probably have a lot of SoulTime they inherited from their lineage, but I don''t have that. If I had a thousand years of SoulTime, I would put so much Venunum in my body that you won''t even see my skin!" Atlan was horrified once he learned that. Is he telling me that every single person in here is losing a minute of their SoulTime every second? That means they''re losing two and a half days every hour! And for those hardcore guys who are losing an hour every second, that means that they''re losing about 150 days of SoulTime every hour! Almost half a year! Insane! "Humans¡­like¡­pain¡­" Then, he heard the isopod in the guy''s arm suddenly talk! Atlan''s eyes widened and he looked at the guy to see if he heard that. But it looked like he didn''t. Atlan was the only one who heard the little isopod talking. Wait a minute¡­that''s not human language. When he looked at the Venunum, he saw that its little mouth was moving and scratching against its mandibles, creating a squeaking sound. It wasn''t any human language. Yet somehow, Atlan was able to understand it. I remember now! I obtained a mutation. Atlan looked down on his Soul System. [Mutation] ¡ª (4-star) Canzer Mother Tongue ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings And just as he remembered, he got a mutation when he defeated that Sapient Canzer. He didn''t understand it back then, but now, it seemed that a tongue mutation meant that he would be able to understand the language of that species. I can understand Canzers? This meant that in every mission from here on out, Atlan would be able to hear what the Canzers were saying. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 67 - 67: Funny guy "Are you okay?" Atlan spoke to the Venunum, but it didn''t react to anything he said. It continued to squirm like normal. Looks like I can''t talk to it. He thought that he''d be able to communicate with the Canzer, but it seemed like his mutation was only limited to understanding their language for now. Unless he''d suddenly grow mandibles and mimic the squeaky sounds that the Venunum made, then they wouldn''t understand anything he said. "So? Do you want a hit or not?" The guy offered him a new Venunum, but Atlan shook his head and refused. He didn''t want to waste his SoulTime. Even though he was regenerating SoulTime by the second, he opted to save those instead because he knew that the Angels wouldn''t be there to save him when it nears zero. All the people here at the party thought that the Angels would still save them from death, but that was a faulty assumption. If they truly knew that they weren''t immortal anymore, he wondered if they would still be so carefree about their SoulTime. I would have warned them, but they would label me as a liar and a lunatic. "You''re missing out, man. But if you don''t want one, then there''s more for me!" The guy took the isopod back to him and quickly attached it to his chest. And once it did, venom quickly spread through his veins. It hurt just enough for it to turn into pleasure. Even though they''re hurting, they''re not suffering. That''s weird¡­ Atlan quickly walked away from them and walked through the party. Pacman and the others still weren''t there, so Atlan decided to walk around the mansion some more. He wanted to see what other people did at a party and try to see if he could make friends with them. But as he walked around, he was disappointed to find out that most of what they talked about were things he didn''t understand. They all grew up here in Genesis City, meaning they all had the same experiences that they could all relate to. They talked about their training before they got drafted, and how they were forced to eat only broccoli and chicken breast every day. If Atlan told them about how he''d be lucky if he found any mushrooms in three days of digging and scavenging for food in the Unclaimed Lands, then he''d surely bring down the party. With nowhere else to go, Atlan went out to a secluded balcony near the stairs. He was finally alone and the sounds of the party were muffled behind him. He looked out into the white night sky and the black moon up above. If the Remedium wasn''t so dangerous, Atlan would have liked to spend his time alone here because of the serenity. "Oh, sorry. I thought nobody was here." The balcony door opened and someone came in. Atlan was surprised to see that familiar golden hair come inside. It was Yasmine, the S class DPS genius. This time, she had her blonde hair tied up in a bun. "Can I stay here? Every other room is occupied and I really want some peace and quiet." Atlan nodded. She walked up to him and leaned on the railing beside him. Atlan caught a whiff of her floral and sweet perfume. It was subtle, but with his enhanced senses, he smelled it clearly. Both of them stared out into the distance, with the view of the desolate Genesis City around them. They stayed silent and just enjoyed the moment. Yasmine took a big breath and relaxed. After being bombarded by girls wanting to talk to her about some girly stuff and boys wanting to be ''friends'' with her, Atlan''s silence and indifference towards her was a welcome change. He didn''t try to hit on her like every other guy in the party. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There were even some guys who tried to give her Venunum to try and get her defenses lowered, but she refused them. Canzers were supposed to be their eternal enemy, yet here they were letting it inject venom right into their veins. She would never let herself be injured by a Canzer, even if it was just a scratch; her pride wouldn''t let her. She was probably the only one in this place who wasn''t intoxicated with losing their SoulTime. But when she peeked at Atlan, she was surprised to see none on his body. "You don''t have any Venunum?" Atlan looked at her and shook his head. "No. I don''t want to lose my SoulTime. It seems like a waste." "I agree one hundred percent." Yasmine faced him. It was only now that she noticed how tall he was. He was a head taller than her! And his body was well-built compared to others, with his muscles clearly showing in his green battle suit. Must be because of his Physique LifeSkill, she thought. "Honestly, I wonder why I even went to this party. Even though I''m surrounded by other people, I don''t feel like I belong." Yasmine sighed. "I feel you. Unless they''re mushrooms or worms, I don''t feel like I belong too." Yasmine stifled a laugh. "Ah, I remember now. You''re from the Unclaimed Lands." "Yup. And you''re from a Metropolis overseas, right?" Yasmine nodded. "My culture is very different from here. We prioritize strength over anything, so instead of partying, we had royal rumbles where everyone fought till exhaustion or unconsciousness to practice their skills. It''s a place where strength ruled supreme and everything could be settled with a fight." "Hmmm¡­sounds like a miserable place full of suffering. I think I''m grateful to the Unclaimed Lands now." She smiled. "That place honed my skills and sharpened my sword. Now, I''m determined to become the best Savior in the whole world and prove to them that I can become strong even without their training." Yasmine then looked Atlan in the eyes. "But it seems I''ve moved away from them far too late. Their teachings have seeped into my very bones. I feel like I could understand someone better if they attacked me rather than if they had a conversation with me." "True! I feel like I could understand Canzers better than people." Yasmine covered her hand and laughed. I didn''t know he''s such a funny guy. Chapter 68 - 68: Poisoned thoughts The two spent the next few minutes chatting about how different Genesis City was compared to their original places. Yasmine talked about her home, called Leontopolis. It was larger than a City, which meant that it was more abundant than Genesis City. But it also meant that competition was fiercer. She talked about how she was trained with the sword as soon she could walk, which was considered quite late in their culture. She was a gladiator whether she liked to or not. Atlan didn''t have much to talk about because all he remembered from that hazy time in the Unclaimed Lands was digging through an endless tunnel underground. All he remembered was that there was a lot of sand, gray hot sand. "Sounds like you had it rough¡­sorry, that was an insensitive joke." Atlan waved off her concern. "Yeah. It was a real battle." Both of them laughed at their bad attempt at humor. If anyone heard them make jokes about their traumatizing past, they would feel that it was inappropriate. However, for them, it was therapy. It wasn''t every day that they could talk with someone that they could relate to. "Now, I''m considered a genius." Yasmine sighed. "I proved my worth, but at what cost? Everyone who comes up to me talks about how great and talented I am." Atlan understood that feeling. Even though everyone was nice to him and praised him for his accomplishments, they never really talked about anything else. They put him on a pedestal, separating him from everybody else. He thought he was the only one who felt that way, but he was surprised to know that Yasmine was feeling the same. "Everyone talks about how great you are¡ª" "--But not how you are." Atlan finished her thought. Yasmine looked at Atlan and realized that Atlan was probably the only one who understood her. Every other genius that she met were arrogant young masters who inherited their strength from their family. But now, she met someone else who could share her experiences in coming up from the bottom. Unlike the others, Yasmine came from a family with no Saviors. But through hard work, she was able to show off her strength in the Draft and earn an S class LifeSkill. She looked at Atlan and felt her defenses lowering. It was at that point that she realized that she had been talking with a boy alone for 20 minutes! She didn''t even notice the time pass. Never in her life did she think that she would enjoy talking to someone she didn''t know at all. It made her think. Maybe, she could finally have a real friend. Maybe she could finally open up to somebody and have a real connection with them. She opened her mouth, about to say; Let''s be friends But she stopped herself. She moved millions of miles away from her home to become the best Savior this world had ever seen. She promised herself that she''d stop at nothing to achieve that. Her only focus should be on getting strong and defeating her rivals and enemies. Pull yourself together, she reminded herself. Yasmine quickly turned to leave without saying anything else. Atan was surprised to see her suddenly turn cold. They were both enjoying the conversation, so he didn''t understand why she would suddenly want to leave. He grabbed her hand and refused to let her go. Yasmine stopped in her tracks but she didn''t turn to face him. "I don''t have time for friends¡­for boys¡­" she muttered. Atlan kept her grip on her wrist. "If not friends, then how about a companion?" He then grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards him. "How about a playmate? A buddy? A pal?" Yasmine''s face was turned away from Atlan. And if one looked closely, one could see a slight blush on her cheeks. "Hmph. Smooth talker. I bet you say that to your other friends," she said with a bit of a smile creeping on her face. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan smiled back when he saw that she was starting to warm up to him again. She noticed that Atlan''s hands were warm. It was a cold night, and his grip on her shoulders was warm enough to keep her whole body hot. Hmm? Why is my face feeling hot too? Suddenly, images of training and swords coming towards her flashed through her mind. It was a wet blanket that forced her whole body to turn cold. The smile disappeared on her face. She turned rigid. Her training taught her that attachment to anybody was poison. It would spread through her body, making her moves slow and her reactions sluggish. It was killer. And Atlan seemed like the kind of person that could poison her whole thoughts. He could make her hesitate. She already decided that she would someday leave Genesis City once she advanced to the next power realm. She couldn''t get attached to anyone here¨Cnot even friends, and especially not Atlan. She was sure that if she became friends with Atlan, it could turn into¡­ "I''m sorry. But I¡­I don''t know¡­" She shook off Atlan''s grip and turned away. She grabbed the door and quickly left the balcony. Atlan was stunned. First, she was friendly and nice. Then, she suddenly turned cold without any warning. She turned to warm, cold, hot, and then icy cold the next. I don''t understand women¡­ He walked out of the balcony and back into the party but he couldn''t see any sign of her anywhere. She must have already left. Atlan put his hands on his waist and sighed. I failed to make another friend. Hahh¡­What am I doing wrong? The boy was oblivious to everything the girl was feeling. If he didn''t charm her so much, then he could have probably been just friends with her. However, Yasmine judged him to be a man who could someday become more than friends. That thought terrified her so much that she quickly left to prevent Atlan from breaking her walls any further. Atlan was the hunter and she was the prey. And if the prey couldn''t find any way to defeat the hunter, then the best way to prevent being hunted was to run away. Chapter 69 - 69: Just? "Woah! Where did you get that?" "That''s the genuine deal, right?" In the middle of the mansion was a man with long golden hair down to his shoulders. He was standing on the table in the living room so that everyone could see what he was holding. Everyone watched as he brandished a black short sword with intricate designs of dragons carved onto the very blade itself. Even from afar, everyone could see the quality and value of this weapon. It must have been created by a maestro of the smith, with hands that could turn coal into diamonds. But this wasn''t the only treasure that the young master had. His whole battle suit was clad in different armor and accessories that others would have considered excessive. Even his ears were protected by custom-made earrings. Atlan, with his enhanced eyesight, saw a familiar mark of a hammer on the hilt of the short sword. It was the mark of the Masamune family. "Of course, this is real. Who do you think I am? Don''t you know who threw this party?" The young master then turned and looked Atlan in the eyes. Both of them made eye contact. This wasn''t a coincidence. The young master focused his gaze on Atlan, who was on the outskirts of the crowd gathering around him. He could have noticed somebody else, but he didn''t. "Hey you!" he gestured at Atlan. "Do you think just anybody can have this? This is a 2nd removed Masamune Original!" "I wish I had that!" "I heard that there''s a 500-year waitlist to get a weapon like that." Everyone was awed when they heard that. A 5th removed Masamune Original was already considered quite a treasure. But the young master had a 2nd removed Masamune Original! This meant that the blacksmith who forged that weapon was a dwarf who was related to the main Masamune family by only two degrees! The further removed a dwarf was from the main family, the more diluted their skills were. Being only two degrees away from the main family meant that the famous Masamune blacksmith skills were preserved. The young master must have had a good connection with the Masamune family to be able to request a custom-made weapon from a 2nd-degree Masamune dwarf. Atlan tilted his head. Do I know him? He didn''t know why the blond-haired guy was targeting him when they didn''t even know each other. He was starting to think he was really bad at first impressions. First Yasmine bolted away from him, and now he was being targeted by some guy he didn''t even talk to. In truth, the young master saw Yasmine come out of the balcony with Atlan. He even saw that the two of them were bonding and flirting away with each other for a few minutes. This was infuriating for the young master. He tried to court Yasmine, the most beautiful girl by far, but she only ended up ignoring him. When he tried to talk to her, she would only answer with one-line responses and a face full of indifference. He accepted that she simply didn''t want to be bothered. That would have been fine. However, imagine his surprise when she suddenly saw him talking and laughing with an unknown guy at his party! Why did she choose a random, run-of-the-mill, second-rate guy instead of a genius young master like him? He was born into a good family that could give her all the benefits that she''d need to nurture her talents, yet she instead chose to spend her time with a nobody. It didn''t make sense. "Who are you even? Why are you at this party?" asked the Young Master. Atlan pointed at himself. "Me? I''m a porter." The young master snickered. "You''re just a porter?" He shook his head. "Ugh. What are those guards doing? Why did they let a mere Porter into this place? I told them not to let just anybody in. This was supposed to be an exclusive party for geniuses and stars like me, not some insignificant ant like you." He looked at everybody and saw that they were all looking at Atlan. "What do you think, everyone? He''s bringing down the party, right? I think we should throw¨C" Before he could finish his sentence, some of the people erupted towards Atlan. "Oh my god! You''re that porter?" "Dude! I thought they were all just kidding about you. But you''re real?!" "You were so brave and heroic! Weren''t you afraid about that Sapient Canzer hunting you down?" Everyone started to crowd Atlan. The Young Master was stupefied to see that everyone turned away from him and now crowded Atlan like he was the star of the party. Almost everybody at the party heard the stories about the new heroic porter. And those that didn''t know, were quickly thrown into the loop. When they heard about this story, they were all horrified to learn that the beginner mission had multiple Deiztruphia Canzers and even a dangerous Sapient Canzer. The difficulty jumped from a 1st stage to a 3rd stage student difficulty. If they were in the same position, they didn''t know what they would have done. They definitely wouldn''t have returned to the Remedium to save their teammates. The fact that Atlan was only a Porter with no fighting ability made this story even more impressive. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Why did you go back to save them?" Atlan was overwhelmed with everyone''s eyes on him, but they were all anticipating his answer. So, he just told the truth. "I didn''t want my team to suffer." Everyone was silent for a moment to take it all in. "Woah¡­" "You''re so brave. Do you have a girlfriend?" "Hey! You think that he''s going to go for you? I saw him first!" The Young Master couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Everybody was throwing themselves to that nobody, to that Porter. He didn''t know why everyone seemed to think that the guy was so impressive. He was only a porter! He didn''t kill any Canzers and was only a burden to the rest of the team. "I don''t see why he''s so impressive," the Young Master clicked his tongue. One of the guys looked back at him and answered. "He''s also a genius, you know. He advanced to the 2nd stage Student after that one mission! They said that it had only been a week since he was drafted!" The Young Master''s jaws dropped. Chapter 70 - 70: Who are you? He''s that talented? That''s absurd! He''s only a porter! What a waste of experience. The Genesis God could have given all of that experience to someone who would actually use it to kill Canzer. Now, it''ll just be stuck to a guy who was only good as a baggage carrier! But somehow, it looked like he was the only one who thought that. All of the other people here praised and lauded Atlan as if he was equal only to Yasmine with her S class DPS talent. He shouldn''t even be discussed with the likes of her! "Hmph. I would have advanced that fast too if I was given that same mission! So what if they had to fight multiple Destruction Canzers? So what if they had to fight a Sapient Canzer? I''m sure that I would have been able to kill all of them with my skill!" No matter how much he tried to shout towards the crowd, they only had eyes for Atlan. They didn''t even notice him anymore. He couldn''t believe this! He was the one who invited everyone and let them into his family''s Pocket Remedium, and now they were ignoring him for some porter. They should have all been giving their thanks to him instead of embellishing Atlan''s overhyped achievements. The Young Master consoled himself by reminding himself that no matter how much Atlan was praised, he would never be able to get a 2nd-degree Masamune Original like him. The Young Master was only able to get his short sword because his family had a long line of Saviors that contributed greatly to the safety of the entire City. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan didn''t have that. And from what he heard from everyone, Atlan was only a poor kid from the Unclaimed Lands. "Wait, aren''t you a porter? Why do you have a slingshot in your belt?" A few of the people who were near Atlan noticed the wooden slingshot in his toolbelt. As far as they knew, porters only needed armor for missions because they didn''t have the fighting capacity that most Saviors had. "It''s for self-defense," Atlan explained. Everyone accepted his reason. "Makes sense. I would want a way to protect myself too, in case those Quills messed up their Canzer Report again." They would have dropped the subject there, but a few sharp-eyed people noticed that the quality of the slingshot exceeded that of what they expected. It was made out of dark wood, and polished to have no holes or imperfections. And the bands on the top looked like it was even imported from overseas. But most of all, they all noticed the ''hammer'' symbol on the handle of the slingshot. "No¡­is that¡­is that an¡­an INDIRECT MASAMUNE ORIGINAL?!" Atlan scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess." Once someone noticed, everyone went into an uproar. They had never even seen an Indirect Masamune Original before. But somehow, Atlan was able to have a custom-made treasure just hanging on his toolbelt as if it were a normal thing. "No way!" "How did you get that?!" "There''s no mistaking it. That emblem cannot be faked. It''s a real Indirect Masamune Original!" Even the Young Master couldn''t help but want to take a look at this weapon. He refused to believe it. His father wasn''t able to get an Indirect Masamune Original even after 500 years of service in the City! And now, he was being led to believe that a nobody porter who came in from the Unclaimed Lands somehow got it after just a week! That was absurd! "Who would give this to you?" Atlan didn''t expect everyone to be surprised that he got an Indirect Masamune Original. He thought it was just a normal piece of equipment made from a normal blacksmith. But judging from their reaction, it seemed that he was underestimating Custodire and her skills. "I don''t know if you guys know her, but her name is Custodire." "CUSTODIRE? No way! She''s one of the premier blacksmiths in the Specialist Realm! How did you get a powerful Savior like that to create a Student level weapon? And a slingshot at that?!" Atlan didn''t know what to answer. Although she was in the Specialist Realm, he didn''t think that Custodire was anything special compared to the other blacksmiths. But now, it seemed that she was more revered and respected than he thought. It made him think. If Lizzie was able to introduce him to someone as famous as Custodire, then he might have been underestimating her as well. Come to think of it, I don''t know what realm Lizzie is in¡­is she even more powerful than I thought? He decided to ask Lizzie later. Meanwhile, the Young Master finally jostled his way through the crowd and was able to face Atlan. He looked at the guy and saw that Atlan was much taller and well-built than he looked from afar. It made him intimidated. But he shook his head and cursed at Atlan. How dare this porter steal my spotlight! This is supposed to be my night, and yet he suddenly comes out of nowhere and hogs everyone''s attention. Doesn''t he know who I am? Practically everyone here knows who my family is! We own an entire street! And just as he was about to speak up, Atlan spoke up first. "I''m sorry, who are you again?" The Young Master was tongue-tied. He didn''t think that Atlan would target his greatest insecurity. It felt like his psyche shattered into a million pieces. The Young Master heard everyone laughing and jeering at him, making fun of the fact that all of his achievements and accomplishments were nothing more than a side-effect of his family''s prestige. He looked around and saw everybody''s eyes on him. This was what he wanted in the first place, but now, he hated it to the core. It felt like everyone was looking at him while he was naked. "Kugh!" Unable to take the embarrassment, the Young Master quickly left the crowd and bolted. Meanwhile, Atlan stood there not knowing what happened. He wasn''t trying to embarrass the guy, he just really didn''t know his name. Chapter 71 - 71: Olympus "Who was that?" Atlan asked the person near him. "That''s Obek, from the Orioness family. He''s the one who organized this whole party. This Pocket Dimension is usually only reserved for family members, but he made an exception for this party." Atlan was right. He didn''t know who that guy was. So why is he so mad at me? he pondered. He shrugged and let the matter fall to the back of his mind. ### Meanwhile, Obek sulked on the corner of his own mansion. He couldn''t believe the shame and embarrassment he suffered because of that porter. And everyone still liked Atlan instead of him! Is everyone still high from the Venunum? Otherwise, they wouldn''t think a porter was more important than a normal Savior, right? However, no matter how much he tried to tell everyone the truth, they still clung to the idea that porters were unsung heroes who deserved all the praise and attention that they were getting. But how can I show them that porters are useless? Just then, he suddenly heard the portal shimmer from behind the main entrance of the door. Ah! Did they finally come?! And just as he hoped, the door opened and nine new people came inside the party. As soon as they stepped foot in the Remedium, it felt as if the air changed. They brought with them the air and bravado of champions¨Cof geniuses with no equal. Everyone looked at the newcomers with curiosity in their eyes. It was quickly apparent to Atlan that these were not local people. Just from their attire and their strangely chiseled faces alone, Atlan already painted them as foreigners from another land. These people all wore long white tunics fastened at the shoulder and a green sash over their shoulders signaling their specialty as a Vanguard. Obek quickly got off his feet and greeted the newcomers. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Welcome, welcome, to my humble abode! I know it''s not like the Parthenons back in Olympus, but I hope you guys make yourselves comfortable." Once they heard Obek''s greeting, the rest of the party whispered amongst themselves. "Olympus? Does he mean the Olympus Mountain Ranges? Is he talking about the biggest Metropolis in the entire world?!" "No way! I can''t believe they came all the way here." Olympus? What''s that? His question was soon answered as Obek immediately faced the crowd and introduced his guests. "Ladies and Gentlemen, as you all have guessed, these wonderful people here are from the great mountain ranges of Olympus! If you don''t know what that is, then you must be living under a rock. Worry not, I will tell you. Olympus is a God''s Territory ruled by the Almighty Zeus and has several other subgods under his territory. All the citizens of this territory have been given the grace of multiple gods! Mutations galore! And these people are not just anybody. They''re one of the top geniuses as well! They visited Genesis City to socialize and exchange pointers with some of us. If you want to see what a true genius looks like, then you don''t need to look further than these nine people right here." Of course, he didn''t forget to take a dig at Atlan, implying that he wasn''t a true genius like these foreigners. Even though it wasn''t patriotic, Obek would rather take the side of a foreigner than a lowly porter. "And most of all, I welcome the venerable S class genius in the 4th stage Student realm blessed by Zeus himself, Razer Wrekton!" A man with a blocky face and a double chin walked forward and shook hands with Obek. "Pleasure to be here, my friend. I hope you welcome me and my brethren here in your abode. We aim to become stronger by learning more about the world. This is the 5th City we''ve visited and I think that you guys could put up a challenge against us. I hope we can exchange pointers." Obek maintained a straight face, but on the inside, his hands were getting crushed from Razer''s handshake. He forgot. Razer was infamous for being a man who did not hold back his strength no matter the opponent he faced. "Haha! It''s my pleasure!" Obek quickly pulled away his hand before he broke his bone. I still need him to humiliate that porter and teach him what a real genius looks like! "There''s been a lot of talk here about talent and whatnot, but I think it''s better if you show them what real power looks like, Razer!" The double-chinned man laughed. "I''m a bit embarrassed when you put me on the spot, but I will oblige only to introduce myself properly to the party." Razer then raised his hand and closed his eyes. All of a sudden, the girls saw a few strands of their hair stand up as if a thunderstorm was about to strike. And if they listened carefully, they could hear the air sizzle. BBBZZZTTTT! Lightning enveloped his right arm until it turned into a giant halberd! The air cracked and rumbled as the lightning halberd roared at everyone watching Razer. "This is one of the blessings bestowed upon me by my God¨Ca mutation called Righteous Halberd of the Skies!" Atlan was surprised. That''s a mutation? I thought mutations just change body parts to look like other species, but they can also become weapons? The people at the party finally understood the majesty and genius that was Razer Wrekton. "That''s so powerful¡­his mutation is already as strong as some LifeSkills!" "He practically has two LifeSkills under his belt! That''s unfair!" Obek was overjoyed to see that everyone finally realized the difference between a fraud genius like Atlan and a real prodigy of the heavens like Razer. And the best part about it was that that wasn''t Razer''s only mutation! "If you think that''s impressive, then you should wait until Razer shows you his next mutation!" Even though Razer had no intention of showing his second mutation to others, Obek''s words sent out a curious frenzy among everyone around him. As a visitor from another land, he simply couldn''t refuse the request. "If you insist, then I hope that you all brace yourselves." Razer took a big breath and simply opened his mouth and silently mouthed a few words. It wasn''t until a second later that everyone heard a resounding voice echoing through their skulls. Submit That word sunk into their brain and occupied their every thought. Try as they might, everyone felt their bodies defying their instinct. Soon, they felt their heads fill with pressure, making them feel the worst headaches of their lives. "See?! That''s the power of a tongue mutation! Word of the All-Father!" Almost everyone held their heads in pain. [Unauthorized domination detected] [Word of the All-Father denied] "Now that''s a real genius! How does it feel being oppressed?" Chapter 72 - 72: Gathering competition Obek looked at Atlan and noticed that he wasn''t reacting the way he was supposed to. He still stood there silently, as if he wasn''t affected by Razer''s tyrannical mutation. Pretending to be strong, are you? Hmph. Soon, you''ll see the difference. He thought that Atlan was simply making it look like he wasn''t affected by Razer''s words. The thought that Atlan somehow resisted the oppressive words of Razer never even showed up in his mind. After all, Obek knew that the ''Word of the All-Father'' mutation was nothing less than a 7-star mutation! That meant that Razer also had a 7-star genus that changed his bloodline into a demigod under Zeus'' lineage. And he was not the only one who thought that. Even the nine geniuses from Mount Olympus saw Atlan''s stoic face as nothing more than a mask to hide the pain and suffering in his mind. Not even they could stand there unfazed by Razer''s mutated attack. Razer was also a 4th stage Student, and from what they knew, he was the person with the highest power realm in this entire party. So, Atlan couldn''t have possibly resisted the attack. They didn''t even know that Atlan was a porter. If they knew, then they would be more convinced that he just pretended to be unaffected by it. Of course, Atlan''s Physique was able to counteract Razer''s oppression quite easily. He wasn''t even thinking about it anymore. Atlan was more curious about the fact that Mutations could be so different. Just like what other people said, they were more like LifeSkills than normal body part mutations. "We can''t just let them be the only ones to show off their strengths, right? It is only appropriate that we return their kind gesture and show off how strong we Genesians are! I''m happy to announce that the ''Gathering of the Stars'' will soon commence!" As soon as Obek said that, the whole party erupted in an excited frenzy. They seemed to know what that entailed, while Atlan remained clueless. "I can''t wait to see who wins!" "That Razer guy is pretty strong. I think he''ll win. And even the boys and girls next to him all look like strong contenders." "Hey now. You can''t discount our resident genius. Yasmine is also an S class genius that can hold up her own against someone like him." "Either way, I''m excited to see what''ll happen!" Judging from the reactions beside him, Atlan guessed that there was going to be some kind of competition between the Olympians and the Genesians. Razer did say that he visited this City to exchange pointers. Does that mean that in the other Cities they''ve visited, they also had some sort of competition with the others? "Since they have nine of them representing the Olympus Mountain Range, I have also picked out the nine geniuses in our City to compete." Obek then took out a list from his pocket and started to say the names of the people he enlisted to compete against the foreigners. "First of all, we have Yasmine Sayed! She is an S class DPS at the 3rd stage Student realm!" Everyone''s eyes were pulled to the side as Yasmine walked down the stairs with a cold expression. She didn''t greet anybody and simply stood opposite Razer, glaring at him with a competitive spirit. Competing against such geniuses was the only reason she agreed to join the party. But try as she might, she couldn''t help but sneak a glance at the unassuming boy at the edge of the crowd. Focus! she reminded herself. "Next, of course, is me: Obek Orioness! As I am a Paladin with the Genesis'' God''s grace, it is only natural that I become one of his representatives in this competition." S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even though nobody in the party considered Obek as a viable candidate, they couldn''t very well argue with him. After all, he was the one who arranged this whole thing. "Next¡­" Obek continued to bring out the names of other people in the party. Once they heard the names, everyone was relieved to see that they were actual geniuses who could stand a chance against the Olympians. They joined the list not because of their family name, but because they were talented in their own right. "I think we stand a chance here¡­" "Yeah, but it all depends if we can overcome Razer¡­" It was a mixed bag of Saviors, all of whom were in the 3rd stage. Obek was the only one in the 2nd stage. There were two berserkers, one DPS (Yasmine), two rangers (an archer and a gunslinger), a paladin (Obek), a warrior, and a monk. There was just one spot left. One of the men with a one-handed sword stepped up, expecting Obek to say his name. However, everyone was suddenly surprised to hear that Obek changed the last participant. "There''s been a change of plans. I didn''t think he would come, but now that he''s here, I think we should give him a chance. Let''s give it up for that Porter over there!" Obek pointed directly at Atlan with a devious smile on his face. This was the only way he could think of to finally put that porter back in his place. In this competition, Atlan would undoubtedly be crushed and left behind by much greater geniuses than himself. Obek imagined him stumbling cluelessly in the competition, becoming completely useless. And because of Atlan''s horrible performance, the Olympians would break away and win the competition. Everyone would be humiliated and they would finally put the blame on the useless porter who couldn''t do anything. Everyone waited in silence for Atlan''s response. Of course, he could refuse to participate in the competition, but that was also in Obek''s plan. He would simply berate Atlan for being a coward and label him as a false hero. "Wait, he''s only a porter? I don''t think it''s appropriate for him to join. No offense to the guy, but this competition is a high-stakes battle between damage-dealing Saviors. We won''t hold ourselves back and use the full extent of our LifeSkills. We can''t endanger the SoulTime of such an essential Savior." One of the women with brown hair on the Olympian side spoke up. Chapter 73 - 73: Cheers "We''ll be tussling with stronger Pseudo Canzers in this competition. We can adjust our strength, but those monsters are programmed to attack anyone they come across," she added. Once she said that, everyone in the room silently agreed. Even though Atlan could be considered a genius in terms of advancing his power realm, that did not mean that he could fight Canzers. That was simply not the skill set of porters. At least, that''s what they thought. But then, nobody expected Atlan to suddenly speak up. "Hmm¡­I''d like to join." Good! I can''t believe he joined, Obek rejoiced. "Great, then come here and meet your opponents!" The Olympian girl simply shrugged when she heard that the porter would join. She already warned him about the dangers, and it was his decision if he still wanted to participate. She, and the rest of her team, would not be holding back their power just because they were going against a porter. "Let''s move to the arena!" Obek guided the contestants outside the mansion and Atlan was surprised to see a large structure made out of stone and concrete right in the middle of the City. Atlan was sure that he never saw a structure this big back in the real world. "As you can see, my family enlisted the help of some architect Operators to make this colosseum into our pocket Remedium! Amazing, isn''t it? It''s the perfect place for our competitors to compete to their heart''s content!" It turned out that Pocket Remediums didn''t have to completely mirror the outside world. Operators could create anything they wanted in the Pocket Remedium, especially a large structure like this. "I can''t wait to see who''s better: Yasmine or Razer!" "Seeing the fight in this place pumps up my blood!" The Colosseum had an intimidating black color in the Remedium that only served to intensify the upcoming competition. "Spectators, please find your seats while we competitors enter the arena!" It looked like this was not the first time people went inside the Colosseum as they had no trouble finding their way up the stairs and into the balconies that oversaw the large oval arena below. There were about a thousand spectators in the crowd, all eager and waiting for the competition to start. Atlan followed the others onto the tunnel just below the arena. "Our competition is divided into two stages," Obek explained. "First, we will have to show off our skills to subdue these Pseudo Canzers." Obek pulled down a lever and a few indentations in the wall of the arena suddenly submerged into the floor. After a few seconds, Atlan heard the sound of hoofbeats crashing on the floor. Dust rose from the soil as the footsteps intensified until four-legged monstrous creatures suddenly emerged from the sides. They all charged out of their dark prisons with anger and fury. But try as they might, they couldn''t leap past the bars around the arena. These Pseudo Canzers all had a similar torso and legs to horses, but their heads were a completely different variety. Atlan saw a gorilla''s upper body connected to the horse''s torso, a dolphin in a horse''s body, and one just had a chicken''s head. There were lots of different animals, but there were plenty more monstrous creatures that didn''t resemble any animal that Atlan knew. There was one thing in common with all of them: their chitinous armor. Every horse Pseudo Canzer was protected by some sort of armor. Some had it on their whole body, some on just their chest and head, while some just had it on the legs. "Hmm¡­they look fast," one of the Olympians commented. "Yes! Precisely. These Pseudo Canzers are specifically designed to mimic mounts. For the first part of the competition, each of us is going to subdue one of the monsters. Careful not to kill it though, as you will need them for the next stage. After you have all gotten your respective mounts, then you will attach them to your chariots. Now, comes the real challenge. With your mounts and your chariots, we will race around the City walls and do one lap. The first to cross the finish line is the winner!" Everyone looked confident. Yasmine and the other Genesians already practiced for this event a few days ago. The Olympians had experience with this competition too as they competed and won against other Cities before they arrived in Genesis City. Atlan was the only one still clueless about everything. And unlike most of them, he didn''t even know how to ride a mount. Of course, Obek didn''t give him a chance for any practice at all. He already felt that it was generous to tell Atlan the rules of the competition. "There will be no fighting during the first stage of the competition." "Agreed," Razer said. "It''s already too risky to fight against other Saviors while fighting monsters, even if they are only Pseudo Canzers." Obek then smiled. "But for the second stage, it''s no holds barred. You can fight against others, you can kill their mounts, you can destroy their chariots, and you can even injure them to the point that Angels have to save them. Everything is allowed." Just you wait, you porter. Joining this competition will be a mistake that you will never forget. I''ll bleed your SoulTime. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan took a deep breath and readied himself. Unlike everybody here, he couldn''t just use all of his powers. He would be limited to only using his physical strength. That was a major handicap. But Atlan wasn''t completely without any weapon. He looked at the slingshot in his hands with anticipation. As long as he put all of his strength into winding up the slingshot, he reckoned that he could create serious damage. "Are you guys ready?" Obek''s question proved to be useless as he saw the intense look on everyone''s faces. Yasmine, in particular, had her eyes on the prize. She was already considering which mount was the fastest. "On my count¡­3¡­2¡­1¡­GO!" Everyone rushed out of the tunnel and into the arena. Atlan ran with them but quickly halted his steps once he was in the arena. While hearing the cheers and the shouts around the arena, Atlan heard a cacophony of words coming to his ears. "Humans¡­run¡­" "Eat¡­humans¡­" "Weak¡­." Chapter 74 - 74: Blinders Atlan observed all the Canzers in the arena and he could see their eyes start to register the humans. With every bark, every purr, and every roar, these Canzers spoke out their inner thoughts without reserve. And without a doubt, all Canzers displayed hostility to everyone. ''Attack¡­human¡­'' Atlan heard the snort of one of the Canzers with a bull''s head and a horse''s torso. And just as it said, it charged toward the brown-haired Olympian girl with its horns ready to pierce through her. "You look fast enough. You''ll serve me well," the brown-haired Olympian muttered as she backflipped just before the bull-horse Canzer landed its horns on her chest. ''Where¡­human¡­'' The bull-horse skidded on the ground, creating dust underneath. It looked around, when it should have looked up. If it did, it would have seen the brown-haired girl glow a bright white light on her palms. "Oh! I know her! She''s Sola! I heard that she''s an A class blessed by Apollo himself! I think she could go for the top 3!" Sola ignored all the cheers towards her and focused on the Canzer below her. "Brightest Day!" she shouted as she activated her LifeSkill. Soon enough, a bright light beamed down and targeted the bull-horse''s eyes. It tried to close its eyes, but it couldn''t escape from the blinding effect of Sola''s LifeSkill. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Gah!...hate¡­humans¡­kill!'' It flailed its horns around as it jumped up and down and rotated in a circle. This would have deterred most attackers from approaching, but not Sola. She landed on the side and quickly used her acrobatic skills to jump and somersault, twisting her body two times in the air. Surprisingly, this skill allowed her to swiftly dodge the bull''s wild horns. Sola landed on the bull''s torso and straddled it with her legs locked in its underbelly. The Canzer exaggeratedly jumped its body to the side in an attempt to get rid of its attacker, but her grip allowed her to keep still. At least, for a little while. So, she activated her LifeSkill again, manifesting burning hot light from her palms. Then, she started a flurry of slaps toward the bull''s head. With each hit, the bull''s skin got seared and burned from the hotness of the light produced from her palms. The bull-horse roared in pain. ''Hot!...no¡­human¡­kill!'' With no regard for its safety, the Canzer rushed towards the edge of the arena. It ran at top speeds, intending to crash into the wall and squish the puny human riding its body. But before it could even reach the wall, Sola took out something from her pockets made out of thin strips of leather and two rectangular cups. It was horse blinders! But this didn''t seem to be ordinary blinders as it had cybernetic lines glowing from the two cups. Sola quickly and skillfully attached the blinders on the bull-horse''s head. ''No¡­human¡­no¡­enslavement¡­'' And as soon as it clicked in place, the Canzer suddenly stopped running and skidded in place. It stood eerily still. It no longer had its wild and ferocious temperament that hated humans to the core. ''...'' Atlan was surprised to hear nothing but silence from the Canzer. Those blinders can control the minds of Canzers? Those horse blinders were an integral part of the competition. According to Obek, they were specifically made by Operators to control those Centaur Canzers into being a steed for a chariot. Without it, the contestants can''t expect them to run in the race. Atlan was once again impressed by the handiwork of Operators. They always created equipment that made the impossible possible. "Wow! Even if I don''t want to root for her, Sola''s really impressive! She''s the first one to subdue a Canzer." "As expected from someone in Mount Olympus. They truly are a different breed." Sola pulled the reins on the blinders and guided her new mount towards the exit. The walls suddenly submerged underground, letting her exit the arena. Everyone watched as she picked the first chariot in line. Being the first one to subdue a Canzer had its perks as she was able to choose the golden chariot with the best durability out of everything in line. The next one would choose the silver chariot and the next would choose the bronze. The worst one was only made out of wood. She fixed the reins before quickly whipping the Canzer''s back. The bull-horse pulled the chariot out of the arena and onto the race track that led to the outskirts of the City. With a big lead, she has a chance to cross the finish line first. "Come on, Genesians! What are you doing?!" "You guys can do it!" "I wonder which of them will be the first to join Sola. Our only hope is Yasmine¡­" The rest of the competitors, mostly the Saviors from Genesis City, had bad luck when it came to subduing the Canzers. There were a lot of skittish ones escaping the moment a Savior approached them. But some stronger and more resilient Canzers were too wild to put the blinders on properly. The Olympians on the other hand showed their training and skill as they were able to struggle against their targets with much more success. If a Canzer was too wild, then they would use their LifeSkills to injure them and hinder their escape. And if it tried to attack them, they would dodge at the very last second with graceful movements that could only be attained through years of practice. "Yes! Go, Yasmine! She''s finally showing off her LifeSkill!" The rest of the Genesians in the crowd cheered once they saw Yasmine unsheathe her sword. She put the sword in front of her and closed her eyes for a second. And with a big breath, she muttered; "Draconic Inferno of Swords, heed my will." Her sword erupted into a billowing fire that soon morphed into a swirling fire dragon that embraced her sword. She then faced her target, a Canzerous Horse that was made out of nothing but white bones. With one slash, the dragon roared out of her sword and flew towards the Canzer. ''Strange power¡­human¡­dangerous'' The Canzer leaped forward to dodge her attack, with the dragon''s flames barely grazing its bony tail. But how could it have expected ten more dragons coming towards it? Yasmine didn''t hold back her LifeSkill powers anymore as she assailed her target with a myriad of sword slashes, each launching a flaming dragon that left embers behind its wake. Chapter 75 - 75: Bet a thousand The Bone Canzer Horse had no way left to escape. It was soon engulfed in angry dragons, burning its wild and arrogant temper. What''s left of the Canzer was nothing but charred bones. It lay on the ground with its legs bent, too tired to even pose in a defensive position. It suffered too much from Yasmine''s attack and it needed a lot of time to regenerate from its injuries. But Yasmine didn''t have any time for that. She quickly took out the blinders from her tool belt and attached them to the bone horse''s head. And with it, the Canzer was forced to stop recuperating and stand up to obey her commands. Yasmine didn''t care if the Canzer still hadn''t recovered. She was going to push it till it died from its wounds if it meant winning this competition. She pulled on the reins and quickly left the arena. "Tsk." She was disappointed to find the golden chariot already taken away. This meant that someone was already on the track with a large lead behind them. But since she was second, she got the silver chariot which was the second best out of everything in the lineup. Before she left the arena, she looked back towards the arena, her eyes quickly glancing around to find someone in the crowd of Canzers and Saviors. She didn''t want to admit it, but she was looking for him. I''m only looking¡­but she quickly slapped herself. What are you doing? Get on the track, now! She quickly whipped the Canzer and it raced out of the Colosseum at top speeds. She reminded herself to always look forward, not back. She had a goal to accomplish, and no one could get in her way. Meanwhile, at the arena, the rest of the spectators all went silent in awe and disbelief. Everyone''s eyes went towards one man in the middle of the arena. Razer Wrekton, arguably the strongest and most talented one out of everyone in this room, was standing still with one monstrous Horse Canzer in front of him. He wasn''t doing anything. He was just standing still. But that wasn''t the strangest part about this. The Canzer in front of him, instead of charging and attacking the human in front of it, was actually kneeling towards Razer! It had its front legs bent on the ground, and its head was bowing towards him in deference. This was unbelievable. Every Canzer in the arena had a wild and arrogant attitude against the humans. They attacked humans they considered inferior to them, or they fled away from those they considered superior. However, this particular Canzer was kneeling in front of Razer! It was offering its head for him to take¨Cfor him to take control. Nobody ever thought that this was possible. This could only be explained through Razer''s domineering mutation that could even make other humans want to submit to him. "I can''t believe this¡­" "He subdued a Canzer without even using his LifeSkill¡­" "There''s just no hope. He''s going to win this competition¡­Wait! Look at that!" Just when they thought that Razer was going to subdue the kneeling Canzer in front of him, they all suddenly saw a new Canzer, a horse with a gorilla''s upper body, come rushing toward him. "He''s not looking at the Canzer!" "Is he going to get hit?!" But their guesses turned out completely wrong. The Gorilla-Horse Canzer rushed past Razer and charged toward the kneeling Canzer instead! Banging its chest like a drum, the gorilla-horse then grabbed the kneeling Canzer and threw it towards the crowd! The unfortunate spectators were horrified to see a monstrous Canzer coming right towards them. Even though they were Saviors in their own right, they were caught off guard and could only disperse away before they were buried under this monster. Thankfully, the Pocket Remedium''s safety mechanism froze the Pseudo Canzer in the air right before it went over the arena. "Whew! That was close!" "I thought I''d lose twenty years of SoulTime from that." "Wait, what happened with Razer?!" Once the chaos from the accident subsided, everyone looked over to Razer. Surprisingly, the Gorilla-Horse Canzer was now kneeling in front of Razer! It turned out that this Canzer wasn''t trying to attack Razer. Instead, it only wanted to be the one to have the honor to be Razer''s steed! It was unbelievable. Canzers were lining up and competing against each other to offer themselves to be subservient to Razer! Who else had the transcendent talent to do that? Without any more delay, Razer attached the blinders on the winning Canzer and chose it as its mount. With calm and unhurried steps, he went over to the exit and picked the bronze chariot for his vehicle. It didn''t take him long to fix the reins. "Chase them," he commanded. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His Canzer answered by drumming its fists on its chest and roaring towards the track. With the strength of its legs, it started accelerating at speeds unlike anyone had ever seen. It was much faster than Yasmine or Sola''s mounts. "There he goes! I reckon he''ll easily take the lead from Sola." "No doubt about it. I''ll even bet you 20 Venunum for it." "Stop cheering for the enemies. What about our Genesians? I''ll take that bet and put 50 Venunum for Yasmine to take home the win." Finally, after adjusting their strengths and strategies, more and more competitors subdued their Canzers. The Olympians had it easier, but the Genesians didn''t let them have the lead for long. Slowly, more and more competitors raced through the streets with their chariots. The spectators could only watch the race through the large screen floating at the top of the arena. They all saw LifeSkills thrown around everywhere as they all tried to sabotage each other. Meanwhile, there were only 2 people left in the arena: Obek and Atlan. They were the only two people in the 2nd stage Student realm, so everyone already expected them to be at the bottom of the pack. "Hmm¡­who do you think will be in last place?" "Listen, as much as I respect our Star Porter, he simply just doesn''t have the power to contest with the other competitors." "Are you willing to bet on that?" "Yeah. I''ll give you 1000 Venunum if the Star Porter finishes even in the 2nd to last place." Chapter 76 - 76: Giraffe-Horse Atlan observed everything with sharp eyes. He saw how the Olympians used their agility to skillfully maneuver their target into a position where they could leverage their strengths. But that wasn''t the only thing he saw. He was able to familiarize himself with everyone''s LifeSkills. He was especially curious about those Olympians because they had powers he never even thought possible. They used their mutations in tandem with their LifeSkills with such smooth coordination that Atlan was able to find new ideas on how he would use his multiple LifeSkills in the future. He was so honed in on absorbing all of that information that when he finally got a hold of himself, there were only two of them left in the arena. Realizing this, Atlan immediately went back to the entrance of the arena and took out one of the blinders in the chest. Without this, he wouldn''t be able to control a Canzer and command it to drive the chariot. And once he was ready, he looked around the arena to find a suitable Canzer. Which one should I choose? That skinny Grasshopper-Horse looks fast, but it doesn''t seem as durable. That Armadillo-Horse has a lot of protection, but it''s really slow. When he looked up and saw the racing chariots on the screen, he saw a lot of sabotaging and fighting among the competitors. It was quickly apparent that targeting an opponent''s Canzer mount was the most effective way of advancing through the placements. It didn''t matter if your mount was slow, it only mattered that others were slower than you. Atlan would have gone for the Armadillo-Horse because of its defense, but he was already at the bottom of the pack. Defense wouldn''t matter if he couldn''t even catch up to the others. The ideal mounts were a good balance of speed and defense. However, the good ones were already taken by other people. His only choice was to find the speedy ones and simply defend it himself. And just as he walked around the arena, he noticed a peculiar Canzer in the middle of the pack. Every Canzer in the arena was a little bit tamer compared to when the competition started because there were only two people left with them. But, when he listened to their grunts and barks, he figured out that they were still cautious. ''Human¡­defense¡­'' ''Move away¡­shadow¡­disappear¡­'' ''Kill¡­approach¡­'' Everything he heard was in line with those sentiments¡ªexcept for one. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''There''s still humans here¡­the two of them look weak¡­'' Surprisingly, this one had more coherent language than the rest of the Canzers! All of the Canzers he heard only spoke about one to two words, but this specific Canzer was somehow able to construct complete sentences! He honed in on the Canzer and saw it lounging in the middle of a pack of Canzers. This one had a very long neck, with irregular brown spots among whiter skin. This one had a giraffe''s head! Then, Atlan noticed that one Cow-Horse Canzer got a little bit too close to the intelligent Canzer''s space. The Giraffe-Horse grunted, ''Stay away from me¡­I won''t repeat it twice¡­'' Usually, an altercation like this would result in a fight between the two monsters. But instead, the Cow-Horse bowed its head and quickly retreated away from the intelligent Canzer. Once it realized its mistake, it begged for forgiveness. ''Apologies!....no kill¡­please¡­.'' This was extremely weird because the Cow-Horse was much bigger and looked much stronger than the Giraffe-Horse. Atlan reckoned that if a fight between the two broke out, most people would assume that the Cow-Horse would come out on top. But judging from its reaction, it looked like Atlan was wrong. This Canzer was different from the rest. It was special. Could it also be faster than the rest? With no other alternative, Atlan decided on his steed. ### Meanwhile, Obek Orioness kept his eyes peeled as he looked for a specific Canzer amongst the crowd of monsters. He was getting antsy. The longer he waited, the further away the others would be. The only thing consoling him was the fact that the porter was still in the arena with him. Kugh! I have to find it quick or else they''ll think that a mere porter is better than me. Come on! Where are you? He was looking for a Canzer with a giant fly as a head. It would have green compound eyes and little wings on the back of the horse''s torso. He was the only one who knew that this particular Canzer was specifically altered to be faster than normal and have a mild and submissive temperament. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to subdue fast Canzers like the Olympians, so he cheated. Tampering with the Canzed''s programming was the only way he could find a mount that he could easily subdue but still be fast enough to compete with the rest. "Aha! There you are!" Obek rejoiced. Now that there were fewer Canzers on the field, he was finally able to spot that perfect mount. All he had to do now was subdue it with his paladin LifeSkills. "Gatekeeper''s Authority," he shouted. His whole body glowed golden as he channeled the LifeSkill given to him by the Genesis God himself. He took out the 2nd removed Masamune Original short sword from his toolbelt and used it to stab at the ground. With his powers, magic traveled from the ground toward the inattentive Fly-Horse Canzer. It looked around, confused, as the ground trembled underneath it. The Canzer was like a deer in headlights as a smooth wall made out of soil suddenly emerged around it. And as it tried to jump over the obstacle, it found that the wall was constructed just enough for it to be insurmountable for the Canzer. "You can''t run away from me," Obek smiled. He ran towards the encirclement, and the walls magically parted ways for his body to pass through easily. Soon enough, he was inside with the Canzer. With one swift move, he saddled the Fly-Horse with no resistance whatsoever. It didn''t even utter a single cry as Obek put the blinders on its head. And just like that, Obek gained his mount. The walls submerged back into the ground as he made his way to the exit with a proud smile on his face. He looked back at Atlan and shook his head in derision. Is he an idiot or what? Why would he go after that Giraffe-Horse? It''s lethargic and barely even moves! Whatever. It''s not like he could subdue stronger Canzers anyway. Chapter 77 - 77: How did human know? Atlan carefully approached the Giraffe-Horse Canzer. It was sitting down in the soil, with its eyes closed and its defenses lowered. But once Atlan took one step closer to it, it suddenly opened its eyes and observed Atlan. It took the Canzer one second to analyze him. ''Weak¡­'' With no perceived threat, the Canzer closed its eyes and went back to its nap. Atlan used this opportunity to finally test out his slingshot. This was the first time he would ever use this kind of weapon, but he knew the basics of how it worked. He simply needed to put ammo in the bands and stretch it before letting it go. But without any prior experience, Atlan didn''t know if he''d be able to do it. He looked at the ground and saw a small pebble the size of a fingernail. He quickly put it in the middle of the band and pinched it before stretching it back. With the Canzer''s body as his target, Atlan released his grip on the bands and the stone flew towards his target. However, the pebble soon lost its power in the air and failed to even reach the foot of the Canzer. The Canzer still kept its eyes closed. Hmmm¡­so that''s how the trajectory works, Atlan thought. If he wanted more power, then he could have simply stretched the bands in the slingshot further. The bands had a lot more to stretch and he had a lot more strength to show, but he chose not to. His first shot was only a test for him to find out how the trajectory of his bullet curved in the air. He only used the lightest of his powers. And because of that, he was able to figure out the base parameters of the slingshot. He was able to guess exactly how much power he needed for his next shot to land properly. He picked up another pebble and shot it out with a lot more strength than before. This time, the pebble blasted off towards the Canzer at fast speeds. The trajectory this time was almost in a straight line. In just a moment, the pebble hit the Canzer''s body. However, its chitinous armor protected it from any harm. I was aiming for the head but it landed on its body¡­I need to put the ammo directly in the center of the pouch or else it will deviate from what I''m aiming at. Now that he got a handle on how the slingshot worked, Atlan felt confident that he''d be able to use it in a fight. He just needed proper ammo now. Pebbles wouldn''t do much damage even if Atlan used all of his strength to wind it up in the slingshot. It would simply explode upon impact and have no piercing power. Atlan then looked down at the ground and saw the thin layer of sand and dust over the solid ground and got an idea. If there was one thing he learned from spending years underground in the Unclaimed Lands, it was that the ground became much harder as they went further below the surface. He learned early on that the pressure exerted at those bottom depths condensed the ground to such degrees that the sand became as hard as stone. With enough pressure, grains of sand can become rock solid. Atlan kneeled on the floor and used his full strength to punch the ground, creating a crater below. The whole arena trembled for a slight moment, surprising even the intelligent Canzer. With his fist submerged, he then pulled out as much chunk of the ground as possible. He now held a handful of soil in both hands. And using all of his physical strength, he pushed the two chunks together into a ball. Small chunks crumbled out of his hands, but the majority of the soil was retained in his hands. He then cupped his hands and pushed it even harder. Slowly, his hands deflated and deflated until he felt a solid ball in his palms. Atlan opened his fists and saw an uneven brown pellet that was a hundred times smaller than the chunk it was originally. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But one was not enough. Atlan continued to create more pellets from the ground until he created ten ammo that he could use to fight the Canzer. Each one was faster to make and rounder than the previous ones. With everything ready, he put the first ammo in the slingshot and aimed at the Canzer. His left arm was outstretched and his right hand pulled the band back to his shoulders. With one eye closed, he targeted the Canzer''s body. THWATT The pellet whistled through the air at dangerous speeds. The Giraffe-Horse didn''t even have the time to open its eyes as it spurred out of its sitting position and dodged out of the dangerous pellet. However, it couldn''t get away from the attack fast enough as the pellet grazed past its long cheeks and took away the chitinous armor with it. Violet blood pooled out of the injury. The Canzer now stood on its toes, with its back arched, and its body flared. It was alarmed. It almost saw its life flash past its eyes with Atlan''s attack. ''This human''s dangerous¡­really dangerous¡­really dangerous¡­'' Atlan took out another pellet and readied it in his slingshot. This time, the Canzer regarded him with full alert. It couldn''t be careless, especially with that strange pellet Atlan used. After all, it was able to crush its chitinous armor with ease. If Atlan hit the Canzer with that pellet, it would surely pierce through the other side. ''I''ll attack him close¡­it''s humans weakness'' The Canzer didn''t want to let Atlan have the time to shoot out another one of those pellets, so it charged toward Atlan with dizzying acceleration. A cloud of dust erupted behind it. But just before the Canzer could even come close to Atlan, it suddenly felt danger as it heard that terrifying whistling sound come from his slingshot again. The Giraffe-Horse was forced to jump to the side and abandon its attack to dodge from another pellet. The ground from where the Canzer dodged suddenly exploded into dust and debris as Atlan''s attack landed on the ground. ''The human''s fast, but me is faster¡­dodge to the left and right to confuse the human¡­'' It used its fast legs to run towards Atlan from the left. The Canzer saw the human stretch his slingshot for another shot. Once it was sure that Atlan was going to release his grip, it suddenly decelerated and dashed in the opposite direction. It thought that it could finally approach Atlan with this trick. Unfortunately, a sharp pain suddenly emerged from its hind leg as Atlan''s pellet pierced through its body and out near its tail. ''Pain!...How did the human know?!'' Chapter 78 - 78: Cloud of dust The Giraffe-Horse was frustrated to no end. The Canzer observed the human''s eyes and saw that it was very slow in capturing fast movements. This meant that it was faster than what the human could even process. Yet somehow, he seemed to be able to hear its thoughts on what it was going to do! Not only that, but his strange weapon was somehow able to penetrate through its armor like it was nothing! As far as it knew, the human simply used the ground as his weapon. ''Human only used dusty soil¡­no way it''s strong¡­'' The Canzer used all of its intelligence to find a way to defeat this human. The best way was to get up close and personal to his frail and weak body, but his weapon prevented the Canzer from even getting close. So, it decided to ask for some help. ''Hey you!¡­Attack the human¡­'' The Giraffe-Horse grunted and stomped the ground to get the other Canzers to his attention. The Ant-Horse felt horrified when it realized that the Giraffe-Horse was talking to it. There was no hesitation in its moves as it quickly sneaked behind Atlan and readied its sharp mandibles to cut the human in front of it into two. This would have been the perfect sneak attack. If only it got rid of its habit of speaking its mind, then Atlan wouldn''t have been able to anticipate its attacks too easily. Just as the large upper body of the Ant Canzer brought down its mandibles towards Atlan''s neck, he suddenly ducked and moved to the side. The Ant-Horse was already surprised that Atlan was even able to dodge its attacks. So, it was even more shocked to suddenly see him grab its head with one hand, using its mandibles as his handle. With a proper grip, Atlan suddenly twisted his waist and whipped his left leg towards the Ant-Horse''s front leg. ''PAIN!'' it squeaked. But that wasn''t the end. As soon as Atlan''s foot landed on the floor, he didn''t hesitate to launch another kick right into the exact spot where his attack landed. ''KAGGH!'' The Canzer couldn''t help but tremble and lose its footing. It couldn''t believe the power the human generated from his feet. Just one of his kicks broke its chitinous armor into multiple pieces and bruised its flesh instantly. That would have been enough to disable the Cnazer''s movements. But Atlan wasn''t done. He continued to unleash a fury of kicks toward the Canzer at the same location with precision and accuracy. He targeted the horse''s front leg, specifically its elbow and forearm. The frightening thing about this was that Atlan''s kicks were getting more and more powerful as if he was getting better and better with each kick. ''Feet shoulder-width apart. Pivot back foot. Maintain balance. Bend the knee. Snap the kick.'' Atlan only saw taekwondo from one fight. Yet, he''s somehow able to completely absorb the essence of the martial art. His observation skills could not be topped. But his SSS Physique Skill also contributed to this because he was able to completely transfer his theoretical knowledge into his physical body. His body coordination allowed him to do whatever he wanted to do with perfect control. At this point, the Ant-Horse could no longer stand by itself. It whimpered in pain. It was suffering. He had to kill it. He stomped the ground, creating a dust cloud that obscured himself and the Canzer. With one swift move, he grabbed its head and twisted it in one clean motion. Nobody knew what happened. Almost all of the spectators were looking up at the screen and watching the exciting race instead of the arena. They didn''t even know that there was still someone inside. And if anybody was still watching Atlan, they wouldn''t have seen anything because of the dust and chaos all around the arena. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 100 experience] S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Once the dust settled, the Ant-Horse lay on the ground, not moving a single inch. The Canzer didn''t have a pool of blood underneath it, so it was easy to mistake it as simply relaxing and trying to recuperate. After all, how easy was it to kill a Canzer in just one move like Atlan? Almost impossible. However, the Canzers knew that their brethren died. No one was more surprised than the Giraffe-Horse. It couldn''t believe that the weak human was able to kill a Canzer as easily as that. ''Impossible¡­how''s human so strong?'' But it didn''t have time to wonder as it saw Atlan prepare another bullet in his slingshot. A shiver ran down its spine. The Canzer thought that it would be able to defeat Atlan once it was able to close the distance. But that couldn''t be more wrong. It looked like the human was even more dangerous up close! It immediately backed down, creating a large space between it and the human. But it was terrified to see Atlan calmly aiming his slingshot at wherever the Canzer fled. He wasn''t even moving! He just stood there, menacingly. ''All of you!...attack the human!'' the Giraffe-Horse bellowed. Unfortunately, every Canzer in the arena witnessed the Ant-Canzer suddenly die in front of the human. Even if they weren''t that intelligent, they still had a sense of self-preservation. If they tried to attack the human, then it was easy to guess what would happen to the rest of them. The Giraffe-Horse clicked its mouth in dissatisfaction. ''All of you!...human can''t kill all!....kill the human!'' Even though the Canzers didn''t want to attack Atlan, the Giraffe-Horse''s words compelled them to do so. It was as if they couldn''t defy its orders. Soon enough, the rest of the Canzers pawed the ground like a bull waiting to charge. None of them wanted to act first. So, they kept charging up their legs to try and build up speed and momentum before they attacked the human. The whole arena shook as all the Canzers stomped the ground. And as every Canzer did so, a plume of dust and smoke started to cover the entire arena. It was at this point that the Canzer realized its mistake. It couldn''t see anything in the cloud of dust! Chapter 79 - 79: Subdued "Woah! What''s happening in the arena?" "Wait. There''s someone still in there?" "Yeah, the Star Porter still hasn''t subdued any Canzer yet." "Hmm? Then where is he?" The cloud of dust obscured vision from the spectator stand. Nobody could see anything. The only thing they heard were hooves beating on the ground, rushing and charging towards something. But where that was, nobody had any idea. In any other case, this would have been completely in the Canzer''s favor. The cloud of smoke would have prevented the human from knowing where the Canzers would come from next. However, the Giraffe-Horse couldn''t forget that human''s sharp eyes. It was the kind of gaze that could somehow pierce through even the deepest of armor, as if he could see through any of its vulnerabilities. The Canzer believed that the human could somehow see it even in the cloud of dust. ''No! That human is human¡­he no see in the dark¡­'' But the Giraffe-Horse wasn''t the only one who was panicking. The rest of the Canzers in the arena didn''t have the mental capacity to think further than what they saw. Dread began to set in. What if the human was going to kill them? One such frightened Canzer couldn''t help but charge towards the unknown. It thought that the terrifying human was behind it. So, it tried to run away from him as fast as possible. But it didn''t know that this would start a chain reaction that would further spread fear and chaos to others. Once the other Canzers heard hooves stomping in terrified undertones, they all started panicking even more. And when faced with a do-or-die situation, these horse-like Canzers chose to flee instead of fight. The cloud of dust obscured everything even further as the Canzers started to run around everywhere. Canzers were bumping into each other and bumping into the walls. The whole arena was in an earthquake. The Giraffe-Horse looked around, but it couldn''t see anything. It calmed itself down. There was no way that the human would be able to find it in all of this chaos. Just then, it suddenly saw something coming towards itself at fast speeds! It quickly moved to the side. Terror set in its bones as it thought that the human was somehow able to target it amid this smoke. But then it realized something. This was no projectile. This was a Canzer''s body coming towards the Giraffe-Horse at fast speeds, cutting through the smoke until it crashed into the wall behind. The Giraffe-Horse looked at the Horse Canzer and saw a single injury in the middle of its torso: an imprint of a human''s knuckles. ''Not possible!...'' But then, the Canzer heard more and more bodies crash through the walls in a similar manner. The whole arena shook from the collisions. ''No way!...that human is a monster¡­must run away¡­must run away!'' It ran along the walls, hoping to find an exit out of this arena. It finally realized that there was no way it was going to defeat the human. His punch sent a Buffalo-Horse from one side of the arena to the other! But then, amid the dust, it suddenly saw a silhouette of a human in front of it. No, this was no silhouette. It was the human exactly! But now, there was a strange black fire that surrounded his whole body. This was the first time that the Canzer fully understood the strength of this human. Death has come for it. The Giraffe-Horse immediately used its long head to hit the ground and cause more dust to obscure the human''s sight. And then, it immediately turned around. But when it looked up, it suddenly saw something impossible. For a brief second, it saw holy wings appear on the human''s back. ''Impossible!...Angel wings¡­'' But in the next moment, the human disappeared from the Canzer''s sight. It made the monster doubt its own eyes. It even wondered if it was starting to hallucinate because of all the chaos that was happening in the arena. This Canzer was so stunned and shocked from having a brief encounter with Angel Wings that it didn''t even notice that Atlan was already straddling it on its back. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With one swift movement, Atlan attached the blinders on the Canzer with a satisfying click. Soon enough, the rest of the other Canzers stopped their rumbling. They were either too injured to stand due to crashing against other Canzers and the walls too much, or they simply realized that the human was no longer there to threaten them. After a few moments, the dust finally settled and everyone could finally see what happened. "I hope the Star Porter is alright." "Don''t worry. If things get too dangerous, the Pocket Remedium has a safety mechanism that freezes all the Pseudo Canzers in place, remember?" "Wait a minute, it''s him!" More and more people soon saw the image of Atlan guiding the Giraffe-Horse through the arena. They were all surprised to see that the Canzer had blinders on, meaning that Atlan finally subdued a Canzer! "I can''t believe it!" "How did he even subdue a Canzer? A porter''s LifeSkill is only supposed to give him the ability to carry heavy weights, right?" "I heard from others that our Star Porter has another talent. He''s a fighting genius!" But even with that explanation, the rest of the spectators still couldn''t believe it. If Atlan was able to subdue a Canzer with just his physical strength and his martial arts prowess, then he was even more impressive than people were giving him credit for. Atlan finally exited the arena and went over to the last chariot left. Unlike the others that were made out of strong metals, this last chariot was only made out of wood. It was as brittle as a rundown carriage. "Impressive as it may be, he probably can''t catch up to the others with that shoddy chariot." "It''s unfortunate, but yeah, his mount doesn''t seem to be as fast either." "But let''s clap for his efforts. It''s mad impressive that he''s even able to do this as a porter¡ªWAIT WHAT THE F¡ª" Chapter 80 - 80: Tight corner As soon as Atlan fixed the reins on the chariot, he immediately whipped the Canzer forward. They watched as Atlan''s chariot raced out of the Colosseum and onto the racing streets at blazing speeds. His wooden wheels barely even touched the ground as the Giraffe-Horse Canzer rocketed through the air. "Holy! How is he so fast?!" "That''s twice as fast as all the other mounts! How did no one discover this Pseudo Canzer?" "That doesn''t matter now. I just can''t believe how lucky our Star Porter is! I think he has a chance to pass the others!" It was so fast that even the invisible camera that fed the video to the screen in the Colosseum was left in the dust. It took a few seconds before it was able to calibrate Atlan''s speed and finally focus the camera onto him. When the rest of the spectators looked at the Giraffe-Horse Canzer, they didn''t see any speedy qualities about it. It didn''t even have as much chitinous armor as the other Canzers still in the arena. So, when they saw that Atlan subdued this one, they all thought that it was one of the weakest Canzers out of everything. They thought that Atlan was forced to use this steed because it was the only one that he could catch. But they couldn''t be more wrong. It turned out that this Giraffe-Horse was the fastest out of every Pseudo Canzer in the competition! It was so fast that if Atlan had subdued this monster earlier, then they wouldn''t have any doubts whether he would win the competition. They were sure that if Atlan got to the race first, then he would be able to do a lap before the others could even get onto the track. And even though he started so late, some still believed that he had a chance to win the whole thing! "Go Porter! Look, he''s not going to be last. He''s already catching up to the last in the pack!" The one who bet 1000 Venunum on Atlan placing last went silent. He was upset that he would lose the bet, but if he saw Atlan finish first, then he wouldn''t even be mad at that point. He watched as Atlan got ready to overtake a chariot. The guy in second to last place was a Genesian with a B class Monk LifeSkill. He was dealt a bad hand and subdued a very slow Canzer. So, he knew that he didn''t have any chance to compete for a podium finish. He consoled himself that he wasn''t going to finish last. However, it looked like he celebrated a little too early. He suddenly heard intense hoof beats behind him, even making his chariot tremble and wobble. When he looked back, he was surprised to see someone suddenly hot on his tail. That was impossible! From what he saw just a few moments earlier, there wasn''t anybody behind him. He even thought that the last guy couldn''t subdue a Canzer and just gave up in the arena. But then, he suddenly saw Atlan piercing through the air like a rocket to catch up to him. He was alarmed. Not to mention the fact that Atlan looked like he teleported behind him, he found that Atlan and his Giraffe-Horse mount were only moments away from overtaking him! The Giraffe''s upper body had its long neck outstretched forward like a lance. It speared through the air and created less air resistance for the chariot, allowing it to go to speeds he didn''t even think possible. The man was so shocked that he forgot to do anything. He just stood there, holding onto the reins of his steed, letting Atlan go past him. Now, Atlan was in 17th place. But he didn''t stop there. The Canzer zoomed through the track, speeding past district after district. He was fast during the straight part of the race, but the next part had a sharp turn to the right which already claimed two chariots. If he didn''t slow down for this part, then his chariot would surely crash through the apartment building like the unlucky two from before. His chariot was made out of wood. With just one crash, his whole chariot could splinter into a million pieces, giving him no chance to continue the race. "What is he doing?! Why is he not slowing down?" "You''ll crash into pure steel, my man! Slow down!" But instead of slowing down like the rest of the competitors, Atlan kept going towards the corner at the Canzer''s top speed! They all thought that Atlan lost control of his steed, but then, they saw him suddenly climb out of his chariot and jump towards the Giraffe-Horse Canzer! He stood upright as he grabbed the Giraffe''s mane and pulled its head up. Then, with one hand on the Giraffe''s head and the other on its torso for stability, Atlan bent its neck to the side just at the moment when the road turned a 90-degree angle. "There''s no way he''s going to¡ª" Everyone in the arena watched with their jaws dropped as the Giraffe''s head suddenly caught onto one of the lamp posts on the side of the street. As their momentum pushed them forward, the chariot suddenly rotated about the lamppost while floating one meter in the air. The Giraffe''s head was caught onto the pole! With their speed almost completely preserved, Atlan''s chariot turned the corner and bounced on the streets. Everyone watching this couldn''t believe the guts and ingenuity behind this move. Who would have thought to use a Giraffe''s long head as a way to pivot through a sharp turn? Nobody. Atlan then jumped back down to his wooden chariot and continued directing the Canzer around the obstacles in the street. Some of the other competitors could never pull a stunt like Atlan did, so they were forced to slow down their chariot to a crawl and safely turn to the right. However, this cost them a lot of speed¨Cspeed that was hard to recover because of their Canzer''s slow acceleration. So, they were simply dumbfounded when Atlan''s squeaking chariot rocketed past them with no warning whatsoever. With just that one move, Atlan was now in 12th place. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 81 - 81: Paladin pauper Obek felt confident that he could get to the top 5 if he just continued this route. He didn''t need to compete against the top geniuses like Razer and Yasmine because he knew that he would never be able to contend against them. The best part about this was that he didn''t need to attack other competitors to gain the lead. His Canzer was already fast enough for him to overtake a lot of the other competitors. Of course, no one knew that this mount was a cheat he procured specifically for this competition. It was the perfect blend of speed and defense. But there was still a weakness that Obek could not overcome. His chariot was only made out of plastic. He wasn''t that worried because if they tried to attack him, then he would simply use his LifeSkill to defend himself. Case in point, Obek just passed an Olympian in 10th place, and the guy wasn''t happy with that. He immediately used his eye mutation called Medusa''s Gaze'' and aimed it at Obek. His eyes turned vertical as a beam of gray, stony light came towards the chariot''s wheels. If this attack hit, then the wheels would turn into stone and quickly slow him down. However, Obek was prepared. He used his LifeSkill ''Gatekeeper''s Authority'' to summon a detachable plastic barrier that protected his wheels. Haha! See you later, loser! Obek continued to create distance between him and the others. He could already see the 9th placer in the distance and in just a few moments, he''d be able to overtake him too. But then, he suddenly heard a scream behind him. "Kagh! How?! My chariot!" He recognized it to be the voice of the Olympian man he just passed. What''s happening? Obek was tempted to look back, but he stopped himself. He didn''t have to worry himself about losers like them. He just needed to keep his eyes on the road. But then, he suddenly heard hooves beating on the ground. He felt the trembling in the chariot. This was unusual. Not only that, the vibrations were getting stronger and stronger as if someone was catching up from behind him. Did that Olympian somehow get faster? He was about to look back, when all of a sudden, he saw a chariot run in parallel with his own. The chariot then crashed into his side with paint scratching against paint. Whose this insolent little¡ª His eyes suddenly widened when he saw who was riding the chariot. He couldn''t believe it. It was the porter! Atlan, even after starting the race so late, was somehow able to catch up to him after all this time. Obek thought he was dreaming. His brain tried to immediately think of a logical reason for how this was possible. Did he find a secret shortcut? No, if there was, I would have known about it. Maybe this isn''t that porter¡­ But no matter how much he tried to deny it, the real thing was right in front of him. It shouldn''t even be possible. All the fast Canzers were supposed to be already taken by the other competitors. So, even if Atlan was somehow able to subdue a Canzer, then he should have only gotten the slowest of the bunch. Yet somehow, Atlan''s steed was able to match his speed perfectly! Obek was sure that the Giraffe-Horse wasn''t supposed to be this fast. And even if Obek accepted the fact that Atlan somehow found a fast steed, that still didn''t explain the fact how he was able to go past the other competitors. Even he, a paladin with a defensive LifeSkill, had trouble passing those mutation-freak Olympians! "How?!" Obek screamed. He couldn''t believe that even now, a mere porter was stealing his spotlight. Feeling the rage and anger finally explode inside him, Obek took out his short sword. This piece of weapon was a 2nd removed Masamune Original that could cut through steel with ease. Even with a porter''s enhanced physique, he wouldn''t be able to defend against it. He climbed out of his chariot and charged towards Atlan. His black short sword aimed directly toward Atlan''s carotid artery with precise aim. He was trained with the short sword all his life; dealing with an unarmed and inexperienced civilian like Atlan should be a piece of cake. But somehow, the porter''s reaction proved to be fast enough to defend. Atlan moved his head away and used his left hand to swat Obek''s hand away. However, Obek was no pushover. He kept pushing his short sword towards Atlan''s neck. But that wasn''t enough. Obek then punched Atlan''s liver to disorient him and weaken his defense. Even if Atlan had armor to protect him, Obek''s martial art allowed him to transfer the force to the inside and rattle the very organ instead. Atlan used his other hand to defend, which Obek expected. Obek found an opening and repositioned his short sword towards Atlan''s legs in an attempt to cripple him. In response, Atlan slid his legs away just in time. But this led him to have an awkward position in his own chariot, which Obek was ready to exploit. Atlan''s legs were outside the chariot, with Obek occupying the majority of the space. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He was in the perfect distance between Atlan, making his short sword still effective but giving no chance for Atlan to defend with his arms. If he did, then Obek would simply slash it instead. With every slash, Atlan was forced to move his body in awkward positions. He maneuvered his body through the small space in the chariot, even dangling off to the side at one point. It was quickly apparent that Obek''s skills and techniques with the sword were miles better than Atlan''s. The porter''s skills were almost non-existent. But no matter how much Obek tried, he couldn''t even make a scratch Atlan''s body. Somehow, he was always able to move his body at the very last second. If it weren''t for his reflexes, then Obek was sure that Atlan would be filled with cuts by now. No more! I''ll show you how to properly mix martial arts with LifeSkills! Obek lunged at Atlan again as he tried to slash his legs. This time, Atlan was forced to use his fists to guard against Obek''s hands and prevent the blade from reaching his skin. "Gatekeeper''s Authority!" Obek screamed. His shortsword suddenly pierced through the air and his blade disappeared into nothingness. The next thing Atlan saw was a blade suddenly appearing from out of nowhere and aiming directly towards his chest. This is the difference between elites like me and paupers like you! Chapter 82 - 82: Knocked back Obek smiled when he saw his short sword come toward Atlan''s chest. Even though Atlan''s reaction speeds were impressive, he couldn''t react to the point-blank blade that ''teleported'' directly to his body. This was one of the secret abilities of his LifeSkill powers. As a direct descendant of the Orioness family, he had the honor to be bestowed upon one of the powers of the Genesis God himself. As long as he was blessed by God, then his paladin powers would allow him to create passageways that could teleport his blade from one place to another. Since he was only in the 2nd stage Student realm, he could only create passageways that were extremely near his body. Fortunately for him, he didn''t have any trouble approaching Atlan. With his short sword piercing through Atlan''s chest, Obek was sure that he would finally beat the porter. Surely, he could finally prove their uselessness. However, he felt an insurmountable resistance before he could even pierce through Atlan''s battle suit. TINGGG "WHAT?!" His short sword simply couldn''t penetrate through Atlan''s simple armor. That was unbelievable. His weapon was supposed to have a quality that couldn''t be compared! It was made by a 2nd removed Masamune blacksmith! Both Atlan and Obek were supposed to be in the 2nd student Stage. This meant that the weapons and armor that they could get were made for their power level only. Unless Atlan had a chest plate even better than a 2nd removed Masamune Original, then there was no way it could have repelled his short sword! Unfortunately for Obek, Atlan did have something better than that. He would probably jump away from his chariot if he knew that Atlan had a semi-sentient armor. "That''s not possible!" Obek shouted. He retrieved his sword and attacked Atlan again. But this time, Atlan skillfully dodged away from his stab, just barely letting it skid against his chestplate. This made Obek even more confused. Just a few seconds earlier, Atlan couldn''t even move properly from his attacks. He had to contort his body in inefficient ways that were full of holes and vulnerabilities. This showed Atlan''s inexperience in martial arts. However, his dodge showcased something completely polished. He didn''t move much of his body from the attack and he made sure to cover any vulnerabilities in his stance. This dodge was taught to Obek as a perfect counter to the Orioness swordsmanship. And somehow, Atlan learned it. "I learned a lot from your moves," Atlan muttered. What? Obek couldn''t understand anything anymore. If he had been paying attention to Atlan''s eyes, then he would have seen how the ''useless'' porter observed his every movement with an intense gaze. Atlan wasn''t just dodging. He was analyzing all of Obek''s sword moves. Atlan observed how he carried it with his hands, how he positioned his legs to attack, and even how he breathed in tandem with the sword. His observant eyes caught all of those and quickly found a way to perfectly dodge his attacks. Atlan found it quite easy since Obek only used the most basic of moves, partially because he thought that he was dealing with an inexperienced guy like Atlan and because he was fighting inside a bumping chariot. Of course, Obek didn''t know any of that. So, he tried to go back to his foundation and performed a simple sword art that consisted of a combination of sweeping the sword towards the ribs and then ending with a chop from the head down to the torso. But with just the first slash, Atlan twisted his body to the side and immediately lunged towards Obek. with one swift move, Atlan punched him in the face. THWACK Obek''s head felt his whole world turn as the punch stunned him into near unconsciousness. His SoulTime immediately lost an entire month! Even a huge gash on his chest would only cost about 15 days at most. He couldn''t believe how heavy that punch was. And if he knew Atlan was still holding back, then he would have vomited out blood. Why? Well, Obek was about to find out. Atlan raised his right hand and stretched it out. If Obek was fully conscious right now, then he would recognize that Atlan was trying to copy his sword stance! And instead of using a short sword, he was using his hands! Atlan wanted a practice buddy to play with! That''s why he didn''t knock him out. With his eyes closed, Atlan remembered in perfect detail how Obek positioned his body. And in his imagination, he was able to put himself in Obek''s body as he tried to attack Atlan. When he was finally ready to attack, he did the simplest of moves. Atlan slashed his hand towards Obek''s ribs. Yet Obek only saw a blur in his vision before he felt his ribs break. He lost 10 days of SoulTime from that. The pain made Obek conscious for a second as he tried to protect himself. His training proved its worth as he was able to raise his sword, trying to parry Atlan''s attack. However, a bump in the road caused the chariot to jump in the air and land back down, disorienting Obek even more. He couldn''t keep his defensive stance as he stumbled back. The disturbance should have disrupted both fighters. But instead, Atlan was able to land awkwardly on the chariot, with one leg on the ledge and one leg on the seat. He was able to keep his balance! Atlan didn''t waste any more time as he used his hand and stabbed Obek right in his shoulders, effectively crippling his arm and forcing him to let go of his precious short sword. 8 days of SoulTime lost. And with one last move, Atlan kicked Obek right in the chest, caving it in and crushing his ribs into his lungs. He lost 20% of his SoulTime because of this internal injury. The force launched Obek out and right back into his own chariot. Not only that, the momentum from his crash finally separated the two chariots. Obek thought that he finally got a second of reprieve. But instead, Atlan took out a pellet and aimed his slingshot at the chariot. He pre-aimed his shot forward, expecting it to curve back. After taking a breath, Atlan let go of the pellet as it shot out towards the Fly-Horse Canzer carrying Obek''s chariot. Surprisingly, it hit the Canzer''s large body, causing it to whip its head to the right. And due to the force, the blinders were knocked off its head. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 83 - 83: Trapped The Fly-Horse skidded to a stop as it finally regained its autonomy. It clacked its mandibles in happiness, finally feeling freedom after those horrid blinders took away its independence. It looked around and saw the chariot it was bound to and quickly cut it off. Then, it saw Obek, the culprit responsible for its slavery. Meanwhile, Obek lay on the chariot with blood pouring down his face. The pain he felt from his body aching from the inside and out couldn''t be compared to the mental damage he got from fighting Atlan. His lost SoulTime could always be recovered, but his psyche and pride were completely destroyed. That can''t be fixed. It was only now that he realized how strong that porter was. That immense strength couldn''t be explained just by his physique LifeSkill. It was simply too domineering, as if all the strength he had paled in comparison to Atlan''s power. Their power should only be equal to each other given that they were both in the 2nd stage Student realm. Yet, Obek''s severe injuries proved that comparing power realms was useless. And that wasn''t even the worst part. He found out the hard way that just because someone had no damage-dealing LifeSkill, didn''t mean that they couldn''t fight. Atlan was a genius. There was no other way to explain it. In just a minute of fighting, he was able to dismantle Obek''s whole fighting style as if it were a Jenga tower. After exchanging just a few moves, Atlan was able to calculate what moves he was going to make next and dodge accordingly. Not only that, Atlan was able to completely copy his fighting style too! It was truly absurd. Obek was completely and utterly defeated, outclassed in every way. He watched Atlan''s fading figure in the distance. With how fast he was going, Obek was now certain of it. Atlan purposefully fought him to show him the difference in power between them. His Giraffe-Horse was the fastest Canzer Obek had ever seen. And with how easily he overtook the others, Obek was sure that Atlan could have easily just slipped past him and avoided the whole fight. But instead, he purposely slowed down and engaged in a fight with Obek. For what reason, Obek didn''t know. Did he want to show me how foolish I was in thinking I was better than him? Or did he simply want to fight someone to further learn more fighting styles? Maybe even both¡­ "I''m useless," Obek muttered to himself. Just then, he suddenly heard mandibles clicking in front of him. He saw the Fly-Horse Canzer looking at him with menacing eyes. It wanted revenge, and it wanted it now. Obek had no energy left to compete in this competition anymore. He didn''t care if he lost, he just wanted to go home and recuperate from his injuries. "I give up," he said. It was at this point that the Pseudo Canzer should have frozen in place. It should have stopped moving entirely. But, then Obek was surprised to see the Canzer still moving towards him. Its mandibles were clicking even faster than before as if it was excited to finally enact its revenge. "I give up! Stand down!" he shouted. But nothing happened. He was horrified to find out that the Canzer somehow resisted the Pocket Remedium''s rules. It shouldn''t be able to move! "Stay away!" Obek crawled away from the Canzer. The fear was making him forget about the aching pain of his injuries. He found his back against the chariot. He was cornered. He tried to grab his short sword but was alarmed to realize that the sword had fallen when he was fighting Atlan. He quickly forced his body to ignore the pain and vault over the chariot. But the Canzer was like a shark that smelled blood. It followed his blood trails, with its steps getting faster and faster as it got near him. Obek got up to his feet and started to run away. He limped as he tried to separate himself from the anomaly as far as possible. But it didn''t work. He heard its hooves go from a trot to a sprint until he could feel its breath on his neck. Terror took hold of his heart as he thought he was going to get mauled by this Canzer. But just as its mandibles were about to chomp down on Obek''s head, a gray, stony beam of light suddenly shined towards the Canzer. The Fly-Horse was hit directly in its face, with it immediately turning into stone and spreading all over its body. "Are you alright?" The Olympian from before saved Obek just in time. Obek ran towards him. "What''s happening?!" It was at this point that he realized that the Olympian was holding his arm in pain. The man was injured, and not from racing the chariots. The Olympian shook his head. "I don''t know. The moment those blinders came off, all of our mounts suddenly lost control. And they can''t be frozen. Somehow, the safety mechanism in the Pocket Dimension malfunctioned." "Is that even possible?" As far as Obek knew, this never happened. Pseudo Canzers always froze whenever they were about to cause fatal damage to anyone in the Remedium. "As it turns out, it is." "What are we going to do?" The Olympian looked forward and still saw the other chariots still racing ahead. They were all too focused on the race to even notice that something was wrong. "We should cancel the competition and warn Razer about this. It''s getting weird." Obek immediately agreed. But there was just one single problem. "How?" The Olympian went silent. They didn''t know how they were going to convey this to the other competitors. They were too far away. And since they were all in last place, they had no chance of catching up to the others to try and warn them. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Let''s leave the Remedium first and report this to the authorities." Just then, they heard rumbling come from the Colosseum. Both of their eyes went wide when they suddenly saw about a thousand more Horse Canzers running towards them at top speeds. They were trapped. Chapter 84 - 84: String bound [There is death near you] [There is death near you] [There is death near you] Atlan lost his focus on the race as he saw the words in front of him. It didn''t stop. It just kept popping up in his eyes like an endless scroll. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His intuition told him to look back toward the Colosseum. However, he couldn''t see past the skyline. The tall buildings in the City obstructed his view from the Colosseum. Despite seeing nothing but a peaceful and serene street behind him, he knew that there was something wrong. He was sure of it. And if he closed his eyes and tried to block out the sounds of chariots rumbling and rattling as they rolled on the street, he would hear a faint thunderous mix of roars behind him. A part of him wanted to go back and reap all of those souls. But upon further thinking, Atlan shook his head. If something is wrong, then I should warn the others. Judging from how many ''deaths'' I''m sensing, then whatever''s coming at us is in numbers even I can''t count. And since I can''t use my LifeSkills out in the open, I''d need the others to fight with me. And the only way to do that was to go forward and warn them of whatever was coming towards them. He could hear it. And it was getting closer and closer to them. He whipped his mount to go faster. Out in the distance, he saw a large group of competitors in the street, about seven of them. From his enhanced vision, he saw that there were 5 Olympians and 2 Genesians. What was weird about the five Olympians was that they weren''t trying to race against each other. Instead, they occupied the whole length of the street and blocked anyone from passing them. This was one of their tactics to prevent the other Genesians from coming close to their top racers. I''m in tenth place right now. If I pass them, there will only be three people left to surpass¡ªNO. I''m here to warn them about the crisis. With his Giraffe-Horse running at full speed, it didn''t take long until he was able to catch up to the group. Meanwhile, the two Genesians became more and more frustrated at the Olympians. Even though their horses were faster than them, they couldn''t go forward because they were using dirty tactics to block the road. Trying to squeeze past the Olympians was no easy task. Their seamless coordination allowed them to put as little space between each chariot without risking crashing between them. Not only that, their LifeSkills threatened to destroy anyone coming close to them. The two Genesians were just about to give up, when all of a sudden, they heard an intense rumbling behind them. And before they could even turn around, they suddenly saw a new chariot arrive in the middle of them. When they saw that his uniform corresponded with the Genesians, they were relieved. And when they looked at who was able to catch up to them, their eyes widened when they realized that it was the porter! They didn''t expect him to be able to keep up in the top 10. Heck, they didn''t even expect him to subdue a Canzer at all. Not only that, they realized that his chariot was the wooden chariot reserved for the last one to subdue a Canzer! This meant that Atlan worked his way up from last place to 10th place! They considered their mounts to be fast, but even they didn''t think that they could have overcome that gap in such a short amount of time. How fast is his steed?! Even the five Olympians up front couldn''t help but look back at the newcomer. When they saw his face, they didn''t recognize him. He wasn''t one of the geniuses that they knew from Genesis City. One of them finally recognized him. "Hey! It''s that porter!" The rest of the Olympians couldn''t help but take a good look at Atlan once they heard that. They simply couldn''t believe that a porter was able to subdue a Canzer by himself without any damage-dealing LifeSkill to help him. If he had a higher realm, then it would have been more believable. But from what they knew, the porter was only in the 2nd stage Student realm. They respected Atlan for his efforts. However, their eyes turned unfriendly once they saw his chariot advance towards them as if he wanted to overtake them. Atlan opened his mouth, about to say something to them, when all of a sudden, he saw an Olympian''s body glow a faint green. "Avian Conjuration!" he shouted. White liquid flowed out of his hands and floated in the air. Using some hand signs, the white liquid slowly turned into two sharp-taloned doves. These doves flew up in the air in a helix until they reached the apex of their flight. Then, they slowed to a stop. And as gravity pulled them down, they sped up towards Atlan like a rocket. They had their sharp talons armed and ready to maim their target. "Slow down your chariot to avoid it!" screamed one of the Genesians towards Atlan. They almost lost their chariots from that attack. Unfortunately, one of the Olympians already moved. She stretched her arms toward Atlan''s wooden chariot and shouted; "Adriane''s String!" A golden rope sprung out of her left hand and attached itself to Atlan''s chariot. And with her Olympian strength, she tied the rope to her chariot, preventing Atlan from retreating his chariot to safety. At this point, he would surely get hit in the chest. They all thought Atlan would defend himself, but he didn''t even try to do that! Atlan simply looked over the railings and grabbed the golden rope from the woman''s LifeSkill. The Olympian laughed to herself when she saw that. "You won''t be able to destroy a manifestation of my LifeSkill. Didn''t they teach you about Savior basics? I''m a 3rd stage Student while you''re only at the 2nd stage which means that you won''t be able to overpower me. So unless you''re in the 4th¡ª" But before she could say anything further, she saw Atlan snap the rope with his bare hands. Her frayed golden rope lost all its luster. She looked at him. He was holding the two ends of her rope with a casual indifference. Chapter 85 - 85: Warnings Exhaustion hit her as she fell to her knees. She had never seen her rope break like that before, especially not from someone a stage below her. Atlan completely threw her basic knowledge about power realms and LifeSkills out of the water. The only way that she could rationalize this situation was if Atlan had a LifeSkill greater than S class. But if he had, then he would have been hailed all across the globe as an apex genius. She guessed that Atlan couldn''t have a Physique LifeSkill more than B class. This made her even more confused. She had an A class LifeSkill, which meant that her LifeSkill should have resisted the strength of someone like Atlan. Who is he? she wondered. The two Genesians behind Atlan were also amazed at his incredible feat of strength. However, they didn''t have the time to question it. The two missile doves were still homing towards his body at whistling speeds. And it looked like Atlan didn''t even have any intention of dodging it at all. "Look up! It''s going to hit you!" The Olympians finally thought Atlan would be out of the race. At this point, the two doves rotated in a helix mere inches away from his chest. But instead of dodging, he just stayed still and let it hit his armor. And the most incredulous thing happened. The sharp-taloned doves made by a 3rd stage Student Olympian with an A class talent suddenly burst into nothing but feathers as soon as they hit Atlan''s chestplate. "WHAT?!" The Olympian couldn''t help but express his disbelief in a shout. They all looked at Atlan and saw that his chest plate had no scratches or dents anywhere. It was as if his doves were nothing more than air. Even his green battle suit was as pristine as it was before with no holes. What is his chestplate made out of?! Did he steal that from Hephaestus'' armory?! The Olympians would have never thought that a mere porter would have armor with such quality. But now that he knew this, then he wouldn''t make that same mistake again. The Olympian conjured another pair of doves in his hands and threw them in the air. And just like before, the two doves reached the apex of their flight until finally plunging towards their target, talons first. But this time, the man ordered his doves to target Atlan''s face. That was the only part of his body that was not protected by any defensive equipment. Atlan looked up at the two doves in the air. And with his imagination, he was able to put the image of the previous attack with the attack now. He found that their trajectory, speed, and momentum were exactly the same as before. With a plan in mind, Atlan took out his slingshot and used his condensed rock pellet to shoot toward the birds in the sky. Unfortunately, the pellet went wide to the left and was a little bit short from the bird''s position. 4 pellets left¡­I need to adjust my strength and account for the wind resistance¡­thankfully, I know where the birds are going¡­ He put another pellet in the pouch and stretched the rubber to his shoulders. Atlan then waited and took a deep breath. The timing needs to be perfect¡­3¡­2¡­1¡­ The Olympian thought that Atlan''s attempt to shoot his birds was a fruitless endeavor. After all, his birds were made out of his 3rd stage Student powers. Only an equivalent power from a 3rd stage student could destroy them. THWACK Atlan let go of the slingshot and it rocketed towards the doves at a strangely equivalent speed. The Olympians were startled to find out that the rock pellet was going straight towards the doves in perfect alignment. Somehow, the porter was able to aim perfectly straight! How?! Tsk. It doesn''t matter. There''s a reason why my LifeSkill has two doves. It''s fine if he takes out one of my doves, he won''t be able to reload for a second time to try and hit the last dove. PTOOOO An explosion of white feathers filled the air, and nothing more. Unfortunately for the Olympian, it seemed that Atlan wouldn''t need another pellet. Both of the doves were taken out with Atlan''s well-timed shot. He was able to thread the needle at that moment where the two doves perfectly coincided with each other in Atlan''s view. Atlan hit two birds with one stone. Both the Olympians and the Genesians were dumbfounded with this ''lucky'' shot. Even though Atlan was a porter with no LifeSkill to help him with sharp shooting, he was able to somehow beat the odds at the perfect time to defend himself from the doves. And before anyone could even process this, Atlan picked up the frayed rope from the girl''s LifeSkill. With all of his strength, Atlan pulled the girl''s chariot towards himself, surprising her and everyone watching him. Even the Canzer pulling her chariot could not overcome the pulling force from Atlan''s grip. She was alarmed. She didn''t expect to suddenly be in close contact with Atlan, especially after he showed his explosive physical strength. Her LifeSkill offered her no help with close-contact fights, so she was helpless as Atlan moved closer toward her. "Listen to me, something is coming!" However, she didn''t understand what he was saying. She was expecting him to fight her, but instead, he simply shook her shoulders to get her attention. "What?" "There''s something wrong in the Colosseum. And it''s coming towards us." However, when the woman looked back, she couldn''t see anything out of the ordinary. Why would she? She didn''t have Atlan''s acuity to feel the slight reverberations in the ground. "Let her go!" One of the Olympians thought that Atlan was trying to hurt her. He took out the gigantic spike maul hammer from his back. "Hammer Cycle!" he shouted out his LifeSkill and struck the air with his weapon. His hammer hit an invisible wall that glowed a faint golden glow. But he didn''t stop there. He continued to pound this invisible wall with his hammer, and the wall glowed brighter and brighter until it manifested as a golden cone. And with this last strike, he would catapult this cone towards Atlan. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, an unexpected bump in the road forced him to misplace his shot. He hit the hammer to the side and it deviated from his original target, Atlan. Surprisingly, the golden cone shot toward the girl''s mount. The attack grazed the top of its torso. The cone passed by her steed, but unfortunately, it somehow took the Canzer''s blinders with it. Chapter 86 - 86: Continue the track As soon as the blinders got taken off, the Canzer mount immediately shook its head and roared continuously, as if it was letting out all of its frustrations from being enslaved. For other people, they could only hear a simple howl like that of an animal, but for Atlan, he heard a completely different thing. ''We long¡­to belong....We long¡­to belong...We long¡­to belong¡­'' For some reason, the Canzer was repeating those words with zealous intensity. He thought that it would get angry and try to kill the human who tried to enslave it, but instead, it was repeating this strange phrase without any regard for the humans around it. It didn''t even try to get out of the reins constraining it to the chariot. Atlan could understand the words, but he didn''t know what they were saying. Without any context, he wouldn''t be able to understand what it meant. Does this have anything to do with the strange disturbance behind us? If he understood what they were saying, perhaps he''d know what these Canzers were planning. "Look out! It''s a curve!" One of the Olympians looked ahead and saw that there was a sharp bend in front of them. If they missed this curve, then they would plummet down a cliff with only concrete roof tiles to slow down their fall. This wasn''t as easy as the curves from before and had no lamp posts to pivot around. All of the competitors commanded their mounts to slow down and follow the curve. Unfortunately for the girl, she didn''t have any control of her steed because it didn''t have its blinders on. "I can''t control it!" she shouted in panic. Her monstrous Horse Canzer was neighing and shaking its head vigorously as if there was something wrong with its brain. It couldn''t see that they were heading straight for the steel railing! "Quit the competition!" one of the Olympians warned her. The only way to save her from this predicament was to forfeit the competition. That way, the Canzer would be frozen in place and the chariot wouldn''t have to crash tens of meters down the cliff. No matter how much she still wanted to compete, the girl knew that without the blinders, she wouldn''t be able to control her steed. She would have to leave it up to her other teammates to make sure that the Olympians won this competition. "I quit!" she shouted. But unfortunately for her, the Pocket Remedium didn''t seem to hear her. "I forfeit! I quit!...why isn''t it stopping?!?!" No one could explain why the Pseudo Canzer wasn''t freezing. This was supposed to be the foundational safety mechanism of a Pocket Remedium. This was what assured the Saviors that they would be able to practice fighting against Pseudo Canzers safely without having to worry about things going too far. The implications of this were nothing more than disastrous. The Pseudo Canzer wouldn''t stop even if the Savior practicing with it was fatally wounded. It would continue to fight the Savior, whittling down his SoulTime near zero. But they couldn''t think about the long-term implications of this. They had to worry about it right now. The girl''s chaotic Canzer pulled her chariot towards the right¨Ctowards the cliff! And since Atlan''s chariot was right next to hers, his was also pulled towards the railing. Their chariots rumbled, with her steel frame rubbing against his wooden chariot. His wheels splintered bit by bit. If this continued, then they would both tumble over the railing and fall into the cliff. And with Atlan''s wooden chariot, it would surely break into pieces upon crashing. "Gahh! Don''t worry Porter! We''ll help you!" Thankfully, the two Genesians pulled up right beside Atlan and pushed his chariot back to the left, guiding them into the curve and preventing them from falling off the cliff. Atlan nodded towards the two to signal his thanks. Then, he turned towards the girl Olympian. She was in distress. She kept trying to shout towards her Pseudo Canzer, but no matter what, it wouldn''t freeze in place. Atlan had no choice but to go over to her chariot and shake her out of her stupor. "Get a hold of yourself!" He then picked her up from her legs and threw her over to her Olympian teammates. "Catch!" The Olympians were alarmed when they suddenly saw their teammates being thrown towards them while their chariots were running at full speed. Thankfully, one of them was able to catch her safely. "Now do you guys see the problem?!" Atlan said. They witnessed first-hand how the Canzer defied the laws of the Pocket Remedium. It wasn''t hard to guess that their mounts would also lose control and refuse to freeze once its blinders were taken off. At this point, they were no longer thinking about the competition. This problem was far too disconcerting. They finally made way for Atlan and the other two Genesians to advance and move closer to them. "What are we going to do?" the guy with the hammer said. "We should go back and report this to HeadQuarters," answered one of the Genesians. "Then I think we should go back to the colosseum immediately." "Yeah. I don''t like this." Most of the group decided that it would be better to turn back immediately. But Atlan disagreed. He still felt the subtle rumbling from behind. He had a feeling that there was trouble coming towards them and it was coming towards them fast. And if they went back now, then they would only go head to head with whatever was running after them. "No. We should continue running the track." "Why? It''s better if we return now and escape the Pocket Remedium." Atlan didn''t know how to explain the feeling he was getting from behind them. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But just then, they all finally felt the ground beneath their chariots trembling. This wasn''t an earthquake, it felt like there was a stampede behind them. Fortunately and unfortunately, Atlan didn''t have to explain to them why going back was a bad idea. They all looked back and were horrified to see thousands of rabid Horse Pseudo Canzers running towards them at full speed. Chapter 87 - 87: Warn the others "What is that?!?!" "Horse Pseudo Canzers? But why are they coming towards us?!" "I don''t remember there being that many!" The horde of Pseudo Canzers were numbering in the thousands. Their collective hoofbeats were making thunderous rumbling that could make even the bravest of Saviors weak in the knees. The Olympians and the Genesians who participated in this competition were no mere Saviors. They were the cream of the crop, geniuses with the potential to be the top Saviors of their field. They were powerful enough to kill Pseudo Canzers with ease but even they couldn''t help but break a cold sweat when they saw how much they were dealing with. They would have to fight a thousand Pseudo Canzers each to defeat the horde. And the fact that these Canzers were immune to the ''freeze'' made this even more bone-chilling. They could imagine being torn to pieces by the Canzers and watching their SoulTime get slashed instantly in half, and even then, they wouldn''t stop. They would keep mauling the humans to no end. The hammer-wielding Olympian raised his weapon and used his LifeSkill again. He continuously hit the air ten times until the invisible wall turned into a golden cone. With one last hit, he launched it towards the horde of Canzers. It crashed into one of the Dog-Horse centaurs, destroying its head completely and launching it to the back of the horde. However, even with his strength, he only killed one out of thousands of other Canzers. A new one emerged from behind and quickly replenished the front line. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzer] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 50 experience] Atlan saw that and knew that even he would have trouble dealing with this horde of monsters alone. "What are we going to do?!" Panic and fear emanated from those words. They didn''t know what to do. Thankfully, someone spoke up. "We go forward," Atlan said. "We continue running this track. This whole path circles the whole City and the finish line will take us back to the Colosseum." Atlan then looked back at the horse Canzers running towards them. Slowly but surely, they were shortening the distance between them. "By that point, we''ll have hopefully lured the Canzers away from the Colosseum and we can go back to the portal." The Olympians and the Genesians listened to Atlan''s words intently. They didn''t discount his words because he was a porter. He already showed them that he could stand his ground amongst all of them and even come out on top. "I agree. That''s the best plan we''ll ever make," one of the Olympians agreed. "As expected of Atlan, our Star Porter!" Hope filled the eyes of one of the Genesians. "If only you had a damage-dealing LifeSkill, then you would be the undisputed genius of our City!" The Olympians silently agreed. If Atlan had an offensive LifeSkill, then they could even imagine him coming head-to-head with Razer Wrekton. Of course, they didn''t know that Atlan had other LifeSkills, he just couldn''t show them to others. He also had an Angel Wing mutation, which gave him a fraction of a speed boost even when it wasn''t manifested in real life. This was what allowed him to dodge attacks, seemingly at the very last moment. "Atlan," the Olympians would never forget that name from here on out. "Since you have the fastest mount out of all of us, you should go ahead and warn the others." "Yes. You need to warn Yasmine too!" "Razer, Yasmine, and Sola. We need the strengths of all three of them. They''re the only ones that can kill these hordes of Canzers. Especially Razer. You must warn him that we are all in trouble." Atlan nodded his head and agreed. And before he left, the Olympians expressed their thanks. "Thank you, Atlan. You''re the only one that can do this." "I''m sorry for attacking you earlier." Then, the girl Olympian opened her mouth to try and say something to Atlan, but she stopped herself. In her heart, she wanted to summon her rope and attach it to Atlan''s chariot. She felt that out of everyone in this competition including Razer, Atlan was the only one who could make her safe. But she couldn''t. That would be selfish. So she just said her thanks to his fading figure instead. "...thank you¡­" Atlan was already ahead of them, with his Giraffe-Horse Canzer rocketing through the track. He was so fast that he already left them all in the dust, surprising them even more. ### Yasmine was in 2nd place, with her Bone Horse Canzer running at full speed towards one goal: Sola. The Olympian blessed by Apollo''s light was in first place throughout this whole competition. Her steed was relatively fast, but her greatest advantage was her golden chariot. The vehicle was a marvelous work of art that not only boasted form but also function. This chariot barely even creaked as it rounded tight corners. Its suspension also allowed it to remain steadfast as it ran over bumps and small obstacles that would have otherwise slowed down other chariots. Yasmine knew that she wouldn''t be able to beat her in speed, so she instead opted to slow her down. She raised her sword and the blade suddenly erupted in a billowing flame. With her LifeSkill activated, she thrusted her sword forward, releasing a soaring dragon with a body made out of pure fire. With its wings outstretched, it glided easily toward Sola''s chariot. But the Olympian wasn''t going down without a fight. She activated her LifeSkill too, with her palms glowing a bright white light. She put both hands together and aimed towards the flaming dragon. With her target in perfect view, she released a tremendous amount of energy in her palms, recoiling her body to the edge of her chariot. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The beam of light hit the dragon in mid-air. What resulted in this collision was a shockwave explosion that knocked both women back to their seats. Since they were both in the 3rd stage Student realm, their powers were completely equal and canceled each other out. Chapter 88 - 88: Sola V Yasmine "You''re very good. Probably even better than me," Sola admitted. Even though Yasmine was younger than her by a few years, she was already at the same level as her. Sola knew that Yasmine had an S class LifeSkill, but she still thought that her experience and wisdom would be able to overcome the difference in LifeSkill class. As it turned out, it only evened the odds. "You''re not so bad yourself," Yasmine said, her eyes still full of fire. Sola sighed. "It''s such a shame. Why did you reject our offer? You could have been drafted in our Olympus. Hera would have been more than happy to bestow upon you powers and mutations never before given to anybody else. Instead, you refused. You chose this City in the outskirts of the world. Genesis City is far too small for the likes of you." Yasmine was so talented, which was why Sola found it even more of a waste for her to reject Olympus'' offer. Sola simply couldn''t understand why she would let go of the chance that others risk their lives for. "I have my reasons." "Whatever they are, it''s not enough. I''ll show you what you missed by rejecting us. I''ll show you the superiority of Mount Olympus!" Sola activated her mutation and manifested it in the real world. Her lower body immediately ballooned into thrice her waist, even morphing her white tunic into the striped colors of black and yellow. Not only that, two bulbous masses grew out of her forehead that soon turned black and replaced her eyes. Two antennae covered with tiny hair spurted under her new compound eyes. Sola turned into an apian mutation, turning her into part human, part bee. "Because of my talent, Apollo has deemed me worthy to be given a 7-star Apian Genus, turning my bloodline into a 7-star Apian Woman. I received two mutations: my compound bee eyes and my Queen Bee abdomen!" Because her genus had a 7-star rarity, then her mutations would also be in the 7-star rarity. Suddenly, Sola''s black and yellow striped bulbous abdomen trembled as she produced something in her stomach. She then opened her mouth and regurgitated a golden liquid substance. "Honey shower!" she shouted as she sprayed the unknown liquid toward Yasmine. Even without knowing the properties of this ''honey'', Yasmine knew that it would be dangerous to let it hit her. So, she turned her blade and used the flat part of her sword. With her swordsmanship, she ''fanned'' the air using her flat blade by swinging it continuously in a circular pattern. This created a strong wind current that burst forward, diverting the honey spray away from her and her chariot. Yasmine decided not to use her flaming dragon LifeSkill because she didn''t know if the honey was flammable. She didn''t want to risk it exploding towards her and slowing her down. Unfortunately, this led a few drops of the honey to rain down on her and her chariot. As soon as it hit her battle suit, the honey started to eat away at the fabric and threatened to spread to her skin. Yasmine immediately cut the infected fabric with her sword, saving her from further harm. When the sword interacted with the infected torn battle suit, it quickly slid away without much traction. It landed on the edge of her chariot and glided away. It was at that point that Yasmine realized that the ''honey'' was more than an acidic liquid. It was also a lubricant, making things incredibly slippery. Yasmine immediately realized the threat that this ''honey'' possessed. "That''s right," Sola smiled. "My honey has a special property that makes things that it affects have almost zero friction!" In any other context, this ability would be considered a little bit less useful than an acid; it didn''t have that much of a damage-dealing capacity. However, this competition wasn''t just about inflicting damage, it was also a race. And if this ''honey'' somehow got onto her chariot''s wheels, then it would virtually kill her chances of ever winning the competition. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With zero friction, the wheels would have no traction on the ground. The wheels would continue to spin in place instead of rolling on the ground. This would have been fine on a straight track because the mount would simply push the cart forward but the last segment of this race had a lot of curves and turns that needed a lot of brakes. And with a slippery wheel, that would be impossible. "Get ready to be covered in honey, honey!" Sola then spat out a few hexagonal cubes made out of beeswax. It wasn''t hard to guess that these ''bombs'' were filled with honey that would explode out the moment it hit something hard. She threw out two honey bombs down on the ground¨Cone on the left and one on the right side of the street. As soon as the bombs hit the ground, the hexagonal wax suddenly split open and bled out, creating puddles of honey in the street. If Yasmine continued to charge forward, then her chariot would run over the honey, effectively infecting her chariot with lubricant. She had to do something. "Don''t underestimate Genesis City. There''s a reason why I chose this place." Yasmine finally used her mutation. The Genesis God gave her a Door Genus, which turned her bloodline into a Gatekeeper. Even though it was only a 5-star Genus, Yasmine accepted it because of the mutation that came with it. Her mutation was a 5-star Feet mutation called ''Stepping Stone.'' The soles of Yasmine''s feet suddenly turned as black as the expanse of space, with specks of white stars littering around it. "Just because you have a rarer Mutation than me doesn''t mean you''re better. It''s about how we use it." Yasmine then stepped into the air and was surprisingly able to take a foothold as if there was something solid in the air. But she didn''t stop there. She kept running up in the air until she was looking down on the surprised face of Sola. Chapter 89 - 89: Slow down Even though Yasmine could have gotten much better mutations from the offerings of better Gods, she knew that all she needed was her sword and her LifeSkill. She didn''t need anything else; it would only detract from her training with the sword. So, she chose a mutation that would push her swordsmanship to the next level without interference. She would finally show the fruits of her training. Yasmine jumped one final time in the sky, with her sword coming from the bottom and rising to the top. Her blade erupted in a red flame and gave her the boost she needed to perform a somersault twenty feet in the air. As she did, the flame in her sword created a circle around her body. Sola could see the formation of the dragon in Yasmine''s sword, slowly gaining its wings and scales with great quality. Yasmine''s dragon could only be contained to her blade while swinging her weapon. So she would be forced to throw out the flaming dragon because she reached the limit of her swing. The longer her swing, the more powerful the flaming dragon became. Her swing was very brief on the ground, which limited the development of her dragon, and subsequently, its intensity. But she didn''t have that limitation up in the air. She could perform a continuous swing by rotating in the air and extending her swing with each twirl. She rotated her body two times, creating a long bodied snake-dragon that rotated around her sword. This attack was much more powerful than what she could contain. Any longer and the fire could seriously burn her skin. Finally, she stopped turning and landed in the air, with her sword swinging down with fury. ROAAARRR The flaming dragon had enough time to develop vocal nodes. It growled like a newborn crying after their birth. It had a long torso like that of a snake with scales that glinted gold red even with flames all over its body. It slithered across the air and finally landed on the street, burning the puddles of honey asunder. Unfortunately for Sola, pure honey was very much flammable, and with the intense fire from the dragon, it quickly disintegrated into nothing but a brown spot in the street. It didn''t end there. Even after turning the honey into mist, the flaming snake-dragon was still intact. Its matured development allowed it to continue soaring towards its next target: Sola. The Olympian woman was caught off guard. She underestimated the mutation from the Genesis God, thinking it had no use on the battlefield. She couldn''t be more wrong. She quickly rubbed her hands on her large, bulbous abdomen. Slowly, a strange darkish-yellow substance came out of her glands. When she wiped this strange substance in the air, it quickly hardened and stayed in place! This was a magical beeswax! With frantic movements, she created a hexagonal cube around her body to protect her from the incoming flaming dragon. It was a testament to her skills and training that she was able to create a defense in such a short amount of time. However, it seemed she still underestimated Yasmine''s strength. As the flaming dragon hit the defensive wax, it immediately started to catch on fire. It wasn''t long before it started to char and melt, creating holes in Sola''s protective encasing. It wasn''t long until Sola''s entire chariot was engulfed in a fire that rose to ten feet in the air. She was forced to slow down, finally giving Yasmine the chance to go into first place. Yasmine stepped into the air and redirected her body to fall perfectly back into her chariot. She didn''t waste a second as she took control of the reins and whipped her Bone Horse Canzer. She watched her chariot pull beside Sola''s burning chariot. But that wasn''t enough. Yasmine continued to push her mount to the limit until she started to pull away. "Finally¡­first place!" she shouted. Joy and happiness filled her face, with the competitive frown nowhere to be seen. But it seemed that she wouldn''t be able to celebrate for long. She suddenly heard an intense beating of drums and hooves behind her. She didn''t have to look back to know that Razer Wrekton, the genius of Olympus, was hot behind her tail. His Gorilla-Horse had both speed and power, using its strangely long arms to run on the ground and increase its speed. It used all four horse legs and the Gorilla''s arms to slowly take first place. Yasmine frustratedly took out her sword and slashed it towards him. A familiar flaming dragon erupted from her sword, with this incarnation being a lot smaller and with a less intense fire. Razer didn''t even mind this attack. He simply used his hand to slap away the dragon as if it was a measly fly. Yasmine bit her lips. The flaming dragon created from this slash was far from the majesty of the one she created earlier, but it still wasn''t something that could be handled using their bare hands. Yet, Razer did. He proved her efforts to be futile under immense strength and talent like his. Yasmine kept her head down. She knew that she would eventually lose out to him because the difference in their power level was too far away. She dreaded it. Even though they both had S class LifeSkills, Razer was at the 4th stage Student realm while Yasmine was only at the 3rd. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But she thought she''d at least have a chance to beat him and win first place. However, his casual attitude towards her attack proved that her dream was mere folly. Then, Razer opened his mouth. Slow Yasmine felt her head spin as that word echoed in her mind. And despite her head feeling like it would slip, she still tried to wrestle control of her own chariot. Unfortunately, even though the Canzer had its blinders on, Razer''s ''Word of the All-Father'' mutation still overpowered it and commanded her mount to slow down. Yasmine was helpless as she watched her chariot decelerate. All that effort to gain the slightest bit of lead was gone in an instant all because of one word. "Nothing personal, Yasmine. But we must prove the superiority of Olympus with this competition. I will win, no matter what it takes." To ensure their victory, Razer raised his fist and punched the air. The air compressed at his knuckles and created a shockwave that traveled towards Yasmine at the speed of sound. The blast knocked off the blinders in her Canzer. Chapter 90 - 90: Hot to the touch Yasmine was surprised by this sudden attack. She thought that Razer would try to attack her, not her mount. She was just winding up her flaming dragon in her sword but the shockwave already knocked off the blinders in her steed. It was too fast for her. She finally realized the gap between them even if it was only a one-stage difference in power realms. Even though it looked like the gap was close, Yasmine felt like she was looking at a deep abyss that she could never cross. The blinders! Yasmine broke herself out of her stupor and realized that the blinders got blasted out of her mount. Now that Razer took care of his only competitor, he quickly pulled forward and took first place. Yasmine didn''t want to let him go that easily, but she reminded herself that without those blinders, she wouldn''t be able to control her Canzer. The moment that she couldn''t catch it out of the air was the moment that she lost the race. She would be forced to watch others pass by her as her mount refused to pull the chariot forward. She couldn''t let that happen. Even though the chariot was still going forward at fast speeds due to the momentum, Yasmine jumped and tried to reach for the blinders passing by her. She slowly inched forward with her outstretched hand. But then she realized that at the rate the blinders were going away from her, she wouldn''t be able to catch it unless she jumped out of the chariot. Yasmine didn''t hesitate to push herself out of her chariot, when all of a sudden, she saw another hand reach for the blinders and catch it in mid-air before she could even grab it! Their hands touched. She looked up and her heart skipped a beat. How is he here? Riding his chariot, with his short black hair flowing freely in the air, Atlan grabbed the blinders and smiled at her. "Excuse me, miss. I think you dropped this." Atlan grabbed the reins and moved his wooden chariot closer to her silver chariot. He moved it close just enough for their wheels to barely graze past each other. Yasmine felt the reverberations in her chariot and it broke her out of her dazedness. She almost thought she was dreaming. How else would she see Atlan, a porter, up in 3rd place right next to her? This would have meant that he was able to fight through the other geniuses from Mount Olympus and come out on top. But that''s impossible, right? After all, a porter didn''t have any fighting capabilities. "Hey Mine. Make sure to not lose this again. The Canzers are malfunctioning and they can''t be controlled. There''s already a horde of thousands of Canzers running behind us. Just make sure to run the track and go back to the Colosseum as fast as possible." Atlan''s mouth was saying a lot of words, but Yasmine didn''t understand anything he said after he called her ''Mine.'' People always called her Yasmine, or maybe Yas, but never Mine. It was just a name, but somehow, the way Atlan said it made her heart skip a beat. It made her feel as if her name was much more special than it was. Her body turned hot but it wasn''t caused by the manifestation of her flaming dragon. She even looked at her sword to confirm. So why do I feel so feverish? Is something wrong with me? "Are you alright?" Atlan moved closer to her. And there it was again. Yasmine felt her heart skip a beat. Anger welled up inside her. The warrior inside her was furious at Atlan. He was so much more talented than what she thought, threateningly so. She was even more intimidated by his talent than Razer! Perhaps it was because he was a porter who was able to transcend his limitations that made her feel that he was so much better than her. That couldn''t happen. The competitive side within her couldn''t let herself admit that someone was better than her. She wanted nothing more than to strangle him. But at the same time, there was a part of her that felt like she would overheat just from the fact that she was touching him. There was a part of her that thought that maybe¡­ No! Yasmine snatched the blinders off his hands and turned her head away from him. She didn''t want him to see how beet red her face looked.. "Thank you. Now, get out," she said coldly. She must still be upset that she lost against Razer. Atlan didn''t think that she was mad at him. After all, he didn''t even do anything wrong. He even helped her stay in this race by giving her the blinders. But now that she knew about the looming threat of the Canzers, she would stop competing and start worrying about how to get out of this Pocket Remedium. He didn''t know that she didn''t listen to anything he said. And it was all because he suddenly thought up a nickname for her. With nothing left to say, Atlan whipped the reins and ordered his Canzer to run forward. There was just one more person left he had to warn, and it was the person that everybody thought was the strongest person in this Pocket Dimension. Yasmine watched his chariot rocket out ahead of her with no trouble whatsoever. She couldn''t even catch up to him even if she controlled her mount again. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just then, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Sola and her golden chariot race next to her. She had her eyes on Atlan and it looked like she was going to chase after him. Yasmine immediately raised her sword and created a flaming dragon. This time, the dragon seemed to show an angry expression. It soared through the air towards the unsuspecting Sola. The Olympian woman quickly used her mutation and created a protective wax around her to protect her from the fire. "Calm down. I''m not here to continue the race. Didn''t he tell you what''s happening?" Yasmine was about to say something else when she heard the sounds of thousands of hoofbeats running through the streets. She looked back and finally saw the horde. Chapter 91 - 91: Better to show Atlan''s chariot raced forward, wasting no time to catch up to the lead. "Razer. There''s something wrong," Atlan said as he pulled up his chariot beside him. The man blessed by Zeus looked at Atlan with a strange expression. He studied him for a few seconds before replying. "There is: a porter is able to catch up to me." And before Atlan could say anything else, Razer suddenly punched his right fist forward and tucked his left hand, creating a powerful twisting force in his body that produced a stronger punch. A powerful shockwave boomed through the air and reached Atlan at the speed of sound. Most Saviors like Yasmine wouldn''t even be able to react to this, but somehow, Razer saw Atlan''s eyes recognize the threat and follow its trajectory as if he was seeing it with clarity. The shockwave hit Atlan''s chestplate, which dispersed some of the force. However, there was still enough power from that punch that transferred over to Atlan''s body and pushed him away from his wooden chariot. Atlan quickly turned rigid and lowered his center of mass. His feet slid against the wooden floor until his ankles hit the small ledge of the chariot door. Somehow, he was able to keep himself steady. Razer''s eyes went wide. He was a 4th stage Student while the porter was only at the 2nd stage. The two stage difference was supposed to be an insurmountable wall like heaven and earth¡ªespecially with Razer''s S class LifeSkill. Atlan should have been easily thrown out of his chariot. His Physique LifeSkill shouldn''t have been enough to save him from Razer''s attack. It was too heavy. This shouldn''t be possible, thought Razer. He didn''t know that Atlan''s Physique LifeSkill was actually SSS class rated. Of course, even though Atlan had a better class LifeSkill than Razer, that two stage difference between them should have put Razer above him in strength. However, Atlan didn''t only have his Physique LifeSkill. He also had two other LifeSkills also in the SSS class, and one in the B class. Atlan''s other LifeSkills gave him a slight boost in his physical strength even if he wasn''t actively using them. It was a passive buff that pushed Atlan''s physical strength above that of Razer despite their two stage difference in power realm. It also helped that Atlan had a semi-sentient armor that could withstand Razer''s power. He also had the Angel Wing mutation, which helped him resist being pushed off the chariot. It didn''t just give him a speed buff, it also gave him a slight resistance in being knocked back. Razer had no knowledge of any of those, so the only explanation he could come up with was that Atlan was just lucky. So, he decided to push Atlan''s luck to the limit. He punched the air multiple times, creating multiple shockwaves that came towards Atlan continuously without any break. If one punch wouldn''t knock him off, then how about a hundred? But instead of trying to defend against the hundreds of attacks, Atlan instead chose to pull the reins and charge forwards! It was a sensible decision that saved his chariot from getting obliterated. Atlan knew that his wooden chariot was very brittle. He knew that one punch from Razer would destroy it into a million splinters. With the threat of the horde coming towards them, Atlan couldn''t risk his chariot getting blasted into pieces. Razer stopped attacking once he saw Atlan accelerate even further. He was dumbfounded. He didn''t think that Atlan''s mount could speed up any further, but it turned out that it was still holding back! He didn''t know how to process the fact that Atlan had to slow down his mount just so that he could go face to face with him. It was an insult to his face. How did he subdue this beast? Razer looked at Atlan''s Giraffe-Horse centaur and couldn''t help but admire its beauty. It was the perfect combination of speed and defense, which was excellent in both aspects without any discernible weaknesses. He looked at his own Gorilla-Horse. During the first phase of this competition, he used his tongue 7-star mutation ''Word of the All-Father'' to summon the strongest and fastest Canzer in all of the arena. They were compelled to do so. And the one that heeded his call was none other than the Gorilla-Horse that he used now. It turned out that his steed wasn''t the best one he could have gotten. It was the Giraffe. But for some reason, it didn''t get summoned by his ''Word of the All-Father''. The only way to explain this was that the Canzer was probably strong enough to resist his authority. The strangest part about this was that the superior Giraffe-Horse was somehow subdued by Atlan¨Ca 2nd stage novice porter. He wasn''t supposed to even be fighting against Canzers. His job was more of a support rather than a damage-dealer. How did he do it? This made Razer intensely curious about Atlan. He felt something he hadn''t felt in a long time: competitiveness. He wanted to fight Atlan with all of his strength! Unfortunately for him, it seemed that Atlan had no intention of fighting with him, especially since he knew that the horde was coming to kill all of them indiscriminately. Atlan took out a pellet from his pockets and aimed his slingshot towards Razer''s bronze chariot. He took his time and properly adjusted his aim. At this point, he got enough experience from using this weapon that he was confident that he would hit his target, especially since Razer had no intention of dodging. "It''s better to show you," Atlan said as he stretched the band to his shoulders. Razer knew what Atlan was trying to do. So, he opened his mouth and activated his mutation ''Word of the All-Father''. Stop. Atlan would feel that word invade his brain and make him subconsciously agree to the order. And even if he was able to resist, he would still feel an intense headache that would make his aim as shaky as a ship on sea. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, even after two seconds passed, Atlan showed no sign of feeling a headache. Atlan fired his slingshot and the condensed soil pellet accurately hit the Gorilla-Horse''s head and knocked off its blinders. Chapter 92 - 92: Repeat the words The Gorilla-Horse shook its head as it felt its autonomy return to its body. It beat its giant hands on its head trying to wake itself up from its stupor. Razer witnessed as his loyal mount swayed back and forth, taking his chariot with it. But he couldn''t even think about his Canzer going wild because all he could focus on was Atlan''s defiance. Atlan wasn''t affected even though he used his ''Word of the All-Father''. That was impossible. After all, it was a mutation with a 7-star rarity¡ªit was supposed to have authority and dominion over all humans with a lower bloodline than him. Is he just that good of a shot? Razer shook his head. Atlan was a porter. He didn''t have a sharpshooter LifeSkill that helped him shoot with insane accuracy even in the face of a disturbance. He started to list out the explanations for how Atlan did it. Does he have a greater power realm than me? But as far as Razer knew, the Genesian porter was only a 2nd stage Student. And for Atlan to resist the ''Word of the All-Father'', he would have to be two stages higher than Razer, which was the 6th stage. Atlan wasn''t that strong. The only other explanation Razer could think of was¡­ Does he have a better bloodline than me? That was the only way that someone could perfectly resist a mutation that was given to him by the All-Father, Zeus. Only those with a Genus greater than 7-star rarity could have the authority and superiority to ignore his words. That was the one weakness of this mutation. Even if Razer was one realm higher than someone, as long as they had a higher rarity bloodline, then they would be able to resist the ''Word of the All-Father.'' The only problem with this theory was that Razer would have to believe that a mere porter had an 8-star rarity Genus. Even he, a genius S class talent from the Metropolis full of Gods and Goddesses willing to give out powers, was only given a 7-star Genus in his Draft. They said that he would have to prove that he was a True Hero or perform the 12 labors for him to gain a better Genus from Zeus himself. So, it was hard to believe that a Porter was able to prove himself as a hero so early in his career. Wait¡­there''s one other possibility. "Are you from the Unclaimed Lands?" Razer asked. Atlan looked at him and didn''t know why he was asking. But, he still answered truthfully. "I am." I knew it! Since he''s from the Unclaimed Lands, he probably stumbled upon an Abandoned Territory. That''s where he got the 8-star Genus! An Abandoned Territory was a place that was once inhabited by a God but was abandoned due to some circumstance. Usually, it was because a God subordinated themselves towards a more powerful God and moved to their Territory. Usually, the remnants of this abandoned territory were filled with powerful treasures and relics that were abandoned by their citizens. But, the gods themselves could also leave behind an inheritance for others to take. Hephaestus once had his own territory but moved back to Olympus thousands of years ago. I heard that some scavengers found an 8-star Genus from the Abandoned Territory! "What did you find there? Whose did you find?" Razer asked Atlan. But Atlan just tilted his head. "I don''t know what you''re talking about." Razer scoffed. He expected Atlan to lie because most scavengers who found an Abandoned Territory tend to keep it a secret so that they could get all of the treasures for themselves. "Don''t worry, I won''t steal it." "What are you talking about?" Atlan was truly clueless, but Razer still thought that he was bluffing. "Whatever. I''ve never faced someone like you before. Star Porter, how apt. Fighting you is more exciting than fighting those other geniuses who claim they''re superior." Despite Razer putting all of his attention towards Atlan, Atlan was instead focusing on Razer''s Gorilla-Horse that was going out of control. It was hitting its chest out of frustration, howling at nothing but the air. ''Close!...Close!....Long to Belong!....'' It was spouting the same nonsense as the horde of Canzers behind. Atlan was starting to piece together that these monsters wanted to get somewhere together. However, he didn''t know where that was or why they were doing it. He wanted to talk to the Gorilla-Horse and interrogate it for information, unfortunately, his ''Canzer Tongue Mutation'' only allowed him to understand them, not speak with them. ''AWU AWU!'' The Gorilla-Horse ran towards the buildings on the sidewalk to try and crash Razer''s bronze chariot. But even in the face of danger, the Olympian man didn''t seem to worry about it. "I can''t wait to exchange punches with you!" screamed Razer. It was only then that he finally looked towards his chaotic mount. He opened his mouth and used his ''Word of the All-Father''. Submit to the reins As soon as the Canzer heard those words in its mind, it suddenly stopped shaking its head and returned to being a loyal steed. Atlan heard its repeated cries turn silent as if it no longer had the capacity to think. It was impressive that Razer could still control his mount even though all Pseudo Canzers were malfunctioning. It was a testament to how powerful he was. Of course, using that many words put a strain on Razer''s mouth and shut him up for a few minutes. If he could speak, then he would challenge Atlan to a duel. So, Razer simply started the duel rather than ask it. Razer took the reins and steered it towards Atlan. His Canzer obediently followed the reins and crashed itself towards Atlan''s Giraffe-Horse. The bronze and wooden chariots crashed into each other, with the wheels scratching each other and slowing the chariots down. Atlan moved the chariot aside to cushion the blow. It was clear that Razer wanted a showdown between the two of them, but Atlan knew that this wasn''t the best idea especially since they were getting chased by thousands of manic Pseudo Canzers that couldn''t be frozen. They needed to conserve their strength to fight the Canzers, not fight each other. Razer knew that Atlan wanted to avoid a confrontation, so he strained his tongue further by secretly commanding his Gorilla-Horse to attack the Giraffe-Horse and prevent it from speeding away. Since the ''Word of the All-Father'' emitted no sound, this would have gone unnoticed by Atlan. Unfortunately for Razer¡­ ''Attack¡­Giraffe¡­" His own mount repeated his words. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 93 - 93: Defend yourself Atlan quickly took the reins and controlled his mount. The Gorilla-Horse lunged its two long, muscular arms toward the Giraffe''s long neck and tried to strangle it. But before it could even get close, the Giraffe suddenly whipped its long neck towards the Gorilla and smacked it away. "Tsk!" Razer''s chariot almost toppled over. Atlan''s reaction was far too fast to even be called a reaction. It was as if Atlan knew what would happen before it even happened! Atlan read his moves like a book! Now that his plan failed, Razer had no other way to close the distance between them. If he couldn''t get close to Atlan, there would be no way for him to attack him. If he used his shockwave punch, Atlan would simply rush forward and dodge the attack easily. That Giraffe-Horse''s acceleration was no joke! It frustrated the Olympian that he couldn''t simply have a straight-forward duel with the porter. His burning curiosity for Atlan''s strange powers made him want to forgo the race entirely and simply attack the guy after the whole thing was over. Of course, he couldn''t. He had to win this race so that Olympus would be happy with his deeds and hopefully give him a better Genus. Meanwhile, Atlan tried to warn Razer about the oncoming horde behind them, but the guy couldn''t stop for a second and kept trying to attack him. He ordered his Gorilla-Horse to pester the Giraffe-Horse to no end, even flinging street dirt to try and distract them. But any time they got too close, Atlan would use the Giraffe''s long neck to push them away. His Canzer''s chitinous armor proved to be superior between the two of them as the Giraffe suffered no injuries in its head even as the Gorilla tried to punch it back. They continued at a stalemate until they finally came to the last segment of the race. This part had a lot of curves and zigzags, so they had to focus on the track or else they''d find themselves crashing into the railing and falling off into the cliff below. But just as Atlan concentrated on the curve in front of him, he suddenly saw a familiar string of words appear in his eyes. [There is death near you] [There is death near you] sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [There is death near you] Atlan immediately looked behind him. Did the horde already catch up to us?! But when he looked back, he couldn''t see any sign of frantic Horse Canzers running towards them. He only saw the small figures of Yasmine and the others trying hard to catch up to them. If I didn''t sense the horde, then what did I sense?...Don''t tell me¡­ As their chariots turned the corner, Atlan was able to see a glimpse of the Colosseum atop the buildings. Everything looked normal at first, with the Colosseum''s columns and arches visible even in the distance. However, Atlan saw multiple figures darting back and forth through the windows as if they were shadows in the dark. Those were Canzers! He could even see some horse-like figures climbing atop the Colosseum and falling to their deaths. Damn¡­it looks like even the Colosseum is filled with Canzers. I thought we all lured them out of there¡­things are much worse than I thought. "Razer! Look at the Colosseum. There are wild Pseudo Canzers out there already! And there are thousands more behind us! This is no time to fight against each other!" But despite Atlan''s words, the Olympian man was too battle-hungry to even believe his words. "Why are you chickening out in our fight? Don''t worry, I won''t beat you too bad." Atlan turned furious. "I''ll destroy your ego later. There are even more important things to do." The hairs on Razer''s arm stood up as soon as he heard Atlan''s provoking words. This was the first time the Olympian genius ever felt disrespected like this. It made him angry and amused. He would have laughed it off if he heard it from some other genius, but instead, he heard it from the one person he didn''t expect to have the courage to say that: a porter. Razer wouldn''t have thought that Atlan could spit out such poisonous words. Even though Razer started the whole thing, he was the one provoked instead. His hunger for blood grumbled even harder. The Genus he received from prideful Zeus couldn''t sit still once it heard Atlan''s arrogance. "Then show me! Show how you''ll destroy my ego!" Razer roared. Atlan thought for a second and realized that he wouldn''t be able to knock some sense into Razer until he literally knocked some sense into him. Liked it or not, he would have to fight him and show him what he wanted to see. "Fine. I''ll hit you one time. Do your best not to get blasted away." Razer almost scoffed at Atlan''s joke. But once he saw his serious face, he realized that Atlan was not joking. He, a porter, was confident that the man two stages higher than him and had an S class LifeSkill wouldn''t be able to handle a single punch. It stoked Razer''s competitiveness even further. "Fine! Do your worst." Razer commanded his steed to run alongside Atlan. The two of them were now in melee range, just enough for them to fight fists to fists. "Defend yourself well. I don''t want to see you suffering." Razer gritted his teeth and held in his anger. He didn''t have to say anything. Only when Atlan felt his own hands breaking as he tried to punch him would he finally learn the difference between the two of them. "I''m punching in three¡­two¨C" "Just punch me already!" And just as he requested, Atlan brought his right hand from his hips and up towards Razer''s gut, twisting his hips for maximum force. It was the simplest attack, with no other effect on his body. Atlan''s punch was a little bit faster than Razer thought, but there was nothing special with his attack. Just as Razer thought, Atlan would only hurt himself if he thought that his punch would even injure a single hair on his body. Chapter 94 - 94: Satisfied? The punch was normal at first. Razer felt that it was no different from a normal punch he''d expect from a porter. For a millisecond, he was disappointed. He anticipated a lot from Atlan but it turned out that he was expecting the impossible from him. But just as he was getting comfortable with the punch, he suddenly felt it accelerate at an insane speed in its follow-through. Atlan''s fist already hit Razer''s gut, but instead of slowing down, it suddenly generated an intense power in such a short amount of time. Razer felt a sharp pain in his abs. The suddenness of this change shocked him so much that he forgot to breathe as he tried to analyze what happened. For the first time in a long time, he felt the wind knocked out of his body. His body flung backward and he landed back on his seat, with the momentum pushing his bronze carriage away from the wooden chariot to the opposite side of the street. Cough. Shock filled Razer''s face as he spit in his mouth and saw his own blood. His hands shook. He never thought that he would get injured from a single punch, much less someone from a porter! He looked down at his Soul System and saw that the hourglass that symbolized his SoulTime suddenly poured out tons of sand. He lost 50 days from that punch! Razer looked back at Atlan and saw him still in his punching position. There was nothing special in his fists. How is that possible?! The Olympian couldn''t understand how Atlan''s seemingly normal body generated a power that could delete 50 days of his lifespan in one attack. He didn''t know that Atlan secretly used his SSS Physique LifeSkill at the very last second of that punch. Atlan knew that he couldn''t show his LifeSkill so openly, so he decided to activate it at the very last second¡ªjust at the moment when his punch would land. To do this, Atlan generated the giant hand and hovered it around his skull-filled LifeSkill planet. He found out that activating his LifeSkill for only a fraction of a second was easier than he thought. It was simple. He just had to imagine a weaker hand that was phasing in and out of existence so that it would only have enough power to touch the planet for a moment. However, he messed up the timing and only activated the LifeSkill when the punch already landed. This diminished the punch''s power as its momentum weakened when it hit Razer''s stomach. That meant that the attack Razer felt was only a weakened version of Atlan''s real LifeSkill punch. Given that Razer didn''t specialize in defense, he was still in the 4th stage Student realm. He wasn''t supposed to get injured by someone in the 2nd stage. This was only made possible because of Atlan''s mysterious SSS class Physique LifeSkill as well as the strength buff of the other LifeSkills. Ptooh. "I feel like I''ve been hit by a truck," Razer said, holding his stomach as the pain still lingered in his mind. "What did you do? Do you have relics on your body? Do you use any special weapons or armor?" The Olympian man simply could not believe how Atlan did it. Even if Atlan and he were fighting normally, Razer would have to be wary of that punch. "Are you satisfied now?" Atlan asked. Razer wiped the blood off his mouth. "Are you kidding? This is just the beginning. It''s my turn now!" S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just then, their chariots finally turned the last corner and they were finally onwards to the last straight track back towards the Colosseum. There were supposed to be banners and spectators cheering them on after their arduous and grueling race in this competition. There was supposed to be a finish line that led back to the Colosseum itself. But instead, they only saw another horde of Horse Canzers waiting for them. Even the Colosseum itself was crawling with Canzers. As soon as the first ones saw the chariots racing in the distance, they immediately got into a frenzy and ran toward Atlan and Razer at fast speeds. This time, Atlan didn''t have to say anything as Razer finally noticed them. "What''s this?" "It''s what I''ve been trying to tell you. The Canzers have gone rogue." Both of them slowed their chariots to a stop. Razer couldn''t help but curse his bad luck. This disaster happened just at the right moment when he was about to fight someone he found to be of equal strength to himself. This was a rare occasion. All of the people he had ever fought were people much older and had stronger power realms than him. He had never felt challenged by his peers, especially someone much younger than him: he was usually too powerful for them. But Atlan was the exception. Razer felt like the porter was the only one who could challenge him and push him to the limits. The thought of Atlan beating him excited him even more than him winning! He wanted to go all out and fight Atlan right here and right now, but his sensible responsibilities stopped him from doing such idiotic actions. The looming threat of the rogue Pseudo Canzers prevailed over his desire for a fight. Then, they suddenly heard the sounds of multiple chariots coming towards them from the corner. It was Yasmine, Sola, and the others. They finally caught up to the two leaders of the race and were surprised to find them stopped in the middle of the track. They still worried about the horde of Canzers behind them so they wondered why the two stopped running towards the portal. Only when they passed the two of them did they finally understand. There was another horde in front of them. Their shoulders slumped as they realized that there was no escaping this disaster. The rabid Pseudo Canzers encircled them with no way out. They''d have to kill for their freedom. Chapter 95 - 95: Aren’t you joining? "By the Gods! Why are there so many Pseudo Canzers?!" "I thought we could leave if we went back to the Colosseum! There''s even more monsters there!" "Why is this happening?!" They had no answer. None of them had ever experienced this kind of disaster before. The only one who went through a different but similar situation was Atlan. He also experienced an anomaly in his very first mission. Sola didn''t know much, but she offered her guess. "The Pocket Remedium itself is malfunctioning. It spawned more Pseudo Canzers than what was programmed." "Can a Pocket Remedium break like that? I''ve never heard of any situation where thousands upon thousands of Pseudo Canzers are spawned out of nowhere with no way to freeze them." The Olympian woman went silent. Just because she knew how they spawned, didn''t mean that she knew why. She was just as clueless as the rest of them. This time, Yasmine was the one to speak up. She could see that everyone was starting to lose hope, which would only detract from their ability to fight. "Either way, we have to work together to kill them all if we want to get to the portal." This gave them a bit of hope now that they had a clear objective to follow. If they worked together and fought their way towards the Colosseum, then they could have the chance to go back to the portal. It wouldn''t be easy, but it was still better than to stay here and do nothing. "Isn''t it better to stay here and wait for reinforcements?" Sola asked. "The concentration of Pseudo Canzers is larger there. We might not even make it inside the Colosseum before thousands of them swarm us. Surely your HeadQuarters have already noticed that something is wrong." The Olympians trusted Sola, so they were more inclined to follow her suggestion. Meanwhile, the Genesians had no confidence that reinforcements would come before they exhausted themselves fighting an endless horde of monsters. After all, they heard that the reinforcements didn''t come until hours later when Atlan was in a similar situation. He had to be the one to rescue his teammates himself. But before everybody could argue on what to do, they all suddenly felt the ground tremble and shake. They knew what this meant. They all looked back in horror as the horde of Horse Canzers finally caught up to them. Their hooves chaotically stomped on the ground with such ferocity and intensity that they were sure that they would lose 90% of their SoulTime if they got trampled by them. "Draconic Inferno of Swords!" Yasmine shouted. She didn''t waste any more time as she jumped up the steps in the air until she was more than 15 feet in the air. And just like before, she somersaulted forward, creating momentum and time for her dragon to develop in her sword. Her swing turned into two full turns, giving enough time for her dragon to grow longer and burn more intensely. Just as she was about to hit the ground, she launched her dragon towards the horde. GROOAAAA, the dragon screamed. It slithered through the air and finally hit the first line of Pseudo Canzers. The unlucky Horse monster suddenly burst into flames upon contact, turning even its bones into a liquid. But the flaming dragon wasn''t satisfied with just one Canzer. It continued to pierce through the horde until it killed 10 Canzers that stood in its way. It was an impressive feat for her to kill 10 of them in just one attack. If this was any other situation, the rest of them would cheer and congratulate her for her strength. Unfortunately, they soon saw that the horde had many other monsters that could replace the ones it lost. After a few seconds, it seemed as if Yasmine didn''t kill any Canzers at all. "Let the monsters witness your glory, Divine Apollo!" Sola raised her hands and pointed her palms at the horde. "Brightest Day!" Two pillars of light beamed down from her hands towards the chaotic Canzers. Those hit by this light felt as if they looked at a thousand suns, leaving them blinded. The heat from this attack was so hot that their eyes melted to the back of their skulls and incinerated their meat down to the bones. With those two pillars, Sola killed 12 Canzers easily. Seeing the two women destroy those Canzers gave hope to them all. The Genesians and the Olympians settled their differences and started to bring down all of their powers towards the horde. Beams of power, lightning, fire, wood, water, and all other kinds of elements rained down upon the horde, killing them layer by layer. They didn''t have to care about tactics or strategy, they simply unloaded all their LifeSkills into the Canzers indiscriminately. It was freeing for them, as this was the first time that they could really go all out without having to worry about planning their moves. Soon, a cacophony of groans came out of the horde. Canzers were dying at a faster rate than what they could replenish. This prevented the horde from advancing towards the group, even pushing them back inch by inch. "Don''t worry guys! I''ll handle the front." While everyone was handling the horde from the back, Razer took it upon himself to handle the monsters coming from the Colosseum. With just a simple command from his ''Word of the All-Father'', the Canzers in the front all slowed to a crawl. This created a stampede behind, with Canzers getting killed and trampled by their own comrades. Razer couldn''t wait any longer and rushed to the front of the line. With a huge smile on his face, he raised his fist and brought it down towards the Canzer in front. BOOOGHHH The concrete below exploded, pushing tens of Canzers up in the air. But that wasn''t the end. He readied both his fists and unloaded multiple fast jabs that created shockwaves that killed any Canzers unfortunate enough to be near him. "HAHAHAHA! Witness how a Berserker goes berserk!" Razer then looked back. "Aren''t you going in on this? You''re missing out on all the fun, porter!" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan was the only one who stood still. He looked at the ground with an incredulous face. [You have reaped the death of Simple Creatures] x481 Chapter 96 - 96: Reaping while standing [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have received 24,050 experience] [You have gained D class Scout Skill: Thermal Vision] [You have gained 20 F class Thermal Vision LifeSkill fragments] [You have gained 10 (1-star) Pseudo Canzer Genus] Atlan felt his own body heat up as he reaped the deaths of all the Pseudo Canzers around him. As they all unleashed their LifeSkills and decimated the horde, Atlan gained more and more experience from the carnage that ensued. Bits and pieces of Pseudo Canzer flesh flew everywhere. And from that, he seemed to have gained another LifeSkill! He knew he''d get a lot of experience, but he didn''t know that he''d also get LifeSkills and Genuses. From what he experienced in the Training Hall Remedium, he thought gaining those rewards was very rare. After all, he only got 2 LifeSkills after assisting hundreds of Pseudo Canzer kills. But it looked like he was wrong. It turned out that the probability of gaining Genuses and LifeSkills was just too small if he just reaped a death without doing anything. The sheer number of deaths he reaped this time was simply too much that he still gained something even if the odds were extremely small. He looked at the LifeSkill and saw that the job was a Scout. Although it was only in the D-class, Atlan had no problem with it because the LifeSkill came with multiple other fragments! Atlan got the Thermal Vision LifeSkill multiple times and all of the extras quickly turned into fragments that he could use to upgrade its class. He also gained another Genus from the Pseudo Canzers. As expected, he only gained 10 (1-star) Genuses from it. These were rarer to get than LifeSkills, so Atlan only got one out of them from all those Canzer deaths. With how much he got compared to how little he did, Atlan was tempted to get into trouble in the Remedium more often. All he had to do was stand in the middle of the chaos and watch as the reaping counter went up. He had more experience than he knew what to do with! [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª2x (1-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª10x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (2-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (4-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª 2nd stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(2000 / 2000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ªMage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6x F class fragments ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage ¡ªScout: (D) Thermal Vision ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0 / 1000) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 20x F class fragments [Available Experience: 66,181.2] [Upgrade Points: 965,000] And just as he expected, he was given a chance to merge all of those fragments and upgrade the class of his new LifeSkill. [Do you want to merge all of your fragments?] [Upgrade Points required: 36,000] Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Fragments required: 16] Atlan quickly saw the geometrical shapes of the Upgrade Points do their job and string the meteor fragments towards the LifeSkill planet. It wasn''t long until he finally saw the result. ¡ªScout: (A) Thermal Vision ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0 / 1000) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments Testing it out, Atlan grabbed this newly formed planet with a giant hand and he immediately saw the world around him turn into a different color. The humans all emitted a bright yellow light inside their bodies, indicating their internal body temperature. The harder they used their LifeSkills, the brighter they burned in his eyes. The Pseudo Canzers on the other hand was completely the opposite. The core of their bodies all emitted a dark blue color, meaning that their bodies were extremely cold. No matter if hot or cold, Atlan could distinguish a Canzer from miles away just from the dark blue spot in his vision. And if the walls were thin enough, he could see through the walls and know if there was someone there. He understood why this was a good LifeSkill for Scouts. They were usually the ones ahead of the group, so they would be the first one to see the Canzers, giving them the initiative advantage. Next up was his Genus. [Do you want to merge all of your 1-star) Pseudo Canzer Genus?] [Upgrade Points required: 10,000] Atlan watched as the Upgrade points once again pulled themselves into a string and wrapped the helix structures into one small group. It soon demolished them and reformed them into a much more refined helix form. [Genus] ¡ª1x (4-star) Pseudo Canzer Atlan wanted to immediately test out his new LifeSkill, and unfortunately, he would soon have that chance. The Saviors had now all been throwing their LifeSkills for at least ten minutes without any break at all. Exhaustion was painted on their faces. Atlan could see with his Thermal Vision LifeSkill that their bodies were starting to cool down, meaning they didn''t have enough energy left to keep using their powers. It was now quickly apparent that their job composition was less than ideal. Their most talented fighters were not suited for this kind of battle. Yasmine and Sola both had the DPS job. Razer had the Berserker job. Both of those jobs were really good at focusing their damage for overall better power and destruction. If they were fighting a single Destruction Canzer that was a thousand times stronger than these Pseudo Canzers, then they could easily dispatch it with their LifeSkills. Unfortunately, they were dealing with a horde. These Pseudo Canzers were easy to kill, however, there were just too many of them. Yasmine and Sola''s LifeSkills were extremely inefficient when dealing with a large group like this. Being a berserker was better, but Razer wasn''t enough to fight off every single Canzer. They needed a Mage. They had overall less power than the DPS and the Berserker, but they could target a large group like these Pseudo Canzers. Unfortunately, none of them was a mage. Because of that, they were exhausted just minutes after the fight started. It wasn''t long before the horde was closing in on them from both sides. Chapter 97 - 97: Being bait Atlan knew what to do. "Run as fast as you can," Atlan said to everyone. "Where are we running to? They have us surrounded!" Just then, Atlan suddenly jumped up towards the railing and used it to boost himself up one of the houses. Then, he clapped. CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP "Come get me, you monsters!" Atlan''s shout reverberated through the buildings and reached the rabid Canzers. The monsters whipped their heads towards the sound of his voice and immediately ran towards him. They were even crazier than they were before as if they found him to be better prey than the rest of these humans. He stayed on top of the roof, waiting for the Cancers to gather below him. He even let some of them climb up towards him, letting them think that they would soon be able to feast on him. But at the very last second, Atlan jumped back and created space between him and the Canzers. This led the monsters to be even more deranged as they chased Atlan not knowing that this was all a part of his plan. And as more Canzers chased him, the more Canzers followed behind thinking there was another group of humans there. Soon enough, the rest of the Saviors visibly saw the horde of Canzers lessen to the point that they could finally see the road beneath them. "What is he doing? Why is he sacrificing himself for us?" "Does he have another way out?" "Why?" The rest of the Olympians couldn''t understand why Atlan would put himself at risk for all of them. They would understand if Atlan did it to protect his family or his friends, but they all barely even knew each other. "He''s our Star Porter¡­" "That is a true hero¡­" The Genesians shouldn''t be surprised; this wasn''t the first time that Atlan did this. They already heard about Atlan''s heroic deeds, but it was another thing to witness it firsthand and be the recipient of his bravery. Some of them even thought that his story was exaggerated by others. Only when they saw him do it again did they finally understand. He was a hero. He didn''t even hesitate. As soon as everyone was on their ropes and the Canzers were about to overwhelm them, Atlan immediately acted as if there was no debate in his mind. It was even more confusing once they all realized that Atlan was only a porter with no skills to protect himself. Does he have no care for his SoulTime? They could all guess what would happen to him once those Canzers caught up to him. He would get wrangled into bits and pieces of flesh until there was nothing left of him but blood and bones. He would lose 99% of his SoulTime and get saved by the Angels until reinforcements arrived and brought back his blood to the church for healing. Then, he would experience an arduous recovery period where he would regenerate from a single blood cell taking years upon years until he finally returned to his old self. By then, he would be more than 100 years in debt to the City, meaning any missions that he did from then on would be halved as it automatically paid off his debt. Of course, they didn''t know that Angels were already extinct. No one would be saved if their SoulTime went to zero. If they knew that Atlan was risking death by doing this, then they would owe him more than their lives. Yasmine, on the other hand, felt a prick in her heart when she looked at Atlan''s fading figure. She didn''t know what to feel. She was angry at him for doing this, but she couldn''t help but worry for him. She wanted to run after him, but by doing that, she would invalidate all of his efforts. The rest of the people stuck here wouldn''t be able to go to the Colosseum without her help. I''ll get you back for this, Yasmine said in her heart. "Let''s go! I''ll lead you all out of the Remedium even if I have to incinerate the whole place myself!" The rest of them were still dumbfounded by Atlan''s heroic sacrifice. It was the kind of thing that the Olympians only heard about in legends like Hercules and Achilles. But once Yasmine shouted at them, they realized that they were still being surrounded by Canzers. This was the only chance they''d get to finally go back to the Colosseum and out the portal. They had to go. They all mounted their chariots and raced forth, with Yasmine and Sola leading the way. They had to kill the Canzers before they could even approach their chariots because they needed to protect the blinders. Without that, their mounts would turn into rabid Canzers and try to attack them. It was at this point that Sola noticed that Razer didn''t come with them. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Razer! What are you doing?" But instead of looking at her, Razer looked to where Atlan disappeared. "You think you can have all the fun to yourself, porter?" Razer jumped to the opposite side from where Atlan disappeared. "The one with the most kills wins, got it?!" Razer shouted at the top of his lungs, making sure that Atlan heard it even in the distance. His booming voice attracted a lot of Canzers that soon converged on his location. Just like Atlan, he led them away from the main group and helped clear the way. ### Atlan darted from street to street, with the Canzers running towards him at top speeds. They stumbled and trampled on each other just trying to catch this one human, but he seemed to always be one step ahead of them. Atlan looked to the side and saw a large building with a closed roof. This was where he wanted to go. He led the hundreds of Canzers toward the shopping center. He smiled. This was the place where he could finally go all out. Chapter 98 - 98: Warehouse Others might have thought that Atlan was doing them a favor, but in truth, he simply wanted to have time for himself to practice his own LifeSkills. He wanted to test his mettle against such a large horde of Canzers where he didn''t have to worry about others finding out his secret. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Don''t get it wrong, Atlan wanted to save them from suffering by ''sacrificing'' himself, but he also wanted to practice at the same time. It was killing two birds with one stone. Once he was inside the shopping center, he looked around and saw different mall outlets open with mannequins displaying the latest trendy outfits. He went through the fast food section, the outfits section, department stores, and even a pet store. Just then, he ran past one large outlet to the side with the name; He was going to run past this store, but something caught his eye. Just further up inside the store was a single aisle that sold industrial hardware such as lathes, milling machines, and presses. And one of the things they were selling was these ball bearings of all sizes. They were selling steel balls. Perfect! Atlan thought. He quickly took a turn to the right and entered the store. Once inside, he opened up his Soul System and manifested a giant hand that grasped one of his LifeSkill planets with a muddy surface with black streaks. This was his Mage LifeSkill. ¡ªMage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage Once it was grasped in the giant hand, Atlan felt the power coursing through his veins. He quickly looked behind him and saw the horde of Canzers about to catch up to him. A black cone of webby strings shot out of his palms and spread out in front of him until it covered the double-door entrance of the hardware store. This spray of black webs was as thick as a finger with multiple thorns around it. Atlan estimated that it could hold a single Pseudo Canzer for about 20 seconds to break through. But a horde of them? Probably 2 seconds at most. So, he grasped his LifeSkill planet again and shot out another burst of webs that reinforced the blockage at the entrance. That wasn''t enough, so Atlan shot out another one in succession. He wanted to continue doing it more, but he found that the giant hand he manifested couldn''t grasp his LifeSkill planet anymore. The plant turned translucent and was imperceptible to touch. Atlan saw that the planet was slowly but surely gaining its color back, but it would take at least three seconds for it to come back fully opaque. It turned out that he couldn''t perpetually use his LifeSkill. It would need a cooldown after it was used three times continuously. But he didn''t have time to wait. The first line of Pseudo Canzers ran towards the chitin spray headfirst, bulging the webbing but stopping them completely. ''Hurt!....pain¡­,'' the Canzers screamed. They wanted to push forward, but the spikes along the webs cut through their armor like it was cheese. And the further they pushed themselves forward, the further the spikes embedded themselves onto their bodies. They would have stopped there and recuperated for a few seconds, but the Canzers behind them had no care for their well-being. The horde pushed forward, trampling those that got stuck in the chitin spray. Atlan knew that he didn''t have enough time, so he quickly grabbed a handful of steel balls and pocketed them in his toolbelt. It was at this point that the horde finally broke through the webbing and ran towards him at full speed, heartlessly stepping on their comrades till they died. [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x8 [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have gained 400 experience] Atlan looked to the side and saw an ''employees only'' door to the side. He quickly ran towards it, with the Pseudo Canzers hot on his tail. Some of them couldn''t stop their momentum because of the slippery tiles of the store, so they crashed onto the aisles of the store. This gave Atlan enough time to go out and run through the thin hallway that led to another room. Once the Canzers reached the door, they were soon caught in a jam. The hallway was only wide enough for two Canzers at most and these monsters weren''t exactly the most patient of beasts. They tried to squeeze through the tight passage, which further caused traffic behind them. Atlan went out the other side and saw that he was in a large open space with tons of boxes and wooden pallets around. This seemed to be the warehouse of the Hardware store where they stored their inventory. He activated his new LifeSkill, Thermal Vision, and saw the dark blue spots beyond the door. The Canzers were still having trouble passing through the hallway. This gave him enough time to prepare. He took out the steel balls in his toolbelt and squeezed fifty of them together into his palms. His whole body was engulfed in a black flame as he activated his Physique LifeSkill. It gave him the strength to easily condense the steel balls into one single pellet. He continued to create pellet after pellet, with a total of 5 super-condensed metal balls. This was much stronger than his condensed soil pellet, which withstood much greater strength for his slingshot. Now that he could activate his Physique LifeSkill, his slingshot power increased multiple times! Just then, the door suddenly burst open as the first batch of Canzers finally reached the warehouse. They looked around the room, smelling that human''s distinct smell. They all looked up and saw him standing atop a tower of boxes and crates. More and more Canzers continued to run out the door, slowly filling the room like a tide. It wasn''t long before there were hundreds of hungry, rabid, Pseudo Canzers beneath the tower of boxes that Atlan stood on. They trampled on each other trying to reach up towards him. Atlan activated his Spiked Chitin Spray and shot it toward the only exit in the room. He didn''t want them to run away. He set his eyes on the fiery planet in his Soul System and finally grasped it with his giant hand. ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage Chapter 99 - 99: Sniper Atlan raised his slingshot and aimed it down. He stretched the bands to his shoulders and beyond, using all the strength he had with his Physique LifeSkill. The rubber bands trembled. It glowed a slight green tint as it transformed Atlan''s power into potential energy, storing all of his strength in the bands. Now that he used the maximum strength he had to prime the slingshot, Atlan let go of his Physique LifeSkill. Atlan finally grasped the Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill in his giant hand. The super-condensed steel ball suddenly erupted in a bluish-green fire. He could feel the power in his hands transfer to the steel ball in his slingshot, imbuing it with more magic. Atlan took a deep breath, exhaled, and finally released the slingshot. THWATTT A single thin line of bluish-green fire instantaneously appeared from Atlan''s slingshot and diagonally down to the floor. The Canzers didn''t even notice anything different. The pellet disappeared into the ground, leaving nothing but a pellet-sized scorching hole in the tiles. That''s it? Atlan thought that there would be more to a SSS class LifeSkill. He didn''t know if the condensed metal pellet got destroyed or not because he couldn''t see where it landed. He had to use his Thermal Vision LifeSkill to follow the heat dissipated by the shot. As he did, a clean bright yellow line that led down to the ground caught his attention. And once he followed where it went, his eyes went wide. Deep underground, there was a billowing yellow bulge erupting from the bottom to the top with an insane thermal energy! It wasn''t long before it reached the surface and burst out in an explosive manner, killing about a hundred Pseudo Canzers from the discharge alone. The eruption further sent out tiles and concrete rubble outwards accompanied by a furious bluish-green fire that brought out an intense heat around it. The Canzers that got lucky and avoided the explosion were soon overwhelmed by a fire that made their violet blood boil from the inside. It wasn''t long before their skin and chitinous armor burned and liquified, leaving nothing but a charred corpse below. Not only that, small embers fell like ash from the air. Those that underestimated this wisp of bluish-green flame ended up having their whole bodies engulfed in a fire that consumed all of their flesh and blood. Strangely enough, the heat wave caused by the pillar of bluish-green fire killed more Canzers than the original explosion. If Atlan didn''t have his Physique LifeSkill, even he would feel the scorching hot air. He watched as more and more Canzers fell victim to his ''sniper'' attack. With just one move, he killed almost half of the Canzers in the warehouse. It turned out that he used too much power in his slingshot. Because he used his Physique LifeSkill to leverage more power, the pellet ended up penetrating through tens of meters underground until it finally exploded into a fire that led back to the surface. If he used less power, then the condensed metal pellet would have exploded upon impact with the ground, killing more Canzers from the get go. ''Human¡­dangerous¡­.must kill¡­'' sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Must kill¡­.human¡­'' ''Kill¡­together!'' The surviving Canzers felt threatened by Atlan''s power. If they were fighting him alone, then they wouldn''t have the courage to attack him right after he showed such destructive abilities. But they knew that they still held the advantage with their numbers. And they were smart enough to know that they couldn''t let Atlan stay comfy atop his box of towers shooting down his Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill. Another shot would decimate them and they''d lose the advantage. They couldn''t let that happen. They frantically climbed up the wooden boxes. The Canzers no longer trampled on each other, but helped each other up. The threat of the single human forced them to cooperate. Those that were strong like the Panda-Horse or the Bear-Horse offered themselves to be at the bottom and become the foundation for their climb. Those that were nimbler like the Monkey-Horse and the Spider-Horse climbed atop and tried to reach for Atlan''s feet. With their coordination, it wasn''t long before some of them finally had the chance to bring the human down for them to feast on. The Octopus-Horse was the first one to finally reach the top. It used its tentacles to sliver sneakily towards Atlan''s ankles. If it was able to get near him, then its suction cup would cling onto him and never let go. But just as it was about to grab his ankles, the tower of boxes suddenly swayed back and forth. The climbing Canzers caused the whole structure to be unbalanced until it leaned to the side. The tower of boxes slowly fell, with the Canzers falling with it. The Canzers weren''t entirely unhappy with this. If the tower of boxes fell, then so did the human! Yet none of them saw that happen. The Canzers expected him to fall right into their maws, ready to be devoured, but as they closed their mouths in anticipation, they chomped on nothing but air. Suddenly, the air got heavier. It was as if the wind itself was choking them, preventing them from breathing. It squeezed their ribs and pushed it into their lungs. The Pseudo Canzers felt a chill in their horse spines. There was a horrifying creature above them that emanated danger down to their very bones. They saw a blinding white light from up above. And once they looked closer, they saw that it was only the human hovering in the air. But behind him was something they never thought possible. It was Angel Wings. The power emanated from those feathery wings was something that threatened the very being¡ªthe very core of the Pseudo Canzers. They were in the presence of their natural predator. The centaurs directly below Atlan froze in fear. They couldn''t even breathe. Those at the outskirts of the monster wave felt a weakened effect of the Angel Wings, so they were able to retain their senses. They slowly backed away. And once they did, they started a chain reaction that caused further panic and fear amongst the Pseudo Canzers. The monsters ran away from Atlan with dread written all over their faces. They kicked those behind them, they bit those around them, and they bulled their way forward with no regards for camaraderie and solidarity. Chaos reigned in their minds. ''NO!...ANGELS¡­FEAR!'' In their panic, they ran towards the wall to try and burst through it. But they couldn''t. And in their desperation, they tried to climb the walls of the warehouse, not realizing there was no way out except from where they came. And those lucky ones that figured out the door was stuck from the webbed Spiked Chitin Spray. Chapter 100 - 100: Do you understand me? Atlan hovered above the terrified Pseudo Canzers. They trampled and ran over each other as they tried to get as far away as they could from his Angel Wings. They were scared to death. He moved forward, and the Canzers pushed themselves into a corner opposite him. He was like a dog herding sheep. He carefully guided the lost and horrified Canzers toward the corner of the warehouse. Those at the back quickly jumped over those in the front in a bid to be the one farthest away from him. They didn''t know that it didn''t matter. They would all die anyway. Atlan raised his slingshot and aimed it at the mass of monsters. This time, he didn''t use his Physique LifeSkill to store energy in the bands. He manifested a giant hand to grasp his Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill once again. And just like before, a bluish-green fire erupted in the super condensed steel ball, growing larger as the magic flowed out of his body and into the slingshot. He knew from experience that his accuracy improved if he released his shot while he exhaled. A line of fire appeared as soon as he let go of the slingshot. And almost instantaneously, the ground from where he aimed exploded into a great big ball of bluish-green apocalyptic fire. In less than a second, all the groans and terrified cries of the Pseudo Canzers turned into the sounds of burning chitin and flesh. Smoke and ash filled the air as the fire consumed all the bodies of the monsters instantly, turning all of them into blackened carcasses that turned into ash with one gentle breeze from the air. [You have killed a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x392 [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have gained 50 F class Thermal Vision LifeSkill fragments] [You have gained 30 (1-star) Pseudo Canzer Genus] [You have gained 39,200 experience] Just like he guessed, he got more LifeSkill fragments and Genus from killing Canzers instead of just reaping their deaths. He gained more experience and rewards even though he killed less than the deaths he reaped earlier. Atlan took a deep breath and lowered himself back down the rubble-filled floor of the warehouse. He retracted his Angel Wings immediately. He was a little bit tired. Using his mutation felt like he was performing push-ups with his ''wings muscle'' every second he flapped his wings to move and fly. It was exhausting. Lizzie wasn''t lying when she said that mutations were akin to extra body parts. He could do 100 pushups with his ''angel wing muscle'' which corresponded to about 100 seconds of continuous exertion of his angel wings. If he was flying at full speed, then he would only last 100 seconds. But if he took his time and barely hovered in the air, then he could last much longer. Atlan also felt that his ''angel wing muscle'' got stronger every time he used it, just like a real muscle. He was incentivized to keep using his mutation as much as possible, but he was limited to where he could show off his strange mutation. [Do you want to merge all of your fragments?] [Upgrade Points required: 140,000] S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Fragments required: 48] Atlan let the Soul System handle all of the upgrades and witnessed the Upgrade Points do their magic. It wasn''t long until the Thermal Vision LifeSkill planet was upgraded into a new class. ¡ªScout: (SR) Thermal Vision ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (0 / 1000) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6x F class fragments Atlan was surprised to see that his Scout LifeSkill was now in the SR class! He never heard of anyone having a LifeSkill greater than S class, but now he surpassed it just by upgrading it through all of the LifeSkill fragments he got from reaping the Pseudo Canzer''s death. Atlan quickly upgraded this LifeSkill to the 2nd stage. [You have successfully advanced through the 1st Stage Student Realm of your SR class LifeSkill Thermal Vision] [Consolidation period: 12 hrs: 59 mins: 50secs] Now, he was given the chance to merge all of his newly acquired Genus. [Do you want to merge all of your (1-star) Pseudo Canzer Genus?] [Upgrade Points required: 46,000] Nothing changed this time as the Upgrade points created another helix structure that was much more intricate than the one before. [Genus] ¡ª1x (6-star) Pseudo Canzer [You have gained the (6-star) mutation Pseudo Canzer whisperer] Atlan gained a new mutation from this new Genus. He wasn''t surprised. Now that his Pseudo Canzer genus was in the 6-star rarity, it had a higher chance of spawning a mutation. Whisperer? Does it mean that I can whisper to Pseudo Canzers? He immediately wanted to try it out. Fortunately, there were still a few ones still left alive that got stuck in his Spiked Chitin Spray near the door. Their bodies were full of scratches and cuts as they got entangled deeper and deeper into the thorned web. They struggled, but it was useless. Atlan approached them. These Pseudo Canzers just witnessed their brethren get incinerated into ash and dust with just one shot. Not only that, they couldn''t forget that time when they saw this human suddenly sprout Angel Wings on his back. Suffice it to say, they were petrified to see him approach. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his tongue. He tried to bring out his new mutation. To be honest, Atlan didn''t know how to bring out a mutation. He was only able to use his Angel Wings because he already accidentally activated it during his first mission. After that incident, he was able to feel his new ''angel wing muscle'' in his back and he could summon it whenever he wanted. However, he didn''t know how to do that with his new mutation. It was like trying to move your sixth finger when you only have five. It was like trying to open your third eye when all you''ve ever had was two. He tried to replicate the sensations he felt when he activated his Angel Wings. He remembered it clearly. First, his shoulder blades turned numb and a prickly feeling appeared on his skin before the Angel Wings sprouted out of his body. Trying to transfer that feeling to his mouth, he suddenly felt the same numb and prickly sensation in his throat. He focused on it and tried to push it even further. After a few failures, Atlan finally produced a sound in his throat that didn''t sound human. It sounded Canzerous. ''Do you understand me?'' The Pseudo Canzer in front of him seized. It couldn''t believe that the human was speaking their language. It couldn''t handle the stress and died from the shock. [You have killed a simple creature] [You have gained 100 experience] Chapter 101 - 101: Melt The Canzers felt their artificial hearts sieze when they understood Atlan''s words. It was unsettling. They didn''t expect the human to suddenly produce a sound that only Canzers could make. They couldn''t even understand how that was possible. Atlan didn''t automatically know their language. He was still thinking in terms of human language, but using his new mutation, it got translated to something that a Pseudo Canzer could understand. ''I assume you all understand me.'' Now that they all saw him speak the same language again, they finally believed that a human could speak their language. ''How human¡­.'' ''Not¡­possible¡­'' They tried to squirm out of the sticky web they were stuck in. They didn''t even care that their bodies were getting mangled and cut from the thorns on the webs. They only wanted to get away from the human abomination as far away as possible. He had Angel Wings, he had untold power that could kill hundreds of Canzers in one shot, and now he could speak like one of them. He was more of a monster than the Canzers. ''Why did you all go crazy and attack humans? How did you all spawn without permission? How did you resist the power of the Pocket Dimension?'' Atlan unloaded all sorts of questions on the Canzers. Those questions weighed on his mind for a long time but he had no way to find out the answers. Now, he had the chance. Who better to answer his questions than the culprit themselves? ''Don''t¡­understand¡­.'' the Deer-Horse replied. Atlan forgot that these Pseudo Canzers were not all that intelligent. They had the IQ equivalent of a regular monkey who had no complex conscious thoughts, only their instincts. If they were afraid, then their groans and cries would show their fear. But they wouldn''t understand why they were afraid. ''What do you know about Angels?'' And as soon as Atlan mentioned that seemingly taboo word with Canzers, they suddenly jerked away from him as if their mere name was enough to strike fear in their hearts. Atlan had a guess that everything wrong that had been happening in the City had something to do with the extinction of Angels. But he couldn''t prove it. ''Angels¡­scary¡­'' ''Fear!....No angels¡­no more¡­.'' Judging from the reactions he garnered from the Canzers that saw his Angel Wings, he guessed that Canzers were deathly afraid of Angels. They were even more afraid of Angels than humans. Atlan tried to process his thoughts. If they were afraid of Angels, does that mean that Angels were fighting the Canzers before they went extinct? Or is it because Angels were the beings that revive humans and make them immortal? The fact that the Canzers knew about Angels meant that they saw them. Humans couldn''t. Angels were invisible beings that hovered above the humans at all times and injected them with SoulTime whenever their life was in danger. ''Did the angels fight you?'' Unfortunately, the Pseudo Canzers had no other thoughts other than fear whenever Atlan mentioned the Angels. It was possible that they truly knew nothing about Angels other than they were dangerous, or they simply couldn''t talk about them because they were too afraid. Since the conversation wasn''t going anywhere, Atlan decided to ask a different question. ''We long to belong¡­what do you mean by that?'' The Canzers looked at Atlan and his words seemed to evoke a forgotten feeling within them. He saw the quick change in their expression from deathly fear to fearless zealousness. ''We long¡­.to belong¡­'' ''We long¡­.to belong¡­'' ''We long¡­.to belong¡­'' It was as if he awakened them by saying those words. They couldn''t stop the ritualistic repetition of those words even if he tried to intimidate them. They kept repeating those words to no end. Something will happen. I''m sure of it, Atlan thought. It had something to do with the words ''we long to belong.'' But he couldn''t ask anything to the Pseudo Canzers because they continued to recite those words mindlessly. With no other choice left, Atlan closed his eyes and focused on his shoulder blades until he felt that familiar numb and prickly feeling on his back. It wasn''t long before pure white wings unfolded behind him accompanied by a heavenly glow. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As soon as it appeared, the air got heavier and the Canzers woke up from their stupor. The fear of the angels brought them back from those crazy thoughts. ''What does that mean?!'' Atlan shouted to them. He didn''t know if intimidation worked on the Pseudo Canzers. They could very well be too afraid of the angels to even speak, but Atlan hoped that they would be threatened enough to tell the truth. Almost all of the Pseudo Canzers felt their throats tighten as the pressure prevented them from even taking a single breath. This left them unable to talk or even think about anything. Atlan thought that he failed. Fortunately, there was one Pseudo Canzer with a strong willpower who was able to overcome the suffocating pressure of Atlan''s Angel Wings. It was the Chimpanzee-Horse. It opened its mouth, with its jaws still shaking and stuttering from fear, and uttered a high-pitched screech. As soon as Atlan heard it, his Canzer Mother Tongue mutation immediately translated it into his mind. ''It''s¡­it''s¡­it''s coming!'' Atlan took a deep breath and asked, ''What''s coming?'' The Chimpanzee-Horse kept shaking its head, as if it was struggling inside. There was a mental barrier inside its brain that prevented it from saying anything about ''that'', but at the same time, the threat of Angel power intimidated it into telling the truth. It took the Canzer a solid minute of mental struggle, shaking and knocking its head with its fists, before it finally spoke up. ''Wer¨C'' The Chimpanzee''s head exploded into a mix of violet blood, brain matter, and skull pieces. Atlan''s face was painted with blood, but his expression didn''t change. He kept his eyes open and stared at the headless body of the Canzer, hoping that it would continue what it said. Unfortunately, it was dead. It couldn''t say anything else. And before Atlan could question the other Canzers, he was surprised to see that the rest of the Canzers trapped in his Spiked Chitin Spray exploded into violet blood. But it didn''t just end there. He felt the air change. He looked around and saw the burned corpses on the floor suddenly melt into a strange brown liquid that flooded the whole warehouse. Chapter 102 - 102: Coagulate Atlan was speechless. He unfolded his Angels Wings and hovered above the shallow flood of brown liquid flowing everywhere. He didn''t know if this strange fluid was toxic or not, so he went with precaution and landed on a tall box to the side. He squatted down and observed the liquid. And as soon as he took a whiff of its smell, a musky and earthy scent hit his nose. He could only attribute this odor to smelly dogs he saw loitering the streets in Genesis City. He was worried that the flooding would get higher and trap him inside, but it seemed he worried for nothing. He looked down and saw the flood recede at a relatively faster pace than when it arrived. This was strange. The only exit to this warehouse was the exit door in front of Atlan, which would not explain how it was able to leak out at such a fast pace. The flooding receded to the point where Atlan could see the tilings on the floor. It surprised him to see that the liquid was flowing out of the tiny, almost microscopic gaps in the walls. And the liquid wasn''t flowing, it was moving! If it behaved like a normal liquid, it would flow out in all directions. But this fluid wasn''t normal. It leaked out only to the north-facing wall. It was as if it was attracted by something out in the distance. Atlan activated his SR class Thermal Vision LifeSkill and saw the brown liquid turn into a cool blue color. This meant that the liquid was cold, ice cold, which was very typical of Canzers. As he looked around, he was surprised to find that he was able to see through walls with his Thermal Vision much further than he thought. He could even see the other Pseudo Canzers out of the shopping mall with much more clarity and variation in their body temperature. So this is the difference between A class and SR class¡­ Back then, he couldn''t see past thick walls and far distances. But because he upgraded it to SR class, it was as if he gained a vision that could see through everything. He followed the direction of the flowing liquid as he flew with his Angel Wings out of the warehouse. He made sure to just barely hover above the liquid to make sure that no one saw him. And using his Thermal Vision, he was sure that there were no witnesses to his secret power. With his enhanced vision, he saw the cool-blue liquid flowing from all over the place. The warehouse wasn''t the only outflow of the brown liquid. He saw streams of liquid flowing out from houses, gutters, and the streets as it all pooled towards the north. He returned to the main track and saw all the corpses that Yasmine and the others killed. It all turned into a brown liquid as well. SPLAT!...BOOM!....SPATUNK! The sounds of fleshy explosions caught his attention. Behind two buildings on the other side of the street, he saw multiple Pseudo Canzers blow up into a brown mist that soon pooled together and flowed towards one place. The liquid all converged towards the Colosseum! He squinted his eyes. He faintly saw a convergence of heat signatures near the base of the Colosseum. He recognized them. Yasmine and the others were already near the entrance of the Colosseum but they didn''t enter it. No, more like they couldn''t. He moved forward and saw that the liquid moved faster and faster as they got closer to their destination. Atlan retracted his Angel Wings and used his legs to keep up with their speed. If he used his mutation, he would risk getting seen by the others. Running through the streets as fast as he could, he finally came close enough to see everyone''s expressions. Razer, Yasmine, Sola, and the rest of the competitors stood frozen as they looked in front of them¨Ctowards where the brown liquid was converging. Everyone watched as the strange fluid pooled into two stumps that grew upwards. It wasn''t long before everyone realized that these weren''t stumps, they were legs! Rudimentary toes formed outwards, similar to humans, but the nails had sharp claws at the ends. The liquid flowed up the legs, slowly filling in the gaps and creating more volume as it grew bigger. They had to look up. Even though it was already the size of a human, it still wasn''t finished forming the legs. They dreaded the eventual size that this monstrosity would turn into. It wasn''t long before the torso and two arms formed, which was as long as the legs. Its back was hunched and had strangely human muscles, with pecs, abs, and delts featured prominently on its body. But as the strange brown liquid covered more and more of its body, it started to develop thick and prickly fur that covered every inch of its bare skin. As the liquid flowed up to its stump of a head, it grew more and more fur around its neck like a mane. Its head grew more and more complex, gaining a prominent snout like that of a dog''s, but with sharp fangs on the front that were almost as long as a human''s torso. It formed pointy ears on the top of its head, like that of an alert canine. More and more liquid flowed up from its body and covered its entire head in the same black fur that contrasted the vastly white color of the Remedium. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Finally, the brown liquid molded into two drops that settled atop its prominent snout, creating eyes that slowly gained clarity and consciousness. Everyone held their breaths as its black eyes suddenly turned red as if it finally awoke from its long slumber. Its scarlet eyes looked down at the humans below. Even though they were Saviors in their own right, they couldn''t help but get weak in the knees when this towering monster as tall as a two-story building looked down at them as if they were puny ants. It opened its large snout and looked up at the sky, towards the black full moon up above. ''AWOOOOOO!'' Chapter 103 - 103: Herculean punch The surviving Genesians and Olympians looked at the wolf-like monster with trepidation in their hearts. They thought that fighting against thousands of Pseudo Canzers was already bad enough, but it turned out they underestimated the severity of this disaster. "What is that?!" "No way¡­no way¡­" "I can''t fight anymore!" Most of them were already dead tired after fighting through the horde of Canzers on their way to the Colosseum. They weren''t like Yasmine or Razer who were talented enough to still have the energy to fight. They were talented, but they weren''t special. They could barely even activate their LifeSkills anymore. Yasmine didn''t waste any time as she unsheathed her sword and launched another flaming dragon at the wolf-like monster. It immediately hit its torso and burst through the other side, creating a scorched and burned hole. The others regained their strength when they saw that. It looked like this monster was weaker than they thought. They didn''t hesitate any longer. They used the last of their strengths to bring out their LifeSkill powers and kill the wolf-like Canzer. A myriad of attacks landed on the Canzer''s body, with each hit pushing the monster back. Their combined attacks took large chunks out of the wolf monster''s body until it was completely mangled beyond recognition. It couldn''t even do anything as it fell on its knees and crashed to the ground. But strangely enough, it didn''t bleed violet blood like typical Canzers. It simply died as if its body was completely empty. "Yes!" they screamed in exhaustion. "We can go back home." But despite celebrating, they didn''t move forward. They all realized that Yasmine, Razer, and Sola, the three most talented and strongest people in their group, still held their battle stances as they faced the Canzer. A sense of dread filled their hearts. And just as they feared, they suddenly saw more brown liquid come out from the corner. The sewers and gutters overflowed with brown liquid and flowed toward the mangled body of the wolf monster. The brown liquid trickled up towards the monster''s burns and injuries, filling it up with new meat. It wasn''t long before the Canzer regained its energy and used its long arms to prop itself up, leaving only claw marks on the ground. But before it could even recuperate for a second, Sola glowed a bright light as she concentrated her power on her palms. A solid beam of scorching hot light landed on the Canzer''s body at the speed of light. Her attack was like a spotlight as it used the concentrated heat of the sun. Its fur immediately caught on fire and easily spread out towards its whole body. The standing wolf-like monster flailed its arms around trying to extinguish the fire, but Sola kept her palms facing the monster, not letting it escape away from her beam of light. All its fur burned, leaving nothing but its naked skin in contact with the fire. It wouldn''t be long until its innards were cooked and charred. Everyone thought that the Canzer would finally die now that its entire body was blazing in a billowing fire. But it didn''t. They were horrified to see brown liquid flowing out of the walls and onto the monster''s feet. The liquid crawled up and extinguished the fire, making its fur as good as new. ''AWOOOOO!'' The howl sent a shiver down their spines. A thought crept into their minds. What if we can''t kill this monster? What if we can''t go home? And in their darkest moment, the man who they considered to be the strongest person in the group finally moved. Razer Wrekton was a genius from the Olympus mountain ranges. They all saw him kill hundreds of Pseudo Canzers all by himself! If there was anyone that could kill this wolf-like monster, then it would be him. He was their Savior! Kneel He opened his mouth and used his ''Word of the All-Father'' mutation to command this Canzer to submit to him. A sense of hope glimmered in everyone''s eyes as they saw the Canzer fall to its knees, unable to resist Razer''s words. It struggled, but it could not break through from the dominating words that came from Zeus the All-Father. BZZZZTTTTT Golden lightning and electricity enveloped Razer''s hand, slowly forming a tip at the end of his hand. This was his second mutation called ''Righteous Halberd of the Skies''. He barely used this mutation in the race because he needed to fight at close range for it to be effective. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lightning streaked out of his arm as if it couldn''t wait until it devoured its next prey. Razer didn''t make it wait long as he jumped up and struck his halberd right in the middle of its chest. ''AWOOO'' it cried in pain. Electricity coursed through every part of its body, invading the veins and using it to deliver its electricity. Razer intended to boil its body until all the liquid in its body turned into nothing but mist. He hoped that this would prevent it from recovering from its injuries, but he was surprised to find out that he couldn''t burn the liquid. It was much stronger than him. Then I''ll divide and conquer, Razer thought. He retracted his electric halberd as he fell to the monster''s feet. Wasting no time, he went for its legs and slashed it with his mutation. He targeted the joints and he dismembered it with ease. And he didn''t stop there. He jumped up and with each thrust, he crippled the monster till it separated into its limbs. The arms fell, followed by its torso, then its head. He knew that the brown liquid would soon piece the Canzer''s body back together, so he finally used his 4th stage Student LifeSkill to destroy the monster beyond what it could regenerate. His arms grew twice their size, with his biceps ballooning in volume. "Herculean Punch!" he shouted. He struck down on the Canzer''s separated leg. A shockwave exploded around them as soon as his enormous fists hit the monster''s fur. Everyone steadied themselves as a huge gust of wind followed Razer''s punch, sending street rubble flying everywhere. When they regained their senses, they saw a large crater from where Razer stood. The leg was nowhere to be seen. But he didn''t stop there. Razer jumped up above the rest of the Canzer''s body parts. He smiled as he stretched both of his arms behind him like wings. Then, he unleashed ten more full-powered punches that created increasingly intense shockwaves that sent everything flying away. Chapter 104 - 104: No use Dust and debris filled the air as Razer''s barrage of punches destroyed everything around him, leaving only a large crater where the street used to be. The entire intersection was destroyed, with the edges of the buildings crumbling and turning into rubble. All the other Saviors braced themselves from the shockwave alone. If the aftereffect was already that destructive, then they couldn''t imagine being the recipient of his furious fists. The Olympians praised their genius. "Wow! As expected of the man blessed by Zeus! His fury hath no bounds!" "I knew he''d be able to pull through! That''s our genius!" "I must admit as a Genesian, he''s very impressive!" Once everything settled, Razer stood in the middle of the crater with his arms turning back to normal. He unleashed his strongest attack onto the Canzer hoping that he would destroy it beyond molecular level. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. SLOSH Unfortunately, the sound of a very viscous liquid dripped from the walls and caused their hopes to fall with it. Their faces full of triumph were soon replaced by despair. Some couldn''t help themselves and fell on their knees. "No way¡­it''s a lie, right?" They saw the strange brown liquid gather into the center and molded into the strangely humanoid body of the wolf-like Canzer. It kept piling up upon one another. It didn''t stop. It was as if the liquid was coming from an endless pool that appeared out of nowhere. Seeing the Canzer reform its own body multiple times like this sucked out the life of everybody. "How Is it¡­." "No way¡­.how?!" They couldn''t help but hold their breaths when they saw the toe stubs forming on the legs of the Canzer. It was humongous! Just the big toe itself was already towering over a human! The monster was growing bigger! It already developed at the height it was before, but now, it wasn''t even half done with the legs! It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that the full form of this beast would be more than thrice as tall as the one before. The full form of the Canzer towered over every building in the streets. It must be mentioned that this district was only a few blocks away from the City Center. The buildings here were towering skyscrapers with some of them reaching almost a hundred floors! Yet the wolf-like Canzer still towered over all of these buildings like it was a miniature copy. ''AWOOO!'' Once the wolf got back to its form, it howled at the moon and caused a shockwave that escalated into an earthquake. Razer raised both of his arms and protected his head from the wind. The smile on his face disappeared. He looked up and felt his own body begging him to leave. His instinct wanted to escape! Just from the sheer size of this Canzer alone, he knew that it was not something that he could defeat so easily. It wasn''t just because of its colossal size, but also the fact that even if they somehow defeated this monster again, it would probably grow stronger and larger than it was before. It was only now that all of them were certain. This was a real Canzer. This wasn''t a Pseudo Canzer created by humans for practice. This was the genuine thing that threatened even the Gods. Sola looked up. "It''s a Destruction Canzer. it will keep regenerating with no limit." Destruction Canzers were one of two types of Canzer and they have the unique ability to regenerate their injuries endlessly. Human Saviors would only feel exhaustion if they tried to fight a Destruction Canzer with no breaks. That was the reason why Operators were needed in tandem with Vanguards. An Operators'' construct was specifically made to counter a Destruction Canzer''s regenerative ability. Only then would the Vanguards be able to kill the Canzers. Unfortunately for Razer and the others, they had no such construct. After all, this wasn''t a mission. They didn''t plan to fight against a Destruction Canzer when they entered this Pocket Remedium; nobody did. Just as they were all realizing the magnitude of this disaster, the Wolf-like Canzer moved. It raised one of its arms, showing its sharp claws that protruded out of its thick fur. The claws were as large as a semi-trailer truck. A single strike could obliterate a mountain¡ª-they dreaded to imagine what it would do to a human. "Run!" Sola and Yasmine shouted at the same time. The rest of the Saviors were too stunned to move and only started to back away once they saw Sola and Yasmine backing away. Then, it happened. It was almost instantaneous as it brought its claws down towards Razer. The Olympian genius already manifested his ''Righteous Halberd of the Skies'' as soon as he saw the Canzer move. But he was still too slow. He was caught off guard when the giant claw ''arrived'' just in front of him with no warning at all. He couldn''t even see what happened, not even a blur. Razer''s body flew outwards like a rocket, crashing through multiple buildings. His momentum didn''t stop until he went through an entire district of skyscrapers. Everyone went pale. Sola and the rest of the Olympians couldn''t believe their eyes when they looked at the bloodied and bruised body of Razer. He had glass shards, rubble, and blood all over his body as he crashed onto the wall. He had a moment of strength as he looked around, but lost consciousness soon after that. Sola''s entire world tumbled. Razer was the strongest one out of everyone, yet he was taken out with just one hit. "Get a hold of yourself!" Yasmine pushed Sola forward as an entire top chunk of the buildings plummeted towards them. Small rubble fell like rain. The Canzer''s claws sliced through the buildings like it was cheese. "It''s no use¡­" Sola muttered. "What are you talking about? We just have to work together and kill it!" "No¡­that''s not something we can kill¡­its difficulty is beyond us." "How difficult?" Yasmine asked. Sola took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. "The Specialist realm¡­" Chapter 105 - 105: Why destroy? Atlan looked at the colossal Canzer in the distance. He witnessed how it got bigger and stronger with each death it experienced. He saw a constant flow of brown liquid flowing towards the Canzer even though it hadn''t experienced any injury as of yet. Everyone was already too terrified to look at the Canzer. They didn''t notice that it was still getting bigger and bigger through the constant flow of brown liquid that flowed from the buildings. Perhaps, it was for the best. If they knew it was still getting stronger, their will to survive would disappear. Atlan was the only one who witnessed everything and still felt a sense of calm. Even though he saw how easily Razer got disposed of, he never lost hope. Even if it was apparent that this was not an enemy that they could defeat. It was far too strong and it was still getting stronger each second. He could see himself injuring the colossal Canzer with his SSS class LifeSkills. Using a combination of his sniping ability ''Apocalyptic Hellfire'' and his ''Grim Reaper Physique'', he could at least hurt the Canzer from afar. And if it got close, Atlan would use his ''Angel Wings'' mutation to run away. He couldn''t get caught by those claws. Even with his enhanced durability, he knew that he wouldn''t last a second if he was slashed by those claws. But as much as he tried to think up of a way to hurt tbe Canzer, he would only end up delaying the inevitable. It could regenerate all of its injuries endlessly, while he would be exhausted just an hour into the fight. I can''t fight it. I need to find a way to survive. Thankfully, he still had a trump card under his sleeve for when things truly got too dire. His 3rd stage Student DPS LifeSkill: Cherubic Retribution was derived from Angel Power, and from his brief experience in dealing with Canzers, they all seemed to have an aversion to everything Angel related. This LifeSkill could perhaps be the solution he would need to survive that colossal monster. Just then, he suddenly saw the colossal humanoid wolf disappear into a blur. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision and saw the cold blue streak left behind by the Canzer, leading his eyes to where it went. He followed the streaks and it headed straight towards two Saviors trying to run away. They stumbled through the streets, hoping that they would run far enough into safety. He saw their body heat signatures and immediately knew that these two were inadequate to deal with a threat like the colossal Canzer. The inside of their bodies were a dim yellow, meaning that they were already too exhausted to use their LifeSkills to defend themselves. And within a split second, Atlan suddenly saw their heat signatures disappear. It was replaced by a gigantic foot as cold as ice. Atlan barely even saw a blur. Just like that they turned into a pool of blood and mush. [You have reaped the death of a Sentient Being: Human] x2 [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10] [You have received 1,000 experience] This was not the first time Atlan saw human death; there was plenty of it back in the Unclaimed Lands. But this was the first time he saw something so bloody. Most deaths he saw were from malnutrition and dehydration; they looked like they just went to sleep. Strangely enough, Atlan didn''t feel sorry for them. They died so fast¡ªtoo quick for them to even register the fact that they died. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They didn''t suffer. "Oh Gods! Look what they turned into!" "I don''t want to be like that! I don''t want to lose my SoulTime!" "It''s fine¡­it''s fine¡­Angels will save them. We just need to return their blood back to the church and they can recuperate! In fact, I think they have it easy, they don''t have to suffer in this hell¡­" Atlan didn''t let go of his gaze at the Canzer. He was the only one who knew that death meant death. There was no going back. ### Yasmine gritted her teeth and looked at Sola. "We can''t let it go rampant. We''ll have to work together to kill it." "Didn''t you hear me? We can''t!" "Are you giving up?! I''m not! I will fight till the end of my SoulTime." And just like she said, Yasmine launched flaming dragons after flaming dragons. These physical manifestations of her LifeSkill soared through the air and hit the colossal Canzer''s legs, barely burning one of its furs. But she didn''t care. She kept swinging her sword endlessly without a break. Her sword glowed bright red from the constant heat that the dragons emanated. Even when her right hand turned too exhausted to even lift her sword, she simply used her left and continued launching attack after attack. She was relentless, yet no matter how much she tried, the colossal monster treated her as nothing more than air. This frustrated her competitive blood to no end. ### Atlan surveyed the whole surroundings with his SR class Thermal Vision. It was easy to keep an eye on the Colossal canzer as its dark blue internal body temperature contrasted well with the white background of the Remedium. His Angel Wings was ready to spring out as soon as he saw the Canzer run towards him. But just then, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something he shouldn''t have. Out in the distance, he saw a couple of blue heat signatures. They weren''t human. And upon closer inspection, Atlan noticed that these were Pseudo Canzers! I thought they all died and merged into the giant Humanoid Wolf? Not only that, these Pseudo Canzers seemed to be pushing something away from the fight. Atlan ran atop the buildings from roof to roof until he landed on a building directly on top of the Centaur monsters. They didn''t notice anything strange and kept hauling something behind them. Atlan squinted his eyes and recognized what they were pushing. It was a chariot! Not only that, it was Yasmine''s chariot. Why are they doing this? Through his enhanced senses, he realized that these unintelligent Pseudo Canzers were reciting something under their breaths. He closed his eyes and ignored all the sounds of glass breaking and concrete turning into rubble all around the Pocket Remedium. ''Destroy¡­chariot¡­.destroy¡­'' Atlan didn''t know why they chose to destroy chariots right in the middle of all the chaos. Back then, they kept repeating, ''they long to belong'', which Atlan found out to mean that they wanted to become part of the colossal Humanoid Wolf. But these words didn''t make any sense. Why do they want to destroy Yasmine''s silver chariot? Chapter 106 - 106: Weakness Atlan didn''t know why these Canzers would choose to destroy a silver chariot of all things. He looked around the Pocket Remedium and saw no sign of other Pseudo Canzers present in the Pocket Remedium. Everything had been turned into that brown liquid and joined their brethren in the colossal humanoid wolf. It was as if they existed solely for the purpose of destroying this one single chariot. It was way too suspicious. Atlan jumped off the ledge of the building and landed directly on the front of the Pseudo Canzers. There were three of them, one was Owl-Horse, the other had a chameleon''s upper half, and the other an Opossum centaur. They all jumped in surprise when they saw a human suddenly appear in the middle of their route. ''Human!...fear¡­'' ''Leave¡­camouflage¡­.'' ''.....'' The three Pseudo Canzers all had different reactions. The Owl-Horse turned its head 180 degrees away from Atlan in fear and slowly backed away. The Chameleon-Horse tried to camouflage its whole body to the surrounding, but only its top half turned translucent. And the Opossum-Horse simply tried to play dead in front of him. Its horse legs tapped its backfoot in nervousness. Atlan eyebrows turned uneven when he saw these three weird Pseudo Canzers. They weren''t the smartest out of the bunch, and they especially weren''t the most aggressive ones. He was ready for a physical confrontation between them, but they didn''t even try to fight him. They already feared him even though he hadn''t even used his Angel Wings to intimidate them yet. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Why are you trying to destroy the silver chariot?'' Atlan asked in their language. The Owl-Horse''s eyes dilated in surprise. None of them expected to suddenly hear a human speaking their language! This made them extremely confused as to whether Atlan was a comrade or an enemy. ''You¡­is¡­me?'' ''Part¡­of¡­us¡­.'' Atlan didn''t know what to say. ''Yes?'' As soon as he said that, he saw them heave a sigh of relief. He could see them lower their defenses to him as if he was truly a part of them now. The Opossum-Horse finally stopped playing dead and welcomed their newcomer. ''You¡­scare¡­I'' ''Sorry about that,'' replied Atlan. He still felt incredibly weirded out that he was having a full-blown conversation with Pseudo Canzers as if he were friends with them. They moved closer to him, and Atlan had to resist the defensive urge to hit them all in the throat and knock them out in one go. He restrained himself. He still needed to know what they were trying to do. ''Why do you want to destroy this chariot?'' His words sent out a jolt of fear in their eyes. They immediately walked and pulled the chariot forward without saying another word. Atlan noticed that as they moved forward, they were getting further and further away from the colossal Humanoid Wolf. Is this related to that monster, Atlan thought. ''Weakness¡­silver¡­must¡­destroy¡­'' Weakness? Atlan''s eyes widened. Do they mean that Pseudo Canzers like them are weak against silver? No, that doesn''t make sense. If they were weak against it, then they wouldn''t go anywhere near it. It was then that a thought popped up in his mind. He pieced together the facts he observed throughout this whole ordeal. The appearance of these Pseudo Canzers was the first clue. They were the only ones left alive. Judging from their zealousness towards becoming part of the colossal monster, Atlan guessed that the Humanoid Wolf was their leader. It could command them to sacrifice themselves to heal its wounds or reform its body to become as tall as a mountain. This meant that the Canzer had full control over all the Pseudo Canzers. Then it must mean that the appearance of these three Pseudo Canzers was no mere coincidence. They were summoned here for a very specific reason. And that reason was to dispose of Yasmine''s silver chariot. Next, Atlan thought about why they would specifically target Yasmine''s chariot and not the others. If they simply wanted to get rid of the best chariot, then they should have gotten Sola''s golden chariot which had a much better durability than the silver chariot by a long shot. And they didn''t choose it because it was Yasmine''s. It was a coincidence. After all, she only rode this chariot because she was the second one to subdue a Pseudo Canzer. Then it must be because it was made out of pure silver. And if these Pseudo Canzers were summoned to get rid of the silver chariot away from the colossal Canzer, then there was only one conclusion that he could come up with. ''Is the giant humanoid wolf weak against silver?'' he asked them. When they said that, they nodded their heads fervently and tried to get rid of the silver chariot even faster than before. The quicker they finished the mission, the faster they could go back into the colossal Canzer. And by doing a great service, then it would give them more benefits than the others. Atlan finally understood why the Humanoid Wolf chose to use these Pseudo Canzers. If it wanted the fastest one to get rid of the Canzer, then it could have summoned a Cheetah-Horse to do its bidding. But it knew that by doing so, it would garner the attention of the humans. Like Atlan, they would find it suspicious. It chose these three centaurs because they were the sneakiest out of the bunch. ''Faster¡­faster¡­faster¡­'' ''Strange¡­.why no¡­fast?'' ''Push!....push!'' The three Pseudo Canzers used their hind legs to push the chariot away even faster, but they soon found it to be as heavy as a mountain. They couldn''t even move it an inch! "Thanks for the information," Atlan said in his human language. The three of them didn''t even know what happened. They were decapitated in an instant. Atlan couldn''t let them get rid of such an advantage. Now that he knew that the gigantic Humanoid Wolf had a weakness against silver, then this chariot would come extremely handy in his survival. BOOM! Just then, everyone''s eyes were suddenly pulled towards the entrance of the Colosseum. Everyone''s exhausted expressions slowly turned into one of relief once they realized who finally arrived. Chapter 107 - 107: Helpers come Atlan heard an explosion near the Colosseum. He immediately jumped up the balconies of the high-rise apartment complex beside him, slowly making his way toward the top of the building. Once he was up, he saw the Colosseum up in the distance. A large plume of smoke bloomed near the entrance and obscured the reason why it exploded in the first place. He activated his SR class Thermal Vision and saw the world change color depending on their internal body heat. He squinted his eyes and saw seven figures walking forward. Judging from their internal body heat, they were human! However, these people had brighter and hotter bodies than normal. They were practically glowing. He compared them with the other saviors below and saw that they were like a dim lamp compared to the brightness of the sun. These people were on a completely different level. Even the colossal Humanoid Wolf couldn''t help but turn its gigantic head towards these newcomers. And if Atlan saw it right, the wolf''s fur suddenly stood up as if it was alerted of a threat. ''AWOOOO!'' it howled. The dust and smoke settled. These seven new figures showed themselves in the Pocket Remedium. They all wore a green battle suit like the rest of them, but they had more distinct badges and pins on their chests. Just from their stature alone, one could see the confidence and strength they exuded like a light. Sola fell on her knees. She could finally breathe. "They''re finally here! The reinforcements!" Yasmine, on the other hand, was conflicted. She was relieved that they were finally saved from this hell, but this meant that she could not get rid of the source of her insecurity. Even with her strongest attack, the colossal monster treated her as nothing more than an ant. She barely even burned its fur! She looked at the reinforcements and recognized them. "Specialist realm Saviors¡­when will I get as strong as them?" Even though Specialists were three realms above her, she couldn''t help but compare herself to them. As much as people lauded her as a genius, she knew that she couldn''t hold a candle to these people. "We''re saved!" "Praise the gods!" "I want to leave!" The rest of the Saviors trapped in this Pocket Remedium finally peeked out of their hiding spot. In truth, the hundreds of spectators in the Colosseum all had to find their hiding spots in the Pocket Remedium. And even though they couldn''t kill any of the Pseudo Canzers by themselves, they were all Saviors in their own right. They were able to barricade themselves into safety. They barely even uttered a single breath to prevent the Canzers from sensing them. "Delinquents! Fear no more. I have come to kill this giant Destruction Canzer and stop its rampage of symptoms in the City." At the center of these seven new figures was one woman who exuded energy and vigor unlike anyone else. She took control of the situation in an instant and put hope into the eyes of all these suffering victims of this disaster. Even in the midst of these Specialist Saviors, her aura towered over everyone else. Atlan almost had to avert his eyes from how bright she looked in his Thermal Vision. ''AWOOOOO!'' The Humanoid Wolf got on all fours and charged towards the Specialists. The entire Pocket Remedium shook, with some of the damaged high-rise buildings plummeting to the ground from the vibrations alone. It then opened its giant maws and chomped into a tall clock tower, separating it from its metal foundation like it was nothing. Its sharp canine teeth tore through it like it was butter, with no obvious bending or destruction from the cut. It was as if a giant knife sliced through it. With the top of the clock tower in its jaws, it whipped its head back and threw the sharp-tipped tower towards the Specialist Saviors. Even with the entire top half of a building hurling towards them, the Specialists didn''t utter a single cry. The woman in the front simply took out her giant one-handed sword and put it in between them and the tower. Atlan thought that she would use her immense strength and skill to slice the tower into nothing but dust, but surprisingly, she didn''t even move her blade. She kept it in front of her as the tower''s sharp tip came towards her and her team. Ten meters before it could even come close, Atlan was surprised to see the tower suddenly split cleanly into two, with the two halves diverging away from the Saviors. Atlan didn''t even see anything happen with his Thermal Vision! It was as if the tower just naturally split in half. The tower exploded into metal wreckage and debris as they crashed into the Colosseum behind the Saviors. But it seemed that the tower was merely a distraction from the Canzer as it suddenly appeared in front of the Saviors with its two furry hands ready to slice everything in its path into a mince. Atlan barely saw a blur as the Canzer brought down both of its hands towards the Specialist Saviors. With how fast and how big the monster''s claws were, Atlan doubted whether he would be able to dodge away from this attack even if he used his Angel Wings mutation. But then, its two hands suddenly stopped in mid-air. And if one squinted their eyes, they would see two small figures hovering in mid-air as they caught the claws with their weapons. What Atlan saw next were blurry figures darting back and forth in the air, clashing metal with chitin claws. It looked as if the giant Humanoid Wolf was fighting a high-speed fly. Everyone was watching this fight with admiration and surprise. For some of them, this would be the first time they saw Specialist Saviors use their immense powers to fight a Canzer. However, Atlan''s eyes moved towards the entrance of the Colosseum. Only three people were fighting the colossal Canzer. The other four were left behind! It wasn''t hard to guess why they weren''t fighting alongside the others. The four of them propped up a large bullet-like object on their shoulders. Judging from the strained expressions on their faces, Atlan guessed that the object they were carrying was extremely heavy. So heavy, in fact, that it took four Specialist realm Saviors to carry it! S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But that wasn''t the most surprising part. Atlan looked at the luster of this object and compared it with the chariot. They were the exact same thing! This large bullet was made out of pure silver! Chapter 108 - 108: Heavy construct This was not a coincidence. There was no way that these Specialist Saviors brought a gigantic silver bullet into the Remedium just for nothing. They were going to use it to kill the colossal Canzer! Did they know that this gigantic Humanoid Wolf was weak against silver? That''s the only explanation. And as he observed this large bullet, he was surprised to feel a faint resonance with it. It was as if there was a part of himself in that object! His shoulder blades turned numb and prickly as the Angel Wings inside him squirmed. It also felt that brief resonance with the object, and it wanted to reunite with that feeling. There was no mistaking it; there was a tinge of Angel power in that bullet! That object was made out of silver and had Angel power within it. Those were good reasons to believe that the large silver bullet they were carrying was an Operator''s construct. These objects were specifically made by Operators to disable and counteract a Destruction Canzer''s regeneration ability. That object was the reason why Saviors were able to defeat a Canzer that healed their injuries infinitely. Does this mean that all Canzers are weak against silver? I know that Canzers are weak against Angel power. Of all the monsters I came across, all of them had an adverse reaction when they saw my Angel Wings. But now it''s clear that silver also plays a part in killing this colossal monster. But if all Canzers are weak against silver, then shouldn''t all weapons used by Saviors be made out of silver? Does it mean that only this particular Canzer is weak against silver? If that was true, then Atlan found the work of Operators a lot more interesting. If Canzers all had different kinds of weaknesses, then that meant that an Operator''s job entailed them finding out the Canzer''s weakness. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan wanted to know how they knew that silver was effective against this colossal Humanoid Wolf. Did they encounter this specific Canzer before? And if they did, then how did they know about its weaknesses? Did they go through trial and error? He only found out about that monster''s silver weakness because he understood the Pseudo Canzer''s language. Do they also understand Pseudo Canzers? After all, they were the ones who designed this Pocket Remedium and created them¡­ No matter how much Atlan wanted his questions answered, he wouldn''t be able to figure out the truth until he questioned the Operators themselves. ''AWOOOOO!'' The colossal Humanoid Wolf howled at the black moon and thrashed its claws around its body, slicing skyscrapers beside it and sending rubble and glass shards everywhere. But no matter how much it tried, it couldn''t get rid of the pesky humans flying around its body. Three Specialist Saviors worked in tandem as they attacked the humongous Canzer with great coordination and synergy. Atlan barely saw their moves, but he was able to see the remnants of their powers through his Thermal Vision. One of the Saviors attacked the body, and the other two defended against the claws. Even in the air, they moved with swift fluidity, creating depth in their attack formations. The only reason why the others were able to see the Specialist Saviors fighting the Canzer was because of the huge gashes and burns that appeared all over the Canzer''s body. There were times when huge chunks of the Humanoid Wolf''s body got taken out without any sign of a cut at all. Their impressive show of power raised the hopes of the survivors witnessing the fight. However, try as they might, they couldn''t overcome the Canzer''s regenerative ability. With each injury and wound it sustained, brown liquid flowed from the streets and replenished the Canzer''s growing body endlessly. It was clear that they needed the help of other Specialist Saviors if they wanted to kill this Canzer. After all, there were only three of them attacking the Canzer! Usually, a group of five or six Saviors was needed to fight a Canzer like this. However, the other four people were stuck carrying the large silver bullet through the streets. Usually, an Operator''s construct was carried by a porter like Atlan. After all, it weighed hundreds or thousands of kilograms at a minimum. If a normal Savior were to carry this in the Remedium, then they would be too burdened to traverse the dangerous terrain. That was why porters were needed. They had the proper LifeSkill to still be agile even if they had tons of weight on their shoulders. Those four Saviors weren''t porters. As far as Atlan knew, porters were very rare in the City, which was why he was warmly welcomed when he was drafted here. The only other person he knew who was a porter was Garuun, who was also in the Specialist realm. Why isn''t he here to help them? Atlan pondered. Because there was no porter, four Saviors were needed just to haul the very heavy silver bullet into the Pocket Remedium. And because of that, they couldn''t contribute to the fight. "Is it ready?" the leader of the Specialist Saviors flew towards the four Saviors carrying the bullet. "Yes. We''ll install it ASAP." Once they saw that the Canzer was in the construct''s effective range, they put down the silver bullet in the ground. The construct crashed onto the street, destroying the concrete on the ground and creating a small crater below it. They didn''t have to do anything else. The construct activated itself as strange curvy lines appeared on the surface of the silver bullet. It glowed a golden light that Atlan recognized to have the same ethereal glow as his Angel Wings. The rounded end of the silver bullet suddenly floated up and aimed itself at the rampaging Humanoid Wolf in the distance. The Canzer was still too preoccupied with dealing with the two Specialist Saviors flying around its face to notice that a bullet was aimed directly at its chest. "Good. I''m getting tired of this. Once its regeneration is disabled, we can finally get serious," the leader of the Specialist Saviors stretched her body. Even though they were slicing buildings in half and crushing steel structures like it was nothing, it turned out that they were still holding themselves back! Why would they waste energy if the Canzer was going to regenerate anyway? Chapter 109 - 109: Bullet chance Atlan watched the large bullet intently. He was drawn in by the emanating Angel power within it. The resonance between his bloodline and this silver bullet was getting more and more intense with each second as the construct finished its preparation. It wasn''t long before Atlan felt the power peaking outside the bullet which was almost bursting at the seams. After a few seconds, the flat end of the bullet erupted in an invisible power that launched it toward its intended destination within the Canzer''s body. The power was so strong that a shockwave exploded behind it, causing dust and smoke to litter the air. The colossal Humanoid Wolf was fast, but it couldn''t evade such a surprise attack. It looked down towards the source of the explosion and immediately felt the instinct to dodge. But it was already too late. The silver bullet lodged itself in the Canzer''s chest before it could even think about trying to escape. ''AWOOOO!'' it cried in pain. It tried to claw the silver bullet out of its chest, but it only served to push the bullet deeper into its body. The Canzer felt weak. Its canine-like knees trembled as it felt the poison spreading inside its body. The cuts and lacerations all over its skin were no longer regenerating as fast as it wanted. It tried to cling to the skyscrapers to prevent itself from falling, but its strength proved far too powerful as the buildings crumbled upon contact and soon fell with the Canzer. DUGSHHH It thrashed around and clawed its way back up. It knew that it couldn''t let the humans have the advantage in this fight. If it was going to survive, then it would have to kill those pesky humans. "This is where you die, filthy Canzer." The leader of the Specialist Saviors raised her one-handed sword and aimed it at the colossal Humanoid Wolf. ''AWOOO!'' The Canzer got on all fours and mimicked an actual wolf. It ran through the skyscrapers, shrugging off metal and glass shards around its body. It opened its jaws prematurely and a strange red ball of energy suddenly appeared on top of its tongue. The Student realm Saviors watching the whole fight unfold couldn''t help but shudder at the pressure that the ball of energy emanated on the ground. Just from the vibrations and the ''heaviness'' of the attack alone, they knew that it could destroy an entire district into nothing but a crater. If this was aimed at Atlan, his only escape would be to use his Angel Wings and soar up in the skies. But even then, he didn''t know if he would survive the explosion afterward. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The leader of the Specialist Saviors kept a cool expression on her face even though the red ball of energy was aimed straight at her face. She raised her sword. Atlan''s eyes widened as he saw a manifestation of a giant sword taller than the colossal Canzer appear above her. It was the same one-handed sword that she used, down to the dings and scratches sustained from years and years of use. And with his Thermal Vision, he saw that this giant sword was glowing hot red! He had to avert his eyes and deactivate his Thermal Vision before his eyes turned blind. "Judgment," she uttered. At the same time, the colossal Canzer opened its jaws wide and let out a beam of blackish-red ball that sped through the air. It headed straight for the Specialist Saviors. This red ball was accompanied by black lightning that streaked through the air and burned everything in its path. A building was grazed by this red ball and it immediately got enveloped by black lightning that disintegrated everything into mere dust. Everyone held their breaths as this ball of destruction headed straight for the Specialist Saviors. With a casual move, the leader of the Saviors simply brought down her one-handed sword towards the ball. The giant manifestation of her sword hovered in the air and copied her actions. With one simple swing, her blade met the red ball of destruction. The two powers, one emanating an intense heat like the sun and the other exuding the coldness of the depths of space, battled against each other in a bid for supremacy. Black lightning tried to invade the sword, but its intense heat and glowing power burned any attempt it made. However, it wasn''t long until the sword started to cleave through the red ball of energy. It bulged as the pressure and sharpness of the blade forced it to split in half. "You can never overpower me, Canzer." The ball let out its concentrated energy outwards like a popped balloon. It lost out any power it had to try and contest against the giant sword. Its black lightning gradually became tamer until it dissipated in the air. The sword, instead of slowing down after slicing the ball of destruction, sped up and increased the power in its strike! Read new chapters at m_v-l''e|m,p| y- r A blue crescent made out of water and ice suddenly appeared on the tip of the giant sword. The Canzer was thoroughly unprepared for this moment. It never thought that the human would be able to destroy its attack in half so cleanly. Not only that, the sword still had enough energy to launch a counter-attack towards the Canzer! The colossal Humanoid Wolf skidded through the streets and immediately ran back the way it came. However, the giant water and ice crescent launched out of the blade and soared through the air. The Canzer wasn''t fast enough to outrun this attack. The crescent hit its back, sending the Canzer flying through the air kilometers away from its original location. The powerful slash created a two-meter deep gash on the streets from the center of the City all the way toward the walls where the Canzer crashed. The attack was so powerful that it sent out a gust of wind akin to a tornado. Some of the spectators of the fight felt their feet leave the ground just from the wind alone. They hung onto buildings and lamp posts to keep themselves anchored. Atlan covered his eyes as the gust of wind washed over him. He couldn''t believe how powerful Specialists were. A single attack caused untold destruction around the city. But even with that power, Atlan gazed at the Canzer out in the distance and was surprised that it was still alive. There was a large gash on its back showing bone and flesh but it still clawed the walls trying to prop itself up. However, its injuries were far too severe for it to stand up. The other Saviors would weep in despair once they saw that the Canzer was still alive. But not Atlan. It''s still alive¡­this is my chance! Atlan jumped down the building and landed right next to the silver chariot. Chapter 110 - 110: Condensed silver From his previous experiences, he knew that he''d get more experience and better odds of getting LifeSkills and Genuses if he participated in the death of a creature. It was better if he killed or assisted in a kill than simply reap the death of a creature without doing anything. And this Canzer was no simple creature. It was a monster that was probably realms higher than the Student Realm, judging alone from the fact that Yasmine couldn''t even burn its fur. Not only that, the Saviors that came in to rescue them were exuding strength that Atlan couldn''t even fathom. Reaping the death of this creature would surely bring untold rewards to Atlan. But wouldn''t it be better if he got more? If he could make it bleed a single drop, he guessed that his rewards would increase even more. The only problem with this was how he would do it. Atlan knew that if he used just his strength, he might not even pierce through the colossal Canzer''s skin. At that point, he didn''t know that it would count as participation. But he had something up his sleeve; he knew its weakness. If he used it against the Canzer, then he had a chance. Silver would be its downfall. Atlan was sure it would work. He saw it firsthand when the silver bullet pierced through the Humanoid Wolf''s chest. He looked around with Thermal Vision and saw no one near him to witness this. He activated his Physique. Black flames erupted out of his skin and surrounded him with the blackness of space itself. He felt his power multiply at least twice his original strength. He grabbed the ledge of the chariot and saw it bend to the shape of his fingers. Without much pressure, Atlan tore out a piece of the silver chariot and held it in his hands. He knew that this wouldn''t be enough so he kept on plucking chunks out of the silver chariot and onto his hand. Once it had turned into a small mound, Atlan began the compression process. With his other hand, he started to squeeze all of the silver chunks together with ease. Some of them bulged out, so he used his body to prevent them from turning into a flat shape. He needed a small pellet that could fit in his slingshot. The silver shape got smaller and smaller as he increased the pressure, to the point that it almost fit the size of his palms. He used all of his strength to squeeze the element tighter until he couldn''t push it any further. He cupped it in his hands and rolled it in his palms to smoothen out any hard edges. He learned early on that pellets flew further, faster, and more accurately if they were made out of a uniform shape. The more spherical it was, the better he could control where it would hit. Soon enough, he made a solid ball of silver smaller than an egg that fit perfectly in the palm of his hands. Atlan jumped up the balconies and used it to climb up to the roof of the apartment building. Up in the distance, he saw the edges of the walls of the city. The colossal Canzer used the top of the walls to try and prop itself up, but its back muscles and joints were much too damaged to gather strength in its body. He put the silver pellet in his slingshot and aimed it up and toward the Canzer. His target was too far for him to gauge how to aim his pellet accurately. There were a lot of things he needed to consider: curve, power, and most importantly, wind resistance. Taking a deep breath, Atlan stretched the bands to his shoulders and aimed them at the colossal Humanoid Wolf. He activated his Physique LifeSkill, allowing him to stretch the bands even further. The bands glowed green as the power from his Physique transferred into potential energy. Atlan wanted to use his Sniper LifeSkill, but it would be too obvious. Everyone would want to know where that explosion of bluish-green projectile came from, and it would be easy to trace it back to his location. But if he just used physical strength to launch this silver pellet, it would go unnoticed. He let go of his grip and the silver pellet launched out of his slingshot instantly. It soared through the air, gaining height above the black clouds of the Remedium until finally coming back down at an even faster speed. However, it didn''t hit the Canzer as Atlan hoped. It went wide to the left and needed a little bit more power for it to reach its target. The wind blows from the right¡­more power¡­.curvature¡­.speed S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan knew that he wouldn''t be able to hit this shot from the start so he wasn''t disappointed. Instead, he observed everything he saw about how it deviated from his original trajectory and figured out why that happened. With all of those parameters in his head, Atlan knew that he had to counteract the wind by aiming toward the right and increasing more of his power by a little bit. He knew how to hit his target. Atlan jumped back down and immediately took more chunks out of the silver chariot. It didn''t take long for him to create another silver pellet that was even more condensed than the previous one. He spent more time polishing it and making it more spherical to make sure that it wouldn''t deviate like it did before. But just as he finished his pellet, he suddenly heard screaming from all around him. "Oh no! Run away before they catch you!" He immediately used his Thermal Vision and saw that the surviving Saviors were suddenly running away from the Colosseum. Discover stories with m,v l''e|m-p|yr He looked at where they were running away from and noticed that more people entered the Pocket Remedium without him noticing. There were at least a hundred of these people, and they all had the heat signatures of normal humans. From their uniform, Atlan figured out that they were regular soldiers, not Saviors. The uniformed men ran through the streets with their batons ready. They tried to catch those who were running away. "Stop now, delinquents. You are all in violation of the Genesis City code. No one is allowed to go inside the Remedium unless sanctioned by the HeadQuarters. You are all under arrest." Chapter 111 - 111: Catch em At first, Atlan didn''t know why they were running away. Didn''t they want to be saved? But when he heard the soldier''s voice, he finally understood why. It turned out that they didn''t want to get caught and thrown into jail. Lizzie told him that all non-essential Remedium travel was forbidden as long as the HeadQuarters still hadn''t figured out why anomalies kept happening in the Remedium. However, Obek Orioness didn''t care about that and continued to host a party in their Pocket Remedium. He thought that the possibility of an anomaly happening was slim to none, that''s why they didn''t care about stepping into the Pocket Remedium. But as it turned out, they should have heeded the HeadQuarter''s warning. Something bad did happen. And now, there were people dead. Pseudo Canzers rampaged through the streets until a colossal Humanoid Wolf appeared and caused even more mayhem. All of the surviving spectators that hid around the city for safety as well as the competitors both Genesians and Olympians, all ran away from the soldiers like they were Canzers. They knew that if they were caught, they''d be punished with an insufferable fate. The Olympians may get a slap on the wrist, but the Genesians would get the full brunt of the consequences. The soldiers ran in threes as they cornered the delinquents. Their batons buzzed as electricity flowed and streaked out in the air. Everyone ran away from those batons, but one unfortunate man tripped from the rubble in the streets. He was already injured trying to run away from the Pseudo Canzers, so he couldn''t escape fast enough. The soldiers mercilessly hit their batons on the injured man. Electricity coursed through their veins and disabled his autonomy. He couldn''t move. He couldn''t even gather any energy in his Soul System to try and use his LifeSkill. Not that he would. Fighting back would get him deeper into trouble. The soldiers tied him up and carried him back towards the Colosseum. Atlan looked around and saw at least twenty delinquents already imprisoned. The Olympians, on the other hand, turned themselves in and the soldiers made sure not to use any force towards them. They were given express instructions to not lay a finger on these visitors. More and more soldiers flooded the streets in search of more delinquents to catch. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at the silver pellet in his hands. He knew that this would be his last chance to hit the colossal Canzer. He didn''t hesitate. He put the pellet in his slingshot and aimed up at the sky. He kept the parameters of the environment in his mind, making sure to account for the distance, the air resistance, the wind, and also the curvature of the pellet''s trajectory. This time, he wouldn''t miss. He let go of the pellet in his slingshot and it soared through the air and pierced through the black clouds. Atlan didn''t even look at where it was going. He looked away. He knew that all of his calculations were correct. Just then, he suddenly heard footsteps coming towards him. "Hey you! Surrender now and we won''t have to electrocute you. Trust me, it''s better if you give up now." Three soldiers appeared from the side of the street and slowly approached him. Not only that, he also noticed three more pairs of footsteps behind him in stealth. They had him surrounded. Atlan didn''t move and kept his hands down. It didn''t seem like he was going to resist arrest. This made the soldiers feel at ease. They were going to catch him. Even if he tried to run, he would only find another three soldiers behind him. Atlan didn''t feel that worried. But just then, he felt a warm touch grasp his hands accompanied by a floral scent that filled his nose. He looked back and was surprised to see a familiar golden-haired girl holding his hands. "Yasmine?" But her only reply to him was; "Run." With only that warning, she dragged Atlan towards the buildings in front of them. She used the sword in her other hand and sliced the door into multiple pieces, allowing them to pass through the building and onto the other street. "Stop! You''ll only make this worse for yourselves!" The soldiers tried to catch up to the two, but how could they compare to the speed of the S class genius Yasmine and the Star Porter Atlan? With their full speed, Yasmine dragged Atlan through the buildings as they evaded capture by the soldiers. Atlan felt the warm touch of her hands. She didn''t let him go even as they ran. "Why were you just standing there? Don''t you know that if they catch you, they''ll still taser you and bring you in?" Atlan didn''t know anything about it. "The punishment for a crime like this is a blacklist. You won''t be considered for a mission for months or even years! And with no Training Hall Remedium, you''ll stagnate in your training." She looked back at him with cute annoyance in her expression. She was going to reprimand him for such indifference towards a punishment. But when she looked back at him, she only saw a smile on his face. "Were you worried about me?" A red tint appeared on her cheeks. She immediately looked forward and let go of his hands; she didn''t want him to feel her body heat up when she looked at him. "N¡ªno, I wasn¡ªI was not!" She wanted to strangle him for thinking such things, but that would only put them face to face. She couldn''t handle being so close to a rascal like him. It was too¡­intimate. But just then, Atlan grabbed her shoulders and stopped her in her tracks. He pulled her closer to him and she could feel his body on her back and the warmth he exuded. Her entire face turned tomato red. She wanted to scream at him for moving too fast, but he simply put his hand on her mouth and held her even closer. Chapter 112 - 112: Lacking construct Atlan pointed towards the corner where two more soldiers came with their batons ready to electrocute delinquents. They almost got caught. Thankfully, Atlan saw them with his Thermal Vision and stopped Yasmine from showing herself in the street. Yasmine held her breath as Atlan held her mouth. They stayed in close proximity until the two soldiers turned the corner and disappeared. "That was close," Atlan muttered. He looked at her with a worried expression. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Are you okay?" Atlan could practically see her heart beating out of her chest. He didn''t think that she would be this nervous about almost getting caught by the soldiers. The punishment for this crime must be harsher than I thought. Of course, the reason why she was nervous was because of him. This was not the first time she had someone close to her body because she frequently practiced wrestling and other sports. But this was the first time it felt too close. Their sweat was practically mixing! She quickly pulled herself away from him. She ran forward without even looking back, leaving Atlan confused as to what he did wrong. ### The Specialist Saviors all floated over the body of the colossal Humanoid Wolf. It struggled to get up and crawl away from the humans. Now that the other four were unburdened by the weight of the construct, they finally joined the fight. But it seemed that the fight was already over before they could even have the chance to show their strength. "I was all worked up for nothing!" "Just when the soldiers finally herded the delinquent kids, I thought we''d finally get the opportunity to practice." "I almost want these kids to start another party again so that we can come and kill some Canzers. Having a ban on Pocket Remediums is making me itch!" They all looked over to their leader and saw that she was looking down at the colossal Canzer with a serious expression. They thought that she''d be celebrating this easy win by now. Instead, she kept a hard grip on her one-handed sword with an intensity she only reserved for missions. "Ninth? Is something wrong?" Ninth, the leader of the Specialist Saviors, didn''t take her eyes off the Canzer as she replied to her team. "Look at its shoulders." The colossal Canzer had a gaping wound on its back from its right shoulder down to its waist. The laceration was so deep that they could see the creature''s spine from up above. They didn''t see anything wrong with it. "Are we supposed to see something?" But Ninth saw something. "That wound was longer." It was only when they floated down and got a closer look did they finally see the problem. There was a small stream of brown liquid flowing from the ground and trickling up the shoulders of the giant Canzer. These droplets got absorbed by the Humanoid Wolf''s injuries and slowly replenished its destroyed flesh. It was slow and it wasn''t enough for the Canzer to recover to its full strength any time soon, but the fact that it was still regenerating was very disconcerting for all of them. This wasn''t their first time dealing with Destruction Canzers. They knew that once the Operator''s construct was launched, then the monster''s regeneration capabilities were completely disabled. But this particular colossal Humanoid Wolf was still clearly healing its injuries! This shouldn''t happen at all! "But how?!" "The construct is still embedded into its chest. It shouldn''t be regenerating!" "Ninth, what''s happening?" The leader of the Specialist Saviors took a deep breath. "The Operators made a mistake. The construct is missing something." "Oh my gods!" "What''s been happening with the Quills lately? They seem to be messing up more often than not." Ninth held her hand up and stopped the slander. She knew that the Operators had no malicious intent with their mistakes. Weird things had been happening ever since that solar event, and even the top Operators had no idea why this was happening. And blaming them for their shortcomings won''t stop the problems. "They didn''t have time to prepare properly," Ninth explained. "HeadQuarters rushed this mission because there are kids trapped here that need our help." "But still¡­how are we going to kill this Canzer if it keeps regenerating?" Ninth took a deep breath and answered. "We keep killing it. Tell the soldiers that they need to inform HeadQuarters about this. We need the Operators to solve this fast." Just then, they suddenly saw the buildings around them shake. ''AWOOO!'' Surprisingly enough, the colossal Canzer regained enough strength to finally stand up by itself. It buried its claws onto the walls and used it to prop itself up. Its entire body was shaking as it forced itself to keep its back straight and howl at the black moon. "Damn. It recovered." "Ninth, permission to go all out?" The leader shook her head. She could feel that there were still some kids hiding around the buildings trying to evade capture. Unleashing all of their powers would surely destroy the city even more and bury the unfortunate kids under tons and tons of rubble. They can''t use their real strength. Using a fraction of their power was already a disadvantage by itself but it seemed that the Canzer gave itself an even bigger advantage to top it all off. "Umm¡­guys? You have to look at this." Slowly but surely, they all saw the Canzer grow larger as more and more brown liquid flowed up its body. It was gaining more and more strength as the time passed. "We have to kill it now before it gets any bigger!" "Let''s just go all out! Those kids are delinquents anyway. They deserve to lose their SoulTime." Ninth held on to her sword as she tried to think up a solution to stop this Canzer from getting any bigger. She could feel it. It was getting stronger and stronger by the second, slowly catching up to their collective strength. She had no choice. She had to break protocol and command her team to let loose before things got too dangerous. But just then, out of the corner of everyone''s eyes, they suddenly saw a thin line appear in the sky and headed straight towards the Canzer. Ninth enhanced her eyes and looked at what it was. Her eyes widened. It was a silver projectile. Chapter 113 - 113: Hubris This silver projectile was almost microscopic compared to the sheer size of the colossal Humanoid Wolf. It was almost imperceptible. But the sharp eyes and instincts of the Canzer allowed it to see the oncoming projectile with ease. It looked at the puny humans below and saw that it came from none of them. If it was, then it wouldn''t have been this weak. The Canzer followed the trajectory of the silver bullet as it arced through the air and knew that it was headed straight for its head. Even though it was fast, for Canzers and Saviors of this level, it was as slow as a snail. The power behind it was almost non-existent as it lost most of its power just traveling at such great distances. There was no magic or special power bestowed on the projectile, just pure brute strength. The Canzer almost couldn''t believe that the humans thought that this pathetic attack would even scratch its majestic body. It wouldn''t even get past a single fur. Distraction, the Humanoid Wolf thought. This was a mere parlor trick from the humans to draw its attention away from them. The Canzer kept its focus on the Specialist Saviors below. They might be puny, but they packed quite a punch. However, when it looked at the humans, it saw that they were also looking at the projectile coming towards the Wolf''s head. It wasn''t even going to pay attention to such trivial matters. But then, as the projectile rocketed towards its head, the Canzer realized that this projectile was no mere rock. It was made out of silver! As small as it might be, silver was the bane of its existence. Its fur shot up in panic as the Canzer tried to dodge away from the projectile. But it seemed to have forgotten the weakness of having a gigantic body. It may possess untold strength, but that comes at the cost of agility and speed. The silver pellet shot through the gap between its eyes and its skin, embedding itself deep inside its skull. The Humanoid Wolf froze in place. It had its arms up in the air, stuck in the moment where it tried to swipe away the silver projectile from its face. Everyone watched as the Canzer''s colossal body fell backward like a statue that was pushed over. The monster could do nothing as it fell on its back right on top of the walls. The ground shook as its gigantic body crashed on the ground, sending rubble flying everywhere. But in the midst of all the metal crashing and concrete exploding, a single crack resounded throughout the Pocket Remedium. The Specialist Saviors all had their jaws wide open as they looked at the listless body of the Canzer. There was no mistaking it. The monster was dead. It''s spine was split in half! They couldn''t believe what happened. The energy and pressure they were feeling from the Canzer were gone entirely as if they never existed in the first place. It wasn''t recovering nor was it regenerating. It was dead. "What just happened?!" "I don''t know¡­" "Ninth, did you do something?" She shook her head. Everyone looked at each other and none of them admitted that they used their powers. But somehow, the Canzer was dead. It made no sense. "That means that it''s the silver projectile that killed it," Ninth muttered in the silence. "Ey, ey, no way!" "That''s simply not possible." S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "We all saw what it was. Even if it was made out of silver, it didn''t have enough power to kill a Canzer of that level. That was a Specialist-level Canzer, you know!" But Ninth was sure that it was the silver pellet that dealt the final blow to the monster. It somehow did enough damage to the Canzer and caused it to fall to its back and break its spine in half, killing it instantly. "We injured it to the point of near-death, but it was the silver projectile that caused its death. It used the brown liquid to make itself bigger and stronger instead of healing its injuries thinking that it can kill us first before we can kill it. What a stupid move." Everyone accepted Ninth''s explanation, but it still didn''t explain how that silver projectile could cause the Canzer to stumble in the first place. Its fur and hide were too thick for such a weak projectile to penetrate through, even if it was through the vulnerable gaps in its body. Just then, one of the soldiers called out to the Saviors above. "An Operator is here to see you," he said. Ninth looked back and saw a bespectacled black-haired woman wearing a blue battle suit flying towards them. Unlike the Specialist Saviors, she used the rockets on her feet to fly. "It''s an honor to meet the Inquisitor, Miss Pterina," Ninth greeted her. Pterina Pterodinus was the Operator who questioned Atlan when he awoke in the church. "The honor is all mine, Ninth, but we don''t have time to chit-chat. I''m here to deliver the new Canzer Report. However, the new construct is delayed and will be delivered a short while later. You will have to fight the Canzer for a little while longer." Pterina handed the stone tablet to Ninth. It was only then that she noticed that all seven of them were looking at her with a weird expression. "Why is no one fighting the Canzer?" she asked. "Because it''s dead." "Dead?! How?" "That''s what I''m trying to find out," Ninth said as she looked at the stone tablet in her hands. The Canzer Report indicated that they were fighting against a Destruction Canzer with a species of a Werewolf. This was what they received from the previous Canzer Report, but that was clearly missing something. The previous report didn''t account for the Canzer to be a subspecies of a giant. The way to disable a Werewolf''s regeneration was through a silver bullet to the chest. However, this was no normal Werewolf Canzer. This was a Giant Werewolf Canzer. And the weakness of a Giant was their hubris. This meant that in order to defeat a Giant Werewolf Canzer, then they would have to fire the silver bullet to its chest while it underestimated them¨Cwhile it was arrogant and prideful. Her thoughts pulled back to the silver projectile and pieced together the truth. The Canzer died because it underestimated the silver projectile! Chapter 114 - 114: Ninth name Ninth couldn''t believe it. Was it pure luck? Or did whoever fire that projectile know about the Giant Werewolf''s weakness? They must have known that it was weak against silver since they used it as ammo. She followed the projectile''s trajectory and saw that it came from the City Center. It was fired from an incredibly long distance! No kid at the low Student stage could ever have the strength to pull that off. The only ones that could even have the strength to do that were either that kid Razer from Olympus or Yasmine. However, none of them had LifeSkills that related to projectiles. She didn''t even sense any power from the silver pellet at all. Whoever fired it off used only their pure brute strength! She couldn''t believe that anyone would be that accurate without the use of a LifeSkill. But they did. She wanted to know who this person was. "Ninth, did you find anything about how it died?" Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She shook her head. "Not yet." Pterina fixed her eyeglasses. "This is incredibly strange. We hadn''t even finished procuring the construct, yet the Canzer is already dead. The Werewolf should have continued to be immortal." None of them could bring out a satisfying answer for the Inquisitor. She was an Operator, so she knew best about how Canzers were dealt with. No amount of pure power could overcome a Destruction Canzer''s regenerative ability. It was the reason why Operators were crucial in missions. This was the first time this happened. The weird thing about this was that no one admitted to doing it. If they brought themselves forward, then they would have been rewarded by HeadQuarters for such an amazing feat. "Could it be an Operator? How else would they have known to use silver?" Pterina shook her head at the guess. She was the only Operator sanctioned to enter the Remedium during this circumstance. She wouldn''t even be allowed to step foot near the portal if she didn''t have to deliver the new Canzer Report to the Saviors. "I''ll have to investigate this thoroughly. HeadQuarters is going to want some answers. And since you''re already here, why don''t we start with all of you." Ninth shrugged. Interrogation was normal protocol during anomalies like this, so she wasn''t surprised. Sooner or later, Pterina would have come knocking on their doors anyway. "Tell me your basic information: your name, power realm, and your mission." "My name is Neumann the Ninth. I am at the 3rd stage of the Specialist Realm and my mission is to lead my team and extinguish the dangerous Canzer in this Pocket Remedium¡­" ### Yasmine and Atlan kept their bodies low as they sprinted from street to street, making sure to avoid any soldiers patrolling the area. To leave this Pocket Remedium, they would have to find their way back to the mansion where the portal was located. However, the only way to get back to the mansion was to go through hundreds of soldiers stationed all around the perimeter. The nearer they got to the Orioness mansion, the harder it was to evade the soldiers. Yasmine was the one leading Atlan through the secluded alleyways, but she only relied on her senses to hear the footsteps of the soldiers. She couldn''t sense the soldiers standing in place. Atlan took charge of their escape once she realized that he could sense soldiers even better than her. She looked at him in surprise once he was able to sense five guards standing behind the wall to surprise the other delinquents. It was as if he could see through walls! With his accurate senses, they were able to advance through the streets and avoid the soldiers lurking to catch them. Once they caught sight of the mansion, they saw tens of soldiers guarding the gates and the doors with their electric batons activated. They had to stop for a minute and think up a solution. "Let''s see if there''s a gap in their security," whispered Yasmine. While they observed guards, they saw three individual Saviors try to run past the security. They successfully caught the guards off guard and got past the gate, but they failed to take account of the other soldiers inside the mansion. They ended up getting tased as soon as they stepped foot past the door. "Looks like we can''t run inside," whispered Atlan. Yasmine looked around the mansion and calculated that the best way to get in was through the roof or the top floors. However, the buildings close to the mansion were tightly guarded to prevent delinquents from infiltrating in. The only place with no guards was the third floor facing south. It was clear why. There were no buildings near it for an easy jump. If someone wanted to infiltrate the third floor, they would have to jump from a roof 50 meters away! Normal Student realm Saviors had no way of jumping that gap. Of course, Yasmine and Atlan were no mere Saviors. She led Atlan towards the next-door building and made their way up to the roof. Now that they were here, fifty meters looked far. Yasmine had no confidence in jumping that far, so she had to use her mutation called ''Stepping Stone'' which allowed her to step on air. Yasmine looked away from Atlan and muttered something under her breath. "Ho¡ªhold¡­my hand and¡­I''ll take you where we need to go¡­" I''m only doing this because we can''t jump that far. I''m not doing this just because I want to hold his hand¡ªnot that I want to! When she didn''t feel the warmth of his hand, Yasmine whipped her head to the side and was surprised to see no one there. She looked forward and saw Atlan on the third floor, waving at her with an annoying smile on his face. He already jumped and made it all the way there! Yasmine kept her head down as she stepped into the air and slowly made her way to the third floor. Atlan tilted his head. "Why do you look mad?" "Nothing!" Chapter 115 - 115: Kill assist Atlan didn''t know why she was so mad all of a sudden. He thought she''d be happy that they finally got to the mansion. Yasmine had no intention of ever telling Atlan why she was mad. She herself didn''t even know why she was angry. Perhaps, she just didn''t want to admit it. Instead of thinking about it further, she opened the door to the 3rd floor and went inside the mansion. Atlan followed behind her, still clueless. The third floor was full of large rooms and an expansive hallway full of paintings worshiping the Genesis God. This floor didn''t have any guards at all. After all, no one thought that the kids would ever be able to get through from the 3rd floor. When they reached the staircase that led down to the 1st floor, they immediately heard the sounds and murmurs of soldiers guarding the portal. They carefully put their heads over the railings and peaked at the situation below. Just as they expected, they stationed the most soldiers near the portal entrance. There were two on each side of the entrance, with five other guards standing near them for support. Yasmine bit her lips. She didn''t know how they were going to get to the portal without having to fight the guards. With her strength and skill, fighting five guards at the same time was no problem at all. However, resisting arrest and harming soldiers warranted an ever bigger punishment if caught. "We need a distraction," Atlan said. He took out his slingshot and armed it with his condensed soil pellet. He aimed at the priceless vase encased in glass opposite the portal entrance. The soldiers would be forced to investigate the crashing sound if he hit the vase. Yasmine wanted to stop him. She never saw Atlan use his slingshot throughout the competition and thought that he was a bad shot. After all, he was a porter with no sniping LifeSkill to help him aim. If he missed and hit a soldier, then he could get in even bigger trouble. But before she could even utter a single word, Atlan let go of the slingshot and it accurately shot the vase with no deviation at all. She was left speechless. She saw the pellet thread the needle through a small gap between the soldier''s left arm and his body without him even knowing about it. Atlan acted like this was extremely easy, but Yasmine knew how difficult that was to replicate. He can subdue Canzers. He can sense soldiers beyond walls. He can use a slingshot like a pro¡­what more can this guy do?! The more she spent time with Atlan, the more she was opened up to his talents. It was as if he was good at everything he did! She even felt like the title of ''genius'' should be given to him instead. Her newfound perspective on Atlan was conflicting for her heart. On one hand, she was impressed with his talent and admired him even more for it. However, the competitive blood within her wanted to fight him and prove who was better between them. Is he a friend or a rival? S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Mine, what are you doing? Let''s go!" Atlan took the opportunity and went down the stairs while the soldiers investigated the crashing sound. But when he looked back, Yasmine was still on the third floor. It took a moment for Yasmine to shake off her thoughts and follow Atlan to the first floor. The two guards near the portal walked forward, but they didn''t take more than a few meters away from the portal. Yasmine took out her sword and launched a miniature flaming dragon that crashed through the door near the investigating soldiers. The disturbance immediately left them rattled as they took out their batons. "Is it a Pseudo Canzer?!" "Keep your eyes peeled!" "We need reinforcements!" The two soldiers finally went past their station, which allowed Atlan and Yasmine to sneak past behind them. However, one of the soldiers thought he heard something from behind him. He immediately whipped his head back, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, Yasmine and Atlan had their bodies incredibly close as they forced themselves inside a locker near the portal. They had their bodies clasped together. Yasmine could feel Atlan slowing down his breath to stay silent. The locker got incredibly hot all of a sudden as Yasmine''s face turned beet red. She looked up at him and saw that he was also a bit embarrassed. This was the first time Atlan was so close to a girl before. He could feel it on his chest, her¡ª Why do I feel it even through armor? Don''t think about that right now. I have to focus¡­ They kept silent, with only their chests heaving up and down. Their breaths exchanged because their heads were so close together, with their noses almost touching. Outside, one of the soldiers shouted. "What are you doing? They need reinforcements!" The soldier lingered his eyes on the locker for a second, before turning forward and going towards the other soldiers. "I''m coming," he said. After a few seconds, Atlan and Yasmine both walked out of the locker and made their way to the portal. They stepped foot over the shimmering black liquid portal and finally got back to the real world. They walked out of the Pocket Remedium and into the room where the portal was based. Thankfully, there were no soldiers here. They safely went out the door and onto the streets. And just as Atlan was going to relax, he suddenly saw a few words pop up in front of him. [You have assisted in killing a Destruction Canzer: Giant Werewolf] [Due to your trait, your rewards have been multiplied by 10] [You have gained 20,000 experience] [You have gained D class Bloodline Transformation LifeSkill] [You have gained 10x F class fragments] Atlan looked at his Soul System and couldn''t keep his calm. ¡ªBerserker: (D) Bloodline Transformation ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Pre-Intern ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 10x F class fragments This new LifeSkill was in the Pre-Intern realm! Chapter 116 - 116: Do you? Atlan couldn''t even believe that his silver pellet helped kill the colossal Canzer. He knew that it was going to hit the Humanoid Wolf, but he wasn''t sure if his strength would be enough to penetrate its tough skin. As it turned out, it did. He assisted in killing the monster and got rewarded for his contribution. The only thing he thought he''d get was a lot of experience, which was true. He got 20,000 experience just from that one Canzer because it was at a higher difficulty than Atlan''s stage. He was only in the Student realm while he guessed that the Canzer was even beyond that. However, he hadn''t expected that he would get a LifeSkill from it too! And it wasn''t just any LifeSkill, it was a berserker LifeSkill at the Pre-Intern realm! It was the realm above the Student stage. He didn''t even think that it was possible. All the LifeSkills I got started at the 1st stage Student. It must be because all the Canzers I killed are also at the Student stage difficulty. But this Canzer is above that. It''s probably the reason why it started in the Pre-Intern realm. Now that he knew that this was a possibility, he was tempted to fight stronger and stronger Canzers. If he fought another Canzer like that colossal Humanoid Wolf, then it was more than possible to get a LifeSkill at the Intern realm or even at the Specialist realm! Stop. It''s already lucky for me to have come out alive from that incident. If reinforcements didn''t come, then that Canzer could have killed all of us¡­ Atlan had to remind himself that huge rewards always came with huge risks. Even if he only wanted to go to Pocket Remediums and kill tons and tons of Pseudo Canzers, there was no telling whether an anomaly like this incident would happen again. It was likely that another colossal Canzer could appear if he kept on summoning Pseudo Canzers endlessly. Although he would get a lot of LifeSkills, Genuses, and experience from killing a lot of Pseudo Canzers, it wasn''t worth risking his life for. I don''t even know if people will still open their Pocket Remediums once this incident becomes widespread. It was only a matter of time till they found out that there were people killed inside the Pocket Remedium. "Are you listening to me?" Yasmine faced Atlan with a serious look on her face. Atlan was too focused on his Soul System that he didn''t hear anything Yasmine said. "It was nice spending time with you," Yasmine said. "But I can''t be your friend. I can''t be anyone''s. I will always prioritize my progression over building relationships with others." Atlan stayed silent. He was thankful to Yasmine for helping him evade capture. He also enjoyed those brief moments when she showed her true self and talked with him like a normal person. However, she always seemed to put on a cold face soon after. "You are my rival. I am yours. Don''t you dare have others, okay?" Yasmine leaned and poked his chest to make sure he remembered. Competing with him was the only way she could rationalize her obsession with him. Without saying anything else, Yasmine turned around and slowly walked away. Atlan would have wanted to be friends with Yasmine, but she respected her decision. He was glad that she considered him as someone to beat. "Girl''s hearts are fickle, aren''t they?" Two people suddenly came out from the room where the portal was located. They wore white tunics with green sashes over their shoulders¡ªa Vanguard battle suit from the great Olympus mountain rangers. Atlan was surprised to see two familiar faces: Razer and Sola. "I hope you''re not here to continue our fight. I''m not in the mood." Razer innocently raised both of his hands. "Don''t worry, Star Porter. I''m not here to settle our differences." Their previous fight left Razer coughing up blood with an internal injury. It burned his competitive spirit. He would have wanted to brawl it out with Atlan right in the Pocket Remedium, but the horde of Pseudo Canzers stopped him from trying to fight seriously. Razer and Atlan chatted to themselves. Sola, on the other hand, kept her eyes on Atlan. She couldn''t believe what she heard from Razer. He said that the Genesian porter had the capacity to fight on equal grounds against him, even while using all of his mutations and LifeSkill. She simply couldn''t believe it. There was a two-stage difference between them; they shouldn''t be equal at all. Yet, Razer swore on the All-Father that Atlan had a 50% percent chance of defeating him in a duel. Even the other Olympians who saw Atlan''s strength first-hand endorsed him as someone who could rival the genius Razer. She knew that they wouldn''t lie about it, but the picture they painted was still too much of an exaggeration for her to believe. The two of them didn''t fight in the race, so she didn''t know anything about his capabilities. "Have you recovered from your injuries?" asked Atlan. Razer nodded his head. "Yes. I was knocked out by that colossal Canzer but the body bestowed upon me by the Almighty Zeus allowed me to recover quite quickly. Gah! That was one monster. I heard it''s a Specialist-level Canzer at that. No wonder I lost an entire year of my SoulTime from just one of its attacks." So it was a Specialist-level Canzer. No wonder I got a Pre-Intern LifeSkill. "How about you? Did you tussle with the beast?" sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I ran away from the Canzer," Atlan answered. "Hoh! A sensible action. Don''t worry. We''ll have plenty of time to get stronger and kill Specialist level Canzers with the flick of our fingers!" Sola couldn''t believe that Razer was talking about killing Canzers with Atlan. He was a porter; they weren''t supposed to kill Canzers. "By the way. I speak on behalf of all our Gods when I say that you are one of the bravest heroes the world has ever seen. Do you want to join Olympus?" Chapter 117 - 117: Greek prize "We could use a guy like you in our Metropolis. You''ll give our geniuses a run for their money." Atlan was speechless at the offer. He didn''t think that he would get recruited by one of the best Metropolises in the entire world! Their Territory consisted of multiple mountains, each bigger than Genesis City itself. And the bigger the territory was, the more prosperous it was for their citizens. This was a tremendous honor for someone like Atlan. He was only from the Unclaimed Lands, but he was already getting offers from a Metropolis even though he had only been in Genesis City for less than a month! "If you join Olympus, then you will be under the tutelage of a sub-god under Zeus called Ares, the God of War." Sola''s eyes widened. "Wait! He''s getting recruited by Ares?" She knew that Atlan was getting recruited by an Olympian god, but she didn''t think it would be one of the major Olympian Gods, Ares! She thought it would only be a minor god without much power and territory. For him to get recruited by Ares meant that even Gods recognized his courage and valor on the battlefield. After all, he had already shown two great acts of heroism in his career as a porter, all in less than a month! Razer ignored Sola''s surprise and continued to explain. "He will bestow upon you a 7-star Genus upon your acceptance and an equivalent 7-star mutation that will help you shore up your weakness of having no damage-dealing LifeSkill. And as a drafting bonus, he will be giving you 500 years of SoulTime immediately. That''s not all. Since Ares is one of the major Olympian Gods, he is willing to let you have the opportunity to choose a treasure in Hephaesteus'' armory!" Sola''s heart almost stopped from her shock. Even she didn''t wasn''t allowed to choose her weapon from the divine armory. Yet, Atlan was given that honor just for accepting the offer to join Olympus. Getting drafted by such a prestigious Metropolis should have been enough of a reward by itself! "And if you don''t want to join his faction, you can also join Athena''s side. She''ll also offer you 7-star Genuses and mutations and bonus Soul Time. And you will have access to her library of wisdom. You can learn everything there is to know about warfare and how to defeat Canzers." This time, Sola''s knees went weak and she fell on the floor. Even though she was happy with Apollo as her god, she once wished that she was under the Goddess of wisdom and warfare. She couldn''t believe that the Goddess offered her hand to Atlan. Two of the major Olympian Gods wanted to recruit Atlan to their camps! This was an unbelievable situation reserved only for those truly talented individuals who came once in a thousand years. "I don''t know what to say¡­" Atlan never prepared for such a situation. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Easy. Accept it." But Atlan wasn''t sure if he wanted to leave Genesis City so fast. He hadn''t even explored the whole Territory yet. It hadn''t even been a month since he moved here and he was just starting to get settled down. He would have to start all over again if he moved to Olympus. "I''m not sure." "What''s there to think about? You''ll be getting a lot of benefits if you move out of Genesis City. You''ll be trained in Olympus and be given more responsibilities rather than be stuck as a porter." The benefits posed by the Gods truly tempted Atlan to say yes. After all, by publicly obtaining a 7-star bloodline and mutation, he wouldn''t have to hide his powers anymore. He could join missions and kill Canzers in a team rather than be a porter. "What''s there to think about? If you join Olympus, I''ll finally have a sparring partner with me!" Atlan kept silent as he thought about his decision. There was just one thing he was concerned about if he were to join Olympus. "Can you tell me exactly what would happen if I joined?" Razer crossed his arms on his chest and answered. "You''ll join us on our journey back to Olympus. It''ll take a while since it''s a long distance from here. Once we''re there, you''ll be assessed by Athena''s camp and be sorted into depending on your strength. Don''t worry, the test is very accurate. It''s overseen by the Gods to make sure to account for other factors other than physical strength. Sometimes, people like you are weak on the outside, but strong on other aspects like your speed, your intellect, and your bravery. The assessment makes sure to not discount those factors." That was a deal breaker for Atlan. He didn''t want others to find out about his Grim Reaper powers. He knew that he would get assessed for his strength because that was what happened when he got drafted by Genesis City. That assessment was very informal, but it turned out great for Atlan because they didn''t find any anomaly with his powers. But if the Olympian Gods personally searched his whole body, they would undoubtedly find something wrong with him. That would be the worst-case scenario. I''m not going to join them, he decided. Even though those rewards were tempting, it wasn''t anything he couldn''t get by himself. He could continue reaping deaths and slowly work his way up to getting a 7-star Genus and mutation and more. It wasn''t worth risking his secret to get those benefits. "I''m sorry, but I don''t have any intention of leaving Genesis City for now." Sola''s jaws dropped when she heard that. It was one thing to get drafted by the Goddess of Wisdom, but it was another thing to reject Her! She couldn''t believe anyone would let go of such a lucrative opportunity. "Are you sure?" Razer asked him. Atlan took a deep breath and nodded his head. "I''m sure." Razer nodded his head in understanding. "I had a feeling you''d refuse." "Tell the Gods that I appreciate the offer, but I''m content with where I am now." "I''ll pray to them," Razer said. "Oh, and I forgot something. This is your prize for winning the competition. You have beaten me fair and square." Chapter 118 - 118: Black dye Atlan was surprised. Razer wanted to give him a prize. But perhaps no one was more surprised than Sola who knew that Razer was not the type of guy to admit defeat. "He won? Didn''t the competition get canceled before anyone could reach the finish line?" Razer shook his head. "I wasn''t talking about that. We had a new agreement where the guy who kills the most Pseudo Canzers wins the whole thing." Atlan seemed to have remembered hearing Razer shout something from a distance, but he didn''t think that he was serious about that. Sola, on the other hand, was even more confused. "Are you telling me that he killed more Pseudo Canzers than you? I''m sorry, but he''s only a porter! He shouldn''t even have the capacity to kill one Canzer!" She simply couldn''t believe that a Berserker lost against a Porter in a killing-Pseudo-Canzers competition. The main advantage of a Berserker was that they could kill as many enemies as possible in a short amount of time. Razer should have won this competition by virtue of his job alone. "Did you see him kill all of those Pseudo Canzers with your own eyes?" Razer shook his head. "I didn''t have to see it. Didn''t you wonder what happened to him once he sacrificed himself and led the majority of the horde away from us?" Once he said that, Sola cupped her mouth in shock. She forgot about it. Because of Atlan''s heroic deeds, they were able to push their way forward and reach the Colosseum. They would have reached the portal if that colossal Humanoid Wolf hadn''t blocked their way. The appearance of such a monster made them forget about Atlan. If Razer hadn''t made her remember, then she wouldn''t have wondered how Atlan was able to survive such a massive horde of Canzers. She seemed to have remembered hundreds and hundreds of monsters hot on Atlan''s tail. How did he survive? Don''t tell me¡­he really did kill all of those Pseudo Canzers?! That''s absurd! I have a DPS job but even I can''t kill that much. Razer smiled and put his hands on Atlan''s shoulders. "I was only able to kill about 150 Pseudo Canzers before I had to go and support Sola and the others on their way to the Colosseum. Since you survived much longer than I did, then I suppose you killed much more than that. Tell me, how many did you kill? 180? 190? Or maybe even 200?" Atlan killed a total of 392 Pseudo Canzers in the span of a few minutes, with only two moves. Of course, he would never say that out loud. If he told them the truth, Razer would probably believe it but Sola would start to get suspicious. It could reveal his secret. So, Atlan simply shrugged and didn''t say anything further. Razer laughed when he saw this. He knew that Atlan probably killed a lot of Pseudo Canzers but simply didn''t want to tell the truth. He could still feel that punch in the gut that he suffered after he underestimated Atlan. And if he punched those Pseudo Canzers with the same strength, then he did not doubt that Atlan killed hundreds of monsters with his strength. "How many did you kill?!" Sola was unsatisfied with Atlan''s answer. He could have simply said that he killed about 50 monsters, and she would still be impressed. But the fact that he didn''t say anything made her think that he killed much more than that. "Argh. It''s such a shame that you won''t be coming with us to Olympus. Who else would challenge me this much? It doesn''t matter. We''ll probably meet again once we have advanced further up our realms. I''m looking forward to that time." Razer took out something from his pocket. "Here. I hope it fits you." He gave Atlan a neatly folded white tunic. It had the same fabric and make as the uniforms that the Olympians wore. "I thought I told you I won''t be joining Olympus." "Haha! Don''t worry. That''s not a battle suit like ours. It''s more of an¡­accessory¡­" Atlan unfolded the tunic to find that it was much longer than he thought. It was too oversized. The hems of the tunic would drag across the floor if he wore this. "Thanks¡­?" "Don''t think too much of this gift. It''s just one of our essential accessories whenever we travel outside Olympus. Sometimes, when we travel to new territories, we want to keep our identities a secret for a few days to observe how the City operates. That accessory keeps us low-key." Atlan observed the tunic, but he couldn''t understand how an oversized white robe would keep them low-key. It looked like it would catch everyone''s attention. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Just put it on." He looked at the tunic with his Thermal Vision and saw that there was a slight unnatural warmth permeating the tunic. It looks like one of those blue Operator battle suits. Is there a hidden mechanism embedded in this? He checked with his Physique LifeSkill and sensed nothing malicious with the robe. He finally put it on. Once he put it over his green battle suit, the white tunic started to shrink and slowly fit to his size. He now felt as if he was wearing a white battle suit made out of the tunic. "That is called a Stealth Tunic. It can change to any color, any fabric, or any design you can think of. If you want to blend in with the crowd, you can make your outfit fit with the current fashion trend. If you want to seem buffed, you can make it seem like you have armor all over your body. The possibilities are endless." Atlan looked down at his white battle suit and commanded it to change into a new color. Soon enough, black dye permeated from the top of his shoulders down to the bottom of his feet. His battle suit was now colored in sleek black. Chapter 119 - 119: Hot or cold? Atlan walked through the calm streets of Genesis City back to his house. He looked down at his new black battle suit and found that it fit him quite well. Black suits me. Once Razer gave him his ''prize'' for winning their competition, the Olympians soon said their goodbyes. They said that they still had to fill out a lot of paperwork with Genesis City because of this incident. Since they were only visitors, they were only given a slap on the wrist instead of a total blacklist on missions like the other Genesians that were caught. He heard from Razer that the lightest punishment for the delinquents was 1 year of prison time. For Atlan, that wasn''t that harsh of a punishment because he already had enough experience from reaping all the deaths. He just needed time to consolidate his advancements to other stages. Of course, he would rather go on missions and kill Canzers on his own. His new Pre-Intern stage Berserk LifeSkill taught him that there were a lot more rewards for him if he fought stronger and stronger Canzers. It was risky, but if Atlan survived, then he would only get stronger and stronger, which would allow him to fight stronger opponents and continue the cycle. What am I thinking¡­did I forget that there''s no immortality to protect me? From this incident alone, Atlan witnessed two people die from the colossal Humanoid Wolf. They didn''t even know what hit them. They died instantly. The worst part about it was that he was probably the only person who knew that they died. The Olympians and the Genesians all thought that those who ''died'' could still be revived in the church. They still thought that the Angels preserved their lives. Because of that, nobody mourned their deaths. When he asked Razer and Sola about what they were going to do with the ''corpses'', they replied that they were going to send them back to Olympus to receive blessing from the gods. Atlan didn''t even know if he could call them corpses at this point. They were more like a mushy soup of blood and flesh which they scraped off the streets in the Remedium. Of course, Atlan didn''t say anything to them. He simply waved them goodbye and said nothing further. If they went back to Olympus and saw that the dead bodies weren''t getting resurrected, then they would know it by then. After a few minutes, Atlan stopped walking. He didn''t notice it but he was finally at his doorstep. He was so preoccupied with thinking about that stuff that he didn''t notice that he was already home. All he wanted to do now was to lay in his comfortable bed and fall asleep after a long day, but he couldn''t. He still had to check something. ¡ªBerserker: (D) Bloodline Transformation ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Pre-Intern ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ( 0/100,000 ) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 10x F class fragments Atlan immediately used up his extra fragments to upgrade its class. ¡ªBerserker: (B) Bloodline Transformation ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Pre-Intern ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ( 0/100,000 ) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments He was tempted to immediately upgrade it to the 2nd stage Pre-Intern realm. However, the required experience made him doublethink his decision. Although he could afford it, he wondered whether it was worth it or not. [Available Experience: 127,281.2] Should I see how this LifeSkill works first? Atlan looked down at his Soul System and saw a new planet orbiting the solar system made up of his LifeSkills. He was surprised to see that the design plastered all over the surface of the planet was the helix structure of his Genuses! And it didn''t just copy his multiple Genuses, it copied the two 10-star rarity Genuses he had: the Angel genus and the Grim Reaper genus. The LifeSkill name is called Bloodline Transformation. And those two 10-star genuses are what made my bloodline into what it is now. Does that mean that I will transform into those two Genuses? S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan took a quick look around his house with his Thermal Vision. When he saw that there was no one spying on him, Atlan commanded his giant hand to hover around his new LifeSkill. With bated breaths, the giant hand slowly gripped the LifeSkill planet. Atlan was surprised to see that it could touch the planet, which meant that he could activate the LifeSkill right away! It wasn''t like the Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill that needed a projectile to activate. It also wasn''t like the Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill that needed a stationary target to grip the LifeSkill. He could use it right now! Excitement filled his body. He never thought he''d be able to activate a Pre-Intern LifeSkill so soon. He didn''t know what to expect. After all, he didn''t even know the difference between a Student and a Pre-Intern. He didn''t know how big the power difference was between the two. As he gripped the LifeSkill planet with his giant hand, a hot and cold sensation flowed through his veins. On the left side of his body, hot liquid flowed alongside his blood and boiled his flesh. On the right side, cold liquid froze all his blood and his organs into submission. The two forces were fighting inside his body, waging wars and destroying his innards. Kugh! This was the first time that Atlan felt pain and suffering from activating his LifeSkill. He fell on his knees. Even his SSS class Physique couldn''t overcome the tyrannical rule of both sides. [SoulTime] ¡ª40 yrs : 111 d : 01 hrs : 09 min : 23 s ¡ª40 yrs : 111 d : 01 hrs : 08 min : 23 s ¡ª40 yrs : 111 d : 01 hrs : 07 min : 23 s He was losing a minute of his SoulTime every second! There must be something wrong with this LifeSkill¡­Kagh!...Is it because it''s in the Pre-Intern realm and my body can''t take it yet? But as Atlan thought about it, he figured out that it wasn''t his body that couldn''t take it. It was the LifeSkill itself! Two types of energies flowed from his LifeSkill and those two were fighting trying to dominate each other. They couldn''t co-exist within the same space! One of them had to go. Atlan had to choose. Hot or Cold? Chapter 120 - 120: Horrifying face With each second he struggled to decide which one to win the battle, their war raged on with much more intensity and carnage. He was horrified to see his SoulTime losing one day for each second it kept going. He had to choose. He closed off his brain and emptied his mind. He finally intervened and let one of the two energies win and permeate through his veins. The other one receded back to his Soul System and stayed dormant knowing that it lost this battle. As the one energy monopolized his body, his very DNA began to change, down to the very molecule. Even though his bloodline was that of an ''Angelic Reaper of Souls'', his appearance remained that of a human. However, this LifeSkill allowed him to unlock that secret power that was hidden within him. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Slowly, his skin turned darker and darker as if it was rotting. Atlan felt no pain from this, only comfort. The energy that circulated throughout his body no longer acted like a wild bull. It became an obedient horse that guided his transformation into something beyond a human. His rotting skin seemed to have thinned as his bones became more visible from under it. But that wasn''t accurate. It was more like his bones grew until it seemed as if his flesh disappeared. Even though his muscles receded under his bones, it seemed as if Atlan was filled with more power than he ever thought possible. He felt like he could lift a mountain! His physical strength exceeds that of his Physique LifeSkill by at least five times! His skin continued to rot and decay, spreading from his toes and up towards his torso. His stomach emptied as if he was emaciated and hadn''t eaten in an entire year. His rib cage became even more prominent in his chest. The decay spread even to his battle suit, treating it as if it were part of Atlan''s body itself. It wasn''t long until the decay spread up to his head. He couldn''t see himself, but it was easy to imagine what would happen to his face. The temperature in the room plummeted. His whole body was emitting a cold that could freeze water with just a touch. Smoke came out of his rotten skin as the room-temperature air hit his icy cold skin. CRACK Ice spread from his feet down to the tiles under him. It couldn''t handle the pressure and cracked. After the rot spread to every inch of his body, Atlan felt a sense of completion. He knew his transformation was finished. His entire mass radiated with cold, dark power. Is this the power of a Pre-Intern? Atlan felt as if he was filled with boundless energy. He was so full of it that he was almost bursting at the seams, manifesting as cold and frost outside his decaying body. But even though he had a boundless energy source coming from his Soul System itself, Atlan had no way of converting that to useful power. He felt like he could create flaming dragons out of his hands or create tornadoes the size of a building, but Atlan had no idea how to. The only way he could use this energy was to reinforce his body and increase his physical strength. It was crude and basic, but it was the only way he could harness this energy. What do I look like? Atlan slowly made his way towards the bathroom where he could see himself in the large mirror. He kept his steps delicate and soundless. Once he was inside, he closed his eyes and readied himself to see his bloodline transformation. 3¡­2¡­1¡­ A skull with empty eye sockets stared back at him as soon as he opened his eyes. There were bits and pieces of rotting skin still stuck onto his bones, making the image that much more macabre. "Argh!" He stumbled back. He wasn''t ready to see such a horrible image of himself staring right back at him. It was as if he was looking at his own decaying corpse. It made him remember the memories down in the Unclaimed Lands. Back in his homeland, all he ever did was dig through an endless tunnel of gray, hot sand underground. And there were times when he would unearth a corpse that died from starvation or dehydration. They looked exactly like he did right now. With his new life, he thought he wouldn''t end up like that anymore. Horrifying¡­ Atlan was so spooked that he subconsciously commanded the Stealth Tunic to create a black robe that covered his entire body. That wasn''t enough to hide his frightening face. He created a hood that covered half his head. He took a deep breath and looked at the mirror again. This time, he saw a mysterious figure of a man wearing a black robe with his face obscured by the darkness under his hood. "That''s better¡­" He didn''t think he''d appreciate the Stealth Tunic as much as he did right now. This black robe made him seem like a normal man who was simply enshrouded in mystery. He wasn''t a rotting corpse anymore. Atlan took a couple of deep breaths and centered himself. Once he looked past his horrifying appearance, this LifeSkill was even better than he thought. Not only did he gain tremendous power that would rival those in the Pre-Intern realm, but he also transformed into something completely different from who he was. If he didn''t even recognize himself, then nobody would. If he wanted to keep his identity a secret, this would be a useful trump card to have in his arsenal of LifeSkills. If more anomalies happened during his missions in the Remedium, a power equivalent to the Pre-Intern realm would save his life in case of emergencies. And with this transformation, he wouldn''t have to worry about others finding out about his secrets. The only problem with this was that he couldn''t use his other LifeSkills at the same time as he was maintaining the transformation. He could only create one giant hand to grasp one LifeSkill planet. If he could somehow create another giant hand, then he could use his other LifeSkills in tandem with his transformation. Unfortunately, it seemed his willpower wasn''t the only criterion to create a giant hand. Chapter 121 - 121: What happened to him? Atlan''s body regained its natural color once he let go of his LifeSkill planet. His face returned to the youthful appearance as it was before, with no trace of rotting flesh in his skin. Despite its horrifying appearance, his new Berserk LifeSkill was a trump card that he appreciated dearly. Just as he thought, the bloodline transformation was like a mutation, except this one transformed his whole body. Now that he knew its usefulness, Atlan decided to upgrade it to the 2nd stage. It was better to invest in it now because that one-stage difference could mean the difference between life and death. He could always reap more deaths in the future and with his trait, all of it would be multiplied by 10, making it quite easy to gain a lot in a short amount of time. [You have successfully advanced through the 1st Stage Student Realm of your B class Berserk LifeSkill Bloodline Transformation] [Consolidation period: 364 days] A whole year?! Atlan didn''t expect the consolidation period to be so long. If the Pre-Intern realm already took this long to consolidate, then how about the Specialist Realm? Do they have to wait an entire century to advance to the next stage? Perhaps it was because he was raised from the Unclaimed Lands, but his time perception was completely different than those that lived their whole lives in a God''s Territory. For them, a century might seem as short as one year, but for Atlan, it was enough to live a full life. If he was them, then he couldn''t wait that long to advance his LifeSkills. Who knew what would happen in the meantime? An anomaly could occur at any moment, with each one getting worse and worse than the previous one. Atlan was lucky that he got a head start to consolidate his Pre-Intern LifeSkill. He was glad that he paid for the 100,000 experience now. He could gain ten times that much in an entire year. He slumped down on the bed and slept soundly. His comfortable bed and pillow constantly reminded him that he was far away from the hot gray sands of the Unclaimed Lands. ### The next morning, Atlan woke up seeing that one of his LifeSkills reached the next stage. [You have successfully advanced your SR class Scout LifeSkill Thermal Vision to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm] And without missing a beat, he spent another 2000 experience to upgrade it to the next stage. In about 2 days, it would level up to the 3rd stage. Even though this LifeSkill had no damage-dealing capacity, it gave him vision throughout the battlefield. Because he upgraded it to SR class, he could now see through walls and see the temperature difference between a human and a Canzer with great detail. And just as he activated his Thermal Vision, he saw that there was a horse mount parked right on the curb in front of his house. The owner of this mount walked up to his porch and elegantly knocked on his door. Even though he couldn''t see her face, he recognized the general outline of her body. She had straight hair with glasses on her face. Not only that, her battle suit had different intersecting lines that glowed red hot around her body. This was not a Vanguard. This was an Operator. Why is she here? Atlan opened the door and saw Pterina Pterodinus standing opposite him. It hadn''t even been a few days since they first met in the church, but she already looked quite haggard and stressed out. She nudged up her glasses and put away her tablet as she greeted Atlan with a bright smile. "Good morning, Atlan." "Good morning¡­what are you doing here?" "May I?" Atlan gestured for her to enter. They went over towards the kitchen where he poured her a glass of water. "Thank you." She took a sip. "Ahh¡­it''s been a while since I''ve had cold water." She took her time drinking the water as if this was the first sip she''d ever had in an entire week. "Are you here to arrest me?" Atlan asked. It wasn''t hard to guess that HeadQuarters already knew that he was at that party last night. They probably questioned all of the participants and his name must have come up in the conversation. After all, he was the only competitor who was able to go from last place to first place. Thankfully Pterina didn''t seem to be here for that. She quickly shook her head to ease Atlan''s worries. "Don''t worry. I''m not here to arrest you for your participation in that illegal party. If you were caught yesterday, then we would have punished you the same as the others. But the fact that you were able to circumvent our security means that you have a good ability to think on your feet. We need that nowadays." Atlan was relieved that he wasn''t going to get punished with a one-year blacklist in missions. "What are you here for?" "As you know, I am an Inquisitor. My job is to find out everything there is to know about the incident last night. If you didn''t know, that monster you all faced was at the 1st stage Specialist difficulty. You were lucky you preserved your SoulTime. Others weren''t so fortunate. There were about 3 Olympians and 20 Genesians that lost their SoulTime last night. It was tragic. They''ll need about two or three years of recuperation in the church to regenerate from a single blood cell back to their original bodies." Atlan kept silent. No matter how much they tried, those blood will die. They won''t regenerate back into life. "Because of this, the regulations on Pocket Remediums have become stricter. Tsk. tsk. Tsk. The Orioness family is quite in a delicate situation right now. They are responsible for opening up their Pocket Remedium in such a turbulent time. By the way, I heard from a lot of people that you clashed with the youngest Orioness, Obek. Did you happen to know what happened to him after you defeated him in the race?" Atlan felt the air change. He saw Pterina''s entire body glow brighter as she used her Inquisitor LifeSkill to inspect Atlan''s next words. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 122 - 122: I wouldn’t know [Unauthorized probe detected] [Lie detection denied.] Atlan expected that she would start interrogating him, but he didn''t think that her first question would relate to Obek. "No. I don''t know what happened to him." He didn''t even have to lie. He truly had no idea what happened to the arrogant young master after the race. Atlan thought that the guy was able to escape the Pocket Remedium because he was the one who knew the ins and outs of their Pocket Remedium the most. But from her questioning, it seemed that he ultimately got caught by the horde of Pseudo Canzers. "Why? What happened to him?" Pterina looked at Atlan''s body and saw no obvious change in his breathing and blood flow. He wasn''t lying. Sigh. "He lost most of his SoulTime. He probably got caught by the monsters and couldn''t escape their onslaught." Atlan took a deep breath. Even though he had no favorable impression of Obek. he still didn''t like the idea of someone dying so easily. Atlan only hoped that his death was instant. "Anyway, let''s change the subject. I would like you to talk about your experience in the Pocket Remedium. Did you find anything strange when you entered? Did you feel anything weird when the horde of Pseudo Canzers malfunctioned?" Atlan told her everything that he did during the party while omitting some private details about his powers. He even told her about how he made connections with Yasmine. "It''s been brought to my attention that you joined the race between our Genesians and the Olympians. Not only that, you were somehow able to go from last place to the top spot. How did that happen?" Of course, Atlan couldn''t tell her about his mutation that allowed him to listen to the Pseudo Canzer''s language. If he hadn''t listened to their talk, he wouldn''t have noticed that the Giraffe-Horse was different from the rest. "I just got lucky, I guess." [Unauthorized probe detected] [Lie detection denied.] "Mhmm¡­And you were able to speed past the other competitors using that horse, correct?" "Yup¡­" It was hard to believe that Atlan picked the fastest steed in the arena when Yasmine or Razer didn''t even know that there was a speed freak monster among the Pseudo Canzers. But she didn''t sense him lying, so he must have gotten lucky. "And during that race, you didn''t sense that something was amiss?" "No, I didn''t feel anything wrong." [Lie detection denied.] Pterina knew that it was at that point where the Pseudo Canzers started to malfunction. Soon after Atlan left the arena to join the race, more and more of those horse centaur monsters spawned inside the arena, surprising the spectators in the stands. They tried to run to the portal, but more Pseudo Canzers blocked their way. So, they ran away. That was when the horde stampede happened. "So you all continued the race without knowing there was a horde behind you. It fits what the others said as well. Let''s talk about you. How did you fight against those Olympians? They are not the type to let anybody pass them so easily." Atlan then pointed at his chest and his slingshot. "These helped me a lot." Pterina''s eyes widened as she observed the quality of both of these equipment. The armor didn''t look all that impressive but her discerning eyes were able to peer past the inner strength of the chestplate. "Who gave you that?" "Miss Custodire." She gasped. "No wonder it looks like a treasure¡ªit''s even better than an indirect Masamune original! And that slingshot too. I can''t believe you got an esteemed blacksmith like Miss Custodire to give you that armor and custom-make a slingshot as well. Your luck knows no bounds, it seems." "I guess so." "But why is your battle suit black?" Atlan liked the black battle suit so much that he decided to wear it all the time. "Oh, Razer gave me this as a prize. I think it''s called a Stealth¨C" S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "A Stealth Tunic?! The Olympians gave you one of their treasures?!" Atlan didn''t think she would be that surprised. He thought that it was only a normal piece of clothing. Razer said so himself. "I thought everybody had this?" "Only Olympians. They don''t give it away to other people. They don''t even trade it no matter how much people try to offer them." Turns out this thing is much more precious than I thought. Atlan should have known that the Stealth Tunic was more valuable than he estimated. After all, it could change to any kind of fabric, color, and style that the wearer wanted with just a snap of his fingers. If he thought that anyone could easily get it, then he was living in a fantasy. "Why would he give you this?" "Oh, it''s nothing. Razer gave it to me because I won in our little competition." Pterina jaws dropped. As an Inquisitor, she was in charge of knowing everything there was to know about the people caught in the Pocket Remedium. Of course, she knew about Razer Wrekton, the genius of Mount Olympus. And from what she gathered from various anecdotes, stories, and interviews about Razer, there was one word that described him: overbearing. The man only cared about himself and his strength. It was a trait that he gained from the Almighty Zeus himself. One of the stories about Razer was that he even stood against Zeus and tried to attack Him while he was being recruited during his draft! He was unwilling to submit defeat against a god like Zeus. Now, Atlan was telling her that the same man admitted defeat against him. That was absurd! The only way that a man like Razer would acknowledge another person was if they fought against each other. Pterina knew that Atlan was able to reach the top spot of the race because of his fast steed. But she didn''t think that he actually fought against Razer himself. In her opinion, there was only one outcome from that clash, and that was Atlan getting pushed back to last place. But it turned out that she was wrong. Atlan was able to stand his ground and gain Razer''s respect. "What did you do when you fought against him? Did you outsmart him in the race? Did you target one of his weaknesses? How did it feel to spar against such an overbearing talent?" Atlan shrugged. "I wouldn''t know. I only punched him one time." Chapter 123 - 123: Golden ticket "One punch¡­" She was at a loss for words. She heard from the other people she interrogated that Atlan''s strength was far above that of a normal Savior, and especially above that of a porter. The fact that he was able to reach the top spot of the race consisting of geniuses from both Territories was evidence enough of his strength. However, this still be attributed to his natural talent and luck. She even guessed that Atlan''s Physique LifeSkill was incorrectly assessed. She guessed that Atlan had an A class LifeSkill! But this didn''t explain how he was able to come to blows against Razer. Even if Atlan had an S class LifeSkill, he shouldn''t be able to overcome the two-stage difference between them. Razer acknowledged Atlan''s powers after only one punch. This meant that he must have felt challenged by it. He must have felt that his punch could even injure him! Not only that, it finally made sense how Atlan was able to survive the horde. It was no secret that Atlan performed another heroic deed by offering himself as bait for others to leave. Atlan must have used his tremendous physical strength to barely survive the Canzers that followed him! It was only now that Pterina realized that Genesis City got extremely lucky that they were able to recruit Atlan before the other Gods got to him first. If they knew the kind of talent that this kid had, then they would undoubtedly do anything to get him into their camps. Wait a minute, Pterina thought. If Razer can recognize his talent, then They would too¡­don''t tell me¡­ "Did They invite you to join Mount Olympus?" He nodded. "Darn those Greeks!" she shouted and surprised Atlan with her outburst. "How dare they." It was extremely inappropriate for Razer to recruit Atlan to Mount Olympus. There should have been a formal request to HeadQuarters in which the Gods themselves would negotiate about the possible trade or transfer of a Savior. This usually took months of back and forth between the two Gods and their correspondents as they tried to negotiate a deal that was favorable for their territory. Sometimes, years would pass and the negotiations would come to nothing. Sometimes, it only took a few weeks for a successful deal. However, the Olympian Gods circumvented this rule by having Razer recruit Atlan instead. It was legal but completely unprofessional. Once proven that this recruitment happened, the Genesis God could use it as leverage to get a better deal with the Olympian Gods in the future. Their assessment of Atlan must have been really good for them to try and skip through all of the lines just to get him to their camp as soon as possible. Pterina knew that they couldn''t let such a valuable asset be taken away by the other Gods. She had to treat Atlan as if he was an S class talent who was even above Yasmine in importance. The fact that he was a porter made his presence in Genesis City even more significant. "Did you accept?" "I was thinking about it¡ª" Pterina immediately took out something from her tool belt and gave it to Atlan. "This is a ticket to the Vineyard. From the authority bestowed upon me by Genesis City, I now transfer possession of this ticket to you." Atlan was given a shiny golden ticket with an embossed decoration of a tree with a lot of roots and branches. On the bottom right of the ticket was an underline where Atlan''s name slowly got printed out of nowhere. "What''s the Vineyard?" Pterina explained. "The Vineyard is a special place in Genesis City where the Genus are stored." He locked eyes with her, his face full of surprise. "Are you serious?" "Yes. Genesis City values your presence here in our Territory. I am giving you that ticket in hopes that you will appreciate all that we have to offer. We may not be bigger than the Olympus mountain ranges, but we have plentiful powers that they don''t have." "Are you saying what I think you''re saying?" "Yes. You will have one opportunity to pick a single Genus from the Vineyard for you to upgrade your bloodline. This is an honor that no Student had ever earned before. You are the first one." Atlan didn''t think that he would be given a new Genus from the City just like that. From what he heard from Neumann and the others, people would have to wait until they got to the Intern realm or Specialist realm before they earned a chance to change their bloodline. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He looked at the golden ticket with anticipation. If he obtained a good enough Genus from the Vineyard, then he could show more of his powers without them getting suspicious! "And I advise you to visit the church soon. You are now eligible to gain 600 years of SoulTime as compensation for the accidents that happened during your mission and this incident as well. I hope this shows you our sincerity in having you stay here in our City." Atlan nodded. Pterina was giving him the same benefits that the Olympian Gods gave him when they wanted to recruit him. But now, he didn''t have to undergo a thorough assessment from the gods to receive these rewards. "Thank you." "It''s our pleasure. Oh, and about your battle suit. Usually, students aren''t allowed to alter their uniform, but you are given that exception. You can keep wearing that black battle suit. You look good in it." Pterina stood up and shook hands with Atlan. "I know that both of your experiences in the Remedium turned out to be total disasters, but I hope you don''t lose hope in us Operators. We are trying our hardest to find out why these disasters keep happening." Atlan didn''t blame them at all. In fact, he wanted to know more about their work instead. He wanted to know how they knew that the colossal Humanoid Wolf was weak against silver and angel power. Just before Pterina left for the door, Atlan asked her a question. "Do you know where I can ask more about Operators?" Chapter 124 - 124: What’s a school? "You want to learn more about what Operators do? What a breath of fresh air. Most Vanguards, scratch that, all Vanguards don''t think it''s worth their time to know about their counterpart at all." "I''m just curious about how those constructs work. From what I saw, they always seem to be made of different materials and shapes." Pterina was very impressed that their Star Porter appreciated the work of the Operators. Most people just ignore Quills and focus on killing Canzers because they think that it''s much more honorable than diagnosing symptoms from the comfort of their own homes. They didn''t know the hard work the Operators did behind the scenes. "Although I am an Operator, my knowledge on the subject of Canzers is very shallow¡ªonly on the surface level. But if you want an in-depth explanation of how constructs work, then I suggest you sit in one of the classes in our University." "University?" Atlan didn''t even know that word. "Oh, I forgot you''re from the Unclaimed Lands. Operators like us pride ourselves on our knowledge. We believe that what we learn is our best bet in eradicating Canzers once and for all. ''The Quill is mightier than the sword,'' as they say. So, after we get drafted and get our LifeSkills, we don''t stop learning. We graduate from our school and onto a University where we can learn more about jobs. For me, I learned journalism and other Inquisitor-related subjects but all of us are required to take at least one Canzer-related class. Even Specialist Operators still go to classes, learn, and research as much as they can to further their knowledge." Atlan never knew that Operators went through this ''school'' even during their adolescence. "What''s this ''school'' like?" "It''s a nice institution where you can learn and socialize at the same time. They teach you not just book knowledge, but also how to become a person. It''s where relationships and friendships are born." All the knowledge that Atlan learned throughout his life was through absorbing everything he heard from others. No one taught him anything. Nobody could. After all, the Unclaimed Lands were not that forgiving. "It''s quite different for Vanguards like you. Knives go through fighting schools and dojos to learn the basics. But after they get drafted and earn their LifeSkills, they graduate and stop going to school. They start their training in the Remedium and get better from there." That''s why I haven''t seen this ''school'' before. Turns out everybody had already ''graduated''. "Can I go to this University?" "Yes¡­wait." Pterina thought for a second and changed her mind. "Maybe it''s not such a good idea right now. As you might not know, tensions are high between the two specialties because of these incidents, so they might not welcome a Knife in their class. But if you want to go, then you can. Just make sure to bring someone with you so that they can vouch for you." Atlan wanted to go to this University and learn more about Canzers. He looked at Pterina and asked, "Can you go with me?" Pterina smiled and nodded. "Of course I can, but not right now. I have a lot on my plate. I haven''t even interrogated half of all the delinquents in our custody." "That''s fine with me." With nothing else, Pterina said goodbye to Atlan and planned their visit to the University at a later date. Atlan stood by the door and looked out into the distant Savior HeadQuarters. It was time to visit the Vineyard. ###### Out in the gray, hot sands of the Unclaimed Lands, there was a group of people standing and looking out into the distance. They were wearing white tunics with green sashes pinned from their shoulders down to their waists. On the horizon, they saw a long carriage driving with ease through the mounds of gray sand. Razer, Sola, and the rest of the surviving Olympians were waiting for their escort back to their home, Mount Olympus. They were forced to cancel their visit to the other parts of the world after that disaster with the Pocket Dimension. A while later, the carriage finally stopped right next to the Olympians. Their vehicle was a large white and gold chariot that was modified to make the travel through the Unclaimed Lands as comfortable as possible for its passengers. It was big enough for them to all have their sleeping quarters inside. The door opened and a man with the same white tunic and green sash came outside. This man had a very pale skin tone and he wore dark round glasses that covered his eyes and eyebrows completely. "Greetings, senior brother." "Greetings, senior brother." The Olympians greeted the older man with respect. Sola held her head down and kept quiet. She was ashamed. They were supposed to win the whole competition and show everyone the superiority of the Olympians, but instead, they would come home with three vials of blood from their fallen comrades. She dreaded it, but she knew that she had to say something. She readied herself to be berated and lectured for their pathetic performances. At this point, one year of training in Tartarus would be a merciful punishment. "Senior brother Thalassios. I''m embarrassed to report to you that we have failed to bring home victory." Sola jumped when she felt a hand grip her shoulders. "Whatever." Whatever? Sola looked up to see a carefree expression on his face. It was as if he didn''t care about the result of their failure at all. It was uncharacteristic of him to be so nonchalant. Thalassios ignored Sola and went over to Razer. "Did he join?" Razer expected to hear the disappointment in his voice but heard nothing but hopeful optimism. This question perplexed not only him but everybody else too. Thalassios shook his head. "Tsk. I''m asking if you succeeded in recruiting that porter." Sola couldn''t hide her shock when she heard that. Instead of worrying about the damaged pride of Mount Olympus, Thalassios was concerned about whether they recruited Atlan or not. "You recruited him, right?" S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 125 - 125: ICU Razer shook his head. "It''s unfortunate, but he declined. I finally found a rival of my own, but he didn''t want to move out of Genesis City." "WHAT?!" Thalassios'' exaggerated shock gave Sola a scare. "Did you tell him that Athena and Ares were both willing to sponsor him?" "Yeah, I told him. But he still didn''t cave." Thalassios paced back and forth, kicking gray sand with each stride. He couldn''t help but bite his lips as he tried to think. "Did you tell him that they would be willing to both bestow him with powers?" This time, everyone else couldn''t hide their shock. They knew firsthand how territorial and greedy the Olympian Gods were. One time, they blew up a whole mountain because those two gods were having a dispute about who owned that piece of territory. Instead of sharing, they destroyed it instead so that none of them would get it. If they didn''t want to share a mountain, they especially wouldn''t want to share a hero. The fact that they offered a joint sponsorship on Atlan meant that they truly valued his talent. Thalassios paced back and forth, biting his lips till it bled. If those stories about Atlan were true, then he''s the perfect porter. We can''t let Genesis City hog him, Thalassios thought to himself. "...we need him¡­" In his desperation, he let out a mutter. Sola seemed to be the only one who sensed the distress in his voice. She didn''t understand it. Sure, they didn''t have student-level porters back in Olympus City, but they still made do by having other speedy Saviors take on the job. Was Atlan really that impressive? What she didn''t know was that Mount Olympus wasn''t the only one eyeing the Star Porter of Genesis City. There had been a lot of talk and gossip between the HeadQuarters of each Territory, and Atlan''s name seemed to come up more often than not. Once they found out about his accomplishment as a porter, they wanted him all to themselves. They regretted the fact that they passed up on the opportunity of recruiting him to their Territory when he first got drafted. Mount Olympus was one of them. They thought that they didn''t need to lower their standards by accepting only a B class talent from the Unclaimed Lands. But as it turned out, they couldn''t be more wrong. Judging from all of his accomplishments in the recent events, everyone was sure that their first assessment of him was wrong. He probably had an A class talent, or maybe even S class. Every Territory near Genesis City was already making contact with their HeadQuarters about the possible trade or transfer of the Star Porter. Of course, their request was quickly denied. They would have tried to subtly recruit Atlan like how Olympus did with Razer, but they didn''t have somebody on the inside. Now, Genesis City became even stricter on their internal policies about spies, giving them no chance to underhandedly recruit Atlan. "I don''t even know why he''s still a porter. He can become a damage-dealing Savior if he wants to," Razer said. The fact that Atlan could make him bleed meant that he could stand toe to toe against other ''geniuses''. "If I battled him, maybe he''ll realize that fighting is more fun than being a porter." Thalassios looked back at the dome of Genesis City out in the distance. "Don''t worry. We''ll return here soon enough. For now, we need to go back to Mount Olympus." He wasn''t giving up on the Star Porter. He was going to give Genesis City an offer they couldn''t refuse. Of course, he would use the fact that three Olympians died on Genesis City grounds as a bargaining chip to ease the deal. ##### Genesis City Church. This was a place where citizens praised and worshiped the God who gave them everything they wanted. You needed nothing but faith and piety to pray to the two-headed God. The interior and exterior decorations were full of Gothic inspiration. And anywhere one looked, they would see images of peace and tranquility that gave the impression that this was a place of healing. After all, this was a sanctuary where Saviors and normal people alike recovered their lost SoulTime to extend their lives. Usually, a blessing from a nun or a priest would do the trick. But there were times when an injury was so severe that they needed more than a blessing. Sometimes, they needed to regenerate from a single blood cell. These unfortunate souls were moved to the Intensive Care Unit or the ICU. And outside of this ICU, a group of people were clamoring in front of a group of soldiers. They tried to get past the barricade of guards, but their electric batons prevented the group from advancing any further. "Why can''t we see our sons? This is an outrage!" "Don''t you feel sorry for us? We just found out that our kids lost all of their SoulTime from an accident, and now you''re preventing us from seeing them!" "I visited the ICU before! Why are you blocking us now?" These were the angry parents of the youthful Saviors who lost their lives because of the onslaught from the horse of Pseudo Canzers. All they wanted was to see their children, but the soldiers prevented them from even taking a peek at the windows. They blocked it from the inside. "I''m sorry. We can''t. Orders from higher up." The soldiers had no other response to the angry mob other than those words, which further incited outrage in the crowd. But the soldiers couldn''t tell them anything even if they wanted to. They were told to barricade the ICU and nothing else. Why? That was because, inside the ICU, they wouldn''t see the regenerating bodies of their children. They would only see rows and columns of mangled corpses propped up by hospital beds with no signs of life in their body. They were dead. Fully dead. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Nobody should see this. If they did, then they would know that their immortality was gone. Perhaps, that would incite a disaster worse than losing immortality itself. Among these corpses was the Scout from Atlan''s first mission. He didn''t survive his injuries. They only told everyone that he was still recuperating from his injuries. And further down the line, to the very back, there was one particular dead body that was alone. If Atlan saw his face, he would recognize him. It was Garuun, the Specialist Porter. He was dead. This meant that Atlan was the only porter left in Genesis City. Chapter 126 - 126: Obyron A man sat on his desk, with his hands over his mouth as he was mulling over his problems. He had a few white strays in his hair, but he looked like a spry thirty-year-old man with well-groomed hair. Behind him was an expansive glass view of Genesis City from a hundred floors up one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city. He sat at his desk waiting, tapping his foot on the floor with nervousness. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Suddenly, the door to his office opened and a man with a butler suit came inside. The butler bowed toward the man and said; "My apologies sir. They couldn''t find the young master." The man took a deep sigh. This was Obyron Orioness, the father of Obek Orioness. When he heard of what happened in the Pocket Remedium, he instructed his butler to inform him of any news. And what he dreaded, came to be true. Obek was dead. He was just one of the unfortunate casualties of the disasters that kept on happening in the City. He closed his eyes and blamed himself for letting his youngest son run amok. "I should have been more strict with him." "The young master has¡ªhad always been reckless on his own. His death is my responsibility. I should have kept a closer eye on his activities," the butler said solemnly. The two of them were silent for a moment. "Did they find any trace of him?" The butler shook his head. "They couldn''t even find a blood splatter, master. It was as if Obek had vanished from the Pocket Remedium itself." They hired the best investigators in the entire City, but they still couldn''t find the young master''s body anywhere. This was extremely weird. After all, even those that got flattened into a mush of blood, flesh, and bones, by the Giant Werewolf could be recovered by scraping their remains off the streets. According to the investigations, after Obek was out of the race, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the horde of Pseudo Canzers. And unfortunately, he wasn''t able to protect himself from the onslaught. The best a father could hope for was that Obek died while being trampled by thousands of centaur monsters. At worst, Obek died while he was being mauled and dismantled by those angry, rabid, Pseudo Canzers hungry for human flesh. Even then, they should have at least seen evidence of the carnage. But they couldn''t even find a single drop of blood from him. This gave false hope for Obyron Orioness. Maybe, Obek survived and was hiding out somewhere alone and afraid. But as a man who knew the true nature of Canzers, he knew that it was unlikely. "How do we proceed, sir?" The current patriarch of the Orioness family thought long and hard about the consequences of his decisions. He had to think about what to do as a father, and what to do as a member of Genesis City. Those two were completely different. But as much as he wanted to grieve, Obyron knew that his responsibilities came first. They were a priority. "We will tell no one about this. Inform those that are inquiring that Obek lost all his SoulTime and will take years to recover his body." The butler nodded. "Understood sir. But there''s just one more thing that is concerning." "What is it?" "The recent incident has put a lot of bodies in the church. Their families came and demanded to see their children in the ICU. The soldiers are doing their best to handle the situation, but the dissent among them will only grow as time passes. They could start a riot and forcefully intrude into the ICU." Obyron took another deep breath. Problems just kept on piling up for the new patriarch. It hadn''t been long since his father passed the mantle onto him, but he was already dealing with disastrous incidents left and right. "Double the guards. Triple them. I don''t care. They must never be able to enter that ICU. They can''t know that it''s a morgue." Obyron Orioness knew the truth. He was among those who were given the knowledge about the Angel''s extinction. He knew that the days of immortality were long gone, and the whole world was going into an apocalypse. It was inevitable. The best thing he could do was to prepare. However, that wasn''t as easy as it seemed. Just then, the door suddenly burst wide open as a short blonde-haired man with a youthful face entered Obyron''s office. "Father. Is it true? Did my little brother lose his SoulTime?" "Otis, calm down." "Tell me!" Obyron knew that he couldn''t control his eldest son''s outrage over this incident. "Yes. He did." Otis gasped. He heard rumors, but he didn''t think it was true. Now that he heard it from his father made the realization even more heartbreaking. He felt his knees weaken as he buckled down on the floor. He treasured his little brother. They were two peas in a pod. Tears fell from his eyes. "Where is he? I want to see his body. Did the priest tell us when he can fully recover?" Obyron and the butler shared a look. As much as they wanted to tell Otis the truth about the world, their confidentiality agreement with the City prevented them from doing so. The butler answered for Obyron. "No, young master. They only told us that it would take a couple of years till he recovers." Otis couldn''t help but slam his fist on the wall. His anger reverberated throughout the building. His little brother didn''t deserve to suffer like this. Those freeloaders who took advantage of his brother and used him for his keys to the Pocket Dimension should be the ones to suffer all the consequences. He planned to give them a little bit of suffering to teach them a lesson. Obyron saw the gears turning in Otis'' mind. He knew his eldest son was short-tempered and had the tendency to be vindictive. They couldn''t afford that¡ªnot in the upcoming apocalypse. He had to nip the bud of the problem before it got too late. "I''m telling you now. Don''t." "But father! Those Olympians and those traitors should be punished! I don''t care if they''re Razer or Yasmine, I will show them the pain that my brother suffered!" Chapter 127 - 127: White cave Otis couldn''t understand why his father still sat on his hands. Why isn''t he livid?! Doesn''t he want to explode and blame everyone involved in that party? "But¡ª" Before Otis could say anything further, he suddenly saw his father disappear from his seat and reappear right in front of him. "I''m not going to repeat myself. Leave them alone. It is not their fault that the Pseudo Canzers malfunctioned. It''s Obek''s fault. I warned him not to do anything foolish, and he went behind my back and disobeyed my direct orders. Losing his SoulTime is a deserving punishment. If you want to blame someone, blame the Quills. Their inability to solve this endemic of disasters is a testament to their uselessness." Even though Otis was at the 8th stage of the Student realm, he felt his breath leave his body as Obyron exerted his power outwards. As much as he wanted to protest, his father was too strong for him to defy. "Do I make myself clear?" Otis felt his own head forcefully nod. Even his instincts were telling him that standing up to Obyron was a foolish decision. "Yes¡­father." "Good. Now leave. I have things to do." Otis was forced out of the room gritting his teeth. Even though he was going to inherit the mantle of patriarch in the future, his father never acted like he wanted to give the reins to him. He was treated like an outsider. If I can''t put those traitors back in their place, they''ll think that the Orioness name is just for show. But as much as he wanted to do it himself, he knew that his father had surveillance on him at all times. That doesn''t mean that I can''t ask someone else to do it for me¡­ ##### Somewhere, there was a place that was full of white space. The ground, the ceiling, the walls¡ªeverything was bleached with a snowy white tint. Stalagmites grew from the ground and pierced through to the top. There were also stalactites from up the ceiling and pointed down their spikes to the bottom. The sound of water dripping echoed through the walls. If not for the color of the environment, this place would have an eerie similarity to caves and underground chambers back on Earth. Footsteps and hoofbeats reverberated through the floor as tens of horse Pseudo Canzers strutted through the white cave. And on the very front of the small horde, there was a group of four Gorilla-Horse Pseudo Canzers that were carrying something covered by a black cloth on their shoulders. Their steps were measured and careful as if they were afraid of stepping on something that would offend the owner of the cave. They continued to walk forward until they saw a large stalagmite with a base as large as the floor and pierced through the top and onto the ceiling. Strangely enough, there were steps carved onto the base that led up to a throne filled with spikes of stalagmites. Sitting on this throne was a figure shrouded in a white light. The Pseudo Canzers felt that they would turn blind if they looked directly at the figure above them. The four Gorilla-Horse centaurs slowly approached the steps of the throne and let down the object covered in black cloth as an offering to the figure above. They slowly backed away with their heads bowed down in reverence. Then, they waited. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Suddenly, they felt the whole place tremble as the figure on the throne finally got up from its seat and walked down the steps. With each stride, the Pseudo Canzers felt as if their entire bodies trembled. They felt the invisible pressure coming off the figure''s body as it got closer to them. They backed out even further to give it space. And on the final step, the figure stopped and looked down at the ''present'' it was given. It raised its hands in the air and magically, the black cloth floated away from the object below. It was only then that the figure finally saw the gift that it was given. Laying down on the white, stony, floor of the cave was the body of Obek Orioness. And even though it was faint, his heart was still beating! He slowly opened his eyes as it slowly adjusted to the white environment around him. Where am I, he thought groggily. He couldn''t remember anything. Everything felt like it was a fever dream. Flashes and images of his memory started to resurface. It was the image of him running at full speed. But why? It was only then that the images of the horde of Pseudo Canzers finally came to him. He remembered losing strength as the monsters slowly caught up to him. He was helpless as the stampede of horse centaurs pounded his head to the ground until he lost consciousness. After that, he woke up here in this strange white place. He looked down at his SoulTime and saw that he had less than half an hour left to live! He had to get out. He used what''s left of his strength to try and crawl out. But just then, he felt a suffocating pressure on his entire body. It squeezed his chest till more of his ribs broke, halving his SoulTime immediately. He vomited blood. Amidst the ringing in his ears, he suddenly heard footsteps coming towards him. He thought it was another person, but his eyes widened when he saw chitinous spikes growing out of its chest and shoulders. This was no human. This was a Canzer. Panic overridded his brain. It let him ignore all the pain in his body as he tried to run away from this monster as far away as he could. But he couldn''t get far. The bipedal Canzer suddenly appeared in front of the crawling Obek and pierced its hand on his chest. And without missing a beat, it ripped the heart out of his body. The Canzer looked at the bloody heart in its hands and couldn''t help but express its happiness and excitement. "(#&!^$%@" Its wings unfolded behind and fluttered into a familiar pattern. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM¡­ Chapter 128 - 128: Manly discussions Atlan walked through the steps of HeadQuarters. It was livelier than he thought given that the Training Hall Remedium was closed for the time being. The steps were so crowded he had to zigzag through the crowd. He heard their conversations as he passed them. There was anxiousness in their voice, along with panic and uneasiness. It only took one day for the incident with the Pocket Dimension to be spread far and wide in Genesis City. It was like a wildfire; the more it spread, the faster and more intense the after effects became. "God¡­that''s two incidents in less than a week. What''s happening?" "The Quills have started sabotaging us, that''s what!" "Now that''s a lie." "Wait, he might be onto something. After all, who created the Pseudo Canzers? The Operators! They could make it do whatever they want, including spawning a horde and going rampage in a Pocket Remedium!" There was a group of Vanguards sitting and lounging right next to the wide doors of the Savior HeadQuarters. They didn''t care if everybody heard their conversation. In fact, they made their voices even bigger to make sure that the Quills inside the HeadQuarters heard them loud and clear. The dissent among Vanguards and Operators, Knives and Quills, became more and more intense. A few gibes and snide remarks was normal for the two factions, but they never accused each other of being traitors! sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And while the Vanguards were blaming the Operators for all the disasters that kept happening in the City, the Operators blamed the Vanguards for their ignorance and stupidity. They couldn''t sabotage the Pocket Remedium as easily as the Vanguards were suggesting! The fact that the Knives thought that the Quills could do that showed their shallow knowledge on the intricacies of creating a Pocket Remedium. Atlan had a more unbiased view of the whole situation. He knew that the Operators were not to blame for the incidents. Even though he was the recipient of both disastrous events, he knew that it was the absence of Angels that threw the balance of power askew toward the Canzers. Without anyone to keep them in check, the Canzers would keep invading Remedium and the Operators had no way to deal with it yet. Instead of complaining, Atlan focused on getting stronger. Getting another Genus would bump his power to another level. He approached the group hoping that they would point him to the direction of the Vineyard. "Excuse me." Atlan raised his voice to the group of men, but they ignored him. They kept talking to themselves as if he didn''t even exist. He looked at the epaulet in their shoulders and saw that they were all in the 4th stage Student realm! "I say we fight the Quills once and for all. Show them how much a punch in the liver hurts, and I''m sure they''ll fall in line." "As much as it''s amusing to think about, we can''t do that. They''ll just label us as mere brutes!" "They can''t get away with this. My cousin lost all his SoulTime from that party. He''s recuperating in the ICU now, but we can''t even give him a visit. My hands are itching to do something." The men turned solemn when they heard that. Losing SoulTime was tragic. Even if they hadn''t experienced it themselves, they couldn''t even imagine the pain regenerating from a single blood cell. "He''s not the only one. The Quills'' mistake cost the SoulTime of twenty of our finest youths in the City. And I heard that even those geniuses from Mount Olympus got killed." "Why were they even here?" "They had a friendly competition with our geniuses. And guess what I heard. You know Razer Wrekton, right?" They nodded their heads. Of course they knew the genius favored by the All-Father Zeus Himself. "I heard that someone went toe to toe against him and triumphed! And he came from our City!" "No way. I don''t believe that." "He? It''s not Yasmine?" Atlan coughed and tapped the shoulders of one of the guys in front of him. The man looked annoyed as he turned around and glared at Atlan. His eyes were filled with judgment and prejudice, and from what he saw, Atlan wasn''t that much. The youth had no overbearing pressure around him, and if it weren''t for his battle suit, the man would have thought that the youth was a civilian. The man didn''t think that Atlan deserved his attention. His focus was much better served to contribute to the important conversation they having about the current troubling situation in the City. He was going to ignore him, but he noticed that Atlan wasn''t wearing a proper battle suit. Instead of a verdant green, it was a sleek black color. "Hey kid. Don''t you know that modifying your battle suit before you''ve advanced a realm is punishable with a blacklist?" The rest of the men stopped their conversation and looked at Atlan. They clicked their tongues thinking that he was just another hooligan who didn''t care about the rules. One of them waved at the soldier stationed inside the HeadQuarters. "Sir, please lecture the young man about proper uniforms. We can''t have novice Students going around customizing their battle suits. It''s unprofessional." The soldier saw Atlan''s black battle suit and walked over toward him. He took out a tablet from his toolbelt and questioned the youth. "According to Article 2 section III of Genesis City standards, unlawful dyeing of the green battle suit can be punishable with 1 to 5 weeks of blacklist and 1 month of probation. Tell me your name, your job, and your power realm." The group of men took their focus out of Atlan and continued their discussion. But one of them suddenly made the connection between Atlan''s face and the rumors that he''d been hearing everywhere. "Wait¡­isn''t he¡­" Atlan didn''t feel worried at all as he answered the soldier''s questions. "My name is Atlan, and I am a porter in the 2nd stage Student realm." The rambunctious conversation soon turned silent. The group of men slowly turned their head towards Atlan with shock written all over their faces. Even some of the passersby couldn''t help but stop in their tracks as they heard his name and his job. "...Star Porter¡­" Chapter 129 - 129: For your sake The soldier stopped typing on his tablet. He recognized the name. They were informed earlier this morning that the Star Porter of Genesis City was allowed to have a black battle suit. They were expressly told to make his stay in the City as smooth as possible. HeadQuarters found it fitting that he wore the only black battle suit in the entire City. It made his stature easy to distinguish among the crowds and gave more credence to his talents. Who else in the Student realm could get away with this? No one. "No way¡­you''re Atlan?" He nodded. He found no reason to lie to them. But soon after he said his name, the group of men that ignored him quickly changed their attitudes and bombarded him with questions and praises left and right. "Dude! I heard you would have won the racing competition if it didn''t get canceled. How did you get a mount that fast?!" "Wait, is that true? But how did he get past the other competitors? They were Olympians, you know." "That''s what''s amazing about the Star Porter! Somehow, he beat all those geniuses from the Metropolis and showed them who''s the boss!" Atlan was overwhelmed with their over enthusiastic questions. They didn''t even deem him worthy to talk to just seconds earlier. But once they knew who he was, they suddenly couldn''t speak out their questions fast enough. "Uh¡­I had good equipment," Atlan replied. It was only then that they noticed his slingshot. "Oh my gods! Is that an Indirect Masamune Original?!" "Is that how you defeated those Olympians? How did you do it? Were you always good at using the slingshot?" "Tell me if it''s true. I heard that you went toe to toe against one of the strongest talents in Mount Olympus." Once he said that, the rest of the men looked back at him in disbelief. "Ey! No way that''s true. Razer''s at the 4th stage Student realm. That''s the same as us! There''s no way that the Star Porter could bridge a gap that wide." "Yeah. Even if he is a genius, talent simply can''t equalize the difference between a 2nd stage and a 4th stage." They all looked at Atlan to see what he would say. Only he would be able to dispel the doubts in their words. "We had a little competition, yes. I punched him, he couldn''t punch me. I don''t even consider it a win. But even though they heard it from the man himself, they still couldn''t believe the truth. One of them even thought that he was simply exaggerating to brag about his accomplishments. Why is he lying? Doesn''t he know the difference between a 2nd stage and a 4th stage like us? One of the guys, the one that Atlan approached in the beginning, couldn''t help but want to test out the supposed strength of this ''Star Porter''. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He looked at Atlan''s body and couldn''t imagine him defeating someone just like him, especially a genius like Razer. Even though they heard that it wasn''t an actual battle, but a simple exchange of fists, it was still too much of an exaggeration to say that Razer conceded a loss just because of that one punch; it was no secret that Razer was a prideful man. Is he underestimating 4th stage students like us? The man slowly approached Atlan. "How about we have that competition again? I''ll take your punch and we''ll see if what you said is true." Atlan immediately activated his Thermal Vision and looked at the guy''s physique. Hmm¡­his muscle density is quite poor¡­he doesn''t have any defensive LifeSkills as well¡­ "I refuse." Atlan didn''t say anything further than that. He didn''t want to insult the man by saying that he wouldn''t be able to take a single punch from him. "Why not? Come on, Star Porter. It''s just a little friendly competition. I won''t blame you if I lose 12 hours worth of SoulTime." But no matter what he said, Atlan shook his head. He was an advocate for peace, so he didn''t want weak people like these to suffer from one of his punches. Now that he gained a Pre-Intern LifeSkill, his strength got boosted by a very large margin. The passive boost in physical strength from this berserk LifeSkill was enough to double his physical strength from before. Razer, with his enganced defenses, lost an entire day from one of his punches. This guy couldn''t even compare to him. And now that Atlan improved his physical strength again, there was no telling how much he would lose. Unfortunately, the man knew nothing about Atlan''s true powers. He thought that Atlan wanted to back out from his challenge because that would prove that his claims were nothing but exaggerations. The man slowly approached Atlan and grabbed his hand. "Come on!" The man tried to use his physical strength to dominate Atlan. His eyes widened when he realized that he couldn''t even move Atlan''s arm at all. It felt like he was trying to grip a mountain! He was caught off guard when he felt Atlan''s other hand grip his forearms. "Don''t touch me, please, for your sake." The man felt an intense squeezing pressure in his forearms that painfully shattered his bones. His eyes widened. He looked at his Soul System and saw that he was lost an entire day just from the pressure alone. And before he could utter a single cry, Atlan exerted a little bit of force and twisted the man''s arms until, crack, his elbow twisted in the wrong direction. "AHHHHHH! THAT HURTS!!!" The man fell on the floor and held his broken arm with tears of pain flowing down his cheeks. He flailed his arms on the ground trying to lessen the pain, but it only served to exacerbate it. Atlan felt sorry for the man, but this was the best outcome that could have happened for him. He''d suffer a worse fate if he wanted Atlan to punch him like he did Razer. "Agh!" The man stumbled up off the ground and ran towards the church in search of healing. The rest of the men were in awe of Atlan''s show of power. They didn''t even care that their friend''s arm was broken. Atlan''s show of strength destroyed the lingering doubts in their minds. "Ahem¡­can any one of you please point me in the direction of the Vineyard?" But instead of answering his question, they pestered him with even more questions. It wasn''t long until more and more people crowded Atlan as they realized that the rumors about the Star Porter had a tinge of truth. Chapter 130 - 130: Hey judo Atlan had to sneak his way through the crowd that gathered around him. It took twenty minutes for the curious bystanders to let Atlan pass and go into the HeadQuarters. He was finally given peace and solace inside the government office. Causing a scene in the HeadQuarters was considered a taboo. The crowd immediately dispersed before the guards had to intervene. Even though he asked them multiple times, nobody answered his question about where the Vineyard was located. Perhaps it was because they''d never been there too, or maybe it was because it was located in a secret location. Either way, Atlan had to find his way there by himself. He walked inside the HeadQuarters and saw the same Hall of Heroes he visited back then. Quinto Kindle''s dominating image was still emanating an immovable strength Atlan scratched his chest. He found it tragic. Nobody knew he was dead. They probably thought that it was a good riddance that the senile old man no longer roamed the streets spouting conspiracy theories and the like. He walked through the halls and atriums not knowing where to go. However, he saw a lot of Vanguards walking in the same direction. These were youths like him, somewhere between the 1st and 4th stage Student realm¡ªtheir internal body temperature indicated so. He continued following the group until they led him to a bustling event in the grass fields adjacent to the main building of the HeadQuarters. The event was filled with hundreds upon hundreds of Vanguards walking around the green grass, all wearing their respective green battle suits. Most of them walked along one pathway filled with rows of tables and booths that were decorated with banners, posters, and flyers. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It showcased the different activities that Vanguards could do together. Atlan strolled through the event, looking left and right with each step. The sounds of enthusiastic pitches and conversations entered his ears as the club members tried their hardest to attract new applicants. There were a lot of interesting booths that caught his eye. One of them was a booth for a fishing club for Vanguards. Their banner was filled with pictures of the club members visiting the Seven Seas and catching a giant tentacled monster. Surprisingly, they had a lot of curious applicants. He heard them talk about the different monsters they could catch and the equipment needed to catch them. He looked at the main recruiter of the fishing club and was surprised to see that the epaulet on his shoulders indicated that he was in the Pre-Intern realm! I guess you need to be that strong to tussle with monsters of the sea. He walked more and saw that there were also a lot of cooking clubs that offered food and drinks for people to try out. They were quite popular as multiple long lines extended far back to the end to the opposite end of the event. This event wasn''t just a way for clubs to get new members, but it was also a way for other Vanguards to interact and socialize with each other. The atmosphere was quite lively, with laughs echoing now and again. He found it quite weird. Nobody was talking about the disaster that happened in the Pocket Remedium yesterday. The joyful atmosphere of the club fair made everyone temporarily forget about the horrible situations plaguing the City. It wasn''t a coincidence that the club fair started today. The HeadQuarters wanted the conversation to steer away from the disasters by distracting them with their favorite pastime. Clubs were quite popular because it was the only place where people could explore other interests aside from killing Canzers. People get bored sometimes, especially if they lived for thousands of years in perpetuity. They needed to spend their time on other hobbies. He looked to the opposite side and saw a completely different booth. This one was for a Judo club that focused on competing with the Global competition that happened once every four years. A very serious man stood next to the signup sheet. He glared at everyone who showed interest as if he didn''t want them to join his club. One of the passersby looked intrigued with the cool and hard style of the Judo club. He wanted to join. Unfortunately, the recruiter didn''t want him. "Get lost." The man was offended. "Why not?! I just advanced to the 4th stage yesterday. Am I still not eligible to join your club?!" This wasn''t the first time that the guy tried to enlist with the Judo Club. And every time he tried, he always got rejected because the recruiter thought he was ''weak''. But how could he be weak when he was at the 4th stage Student realm? Atlan was going to walk past this club but the recruiter suddenly came up to him. "Hey, you." He stopped and looked at the man dead in the eyes. "What is it?" "You should join the Judo club." "WHAT?! You''re recruiting him instead of me?" The other guy couldn''t believe his ears. The Judo club recruiter chose to invite a random guy from the street instead of a talented guy like him. The worst part about it was that the random guy wasn''t even interested in joining in the first place. The guy immediately put himself between Atlan and the recruiter. "Why him?! I''ve been practicing my Judo and I know that I''m a better fit than this rando." In response, the recruiter pointed at Atlan. "Don''t you know this guy?" The man had no idea. "Who is he?" "He''s Atlan, the Star Porter. His reputation precedes him. And judging from his posture and the way he walks, I can see that he has the talent to become a Judo master." The man was flustered for a second after he learned of Atlan''s identity. But he quickly doubled down to save face. "I don''t care about who he is. No one here is a better fit for the Judo club than me." He looked at Atlan and challenged him with his eyes. "If you want him to join the Judo club, then you''ll only lower your standards. At that point, I wouldn''t even want to join your stupid club!" Chapter 131 - 131: Screaming match "So what if you''re the Star Porter? I don''t even believe half the stories that people are telling about you. And I''m not the only one! If you asked everyone in this club fair if they know about the Star Porter, then they would answer yes. But not for the reasons you think! Most of us don''t believe the propaganda that the HeadQuarters have been spouting about you!" And to prove his point, the man shouted at the top of his lungs to get everyone''s attention. "Hey everyone! Look! Who believes the lies that''s been circulating about the supposed Star Porter?" Everyone in the club fair stopped what they were doing and looked over to the Judo club booth. They heard his question, but a majority of them didn''t raise their hands. "See? No one believes it. It''s all lies." Of course, that was a biased conclusion. After all, not everyone heard his questions and was too preoccupied with their own thing to understand what he said. There were also a lot of them who just didn''t want to participate in his stunt. Although there were a few who raised their hands in support of Atlan, the guy simply chose to ignore them. "Wait, is he the Star Porter?" "Oh yeah! He is!" "Hey man! No offense, but did you really do all that or was it just an exaggeration?" A small crowd gathered around Atlan once again, much to his dismay. The stories about him and his heroic actions always had divided opinions. Some fully believed in the story, but there was also a large group of skeptics who refused to believe it even when presented with evidence. In his first mission where Atlan first gained prominence for his actions, others criticized the story for exaggerating the risks in the Remedium. They didn''t think they were in such a dangerous situation as they depicted. If a Sapient Canzer truly appeared as they said, then they wouldn''t have come out in a whole piece. They diminished how brave he had to be to go back and save his teammates in the Remedium. Even when the HeadQuarters themselves commended Atlan''s action, they refused to acknowledge it. But just yesterday, stories of the Star Porter yet again surfaced in tabloids, forums, and bar discussions in the City. This time, the stories of his deeds looked even more exaggerated than before. First, they were supposed to believe that Atlan was able to hold his ground against the geniuses of Olympus City. It sounded like it came straight from a fantasy story. He was an underdog that started late but through sheer luck, found a mount so fast that it could speed past the other competitors easily. "How did you know the Giraffe-Horse is fast?" "Some say you planted that Pseudo Canzer there for yourself." "I can believe that he got lucky in choosing the fastest mount. But I just can''t believe the fact that he went from last place and caught up to the lead! He only had a wooden chariot for god''s sake!" "I would have believed it if we got footage from the race itself. But the video got corrupted when the Pocket Remedium malfunctioned!" None could believe his exploits in the Pocket Remedium. They still respected his work as a Porter because they knew how important his job was, but they simply couldn''t believe that he was able to perform above his expected skillset. "You guys won''t believe this, but I also heard that the Olympians were so impressed with him that they wanted to recruit him to Mount Olympus!" Everyone gasped when they heard that. That information wasn''t that widespread, so this was the first time most of them heard about this. It only served to push them further into believing that all of it was a lie. How could they believe that such a prestigious Metropolis would open their doors to a novice Savior like Atlan? It would have been more believable if he was at the Pre-Intern realm or the peak of 9th stage Student realm at the minimum. But he was only at the 2nd stage! "Now, you have got to be lying. Where did you hear that?" "I heard it too. And it seems like he was recruited by two Gods from there as well!" "Hpmh. Even if he was, it was probably an insincere offer from one of the lower sub-gods that have no real authority." S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And the ''lies'' didn''t end there. As more and more people gathered, they talked more about what they heard through different gossip. "I think it''s true!" It was one of the people who raised their hand in support of Atlan. "I work as a guard in the City gates and I saw multiple representatives from other Cities and Territories come to our doors early in the morning. They wouldn''t come here in such a hurry if it wasn''t so urgent. So I asked them, and guess what I heard. They said that they were here to recruit someone called the Star Porter!" The situation became even more chaotic as they accused the man of lying through his teeth. They felt like he was just spreading propaganda that the HeadQuarters wanted everyone to believe. Of course, some tried to defend Atlan and provide evidence to convince others of the truth. But it all devolved into a screaming match until no one could understand anything anymore. The man who started it all smiled. "See? All of the things you''ve heard about him are all lies. He shouldn''t join the Judo club! You''ll only be tarnishing your name if you do so!" Atlan couldn''t care less about joining the Judo club or not. He didn''t care if people believed the stories about him or not. However, he started to get pissed off. All he wanted to do was to go to the HeadQuarters and find the Vineyard so he could claim his free Genus, but he was forced to listen to skeptics everywhere he went. Atlan was tempted. He was tempted to show a bit of his power to finally shut the rumors once and for all. Chapter 132 - 132: True gossip And it looked like Atlan wasn''t the only one raring to go. Even though the guy didn''t act like he would do anything, Atlan saw his body light up in a bright yellow light using his Thermal Vision. The guy was using his LifeSkill! The first important trait to be a judo master is to be prepared for anything, the guy thought. He won''t expect this. Atlan saw his left arm turn even brighter as he concentrated his strength to try and grab Atlan''s shoulders. The guy practiced this throw multiple times before, and most novices fail to notice the sweeping leg underneath because they were too preoccupied with dodging the tackle. "Look, they''re fighting!" "That guy''s in the 4th stage Student realm! We''ll finally see proof that the Star Porter is a fraud!" But even if Atlan didn''t have his Thermal Vision, his moves were too slow for him. Atlan simply moved away and countered the sweeping leg with his own special kick. Black flames enveloped his whole leg as he finally activated his Physique LifeSkill in front of hundreds of people. He would have had to reveal it sooner or later anyway. He was going to get recruited for more difficult missions in the future, which meant that he couldn''t just use his physical strength to get by during those times. He''d have to eventually reveal his Physique LifeSkill. Atlan''s legs blurred as he kicked the man in his shins. It was easy to guess what happened next once his steel leg clashed with the man''s ''fragile'' bones. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Crack "Ah! My legs!" If he knew that he wasn''t the first victim that Atlan had to put to church, then he wouldn''t have been so eager to show off his mediocre skills. "What just happened?!" "Woah! Did you guys see that?!" "But how can this be? He''s only in the 2nd stage and the other guy is in the 4th stage! That''s just impossible!" Everyone who witnessed this simple display of strength covered their mouths in shock. It was one thing to hear about the Star Porter''s unbelievable physical prowess, but it was another thing to hear him break a bone from a guy two stages higher than him! Atlan''s legs kicked too fast for the majority of the people to see what happened. They only saw a black blur. But those with a more keen eye noticed Atlan''s pressure spiked up to at least thrice his normal aura when those black flames appeared on his legs. Subsequently, the people who saw this were the most skeptical about Atlan''s stories. After all, they had a good estimation of power realms. They knew that it was impossible for a porter to defeat someone two stages above his own. But now that they saw it from their own eyes, they were left awestruck. As soon as they felt the power emanating from those black flames, they knew that the stories they told about Atlan were true. It was domineering, to say the least. "That LifeSkill¡­those flames¡­that''s no mere B class¡­" "I see¡­we''ve been operating under false conclusions¡­he has an S class LifeSkill talent!" The rest of the crowd heard those words and erupted in disbelief. "No way!" "So that''s how he''s able to pull off those moves! He''s an S class talent. Now it makes more sense!" The majority were now inclined to believe Atlan''s story once they found out about his true class. But of course, there would always be haters who wanted to hate just for the sake of it. "Hmph. So what? That doesn''t mean everything they''re telling is true! How can you explain that he''s recruited by Mount Olympus? Do you think that a Metropolis just hands out invites to whoever has an S class talent?" "And look at him. Just because he''s an S class talent doesn''t mean that he can wear any battle suit he wants. Why are you wearing a black battle suit, lil bro?" Atlan sighed and commanded his Stealth Tunic to turn into a zippered jacket. Everyone gasped. They watched him zip down and show the original green battle suit underneath. "Happy?" The windbreaker turned back into Atlan''s preferred black battle suit with just one snap of a finger. "That¡ªthat¡­that''s a Stealth Tunic!" "Only those Olympians have that! Why does he have it?" There was only one possibility: Atlan received it from the Olympians. But why? The only answer to that question lay in the theory that Atlan was recruited by Mount Olympus and was given the Stealth Tunic as a present. As much as the skeptics wanted to rebuke the thought, even they couldn''t think of a reason as to how else he obtained that Stealth Tunic. Even the Orioness family couldn''t procure one if they wanted. It was then that everybody started to wonder. Was everything they heard about the porter true? "See I told you all but you wouldn''t listen to me! He''s the real deal!" Those who supported Atlan beamed with pride once the crowd understood the Star Porter''s true brilliance. "Attention! Please back away and don''t crowd the club fair." The soldiers finally intervened and dispersed everyone from bothering Atlan anymore. They returned to their booths, but they couldn''t help but sneak a look at the Star Porter standing by himself. The discussions around him didn''t stop and only continued to spread even further around the City. Meanwhile, the Judo club recruiter was left speechless. He heard rumors about the Star Porter''s unnatural strength, but this was the first time he saw such a dominant display of strength. He wanted to recruit Atlan because he thought that the Star Porter could use Judo skills to defend himself in the Remedium, but it now seemed unnecessary. As much as he didn''t want to admit it, the other guy was good at Judo. He had pretty good form. But it was all for naught against an opponent like Atlan who could break bones like it was nothing. Who needed technique when brute strength could do the trick? "I can''t believe it. You do know that he''s two stages above you, right?" "Yeah." Atlan answered as if it was extremely normal to defeat someone two levels above him. "Anyway. I''ve been asking a lot of people but no one''s been answering my questions. I hope you can. Do you know a place called the Vineyard?" Chapter 133 - 133: Unsolicited advice "Is that the guy?" Three shady figures watched the ruckus at the Club Fair from a distance. Their eyes focused on the very center of the crowd, the man with the only black battle suit in a sea of green around him. "Finding him is easier than I thought." The scene quickly escalated as the guy next to the Star Porter attacked him using a LifeSkill. These shady figures immediately noticed his strength and correctly estimated that he was at the 4th stage Student realm. They expected an easy win for the guy, but they were soon stunned to see Atlan break the guy''s leg with one swift kick. Their discerning eyes saw the brief moment when the black flames emerged from out of nowhere. Even they felt the change in pressure from a distance. It was like the Star Porter turned from a simple cat to a vicious tiger in a millisecond. His roar sent shivers down their spines. "Tsk. He''s stronger than we thought. What should we tell the young master O?" "We tell him nothing. He has one job for us, and that''s to teach this guy a lesson he won''t forget." "Agreed. The three of us are in the 5th stage. It''ll be easy pickings for us to catch a single 2nd stage novice, even if he has an S class talent." The three shady figures dispersed. They''d pounce once the perfect opportunity arrived. #### Atlan looked around and saw multiple heat signatures light up in the distance. Some of the stronger Vanguards in the buildings sensed the powers he emanated even from far away. Some were curious to see the ruckus. Either way, he gained their attention. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He ignored them. He gained enough of that today. "Vineyard? Yeah, I know where that is." Finally. After asking about a hundred people and hearing no response, someone finally answered his question. "I visited that place about two years ago when I advanced to the Pre-Intern realm. I was allowed to get a 6-star Genus from it, and luckily, that led to my beloved mutation called Bear Hug." "You couldn''t get a higher rarity Genus?" The recruiter shook his head. "I wasn''t allowed to. My ticket only permitted me to enter the 6th row of the Vineyard, which limited my choice to those 6-star Genus and below." Atlan didn''t know that there were different tickets with different permissions. What about my ticket? Does it only allow me to get 6-star rarity Genuses? "Why do you ask?" "I was given a ticket." The Judo recruiter didn''t think he''d be surprised after what he saw today, but it looked like he underestimated the Star Porter even more. "Really? They gave you a ticket when you''re only at the 2nd stage Student realm?" He nodded and took out the golden ticket for him to see. The man was shocked! The luster on that ticket almost blinded him. He had never even seen this kind of ticket before because the one he had before was only made out of normal paper. "I didn''t think that existed¡­but that''s an All-Exclusive Pass to the entire Vineyard!" The man would have advised Atlan not to show his ticket to anyone for fear of them stealing it, but that would be useless. The golden ticket had Atlan''s name written on the bottom of the page. It was his. Nobody could claim the ticket even if they stole it from him. "Does that mean I can get a 9-star Genus?" The man almost salivated when he heard that. "Yes!" As much as he wanted to congratulate Atlan, he couldn''t help but wonder why HeadQuarters gave Atlan such a precious gift so early in the youth''s career. He was only at the 2nd stage Student realm! But once he thought about the theory that Atlan was invited by Mount Olympus, things finally made sense. Genesis City wanted to keep Atlan in their Territory so they opted to bribe him early so that he''d feel indebted to the City. The man quickly told Atlan where to find the Vineyard. If he was Atlan, then he would sprint as hard as he could to claim that 9-star Genus right now. Atlan thanked the man and left the Club Fair. There were still some lingering eyes on him, but they didn''t follow him back to the main building of the HeadQuarters. He followed the Judo recruiter''s directions. He must have walked all the way to the opposite side of the HeadQuarters because he walked for 10 minutes at least before he came across a shrubbery hedge almost that was at least 10 meters tall. Even from the outside, he smelled the fresh and earthy scent emanating from the greenery beyond the walls. He walked along the shrubs until he saw a steel gate that led inside. Another club? I didn''t see any Garden club in the fair¡­ The gate was quite rusted. He peeked inside and saw nothing but overgrown greenery, with vines and leaves strewn around the pathway. The Garden Club looked abandoned. Is no one here? The Garden Club was located on the very outskirts of the HeadQuarters, away from the natural path that led to the other buildings on the campus. Atlan had to go through tight passageways and deserted gates before he arrived here. He said that the Vineyard is in the Garden Club, but why can''t I see anyone? For such a prestigious place full of highly sought-after Genus, there was a distinct lack of guards and soldiers. It was as if they weren''t worried that someone would steal the Genus inside. "Hello? Is there anyone inside?" Atlan shouted. No response. His voice only echoed back to him with a diminished tone. Just then, he heard a faint footstep behind him. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision and saw one person leaning on a pole. "Hey there, Star Porter." "Who are you?" Atlan looked at his internal body heat and estimated that he was in the 4th stage Student realm or higher. "I''m just here to give you some advice." Atlan shook his head. "Don''t need it." The man casually walked over toward him. "Now, now, don''t be too cold. I know that you''ve been given a golden ticket to get a new ''Genus''." "So?" "I''m advising you now. Don''t. You''ll ruin your perfect human body." Chapter 134 - 134: Join us "What are you talking about?" Atlan kept his guard up. The giant hand in his Soul System was up and ready to grasp his LifeSkill as soon as the guy did anything weird. If he needed to escape, his Angel Wings were just one thought away from being summoned. "I''m talking about the disgusting mutilation that most of the people here do! It''s repulsing. Don''t they know that by sullying their human bloodline, they''re straying away from perfection?" "Again, I don''t know what you''re talking about." The man sighed. "The Genus! The mutations! The hybrid bloodlines!" Atlan''s eyebrows turned uneven. "Genus sullies human perfection?" "YES!" he screamed. "Some people want the Genus of dragons, lions, elves, or even dwarves! They think that the more exotic the Genus, the better the bloodline they''ll get." "Isn''t it?" Atlan was taught that the rarer the Genus, the stronger you could become. A 9-star Dragon Genus was miles better than a 4-star Lizard Genus. That was why Saviors bent over backward to serve the City better so that they could get rewarded by better Genus from their God. It was also one of the main benefits of transferring over to another Territory. The Olympians offered him 7-star Genuses and Mutations because it was one of the incentives that Saviors yearned to receive. The rarer the bloodline, the stronger the human. He thought everybody agreed with that. Apparently not. "NO!" he screamed again more passionately. "The human bloodline is already perfect as it is! We don''t need to add monsters to our DNA. We have already evolved to have the capacity to be the perfect beings, but by changing our bloodlines, we only serve to limit our potential." Atlan couldn''t believe that. He looked at his Soul System and saw his 3-star Human Genus. It was what he had before he received the God of Death''s powers. If it weren''t for receiving the 10-star Genus and changing his bloodline to the Grim Reaper of Souls, he would still be stuck in the Unclaimed Lands and he would have died within a few years. "I know that the 3-star Human Genus looks weak right now, but that''s because it''s only at the early stages of its evolution!" The man looked around the place and lowered his voice. He didn''t want others to hear this part. "Since you''re the Star Porter, I''ll reveal something to you that most people don''t know." It intrigued Atlan. "What is it?" "The Human Genus can break through its limits and turn into 4-star, 5-star, and up to the 9-star rarity!" Atlan gasped. As far as he knew, there was no possible way for Saviors to upgrade their Genus other than obtaining a better one. Of course, Atlan was different. He figured out that he could upgrade his Genus by reaping the deaths of different beings. He was able to turn his 1-star Pseudo Canzer Genus into a 6-star rarity Genus because of how many deaths he reaped in the Pocket Remedium. He thought he was the only one who could do that. "How?" he asked the mysterious man. The man smiled as he saw Atlan''s interest perk up when he mentioned the secret. But of course, he wasn''t going to reveal the secret so easily. "I can''t tell you that. You don''t know me, I don''t know you. We can''t trust each other. Yet. But that can be changed." "...." "Let me introduce myself. I am Adam, and I am part of a secret society called the Prime Humans. What are we? Well, we are the only ones in this world who refuse to sully our pure human bloodline. We have no other Genus or mutation, just pure humanity. Our goal in this life is to restore the superiority of us prime humans and bring back the glory days when we reigned supreme. You, Star Porter. We have deemed you as a worthy candidate to join our cause. Take our hands and we can show you the powers of a prime human! All you have to do to join is tear the golden ticket you have and show us your sincerity. Only then can we accept you into our ranks." Adam bowed after his monologue. Atlan was intrigued to know more about the prime humans, but his curiosity wasn''t enough to join their shady organization. He didn''t even know if Adam was telling the truth or not. For all he knew, this was just an elaborate scam to get something from him. What that was, he didn''t know. And even if what he''s said was true, Atlan wasn''t interested. He found no reason to forgo getting a 9-star Genus. "I see you''re still hesitating. I can''t tell you how we advance the rarity of the Human Genus, but I can tell you the benefits. Those hybrids have their mutations, but we have our traits!" Atlan stiffened. If it weren''t for his Physique LifeSkill giving him perfect control of his body, his face would show shock. He had to show a neutral face. He wasn''t supposed to be familiar with that word. Trait¡­I have that¡­it''s what gave me the 10x reward system that multiplied all my experiences, Genus, and LifeSkill fragments! He always wondered what traits were and thought that he''d have to learn about them through books of old. He never expected to hear that word didn''t come out from Adam. "Trait?" Atlan feigned naivety. "Yes! Trait. It''s what gives us our infinite potential! Those mutations and those Genus would only get you so far. It may be strong in the beginning, but as you go further up your Power Realms, you''ll soon see that they become severely lacking. But not our Traits! It''s only in the later stages of the Power Realm does it truly show the benefits of being a Prime Human!" Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan would have thought that Adam was just making things up, but his talk about the Trait made sense. After all, it''s what enabled him to grow so fast. "Join us, Star Porter. It is your destiny." Chapter 135 - 135: You were destined Atlan went silent for a few moments to digest what Adam revealed to him. He would''ve never thought that there would be a faction of humans against changing their bloodlines. From what he heard, every single human in the world was striving to get a better Genus because they knew it would lead them to a better future. If they heard that there was a secret faction that stayed as a pure human, they would have thought that they were stupid. Atlan thought so too. But that was until Adam revealed to him that Prime Humans gained Traits for staying as a pure human with no other bloodline. How powerful was a trait? Atlan didn''t have to guess. It was only because of that trait that he gained the ability to multiply all of his rewards by 10. If it weren''t for his trait, he would''ve needed to kill thousands upon thousands of Pseudo Canzers just to upgrade his LifeSkills to the class they were now. It made his life ten times easier. Literally. "Can you explain more about this ''trait''?" Adam nodded. "Traits are the invisible characteristics of humans. Let me ask you a question. Why do you think some people can train their bodies till their bones break down, while others can''t even handle a simple marathon? It''s because of the hidden characteristics in their DNA. Some have been endowed with the indomitable human spirit that allows them to overcome tough obstacles, some have been endowed with an affinity for knowledge and creativity. You can call this their talent. Every normal human has their own talent from the moment that they are born. If someone is bad at something, it only means that their talent is not compatible with it. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. At any point, a human can find their hidden talent and finally excel in their field. It can take days, years, or even a century. There are no expirations. But The moment they gain another Genus and change their bloodline, that hidden talent gets washed away never to be seen again. But if you persist with keeping your pure humanity like us, then you will be rewarded enormously. Your hidden talent will finally bloom into a power that can rival those hybrids with their mutations. It will become a Trait! The Trait we Prime Humans have is a beefed-up version of that characteristic. A talent for knowledge and learning can become a Trait that enhances your brain and IQ to superhuman levels. An affinity to water and swimming can become a Trait that allows a human to command water as if he were a god! The possibilities are endless. You don''t have to infect your body with other species. Your body is already perfect as it is!" Atlan was certainly impressed with what the Prime Humans achieved by themselves. They were able to find a way to gain equal footing with those who had other bloodlines in their bodies. And from what he experienced with his trait, it was certainly something that could rival a mutation. He wondered how Prime Humans achieved a Trait for themselves. Then, he suddenly realized something. Wait¡­I only gained my trait because I reaped the death of¡­ "Most people don''t know this, but the strongest member of our faction is none other than Quinto Kindle, the First Savior!" Atlan would have regarded it as nothing more than a lie, but the fact that Atlan gained his Trait by reaping the death of Quinto made him believe Adam''s words. If Quinto didn''t have a Trait, then Atlan wouldn''t have been able to reap it. The First Savior is part of the Prime Humans. That was hard to believe. In the thousands of years that he''d been alive, Quinto never got another Genus in his body. He kept himself as a pure human. "Do you believe me?" Atlan took a deep breath. "Strangely enough, yes." Adam smiled. "Of course you do. It''s your destiny to join us Prime Humans. After all, it has chosen you." Atlan furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?" The Prime Human pointed at Atlan''s chest. "That semi-sentient armor¨Cdo you know who owned that?" Atlan hid his surprise. Not everyone knew about the true quality of his mysterious chestplate. Only Custodire and Lizzie knew that his seemingly normal chestplate was a semi-sentient armor that chose its own wearer. "Who?" Atlan already had a hunch on who it was. "It''s Quinto!" He looked at the chestplate embedded deep into his battle suit with mixed feelings. He knew from the start that his armor wasn''t normal. After all, it went for thousands of years rejecting wearers left and right, that''s why it was stuck in the junk box of Custodire''s workshop. But he would''ve never imagined that this armor was previously owned by the very first Savior in the history of the entire world. Just from the scratches and dents alone, he knew it was old. But he didn''t think it was that old. Is this a coincidence? Atlan didn''t think so. He was drawn to this chestplate the moment he set his eyes on it. He didn''t know what prompted him to pick this armor up, but his instincts told him that he had to have it. Was I influenced by Quinto? But how is that possible? When I reaped his death, I reaped his LifeSkill and his Trait. Is it possible that I also inherited some of his inherent instincts? Quinto must have felt an intense emotion about his old chestplate. Somehow, it transferred over to Atlan and elicited the same reaction to him. He scratched the chestplate as if he was playing with a dog. Did this guy sense Quinto in me? After all, I got his LifeSkill and Trait in my Soul System. It''s possible. "If you join us, then you can continue his legacy. You were destined to become a Prime Human. Accept it." Adam extended his hand to Atlan, but Atlan kept him hanging. Even though he was intrigued by the idea of Traits, he wasn''t willing to join a secret organization from it alone. And even if he reaped Quinto''s death, he had no attachment to the guy. Just because Quinto was a Prime Human didn''t mean that Atlan wanted to become one as well. He also had two 10-star Genus in his Soul System already. He was far from a ''pure human'', as Adam called it. He even had a Genus and a mutation from Canzers themselves, which would probably make the Prime Humans extremely mad since Canzers were considered the enemy of humanity. Chapter 136 - 136: Overgrown garden "I won''t join." Adam was silent for a second as he looked at Atlan. The Prime Human thought that he said enough good things about Prime Humans to convince him. Other people jumped at the chance when they found out the truth about humans. But not Atlan "You are missing out. We can make you so much stronger than you are now. You would even be able to surpass Razer!" "No need." Adam thought that Atlan had no desire for strength, but he was wrong. In truth, Atlan didn''t need their help. He was already getting stronger just by reaping the deaths of everything around him. He didn''t even need to join their secret organization to gain access to a Trait. He could probably gain more Traits in the future even if he didn''t become a Prime Human. Sigh. "I thought you would join us, Star Porter. You are one of the best prospects we have ever seen in recent years. Are you sure?" "Yes." Adam took out something from his pocket and gave it to Atlan. "I can''t force you to become a Prime Human, but you''re young. There''s time for change. If you ever feel like you want to unlock the hidden potential in your body, then find the Eden bar and give this to the bartender." Atlan received a black medallion with an embossed emblem of a naked man spreading his legs and arms to the side. Atlan activated his Thermal Vision and looked at the medallion. Aside from being made with a mysterious material that could perfectly insulate the medallion from the heat and cold, there wasn''t anything suspicious inside. Even his SSS class Physique LifeSkill found no evidence of foul play with this medallion. "Think about it," Adam''s voice floated in the air, but he was already long gone when Atlan looked up. It was as if he never existed. Atlan decided to keep the medallion. He was still curious about Traits and knew that the only ones who knew about how they worked were the Prime Humans. He also felt like he could use the medallion someday, but he didn''t know what. With no other thing to distract him, Atlan set his sights on the Garden Club. He noticed that there was a door inside the steel gate that was slightly open. Even if there was no one to welcome him, Atlan helped himself and entered the Garden Club. Even if he was trespassing, Atlan didn''t care. There wasn''t anyone to catch him anyway. Once inside, he felt like he was in a jungle. The entire garden was overgrown. The cobblestone paths were barely visible in front of him as they had carpet-thick moss and slithering vines covering it. On the sidewalk were grasses almost as tall as him swaying in the wind. He looked around and saw all kinds of trees with thick, heavy branches that had entangling vines around them. Some grew stout but thick, and some grew tall but thin. It was a mix of tropical and winter trees that didn''t seem to wither even in the wrong conditions. As he followed the overgrown cobblestone pathway, he came across forgotten statues filled with cracks that the vines and moss grew a home into. Even in its damaged state, Atlan recognized the figure. The man had two faces on one head and had a giant key in his hand. This was the Genesis God. If it weren''t for these statues guiding the way, Atlan would''ve gotten lost from all the foliage blocking the cobblestone path. After a few minutes of walking, he finally came across a man in a white coat watering the lotus plants in his pond. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision and inspected the man. And surprisingly, he didn''t have a very bright inner body temperature. It was as if he was a normal human who didn''t have any LifeSkill at all. Atlan walked forward, with his steps crunching vines and dried leaves. But even then, the man seemed too focused on watering his lotus plants to even notice that Atlan was already behind him. "Excuse me." "GAHH!" The man was so startled that he fell onto the pond and resurfaced with a lotus plant on his head. "Sorry." The man didn''t even mind the fact that his white coat was soaked in the mossy pond water, he was more stunned at the fact that there was somebody actually inside the Garden Club. "Are you okay?" Atlan asked. "Are you real? Am I hallucinating again? That''s weird. I haven''t eaten any mushrooms today." Atlan coughed. "I''m real." The man didn''t expect to hear a human response from Atlan. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He looked like a man stranded on an alien planet who finally found someone after years and years of isolation. "By God! There''s someone that''s actually here in the Garden Club!" Atlan wasn''t so surprised with that. The Garden Club looked so neglected that he even thought that it was abandoned with no one tending to it anymore. "Are you the only person here?" "Unfortunately, yes. Gardening isn''t exactly the most popular club in the City right now. You should have seen us in our heyday! Everyone had plants in their homes and even on their mounts. Sigh¡­." The man turned silent as he reminisced about old times. "Oh sorry about that. I always get too carried away daydreaming. Usually, it doesn''t matter since I''m alone anyway, but now I''ve got someone to talk to. My name is Geminus." "I''m Atlan." The man didn''t recognize him, which was a welcome breath of fresh air. It looked like he wasn''t caught up to date with the current gossip in the City. Geminus then looked at Atlan with pleading eyes. "Hey, since you''re here can you help me with a little something?" Atlan was hesitant, but he still heard the guy out. "What is it?" "I''m a bit short on hands right now, as you can see." Geminus pointed at the overgrown vines and moss all around the Garden. "I can''t take care of these plants all by myself and it leads to a lot of plants being neglected. These poor plants. Without someone to take care of them, they all turn dead without a chance of blossoming. Will you join the Garden Club and help me?" Atlan wanted to refuse. However, he suddenly saw the familiar words pop up in his vision. [You have reaped the deaths of simple beings] x3524 Chapter 137 - 137: Garden paradise [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have received 35,240 experience] [You have received (1-star) Flora Genus] x130 [You have received D class Bard LifeSkill: Modify Memory Spore] [You have received F class Modify Memory Spore fragments] x130 Atlan couldn''t believe he didn''t think of going to the garden before. He had reaped more deaths here than in the entire time he''d been risking his life in the Remedium. Rejecting Geminus'' request for him to join the Garden Club was no longer an option. If he reaped this much death every day, then he wouldn''t mind if he stayed here overnight. It was a much safer and more profitable option than going to Pocket Remediums and killing Pseudo Canzers. Atlan didn''t waste any time and upgraded all his new LifeSkill and Genus. He paid a whopping 343,000 upgrade points and 128 LifeSkill fragments to turn his Modify Memory Spore into another SR class LifeSkill! Although it halved his current supply of upgrade points, Atlan considered it worth it. If the Modify Memory Spore worked as he thought, then it was even more important to upgrade it to the strongest class possible. Even with how careful he was, there could come a time when he''d be forced to use his real powers and LifeSkills among other people. They certainly wouldn''t keep that a secret and spread it to the entire City. But with his new Modify Memory Spore, he could alter their memories so that they''d forget that they witnessed Atlan have Angel Wings on his back or have three LifeSkills in his repertoire. This LifeSkill was a lifesaver. He also paid 1000 experience to upgrade it to the 2nd stage. ¡ªBard: (SR) Modify Memory Spore ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments Atlan was also surprised that he got a total of 130 Genuses. Usually, Genus was harder to get than LifeSkills because the probability was low but this time, he got lucky. He obtained the same amount of Genus and LifeSkill fragments! He paid 37,000 points and 126 Genus to upgrade his Flora Genus. [Genus] ¡ª1x (7-star) Flora [You have gained a 7-star mutation: Photosynthesis] And unsurprisingly, he got another mutation from his new Genus. He suddenly got a tingly feeling all over his body, reminiscent of when his Angel Wings appeared behind his back. His Photosynthesis mutation opened up automatically! He suddenly felt hot as if he was sunbathing while the sun was at its zenith. He felt every crevice of his skin yearn for the light as if it was being nourished with every second it spent being bathed in the sun''s rays. The garden was constructed in such a way that the sun wasn''t blocked by any roof or ceiling. It allowed every plant life inside to flourish in the sunlight without any obstacles. Atlan was in the middle of the sun''s intense rays. He felt refreshed. It was as if all his life, he lived in an ice tundra with no sunlight, and only now did he finally feel the warmth that his body needed to survive. He spread his arms wide and accepted the heat. [SoulTime] ¡ª40 yrs : 112 d : 12 hrs : 54 min : 34 s ¡ª41 yrs : 112 d : 12 hrs : 54 min : 34 s ¡ª42 yrs : 112 d : 12 hrs : 54 min : 34 s Atlan gained an entire year for every second that he was bathed in the light. This was the power of a 7-star mutation! If he was able to gain an entire year for every second he activated his Photosynthesis mutation, then he would be able to regenerate life-threatening injuries in just a few minutes! Even if he lost an entire arm, Atlan estimated that it would only take 3 minutes for his arm to grow back as good as new! Of course, there were a few caveats. Since this was a mutation, he was limited on time. He could keep regenerating a year of SoulTime for as long as he wasn''t exhausted with using his mutation. Activating a mutation felt like he was doing push-ups every second. The moment he couldn''t do another rep was the moment his mutation would stop. Location was also a factor in his mutation. Atlan felt the warmth of the sun and knew from instinct that it was what allowed him to regenerate so much SoulTime. He was like a plant. He needed the sun to survive. Atlan guessed that in places without the sun, he wouldn''t be able to regenerate his SoulTime even if he activated his new mutation. "Are you okay?" Geminus scratched his head. Atlan let go of his mutation and opened his eyes. "Yeah. I''m fine." "Sure¡­anyway. Why don''t you think about my offer? I can''t give you good benefits like the other Clubs, but I assure you that you will enjoy your time here. What do you think?" Atlan already decided to join, but there was one thing he needed to take care of first. "I''ll join if you tell me where the Vineyard is." Geminus perked up when he heard the good news. "Sure! The Vineyard? I''ll gladly take you there." He didn''t waste another second. He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled a high-pitched tone. Suddenly, Atlan saw a giant vine slither from atop a thick branch of the biggest tree in the garden. Atlan was alarmed. That vine moved like it was a snake. But when he used his Thermal Vision, it only had the same body heat as the other vines and plants in the garden. He didn''t see hot blood pumping through its body and he didn''t see any organs radiating heat. It wasn''t an animal. "What is that?" "Oh, this here''s my little mount," Geminus said as he rubbed the giant leaf at the end of the vine. "This guy lets me reach the tallest trees and it lets me go from one end of the garden to the other in just a few minutes." Atlan was surprised. Geminus treated the vine as if it were his pet, and the vine acted like a loyal and obedient puppy. "Get in," Geminus said and Atlan carefully followed him atop the leaf. Suddenly, the vine moved at a relatively fast speed like that of a horse, weaving and dodging the trees and plants blocking their way. "I never knew plants could be like this." "Sigh¡­Unfortunately, most people forget about how useful plants are. Back then, people used plants instead of horses. They also used vines and tree bark to create their houses. It was a paradise for vegetation! But now, all the funding for research and development has gone over to the Pseudo Canzer division. They would rather breed Pseudo Canzers than breed plants. It''s the future, they say. You know Venunum, right? People used to use poisonous ivy for it. Now, they would rather use Pseudo Canzers to satiate their high." S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 138 - 138: Bunker Atlan and Geminus soared through the jungle-like garden atop the vine. It didn''t take long for them to reach a place overgrown with weeds. If it weren''t for Atlan''s Thermal Vision, he wouldn''t have noticed that there was a metal contraption underneath all those wild overgrowths. "This is it," Geminus said as he commanded the vine to put them down. "This is the Vineyard?" Atlan would have thought to look for an actual vineyard, but instead, he was peering down at a bunker that led deep underground. Geminus nodded. "Yes, this is the Vineyard. Mister Vine, would you mind clearing the way for us?" Another vine connected to the main one swooped down at extremely fast speeds and before they knew it, the weeds were already cut down till they were nothing but green sprinkles in the air. "Thank you." The Vineyard was a bunker that was overgrown with moss and vines wrapping through the degraded concrete structure. But strangely enough, the double doors that led inside were perfectly preserved. The metal didn''t seem to rust and remained structurally stable. "I assume you have a ticket?" Atlan took out his golden ticket and Geminus couldn''t hide his surprise. He didn''t think that such a young man would be given a golden ticket. "Wow¡­.Remind me, what''s your job again?" "Porter." sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "...porter¡­" Even though Geminus knew of a porter''s importance during missions, he didn''t understand how that would be enough for him to be rewarded with a golden ticket. "Can I go in?" "Oh, yes. You can go in. Just put your golden ticket in the middle of the doors." Even though he wanted to ask, Geminus knew that it wasn''t appropriate to inquire about such personal matters. "I won''t be able to go in, but I hope you find what you''re looking for. It''s been a while since somebody came in here, so I hope it hasn''t degraded like the garden haha." Atlan slid the golden ticket in between the doors and a mysterious force sucked it in. It wasn''t long before the sounds of gears turning and metal clanging resounded inside the bunker. DUGSSHH The double doors parted ways to reveal a staircase that led down to the depths underground. Other people might get a little frightened by the darkness, but Atlan spent all his life underground in the Unclaimed Lands. This was familiar. Of course, he also had his Thermal Vision to help him navigate to where he wanted to go. Atlan stepped inside and the door behind him immediately started to close. "Oh, a little advice for you. I suggest you take your time and explore all your options before you pick the Genus that you want. It will kick you out the moment you pick a Genus from the vine," Geminus said as he waved goodbye at Atlan. "See you later!" Then, the door closed. Atlan was all alone in the darkness. With his Thermal Vision, he saw the whole bunker turn into a shade of blue. He easily distinguished the declining steps as he walked down. Even though his LifeSkill was SR class, he wasn''t able to see past the bunker. Are the walls thick or do they have a mechanism that prevents my Thermal Vision from seeing through it? Atlan walked down more steps until he finally came across a door with the number ''1'' ingrained into the very metal itself. Seeing no other way to go, Atlan pushed the door open. Immediately, fresh air from a gentle gust of natural wind hit his face. Wow¡­ Now that he was inside, he finally figured out why it was called the Vineyard. There was an endless row of trellises lined up in a neat and orderly fashion over a landscape in the plains. Vines grew on these trellises which bore strange fruits that glowed even in the sunlight. But that wasn''t the weirdest part. He looked around and was stunned to see blue skies overhead. He couldn''t understand how that was possible; they were tens of meters underground! He was immediately blinded when he looked up at the ''sun'' in the middle of the clouds. It was as if it was the real thing! Even when he used his new Photosynthesis mutation, he was surprised to find that he was still gaining 1 year for every second that elapsed, meaning that the ''sun'' here was the real thing. It wasn''t an illusion. He walked forward and saw the first row of fruits that grew on the vineyard. These ''fruits'' had strange shapes and colors. Some had a uniform color, like a blue spherical peach-like fruit, or a velvety red banana. Some even had shapes that looked like 2D versions of animals! There was one indigo-colored fish-shaped fruit and one that looked like a roaring bear. He was tempted to pick out one of these strange fruits, but he knew that he only had one chance to get what he wanted. If he picked one, then that''s all he would get. With his Thermal Vision, he saw the varying degrees of the fruits'' internal body temperature. Some were burning like a raging flame, and some barely had a flicker of fire inside. Does that mean that the fruits are weaker if they have less heat? Atlan walked through the seemingly endless rows of fruits in the vineyard, but none of them caught his eye. Judging from the fact that this was the 1st floor, he guessed that every fruit in this place corresponded to a 1-star rarity Genus. He didn''t need those. He walked for what seemed like hours until he finally saw another bunker in the distance. He walked towards it and saw that the doors were wide open. It led even further down. Atlan entered the bunker and walked down the steps. He didn''t stop until he found another door with the number ''2'' inscribed on the very metal itself. He opened the door and was greeted with the same blue skies and vineyard, except the plains were now slightly inclined. Atlan didn''t stop walking and continued to search for the next bunker. He unfolded his Angel Wings to breeze past the vineyard until he finally saw the bunker. Atlan continued to go deeper and deeper underground, passing through an increasingly inclining vineyard and going through the same bunkers until he finally came across a door underground with the number ''9'' written on it. This was the place where 9-star Genuses were stored. Chapter 139 - 139: Peak of the vineyard Atlan opened the door with the number ''9'' embossed on the metal. 9-star rarity Genus was the best anyone could ever hope for. But for Atlan, that was only second to the best. He had two 10-star Genus for himself that dictated his bloodline. Because of those two Genus, he became the Angelic Reaper of Souls. He obtained the 10-star Grim Reaper Genus by stealing the God of Death''s powers during his Pre-Remedium Draft while he got the 10-star Angel Genus by witnessing their global extinction from the face of the Earth. If he obtained a 9-star Genus now, he didn''t know if that would result in him changing his bloodline a third time. As far as he knew, only the strongest Genus could change his bloodline. It doesn''t matter. I''ll probably gain another mutation from this Genus, and not a weak one at that. Atlan stepped inside and saw the same trellises lined up in a row. But these didn''t seem endless. By his estimation, there were only about a hundred fruits hanging on the few fences. This wasn''t that surprising. When he went through the 8 levels of bunkers, he noticed fewer and fewer Genus fruits with each level he went down. The higher the rarity, the lesser there are¡­ He looked around and noticed that the blue skies were gone and instead replaced by a misty white fog that enveloped the whole plain. He also noticed that the plains were no longer on an incline. Each bunker he went through showed a plain that was increasingly getting steeper. It was as if he was climbing a mountain. Did I reach the top? Then this fog isn''t a fog at all; these are clouds!¡­Is this peak even higher than the clouds? Atlan looked up and was surprised to see the blackness of space staring at him from the gaps in the clouds. This place was so far up the heavens that the sky turned black! If the peak was this high, then the Genus it contained must be otherworldly. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The fruits hanging on vines were ethereal, to say the least. The first row of Genus all had miniature stars orbiting the fruits as if it was the center of a galaxy! And if Atlan wasn''t looking at it directly, it would change shapes. It was a normal apple at first, but then it changed into a five-sided star the next time he looked at it. He saw fruits wiggling like an egg about to hatch. They seemed alluring. If Atlan hadn''t reminded himself to be careful and picky with his choice, then he would have chosen the first Genus fruit he saw. Since there were only about a hundred Genus fruits in the entire vineyard, Atlan decided to look at them all before he decided on which one he wanted. He only had one chance at this. But that was easier said than done. With each row he passed, he seemed to get better and better fruits. He didn''t know why it was better, but it was in his instinctive human nature to know that he was in the presence of something godlike. And before he knew it, his hands disobeyed his mind and reached out to pluck the nearest Genus fruit. [Unauthorized temptation detected] [Forceful enticement denied] Atlan stopped himself just before he touched the Jupiter-colored Genus fruit. If it weren''t for his SSS class Physique LifeSkill and his 10-star Genus studded bloodline, he would have been tempted to pick out the Genus. It was close. If it were any other human, they wouldn''t have been able to cross the first row and would have been tempted to get the first fruit they came across. I underestimated these Genus fruits. He thought he was the one lucky to receive such a Genus, but it turned out that these Genus were the ones lucky to have him instead! Why else would they want to tempt him to pick out their fruit? The Genus fruits should have repelled him instead. With each fruit he passed, he felt an increasingly compelling feeling to pick one out. They wanted to be picked. Does the Genus get something from me if I pick them? He wouldn''t have pondered this question if the Prime Humans hadn''t planted the seed of doubt in his mind. Maybe they had a point. Maybe there was something wrong with adding another Genus to a human bloodline. This would have made him second-guess his decision to obtain another Genus, but he shook his head. He shouldn''t blindly believe someone he didn''t know. It''d be a waste to miss this opportunity. And even if there was something malicious happening, then his SSS class LifeSkill and his 10-star Genuses could easily overpower a mere 9-star Genus trying to do something to his body. He continued to stroll through the trellises, making sure to keep his distance from each of them. But as he reached the last one, he found nothing that suited his taste. There were no more fruits beyond the row, just a descending plain shrouded in fog. He had a feeling that he''d end up getting kicked out the moment he passed the fog. Perhaps it was because he was too careful in choosing, but there was nothing that prompted his instinct. Don''t get it wrong, each of those fruits was powerful in its own right. These were Genuses that would make even Razer mad with envy. However, none of them felt like the right fit for him. Should I just pick out the strongest one I see? Atlan activated his Thermal Vision and was immediately blinded by the fruits. It was as if he looked directly at the sun at its peak! He immediately averted his eyes to protect his retina from being damaged. He was going to deactivate his Thermal Vision, but then he saw something out of the corner of his eyes. There was a dim yellow light blinking deep underground. He wouldn''t have even seen it if he hadn''t tried to avert his eyes from the bright Genus fruits. But now that he saw it, he knew that this was something special. It was calling to him. That was a Genus fruit! And strangely enough, it had the same shape as a rectangle with a knob on the side. Chapter 140 - 140: The chase This was the one he wanted but it seemed that the Genus fruit knew it too. It immediately swam away underground to avoid his piercing eyes. He smiled. He always liked the chase. His shoulder blades turned numb and prickly as his Angel Wings unfolded behind him. With one flap of his wings, he caught up to the escaping Genus fruit. It changed directions in an attempt to disorient him, but Atlan''s Lightspeed Angel Wings weren''t just for show. For as long as he could keep it up, it was almost invincible in the air. He could have gone even faster, but he knew that he wouldn''t be able to keep it up. If he continued to only match the pace of the fruit, he knew that he could keep up with it for a decent amount of time. He also needed to be careful with the vineyard. He would have used his Apocalyptic Hellfire to destroy the fields and completely turn it over but he was afraid that once the fruits got detached from their stems, the bunker would think that Atlan picked his Genus fruit and it would kick him out. He couldn''t let that happen. He wanted this fleeing Genus. Thankfully, the underground fruit didn''t seem all that smart. Once it saw that Atlan was able to keep up with its speed, it suddenly panicked and shot straight up! It was his chance! Atlan flapped his Angel Wings even harder, accelerating to speeds he had never achieved before to try and intercept the fruit just as it passed the trellises. Atlan was just an arm''s length away from the fruit. Now that he saw it clearly, he was surprised to see that it only looked like an ordinary wooden door complete with the hinges and the knob. A door? Just as Atlan was about to catch the door-fruit in his hand, the doors suddenly opened and disappeared completely in mid-air! Atlan stopped. He hovered around where it disappeared and couldn''t believe its eyes. He saw no heat remnant with his Thermal Vision, which meant that it didn''t speed away from Atlan, it disappeared! He looked around the foggy outskirts of the vineyard and saw no sign of the door-fruit anywhere. He lowered himself and let his Angel Wings rest for a bit. He made it seem like he gave up as he closed his eyes. But just a moment later, his Angel Wings suddenly burst open and he accelerated to where the door-fruit was hiding! It thought that it could hide within the trellises and mask its energy with the other Genus fruits, but it failed to pay attention to the fact that it was the only one that was moving erratically. It was too panicked from Atlan for it to sit still. His Thermal Vision still worked even if his eyes were closed, although a bit diminished. But this turned out to be an advantage as he was able to avoid the blinding lights from the fruits and focus on the door. Atlan reached its hiding spot within a moment. He pushed himself even faster to try and catch the slippery little fruit. But just before he could grasp it in his hands, it opened its doors once again and disappeared into the void. Atlan looked up and was surprised to see the door-fruit hovering above the clouds, among the stars. Even with his current fastest speed with his Angel Wings, he still couldn''t keep up with it. No matter how fast he went, it kept teleporting away from him at the very last second. There was no way for him to catch it. But of course, he wasn''t going to give up. The good thing about mutations was that he could use it in tandem with his LifeSkill. He manifested a giant hand in his Soul System and activated his Spiked Chitin Spray. He raised his hand in the air and shot out his LifeSkill. The thorned black webs spread out in a cone pattern to try and enclose the slippery door-fruit, but it simply teleported away at the very last second. He shot another Spiked Chitin Spray towards it, this time, he sped to the opposite side. He hoped that it would trap the door-fruit and he could catch it with his own hands. But he underestimated how fast those doors opened. The moment it saw the black webs spray towards itself, it suddenly opened its doors and teleported away, giving no time for Atlan to catch it even with his fastest speed. I can''t catch it like this. It''s fruitless. It will keep teleporting while I use my Angel Wings till exhaustion. I have to find another way. He sped towards the door-fruit standing atop one of the trellises. He made sure to keep his speed at a minimum to preserve his energy. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This time, the fruit took its time and waited at the very last second before teleporting away. Atlan looked around and saw the fruit behind him. Hmm¡­ Atlan continued to test out the fruit''s teleporting ability. He found that it could do this with seemingly no limit at all. He kept a close eye on its internal body temperature and saw no difference from when it started to when it used its teleport ten times in a row. That was bad news. But the good news was that its usage was quite basic. It didn''t have any complex sentient thinking or it wouldn''t have simply teleported behind Atlan without any deviation. It didn''t try to get clever and teleport away randomly¡ªit didn''t need to. Another important thing he found out was the need for its doors to be opened for it to activate its teleport ability. If he could get to it before it opened its doors, then he''d be able to catch it. But even if he knew that, it was still a hard task. It could teleport within a fraction of a second. For Atlan to grab the door-fruit that fast, he''d need to be exactly a meter away for him to grab it before it could open its door. With his Angel Wings, he could move fast enough to reach the door. But, he needed to move before the door teleported and he needed to arrive exactly where the door would land. To do that, he''d need to know the future. That was impossible. He needed to know where it would land. It wasn''t enough to know that it would land behind him, he needed to know the direction. Wait¡­I have another LifeSkill that can help me target it! Chapter 141 - 141: Gatekeeper His Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill could lock on to any target he could see! Can I lock on to the door-fruit? Atlan immediately tested it out. He turned around and chased the Genus fruit half-heartedly and as soon as he saw it teleport, he immediately turned around and held the Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill in his giant hand. It was too frantic for him to lock onto and activate his LifeSkill, but he wasn''t planning to. He grasped the planet in his Soul System with no intention of gripping it tightly¡ªhe knew it wouldn''t work anyway. However, the moment he made contact with his LifeSkill, it immediately started to look for a target in his vicinity. It didn''t take long for his LifeSkill to lock onto an empty space on the right side. As fast as that moment came, it vanished just as easily. The LifeSkill failed to activate just as he predicted. But it already did its job. Atlan knew where the Genus fruit would land! After a fraction of a second, the door-fruit manifested in reality just a few meters away from where Atlan thought it would land! It worked! He finally knew how to catch it. He spent the next few minutes testing out the parameters of the teleportation and was able to shorten the estimated distance to only a few inches. And despite being a pseudo sentient being, the Genus fruit seemed to be getting overconfident with its abilities. It didn''t immediately teleport whenever Atlan got close. It floated away from him and tried to bait him into chasing it even further. And once he got too close, it would teleport and bob up and down in happiness. Atlan kept chucking out his Spiked Chitin Spray towards the Genus fruit, but they always missed. Okay¡­preparations are complete. This is my chance. He looked back at his own Angel Wings and knew that it was nearing exhaustion. Testing out the door-fruit''s abilities necessitated using his Angel Wings to keep up with it, which made him almost dead tired. And fortunately, it turned out to be completely worth it. Atlan shot out one more Spike Chitin Spray towards the floating Genus fruit. But this time, he didn''t let it spread outwards. As soon as it spurted out of his hands, he immediately grabbed it with his fingers and pulled it towards himself. The Genus fruit''s ''brain'' or whatever it used to think, was too simple for it to understand what was happening. After all, the black web didn''t even get near it. It didn''t notice that the new web connected to the other string of webs on the ground. Atlan didn''t miss the previous LifeSkill attacks! He didn''t intend to hit the Genus fruit with it, but instead used it to set up a trap for the unsuspecting Door-fruit. He pulled the web that was connected to the other webs on the ground. These intertwined Spiked Chitin Spray were wrapped around the trellises and created a net that suddenly sprung up and intended to catch the Genus fruit from mid-air! The Door-fruit jumped up but realized that it was already too late. The net covered any chance of escape it could try to do. And the gaps between the net were too tight for it to fit through. With no other choice, the Genus fruit opened its door and vanished from existence. And when it reappeared back in reality, it was suddenly greeted with the image of Atlan''s hands grabbing its wooden frame. The Genus fruit was still clueless as Atlan held his precious prize in his hand. It tried to wriggle its way out of his grip, but how could it compare to his SSS class Physique LifeSkill? It tried to open its doors to teleport away from him, but Atlan was too careful for that. He made sure the doors would never open. He smiled. His plan worked. He was already alert and ready when he sprung his net on the Genus fruit. The moment he saw it open its doors to try and escape, Atlan immediately activated his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill to sense the general direction of where it would appear next. And with his Angel Wings pushed to its very limits, Atlan almost teleported right next to the Genus fruit, catching it off guard. With one swift move, he grabbed the door-fruit in his hands and claimed his prize. His Angel Wings forcefully folded back into his back, but it was fine. It did its job. He landed on the ground and inspected his prize. Now that he looked at it closely, he noticed that the wooden door was emanating a new but familiar feeling. He tried to remember when he first felt this strange sensation. Ah! I remember now. It has the same feeling as when I first entered Genesis City! He would never forget that moment. And when he held the door-fruit in his hands, he felt those memories resurfacing in his mind. Does this fruit have something in common with the City? Does it have something to do with the Genesis God? Either way, Atlan knew that this Genus was something that he needed. It was special. Out of all the 9-star Genus in the Vineyard, it was the only one that tried to evade his capture. Every single fruit in the trellises presented themselves as alluring as possible to try and entice him to pick it instead of the other ones. And if it weren''t for his Physique LifeSkill, he would''ve fallen for it. The Door-fruit was the only one that stayed underground and hid itself from being picked. But now that it was in his hands, Atlan was sure that it was the most valuable thing inside the Vineyard. He didn''t hesitate any longer. He opened his mouth and took a bite out of the door-fruit. The sensation he felt was akin to biting onto a cloud. It wasn''t solid. He only felt mist around his mouth as the door-fruit suddenly disintegrated into multi-colored particles that phased in and out of existence. These particles enveloped Atlan''s entire body, turning him into a being with multi-colored skin as he phased in and out of existence. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [You have obtained a 9-star Genus: Gatekeeper] [You have obtained a new mutation: 9-star Dimensional Wings] [You already have a Wing mutation. Would you like to merge them?] Chapter 142 - 142: Thank the lucky stars 10,000 Upgrade points flew out of Atlan''s Soul System and merged his new mutations. The ethereal Angel Wings floated in the blackness of his Soul System and were suddenly enveloped by those multi-colored particles that phased in and out of existence. Due to the very nature of the Angel Wings, it couldn''t let itself be sullied by anything other than Angel power. But the line of red geometrical shapes encircled around the Angel Wings. After a few seconds, the one in the front of the Upgrade points pierced through the Angel Wings and ''sewed'' the multi-colored particles into the very feathers of the wings. It wasn''t long until the pure white feathers were shimmering like twinkling stars. After the transformation was over, the Angel Wings returned to their pure white form. Atlan looked at his Soul System. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª2x (1-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª2x (1-star) Flora ¡ª10x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (4-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (6-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (7-star) Flora ¡ª1x (9-star) Gatekeeper ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [Mutation] ¡ª (4-star) Canzer Mother Tongue ¡ª (6-star) Pseudo Canzer Whisperer ¡ª (7-star) Photosynthesis ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings [Trait] ¡ª 10x level booster [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª 2nd stage Student Realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª(2000 / 2000) Specialty: Vanguard ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ªMage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6x F class fragments ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª 2nd stage Student ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage ¡ªScout: (SR) Thermal Vision ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 3rd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 6x F class fragments ¡ªBerserker: (B) Bloodline Transformation ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments ¡ªBard: (SR) Modify Memory Spore ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 2nd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments [Experience: 60,521.2] [Upgrade Points: 328,000] [SoulTime] ¡ª50 yrs : 112 d : 12 hrs : 54 min : 34 s His Lightspeed Angel Wings turned into Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings! Atlan was surprised because his new Gatekeeper Genus was only a 9-star rarity, which meant that the Dimensional Wings mutation he received was also only at the 9-star rarity. But it somehow merged with his Lightspeed Angel Wings at the 10-star rarity. Although they were both Wing mutations, he didn''t think that they''d be able to merge because of the rarity difference. Does that mean that as long as they''re the same mutation, I can merge them even if they have a large gap in rarity? Atlan wouldn''t have believed that, but he was looking at his newly transformed Wing mutation in his Soul System with his very own eyes. From time to time, his pure white Angel Wings would sparkle and shimmer like a star in the night sky. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Because the 10-star Lightspeed Angel Wings has a higher rarity than the 9-star Dimensional Wings, it will stay as the dominant mutation¡­ Atlan wasn''t mad at this new change. His new Wings only got stronger because of it. Although he didn''t know the exact capabilities of his new mutation, he knew that it had something to do with dimensions. Can I travel between dimensions? Or maybe I can create a new dimension for me to store my stuff? Atlan wanted to test it out, so he opened his eyes. He expected to see the foggy plains filled with trellises of Genus fruits, but when he opened his eyes, he only saw dark steel doors in front of him. This is the entrance for the bunker. He looked behind him but couldn''t see the stairs that led down to the next Genus plains. Looks like I''ve been kicked out. He was warned that this would happen, but he didn''t think that the change would be so unnoticeable. He took his focus away from his surroundings as he observed his Soul System and the next thing he knew, he was already back at the bunker. With no other choice, Atlan pushed the door open and was greeted with the same overgrown garden that he came from. "I''m finally back." He looked around but didn''t see Geminus anywhere. I must have been in there a long time. Just then, he suddenly heard a branch break from a distance. With his enhanced hearing, he was able to hear three distinct footsteps coming toward him at an unhurried pace. "Are you sure you saw him here?" "Yes. I''m sure. The Star Porter is around here somewhere." "What are we going to tell Young Master Otis if we don''t teach this guy a lesson?" The three shady men didn''t even try to hide themselves. They were too busy detangling themselves from the overgrown vines to worry about their conversation echoing in the jungle-like garden. And just as they finally weaved themselves away from the tall bamboo-like grass on the ground, they came across a bald spot in the garden with nothing but a degrading bunker and a man staring right back at them. They stopped in their tracks as they recognized him. "What a tremendous amount of good luck! We found him." "I told you he''s here somewhere." "Good. We''ll curry favor with the Young Master O with this." Lucky (Unlucky) for them, the Star Porter had no intention of running away from them. He seemed oblivious with the hostile eyes directed at him. "Hey, Trash Porter! Come over here. We have something to give you." "Kukuku¡­it''s quite heavy too. It''s a real knocker of a present!" "It''s a congratulatory gift from a very special person. He congratulates you for surviving that disaster in the Pocket Remedium." But despite their very ''alluring'' offer, Atlan kept still. He looked at them as he crossed his arms around his black battle suit. Seeing him that way, the three shady figures knew that the jig was up. "Tsk. Come on now! We won''t hurt you that badly. We''re only at the 5th stage!" "We''re just here to teach you a few moves." The three of them cracked their knuckles with an easygoing attitude. This wasn''t their first time beating down a lesser Savior. Novices were too green behind the ears to even pose a threat to any of them even if they were fighting a horde. They wouldn''t even hurt Atlan that badly. After all, he was the Star Porter. They''ll only need an arm and a leg. Chapter 143 - 143: For chasing Atlan calmly faced the three. He then used his Thermal Vision and looked around the garden. Aside from the cold bodies of the overgrown plant life, he saw no one around him. "Where are you looking?" "Don''t worry, no one will hear you even if you scream." "That gardener is gone. What a gullible guy he was. He believed us when we said we''d join the Garden Club if he ran a lap around the entire City!" Atlan took a deep breath and nodded to himself. "Good. There''s no one here to see this." The other three laughed to themselves when they heard that. Atlan acted like it was good that there was no one here to save him. "Good for you? Good for us! We can take our time with you and teach you a little something about survivor''s guilt!" Otis Orioness wanted revenge on those Saviors who survived the Pocket Remedium disaster. Atlan was one of them. He survived with barely any injuries while Obek, Otis'' younger brother, lost all his SoulTime and couldn''t even be visited in the church! It was completely unfair when they were the ones who opened their private Pocket Remedium for others to enjoy their party. These three were his lackeys and their job was to bring down justice to those that got ''lucky''. But Atlan didn''t know any of that. He didn''t care. He stretched his hands and prepared himself. Truth be told, he was a little bit excited. This was the first time he''d be going all out in front of other people. "I can finally practice my skills," he uttered. The lackeys sneered at him again. With their strength and their numerical advantage, there would be no time for him to practice. He''d only feel pain. "Look at this guy," they mocked him. "Even if you triple your power, you won''t even be able to harm a single hair on our bodies!" But no matter how much they tried to tell Atlan about the apparent difference in their strength, he didn''t seem to care. He raised his hand and gestured for them to come to him. It was so simple yet so arrogant at the same time that the lackeys couldn''t help but turn red in the ears. They couldn''t believe that a mere porter dared to taunt them. Where did he get the confidence to think that he''d be able to defeat three of them at the same time? They had a three-stage difference between them! Did the fame go to his head? They thought that Atlan must have felt confident about himself because of all the good things they''d been telling about him recently. It made him overestimate himself. But even then, his overconfidence had no basis of evidence at all. He could defeat a single man in the 4th stage, but that was a single exchange of kicks. It wasn''t a real fight. If it was, then Atlan would surely lose because of the difference in experience. Now, he was fighting against three people in the 5th stage Student realm. All at the same time. He''d be delusional to think that he''d wind this battle. "Let''s show him the difference, shall we?" The three lackeys took out the scimitars from their backs and brandished them to the arrogant Star Porter. "RAHH!" they screamed. And in an instant, they accelerated toward Atlan at intense speeds, even carving a path for themselves through the soil. Their scimitars were positioned to slice Atlan''s body in three different levels. One of them aimed for his arms, one aimed for his torso, and one aimed to cut his ankles. This would be the trophies they''d bring back to Otis and prove that they had done their jobs properly. "That''s useless," Atlan uttered under his breath. And before they could even make contact, his body suddenly disappeared from their view. Their scimitars sliced through nothing but vines and moss on the ground. "What?! Where did he go?" "Tsk. Find him! I can''t believe he knows a movement technique!" "He was so arrogant saying that he''ll be enough to defeat us. Turns out it''s just a ruse to help him escape!" They were going to move out, but they suddenly noticed a shadow cast directly over their heads. That shadow was moving, beating, as if it were a bird flapping its wings. "Look up," a voice said above them. The three lackeys had a bad feeling as they heard his voice. They slowly raised their heads. And what they saw shut them up. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Above them was the silhouette of a man with wings behind him spreading to almost twice that of an average human''s height. And even with the brightness of the sun at its zenith, the pure white Angel Wings still glimmered below them. They couldn''t believe what they were seeing. "What the?!" "Wings?! That''s not possible¡­that''s only a 7-star mutation!" The leader of the lackeys immediately knew the mission spiked up in difficulty the moment Atlan brought out his wings. Everyone underestimated the Star Porter, if that was even possible. The leader would have been more confident if he had five more 5th stage Students helping him subdue Atlan. By speed alone, they knew that they couldn''t keep up with him. "How are we going to catch him now?" "We can''t let him get away." They still thought that Atlan would run away with his Angel Wings. That was only the most logical course of action. But even with his wings, Atlan didn''t move a single inch. He hovered above the lackeys. "Ha! Is he stupid? Why isn''t he running away?" "Maybe he can''t control his wings all that well. It''s our chance!" The other two rejoiced when they saw Atlan kept still. The only one who kept quiet was their leader; he was deep in thought. A thought popped up in his head. What if he didn''t leave because he doesn''t want to? And just as he thought that, Atlan spoke up from above them. "These wings aren''t for escaping. It''s for chasing." The leader''s survival instincts kicked in and he immediately darted away from Atlan. He didn''t know which was more terrifying: the fact that Atlan could catch up to him, or the fact that he wasn''t? Chapter 144 - 144: Multiple powers Atlan took out his slingshot. He plucked a single red cherry from the tree right next to him and put it in his slingshot. The other two lackeys didn''t understand why their leader ran away, but it made them much more suspicious of the porter floating right above them. Maybe, he was much more dangerous than they thought. Why else would their senior leader run away? But then, they saw Atlan pluck out a cherry from a tree and use it as ammunition for his slingshot. It almost made them laugh. Does the porter really think that the puny little cherry would do damage to our armor? Their eyes suddenly widened when they felt the air change. The pressure made them sweat and instinctively worry for their lives. They looked up at Atlan''s slingshot and saw a bluish-green fire covering the hot red cherry. "That''s¡­.no¡­.that can''t be¡­" "How¡­" Atlan was emanating a pressure that only those in the 3rd stage Student realm could exert! They were 5th stage Students. They were more sensitive to LifeSkill powers and knew how to estimate them just from the pressure alone. They couldn''t mistake a 3rd stage Student for a 2nd stage Student. But now, they wished they made a mistake. They wished that what they were feeling wasn''t a power from the 3rd stage Student realm. They wished they were wrong. No matter how much they tried to deny it, the evidence was right in front of their eyes. They couldn''t understand how that was possible. Everyone knew that Atlan was a star, but a porter nonetheless. He was only supposed to have a Physique LifeSkill that gave him the physical strength to carry thousands of kilograms without any problem. They saw him use it. Although surprising, the black flames that spread to his body were the manifestation of his Physique LifeSkill. And from their estimation, his Physique LifeSkill was only in the 2nd stage. That was public knowledge. And even though he could break the bones of a man in the 4th stage, it was still believable. But as they looked at the bluish-green flame in his slingshot, they realized that they''d been fooled. That dangerous pressure it emitted was not something that could be faked. It was another LifeSkill! How is that possible, they thought. It was simply inconceivable to think that someone had two different LifeSkills, much more one of them being in the 3rd stage Student already! Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It took them at least 8 years to go from 1st stage to 5th stage. And from their investigations, they knew that the Star Porter was only drafted not even a month ago! Him having a LifeSkill in the 4th stage was impossible! He shouldn''t have that much experience in the first place! He''d only gone on one mission! Atlan released the slingshot in his hands, and it created a single bluish-green line of fire that led straight toward the back of the fleeing lackey. The moment it hit, BOOM, an explosion of bluish-green fire erupted and sent a shockwave that blasted the other two lackeys off their feet. Once the smoke cleared, they saw a crater filled with nothing but burned plants, vines, and moss. The leader of the lackeys laid face down with his battle suit burned and tattered into pieces. His protective armor was shattered into pieces, but it did its job. He may have lost half his SoulTime, but he wasn''t killed. He''s just unconscious. The other two covered their mouths in horror. Atlan''s attack was not unfamiliar to them. It was reminiscent of a sniper''s attack, though this one was a lot more tame and less destructive. "That''s not possible¡­how do you have that¡­" "How¡­you''re a monster!" The two of them recognized that bluish-green flame. How could they not? Practically everyone in the entire City, if not the entire world, knew about that iconic bluish-green hellfire that could incinerate anything it touched. That was Quinto Kindle''s LifeSkill. It was what the First Savior used to kill millions upon millions of Canzers in his lifetime. Even though they didn''t understand it, there was one thing they were sure about. Atlan was a monster. Not only could he have two LifeSkills, but one of them was already at the 3rd stage in less than two weeks! "RUN!" The two of them immediately made a run for it. Just from his Sniper LifeSkill alone, they knew that they had no chance of beating him. And that was when he used a single cherry as his ammo! What more if he used something with a little more punch? But then they heard something incredulous. "Spiked Chitin Spray," uttered Atlan as a black web suddenly burst out of his palms. One of the lackeys was too slow. He got caught by the cone of black webs, trapping him on the mossy cobblestone below. "Argh!" he screamed. The black webs were as thick as branches and were heavy enough to pin him down. Not only that, there were sharp thorns all around the webbing that slowly lacerated his skin. He couldn''t even gather enough power to rip the sticky web away from his skin. The harder he struggled, the more the barbed spikes poked his skin. The best thing for him to do was to stay still and slowly rip the black web away from his skin, but his panicked fear of Atlan''s shadowy figure above him made him more erratic. He entangled himself further in the web. With two down, there was only one of them left. The man''s body lit up in a red glow as he activated his 5th stage LifeSkill: Water Crescent. He waved his scimitar behind him, creating crescent-shaped water toward Atlan. As expected of a 5th-stage student, these Water Crescents sliced through steel fences quite easily. His attack curved in the air and rotated up, intending to hit Atlan from below. But no matter how powerful those Water Crescents were, they were useless if they didn''t hit their target. Atlan flapped his wings even harder and immediately caught up with the last lackey. He grabbed onto the man''s shoulders, pinning him in place. But then, Atlan''s Angel Wings suddenly glimmered like the stars in the night sky. A new power suddenly emanated from the wings. The shining particles suddenly shot out from his Angel Wings and pierced through 5 meters in front of them. Atlan''s eyes widened as he saw the particles tear through the very reality itself, creating an oval-shaped hole in the air. Chapter 145 - 145: How to alter a memory The hole in reality was quickly enveloped by a black liquid that seemed strangely familiar. Atlan couldn''t stop his momentum as he and the lackey went through the black shimmering portal. And when they crossed it, Atlan''s eyes adjusted to the strange colors of everything around him. The sky that used to be so bright and blue has now turned into a dark orange. The luscious vegetation that colored everything in a green hue turned into a purple tint. The two of them slowly stood up as they realized where they were. "What the hell are you? How can you create a portal to the Remedium?!" The lackey looked at Atlan as if he was a monster. But even the ''monster'' didn''t know how this happened. "Take me back!" The lackey couldn''t hide his panic. He had heard all the stories about the Remedium incidents and was completely terrified of Canzers suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Not only that, Atlan was always at the center of any incidents. It made him think that the porter was the reason as to why those things kept happening in the City. It may have just been his bad luck, but it could have also been intentional. The fact that Atlan could create a portal to the Remedium further led the lackey to believe that Atlan was the enemy of humanity. Atlan ignored him and looked around. It''s a complete copy of the real world¡­except with negative colors¡­ There was no mistaking it. This was the Remedium. Somehow, his new Angel Wings mutation could traverse through the Remedium without the normal portal constructs that the Operators used. So that''s what ''dimensional'' meant in my Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings. Despite the horrible news that he somehow ended up in another Remedium, Atlan was overjoyed with the fact that he obtained this power from his 9-star Gatekeeper genus. If he could go in, then he could also get out! Even though he hadn''t figured out how to do that yet, the fact that it was possible was enough to make him feel a lot safer when doing missions. If things escalated again and another ''incident'' happened with his missions, then he had a trump card that could save his life. If another Specialist-level Canzer appeared in his beginner mission, Atlan could simply exit out of the Remedium at any point without having to search for the portal. The reason why a lot of people died during the Pocket Remedium incident was that everyone was trapped inside with no way to exit. The portal back to the real world was blocked by a horde of Pseudo Canzers, so everyone was forced to run away to save their lives. But Atlan didn''t have that problem anymore. He could get out of the Remedium even if the portal was miles away from him. This was entirely good news! For the lackey, things got a little more terrifying. He saw Atlan smile out of nowhere. "Don''t worry," Atlan assured him. "You''ll forget about this soon enough." Before the guy could even speak, Atlan swiped the air with his hands and created orange spores that slowly fell on the ground. Even as the lackey tried to avoid the spores, a few microscopical particles sunk deep in between his skin and infected his whole body. The spores followed the veins in his body until they reached the top of his head. "It''s time to see how good my SR Modify Memory Spore LifeSkill is¡­" S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It didn''t take a full minute before the lackey''s eyes turned from intense fear to simple absentmindedness. His eyes turned muddy. He was still conscious, but there wasn''t any active thinking in his brain. Can I modify all his memories? Or can I only alter recent memories? Can I make him forget his name? If I can''t, then that''s fine. The only thing that I need him to forget is the memory of me using all my powers, including my Wings'' ability to create portals to the Remedium. That one, I have to make sure no one else knows. But it seemed that Atlan contemplated for far too long as the guy''s eyes started to clear. He was waking up. "Huh¡­what¡­right¡­Remedium¡­" Before he could wake up any further, Atlan used his Spores to make his memories vague and malleable. "You forgot your name. You don''t know how you got here." Atlan commanded. After a few moments, the guy shook his head and looked around the Remedium with confusion written all over his face. He recognized where this place was, but he didn''t remember how he ended up in this situation. "Who are you? How did you get here?" Atlan asked. "Who¡­am I¡­.I¡­I''m¡­.I''m Cera¡­I don''t¡­.I don''t know why I''m here." I can''t make him forget his name. I guess that memory is too ingrained in his brain for me to make him forget who he is¡­but I made him forget how he ended up in the Remedium. That''s good. Atlan continued to test out the limits of his new LifeSkill. He found that a target''s memory could be altered or modified for as long as the memory was made within 24 hours. During this period, he could make them believe that they spent the whole day lounging in their beds and doing nothing. He could erase memories longer than a day, but he had a harder time convincing them to believe the lie. As long as the memory he altered was something insignificant to their lives, then he could alter it or delete it entirely from their minds. But if it was a memory that was integral to their personality, like their name or their knowledge of how to use their weapons, then he couldn''t erase it from their memory no matter how hard he tried. Also, if the memory he implanted was too unbelievable, then they would start to question their false memories. Knowing the parameters of his Modify Memory Spore was important because he''d be relying on it to keep his secret from this point onward. Truth be told, he should have tested out his LifeSkill before he showed them his true powers. But if his LifeSkill didn''t work as he intended, then there was just one simple thing he would do. He''d kill them. Chapter 146 - 146: Forget me He was probably not the first person they harassed. He wouldn''t be killing them, no. He''d only be lessening the sufferings in the world and the City. The only reason why he didn''t kill them right now was because he knew that it could backfire on him. "You want to tell me why you targeted me," Atlan commanded. And just like that, the guy spilled the whole truth. Someone named Otis Orioness commanded them to teach him a lesson. Orioness. Obek is also from the Orioness family¡­are they related? Probably¡­they want revenge for his death. It was no secret that Atlan and Obek clashed heads during the race. Not only that, Atlan was the very reason why Obek was overwhelmed by the horde of Pseudo Canzers. If Atlan hadn''t shot off the blinders in Obek''s mount, he could have escaped with his mount. Otis targeted him for that. If Atlan killed his three lackeys, he would reveal that he had the power to kill three 5th stage Students simultaneously. The guy would be more careful and send out stronger opponents. But by changing their memories, he could make them think they forgot to attack him. He could convince them their ambush was a failure because of an unexpected witness. "You didn''t meet me today. You didn''t fight me. You didn''t see me use my powers. You''ll forget everything you see or feel about me." The spores in his brain invaded the firing neurons that related to his memory. His mind deleted the memories he had of Atlan, including the image of him flying with Angel Wings behind his back. He voluntarily forgot the fact that Atlan was a monster who used three different LifeSkills. His entire interaction with Atlan was flushed down the drain. Before he could gain consciousness, Atlan activated his Physique LifeSkill and punched him in the chin, knocking him out completely. Atlan''s Angel Wings unfolded behind him. He closed his eyes and recalled the feeling when he created the portal to the Remedium. Slowly, the pure white feathers in his wings started to glimmer with twinkling stars. But after a few seconds, it slowly faded back into his wings. It took Atlan a few tries before he was able to consistently keep the feeling solid in his wings. He commanded his Angel Wings to flap. He flailed his Angel Wings harder and harder, with fury. And finally, the black and white particles suddenly pierced outwards and created a hole in the middle of the air. Atlan saw the familiar black shimmering portal that led back to the real world. The only difference between his portal and a man-made construct from the Operators was that theirs was made out of a perfect circle while Atlan''s portal was uneven and shaky. He didn''t care. As long as he could travel between the Remedium and the real world, then he was satisfied. He threw the unconscious body of the lackey into the portal and followed behind it. As soon as he stepped foot in the portal, the smell of the earth and freshly cut grass his senses. He heaved a sigh of relief. He was back. This was enough evidence for him to be confident with his Angel Wings'' new power. "You! Where did you guys go?! And what happened to him?" The only one left still conscious was the lackey trapped in his Spiked Chitin Spray. He struggled under a pool of his blood as the thorns cut his skin mercilessly. Atlan went forward and gathered the three of them into one place. "What..what are you going to do? Are you going to bleed us of our SoulTime?!" Atlan kept silent and looked down on them with a calm demeanor. "Don''t you know who we work for? If he finds out that you hurt us, he''ll give you a beating you can''t ever forget! Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And don''t think you''re gonna get away with this! The whole City will soon know about your secrets! You''re conspiring with the Canzers! They must have given you all those powers." But Atlan didn''t utter a single word. Instead, he waited for the other guy to wake up. "Cera! It''s good you''re awake." "What¡­what''s happening?" "Come on! We have to get out." "Wh¨Cwhy?" "What do you mean?! It''s that porter! He''s a monster!" Cera looked up at Atlan, but his face was foreign to him as if he had never met Atlan before. "What¡­am I doing here? I was just at home¡­" It was only then that the last surviving lackey realized that there was something wrong going on. "What happened?!" "I made him forget," answered Atlan. "I relieved him of the suffering he felt when he saw my true powers. I freed him." Cera acted like a zombie. He didn''t know where he was and he didn''t know what happened. It was as if he''d been in a coma that erased his entire memory of today! Atlan slowly lowered himself towards the three lackeys. The man tried even harder to struggle away from the thorned black webs, but it was futile. No matter how much he tried, he wouldn''t be able to escape the fate that Cera suffered. "No! Please!" But Atlan didn''t care. He raised his hand and gathered spores in the air. And with one flick of the hand, the three of them were enveloped in a cloud of spores that quickly invaded their bodies and infected their brains. Their eyes turned cloudy. "You fought against each other because of a disagreement. You didn''t find me. You never saw me. You never went into the garden." ### After a few hours, the three lackeys found themselves tied up in a dark basement with no windows. Ahead of them was a blonde-haired man sitting in a chair. "Tell me what happened," Otis commanded. Cera slowly came to and the false memories flowed in his mind. His imagination made up a vivid memory of him beating up the other lackeys until they were all knocked out. "We¡­we fought¡­" "I won¡­against him. I destroyed his armor." "I tried to run away from them¡­but they caught me¡­" CRASH Otis threw down the glass of wine in his hands. "Useless bastards. I''ll have to do this myself. This time, I''ll make sure he meets a gruesome fate in the Remedium the way my little brother suffered!" Chapter 147 - 147: First task of the garden club Atlan slumped on his bed after a very interesting day. He met quite a few odd individuals today. First, he met Adam, who was supposedly part of a secret organization operating in the undergrounds of the City to bring back the glory of humans. Their faction was called the Prime Humans. Although he didn''t know if Adam was telling the truth or not, there was one thing for sure: Prime Humans had a Trait. Atlan gained a Trait after he reaped the death of Quinto Kindle, the First Savior, which meant that he was also a part of the Prime Humans. Then, he met Geminus, the leader of the declining Garden Club. He invited Atlan to join the club, which Atlan was going to decline, but then the deaths he reaped from the garden made him reconsider. And after he got his 9-star Genus from the Vineyard, a few lackeys suddenly ambushed him. They were all in the 5th stage Student realm. Atlan would have had a lot more trouble dealing with them if his LifeSkills hadn''t finished their consolidation period just at the right time. [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill to the 4th stage of the Student Realm] [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill to the 3rd stage of the Student Realm] Since his two SSS class LifeSkills advanced to the next level, his physical strength was also boosted to such an extent that he was able to stand toe to toe against the three lackeys. He would have advanced them to the next level if he had the time, but he was busy fighting and trying to figure out how his Modify Memory Spore worked. But now that he was at home, he upgraded them to the next level. ¡ªDPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 5th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 14 days ¡ªSniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 7 days The Cherubic Retribution cost 4000 experience points to upgrade to the 5th stage while the Apocalyptic Hellfire cost 3000 experience to advance to the 4th stage, which brought his total experience down to 53,521.2. With everything settled, Atlan closed his eyes and went to sleep. ### Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The next day, he was greeted with the notification that his Modify Memory Spore successfully advanced to the 2nd stage Student realm. He used 2000 experience points to upgrade it to the 3rd stage. [You have successfully advanced through the 2nd stage Student Realm of your SR class LifeSkill Modify Memory Spore] [Consolidation period: 47 hrs: 59 mins: 50secs] With nothing else left to do, he walked to the City Center and entered the HeadQuarters. He still garnered some looks of recognition and amazement, but they didn''t try to stop him or anything. Atlan continued to walk to the end of the HeadQuarters until he finally came across the empty Garden Club. He looked around and couldn''t even see anyone near this place. It was completely abandoned. This was the only place in the HeadQuarters that wasn''t teeming with people. According to Geminus, people used to treat plants as if they were pets. They were used for construction, for accompaniment, and even for entertainment. But when the advent of Pseudo Canzers hit the City, everyone stopped caring about plants. They would rather breed new and exciting Pseudo Canzers to fill the responsibility that the plants once had. Subsequently, all the funding went over to the Pseudo Canzer research in the Operator division. Hence, the garden club''s decline. No one even wanted to join the club, except for Atlan. He was the only one who could benefit from taking care of the dying plants. He reaped more than 3500 deaths just yesterday! Since entry to Pocket Remediums like the public Training Hall was still prohibited, Atlan had no other way of gaining more experience other than through the garden club. In fact, this was much safer than killing Pseudo Canzers in the Pocket Remedium; they could always malfunction and summon another Specialist level Canzer. As he went over the rusting steel gate, he saw a note pasted on the side door. He ripped it from the gate and read its contents. That''s what I have to do? I have to take care of a single plant? Atlan was a bit frustrated that he wasn''t given more instructions on how to take care of this plant. He didn''t know the basics! He lived in a place devoid of any plant life, so he never even knew how to take care of a single blade of grass. That''s it? He had no choice but to improvise. He pushed the side door and entered the Garden Club. As expected, the whole place was surrounded by overgrown plants and weeds. It looks like plants will continue to grow even if I don''t take care of them. He looked up at the largest tree in the distance. He remembered how Geminus used his hands to fold his tongue on the inside to create a whistling sound. Did he do it like this? Atlan blew at his hands, but there was no sound coming out. He continued to change the position of his hands until he finally produced a high-pitched whistling sound that reverberated through the Garden. The ground trembled a little bit as the giant vine that was wrapped around the trunk of the biggest tree, suddenly moved and uncoiled itself. It slithered in the air as it located where the sound came from. Like a sentient being, it looked in Atlan''s direction and moved towards him. It bent down and offered its giant leaf for him to sit in. Once he was on top of the vine, it lifted him and waded through the jungle-like garden without any instruction from Atlan. It knew what to do and where to go. Just then, Atlan suddenly saw a fluttering paper stuck on the leaf. He looked at its contents. Chapter 148 - 148: Chronobloom What?! It''s near extinction?! Atlan couldn''t believe that a beginner gardener like him was in charge of such an important piece of plant. There''s only one of them left in the entire world? Does that mean that if I mess up, then it will go extinct? He couldn''t understand why Geminus would give him such a heavy responsibility. He only knew about watering plants yesterday! He even thought that plants needed meat to live like humans. He was thoroughly unprepared to carry the burden of making sure that the Chronobloom plant survived. Oh, there''s more to the note. Atlan turned the paper on its back and saw more scribbles. Atlan crumpled the piece of paper and threw it down the garden. Even though he found out about the history and uses of the Chronobloom, Geminus didn''t say anything about how to take care of it! He didn''t say how much water he needed to put on the roots. He didn''t say how much sunlight it needed throughout the day. How can I keep it alive when you don''t tell me how?! Atlan wanted to complain to Geminus, but the guy was conveniently away from the Garden Club. It frustrated him. He didn''t know that the Chronobloom had such a history in the City. He didn''t even know that there were objects that could see through a person''s SoulTime. According to Geminus, people now use a Pseudo Canzer variant to know a person''s SoulTime. Although he didn''t know what that was, he knew that it could malfunction. It was inevitable. And if that happened, the City would eventually go back to using the Chronobloom. As he ruminated on what he would do, the Big Vine finally reached their destination. It brought him to a place in the Garden that was closed off by a structure made out of opaque fiberglass with steel frames supporting the triangular roof. It was called the ''Greenhouse''. He thanked the Big Vine by rubbing its leaf. The entrance to the greenhouse was only made out of a strip curtain made out of overlapping strips of plastic. It allowed easy access inside while maintaining the airflow and temperature of the greenhouse. He parted the strips and entered. Immediately, he felt that the air inside was much purer than the one outside. The Garden smelled earthy and natural, while the greenhouse smelled like pure air dispelled of any odors, good or bad. He stepped inside and felt his footsteps indent on the soil below. It was much different from the brownish and dry soil outside. This was darker and filled with moisture. And despite the good conditions inside, Atlan only saw one plant in the middle of the greenhouse. It was unlike any vegetation he''d ever seen. He didn''t know if it was a fruit, a statue, or a plant. It was more like a combination of all three. The main body of the Chronobloom was a perfect circle with a solid golden color. And inside this circle were straight red veins that pointed outwards, like the minute marks of a clock. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As he observed the plant more, he was surprised to hear a slight ticking in the room. TIK¡­TOK¡­TIK¡­TOK¡­ It''s as if it was a real clock! Each ticking corresponded to one second. He went around the plant and observed its roots. The circular body of the Chronobloom was supported by a single thick stem that was buried deep underground. Atlan would have wanted to observe the plant a little closer, but he didn''t know if that would negatively impact the plant''s health. He wouldn''t know if he stepped onto a root or not. Maybe I don''t have to do anything with the Chronobloom. It looks healthy right now. But then, he suddenly saw something move in the corner of his eye. He looked to the edge of the greenhouse and saw a single blade of grass swaying in the wind. I didn''t see that before. He would have ignored it, but then he suddenly saw another blade pop out from the ground! What the?! Why is grass growing in the greenhouse? Is that bad? Atlan looked around the edges of the greenhouse and saw more and more blades of grass popping out from under the ground. These blades of grass are growing closer and closer to the Chronobloom. I think I should do something¡­ Although he didn''t know if it was good or bad, Atlan decided to nip the problem in the bud before it became too troublesome. Geminus isolated the Chronobloom for a reason; the grass wasn''t supposed to grow here. He looked to the back of the greenhouse and saw a locker with one of its doors slightly ajar. He walked over to the locker and opened it. There, he saw a single brown notebook and a pen. It was titled; Atlan opened the diary and saw multiple entries on different days written down in the notebook. It detailed how this person took care of the Chronobloom during a specific day. On the very first page of the book, Atlan saw a note. Even though Atlan wanted to read more about the diary, he had to kill the grass first. He raised his hand and grabbed the equipment handle on top of the locker. He brought it down in front of him. It had a long handle almost as tall as him made out of dark wood and had a long curved blade attached to the top. Inscribed on the handle was the name of this equipment. It was a scythe. Chapter 149 - 149: Farming equipment Atlan held the rusting handle of the scythe. It fit well on his hands and he didn''t have to exert any extra effort trying to keep a grip on this strange farming equipment. He looked at the blade of the scythe and was surprised at how light it was despite it being almost as long as the handle itself. It wasn''t too heavy nor was it too light. It was just perfect. He swung and felt it cleave through the air with little to no resistance. If the handle was made out of better materials and its blade was a little sharper, he felt like it could have cleaved through the horde of Pseudo Canzers like they were cheese. It would have been perfect. The problem with the Pseudo Canzers from the incident before was that there were too many for them to deal with. They were weak, but there were too many of them. This scythe would have been the perfect weapon. This was the first time he''d ever wielded this equipment, but it felt completely natural in his hands. He found it extremely strange that he had such a strong affinity for this farming equipment. Focus. I need to get rid of the grass surrounding the Chronobloom. Atlan took his focus away from the strange equipment and looked at the grass growing on the edges of the walls. They were much more numerous than before. He walked over to the first batch of the green weeds and swung his scythe, creating a crescent shape that plowed through the grass, uprooting them from the shallow ground. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [You have killed a simple creature: Invasive Weeds] x24 [Due to your Trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 720 experience] He looked at the scythe with satisfaction. He didn''t know why, but carving through a large group of living beings with the scythe felt comfortable. He didn''t know why this scythe was considered only as farming equipment when it looked like it would fare well with fighting Canzers. With a sword, he''d have to perform multiple slashes and practice movement arts to defeat multiple enemies. With a spear, he''d be limited on the amount of thrusts he could produce to kill lots of Pseudo Canzers. But with a scythe like this, he''d have no trouble fighting multiple enemies at once. It could also be used to fight a single tough enemy like that colossal Specialist Canzer. With each swing of his scythe, hundreds of blades of grass were minced into mere particles. Atlan''s speedy but heavy swings were enough to take out the grassroots and prevent them from spreading any further. It didn''t take long before Atlan completely got rid of the grass in the greenhouse. The Chronobloom was safe and sound. The minced grass blades were soon absorbed into the soil and were used to nourish the Chronobloom''s massive nutrient intakes. [You have killed a simple creature: Invasive Weeds] x89 [Due to your Trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 2670 experience] There were no more grass blades to kill, but Atlan couldn''t seem to let go of the scythe in his hands. It felt too natural in his palms to simply use it only once. If he was given a chance, he would rather choose a scythe as his main weapon. However, he was a porter. He wasn''t supposed to carry a big weapon like the scythe. His only job was to carry the construct and nothing else. They''d think that carrying such a big weapon would only take away from his ability to carry the construct through the Remedium''s dangerous terrain. Maybe I can ask Custodire to make me a scythe¡­ If other people heard his thoughts, they would reprimand him for his shamelessness. Custodire was no simple blacksmith. She was one of the premier dwarfs that carried an indirect lineage to the Masamune family. She was also a Specialist Operator! Her main job was to create weapons for Specialist Vanguards. She didn''t have the time to create Student level weapons. But even so, Atlan felt like she would be more than happy to make him a new weapon. For now, I guess this scythe will remain as a farming tool. Atlan returned the scythe to the top of the locker. Now that there wasn''t any pressing concern for the Chronobloom, Atlan finally had the time to look at the notebook stored in the locker. From what he saw earlier, it seemed to be written by someone who took care of the Chronobloom with passion and care. If it weren''t for their warnings, Atlan wouldn''t have known to get rid of the grass invading the greenhouse. He opened up the ''diary'' and looked at the first entry. The diary entry continued to list out what the ''caretaker'' did to keep the Chronobloom at its peak state. They made sure to keep the moisture in the room at a high level, but not too high. The stem could get too wet and the main body could plop down on the ground. Geminus didn''t write this. Someone else did. Atlan thought that he was the only one in the Garden Club, but it seemed that there was someone else too. Who could it be? He continued to parse through the diary detailing the daily maintenance for the Chronobloom. This is very detailed, Atlan thought. He looked at the date on the notebook and noticed that the oldest entry was only a month ago and the earliest one was only three days ago. Atlan picked up a pen and wrote on the blank page next to the latest entry. Chapter 150 - 150: Peaceful day Atlan watered the Chronobloom as instructed in the diary. He made sure to only water the stem that connected to the body, and not its clock-like body. They said that the Chronobloom didn''t like having its main body wet and would wilt for a day as it sulked. With everything taken care of, Atlan walked out of the greenhouse and whistled for the Big Vine to take him back to the entrance. According to the diary, the invasive grass won''t grow back for two days, so he didn''t have to worry about it spreading throughout the night. As he soared through the air on top of the big leaf, he soaked in all the death inside the overgrown garden. [You have reaped the deaths of simple beings] x1230 [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have received 12,300 experience] Just by spending the whole day in the garden, he was able to accumulate a tremendous amount of experience that would even make the veterans jealous. Atlan was probably the only Savior in the entire world with a surplus of experience. If there hadn''t been any consolidation period, Atlan could have made all of his LifeSkills upgraded into the peak 9th-stage Student realm. He had more experience than he knew what to do with. This time, he didn''t get lucky. He got no LifeSkill fragments or Genus from all the deaths. It made sense. The probability of gaining those rewards was much lower if he only reaped the deaths. If he actively participated in killing the plants, then he would gain more experience and have a better chance of getting those rewards. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I was just lucky back then that I got so many fragments and genuses¡­ The Big Vine dropped him off next to the gate and Atlan walked back to his house. And even though the sun already set and the moon was high up in the air, Atlan barely felt sleepy. And he wasn''t the only one who felt that way. Without any access to the Training Hall, most of the Saviors who didn''t have any active missions ended up spending their idle time in their homes. They usually practiced killing Pseudo Canzers every day to keep their blades sharp, so spending days without killing a single one made them feel extremely bored. Atlan closed his eyes and waited until he fell asleep. ### The next day, he was greeted with two of his LifeSkills finishing their consolidation period. [Consolidation period over] x2 [You have successfully advanced your B class Spiked Chitin Spray LifeSkill to the 4th stage of the Student Realm] [You have successfully advanced your SR class Thermal Vision LifeSkill to the 3rd stage of the Student Realm] He spent a total of 7000 experience to upgrade both to the next stage. After taking a shower, he immediately went over to the HeadQuarters and had his morning breakfast in the cafeteria. This was the first time since a few days ago that he''d had a meal. For some reason, he didn''t feel hungry at all even when he went through such a harrowing experience in the Pocket Remedium. Reaping souls gives me nourishment¡­that''s grim. But Atlan didn''t feel guilty at all. It assured him that he''d be able to survive even in the harsh conditions of the Unclaimed Lands with no food or water to see anywhere. After having his fill, Atlan immediately headed over to the Garden Club. While walking there, he saw the recruits of clubs having fun during their orientation. There were some fun activities like a friendly wrestling match or a movie marathon right on the grass fields of the HeadQuarters. Even though it looked interesting, Atlan would rather stay in the garden and soak up as much experience as he could. Once he was there, he saw another note posted at the gate. What is he doing? Atlan walked inside and whistled for the Big Vine to take him back to the greenhouse. It didn''t take long before he arrived there. Once inside, he was pleased to find out that the Chornobloom didn''t die during the night. He quickly went over to the locker and looked at the notebook. He flipped over to the latest page and was surprised to see another entry right next to the one he wrote yesterday. Atlan read the contents of the diary and felt a connection with his co-caretaker. As a self-proclaimed pacifist, he had a liking for plants because they didn''t cause any suffering to other beings. They didn''t kill to survive like the humans did. He would have probably joined the Garden club even if he wasn''t incentivized with reaping all the deaths inside. They replied fast. Did they go to the garden club during the night? Atlan wrote in the notebook about being a pacifist and liking plants. He felt a kindred spirit with the other caretaker, so he knew that they would understand his inclination towards peace. After that, he took care of the Chronobloom as instructed in the diary. He made sure to open the blinds and let out an hour of sunlight for the plant, and no more. Then, he went home and slept. It was a very peaceful day. Chapter 151 - 151: Ballistic lotus The next day, Atlan woke up to his Modify Memory Spore LifeSkill advancing to the 3rd stage Student realm. He spent the 3000 required experience to advance it to the next stage. After its 7 days of consolidation period, it would become a 4th stage LifeSkill. ¡ªBard: (SR) Modify Memory Spore ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 4th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments As usual, he went directly to the Garden Club after finishing his morning duties. He didn''t mind walking 10 minutes every day because it gave him a good look at the happenings around the HeadQuarters. As he reached the rusted gates, he saw no paper posted near the door. Is he here today? And as he opened the door, he saw Geminus with his white coat and signature haggard look on his face. As usual, he was watering his lilies in the pond and didn''t notice Atlan approaching. "You''re here today." "OH! You scared me there." Atlan walked next to him. "You didn''t tell me there was someone else in the club other than us two." Geminus looked confused at first but suddenly remembered who he was talking about. "Ah! Yes. I forgot. She joined the club about a month ago and I seem to recall her begging me to let her take care of the Chronobloom. I haven''t seen her all that much so I forgot she even existed." So it''s a she¡­ "Does she only come at night?" Geminus nodded. "Yes. She''s quite the shy little thing. I guess she''s busy with a lot of things other than the garden club, so she can''t come during the day. But now that you''re here, you can be the one to take care of the Chronobloom while the sun''s up." Atlan was fine with that arrangement. It was assuring to know that there was someone else taking care of the Chronobloom while he wasn''t in the garden. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So that''s why she was able to respond to my entry so fast. She''s only active at night. Speaking of which, I wonder if she wrote something in the notebook. Atlan put his hands on his mouth and whistled for the Big Vine to come get him. But when he looked around, he couldn''t see the vine anywhere; it wasn''t wrapped around the giant tree nor was it slithering through the bushes. "Our resident Big Vine is sleeping right now. It usually does this once every week, so you''ll be able to summon it tomorrow. But for now, we''ll have to walk to the greenhouse." Geminus walked away from the cobblestone paths and onto the grassfields. "Come on! You won''t be able to get to the greenhouse without my help." Atlan followed Geminus through the thick and lush vegetation of the garden. Perhaps, that wasn''t the right word. It was more like a wild jungle than a garden in the middle of a City. It was as if he was transported to a different planet. Every step he took, he felt different kinds of tangled mass and undergrowth in the soil. The dried leaves and roots almost made him trip a couple of times with how uneven they made the terrain. The air was thick and humid. With the dense canopy above composed of the leaves and crowns of giant trees, the temperature dropped quite a bit, bringing with it a cool wind that bombarded Atlan and Geminus. He was even surprised to see waterfalls and cave systems as they journeyed through the overgrown garden. He wondered why he hadn''t seen a single animal despite how big the ecosystem was. He half-expected to see monkeys swinging through vines the first time he saw the forest. Atlan followed behind Geminus as they waded through thick and colorful ferns. And after they passed through the maze-like tall grasses, they came across an open field. "Wait. Don''t move." Geminus''s warnings stopped Atlan in his tracks. He looked ahead and saw black lotus flowers growing from the ground. "This is the Ballistic Lotus. Be careful. Don''t get near any of them." But that was easier said than done. They were in a field of these Ballistic Lotuses with no other way forward. The space in between the lotuses was just barely enough for one leg to pass through. "Oops." Even though Geminus was the one who warned Atlan to be careful, his leg accidentally brushed past the black Lotus stem. "Take cover!" Geminus screamed as he ducked and covered his head. BOOOOOMM The Ballistic Lotus exploded with a magnitude equivalent to a small dynamite, creating a small crater from where it was. Its petals flew out and carved through tree bark like it was nothing. In the aftermath of the explosion, small seeds rained down on the field of black lotuses, which sprouted more Ballistic Lotuses in a matter of seconds. Geminus peeked out from his cover and heaved a sigh of relief. "We got really lucky there. It could have started a chain explosion¡ª" And just as he said that, ten more Black Lotuses exploded in succession. Atlan dodged the black petals raining down on him by weaving his upper body away from their trajectory. If it weren''t for his enhanced physical strength and senses, those petals would have pierced through his body. After a few seconds, more black seeds rained down on the floor and created more Ballistic Lotuses instantly, further overpopulating the field with these dangerous plants. I could use my Angel Wings¡­I''ll just have to erase Geminus'' memory about it. But before he could manifest his Angel Wings, Geminus spoke up. "I''ll teach you how to deal with these plants in case you have to traverse through the plains without me." Geminus ducked down and observed the roots of the Ballistic Lotus. "The thing with plants like these that seemingly multiply endlessly is that they hide a big secret." Geminus slowly walked over to the thick crowd of Ballistic Lotuses in the distance. The ground was barely visible with how many black lotuses there were. There must have been hundreds of them in that bush. If just one of these Ballistic Lotuses exploded, it would create a chain reaction that could potentially destroy the whole field and everything in it, including them. "The more there are, the harder they''re trying to protect something," Geminus muttered under his breath. He ducked down and clawed the brown soil underneath the first row of Ballistic Lotuses. He dug until he saw the connection of roots underneath the ground. With one swift move, he took out a potato-like object with thousands of roots connected to it underground. Using both his hands, he crushed the ''potato'' into mush. And in an instant, thousands of Ballistic Lotuses turned limp and white. In just a few seconds, it lost all its moisture and dried out. "And that''s how you deal with those!" Geminus said with a smile. Chapter 152 - 152: Fertilizer [You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Ballistic Lotus] [Due to your trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 1200 experience] "Once you locate the main root, then you can disable all the replicates," Geminus said. I didn''t know plants could be so dangerous¡­and since I only reaped one death, that means that all the black lotus in the fields were all part of one entity¡ªthat main root. "Are all plants here dangerous?" "Yeah, most. But don''t worry about that," Geminus waved off his concerns. "Come on! Let''s go. I can see the greenhouse from here." Geminus walked forward while Atlan stayed behind and observed the wilted black lotus. It already lost all its color and became as thin as a stick. Even when he touched it a second time, it didn''t explode anymore. Atlan was intrigued by the different plants in the garden, but perhaps the most interesting one was the Chronobloom. The fact that it was the only one in existence multiplied its importance. As they walked over to the greenhouse, Atlan asked Geminus about the nearly extinct plant. "Hmm¡­we used to export Chronobloom to other territories because it can only be planted here. Everyone needed SoulTime glasses." "Do you have one?" Geminus took out a rectangular transparent glass about the size of a wrist. It was decorated with a golden encasing with symbols of clocks and hourglasses. He handed it over to Atlan. It looked like an ordinary piece of glass. "Put it on your wrist and it will show your current SoulTime." Atlan did as Geminus said and attached the SoulTime glasses to his wrist. Unlike the one he saw in his Soul System, the glasses only showed the years and days he had left. It wasn''t accurate down to the hour. "That is a relic of the olden times. Back then, the Genesis God wasn''t so generous with His allowance of SoulTime, so people used to check their lifespan every day for fear that it would run out. It''s different now. As more people immigrated to the City, the more powerful He became. Because of that, most people are given SoulTime even if they did the bare minimum. People rarely even check their SoulTime nowadays because they know they still have hundreds of years left before they have to worry about it." Atlan was the same. He didn''t have to worry about his SoulTime because he knew that he gained time instead of losing it. The more time passed, the more he became ''alive''. He returned the SoulTime glasses as they finally reached the greenhouse. They passed through the strip curtain doors and laid eyes on the majestic Chronobloom. It looked the same as Atlan left it yesterday, if not for the soil being a little bit wetter than he remembered. She must have watered it last night. "Now that you''re here, can you tell me how to take care of the Chronobloom?" Atlan asked Geminus. Geminus scratched his head guiltily. "Sorry about that. You didn''t have much trouble yesterday, did you?" Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "It would have been if not for the notebook that my co-caretaker left me." Geminus felt remorseful for forgetting to teach Atlan about how to take care of the Chronobloom. "Well, now that I''m here, I''ll tell you how." Geminus walked over to the locker. "First and foremost, we must¡ªhmm¡­it''s not here." He looked over at Atlan with a sorry look. "Looks like we''ve run out of fertilizer. Do you mind if I ask you to go and fetch a sack for me?" Although Atlan would rather stay in the garden and continue to soak up the deaths inside, he knew that he couldn''t deny Geminus'' request. He was a club member after all. He shouldn''t be selfish and contribute to the garden. It was also for the health and well-being of the Chronobloom, so it would be worth it. "What kind of fertilizer?" Geminus clasped his hands in thankfulness for Atlan''s help. "You see, our Chronobloom thrives on extremely hot soil and sustenance. If it doesn''t get its monthly supply of magma, it will turn cold and freeze." "Magma?" The club leader nodded. "Yes. Magma. That''s the preferred fertilizer of the Chronobloom." "Where am I¡ª" Atlan remembered that time when Lizzie brought him to the Masamune district. He still remembered the expansive cityscape he saw from the only volcano in Genesis City. "Is it in Mount Infernal?" Geminus nodded. "Yes! Don''t worry, we already have an arrangement with the Masamune family. They will give you the magma, you just have to pick it up and bring it back to the garden." What a coincidence. I was just planning on visiting the Masamune district to ask Custodire if she could make me a scythe! Atlan planned on taking a detour to Custodire''s workshop before he picked up the magma from Mount Infernal. He looked at the rusting scythe on top of the locker. "Can I bring that with me?" Geminus looked at the old rusting scythe on top of the locker and wondered why Atlan would want a weapon that was only used to kill weeds. "I don''t know why you would want a farming tool like that, but fine. Just make sure you return with the magma by midnight." Atlan took the scythe and attached it to the toolbelt on his back. He looked extremely weird with his black battle suit and the protruding curved blade of the scythe behind his back. He said goodbye to Geminus and went back to the entrance of the garden. Since he didn''t have his own mount, he had to use the public transportation bus that stopped in every district. Even though he had the scythe on his back, nobody on the bus questioned it. As soon as they saw his battle suit, they already assumed that he was a Vanguard on his way to a mission. They even gave him thankful looks for his service to the City. It took two hours before the bus finally landed in the Masamune district. He followed the route he and Lizzie took when he first visited the district. As usual, there were tons of people looking at the freshly made tools and weapons displayed on numerous stalls. He heard bargains and offers thrown around, and some got heated enough for a screaming match. As he walked through the streets, he suddenly felt sweat flow from his forehead. I''m feeling hot¡­ He didn''t think that was possible. After he obtained his Physique LifeSkill, he barely felt cold or hot because of his internal defenses. But now, sweat flowed out of his skin. "AARGHHH! IT BURNS!!!" "HELP! AHHH!" Screams of helpless citizens filled his ears as he saw their skin melting in the sun. Chapter 153 - 153: Burns The Masamun district was no stranger to hot days. After all, they were in the direct vicinity of an active volcano. The temperature in this district was a lot hotter than the places away from the mountain spewing lava from its crater. The district was also populated with dwarven blacksmiths where temperatures could reach thousands of degrees Celcius. The heat sometimes leaked out into the streets and increased the overall temperature of the Masamune district. However, this was no normal heatwave. The cool blue skies turned bright orange, infecting everything under the sun. The clouds above instantly evaporated, dissipating into a mist. The heat in the air distorted Atlan''s vision so much that everything seemed blurry. This was the first time that he was uncomfortable in his battle suit. It stuck to his skin with sweat. Thankfully, he had his SSS class Physique that helped him weather the intense heat wave all around the Masamune district. Even the dwarves who had an inherent resistance against heat couldn''t help but scream as they felt their skin turn bright red. Their entire bodies swelled and created blisters even inside their clothes. But even they could be considered lucky. The ordinary people caught in the heat wave instantly had their skin turn black from third-degree burns. They couldn''t even feel the pain as their nerves immediately burned out. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The unsettling sounds of skin sizzling made Atlan''s hair turn up. This was the first time he''d seen such suffering. The surviving dwarves immediately entered their homes to find refuge. But they didn''t know that it was much hotter inside. The heat wasn''t caused by the sun. It didn''t come from underground. It was from the very space itself. Wherever they were, as long as they were inside Masamune district, they would feel the temperatures inside a burning cauldron. "Ahh! Ahhh!....help¡­" One of the unfortunate souls caught in the heat wave crawled and reached for Atlan''s feet. The man''s hair was melted into his very skull. His face was burned from any identifying feature, with only a charred and blackened skin that clung to his very skull. In his very last moments, the man clung to Atlan''s legs. His face was full of suffering, but there was a tinge of hope in his eyes. The guy couldn''t even speak. He couldn''t even think of anything, but his survival instinct as a long-time citizen of Genesis City was to seek the help of a Savior. Atlan was one of those. He wore a Savior''s battle suit. Only they could save them from disasters like this. Unfortunately, his time soon ran out. There were no Angels to save him this time. [You have reaped the death of a Sentient Creature: Human] [Due to your Trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 500 experience] The man''s head plopped on the ground, lifeless, but his grip remained stuck on Atlan''s leg. Even as he moved it away, some of the guy''s melted skin stuck onto his battle suit. And this wasn''t the only casualty. Atlan watched as the words passed by his eyes nonstop. [You have reaped the death of a Sentient Creature: Human] x38 [Due to your Trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 19,000 experience] "What are you doing kid? We have to get out!" One of the surviving dwarves shouted at Atlan. He held two of his family members in his arms as he dragged them away into a rickshaw carriage. The dwarf unhooked the dead mount connected to the wooden rickshaw and pulled it using his strength. Even though his skin was red and filled with blisters, he mustered up all his strength to make sure that his family survived this disaster. He looked at Atlan. "Hop in!" Atlan saw the trembling hands of the dwarf and knew that he was on his last legs. With each push, his burned skin pulsed with more and more pain. He tried to ignore it, but Atlan knew that he wouldn''t be able to add another burden to his carriage. Despite being in such a dire situation, the dwarf still had the goodwill to help another person. Suddenly, Atlan felt the air change. He felt pressure building up from the cobblestone building behind the dwarf''s rickshaw carriage. BOOM A fiery explosion erupted from the building and consumed the blacksmith workshops around it. Molten metal and lava spewed out from chimneys and rained down on the streets, further increasing the ambient temperatures in the sir. Smoke filled the entire area. The dwarf thought that would be the end of his life, but he still felt his body move. Once the smoke cleared, he saw that he was in the back of the carriage with his two brothers safe and sound. He looked forward and saw the youth carrying the rickshaw and pushing it forward. "Hey kid! Are you alright?!" Atlan looked back and gave him a thumbs up. The dwarf couldn''t believe that such a young human was still able to move in such temperatures. Even as an experienced dwarf who had his skin hardened from years in the workshop, he didn''t think he could last long in this heat wave. But the youth still looked pristine. His skin barely turned red. Who is this guy? Atlan instinctively knew that he had to get out. He had to leave Masamune district and search for refuge. The entire street was filled with smoke and ash that obscured the cobblestone road, but Atlan relied on his memory to lead the way out of the district. On the way, he used his Thermal Vision and searched for any survivors. He couldn''t, in good conscience, ignore the moans and screams from the survivors suffering in the streets. Even as the load got heavier, he picked any survivor and tossed them on the rickshaw. They screamed in pain as their burned skin crashed onto the carriage, but at least they were still alive. BOOM! As if the increasingly hot temperatures weren''t enough, some of the buildings spontaneously erupted with no rhyme or reason. Atlan had to avoid the direct explosion of the buildings and escape from the cobblestone and metal raining from above. Each of the dwarfs could barely open their eyes from the third-degree burns all over their skin, but somehow, the youth was still able to push the rickshaw with no trouble whatsoever. Thankfully, after pushing the carriage street after street, he finally saw a few soldiers in puffy heat-resistant white suits guiding burned victims out of the district. He saw a clear distinction between one street from the next. One burned hot and orange with humans crying and moaning from the heat, but the next street was a cool blue, with people walking safe and sound. Chapter 154 - 154: Burned victims Atlan pushed the rickshaw forward. The soldiers on the other side gestured for him to come faster, but Atlan couldn''t. There were burnt human remains all over the street preventing him from going as fast as he wanted. As they got closer to the soldiers, more corpses filled the cobblestone road. They died with outstretched hands towards the exit. They tried to crawl to safety, but their burns were far too severe. It was tragic. Atlan couldn''t help them anymore. The only solace that consoled him was the fact that their suffering stopped. [You have reaped the death of a Sentient Creature: Human] x52 [Due to your Trait, your experience has multiplied by 10] [You have gained 26,000 experience] Atlan had to avert the rickshaw away from the corpses. He could have run over them, but he respected the dead too much for him to sully their corpses. And after avoiding a few more spontaneous explosions in the streets, they finally reached the end of the line. The intersection in front of them was the difference between the Masamune district and the residential district. As soon as they passed through Masamune 25th Street and onto the Homely district, it was as if a bucket of cold water washed over them. The heat was gone and replaced by the cool ambient air of the City. The surviving dwarfs relaxed their bodies as they felt the cooling air wash over their bodies. The cold breeze soothed the aching blisters that formed on every crevice of their skin. Unfortunately, that only lasted for a moment. Their bodies went into overdrive as they felt a stinging pain overcome their every thought. They had third-degree burns. "Give way! Give way!" the soldiers shouted as they approached the rickshaw. There were a lot of curious citizens who wanted to take a closer look at the victims, but the soldiers quickly dispersed them away. They created a barricade that prevented civilians from interfering with their work. The soldiers removed gauze from their medicine kits and applied it to the burned dwarves. The dwarves, as prideful as they were, tried to bear the pain and not utter a single cry, but the pain was too much. It enveloped their whole body. They winced and groaned, but the soldiers kept applying gauze and healing salves on their burned skin. One of the soldiers immediately went over to Atlan and tried to apply gauze on his skin, but was quickly surprised when they saw no blisters on his skin. "You''re¡­not hurt?" Atlan shook his head. "No. Just heal the others. I''m fine." The soldier looked at Atlan''s epaulet and saw that he was only at the 2nd stage Student realm! That was unbelievable. It wasn''t long ago since they healed a 4th stage Student Tank for their third-degree burns. So, a 2nd stage Student shouldn''t be this¡­fine! Upon closer inspection, the soldier noticed that Atlan''s skin was turning whiter and whiter until it returned to his normal complexion! When Atlan exited the Masamune district, his skin was still reddish from the heat. But just a few seconds later, his skin already fought off the swelling. "Are you really okay?!" The soldier wanted to check inside Atlan''s battle suit, but Atlan waved him off. With his Physique LifeSkill, he was able to regenerate his SoulTime every second. Not to mention the fact that he could gain years of lifespan with his Photosynthesis mutation, he wasn''t going to get injured any time soon. "The priests are here!" one of the soldiers shouted. The crowd parted ways as a group of nuns and priests walked over to the recovering dwarves. The nuns immediately went to work and kneeled right next to the bandaged dwarves saved by the soldiers. They clasped their hands and muttered under their breaths as they prayed for the Genesis God''s blessing. After a few seconds, a pillar of light beamed down from the heavens and enveloped the recovering dwarf. The nun took out an oval crystal from her pockets. Atlan''s eyes widened when saw the crystal suddenly sprout tiny legs that wiggled like it was alive! Even if it didn''t have the typical monstrous head that he was familiar with, Atlan would recognize that chitinous armor anywhere. That oval crystal was a Pseudo Canzer! ''Time¡­how much¡­.'' The Pseudo Canzer spoke out a soundless screech that only Atlan could understand. Then, the nun placed the crystal Pseudo Canzer onto the patient''s chest. After a few seconds, the crystal reflected numbers that Atlan was very familiar with. He saw it in his Soul System. It was the dwarf''s SoulTime! < 0y : 28d : 23h : 12s > The crystal Pseudo Canzer showed exactly how much time the dwarf had left before he died. His burns weakened his body so much that he only had 28 days left before his SoulTime turned zero. But that wasn''t for long. After the nun prayed to the Genesis God and summoned a beam of light from the sky, the dwarf''s SoulTime miraculously started to tick up at a fast rate! Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. < 1y : 139d : 23h : 12s > The dwarf''s pained expression soon turned to relief as most of his SoulTime returned to its normal state. His charred and flaking scars peeled off and were replaced by new pink skin. As more and more nuns arrived at the scene, they took control of the situation and started to triage the survivors. The ones who were near death and only had hours or even minutes left in their SoulTime were treated first. Priests had more healing power, so they were in charge of these victims. The nuns treated those who only had minor injuries and weren''t close to death. But as they healed one, two more took their place. Soldiers returned from the Masamune district carrying burned victims on their shoulders. They recovered more and more burned bodies. Atlan used his Thermal Vision and looked back at the hellish Masamune district. Even though everything was colored in a dark red, he still saw breathing survivors stuck inside collapsed buildings. They still clung on to their lives, but they wouldn''t last long. Without any hesitation, Atlan walked back into the Masamune district. "Hey! What are you doing?!" Chapter 155 - 155: Strict soldier The soldiers couldn''t stop the reckless youth. They thought that he was an idiotic young man trying to act tough and pretending to be a hero, but after a few minutes, the black battle-suited youth came back. Their eyes widened when they realized that he had two dwarves on his shoulders. "That''s¡­that''s my cousin! He''s alive!" cried one of the bandaged dwarves. Tears fell on his cheeks. None of these dwarves thought that a human would have the compassion to help a dwarf like them. Even the soldiers thought that it was too risky to go back inside because even their heat-resistant suits were melting from the hellish temperatures inside. Atlan noticed it too. The heat intensified so much that even his inherent regeneration of SoulTime stopped when he walked back inside the Masamune district. He would have lost a second of his life with every second he stayed inside. One of the soldiers walked over to Atlan with anger on his face. "That was reckless! You''re a Savior. Don''t you know the protocols for things like these?" "No. I don''t." Atlan couldn''t sit still¡ªnot when he could see people still suffering inside the scorching buildings. The soldier poked Atlan''s chest. "No one is supposed to go back inside a Symptom aside from authorized soldiers like us. You are endangering yourself, and everyone else by doing so." One of the dwarves couldn''t help but stand up when he heard the soldier''s words. "So what about our brethren inside? Are you telling us that we should let them die a gruesome death?!" The dwarf''s voice was hoarse, but he embodied the thoughts of every dwarf that survived. Although their connections were shallow, they were all still part of the Masamune family. They were brothers. It was in their inherent blood to want salvation for the others. The soldier was apathetic to their pleas. "I don''t care. There are rules for a reason. If you don''t want to follow them, then you''re welcome to get out of Genesis City for good." He walked over to Atlan and gave him a strict warning. "Young man, I see you''re only a novice Savior, so I can forgive you for breaking protocol once. But if you don''t follow my orders a second time, then I won''t be merciful and use justifiable force to sit you down." The soldier took out an electrical baton from his tool belt and brandished it in front of Atlan. Blue electricity streaked through the air and almost hit him in the face, but he didn''t even flinch. One of the dwarves sat back down, knowing that they couldn''t oppose the soldiers. "Sigh¡­thank you, young man. But we can''t do anything." Those electrical batons were specially designed to temporarily disable a Savior''s LifeSkill, so it was useless to disobey the soldier. Atlan looked down at the soldier. The blue tint from the electric baton reflected off Atlan''s calm black eyes. "You want to let them die?" The soldier turned up the knob on his baton and increased the voltage. "They won''t. They''ll be saved by the Angels before they lose their SoulTime. After the proper Saviors come and kill the Canzer causing this symptom, then we can go and retrieve the bodies. That is the protocol." Atlan sneered at the soldier''s explanation. So that''s the reason why he doesn''t want me to go inside? He thought that the soldier had some sort of strategy that would save the dwarves and survivors in the Masamune district. He didn''t. He wanted to wait and take the easy way out. The soldiers still clung to the idea that the Angels would save them from death. "That''s too late," Atlan muttered under his breath. He didn''t even bother explaining to the soldier about the death of the Angels. He wouldn''t believe it anyway. Atlan turned around and walked towards Masamune district. He ignored the soldier''s angry snarl. The full-powered blue electric baton was rated for Saviors in the 5th stage Saviors and above. It was overkill to use it on a 2nd stage Savior like Atlan, but the soldier didn''t care. Losing a bit of his Soultime was only a just punishment for interfering with the work of the soldiers. "Kid! Watch out!" the dwarves tried to warn him, but Atlan didn''t even turn around. He let the electric baton hit him in the neck. Electricity buzzed in the air as the baton''s special properties tried to disable Atlan''s LifeSkill from activating. It invaded his Soul System, entrapping the whole dark space with an electric net that would prevent a giant hand from forming. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The dwarves winced when they saw this hit the young Savior. They imagined that the pain from that baton was equivalent to the burning pain they felt from the heat wave. But after one, two, three seconds, Atlan still stood proudly. The soldier''s eyes went wide in panic when he saw Atlan turn his head back towards him. What?! How is he able to move?! His whole body should be spazzing out. He should have collapsed by now! Normal Saviors hit by this electric baton would feel their muscles contract. They would get paralyzed. But the worst part would be the indescribable pain in their Soul System as if their very being was twisted and burned into shreds. Atlan didn''t look affected in the slightest. He turned back and held the baton in his hands, with its electricity still delivering volts into his body. The soldier couldn''t even utter a single word. "Wha¡ªwhat¡­" "I''ll give you a taste of the sentence you imposed." A dark flame enveloped Atlan''s right hand, increasing his physical prowess by multiple magnitudes. DUGG With one swift punch in the gut, Atlan sent the soldier kneeling on the ground with bubbles forming in his mouth. The dwarves were shocked in silence when they witnessed this. Atlan whistled and caught the attention of one of the nuns. "Heal him, please." The nun was alarmed when she saw the soldier knocked out cold on the ground. She put the crystal Pseudo Canzer on his chest and was shocked to see his SoulTime. He lost 95% of his original lifespan! She looked up, but Atlan was nowhere to be seen. He was already inside the scorching hot Masamune district with his distorted figure disappearing in the distance. Chapter 156 - 156: Tarish’s mission The dwarves watched as Atlan carried body after body into safety. Even though the temperature inside was getting hotter and hotter by the minute, he didn''t stop and searched for survivors anywhere he could. "Damn the protocol!" one of the soldiers said. He put on his heat-resistant suit and walked inside the Masamune district one more time in search of survivors. He was inspired watching Atlan walk through the fire without any complaints. "Can I borrow your suits?" Even the dwarves couldn''t sit still and were tempted to walk into the scorching heat wave. Even though their bodies were wrapped up in bandages, they considered themselves healthy enough to traverse through the Masamune district. They didn''t walk as far inside as Atlan. They only pulled the burned corpses to safety, thinking that they could still be saved. Atlan finally walked back into safety after a few more trips. He looked back and saw no signs of life anywhere he searched. Everyone was either dead or saved. Just in time, he heard a few horses'' hooves striking asphalt out in the distance. The crowd voluntarily moved away as the Saviors finally arrived with their colorful mounts. They stopped at the barricade and walked slowly towards the boundary between the symptom and the unaffected land. Their green battle suits commanded respect and admiration from the crowd. Their murmurs turned into silence as they watched the professionals do their job. Atlan looked at the epaulets on their shoulders. 6th stage Student realm. I guessed right. If my SSS class Physique couldn''t take the heat, that means that the Canzers causing it are stronger than I estimated. There were about seven of them, and Atlan noticed that three of them had big shields on their backs. Three tanks? The leader of the 6th stage Saviors was a woman with straight red hair tied up in double buns. She was a tank, judging by the big fiery shield on her back. "Can I get your attention, please? My name is Tarish, I am a 6th-stage Student. My team and I will make sure that the Masamune district will return to the safe and cool place it''s always been. Do not worry." Her words echoed to the soldiers and dwarves with barely any hope in their eyes. Her confident voice gave them confidence in her ability. "While the soldiers are installing the Remedium portal, I will ask a few questions to those who witnessed the Symptom with their own hands." A truck rolled in behind them with new soldiers carrying disjointed metal parts on their shoulders. They quickly walked in line and installed the portal right at the edge of the infected Masamune District. Slowly, a circular construct made out of metal was being built block by block. Meanwhile, Tarish, the leader of the 6th stage Saviors took out a stone tablet from her toolbelt. Atlan recognized it as a Canzer Report. It contained all the details Vanguards needed to defeat the Canzers causing the Symptom. She inspected it one last time before looking up and searching for any survivors to talk to. She immediately looked for the soldier in charge of the scene but was shocked to see him unconscious on one of the stretchers to the side. It looks like the lights have been punched out of his eyes. I can''t believe someone stood up to that strict guy. He would have made up any excuse to use his baton. With no one else to talk to, Tarish put her attention to the surviving dwarves. "Hello? Can I talk to you?" But no matter how much she tried to get their attention, the dwarves never looked away from one particular person in the crowd. They all looked at this person with admiration and fealty in their eyes. It''s as if they owed him their lives. She looked to the side and saw a youth in a strange black battle suit. He was surrounded by dwarves who clasped his hands while thanking him to no end. Someone actually earned the respect of these dwarves? They were infamous for being stubborn and hard-headed. If you offended them in some way, groveling in their shoes wouldn''t be enough to earn their respect. But now, they were surrounding a human as if he was their savior. Who is he? Just as she thought that, her eyes glinted in recognition. But before she could walk up to him, one of her teammates approached the black battle-suited youth. "Excuse me, I don''t know who you are, but you cannot poach our mission. You should go back to HeadQuarters and make sure that you find your own mission. Our team is already filled up!" sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Tarish put herself in between the two before things got too heated. "Leader?" "Are you Atlan?" The moment her teammates heard his name, they immediately recognized it. How could they not? It was practically the only topic circulating news articles. "No way! The Star Porter?" "What''s he doing here?" "There were rumors that he''s allowed to have a black battle suit, but I didn''t think it was true!" Atlan replied, "Yes." But even if he didn''t, they already recognized his face and his battle suit. "But even if you are the Star Porter, you can''t steal our mission. Our names are registered in the HeadQuarters." "I think it''s best if you leave now. HeadQuarters doesn''t like it when there are unauthorized Saviors in an ongoing mission." The other 6th stage Saviors in Tarish''s team weren''t all that welcoming towards Atlan. It couldn''t be helped. There were protocols in place for these kinds of things and they didn''t want to get punished because of him. Tarish was the only one who had a smile on her face. "The Reputable Star Porter¡­" Tarish muttered. "What are you doing here?" The dwarves answered that for him. "My skin would have blackened and turned to char if he hadn''t found me stuck under my anvil!" "He''s an honorary dwarf! We recognize him as one of our own." The dwarves couldn''t stop defending Atlan from the Saviors. "Hmph! You guys dare flaunt yourselves as Saviors when we have our Savior right here! Did you brave the heat wave and save dozens of dwarves from certain doom? No? Then, stop talking!" Chapter 157 - 157: Inappropriate request The moment they slandered the good name of their Savior, was the moment they got on the dwarves'' bad side. Their expressive faces clearly showed their intense dislike of the new Saviors. Tarish immediately apologized to Atlan and the dwarves for her team''s behavior. She gestured for her team to go away and do something else. "Sorry. They''ve been on edge ever since stories about the anomalies in the mission popped up around the City. We are never sure if the Quills messed up again and prescribed us the wrong Canzer Report. We don''t know if there is going to be a different Canzer popping up in our mission. We don''t know if a Specialist behemoth would appear like in that Pocket Remedium disaster. We''ll never know if we end up returning alive from the mission or be recovered as a vial of blood. That''s the reason why I wanted to ask questions about the symptoms from the witnesses themselves. It''s necessary to know if the symptom is accurate down to the exact details to make sure that the Canzer Report we have is accurate." Atlan understood their concerns. In every case that Atlan entered the Remedium, things always went wrong. That''s why Atlan was curious about how Operators worked. He wanted to know how they knew which Canzer was plaguing the Remedium. He wanted to know which symptom referred to which Canzer. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Canzers so that he wouldn''t get caught unprepared ever again. "I understand. I''ll tell you everything I saw." Tarish was extremely grateful to Atlan. And because he deemed it okay, the dwarves decided to share what they saw too. "It was extremely hot inside. It''s like the whole thing turned into an oven with the heat turned up to the maximum!" one of the dwarves recalled. "Yes. It was instant, not gradual," the other dwarf said. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Tarish looked at the Canzer Report and referenced it with the dwarves'' experience. For now, everything was as indicated in the stone tablet. "Was the heat uniform? Or were there hot spots?" she asked. "Everything was hot! No amount of hiding from the sun stopped the air from burning my skin. And my skin is hard enough to touch lava!" Tarish nodded while double-checking the stone tablet. She looked at the boundary between the infected Masamune district and the residential district. "The infected place hasn''t spread, right?" This time, the soldiers answered. "No, it hasn''t spread. We''ve been monitoring it, and thankfully, it stayed locked in the Masamune district." When Atlan looked back, it was as if he stared at a sepia screen that turned everything into an orangish tint. There was a clear distinction between the normal air of the unaffected region and the hot scorching space in the Masamune district. It divided the street perfectly in half. Atlan would have thought that powerful phenomena such as a symptom wouldn''t follow district boundaries, but it did¡ªperfectly. "Lastly, did any of you see explosions that seemingly come out of nowhere?" Most of the dwarves already passed out when Atlan saved them, so they didn''t see any explosions. But Atlan did. "Yes. Buildings spontaneously blew up without any reason. Is that part of the symptom?" Tarish nodded. "Yes. It''s written in the Canzer Report as the main symptom. Heat Wave with random structural detonation. If you didn''t see any explosions, then that would mean that the Canzer is different from what we expected, so it''s good that you saw it." Tarish compiled everything she heard from the witnesses. "So it''s localized¡­and since this is the first time this symptom appears, we can assume that it''s acute¡­" Tarish muttered under her breath. So far, everything looked the same as indicated in the Canzer Report. Even though the Operators assured them that this was correct, she couldn''t help but doubt their words. There had been too many incidents these past few weeks where too many Saviors lost their SoulTime. "Miss Tarish! The portal is finished." One of the soldiers reported to her. She gestured for her teammates to come near her as they finished their final preparations. "It''s time, boys. Carry her in." She pointed towards the truck where the Operator construct was stored in a black box. The container was big enough to fit 3 people inside comfortably. Three of the buffest men in her team, along with a couple of soldiers, worked together to carry the black box near the finished portal. Tarish opened the locks on the black box and revealed an ornately golden oil lamp with a bulbous body and a gradually tapered narrow spout. Its surface was inundated with curvy lines that seemed random and useless to the naked eye. But Atlan was different. As soon as the black box opened, he knew that whatever was inside it was filled with Angel power. There was something else mixed into it, but he couldn''t deny the Angel power seeped into the very object itself. "We can handle this," one of the men said to Tarish. Even though the oil lamp was small and fit snugly into one palm, it took three 6th stage Students to barely lift the construct up and out of the box. Their faces were contorted and their cheeks flushed as they used their mutations to the fullest. They hadn''t even entered the Remedium, but they were already dead tired from carrying the construct. Tarish looked at her teammates and knew she had to make a decision. Even though the construct would be used immediately when they entered the Remedium, missions were always full of surprises. Trouble could welcome them as soon as they stepped foot inside the portal. At that point, the three people carrying the construct would be left vulnerable to any attacks. They need a porter. She looked at Atlan and had an insane idea. "Star Porter. We need your help. Can you be our porter?" The rest of her teammates immediately complained. "Are you crazy?! We''re dealing with a 6th stage Student difficulty Canzer. We can''t have a 2nd stage Student burden us with our mission!" "This is inappropriate. He''s only going to hurt himself." "He''ll lose our SoulTime!" Chapter 158 - 158: Job accepted Atlan didn''t think that he would be offered to join them. There was a 4-stage difference between them, after all. Of course, Atlan had multiple LifeSkills in the 4th stage or below. It was enough to add up the strength that equaled that of 6th-stage Saviors. But they didn''t know that. Even though they were rude, her teammates only told the truth. In normal circumstances, inviting a Savior four stages below the accepted difficulty level was far from what would be considered safe. Not to mention the fact Atlan had only been in one mission, he was completely unqualified to even go to a mission one stage above his level, much more four. "Don''t sell yourself short, Star Porter. You''ve already faced stronger opponents than us and lived to tell the tale." Tarish talked about the fact that Atlan survived the colossal Canzer that was rated at the Specialist difficulty. If she or any one of her teammates was put in the same situation, she wasn''t confident she''d survive the way he did. Technically speaking, Atlan was stronger than them. As soon as he used his 1st stage Pre-Intern Bloodline Transformation LifeSkill, he could even defeat Canzers rated above that of the Student level. But the risk was still there. And before he could answer Tarish''s request, some of the dwarves approached him with pleading eyes. "Young man, I beg you, please! You have to join the mission." "Only you can make sure that the heat wave disappears from our homes." "Without your help, they can''t do it!" The 6th stage Saviors couldn''t believe their ears. The dwarves trusted a 2nd stage Student like Atlan better than them! Their thinking was completely backward. They don''t believe that the people who were assigned to the mission could finish off the Canzer. They believed that a 2nd stage Student porter was the only one who could help them deal with the symptom! Porters don''t even kill Canzers! Before deciding, Atlan asked some questions about the mission. "Can you tell me more about the Canzer?" Tarish nodded and took out her stone tablet. "According to the Canzer Report, we''ll be fighting an Infection Canzer called the Gastros Enterifrits, colloquially known as the Ifrit." "Infection Canzer? Is that different from a Destruction Canzer?" Every Canzer that Atlan encountered in the Remedium had been a Destruction Canzer. They were the Canzers that could regenerate their injuries endlessly. The Deiztruphia was a destruction Canzer, as well as the colossal Humanoid Wolf that he encountered in Pocket Dimension. He witnessed first-hand how troublesome they were to deal with. Unless they had an Operator''s construct ready and deployed, fighting a Destruction Canzer was a losing battle, no matter how weak they seemed. "Oh my gods! He doesn''t even know what an Infection Canzer is!" "Tarish. It''s irresponsible for you to think he''s qualified to join us." But despite their pleas, Tarish ignored them and spoke only to Atlan. "There are two types of Canzers. The first one is a Destruction Canzer, which I''m sure you''re all too familiar with¡ªendless regeneration and all that. The other type is called the Infection Canzer. If a Destruction Canzer''s strength is their durable chitin and their fast healing factor, an Infection Canzer''s threat comes from their ability to clone themselves endlessly and at a fast rate." They can clone themselves, Atlan pondered her words. It gave him flashbacks to when he ran away from the horde of Pseudo Canzers in the Pocket Remedium. "Is it similar to the stampede that I experienced?" "Yes and no. A Pseudo Canzer is different from a real Canzer. Real Infection Canzers are much more dangerous. They have powers and abilities that can bring destruction equivalent to hundreds of Pseudo Canzers. And worse, they don''t die, they duplicate. But the good thing is that the clones are easy to kill." Atlan thought for a second. If I want to learn more about Canzers, then I have to fight more of them. I can''t shy away from this opportunity. "I''ll do it." Tarish rejoiced while her teammates were dismayed. Atlan joined the mission because this was his chance to reap the death of a high-level Canzer. The stronger the opponent, the higher the rewards. Those that cause suffering need to taste their own medicine, Atlan thought to himself. Whichever Canzer caused this symptom was responsible for all the deaths he reaped in the Masamune district. He had to kill it. According to his estimation, it was exactly the kind of opponent that he could defeat using his powers. Of course, he couldn''t show his real strength to the 6th stage Saviors so easily. He didn''t know if his Modify Memory Spore would work on such high-level Students like them. He''d have to reserve his real strength until things get too dire. "This is not good." "I can''t believe this is happening." "Tarish. Even if he is the Star Porter, he can''t just¡ª-WHAT?!" Before they could continue their complaints, Atlan walked over to the three men holding the extremely heavy golden oil lamp and picked it up with just one hand. The three men had their jaws on the floor. Seeing Atlan pick the oil lamp like it was nothing made them feel they were as feeble as newborns. Who were they? They were tanks with strengths of that of a 6th stage Student. But now, they felt like a kid whose parents suddenly came and took their favorite toy they''d been struggling to carry. He''s only a 2nd stage Student?! Even though he was a porter, and his LifeSkill was tailor-made for carrying heavy things, they didn''t think that he''d have the strength equivalent to three 6th stage Students! Tarish smiled and looked back at her teammates. "Still think he''s a burden?" Atlan held the oil lamp as if it wasn''t an Operator construct weighing thousands of kilograms. He''d have no trouble running, walking, or jumping even while holding that construct. He was the perfect Porter. The rest of her team finally shut up their complaints. Seeing why they called him the Star Porter first-hand made them realize that the rumors about him weren''t exaggerations at all. He''s strong¡ªvery strong. With him carrying the construct, the Saviors didn''t have to worry about it missing in the Remedium. No one was better than Atlan as a porter. "We shouldn''t have underestimated you." "I feel honored if you become our porter." "You''ll save us a lot of trouble." Each one of them offered their sincere apologies to Atlan, which Atlan accepted. Now that they were going to be teammates, they needed to settle all differences now rather than inside the Remedium. They needed to get acquainted with each other before embarking on this dangerous mission. "I''ll introduce the team. We have three tanks with us and four mages." S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 159 - 159: Balls of fire "Why?" Atlan''s first mission had more variety in their team''s composition. They had one tank, one archer, one pugilist, a stun wizard, and a scout. He would have thought that a high-ranking team like them would be like that too. "It''s because we''re fighting an Infection Canzer. Our main challenge in this mission is not to get overwhelmed by the number of Ifrit Canzers that come towards us. A DPS is extremely unsuited for this kind of job. That''s why none of them joined this mission. They can do tremendous amounts of damage, but only to a single target or a small group of them. They''ll be useless against an Ifrit. What we do need are Tanks and Mages. Mages might not have the greatest destruction power, but they can spread it out to a large area. That would work extremely well against Infection Canzers who are weak, but numerous. Tanks, on the other hand, can absorb the damage the Ifrits inflict on us and protect the backline. Of course, we could have gotten stun wizards or other useful jobs, but HeadQuarters deemed our composition sufficient. All we needed was a proper Porter, and that is you." Atlan didn''t know job composition was so important. In hindsight, if they had any mage Saviors in the Pocket Remedium, they could have defeated a lot of Pseudo Canzers and saved a lot of people from death. Atlan had a Mage LifeSkill, but its main use wasn''t for dealing damage. It was for trapping and slowing down enemies while inflicting thorn damage. "Are you all ready?" They took deep breaths and responded with a resounding, "Yes!" The soldiers activated the portal construct and a black shimmering liquid appeared from the edges. It infected the area enclosed in the circular construct, creating a Remedium portal. "Hey boy! Thank you!" "May Vulcan shine upon you and give you strength!" The dwarves saluted him by closing their fists and tapping them on their chests two times. Atlan reciprocated the salute as he and the rest of Tarish''s team stepped foot on the Remedium. Atlan held the golden oil lamp with both hands. Even though he could handle it with only one, he didn''t want to get careless. His precaution turned out to be correct as they suddenly saw a huge ball of fire coming right towards them at extremely fast speeds. They haven''t even spent a second inside the Remedium yet there was already something trying to kill them. Without even saying anything, Tarish and her team skillfully jumped to the top of a one-story house. They practiced this move countless times and saved them from missions even more. DAGUSSHHHH S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The ball of fire, the same size as a truck, exploded from where they once stood. It sent embers and molten cement flying everywhere. Oh no. The porter! They forgot that Atlan was part of their team now. He wouldn''t know their team''s evading procedure because they didn''t have the time to teach him. Not to mention the fact that he was only in the 2nd stage, they should have helped him jump up to safety. But when they looked back, they were surprised to see him standing right behind them. He kept up with us? They didn''t have much time to ponder as more balls of fire, bigger and faster than the one before, rocketed towards their location and gave them no time to rest. Tarish took the lead and jumped from roof to roof of the Masamune district. She used the large chimneys and oval workshops among the dwarven homes and used it as their shield for the incoming balls of fire. The 6th stage Saviors barely had any time to think about other things, much more worry about the 2nd stage porter following behind them. But they couldn''t help but look back at Atlan. They worried that he''d be too far away from them if he tripped while jumping from roof to roof. Imagine their surprise when they saw him right on their tails. And with every jump, Atlan surpassed the last one in their group. He had to slow down to make sure he was behind them at all times, like a good porter! They barely even dodged the fast balls of fire, but Atlan somehow evaded it while carrying thousands of kilograms in his hands. If they didn''t know any better, they would have thought he replaced the Operator construct with a normal oil lamp. The three men thanked Atlan in their hearts. If it weren''t for him, they would have been the ones tasked to carry the oil lamp into the Remedium. They won''t be able to dodge those incoming fireballs, that''s for sure. While Atlan followed the group, he couldn''t help but let his eyes wander around the Remedium. It was much different from the ones he''d been in, including his first mission. The whole sky was replaced by a domed or tunnel ceiling lined with slick, mucous membranes. The whole Remedium was colored in a shade of green, making the membrane in the high ceiling even more nauseating. Instead of seeing a horizon beyond the Masamune district, Atlan only saw enclosed walls similar to that of the ceiling. These fleshy materials that enclosed the whole Remedium were subtly moving, spasming, contracting, and convulsing every second. The buildings of the Masamune looked normal aside from being in a different shade of green. However, these buildings weren''t attached to the ground with their foundations. Atlan looked down and saw a slightly orangish substance that flooded the whole ground up to the first floor of every building! And the worst part was that the orange liquid moved like a river and took the buildings with it forward! Some buildings crashed into each other, causing one or both of them to submerge completely into the orange liquid. This was bad news. The fact that the buildings moved constantly meant that they could be put in a situation where they wouldn''t be able to jump from one roof to another. And just as Atlan thought that, Tarish stopped in place as she noticed that there was no building right next to them. They all drifted away, leaving them stranded like an island in the middle of an ocean. A huge ball of fire curved out from the distance and headed straight for them at fast speeds. Chapter 160 - 160: Ifrit Tarish pulled out the human-sized fiery shield on her back and shouted, "Tanks! Bring ''em out!" The other two tanks copied their leader and activated the Tank LifeSkills in their Soul System. Each one of them glowed a bright colorful tint as they manifested their powers onto reality. Tarish''s LifeSkill called ''Burning Wall'' created a 5 by 10 meter wall of fire in front of her that perfectly protected the entire roof they stood on. But they knew that wasn''t enough. The other tank had a LifeSkill called ''Sludge Fest''. This was a target-based power, so he had to concentrate on the giant fireball that threatened to consume the whole building. With his experience and skill, he was able to lock on to his target within a fraction of a second. A net made out of slimy liquid manifested outwards from his body and onto the fireball, bypassing the wall of fire made by Tarish. It crashed into the fireball, with the liquid net weakening its target''s flames enough to slow it down. But that wasn''t enough. The fireball crashed onto Tarish''s Burning Wall, fighting fire with fire. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Mountain of Support!" screamed the other tank. He raised his shield and it expanded into a size dwarfing only that of Tarish''s burning wall. The man planted his foot firmly on the roof and pushed his shield forward, supporting the Burning Wall from collapsing. TSHHH The large fireball dissipated in the air, unable to pierce through the Tarish''s Burning Wall. "Wow¡­" Atlan was amazed at their coordination. They supported each other with their LifeSkills, multiplying their defensive capabilities instead of simply adding them up. If they used their LifeSkills independently, the fireball would have torn through their defenses quite easily. So this is high-level Savior teamwork. It was completely different from his first mission. They didn''t make mistakes. They moved with fluidity and coordination that couldn''t be built without years and years of experience. And even though Atlan had strength equal to them, the difference in experience between them was obvious. He wouldn''t have been able to lock on to his target as fast as that tank. He would have needed at least a few seconds just to concentrate. "Incoming!" The fireballs didn''t let them take a moment''s rest as three more flaming meteors honed in towards their roof, each the same size as the last one. "Can''t we jump down?" "No," Tarish replied. "The liquid is not acidic, but it will slow us down. We''ll be like sitting ducks if we get bogged down from that slime." Atlan looked down at the orange liquid flowing through the streets and onto the buildings. It had a consistency even more viscous than honey. Swimming in it would be akin to swimming in mushy soil. The liquid was so thick that it could carry entire buildings and displace them far away from their original foundation with just a single wave. "It''s here," Tarish warned. Once the three flaming meteors were close enough to observe, Atlan realized that they weren''t meteors at all. They were demonic beings made entirely of fire and magma! It had no lower body, just a flaming mix of gas and fire like a spirit. It had two horns on its forehead that curved upwards. Unsurprisingly, it was made out of overlapping chitinous armor with a black tip. This was the only evidence that tied it back to the Canzer lineage. If it weren''t for its chitinous horns, Atlan would have mistaken it for some other monstrous creature. "Behold, the Gastros Enterifrits. Be careful of those horns." "Is it something special?" Atlan asked. "No. It''s just a hook. It will use its horns to hang onto its victims long enough for it to¡ª" And before Tarish could explain, one of the Ifrits rocketed down towards them at even faster speeds than the flaming balls. Its spirit-like lower body erupted like a volcano and increased its acceleration, easily breaking through Tarish''s Burning Wall. "Mages!" Tarish''s warnings were not needed. The four Saviors behind the tanks quickly held out their hands as they chanted their spells. Mages and Wizards used chants to facilitate the activation of their LifeSkills faster. It allowed them to bypass the creation of a giant hand in their Soul System and summon their powers in a fraction of a second. It took them years to practice, but their hard work paid off in this current instance. Their magical LifeSkills manifested just in time to counteract the rocketing igneous body of the Ifrit. One of the Mages created a giant sphere of water that revolved around itself. The other Mage thrust his wand forward. Ice and frost spread from his arms and onto the air. Within seconds, a giant hammer with a face as big as the water sphere manifested in the air. "Potential Tempest," a Mage screamed. Green wind burst forth from her feet and created a whirling tornado that grew ten times its original size in a second. With her impressive control of magic, she commanded the tempest to surround the Ice Hammer, imbuing with it a twisting force that multiplied the hammer''s potential energy. The last Mage conjured a magic circle with glowing symbols of the sun and the stars. He focused on the Ifrit''s eyes and released a burst of magic that created a mini sun directly on its iris. It blinded the Canzer, disorienting it for a one and a half second. His distraction bought enough time for the three mages'' powers to come together. The swirling tempest powered up the ice hammer. The ice hammer then pounded the water sphere with tremendous force and cooled its temperatures to sub-zero while maintaining its liquid form! The water sphere, powered with the two LifeSkills, charged towards the ifrit at an equally fast pace. The two met together in the air. Fire and water dueled for superiority, spewing steam and mist tens of meters outwards. In the end, the LifeSkills triumphed over the infernal Canzer. Its entire body, made out of glowing igneous rocks and magma, cooled down as ice-cold water extinguished the fire in its entirety. And as it died in the air, it suddenly released the hidden bomb inside its body. BOOM A fireless explosion rang outwards and sent a booming shockwave everywhere. Tarish, knowing this would happen, put forth her giant shield and protected her whole team. Atlan would have commended them for their efforts, but it seemed in vain. Out from the embers in the aftermath of its self-destruction, three more Ifrits spawned in its ashes. "That''s an Ifrit for ya," Tarish said to Atlan. "They self-destruct and spawn more clones. Before you know it, thousands of them are already on your tail. It''s a vicious cycle." Chapter 161 - 161: Chain reaction There were now 6 Ifrits surrounding the group. Each of them had the capacity to blow up and spawn more clones. It was a losing battle. One could argue that they were even more dangerous than Destruction Canzers. With them, Saviors was incentivized to kill a Destruction Canzer even if they knew it would regenerate its injuries. This would give them enough time to set up the Operator Construct. But for Infection Canzers like the Ifrit, the Saviors were forced to stay their hand. If they killed a hundred Ifrits, three hundred more would spawn in their place. It was much better to keep defending rather than attacking. Is that why there are three tanks and four mages? Mages didn''t have the best destructive power out of all jobs. But they were completely suited to fight Infection Canzers. The Mages could spread out an attack to thousands of enemies, which weakened their damage output just enough to cripple the Canzers without killing them. Fighting an Infection Canzer is a lot harder than I thought. I would rather fight a Destruction Canzer two levels higher. "Let''s do as we practiced!" commanded Tarish. The three tanks positioned themselves near the ledges of the roof, making a triangle. The four mages created a square layer behind that of the tanks, with each one of them facing a different direction. Atlan stood in the middle of the formation, protected by the tanks and the mages. "Here it comes!" The six Ifrits simultaneously attacked the roof. Their chitinous horns were headed straight for the human bodies, hoping to hook into them and self-destruct in point-blank range. But of course, the tanks weren''t going to let that happen. They activated their LifeSkills again, creating protective barriers around their area. This created a defensive triangle whose three sides had different elements from their various LifeSkills. One was made out of a wall of fire, the other was made out of solid rock, and the other was made out of a slimy liquid. The Ifrits'' horns stuck on the floating triangular barrier surrounding the roof. Even when their lower bodies blasted off like a rocket to give them more penetrating power, they couldn''t pierce through the defense. It was airtight. "We have to weaken them." And with Tarish''s instructions, the mages activated their LifeSkills and targeted the Ifrits. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Each of their LifeSkills had weaker power than their combined attack earlier, but that was on purpose. They didn''t want to kill the Ifrits, only injure them. The whole roof lit up in different colors as they manifested different elements into the Remedium. One of them used the water element, the other used ice, the next one used wind, and the last one used light. These were the elements that had the best effect against fire. Just like they practiced, their LifeSkills crashed onto the igneous and magma physique of the Ifrits and extinguished the fire in their bodies, sending mist and smoke rising out of their heads. They made sure not to use too much power. The Ifrits still had a slight smolder between the cracks. They were still alive. However, a sizzle resounded in the Remedium. "No! I used too much!" One of the mages completely drenched the Ifrit''s body with water, completely quenching the fire in its body. The dying Ifrit''s body trembled and swelled up in just a fraction of a second until; BOOM A fireless explosion spread out from its cold dead body. Unfortunately, one of the Ifrits was caught in the blast radius and simultaneously exploded right next to it. And because this Ifrit died with the fire still in its body, it sent out a blazing explosion everywhere. The tanks braced themselves from the shockwave. They were forced inward, destabilizing their triangular defensive formation. But after a second, their experience kicked in and they immediately repositioned themselves to recover. The triangular defense came alive just in time as 6 more Ifrits were born from the ashes of the dead. It didn''t take them more than 3 seconds to grow igneous rocks from the ashes. "Sorry!" the water mage apologized. "It''s fine," Tarish assured him. "It was bound to happen." She knew that they couldn''t keep the Ifrits at only 6 clones. No matter how much they lasted, exhaustion would soon creep up on them. They weren''t robots. The Water Mage, specifically, had the hardest job because water was the main weakness of the Ifrit. He had to activate his LifeSkill to the perfect middle zone to weaken the Ifrit just enough not to kill it. Now that there were 9 Ifrits, the tanks'' jobs were much harder than before. But they persevered. The fight lasted for more than ten minutes until things completely escalated. It only took one mistake to snowball into a much bigger problem. One of the tanks got too exhausted, which allowed one of the Ifrits to bypass their defenses. Tarish made the snap decision to command her team to kill the Ifrit and blow it away from their defensive position. This saved them from the Canzer''s self-destruction, but it led to more Ifrits blowing up and spawning more and more clones. It didn''t help that the mages got too frazzled and ended up killing more Ifrits with their LifeSkills. It wasn''t long until there were hundreds of Ifrits staring down at them. The more Ifrits pressured the triangular defensive position of the tanks, the harder it was to control. This led to more and more Ifrits bypassing their defenses, which forced the mages to kill the Canzer. Just a few minutes earlier, there were only 9 Ifrits. Now, there were 500. "Haaa¡­Haaa¡­.." Everyone was starting to get exhausted. Unfortunately, just one more self-destruction from the Ifrits caused a chain reaction that escalated into a gigantic explosion that consumed everything around it. CRASH The tank''s triangular defense cracked under the explosion, leaving their battle suits burned and tattered. And when they looked up, they were horrified to see that the last explosion killed every single Ifrit in the air. "Damn! Quick. This may be our only chance." Tarish looked over at Atlan and commanded him to use the Operator construct. "Put it down!" Atlan put down the oil lamp in the middle of the roof. And as he did, he saw a light bathe the whole roof with a reddish tint. He looked up and saw thousands of Ifrits surrounding them from all sides. It colored everything into a hellish red. Chapter 162 - 162: Impulsive Things happened way too fast. Before they knew it, they were facing thousands of Ifrits. Each of them had the potential to self-destruct and cause another chain reaction that would create an explosion even bigger than the last one. The worst part about it was that it would only triple the clones present above them. "This is our chance," Tarish took a deep breath and put all her hopes onto the golden oil lamp. The Operator construct lit up, with golden light seeping out of the narrow spout, with mist-like particles. Atlan''s shoulder blades turned numb and prickly. His Angel Wings were acting up again. It only did this when it was in proximity to Angel Power. Just as I thought. All Operator constructs have Angel Power inside them. This confirms my guess that all Canzers have an inherent weakness against Angels. It also had another element he wasn''t sure about. It was present in everyone''s life. It was¡­ It''s water! The construct has both Angel and Water power! The colossal Humanoid Wolf was weak against silver and Angel power. This time, the Ifrit''s weakness seemed to be water and Angel power! This made sense because it''s already been established that water was very effective against the Ifrit Canzer. It was so effective, in fact, that the mage accidentally killed one of the Ifrits and started a chain reaction that escalated the cloning of the Canzers into numbers by the thousands. "The oil lamp will need at least 10 seconds to activate!" "We don''t have that much!" The Ifrits seemed to have been roused by the appearance of the oil lamp. They roared and belted out fire through the cracks in their bodies. Something about the construct made them extremely angry. The first thousand Ifrit Canzers powered up their lower bodies into a controlled explosion that rocketed them down toward the group of Saviors. Their red eyes couldn''t be taken away from the golden oil lamp that was slowly brightening in a gold light. "We need to kill these monsters before they destroy the construct," Tarish warned. Atlan thought that the construct would activate in only a second. It needed 10. "Why didn''t we activate it earlier?" "The construct can only be used once. We weren''t sure if there were Ifrits hiding in the outskirts of the Remedium. But now that there are thousands of them gathered here, the other Ifrits hiding in the corners will show themselves and gather with the group. It''s dangerous, but this is the only way to be sure that we''ll get rid of the Ifrits once and for all." If they used the construct minutes earlier when they were only facing tens of Ifrits at the same time, then they''d only be getting rid of those ten. There were hundreds more hiding in the outskirts of the Masamune district Remedium. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Gah! I can''t! I can''t activate my LifeSkill!" One of the mages used up too much of his energy. He needed more time to recover his stamina¡ªtime that they didn''t have. Thousands of Ifrits were only moments away from piercing through their roof and destroying the construct with it. Tarish gritted her teeth as she tried to think of a solution to solve this problem, but she couldn''t think of one. Should we retreat, Tarish pondered. It wasn''t unheard of for a party to fail their mission. It was quite normal. Most parties fail one out of ten missions, and that was already considered a good record. Although it was disappointing, it was much better than losing all their SoulTime. If they tried to fight till their end, then they would only make the rescue team have a harder job. It was considered protocol for parties to retreat when they deemed that the mission was too hard to accomplish. But even so, their pride as a team was on the line. "Let''s¡ª" And just as she was about to say those words, she suddenly saw something jump out of the corner of her eyes. When everyone looked up, they suddenly saw a black battle-suited youth up in the air with his fist twisted back to his shoulders, as if he was about to punch the thousands of Ifrits with their horns reared right towards his face. "What are you doing, porter?!" "Is he crazy?!" "Tarish! We need to pull him back!" The 6th stage Saviors couldn''t believe that a porter had the insane idea to try and face Ifrits all by himself. The tanks already readied themselves to create a barrier between Atlan and the Ifrits to draw him back to safety. Even Tarish was ready to jump up and catch him in mid-air. She regretted the fact that she invited a 2nd-stage Porter to their mission. He was too naive and impulsive to know when to retreat and when to attack. If Atlan lost his SoulTime in this mission, then she''d be the one responsible for his life. Just as they were about to move, they suddenly felt a black pressure that stopped them in their tracks. This pressure enveloped their whole bodies and made them feel as if they were in the presence of a God. It activated their fight-or-flight instincts. They thought that they were fighting against another Canzer, but when they looked at the source of this strange pressure, they were stupefied to see that it was coming from the Star Porter himself! Atlan''s whole body was clad in a black inferno. Even his black battle suit could not compare to the blackness of these flames. It was as if the Star Porter was enveloped with the darkness and desolateness of space itself! It absorbed all the light, not letting any color reflect off it. "Is that¡­is that his Physique LifeSkill?" They''ve heard about his strange Physique LifeSkill from rumors and gossip around the City. They thought they were mere lies, but they witnessed that strange black fire right in front of their very eyes. That strength cannot be faked. And from what they felt from the pressure he emanated, they even thought that they underestimated his power! Chapter 163 - 163: Oil lamp Atlan squared his shoulders and twisted his waist as he converted all the forces from his body into his fist. With his Physique LifeSkill activated, his physical prowess multiplied by several magnitudes! And that wasn''t the extent of his SSS class LifeSkill. The black flames also allowed him to have extreme control over his own body. He could make a single fiber in his muscle twitch. He could expand his veins to carry more blood and energy to his body. He could do anything. His mind called back to the image of Razer Wrekton using his enlarged arms to pound parts of the colossal Humanoid Wolf into mere particles. He observed which muscles he used, he observed how he mixed power and finesse to deliver more powerful punches in a small amount of time. He consolidated everything he learned from one of the geniuses of Mount Olympus. And with his enhanced control of his own body, he was able to transfer all that theoretical knowledge into his own body. His body-mind coordination couldn''t be more in sync! As the first Ifrit came crashing down towards his fist, his entire body twisted in perfect synchronicity and transferred all of his strength into his punch. SPLATCHHH The Ifrit''s chitinous horns disintegrated before they could even reach Atlan''s fist. It got destroyed by the pressure alone! But Atlan''s punch didn''t stop there. His mid-air jab followed through and destroyed the Ifrit from head to toe. His punch destroyed its igneous and magma-filled body down to its very molecules. The first Ifrit didn''t even have any time to self-destruct. It was destroyed into mere particles. "WHAT?! HOW IS HE SO STRONG?" They were told that his Physique LifeSkill was something out of this world, but they didn''t think that it was powerful enough to disintegrate a Canzer rated at the 6th stage difficulty so easily. They had to keep in mind that it was only a Physique LifeSkill. It was only supposed to help porters carry heavy weights. But somehow, Atlan''s Physique LifeSkill was powerful enough to be used to kill Canzers! That was beyond comprehension. However, no matter how strong he was, he only dealt with a single Canzer. A thousand more Ifrits were coming towards him with revenge in their eyes. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The 6th stage Saviors below worried for Atlan''s safety. Even if he could injure and kill the tens of Ifrits coming his way, he''d still be in the blast zone of their self-destruction. However, their worries turned out to be for naught. BUGSHHH BAGSHHH As the hundreds of Canzers honed in on Atlan, he unleashed a fury of punches, each one having the same power as the first one. His insane barrage of strikes destroyed tens of Ifrits with each swing. He didn''t even leave them with a body to self-destruct in! If they were present in the Pocket Dimension incident, they would have recognized Atlan''s moveset as being the exact same thing that Razer pulled off against the Giant Werewolf! They thought they were dreaming. After all, how could anyone explain a 2nd-stage Student porter disintegrating hundreds of Ifrits in mere seconds? After the initial shock, they turned genuinely confused. "His Physique LifeSkill¡­it''s too powerful." "Are they sure it''s only S class?" "I think it''s equivalent to a Berserker LifeSkill. But his¡­doesn''t seem to have any time limit." Atlan continued his barrage of punches, destroying hundreds upon hundreds of Ifrits with each second. He looked at his Soul System and saw that his SSS class Physique LifeSkill still supplied him with tons of energy. It seemed endless. He felt like he could theoretically continue this barrage of punches for a very long time. The problem was his Giant Hand. It started to lose its tangibility, fading in and out of existence. This was due to his inexperience. He''d only been drafted for two weeks, which was not enough to develop the ''muscles'' to keep up his manifestation of a Giant Hand. The 6th stage Saviors could manifest a Giant Hand in their Soul System for a long time because of their experience, but their low-class LifeSkill was the reason why they couldn''t last long. It was the complete opposite for Atlan. His SSS class LifeSkill had enough power inside, but his Giant Hand couldn''t handle the power. Time was the only factor. His barrage of punches held back the thousands of Ifrits coming towards them. But he didn''t kill them. Even if he blew them outwards into mere particles, they still found a way to regenerate into their full form once they were away from Atlan''s attacks. Suddenly, a golden light erupted from the oil lamp. Atlan felt the Angel power below him finally saturate into its final form. He looked down and saw Tarish kneeling at the golden oil lamp. "It''s time!" Tarish rubbed the side of the lamp and muttered under her breath. It was an incantation taught to her in the Canzer Report for the oil lamp to activate. As soon as she finished the words, a magic circle appeared around the narrow spout of the oil lamp and created a huge suction force inside. Even though the vacuum wasn''t meant for humans, Tarish and the other Saviors still felt a strong pressure pulling them inside the spout. An invisible tornado erupted from the spout and affected all the Ifrits in the air. Howls of anguish and roars of defiance rang out from these monstrous Canzers. They tried to resist the suction force from the tiny little oil lamp, but the Angel power seeped into the invisible tornado weakening their bodies to the point that the magma in their physique turned into rock. The suction force extinguished their fire, and subsequently their life. But instead of self-destructing like before, they simply turned into lifeless rocks and were eventually crushed into a fine powder as they entered the oil lamp. Atlan landed back on the roof as he watched thousands upon thousands of Ifrits try and fail to escape the grasp of the oil lamp. In just a few seconds, the Ifrits finally succumbed to the Operator''s construct, ending their vicious cycle. Chapter 164 - 164: Reaping an Ifrit [You have assisted in killing a complex creature: Gastros Enterifrits] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have gained 20,000 experience] [You have gained a C class Mage LifeSkill: Blazing Wave] [You have gained 10x LifeSkill fragments] [You have two LifeSkills with the same job. Do you want to merge the two?] [Experience required: 20,000] [Upgrade points required: 22,000] [Fragments required: 4] Atlan manipulated his Soul System and commanded all the required ingredients to merge his two Mage LifeSkills into one. The blue wisps of Experience points surrounded the new LifeSkill planet and forcefully transcended it to the consolidation period between the 4th stage and 5th stage Student realm like the original Spiked Chitin Spray. The meteor fragments crashed into the LifeSkill planet and upgraded it from C class to B class, costing 5000 upgrade points. Then, 17000 Upgrade points made up of small red geometric shapes lined up and surrounded the two planets, forcing them to collide. It didn''t take long before the two planets crashed, sending chunks of each other flying into each other before eventually crashing down onto the surface. The collision was so powerful that the two planets were destroyed completely, turning them into meteors and asteroids that tried to leave their respective gravities. However, the Upgrade points created a protective barrier that forced all parts to stay in one place. It wasn''t long before small chunks crashed into each other and formed a bigger chunk, creating a bigger gravity that further attracted more chunks from space. Atlan watched everything unfold as if he were a God who watched his own creation. If it was like true life, then it would have needed thousands of years to form, but in the Soul System, everything was sped up so much that it only took a few seconds before a new Mage LifeSkill formed in his Solar System of LifeSkills. ¡ªMage: (A) Exploding Thorns of Chitinous Webs. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 5th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 12x F class fragments Exploding? I''m guessing this ability is born from the Ifrit''s self-destruction powers. That''s interesting¡­ Not only could he trap enemies inside his thorned web of chitins, but he could also make them explode and cause further damage. The possibilities were endless. My Mage LifeSkill is starting to get good. Now that it''s been merged with two different LifeSkills, its repertoire of powers makes it useful in a lot of situations. "It''s done¡­" Tarish muttered under her breath. The Masamune district Remedium turned eerily quiet as the final Ifrit disintegrated into mere dust and was absorbed by the golden oil lamp. Atlan took his focus out of his Soul System and observed the construct. The Angel power inside it slowly powered down, dispersing into the air until there was nothing left. I see why it''s only one use. There''s no more power inside that oil lamp. It''s just a normal object now. "That was close¡­" Tarish and the rest of the 6th stage Saviors fell on their knees and released the tension in their shoulders. They thought it was the end for them. The Ifrit''s cloning got too much out of control, and they couldn''t have lasted much longer. The only reason why they finished this mission was because of the black battle-suited youth in front of them. They couldn''t help but stare at him. Even after executing a barrage of punches that killed Ifrits much faster than they could clone themselves, he didn''t even seem tired. He never dropped a single sweat. "Porter¡­how did you do that?" Tarish confronted Atlan. She couldn''t believe that his Physique LifeSkill was that powerful. It was only a porter LifeSkill and it was only in the 2nd stage of the Student realm! Even if it was an S class talent, they didn''t think that it would be enough to kill Ifrits rated at the 6th stage difficulty. Granted, Infection Canzers were very easy to defeat individually, but that still didn''t take away from the fact that Atlan could disintegrate them into mere atoms with just one single punch. Atlan activated his LifeSkill. The oppressing black flames enveloped his whole body. "This is my Physique LifeSkill. It''s rated higher than the S class." He revealed this information because he knew that it would have leaked out in some way or another. It was much better to tell the truth now and control the narrative. "Gasp¡­Even better than S class?!" "I didn''t even think that was possible." "I''ve heard rumors of other Metropolises having talents greater than S class, but I thought they were just rumors." Having a LifeSkill greater than S class was so rare that they didn''t have a proper grasp on how powerful it was, but the tyrannical aura around his black flames made them believe his words. If they didn''t experience how powerful it was with their own eyes, they wouldn''t have believed it. "Don''t worry, Star Porter. We won''t tell just anybody about this," Tarish assured Atlan. "However, we can''t promise you that HeadQuarters won''t know about it. If we were subjected to Pterina''s questioning, we wouldn''t be able to hide the truth." Atlan nodded. "That''s fine." "I can''t believe we almost denied you. Imagine if we did. We probably would have lost all our SoulTime from this mission." "Tarish, you were right. He''s the Star Porter for a reason." Now that the threat of the Canzers had been neutralized, the atmosphere around the Saviors was celebratory. It was a close one, but they eked out a victory in the end, all thanks to the 2nd stage porter. "What''s wrong, Atlan? Why aren''t you celebrating?" The Ifrit was dead. Atlan was sure of it. If not, he wouldn''t have reaped its soul. But by now, they should have gotten their rewards from the Genesis God for finishing the mission. A ray of light should have beamed down from the skies and bathed them with His rewards. It''s only been two minutes since the mission ''finished'', yet Atlan couldn''t help but be cautious. Just then, he heard an all-too-familiar sound in the distance. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM¡­ Chapter 165 - 165: Falling up The whole Remedium rumbled. The folds and wrinkles of the strange meat-like dome covering the entire Masamune district started churning. "What''s happening?!" Everyone felt the roof they were standing on bob up and down, destabilizing their footing. Tarish looked down and was horrified to see that the strange orange liquid flooding the streets gushed forward with much more speed and volume than before. "Why is it flooding?!" It was as if a dam had opened. The orange liquid dispersed the buildings even more, breaking them off from their firm foundations underground. Other buildings much better constructed and stayed on the ground were destroyed by the mere force of the gush. "Brace yourselves!" The one-story roof tilted as it floated above the rapid gush of the orange liquid. They were safe from being engulfed by the tsunami of orange liquid but they weren''t safe yet. The wave led them in a direct collision course with a high-story skyscraper! If they collided with the skyscraper, they''d be crushed under the thousands of tons of weight just from the rubble that would fall on top of them. "Should we abandon ship?!" One of the mages suggested falling off the roof to avoid the skyscraper. But that was a stupid idea. "No. We''ll get taken away by the wave. We need to stick together!" Tarish shouted to her team. Even though the skyscraper was falling on them right at this very second, she was not focused on it at all. Instead, she looked around the Remedium and tried to find a circular construct in the middle of all the floating buildings and rubbles in the orange flood. Damn! The portal''s lost! Tarish didn''t say those words out loud because she didn''t want to cause further panic. They could always search for the portal later. But if they panicked and split up, they might get lost in the Remedium for hundreds of years! "It''s falling on us!" the mage screamed. Tarish and the other tanks used their LifeSkills and created a defensive shield around them. However, it couldn''t last long under the weight of the metal beams of the skyscraper. Their defenses were great against elemental attacks like the Ifrits, but it wasn''t that effective against physical attacks. Their shields cracked like glass, but it was able to deflect the skyscraper away from a direct collision with their one-story roof. For good measure, Atlan jumped up and used his Physique LifeSkill to punch one of the main columns supporting the skyscraper. CRASH-SPLASH The skyscraper crashed onto more buildings drifting in the orange flood, sending orange mist and negative colored rubble flying in the air. Tarish and her team were safe from being crushed to death by the high-rise building, but they were not safe from the aftermath. A large wave emanated from the skyscraper''s crash site. It created a rippling effect that increased the speed and height of the flood coming towards them. "Let''s hope our building''s buoyant!" They held onto any railing, pillar, or wall they could grab onto as the wave came towards their roof. WOOSHH Thankfully, the building they stood on had an air pocket underneath the flood, and allowed it to stay on top of the wave. The Saviors held onto the roof as it followed the stream onto a narrowing tunnel that led to a dark chasm underneath. "Where is this going?!" Tarish didn''t know. "Just stay together!" The whole wave surged towards an opening on the meaty wall surrounding the Masamune district. Buildings, rubble, street lamps, steel beams¡ªeverything was swallowed inside this dark chasm. Even in the distance, they heard the torrent of orange liquid falling into the opening. Tarish and the rest of her team had no choice but to stay on the roof and hold on to each other for safety. They couldn''t swim away from the gush of orange liquid leading them to the unknown even if they tried. "Don''t let go!" Tarish warned as they were enveloped by a shimmering curtain of orange liquid made from small droplets falling onto the darkness. As they fell, everything turned dark. The Saviors held each other''s hands as they felt the weightlessness of free fall. Atlan held hands with the mage beside him. He was going to stay with his team until things got too dire. If things proved to be too dangerous, Atlan would use his Angel Wings and burst through the dimensional walls of the Remedium and return to the real world. That was his last contingency plan. But for now, he wasn''t going to leave his team to deal with the looming threat of the darkness all by themselves. They didn''t know what they were fighting with. But Atlan did. He couldn''t forget the rhythmic wing patterns of the Sapient Canzer. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM¡­ Even in the nothingness of freefall, he still heard those excited flapping wings echo in the chamber. He didn''t have to hear it speak to know that it was excited. It couldn''t wait to see the tormented expressions on the humans again. Atlan used his Thermal Vision and saw the cylindrical chamber they were falling under. He looked around and saw the terrified expressions of Tarish and the rest of her team. He felt the desperation in their grip. They were deathly afraid because their worst fears came true. They encountered an anomaly. But for Atlan, this wasn''t an anomaly. This was an opportunity. #### THUD-BOOM The ground underneath them exploded as they reached the end of the tunnel, creating a blinding burst of light that stunned all of them into confusion. As they fell through the hole, they saw nothing but white skies and dark stars under their feet. After falling for about two seconds, they suddenly slowed down. They stopped in mid-air for a moment before they started accelerating upwards! Atlan looked up and couldn''t believe his eyes. They were falling upwards into a grass field! It completely defied the laws of physics. BLUGHH They felt their heads crash onto soft but firm soil. Their reality-defying experience left them stumbling for a second as they gathered their senses. What happened? Did we come out from underground and land on a grass field? Atlan was the first one to gather himself. He slowly stood up and looked at his surroundings. Behind him were the tall steel walls of Genesis City and in front of him was the wide expanse of the Unclaimed Lands. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 166 - 166: Out the walls "Where¡­where are we?!" "No¡­that''s¡ªthat''s impossible!" Tarish couldn''t believe what she saw. Somehow, falling into that dark chasm led them out of the walls of Genesis City! This was supposed to be impossible. Every mission in the Remedium took place inside the walls of a God''s Territory. It didn''t matter if it was as small as a Village or as big as a Country. All portals led to a place inside the walls of that area. No exceptions. But now, they found themselves at the outer grassfields surrounding the walls of Genesis City. They couldn''t even blame the Quills for another anomaly happening in this mission. No one would have ever anticipated this happening because it was supposed to be impossible. "We need to go back¡­we need to go back¡­" One of the mages frantically dug on the grassfields trying to find the hole they ''fell'' in. "It''s fine. As long as we''re together, we can get through this!" Tarish said, with her voice quivering. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM¡­ Atlan whipped his head to the source of that rhythmic pattern. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision. On the horizon of warm yellow grassfields, there were small dark blue spots that littered sparsely above the grass. They sauntered over closer to the humans with arrogance in their stride. Their dark blue internal body temperature was much more intense than the heat of the 6th stage Saviors beside him. It was clear. These Sapient Canzers were much stronger than the unprepared 6th-stage Saviors. Not to mention the fact that they were completely out of their territory and out of breath from fighting the Ifrits, they were in no shape to fight these Canzers. A couple of seconds later, Tarish and the rest of the exhausted Saviors finally noticed the synchronized footsteps in the distance. The Sapient Canzers had no intention to hide themselves. Fear gripped their hearts. Tarish couldn''t even speak. "$&#^(!#)$" "NO!" Her shout was accompanied by a gasp that was filled with horror and disbelief. Those unintelligible words were the subject of every Savior''s nightmare. The mere mention of their name sent shivers down everyone''s spine, veteran or not. "Sapient¡­Canzers¡­" The Sapient Canzer stood on two legs and had two arms on its side. Their entire body was clad in chitinous armors with spikes protruding in a uniform pattern. They had a prominent snout like that of a bear and a mouth like that of a human. Their stature carried an uncanny resemblance to humans. Any person who saw a Canzer walking and talking like a human was enough to send them into a coma. It was a terrifying image that should only be reserved for science fiction, yet they were witnessing it right in front of their very eyes. The worst part about it was that the whole horizon was filled with these Chitinous-armored creatures, numbering in the hundreds if not thousands. All of them were identical, clones even. "$@*&%)%" ")%($&@@(" For normal humans like Tarish, they could only hear unintelligible sounds that couldn''t even be produced by the human body. But for Atlan, their conversation was loud and clear. His 4-star Canzer Mother Tongue mutation allowed him to understand all Canzers, including Pseudo Canzers and Sapient Canzers. ''Look at these humans¡­how pathetic¡­'' ''I told you¡­they shiver at the thought of facing us¡­'' They weren''t speaking like the Pseudo Canzers with disjointed words and only the most basic of grammar. These Sapient Canzers were different. They sounded like humans speaking a different language. "%#)@*!)$*#" All the Sapient Canzers stopped at the same time, letting only one of them walk forward and face the humans. The disparity between the humans and the Sapient Canzers was huge. The humans had terrified expressions on their faces with their bodies frozen from fear even if they wanted to run. Meanwhile, the Sapient Canzers stood tall with pride and superiority in their eyes. "$@!)*#@)" ''Entertain me, humans.'' The Sapient Canzer held out his hands in a welcoming manner as if the humans were his guests in his kingdom. Tarish put herself in the front and raised her shield. She was at the forefront, protecting her terrified and exhausted teammates. Even if she was tired too, she wasn''t going to let that monster terrorize her friends. "Please. We don''t want to fight. Let us go," Tarish said softly. Even if they couldn''t understand each other, the Sapient Canzer was intelligent enough to pick up on her tone. "&!&!&!&!&!, )@($&#)!($*#" ''Hahahaha! It''s begging for its life! Not that brave without the Angels protecting you now, huh?!" The rest of the Sapient Canzers behind the leader laughed and pointed at the pathetic human lowering her head to them. Their monstrous faces clearly showed the human expression of disdain and mockery. "$*@$&@)!)(%*#@)(*)(*@$#*)(@" ''Come on! I didn''t come out here for nothing. Fight me!'' The Sapient Canzer unfolded its two pairs of wings behind its back. The outer wing was made out of tough leathery material, while the wing on the forefront was thin and membranous, which gave it flexibility in its flight. It flew to the humans with no warning. Tarish was caught off guard and pulled her shield up late, causing her to get blown away as the Sapient Canzer punched forward. She got blasted away even if she caught the attack with her shield. She couldn''t imagine taking that attack head-on. She tumbled through the air. She saw the world turn multiple times. And with the speed she was blown away, she thought she''d get sent tens of meters out. But then, she felt a warm hand supporting her back and stopping her in the air. It was Atlan. He caught her and helped her stand on her own. He still had a confident smile on his face even as they faced the dangerous Sapient Canzer. Somehow, his confidence gave her the strength she needed to pull herself back up. Even if they were going to lose their SoulTime today, that didn''t mean they couldn''t fight till the end. "Guys," Tarish walked back up to the front of her team. "If it''s looking for a fight, then a fight it''s going to get!" sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With the rallying shout of their leader, the 6th stage Saviors found the energy to use all their powers to survive. They activated their LifeSkills, with the mages combining all their powers into one attack. A wind and light-powered ice hammer striking a water sphere manifested into reality. The tanks used their defensive LifeSkill in a creative offense by reinforcing the water sphere''s defenses, making it harder and faster than what was possible. Chapter 167 - 167: Boredom satiated The Water Sphere turned into a ball made up of different elements, reinforcing it into something that could destroy an entire building into mere rubble. The 6th stage Saviors used up all the energy inside their Soul System to construct this one attack. They aimed to intimidate the Sapient Canzers from attacking them by showing their combined powers. Having 7 Saviors working together in perfect coordination was no easy task. One wrong move and all their hard work manifesting the water sphere would dissipate into nothingness. Despite the exhaustion and the pressure they faced from the Sapient Canzers, the 6th-stage Students found the focus and concentration they needed by following their trusted leader. She never wavered even once. She kept her back straight and faced the Sapient Canzers with full trust in her teammates. "Don''t underestimate humans!" screamed Tarish as she guided the Super Powered Water Sphere towards the lone Sapient Canzer. ")$(@*!&$)$" ''Good! This is a worthy opponent!'' The monstrous Canzer, with its dual wings flapping in excitement, faced the Water Sphere with bare hands. It flew through the air and intercepted the Water Sphere. It faced it head-on. Steam and mist spurted out from the middle of the collision. The Sapient Canzer pushed back against the power of the Water Sphere, but its chitinous fingers chipped away with every second it tried to grasp and control the Water Sphere. Its wings flapped harder to try and gather enough force to push back against the humans'' combined powers. But in the end, it couldn''t resist against the combined might of the 6th stage Saviors. The Sapient Canzer was completely torn into shreds as the Water Sphere enveloped it entirely. The ball of power continued on its original course and crash-landed on the first line of Sapient Canzers waiting in the distance. BOUUUGH The Water Sphere exploded, sending hot slices of water that tore through the chitinous armors of hundreds of Sapient Canzers. "Haaa¡­.Haaaa¡­." Tarish and the rest of her team couldn''t help but smile when they saw their power completely demolish the arrogant Sapient Canzer. But Atlan couldn''t celebrate just yet. He crossed his arms with a serious expression on his face as he looked at the aftermath of the explosion. Out from the torn shreds of the first Sapient Canzer, grew five more clones that looked the same as the one that ''died''. And those that got destroyed by the Water Sphere''s explosion spawned even more clones than before. These new Sapient Canzers emerged with devious smiles on their faces. They derived pleasure from seeing the smile fade away from the humans as they realized that their strongest attacks were useless against them. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM¡­ Their wings flapped in a rhythmic pattern as they saw the terror creep into the humans'' faces. It made them euphoric! "$(#*@&*$%&@)($(@)#)($*%)" ''Oh how I''ve missed that face¡­humans truly make the best expressions¡­I can''t wait to see their faces as they die.'' The clones of the Sapient Canzers walked forward in synchronicity, like a well-trained army. Tarish''s bravery melted as she realized the kind of monster they faced. "Infection Sapient Canzers¡­" She didn''t know what to do. There was nothing she could do. It was a completely hopeless situation. If they faced a Sapient Destruction Canzer, they could hold on long enough by killing it over and over again. Even if it could regenerate its injuries, it still gave them hope that if they lasted long enough, there was a chance they could get rescued. But with a Sapient Infection Canzer, the more they try to fight them, the harder it will become to survive. If they don''t fight Infection Canzers, they die. If they fight them, they''ll multiply endlessly and get killed faster. And unlike normal Infection Canzers, these Sapient monsters were clad with Chitinous armor from head to toe. They were as hard to kill as Destruction Canzers. "$(@**%&" ''Scream! I want to hear your screams!'' A few Sapient Canzers unfolded their wings and flew towards the 6th stage Saviors. The mages activated their LifeSkills and defended themselves, but the monsters were too fast. Before their powers manifested in reality, the Canzers skewered their bodies with thousands of spikes in its fist. "AAGHH!" the Water mage screamed. He felt his SoulTime draining by the years! There was poison in those spikes. But that wasn''t the end of their torment. The Canzer raised the water mage up and slammed him back down on the ground, pushing its spikes deeper in its body and causing further internal damage. "KAGHH!" The water mage coughed up blood. The Canzer seemed to get aroused each time it heard the human scream. It continued harassing the water mage until he could no longer scream. The Water mage barely clung onto life. He was mere hours away from losing his entire SoulTime. "%#(@*!)$" ''No more fun.'' Now that it felt satisfied, the Sapient Canzer tossed the water mage''s body to the side like trash. It didn''t even deem him worthy to be killed. He wasn''t the only one. Tarish, and the rest of her team were brutalized by the Sapient Canzers. The tanks lasted longer, but the Sapient Canzers used their superior speed and strength to wear down their defenses. It wasn''t long till their shields were deformed like scrap metal. The violet grasslands were stained with dark red pools of blood. The 6th stage Saviors had cuts and lacerations all over their bodies, bleeding them of their SoulTime. They had less than a day left till they died. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Tarish was the only one left standing in her team. She used her giant shield to keep herself up no matter how much her body wanted to lie down. From her hazy eyesight, she saw one Sapient Canzer approach a black battle suited youth on the back. After finishing them off, the Sapient Canzer now wanted to deal with the last person in their group, Atlan. Atlan stood tall against the approaching Sapient Canzer. He looked at it eye to eye. "$*#)*!)($*%&)@_%&@!_!_$$(*(*#@" ''This human dare to look at me this way¡­tsk. No matter. The terror in his face will be much more delicious.'' But before the Sapient Canzer could approach Atlan, it suddenly felt something grab its legs. It looked down and saw Tarish holding onto its feet. "Please! Spare him!" Tarish wanted to protect the Star Porter. He was a transcendent talent that she needed to preserve. She knew that Sapient Canzers were a prideful bunch. So, she catered to its need for superiority. She pulled herself closer to the Canzer''s feet and kissed it in reverence. "Spare him! Oh, great Sapient Canzer!" The monster''s smile couldn''t have gotten any wider. "%(#*)$)@)(%)$)@)%" ''Fine. I will spare you humans. My boredom has been satiated.'' Chapter 168 - 168: Left behind With a flick of its chitinous fingers, a large hole in the violet grass fields opened up and created a powerful suction force that swallowed the unconscious 6th-stage Saviors. Tarish heaved a sigh of relief as she saw her teammates get sent back to where they came from. She didn''t think the Sapient Canzer would let them go so easily, but surprisingly, it did. She didn''t want to know why it was suddenly merciful, she just wanted to escape. Atlan, her friends, and herself can leave with their SoulTime intact. She didn''t resist the suction force from the dark chasm in the ground and let herself fall into it. It could have been a trap, but she knew that the Sapient Canzer had no need for such things. It could have destroyed them right then and there if it wanted. She fell through the hole and a deep darkness encompassed her whole body. She couldn''t see anything. It was the same as the hole they fell from. Her speed accelerated, with an unknown force pushing her further and further into the hole until she saw a bright light in the distance. SPATUNNGG She burst forth from the dark chasm opening and saw herself falling towards the fallen rubble and chaos of the remaining Masamune district. There was no more thick orange liquid flooding the streets and gutting the skyscrapers¡ªonly crumbled walls and overturned buildings. She used her shield and braced herself for impact as she crashed onto the roof of a building. CRASH She looked up and saw her teammates shoot out from the dark chasm the same way as her. Ignoring her injuries, she got up and caught each of her unconscious teammates. She laid them down gently onto the roof, with her face full of worry once she saw the horrible state of their bodies. The call of unconsciousness got stronger and stronger, but she still performed emergency medical attention to her team. She wasn''t going to leave them falling without protection. Once they were all safe and sound, she lay on the floor right next to their unconscious bodies. She was exhausted. She was about to close her eyes when she suddenly realized something. Someone was missing. She got up and frantically looked everywhere but couldn''t find that black battle-suited youth anywhere. She scoured the littered remains of the once beautiful Masamune district but found no trace of the Star Porter. Panic began to set in. What if¡­ What if he''s still there? ##### "$(@*%)#($&^)$#%*)@($@(*&@)" ''Such pathetic creatures. Seeing their horrified faces gives me such joy, but it only lasts for a second. I need more.'' The Sapient Canzer found no satisfaction in killing the humans. The horrified look frozen on their dead faces wasn''t delicious to look at. It was much better to see them contort into horror live. That''s why they spared the humans. By doing so, more humans would come and entertain the bored Infection Sapient Canzers. They knew that if they killed the humans, it would take a long time before the other humans found out about it. But if they survived to tell the tale, humans would come in a matter of minutes. But just as the Sapient Canzer turned around, he felt a small wind breeze past its neck. It looked behind and was surprised to see one human still alive. It didn''t leave. "$@($*%)!($(#$*)(*^)(*#)$*()(*#@" ''Look at this stupid human. I spared you so that you can carry your friends out of here. Yet you stayed¡­how idiotic.'' The rest of the clones behind it laughed and jeered at Atlan. They were merciful enough to let the humans live, but they didn''t think someone was stupid enough not to take it. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The lead Sapient Canzer walked over to Atlan and put its hands on his shoulders. "$(@*$)(*#%@#*" ''You still think Angels will save you? Why don''t I teach you what it means to die?'' "You''ll find out," answered Atlan. The Sapient Canzer couldn''t understand Atlan''s words, but they knew that tone in his voice. It was impertinence. Just as the Canzer was about to say something, a black flame suddenly erupted all over Atlan''s skin. It covered him with a tyrannical aura that burned the Sapient Canzer''s arm. The Canzer pulled his arm away subconsciously. It looked at its burnt chitinous armor, and back at Atlan with its pure white eyes full of disbelief. "%(@*%&@)$(*%(#*@)(*#" ''I didn''t think this was possible. There was a monster hidden among the humans.'' "A monster? You haven''t seen it yet," Atlan said coldly. His 6-star Pseudo Canzer Whisperer mutation only allowed him to speak with Pseudo Canzers, which was why the Sapient Canzer couldn''t understand him, no matter how much Atlan wanted it to. Atlan used all the strength he had to punch the Sapient Canzer''s chitinous chest. Even with its protective spikes strewn around its armor, it was no use against Atlan''s SSS class Physique LifeSkill. His power cracked and shattered the monster''s chest, showing its violet blood and flesh inside. The rest of the clones stopped laughing and looked at Atlan with a serious eye. The lead Canzer held its broken chest and glared at Atlan. "%)(*@)(*$)(%&#$)(%()$#)(*" ''You''ll regret that, stupid boy. I''ll kill you before the other humans come and save you.'' The numerous clones behind it unfolded their wings at the same time and rose in the air. DUM¡­DUM DUM¡­DUM The violet grass fields trembled as thousands of dangerous Sapient Infection Canzers fluttered their wings in a rhythmic pattern. The lead Sapient Canzer with a cracked chest smiled as its clones surrounded the lone human. "$(*@)(*$)(*" ''Attack him.'' Even though it was impressive that a human youth like Atlan could crack a Sapient Canzer''s chitinous armor, it was still inconsequential in front of thousands of clones. If the human couldn''t even kill a single clone using his full strength, then he had no hope of ever surviving against them. The Sapient Canzer laughed. The human severely overestimated his strength. It turned around and left everything to the clones. It didn''t need to watch to know the result of such carnage. The thousands of Sapient Canzer clones converged on Atlan, but then¡­ BOOUUGGGSHHHH A large fire-less explosion reverberated through the violet grassfields. The Sapient Canzer''s eyes went wide with disbelief as it felt hundreds of its clones die in the explosion. The Sapient Canzer turned and looked back at the human. Slowly, its chitinous armor rattled with increasing intensity. The pressure and aura emanating from the human was enough to send fear and dread running down its back. Chapter 169 - 169: Cold feet In the middle of the violet grass fields, surrounded by remains of shattered chitinous armor, stood a creature with black rotting skin. It looked like a decaying corpse, but the power pouring out from its enlarged bones was anything but dead. It was the kind of pressure that even made the Sapient Canzers'' chitinous armor rattle from horror and panic. The rotting creature had nothing but bones in its body, with decaying black skin barely clinging to its skeleton. But the most terrifying thing about the creature was its head. It was nothing but a skull, with frost and ice creeping onto its crevices, but somehow, the Sapient Canzer felt like it was looking at a creature that could send anyone down to the deepest abyss of hell. The skull slowly turned towards the Sapient Canzer in the distance, with its head swiveling unlike that of a human. Even though the skull creature had no eyes, the blackness of its eye socket made the Sapient Canzer feel as if its entire view had darkened and only the creature remained in its sight. "$()@#*()($*$(*&%(#*&(*#&$" ''What the hell are you?! You''re not human!" the Sapient Canzer screamed. But the creature didn''t answer. It kept its head turned towards the lone Sapient Canzer. The Sapient Canzer grabbed its own chest and stopped it from rattling. It didn''t want to admit that it was afraid of a single human. SHIIRRA SHIIRRA The fallen Sapient Canzers made out of nothing but shredded chitinous particles slowly formed back into more clones. Five more spawned out of each corpse. "($*@)(*$)(*##)(*)@(#*)$*(&(" ''So¨Cso what?! We''ll multiply till we kill you!'' Five thousand Sapient Infection Canzers rose in the air. They surrounded the skull creature at all sides, like a cloud enveloping a single ant. With perfect synchronicity, they charged towards the lone human¡ªor whatever it was. But instead of worrying about the increasing number of clones attacking him with no room to escape, Atlan looked at his own disfigured body. He felt power, unlike anything he''d ever felt before. He was brimming with energy, with some of it leaking out of his bones and manifesting as frost and ice around his body. He looked at his own hands and he knew: just one wave of his hand was enough to destroy thousands of these Sapient Canzers. KLIK KLAK Atlan raised his foot and stomped it on the ground at the same moment hundreds of clones reached out their hands to rip his skeleton transformation into shreds. He forcefully pushed out the intense energy inside him until it leaked out into his bones. An intense cold flowed out from his foot and spread outwards. The large circular patch of violet grass surrounding his skeletal foot turned solid and shattered into a million pieces. The temperature in the grass fields plummeted so far down that the water particles in the air slowly condensed into snowflakes that slowly drifted in the wind. The frost infected everything in an instant. The mystical cold rose from the ground and froze the clones from their chitinous feet up to the fervent expressions on their faces. The blood inside the Canzer''s bodies instantly turned into ice, their fleshy bodies turned solid. Everything was frozen. The five thousand clones fell on the ground, with some shattering into different pieces. Their maniacal desire to kill the lone human was still frozen on their faces. The frozen wings on their back fractured into millions of pieces with just a slight breeze in the air. The only one still left was the lone Sapient Canzer in the distance. Its human-like mouth couldn''t convey the shock it got from seeing thousands of its clones frozen with just one move. And the worst part about it was that the skull creature never took its dark eyes away from it. It was as if it wanted the lone Sapient Canzer to witness this. "$)(@(#($*&(#*&$%" ''Kugh! It doesn''t matter. We are still alive!'' Even though the clones were frozen into mere ice statues, their incredibly resilient bodies allowed them to still cling to the bit of life in their constitution. "Yes. I want you alive," replied Atlan. Just then, Atlan spread his skeletal arms. Even though he couldn''t use other LifeSkills with his BloodLine Transformation, he still had one more source of power that was available. A numb and prickly sensation covered his shoulder blades. A smile appeared on his skull as he felt that familiar power envelop his entire body. The Sapient Canzer already thought that fighting this monstrous human was a nightmare enough. But as it turned out, it barely just started. Its knees went weak as it felt the warm light emanating from the skeletal creature''s back. It was the kind of warmth that would have been ideal in such a cold environment. But for the Sapient Canzer, it felt its entire body turn even colder than before. That familiar aura was something they thought was already gone. It should have been extinct. Yet there it was, exuding out of the pure white Wings that emerged behind the skeletal creature in all its glory. Angel power. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just the mere presence of such holy and angelic wings was enough to extinguish the last dredges of life inside the frozen clones. The thousands of Sapient Canzers exploded into millions of frozen pieces as Atlan fluttered his Angel Wings in place. "@&&&&&&&&&&&" ''GAGHHHHHHH!'' The only surviving Sapient Canzer in the distance screamed in pain. The pain of five thousand clones dying at the same time from a smudge of Angel Power was transmitted to the only surviving clone of the Sapient Canzer. It banged its head on the frozen grass trying to relieve the pain in its mind, but it was far too much. "@***********" It experienced a pain worse than death¡ªfive thousand deaths. The tiny tinge of Angel Power that killed the clones transferred over to the surviving clone, which accumulated enough to a near-fatal dosage. "Experience the suffering. This is your punishment for treating death as nothing more than a joke," Atlan''s voice resounded out of his skeletal transformation. Chapter 170 - 170: Shouldn’t speak The cycle of suffering continued for the Sapient Infection Canzer. Each time it cloned itself into thousands and thousands more, Atlan''s skeletal body with the strength of a Pre-Intern Savior emanated an intense frost that froze everything that came into contact with him. With the thousands of clones frozen and unable to move their bodies, Atlan unleashed the aura of an Angel with his pure white wings. The added pressure from the Canzer''s weakness was enough to push them over to their death. Their minds chose to destroy their bodies rather than stay even one second in close proximity to the holiness of Atlan''s Angel Wings. As the tens of thousands of clones shattered into chitinous particles, the lone Sapient Canzer watching everything unfold from a distance felt the pain that all the clones experienced. It wailed on the ground, thrashing and flailing its whole body to try and free itself from the torment in its mind. The worst part of it was that it couldn''t die. It didn''t physically get harmed by the deaths of the clones, it only got affected mentally. Its once greatest strength, its mind, had now become a curse that doomed it to an intense suffering that would never end. "($*@)(*@)(*$" ''Stop¡­please¡­I give up¡­.'' Its voice was hoarse and weak. It couldn''t take the hellish punishment from the skeletal creature any longer. It would rather beg on a human''s knees rather than experience another cycle of pain in its mind. The clones increased by 5 times each time Atlan killed them. Because of that, the pain that the lone Sapient Canzer felt was five times greater than it was before. It put an increasingly greater hell on its mind. The only way for this to stop was to beg for forgiveness from the human. His powers were far too strong for even millions of clones to be enough to kill him. The frost he emanated didn''t discriminate with numbers. As long as it had something to spread to, it would continue to bring a freezing winter to anything that comes close to those infected. The lone Sapient Canzer crawled toward Atlan''s skeletal figure. Even though its body didn''t permit it to bend like that of a human, the Canzer disfigured itself to prostrate itself to him. "$(*@)(@*$)(%&" ''Please! I beg of you! Stop this madness.'' Even if Atlan hadn''t understood the Canzer''s words, the symbol of surrender and deference was universal. Atlan raised his hand and brought down the fury of a Pre-Intern strength onto the lone Sapient Canzer. BOOMSHHH The lone Canzer disintegrated into mere atoms as Atlan destroyed its very being with a single punch. His strike created a tremendous force that reverberated around the violet grassfields. A shockwave followed through that shattered the tens of thousands of frozen clones around them. Atlan stood on the crater by himself. He looked up and saw the clones repairing themselves into their full chitinous bodies. But instead of attacking him, they quickly jumped back and prevented the cold from spreading to them again. The lone Sapient Canzer reformed its body and bowed in front of Atlan for his mercy. It raised its chitinous arm and snapped. Behind Atlan, another hole manifested in the ground that led back to the Masamune District Remedium where he could reunite with his teammates. The thousands of clones bowed their heads to him, showing him respect after this loss. With the battle finally over, Atlan let go of his transformation. The rotting skin in his skeletal body slowly shed off as muscles, veins, and organs grew alongside his bones to form his human body. The flesh in his head slowly grew back as his face returned to its normal human look. The cold, oppressing aura that he emanated slowly vanished as if it were all an illusion. He was back to looking like a fragile human whose body looked like something the Sapient Canzers could break like a twig. However, they knew better. This human hid a power that could kill thousands of their clones in mere seconds. And it didn''t even take much effort. He just stood there and killed all the Sapient Infection Canzers that dared to get close. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan turned around and looked down the hole back to the Masamune District Remedium. "(#*$&@)(*@)(*$(*%&#(*&(&$#$#((*&(*&@#)#@($" ''We will let you go this time, human. But we will be back stronger and better. When we come and wage a war with the humans, you will be the last one we kill. You will watch as we desecrate them as you have desecrated us.'' The lone Sapient Canzer muttered their plans under his breath. Although they were forced to back off against Atlan today, that didn''t mean that they lost this fight. They considered it a draw. They couldn''t kill him, and he couldn''t kill them. It was so confident that they would be able to kill Atlan next time that it even dared to say its plans to kill him just seconds after they begged for him to spare them. Atlan stopped in his tracks and sighed. "Canzers shouldn''t be able to speak," Atlan muttered under his breath. He looked back at the thousands of Sapient Infection Canzers. The lone Canzer never would have thought that Atlan understood its words. If it did, then it would have known that it signed its own death certificate. Atlan used his Thermal Vision as he surveyed his surroundings. There were tens of thousands of clones in front of him, some of them hovering in the air, and some of them stayed on the ground. He focused his vision at the very back of the pack. There was a very large number of clones closely grouped together¡ªtoo close. There was an endless space behind them in the expanse of the violet grass fields, yet they chose to stay so grouped up together that they were standing shoulder to shoulder with practically no space in between them. He looked down at the group and saw that deep underground, there was a small object glowing dark blue¡ªthe same coldness as the Sapient Canzers. The clones watched as Atlan raised his hand and pointed at a random space in the distance. It was only a couple of moments later that they realized where he was pointing at. Atlan took a deep breath and uttered, "Begone." His Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill activated and locked onto the object underground. Chapter 171 - 171: Scattered ashes The lone Sapient Infection Canzer felt a shiver run down its spine as it watched the human point directly at its ''root''. It was the source of all their power and an equivalent to the heart of a human. The Sapient Canzers never thought that Atlan would be able to pinpoint their very weakness so casually. His finger felt like it was the touch of Death itself. "$)(*@)($" The hundreds of thousands of clones all charged at Atlan in a panic. Even though they didn''t know what he was going to do, the mere fact that he knew where their weakness was located was enough to send them into a frenzy. "Begone," he uttered. Above the large group of clones protecting their root, a white cloud manifested in reality. This cloud had a golden glow on its edges and frightened the clones below. It emanated an Angel aura that was a thousand times more intense than the human''s Angel Wings. If Atlan''s Angel Wings was a solid cube made out of Angel power, then this cloud was like a knife pointed directly down at the source of the Sapient Canzers'' very being. It threatened to destroy their very existence! Half of the hundred thousand clones converged on Atlan to try and stop his ''Finger of Death'', while the other half tried to disperse the cloud from completing its condensation. However, they were far too late. They would have stood a much better chance of stopping Atlan if they tried to attack him before he was able to lock onto the object underground. The moment that cloud manifested in reality was the moment the death of the Sapient Infection Canzers was certain. The cloud''s blonde-yellow light intensified, followed by a thunderous rumbling that reverberated along the violet grass fields. The clones reached up with their spiked chitinous fists to try and tear through the cloud, but they were far too slow. Thick golden lightning struck down into the ground with a furious intensity, sending an earthquake that shook the entire Remedium. The clones unlucky enough to be in the golden lightning''s way were immediately burned and disintegrated into mere ashes, with their cloning ability nullified forever. Hundreds of Sapient Canzers jumped and created a small mound that tried to protect the underground object, but they were inconsequential in the face of a SSS class 4th stage Student Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill! It passed through them and targeted the buried object tens of meters underground with perfect accuracy. The golden lightning''s spear-like end pierced through the root of the Sapient Infection Canzers. The object turned out to be a fetus. It was what Sapient Infection Canzers would have looked like if they were a newborn, with their chitinous armor barely formed around their bodies. As soon as it was hit with the golden lightning, it stopped squirming in the soil and froze in place. It slowly turned pasty white, with its ashes slowly disintegrating into mere particles that turned into nothingness. The clones above wailed in pain as they slowly disintegrated into mere ashes scattered in the wind. This was their permanent death. They could no longer clone themselves when their original body was dead. The lone Sapient Canzer watched its own hands slowly disintegrate into ashes. It looked at Atlan with disbelief in its eyes. It didn''t think that he would be the one to cause their permanent death. In its stubbornness and anger, it tried to claw at Atlan''s face, but its legs gave way as the weakness soon spread to the rest of its body. Atlan was hit with nothing but ashes. He looked around the violet grass fields and saw peace. The ashes of the fallen Sapient Infection Canzers scattered in the wind. With nothing else to do, Atlan turned back and fell into the hole behind him. #### Tarish slammed her fist on the ground. She couldn''t believe that she was careless enough to let those Sapient Canzers get their hands on their Star Porter. She was responsible for his life. She didn''t think she''d be able to live with herself if she found out that Atlan lost all his SoulTime because of her mistake. He''d be held back for years as he regenerated from a single blood cell. She would effectively ruin his career. "Damn!...I should have been the one!" "If it weren''t for him we wouldn''t have even killed the Ifrit!" "I can''t believe we''re still stuck here! We have to ask for help so that they can rescue Atlan!" After they recovered enough strength, Tarish and her team scoured the destroyed skyscrapers and overturned buildings of Masamune district, but they couldn''t find the portal anywhere. They felt useless. The longer they were stuck unable to call for reinforcements from the HeadQuarters, the longer Atlan would be subjected to the Canzer''s tortuous hobbies. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Let''s check again! We have to find that portal!" But just as they were about to disperse, they suddenly heard an explosion in the distance. BOOM Their eyes went wide when they saw a black battle-suited youth flying in the air after being shot out from the hole they came from. Atlan braced himself as he crashed onto the streets, sending rubble and concrete everywhere. Tarish and the rest of her team slowly approached Atlan. They expected to see him return with multiple broken bones and a bloodied mess, but they were pleasantly surprised to see Atlan stand with virtually no injuries on his body. There wasn''t even a scratch on his black battle suit. "Atlan¡­you''re¡ªyou''re fine?!" "Thank the Gods!" "What happened to you?" Even though Atlan spent much more time with the Sapient Canzers, he was in much better shape than the 6th-stage Saviors. But before Atlan could say anything, everyone was suddenly blinded by a bright light up in the air. Out from the meaty domed ceiling of the Remedium, a large ray of white light suddenly beamed down directly on Atlan and the rest of the 6th-stage Saviors. "But¡­how''s that possible¡­" Tarish couldn''t believe that they were being rewarded by the Genesis God for completing their mission! Chapter 172 - 172: Mission complete? A resplendent white beam of light shone down on the eight people below. They looked up with shocked faces at this unexpected turn of events. As 6th stage Saviors, they understood what this meant. The ray of light from the heavens was something that all Saviors cherished. It was the cool ice water after working on a hot summer''s day. It was a comfortable bed after an exhausting day at work. This was a Savior''s reward after risking their lives fighting Canzers in the Remedium. The Genesis God extended his hand to them and rewarded them for their service to the City. No one wanted this to happen more than Tarish. However, she couldn''t help but be perplexed as to why they were getting rewarded in the Remedium. This type of thing only happened if a team of Saviors finished their mission and killed off all the Canzers terrorizing the God''s body. Even though they defeated the Ifrit, they were far from completely eradicating the Canzers inside the Remedium. Anomaly or not, the fact that Sapient Canzers appeared in the Remedium meant that they were now a part of the mission. They shouldn''t have been rewarded for this mission because they were forced to retreat to the real world and ask for reinforcements from HeadQuarters to deal with the Sapient Infection Canzer. Was this a mistake or an illusion, Traish pondered. But the facts were right in front of her face. The beam of light had the Genesis God''s signature warmth that they were all familiar with. The only way this is possible is if¡­the Sapient Canzers are dead?! She fervently shook her head. No matter how much she tried to think about it, there was no way for Sapient Canzers to die without any reason other than being killed by Saviors. Her mind went through all kinds of scenarios until an idea popped up in her head. She slowly looked over to the black battle-suited youth right next to her. Even though his youth and his gentle features painted a kind and novice Savior who needed coddling, she quickly learned that there was a vicious tiger hidden within him. Unbelievable as it may have sounded, there was enough evidence to believe that his Physique LifeSkill was rated greater than S class. He couldn''t have killed hundreds of Ifrits if it wasn''t. She estimated that his strength was equivalent to around the 4th or 5th stage Student realm just because of his physical strength alone. There were rumors about him defeating 5th-stage Students, which wasn''t that hard to believe once Tarish learned of his true strength. Atlan was also considered a genius who was able to advance from the 1st stage to the 2nd stage in just one week after his draft. All the feats and rumors surrounding Atlan painted him as a transcendent genius who could punch two or three stages above his level. But¡­can he defeat a Sapient Infection Canzer by himself? The only conclusion she could come to was an impossible thought. Atlan killed the Sapient Canzers and finished the mission all by himself. It was much easier to believe that the Sapient Canzers killed themselves rather than believe that a Porter solo-ed a mission meant for a team of veteran Saviors. She observed Atlan''s face a little closer. There was a sense of confidence and assurance in his eyes¡ªthe kind that only the truly strong and proven heroes wore on their faces. Meanwhile, her and her team''s eyes were still full of precaution because of the looming threat of the Sapient Canzers. They didn''t know if the Canzers would change their mind and finish the job. What if he''s not afraid because there''s no more Canzers to be afraid of? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Does that mean he''s even more powerful than we thought? Is he hiding a bigger secret other than his LifeSkill being greater than S class? She could no longer look at Atlan as a novice beginner who''d only been in two missions. She looked at him as a wild card who could pull miracles out of the back of his hand. The ''conspiracy'' in her mind consumed her thoughts until she finally shook herself out of it. He might be powerful enough to survive against the Sapient Infection Canzers, but he couldn''t have possibly killed them. He''d need a specialized Operator construct. She calmed down once she reached that train of thought. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But I still don''t know why we''re rewarded with the completion of a mission¡­ Everyone looked up and saw grains of glistening sand drop down on them like rainfall. It was accompanied by blue wisps that floated like feathers. "We''re blessed¡­those are SoulTime and experience points!" "The Genesis God saw our suffering and decided to reward us¡­" They spread their arms and welcomed the rewards floating inside the beam of white light. Atlan watched as blue wisps and grains of sparkling sand seeped into his skin and went directly onto his Soul System. The grains of sand flowed over to the giant hourglass floating in the darkness of his Soul System just beside his LifeSkill solar system. [SoulTime] ¡ª55 yrs : 150 d : 04 hrs : 59 min : 51 s Atlan gained 5 years and a couple of days as his reward from the Genesis God. For him, this wasn''t that big of a deal. He could gain double this amount by using his Photosynthesis mutation for a couple of seconds under the intense heat of the sun. But for others, it was a literal godsend. "Yes! An extra 5 years!" The injuries in their bodies slowly closed up as the sands of SoulTime entered their body. They felt rejuvenated as if they were reborn anew. From what Atlan learned, the Genesis God gave back the SoulTime that a Savior lost in the Remedium, plus a little extra for their efforts. If their original SoulTime was about 25 years and they lost 24 years during a mission, then the Genesis God would give a total of 30 years of SoulTime to them, which consisted of the lost 24 years and an extra 5 years. "Finally! It''s been a while since I''ve seen the glory of those blue wisps!" The 6th stage Saviors rejoiced as a thousand blue wisps entered their Soul System and filled up their LifeSkill planets. Since they were in the 6th stage, they needed thousands more experience points to level up to the next stage, but they were satisfied with this result. But then, their joy was quickly replaced with shock as they saw a bright light in the corner of their eyes. They looked at the Star Porter and saw him glowing a bright white light by the edges of his skin! He was advancing to the next stage! Chapter 173 - 173: Next stage already?! Tarish and the 6th stage Saviors were gobsmacked. They covered their mouths in shock. As unbelievable as it sounded, Atlan was advancing to the next stage of the Student realm at this very second! They wouldn''t mistake that glow for anything else. If there was a word that transcended a genius, then even that wouldn''t be enough to describe Atlan in his current state. After all, it hadn''t even been a month since he was drafted into Genesis City and he was already consolidating his power realm to the 3rd stage of the Student realm! It took him one week to go from 1st to 2nd. Now, it took him another week to go from 2nd to 3rd! That was insanely fast. Tarish and the others finally understood why there were a lot of skeptics who didn''t believe all of Atlan''s feats. It would have been more believable if Atlan performed a mission every day during those two weeks. But he didn''t! He only had two missions during those times! And even though both of those trips to the Remedium ended up having an anomaly happen, it was still unbelievable to think that he was deemed critical to the completion of the mission by the Genesis God Himself. He wouldn''t have given Atlan that much experience if that wasn''t true. But when they considered the facts, it wasn''t all that absurd to think about. After all, he participated in this 6th stage Student difficulty mission while only being in the 2nd stage. He proved crucial in killing off the Ifrits. If he hadn''t used his Physique LifeSkill to prevent the Ifrit clones from destroying the construct, then they wouldn''t have completed the mission in the first place. And if Tarish considered the thought that Atlan killed the Sapient Infection Canzers by himself, then it made even more sense. Of course, she quickly removed the thought from her brain because Atlan had no way of disabling their cloning ability. What she didn''t know was that Atlan didn''t need an Operator construct at all. He only needed to activate the Angel Power in his bloodline and use the even greater Angel LifeSkill in his repertoire. It was a proven weakness of any Canzer. But of course, if Atlan hadn''t found the ''root'' of the Sapient Infection Canzers, then he wouldn''t have been able to kill all of them completely. His Cherubic Retribution could kill a clone and prevent it from multiplying itself in its death, but he''d need to activate it a couple of thousands of times to completely eradicate the Canzers. If he didn''t think of Geminus'' words at that very moment, then he wouldn''t have been able to completely kill the Sapient Canzers at all. Their cloning ability reminded him of the Ballistic Lotus, which also had the ability to spawn multiple clones after its death. According to Geminus, the way to defeat those kinds of opponents was to find their ''root'' and destroy it. Coincidentally, Atlan saw their ''root'' buried deep underground and protected by a large group of clones. He just needed to lock onto it with his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill and completely eradicate the clones in one go. "Atlan¡­congratulations. You are now just days away from becoming a 3rd stage Student." Tarish walked up to Atlan and congratulated him. After their initial shock, the rest of her team also came to shake Atlan''s hands for his amazing achievement. "You were blessed by the Genesis God!" "Even He considers you as a Star Porter!" Atlan smiled and thanked them for their congratulations, but he didn''t dispel their assumptions. They thought that it was the Genesis God who gave him the experience needed to advance to the next stage. That wasn''t true. Atlan had 103,911.2 experience points in his Soul System just waiting to fill up his LifeSkill planets. He wasn''t lacking in experience. He just needed time to consolidate his LifeSkills. The only reason why he wasn''t able to advance his Physique LifeSkill as opposed to his other LifeSkills was because it had a mysterious job attached to it. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique According to his experience, he would only be able to advance this LifeSkill if another God blessed him with experience. Even though it was filled up with blue wisps of experience, it wouldn''t consolidate into a solid layer in his LifeSkill planet. But only after he got rewarded by the God again, did it finally consolidate into a solid layer. [LifeSkills] Specialty: GLOBAL ¡ªGod: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating to 3rd stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª 47 hrs : 59 mins : 40 s The bright white glow in his body slowly subsided. Now that he finally had the time to evaluate his rewards, he looked at what he reaped from killing the Sapient Infection Canzer. [You have killed a complex creature] [You have reaped the death of a Sapient Infection Canzer] [Due to your trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] [You have gained 50,000 experience] [You have gained 110 F class Mage LifeSkill Spiked Chitin fragments] [You have gained 120 (1-star) Sapient Canzer Genus] While the others were celebrating the rewards given to them by the Genesis God, Atlan visited his Soul System and immediately merged all of his new fragments and Genus and used it to upgrade his current powers. He used up 128 F class Spiked Chitin fragments to upgrade his current Mage LifeSkill: Exploding Thorns of Chitinous Webs. Since his LifeSkill was merged from the Spiked Chitin LifeSkill, he was able to use its fragments to upgrade his current one. He didn''t know how his LifeSkill would be upgraded, but he guessed that it would lean more towards being a mage LifeSkill with a power made up of Chitin. Maybe the webs will be as hard as chitin. Or maybe the spikes will get even sharper. Although it took a total of 301,000 Upgrade points, Atlan found it worth it since his Mage LifeSkill would now become another SR class LifeSkill. With how useful his Thermal Vision became after becoming an SR class, he was sure that his Mage LifeSkill would also experience a tremendous bump in power. ¡ªMage: (SR) Bane of Infections: Exploding Chitinous Webs S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Consolidating the 5th stage ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 4x F class fragments Chapter 174 - 174: Polyglot Bane of Infections? Does that mean that my new Mage LifeSkill is effective against Infection Canzers? Atlan wanted to check out his new LifeSkill, but he knew that he couldn''t. Tarish and the others wouldn''t be able to take another shot of surprise from Atlan. Their psyches would break once they learned that Atlan had other LifeSkills in his Soul System, with some already consolidating the 5th stage. He put his focus next to the Genuses he obtained. It took 126 1-star Sapient Canzer Genuses and 33,000 Upgrade Points to upgrade it all to a 7-star Genus. [Atlan] [Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls] [Genus] ¡ª4x (1-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª2x (1-star) Flora ¡ª10x (1-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (3-star) Human ¡ª1x (6-star) Pseudo Canzer ¡ª1x (7-star) Sapient Canzer ¡ª1x (7-star) Flora ¡ª1x (9-star) Gatekeeper ¡ª1x (10-star) Grim Reaper ¡ª1x (10-star) Angel [You have obtained a new (7-star) mutation: Sapient Canzer Polyglot] [Mutation] ¡ª (4-star) Canzer Mother Tongue ¡ª (6-star) Pseudo Canzer Whisperer ¡ª (7-star) Photosynthesis ¡ª (7-star) Sapient Canzer Polyglot ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings Atlan welcomed his new mutation with open arms. By the name itself, he knew that it was an ability that allowed him to converse with Sapient Canzers. With all of his mutations, he could now understand and talk to any kind of Canzer he came across. If he had this mutation before, then he would have been able to talk to the Sapient Infection Canzers and warn them not to make him angry. Of course, the fact that he could speak their language would make them extremely shocked and furious. They would consider it as a transgression that would ultimately lead to them attacking. Either way, Atlan would have liked to see their shocked faces once they realized that he could talk to them. This was an extremely important skill to have in missions. Understanding Canzers already proved to be a life-saving measure that could help him figure out a Canzer''s weakness, just like his time in the Pocket Remedium. By now, he was sure that every Remedium he entered would be plagued with anomalies. He expected to see Sapient Canzers appear rather than a mission preceding as normal. And during those times, he and his team would be caught with no way to defeat their enemies. They''d be helpless with no suitable Operator construct in their hands. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, if he was able to talk and understand the Canzers, he could figure out what kind of weakness they had. Even if they won''t give it out voluntarily, everything would get easier with a little bit of violence. It wasn''t guaranteed that every Sapient Canzer he came across would die from his Cherubic Retribution. Although all Canzers were weak against Angel power, he came to know that some Canzers had different weaknesses too. The Giant Werewolf Canzer was weak against Silver and Angel Power, while the Ifrit was weak against Water and Angel Power. He got lucky this time. The Sapient Infection Canzer''s weakness was only its hidden root. If he wasn''t able to figure out that it had that kind of weakness or if he wasn''t able to find it underground, then he wouldn''t be able to defeat them with just his Cherubic LifeSkill. He''d be too exhausted activating it tens of thousands of times in a short amount of time. I need to know how Operators know about a Canzer''s weakness. Encountering another anomaly strengthened his resolve to learn more about Operators and their jobs. Although most Vanguards blamed the ''Quills'' for always misjudging the difficulty of a mission, Atlan knew that it wasn''t their fault. Even the anomaly in this mission couldn''t be attributed to their mistake. No one knew that it was possible to be placed in a Remedium outside the City walls. Only by learning what the Operators do, will he be able to anticipate these kinds of anomalies or even prevent them from happening altogether. He could only do that by going to the University where he could immerse himself in everything Operator related. He would have gone by himself, but with the tensions between the ''Quills'' and the ''Knives'' being so high right now, he was advised not to go there without an escort. He hoped that Pterina would be finished with her job and take him there. However, with another anomaly like this, Pterina''s job was most likely even more congested than before. She''d have to question him and the rest of Tarish''s team about what happened. "Look! There''s another ray of light over there!" One of the mages pointed out another beam that rained down at a specific place in the ruins of Masamune district. It pointed at a place that was buried by two skyscrapers that crashed into each other. Tarish and her team slowly walked over to the beam of light and unearthed the wreckage of cement rubble and bent steel beams. After a few minutes, they finally came across a ruined blacksmith workshop. And surrounded by metal debris in the middle was an unbroken circular construct that they were all too familiar with. Their shoulders eased up when they saw a dark shimmering liquid inside the area, signaling that the portal still worked! "Yes¡­thank you, Genesis God!" "Sob..sob¡­I thought we''d get stuck here for years!" The 6th stage Saviors couldn''t hold back their emotions as they finally saw the light at the end of their arduous tunnel. They didn''t waste another second as they ran through the portal and stepped back into the comfort of the real world. Atlan followed them soon after. Once he went over the portal, a clear and cool breeze of fresh air hit their faces. They slumped on the ground out of exhaustion. Even though their bodies were rid of any injuries, their minds were still too traumatized from the Sapient Canzers'' torments. The soldiers on the other side of the portal immediately stopped what they were doing when they saw the Saviors come back out of the portal. They would have thought that they retreated from a failed mission, but once everyone was out of the portal, the black shimmering liquid on the circular construct dissipated in the air. This signaled the mission''s completion! Somehow, they killed the Canzers inside even with an anomaly! "How did you guys finish the mission?" The reinforcement Saviors tasked to save them stopped their preparations. Chapter 175 - 175: Spread to the world While Tarish and her team were in the Remedium, the HeadQuarters already noticed something wrong inside. They didn''t stop monitoring the symptoms in the Masamune district. They knew that there was a chance that an anomaly would show up. Even though the Operators had no idea when it would happen, they would know once they appeared. The ''Quills'' resolved to prove to everyone that they were competent in their jobs. They needed to assure the ''Knives'' or Vanguards that even in the case of an anomaly, the Operators were ready to resolve the situation as fast as possible. So, soldiers were already posted near the Masamune district that closely observed the situation inside the infected area. A Gastros Enterifrits, also known as the Ifrit Infection Canzer, was only supposed to show a symptom of a heat wave and an occasional random explosion around the infected area. However, the soldiers noticed that the explosions stopped becoming random. It started to arrive at a set amount of time. To the untrained eye, this wouldn''t seem all that strange. However, the Operators knew that symptoms don''t arbitrarily change out of nowhere. Uniformity almost always signaled intelligence. This meant that they were dealing with Sapient Canzers. The Operators quickly prepared a new construct tailor-made to search for the Sapient Infection Canzer''s root and armed with the ability to kill it with a tinge of Angel power. HeadQuarters also recruited a new team and briefed them on the situation. Within 20 minutes, their preparations were completed. Even though they didn''t have any porters available, they opted to use three Saviors with Martial Artist jobs to carry the heavy construct to the Remedium. The new team of 7 Saviors was just a few preparations away from entering the Remedium in the Masamune district when, all of a sudden, the original team came back and completed the mission by themselves. None of them could believe it. The fact that the Remedium portal closed by itself meant that the God Himself considered the mission a success But how is that possible?! They are fighting against an Infection Sapient Canzer! They are not even equipped with the right construct! The soldiers and a few representatives of the HeadQuarters quickly interviewed Tarish, the leader of the group, to learn more about what happened to them inside the Remedium. According to her, everything went smoothly until they were suddenly flushed down and transported outside the walls of the City. That alone was absurd to hear. Even the representatives of the HeadQuarters stopped writing for a second and tried to understand her words. "Outside¡­what do you mean exactly?" "Outside the walls. We were at the grass fields outside the walls." Gasps and murmurs resounded throughout the spectating crowd. There were a lot of curious civilians who couldn''t help but doubt Tarish''s words. "Ahem," the representative coughed and silenced the crowd. "We''ll know the truth once the Inquisitor Pterina comes and questions the team." Tarish wasn''t worried. As much as she wanted that anomaly to be nothing more than a lie, she and her team were forced to remember it as the truth. "Now, aside from that. Are you aware that bringing an unauthorized novice along with you on the mission is prohibited?" She knew she''d get punished for it, but she didn''t regret it. If it weren''t for Atlan, they wouldn''t have come out with their SoulTime intact. "Gosh! A 2nd stage novice in a 6th stage mission¡­what are they thinking?" "Did he sneak inside with them?" Once Tarish''s team heard that, they quickly sprung to their feet and defended the Star Porter. "You guys don''t know anything! We wouldn''t have defeated the Ifrit if it weren''t for him!" "He killed hundreds of them with his barrage of punches!" Now, everybody looked at the Star Porter. They''d heard about his absurd feats of strength, but it was unbelievable to think that it was enough to fight against a 6th stage Student-rated Canzer. "You expect us to believe that?" "That''s absurd!" "Hmph!" The mage went over to Atlan and put his hands over his shoulders. "Doubting him means blasphemy! The Genesis God Himself has deemed our Star Porter to be a once-in-a-lifetime genius!" The mage didn''t even wait for the doubtful words of the crowd and immediately revealed the truth. "He rewarded us for completing the mission and the Star Porter was given enough experience to advance to the 3rd stage of the Student Realm!" The representative of HeadQuarters immediately turned towards the mage. "Is that true?!" He didn''t know which one to question first: the fact that they were rewarded for a mission with an anomaly, or the fact that Atlan advanced to the 3rd stage. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Yes!" "But how''s that possible?! How did you kill the Sapient Infection Canzers without a construct? Tell me, now!" But of course, Tarish and the rest of her team had no answer for that. When they told the representative the truth that they were spared and allowed to leave, he massaged his head. He had a splitting headache trying to decipher what happened to this mission. Somehow, even though they didn''t kill the Sapient Canzer, they were given a reward from the Genesis God Himself, which should have only happened after all Canzers were killed in the Remedium. It was a complete paradox. "Sorry, but can we reserve all questions for tomorrow?" Tarish pleaded. "My team and I are exhausted, and we have no energy left to convince all of you about the truth." The representative acquiesced. Tomorrow, things would get cleared once Pterina questioned them. Meanwhile, the crowd still hadn''t gotten over the fact that Atlan achieved the 3rd stage Student realm in such a short amount of time. They talked amongst themselves. "Ey! No way. It''s got to be an exaggeration." "But why would they lie about that? And look at his aura. Don''t you think he''s gotten a little bit stronger?" "Now that you say that, I think so too." Either way, the word already spread out to the rest of the City about the transcendent genius of the Star Porter. But the gossips were no match against the spies. The other Cities and Territories in the whole world would soon learn about the fact that a Porter was able to go from undrafted to 3rd stage Student in just two weeks. That speed was unprecedented. The offers for his transfer spiked up to even higher levels. Chapter 176 - 176: Accumulating favors Once the interrogation from the representative was over, he assigned some soldiers to escort Tarish and the rest of their team back to their homes. Before Atlan entered the truck, some of the dwarves he saved personally thanked him for his service. "You have the dwarves'' hands and arms. If you need anything, we will make sure you get it." The rest of the bandaged dwarves nodded their heads and showed off their muscles to Atlan. Even though the official story was that the anomaly resolved itself without anyone killing the Sapient Infection Canzer, the dwarves had a feeling in their guts that the Star Porter had a big hand in killing those Canzers that caused the suffering of thousands of dwarves in the Masamune district. Atlan boarded the truck and it set off back to the City Center where his house was located. After everything was resolved, the soldiers and the Operators went on their way to restore the Masamune district to the industrial heart of the City it once was. Some of the soldiers in charge of picking up rubble and litter around the streets saw a peculiar piece of equipment lying on the ground. It had a long wooden handle and a large rusted curved blade. It was Atlan''s scythe. In the chaos and rush of saving the dwarves out of the Heat Wave, Atlan''s scythe fell out of his back. Probably just some trash from a workshop, thought the soldier. He was going to put it in the bin to recycle the metal, but some of the dwarves saw the scythe in his hands. This was the first dwarf that Atlan saved when the Symptom appeared in the district. He was also one of the dwarves who promised to help Atlan with anything he needed. He quickly recognized the scythe as something that belonged to the Star Porter. "Hey! Give me that!" The soldier was intimidated and quickly gave him the scythe. "What are you going to do with that piece of junk?" The dwarf smiled. "I''m going to repay a favor." ###### Atlan stepped off the truck, with Tarish and her team looking over him with moist eyes. "Thank you again, Star Porter." "I hope we can meet again. Hopefully in a better situation." "If you have anything you need, anything at all, you can talk to us and we can help you with it. We may not be the strongest out there, but we do have valuable experience we can share." Atlan sincerely thanked them for their offer. He''d need it. As 6th stage Saviors, they embarked on tens or hundreds of missions to get where they were now. He''d be remiss to ignore their advice just because he was physically stronger than them. He might breeze past stages like it was nothing, but there were also a lot of things he couldn''t skip past with his Grim Reaper cheat. For example, he still needed time to learn and practice the manifestation of his Giant Hand in his Soul System. He couldn''t cheat his way out of slowly learning how to activate it within a fraction of a second. Perhaps the hardest skill to learn was how to lock on to a target with his Cherubic LifeSkill. He was extremely lucky that the Sapient Infection Canzer''s root was located deep underground where it could not move around freely. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If the root moved even an inch away from its original position, then Atlan would have needed a few seconds to refocus his target. It was a vulnerability in his skillset that he needed to shore up quickly. However, there was no way to speed it up other than to practice it as much as possible. But as much as he wanted to, he had no feasible way to do it. For him to activate his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill, he needed a target. And to find a target, he needed to be on a mission to the Remedium. That was a dangerous place in and of itself. And even on missions, he couldn''t just activate his other LifeSkills in front of his teammates. Even if he had a Modify Memory Spore LifeSkill to change their memories, he didn''t want to rely on it when he didn''t need to. If only I had my own Pocket Remedium where I could summon my own Pseudo Canzers, it would solve all my problems. It''d be like shooting two birds with one stone. I get to practice my LifeSkills and I get to farm some experience points, fragments, and Genuses. As far as he knew, only those who performed great deeds and services for the City were awarded their own Pocket Remediums. The families with deep roots in Genesis City were the only ones who accumulated enough merit to have it. Atlan would probably need a hundred years before he was eligible to get one himself. That''s too long. Maybe if I keep showing my talent, they''ll eventually give me a Pocket Remedium¡­ But of course, he knew it wasn''t that easy. Atlan shook the thought off his mind and focused on what he could do now. And the only thing that was on his to-do list was to go to sleep. He waved back at Tarish and the others at the truck. Once they were gone, Atlan went directly to his bed and went to sleep. He expected another visit from Pterina tomorrow morning. That would surely entail a lot of questions about the mission and his alleged Physique LifeSkill that was greater than S class. If he was questioned about it, then he could lie to her and say that the LifeSkill in his Soul System only had a question mark in its class. That answer would be vague enough so that she''d believe that he had no idea that his LifeSkill was above B class. No matter what, Atlan wasn''t worried about her interrogation. His Grim Reaper Physique would deny any attempts at peering through his lies. Atlan closed his eyes and went to sleep. ##### The next day, Atlan was greeted with a knock on his door. Chapter 177 - 177: Hugs Atlan opened the door and a smile crept on his face. He thought he''d be greeted with a visit from Pterina and start his day with an interrogation, but imagine his surprise when he saw a curly-haired woman instead. Lizzie stood in front of his house with a relieved expression on her face. She couldn''t hold back her emotions as she hugged Atlan. "Thank the gods you''re fine. I heard about the anomaly and quickly rushed here." Atlan reciprocated her gesture of affection and hugged her tightly. In the Unclaimed Lands, everyone kept to themselves and avoided close contact with each other. It increased a person''s internal body temperature and caused them to sweat. In a place desolate of any large water source, they needed every drop of liquid inside their bodies. Atlan felt awkward during their first hug, but as things progressed, he slowly got used to it. He slowly yearned for it. Lizzie felt warm. Even when warmth was equivalent to death in the Unclaimed Lands, somehow, whenever he felt Lizzie''s soft arms around his neck and her body close to his, he felt more alive than he was before. He even thought that hugging her gave him SoulTime, but that was just an illusion. "I can''t believe those guys. What are they thinking of letting you go on a 6th stage Student mission? And just as I feared, an anomaly occurred during your second unofficial mission. Urgh!" Lizzie, in her anger, moved away from Atlan and stomped the ground. Her words didn''t even register in Atlan''s mind because he was still focused on the fact that he wanted the hug to last just a little bit longer. "And you!" Lizzie pointed at his face. "Just because you''re the Star Porter doesn''t mean you should go on missions higher than your level. It''s dangerous!" Atlan shrugged his shoulders innocently. "If I weren''t so busy, I would stay by your side and make sure you don''t put yourself in such dangerous situations ever again." For some reason, Atlan didn''t mind that. "Haaaa¡­" Lizzie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What''s done is done. I''m just thankful you didn''t lose your SoulTime." She looked up at him with a curious look. "By the way, did you really advance to the 3rd stage Student yesterday?" Atlan smiled and proudly said, "Yes." Lizzie couldn''t hide the smile on her face. Even though she wanted to reprimand him for his dangerous stunts, she couldn''t help but be proud of what he''d become in such a short amount of time. "Are you happy for me?" "No! I''m still mad at you for joining a mission 4 stages above your own!" Lizzie moved her head away from him in embarrassment. If she had her cat mutation manifested in reality, her tail would wag left and right, while her whiskered cheeks would be bright red. Lizzie took out something from her tool belt and forcefully pushed it into Atlan''s chest. "Here. You should wear this." Atlan took the blow and acted like it hurt him. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In his hands were a pair of epaulets made from the same material as his battle suits. The symbol ''III - S'' was inscribed onto the very material itself. "What''s this?" "It''s official. HeadQuarters acknowledges your advancement to the third stage. Even if other people won''t believe the rumors, they''ll believe the epaulet on your shoulders." Atlan looked at the epaulet in his hands. "They''re giving it to me just like that? I thought they needed to confirm my power realm first." "That''s the protocol, but you''re a special case. For some reason, HeadQuarters quickly approved your epaulets as soon as they heard what happened." Atlan looked at the epaulets on his hands. He didn''t even know how to put it on. "Here," Lizzie said as she took the epaulet in his hands. "It''s hard to put it on by yourself." Lizzie stretched and reached for his tall shoulders. They were near enough to feel each other''s breath. Atlan stood still as he observed her face. Even when he was so close to her, he never felt any discomfort. He didn''t even know it, but he found himself moving his head closer to hers. "There. It looks good on you." Lizzie walked back to look at Atlan''s new attire. The green epaulets snuggly fit on his shoulders. It didn''t take long before they were quickly dyed black as his Stealth Tunic recognized it as part of his battle suit. "Yes. Fits me just right," commented Atlan, with his gaze not on his epaulets. Atlan and Lizzie stood there staring at each other for a few seconds before; DING A notification rang on Lizzie''s watch and reminded her of why she visited Atlan so early in the morning. "I forgot. Pterina wants to talk to you." The mention of the Inquisitor made Atlan immediately focus and rid himself of silly thoughts. "I''m guessing she wants to hear my side of the story." "Yeah, but don''t worry. I''ll be there with you." Atlan wasn''t worried that Pterina''s Operator LifeSkill figured out his lies. He was more worried that he would contradict himself. He needed to be careful with his words. If he told a lie, which Pterina knew was false, and it didn''t trigger her LifeSkill, then she would figure out that he had some way to circumvent her lie detection skill. I just need to give vague answers. The shorter the better. "Come on. She''s waiting for us at the Genesis Church. We''ll take my truck." Atlan followed her back to her vehicle and they quickly went on their way to the only place of worship in the entire City. "Why the church?" "I don''t know. From what I heard, you were eligible to get some kind of SoulTime compensation, am I right?" Atlan remembered. Along with the golden ticket that allowed him a visit to the Vineyard, Pterina also gave him 600 years of SoulTime. He only needed to visit the Church to claim his gift, but he never found the time to do so. Just then, their smooth ride on the truck was suddenly interrupted when it stopped in the middle of the road out of nowhere. Chapter 178 - 178: Trying to go to church Lizzie opened the blinds on her truck and saw a traffic jam up ahead. There were Saviors and civilians alike stuck on their horse mounts unable to proceed further. One by one, they had to take a U-turn and take another route. "I wonder what''s wrong," commented Lizzie. After a few more minutes, the traffic jam cleared up enough for the truck to have its chance to take a U-turn. As they pivoted out, they saw the barricades and barriers blocking the road. They were accompanied by soldiers stationed around the entrance of the road, preventing any curious civilian from entering the area. There were military trucks parked aside hiding more soldiers ready to come out with weapons in case anyone tried to forcefully enter the blockade. "Why is this road closed off?" Atlan asked, but Lizzie had no idea as well. She would have stopped the truck and asked the soldiers for the reason why they barricaded this road, but they were in the middle of the road and there were other vehicles behind them waiting for their time to make a U-turn. "This would have led directly to the church. Whatever. We''ll take the next route." Lizzie imputed some directions on the tablet installed on the truck''s dashboard. After a few seconds, the truck made its U-turn and headed in the other direction. Meanwhile, Lizzie scoured the reports on her tablet. She looked at articles and postings about the blockade, but she couldn''t find anything. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Funnily enough, all the articles were about the Star Porter and his transcendent talent. There was a lot of discourse talking about his new achievement of advancing to the 3rd stage within just a few weeks. "Why are you so popular?!" she complained. Atlan had no excuse. He didn''t think that he''d advance his Physique LifeSkill to the 3rd stage after his unofficial second mission. Should I not put experience in my LifeSkill for now? Atlan pondered whether he should postpone his advancement to the next stage to stay more low-key, but he decided against it. He needed all the strength he could get. The truck continued on its route until they were stopped once again by a traffic jam further up ahead. "Another one?! What is happening?" Thankfully, this road was not a dead-end. Vehicles and mounts could simply turn left or right to change their routes. They didn''t have to make a U-turn like the blockade last time. Lizzie maneuvered the truck to park beside the blockade. A soldier quickly walked up next to the window and saluted Lizzie and Atlan. "Why can''t we go on this road?" Lizzie asked, annoyed. This was not the first angry citizen the soldier had to talk to, so he knew how to handle it. "We apologize for any inconvenience, Miss Lizzie. HeadQuarters itself issued a blockade on this street. They don''t want anyone going in." Atlan looked ahead and saw soldiers inside the blockade escorting citizens away from their homes. Lizzie noticed it too. There was only one possibility as to why there was a blockade here. "Is it a Symptom?" The soldier nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. We''ve been told that this road has been affected by the Canzers'' rampage." A Symptom usually entailed some kind of obvious destruction around the affected area. For Atlan''s first mission, the walls started melting like wax and turned everything into a very viscous liquid. For his second mission, there was a sudden onset heatwave that turned the Masamune district into an oven that could melt even metal. However, when he looked ahead at the blockade, he didn''t see any sort of destruction that he expected when he thought of a Symptom. Even the civilians being escorted out of their homes looked fine and healthy. There was no difference between this road and the other roads beside it. "A Symptom¡­why isn''t it in the reports?" Lizzie looked at her tablet again, but couldn''t find any ongoing mission listed on it. And for two major roads to be affected, then the Symptom was considered to be quite large. A mission like this should be the headline of any news. "It can''t be helped. We''ll have to go to the other side of the City to get to the Church." But as it turned out, they couldn''t even do that. "Oh, I''m sorry Miss Lizzie. The four major roads connecting to the Church are all blockaded right now." That revelation sent a wave of shock to Lizzie''s face. It finally made sense to her why such a big operation was hidden from the public view. "With the major roads blocked, there could only be one reason." "What is it?" Atlan asked. "It''s the Church. The main Symptom must be located there." There was a sense of gravity and anxiousness in her voice. Atlan didn''t know why. He found no reason to worry about it as much as she did. From what he knew, Symptoms always appeared in the City and were quickly dealt with by Saviors. "Why is it bad that a Symptom appeared in the Church?" Lizzie looked over to the soldier and knew that this wasn''t the right place to talk about it. "I''ll tell you later. We''ll have to get off the truck for now and walk to the Church. It''s cool if we park my truck here, right?" The soldier nodded and guided the truck away from traffic. "Anyway, thanks for telling us. Good luck with your job." Lizzie saluted to the soldier, and the soldier saluted to her back. She then led Atlan to a discreet pathway outside the main roads that led directly to the City. Once they were out of earshot with no one around them, Lizzie walked right next to Atlan and whispered. "You aren''t supposed to know this yet, but I''m going to tell you now." "Is it something to do with the Symptom at the Church?" "Yes," she answered. "Places around Genesis City all have different levels of priority for HeadQuarters. They are called Critical Points." Chapter 179 - 179: Critical points "Let me give you an example. Let''s say that there are two Symptoms ongoing at the same time in the entire City, one at the Springfield Residential District, and one at the City Center, specifically at the HeadQuarters. You and your entire team are the only ones available to complete the mission. You can only save one and abandon the other. Which are you choosing: the Residential district where there are tens of thousands of lives at stake or the HeadQuarters?" Atlan thought for a second. "Is there a difference?" "Yes. The wrong decision could result in the total and utter destruction of the entire City." That surprised him. He didn''t think it was that serious. "In such a situation, the right answer is to save the HeadQuarters. It is the command center of the entire City. It''s where we monitor what happens in every cell or block in the district. If something happens to the HeadQuarters, we will get a total blackout to whatever happens in the different districts. We won''t know if they''re getting destroyed by a Symptom or not. HeadQuarters is also where we Saviors communicate with each other. It helps us create a chain of command that keeps everything neat and tidy. A disruption in our communication would mean total chaos and disrupt the coordination between Vanguards and Operators. And probably the worst part that could happen is the destruction of our intelligence. HeadQuarters houses all our data about Canzers and their weaknesses. Without that resource, we won''t be able to finish any mission at all. We''ll get overrun by Symptoms." Atlan finally understood the concern in her voice. If such a hypothetical scenario did happen, then it was much more logical to deal with the Symptom at the HeadQuarters first and foremost, even if it meant sacrificing a district. "That is the reason why HeadQuarters is considered to be a Critical Point. It''s a place that needs extra protection." "If you''re telling me all this, then that means the Church is also a Critical Point?" She nodded. "Yes." But Atlan couldn''t figure out the reason why the Church was considered to be crucial in maintaining the health of the City. "Is it because it''s related to the Genesis God?" "All of Genesis City is related to the Genesis God. The Church is important because it is a symbol for the citizens." "A symbol?" Atlan imagined a scenario in which the gothic church was in ruins. The majestic pillars carved with symbols of the Genesis God turned into nothing but charred debris. The intricate paintings of the God on the ceiling were buried under a pile of rubble. The stained glass windows lie shattered and full of soot and ash on the ground. Around the ruined church were the grieving citizens of Genesis City. They kneeled on the ground, crying, with their eyes devoid of any hope. "The Church is a symbol of the City''s strength. It''s what keeps them strong even in the face of arduous Symptoms plaguing the City. As long as the Church still stands, so do the people inside it." And just as she said that, they finally turned a corner and reached the Genesis Church. There used to be a crowd of people walking in and out of the church at all times. People took time out of their day to worship and say their thanks to the Genesis God. There was a sense of warmth and community around it. But now, there was nothing but barricades and blockades preventing anyone from entering the Church. There was a large steel wall covering the entire area of the church, obscuring the view from inside. They could only see the top of the gothic spires on the Church''s ceiling. There were soldiers and military trucks posted all over the steel wall, with their electric batons ready to incapacitate anyone who dared to go inside the Church. And if that wasn''t enough, there were also Saviors stationed alongside the soldiers. Their green battle suits shined in the day and intimated anyone who had any intention of sneaking inside the barricades. "Those are 6th stage Saviors," Atlan noticed. He couldn''t believe that Saviors at their level were only delegated as guards in this mission. Judging from that alone, Atlan knew that the mission was probably rated above that of the Student realm. There was a large group of civilians that were surrounded by soldiers at the side. These were the people who were caught inside while the Symptom appeared in the Church. Usually, they would be allowed to leave, but for some reason, HeadQuarters didn''t want the news to spread publicly, so they kept them here until the situation got resolved. Off to the side, he saw nuns and priests gathered together and praying towards the Church. They kneeled even on the rocky pavement to show their sincerity. Meanwhile, Reverend 57th talked with a few Saviors to the side. "Let''s ask him." Lizzie took Atlan''s hand and pulled him towards the Reverend who quickly noticed the black battle-suited youth. "Ahh¡­the Star Porter. I am now more assured that this mission will be successful. You are blessed by the Genesis God. The fact that you are here means that He is guiding the Saviors in the mission!" Reverend Fifty Seventh looked up to the sky and murmured some kind of prayer before turning to the nuns and priests behind him. They, in turn, copied his actions and prayed even harder. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Atlan¡­you''re here." It turned out that the Reverend Fifty-Seventh was talking with an unexpectedly familiar face. It was Neumann. The bald man gave Atlan a big ''ol hug. Even with their age difference, they treated each other as friends. It had been a long time since they saw each other. "How have you been?" asked Atlan. "Not better than you, that''s for sure! You''re only one stage away from being at my level. You wouldn''t believe the face Wemby made when he learned about your advancement." Atlan smiled and thought back to the days he spent in peace with Wemby, Neumann, and Oliver at the Training Hall. All they did was kill Pseudo Canzers with no worry about an anomaly happening. "Neumann. Why are you here?" Lizzie gave him a cordial hug. "I''m here for support. I''ve got to be a good father and support my daughter on her mission." Chapter 180 - 180: Daughter "Your daughter?" Neumann smiled and scratched his head. "Yeah. The reason why I became a Savior in the first place was so that I would have the authority to support her from the sidelines. If I was an ordinary citizen, I wouldn''t have been able to stay here." Atlan remembered Neumann mentioning that he had a daughter, but he''d never met her before. "Oh, Ninth is in charge of this mission?" Lizzie said. "Then, I''m sure this mission would be finished in just under a minute" "Ninth?" Neumann nodded. "Yes, that''s her nickname. She doesn''t like it when people call her Neumann, so she adopted her nickname. I''m Neumann the Eighth, and she''s Neumann the Ninth, hence Ninth." Lizzie looked like she knew Ninth, making Atlan the only person in their group to not know about her. I wonder what she''s like. Atlan assumed that being assigned to a Critical Point was only reserved for those who proved themselves as capable Saviors. The fact that she was assigned to a mission in the Church meant that she was a person who was well-trusted by the HeadQuarters. He looked up beyond the steel walls and saw the climbing black spires of the gothic church. No matter how much he looked¨Ceven with his Thermal Vision¨Che couldn''t see any evidence of a Symptom rampaging through the Church. It wasn''t terribly hot like the Masamune district. The walls weren''t melting like hot wax. There were no tremors in the ground. There was nothing. "Why can''t I see any sort of Symptom in the Church?" Even the blockades on the four major roads showed no signs of any destructive manifestations in the City. It was as if there weren''t any Canzers rampaging through the Remedium at all. It made him wonder how they knew there was a symptom in the first place. If there was no evidence of any destruction, then how did they know there was a Canzer there? Neumann arrived just a little bit sooner than them, so he also saw no evidence of a Symptom. "I don''t know, but this isn''t the first time that I saw a mission with no discernible Symptoms." S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lizzie supplemented that with her experience. "There are some symptoms that are really subtle. Sometimes, a crack in the ground or a slight breeze in the air is considered to be a Symptom. We Vanguards don''t have the theoretical knowledge or foundation to discern what a Symptom looks like. For us, things might look normal, but for Operators, it could look like a red herring that immediately lets them know that there''s a Symptom." He knew nothing about ''Quills'' and how they operated, but it wasn''t hard to guess that there were probably a lot of alarms and security measures installed in the Church that let them know immediately that it was plagued by Canzers. It''s a Critical Point, after all. Maybe there are Operators permanently stationed in the church. Maybe they''re using some sort of technology to monitor the area too. He looked to the side and saw the group of civilians surrounded by soldiers. If he wanted to know what kind of Symptom occurred, then he''d have to question the people who were inside the Church when it happened. He slowly approached them, and a few civilians recognized the black battle suit he wore. "Are you the Star Porter?" "The one all over the news?" Atlan used his reputation to his advantage. "Yes. Can you tell me what happened at the church?" The civilians all looked at the soldiers who were yawning and looking outwards. They told them that they weren''t allowed to talk to others about what they saw, but the Star Porter was different. They thought he was sent by the HeadQuarters. "We were in the middle of a mass. Most of us were sitting on our pews listening to the Reverend talk about the generosity and magnanimity of the Genesis God, when all of a sudden, we heard a popping sound." "It''s not just a popping sound, it sounded like fireworks! It''s like a small explosion." "Yeah. That''s what I heard too." Atlan let them relay their story without interrupting them. "I was offering my thanks when I suddenly saw the candles flickering!" "And they were getting hot! They burned through the wax within minutes." "If I could recall, the whole room started getting hotter too. I was sweating through my shirt." Their explanations of the Symptoms they saw sounded oddly familiar to Atlan. He didn''t know why, but it sounded a bit similar to his experience in the Masamune district. The main event that happened in both scenarios was a sudden onset of a heat wave. The difference between the two was the increase in temperature. The one in the Masamune district was enough to give everyone who stayed for a minute inside the affected area, third-degree burns all over their bodies. The church symptom didn''t look that intense, given that the survivors looked fine. "That''s everything you saw? It didn''t get unbearably hot?" The survivors all looked at each other and shook their heads. "No, we''re fine. The Reverend escorted us out the moment he sensed something wrong. That''s it." "We don''t even know why we''re still detained here. We didn''t lose any SoulTime from that, but the soldiers insisted that we stay here so that we can be compensated with a few years of Lifespan after everything is settled." The survivors all had the same sentiment. They wanted to go home, but the soldiers didn''t want them to go out. Atlan thought for a second as he tried to assess what he heard from them. Are there a lot of Canzers that cause heat wave-like Symptoms? When he looked at the church with his Thermal Vision, he didn''t see any sign of a temperature increase. It was actually a little bit colder compared to the other buildings. Did they already kill the Canzer? "Did you find out anything from the survivors?" asked Lizzie. But just as he was about to answer, Pterina suddenly walked up to them. "I can tell you what Canzer they''re fighting." Chapter 181 - 181: Rogue clones The Inquisitor''s intimidating footsteps immediately silenced all the chatter from the civilians. The soldiers suddenly stood up straight and saluted Pterina as she walked past them. "It''s good to see you, Pterina." Lizzie hugged her and greeted the bespectacled woman. Pterina looked over to Atlan and greeted him as well. "How''ve you been, Star Porter? You''re rising faster than we can keep up with." "It seems so," he replied. Pterina looked at the civilians next to him and immediately knew what he was up to. "I''m guessing you were curious about the mission in the church." Atlan nodded. She looked at the soldiers and survivors curious to know what she would reveal. She pulled Atlan and Lizzie away from the crowd for some privacy. "First of all, it looks like we''ll have to postpone your SoulTime bonus for now, Atlan. I invited you to the church so that you can claim it, but an expected Symptom changed that." "Do you know what it is?" She nodded. "Yes. It''s a Canzer that you''re familiar with and ran into quite recently. It''s the Gastros Enterifrits." Atlan was surprised. "The Ifrit?!" He didn''t think that another Ifrit would coincidentally spawn just the very next day they defeated them at the Masamune district. "Are Ifrits that common?" he asked. "No. You know about Infection Canzers, correct? Well sometimes, as they multiply by the thousands, a few rogue clones travel through the Remedium and spread to the other places in the City. Yesterday, a few clones of the Ifrit made their way from the Masamune district all the way to the Genesis Church." Atlan didn''t know that was possible. He knew that Symptoms could spread outwards and infect the neighboring spaces, but he didn''t know that they could travel through to the other side of the City without infecting the nearby places first. The Symptoms described by the survivors finally made sense. If only a few clones of the Ifrit made their way to the Church, then the subsequent temperature increase would only be enough to turn it up by a few degrees. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If it''s the same Ifrit as the one we faced in the Masamune district, then it''s easy to kill. Atlan killed hundreds of clones just using a barrage of punches powered by his Physique LifeSkill. Killing a few rogue clones should be easy. However, when he looked at the church and the barricade set up to protect it, the danger level of the mission was completely unequal. There was an entire steel wall about 10 feet tall installed in the perimeter around the Church. With how large it was, and how fast they installed it, it must have taken a lot of resources to set up. By his count, there must have been a thousand soldiers on stand-by next to the wall, and even more stationed around the buildings surrounding the Church. Even in the carnage and destruction in the Masamune district that took the lives of hundreds of humans and dwarves, HeadQuarters didn''t station as many soldiers and guards during that mission. There were also 6th stage Saviors on guard duty, preventing anyone from entering the Church. It didn''t make sense. Ifrits could be killed by 6th stage Saviors, but they were only delegated as guards in this mission. The Church is a Critical Point, but isn''t this too much? They''re only facing a few Ifrits. By using the oil lamp, they could be dealt with in just a few minutes. "Can I ask why they had to have all these guards? Why is there a huge steel wall covering the Church? Why are the four major roads leading to the church blocked?" Pterina saw the curiosity in Atlan''s eyes and couldn''t help but be impressed. If he didn''t become a Vanguard, then she was sure that he would have made a great Operator. He was asking questions that no Vanguard ever took the time to ask. "The four major roads are blocked because they are part of the Church. I''m sure you noticed that the Heat Wave yesterday was only contained in the Masamune district. That''s because each district, each part of the City corresponds to a different Remedium. A Remedium in the Church is completely different from a Remedium in the Masamune district. They''re two different dimensions, so you can''t access one by going through the other. The Church''s Remedium can be accessed by opening a portal inside the Church itself as well as the four major roads leading to it. If some insane and bored person tried to enter the Remedium through the roads, then they could end up going to the church and interfering in the current mission. That would be even more dangerous than a Canzer. We can prepare for a Canzer and we know how to defeat it, but if we get sabotaged while on a mission, it could cause the entire team to be wiped out." With how integral the Church was to the City, it made sense why HeadQuarters allocated so much manpower around it. "I understand why there is so much protection outside, but why is it taking too long? Isn''t it only an Ifrit?" If another 3rd stage Savior said those words, they would get laughed at for being ignorant of an Ifrit''s threat. But Atlan already proved that he had what it took to defeat Ifrits while being at a low level. "We have to be careful. Unlike the other Remediums, we have to make sure that we keep the destruction to a minimum. It could result in an unexpected Symptom. That''s why we dispatched a reliable team to finish the mission." "Who?" he asked. "Specialists." Atlan was shocked. Specialists dispatched to take care of a 6th-stage Student difficulty Canzer? That was overkill. A Specialist was three stages above a Student! "Ninth and her team have proven themselves to have a good success rate. It''s a good choice," Lizzie commented. Neumann''s daughter is a Specialist?! I didn''t know the daughter he talked about was such a big shot! Whenever he talks about her, I always think of her as a young student like me. With a Specialist in charge of such an easy mission, HeadQuarters was assured that the Church would be safe from any harm. Even if it was overkill, they would rather waste resources than fail a mission in a Critical Point. BUUUGSHHHHH Just then, an explosion disintegrated the Church''s black spires, sending rubble flying all over the air. Chapter 182 - 182: Church’s spire Everyone looked up at the fiery explosion in the Church. The soldiers and Saviors stationed around the walls quickly moved and intercepted the giant rubble flying down on the civilians. But even when the dangerous debris threatened to crush them from above, the civilians couldn''t take their eyes off the plume of smoke rising from the church''s burst-open spires. It seemed to signal the start of an ominous air. "Oh God¡­what''s happening?!" S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What about the mission?" Chaos and panic spread through the civilians. Even the once ignorant City was now alerted of a problem once they saw the dark plume of smoke coming from the Church. People stopped their horses in the middle of the road, they dropped their food in the ground, and they walked in the middle of a busy street as they looked towards the Church. They slowly walked over to the blockade on the four major roads leading to the Church. "Let us in!" "What''s happening at the Church?" Thankfully, the soldiers were well-equipped to deal with a bunch of angry and curious mobs that tried to enter the premises. "Please! HeadQuarters is dealing with the situation. Don''t cause further panic!" shouted the soldier. But that wasn''t enough to stop the civilians worried for their beloved Church. Even if they couldn''t get past the soldiers, they opted to annoy them and hope that they changed their minds to let civilians enter the four major roads. Meanwhile, the situation near the Church was even more disastrous. The nuns and priests witnessing their place of worship blow up in front of their eyes was nothing more than a traumatic experience. They stuttered in their prayers, with their belief wavering for a moment. "Let me in!" "We need to show our piety to the Genesis God for us to receive his blessing!" The soldiers were overwhelmed by the holy men and women. They were given express instruction from the HeadQuarters to not touch the nuns and priests, but that made their job even harder because they were the ones more insistent on getting inside the Church. "Believe in our Saviors!" shouted Reverend Fifty-Seventh. His commanding voice settled down the priests and nuns. "Entering the Church will only exacerbate the situation!" Pterina shouted to the civilians. "The Church will be fine!" Lizzie helped Pterina calm down the rousey crowd. The Saviors stationed around the wall were forced to show their LifeSkills to intimidate anyone who dared come close to the Church. This seemed to be the most effective way to calm them down. Once the civilians saw the power and pressure of a LifeSkill, they were forced to remember a Savior''s power. They were reminded that there were professionals armed and ready to resolve the situation. After a few minutes, the mob finally died down. Atlan looked at the Church with his Thermal Vision and saw that the temperature inside the church increased! It was a lot hotter inside, with the same temperature as when the Symptom appeared in the Masamune district. The Specialists must be fighting with the Ifrits now. Did that explosion mean that one of the Ifrits self-destructed? If Atlan''s guess was true, then he may have touched upon one of the ways to learn how a specific Symptom equated to a specific Canzer. BURBLE Just then, they all heard the glimmering of a portal inside the Church. The civilians were none the wiser, but the Saviors recognized that sound. It was the effect when someone entered or exited a portal construct. The mission is finished? After a few seconds, footsteps resounded inside the Church. They were heavy. Whoever they were, carried with them something weighty. The double doors creaked as they opened it and went outside of the Church. With a rhythmic knock they agreed upon beforehand, the soldiers on the other side of the wall pulled the lever and split the wall to let the Saviors exit the Church. Finally, Atlan saw the Specialist Saviors in charge of the mission. His eyes shined with a hint of recognition as he looked at the black-haired woman in the middle of the group. She wore a green battle suit inundated with medals and pins that showed her achievements as a Savior. On her back was a giant one-handed sword that seemed like it could cut through a skyscraper with ease. Behind her were six more Saviors with fewer achievements than her, but were impressive nonetheless. Atlan recognized them. They were the team that rescued them in the Pocket Remedium! He didn''t think they''d be the ones assigned to this mission. The black-haired woman, presumably their leader, walked over towards their group. He thought she would walk over to Pterina and report to her about the mission, but instead, she walked over to Neumann and hugged him. Is she Ninth? Neumann''s daughter? Neumann looked down at his daughter and saw her expression. She would usually don a proud, if not a little arrogant expression on her face whenever she finished the mission. The fact that she was somber meant something different. "We failed," she uttered. Atlan simply couldn''t believe her words. He couldn''t understand how a Specialist-level team couldn''t deal with a simple Ifrit. The power level disparity between the two should be like the difference between heaven and earth. Did the Operator construct malfunction? Or perhaps, there was an anomaly? Atlan wasn''t the only one with questions in his mind. Pterina walked over to Ninth and questioned her. Even when she didn''t mean it, her battle suit glowed as she subconsciously activated her Inquisitor LifeSkill. "What happened? Was there a Sapient Canzer that ambushed your team?" Ninth shook her head. "No. It''s just as the Operators estimated. There were only 4 Ifrits in the mission." Surprisingly, Pterina saw no lies in her words. She only told the truth. But that made things even more perplexing! She couldn''t understand how they failed to defeat a simple Student-level Canzer. "We found three of the Ifrits roaming around the Church. It was easy enough to kill them. The problem was with the last one. It''s at the Door." Pterina''s face turned ghastly white. Lizzie couldn''t help but gasp in horror. Chapter 183 - 183: Hostage situation Atlan had no idea why they sounded so serious. "What''s the Door?" Atlan asked out loud. Ninth looked over at his face and scrutinized it. She didn''t have to look at his epaulet to know that he was in the low-stage Student realm. The answer to his question was not something that he was allowed to know just yet. "Who are you?" Ninth said, squinting her eyes. Even though his face didn''t look familiar, for some reason, the pressure and aura around him were very familiar. Neumann put a hand on his daughter''s shoulder and assured her that Atlan was no stranger. "He''s Atlan." Only then did she finally understand the familiarity. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Ah, so you''re my father''s friend. He talks about you a lot. He brags you to my mom whenever you do something amazing." She didn''t recognize him as the Star Porter. She recognized him as her father''s friend. "He''s also the one I''ve been talking to you about. Didn''t I mention his name already?" Lizzie frequently talked about Atlan to her friends, but Ninth was always too busy thinking about Canzers and how to kill them. She often forgot what her friends said to her. "The Star Porter is an important asset for the City," Pterina said. Ninth was a little bit overwhelmed with how much support the novice porter had. It was no easy task to have Lizzie and Pterina vouch for someone as young as Atlan. It made her trust the unfamiliar youth. And most importantly, he was her father''s friend. "The Door is the innermost place inside the Church Remedium. You don''t have to know what''s beyond the Door to know that it should be the most protected place inside Genesis City. No Canzer should ever be allowed to step foot near the Door. The City''s life depends on it." "And somehow, the Ifrit found its way there," Atlan said. "Yes. It shouldn''t even be possible that a low-ranking Canzer like that could circumvent our defenses, but it did. Damn anomalies." Ninth almost swung her sword from frustration. Meanwhile, Pterina bit her lips as she understood the situation. She paced back and forth to try and calm herself down, but as long as the threat of that lone Ifrit existed, she couldn''t relax for even a second. "It''s good that you retreated," Pterina said. "Things could have gone a lot worse if you rashly went and confronted the Ifrit." Ninth looked back at her team. They were disheartened being unable to kill the Canzer with their powers. "We immediately backed out when we saw it." "Can''t you have used the oil lamp?" Atlan asked. "No. It''s gotten wise. It knows what will happen once we get the oil lamp close enough to activate it. And Ifrits are a prideful bunch. They would rather self-destruct if they knew that they would die from the oil lamp anyway. The moment we try to get close to it, it would immediately explode and take the Door with it. I''m not exaggerating when I say that the entire City will explode once that happens. We''ll be nothing left but a crater in the Unclaimed Lands." Atlan was appalled to hear of such a terrible situation. He didn''t know that one wrong move could obliterate the entire City off the face of the planet. It wasn''t the destruction of the Church or a single district, it was the destruction of the entire Genesis City! He finally understood why they were so frightened to hear that an Ifrit was at the Door. Even with how powerful Specialist Saviors were, they couldn''t do anything in such a perilous situation. With one wrong move, they could kill everyone in the City. That was terrifying. "We need to alert HeadQuarters right this instant," Lizzie hurriedly said. "They were already notified the moment Ninth and her team failed the mission." Pterina pointed at her glowing watch. "We need Specialist Operators that can communicate with Canzers," Ninth said. "There are people that can talk to Canzers?" That intrigued Atlan, but Pterina shook her head. "Not talk, but communicate. Even if we can''t understand each other''s language, there are other ways to know the Canzer''s intent. It''s just like trying to communicate with a monkey. If you warn them not to take the bananas in your garden using human language, then they''ll ignore you and continue to pillage the garden. But if you show them another monkey being electrocuted the moment they stepped foot in the garden, then they''ll understand that there are some lines they shouldn''t cross." Atlan thought some Operators could talk to Canzers like he could, but it turned out that he was the only one who had that power. "But why do you want to communicate with the Ifrit? Isn''t it better to find another solution to kill it before it could self-destruct?" "Because that''s way too risky. We can''t take any chances. And the fact that it hasn''t self-destructed yet means that it wants something." Atlan looked at Ninth. "You want to negotiate with the Canzers?" She nodded. "It''s not the first time we''ve done it. During such extreme cases where the entire City is at stake, brute force won''t cut it. We need diplomacy. We''ll have no trouble resorting to violence if that doesn''t work, of course." Atlan thought that all high-level Savior missions contained nothing but throwing LifeSkill powers that could destroy entire Cities to the Canzers. Perhaps, that was true for most Specialist level missions, but it turned out that the truly high-stakes missions didn''t even include fighting at all. Meanwhile, Pterina walked over to the soldiers and ordered them to give her the fastest truck in their arsenal. They needed to get to the HeadQuarters as soon as possible. Ninth, her team, Lizzie, Pterina, Neumann, and Atlan all boarded the truck and it raced through the barricaded streets. The soldiers on the other side of the road immediately opened up the blockade to let them pass through. The soldiers blocked any civilian mount or vehicle around the road and opened up a straight open road towards HeadQuarters. "What happens once you talk to the Canzer?" Atlan asked. Ninth answered honestly. "We''ll give it what it wants." "Why?" "This is a hostage situation, kid." Chapter 184 - 184: Angry mob It wasn''t long until the entire City knew about the explosion in the Church. News articles and web journals quickly published pictures and descriptions of the current situation in the Church. They described when it happened, how much destruction it caused, and of course, how incompetent HeadQuarters was by letting it go this far. They blamed the Vanguards and Operators, saying that they should have prevented this situation from happening in the first place. This left the entire City divided on opinions. Some believed that HeadQuarters were competent enough to fix the situation, and others were disillusioned from all the anomalies happening in the last few weeks. They blamed ''Quills'' for their incompetence even though they didn''t know what they did at all or how hard their job was. Meanwhile, Atlan and the rest of them sat in silence as their truck ran through a straight road down to the HeadQuarters. Soldiers already closed down this path from civilians to prevent any sort of traffic that delayed their arrival at the meeting. As they passed by, Atlan saw a lot of people crowding soldiers as they tried to get past the barrier. They wanted to chase after the truck. Their reason? Atlan didn''t know. Perhaps they were just curious, or perhaps they had ulterior motives. The Church was the unifying symbol of Genesis City. The fact that it got desecrated like that left a sour taste in a lot of people''s mouths. With their truck going at full speed, it only took them ten minutes before they finally arrived at the City Center. Here, the crowd was even more rowdy. Even with the threat of an electric baton, they didn''t hesitate to try and get a close look at the truck. The vehicle stopped at the empty stairs leading up to the HeadQuarters. And as soon as Ninth stepped foot off the truck, the crowd immediately went wild. Their shouts were only drowned out by the amount of camera shutters going off from all the journalists hoping to get the perfect photo. "Look! It''s the Specialist Vanguards!" "Woah¡­It''s Ninth! I can''t believe she failed the Church mission¡­" "What do you know?! She didn''t fail the mission, she made a tactical retreat!" Ninth and her team weren''t a stranger to this type of situation, so they knew not to engage in such chatter. They quietly made their way up the steps to the HeadQuarters. Meanwhile, there were also some prying comments from journalists hoping to get a better read on the situation. They wanted the scoop. "Inquisitor Pterina! Please comment on what happened to the mission." "Is it true that the mission was only rated at the Student level?" "What are your plans to make sure that the Church doesn''t get desecrated any more than this?" Pterina ignored all the comments as she quickly made her way up the steps just behind Ninth and her team. By answering their questions, she would only delay their planning for the next mission to the Church. Lizzie and Neumann went up the steps beside Pterina. Even though she knew that it was better to walk up quickly, Lizzie turned around and waited for Atlan. And as soon as he stepped foot off the truck, there was even more chatter around the crowd. "A black battle suit? Who''s this guy?" "Don''t you know? It''s the Star Porter? He''s the one that advanced to the 3rd stage Student realm in just two weeks after his draft!" "Why is he there with the Specialist Vanguards? Did he join the mission?!" Atlan looked around and saw a lot of people chattering amongst themselves. He saw fear and anxiousness in their eyes. It made him realize how important the Church was to the City. Even when the Masamune district turned into nothing but a hellish landscape, none of the people reacted this way. Even when hundreds of civilians lost their lives in the Heat Wave, nobody batted an eye. But as soon as they saw the explosion in the Church, they suddenly turned into an angry mob that wanted HeadQuarters to do their job and fix the problem as soon as possible. Even if HeadQuarters assured them that everything would be resolved, their fear of losing the Church made them unreasonably noisy. Nobody even died in the Church. The Symptom manifested was only minimal, and all the civilians were evacuated long before the explosion even began. People are suffering even when there''s no death¡­ This was a foreign concept to him. He thought suffering equated to death. The people trapped in the Unclaimed Lands suffered because they yearned for life, but the harsh environment in the gray sands forced them to die early. Here in Genesis City or any God''s Territory for that matter, there was something even more important than life. Living as immortals made the concept of death foreign to them and, therefore useless. Why is a symbol more important than lives? That question was stuck in Atlan''s mind. It encircled his mind so much that he didn''t even notice that he was standing in the steps of the HeadQuarters looking down on everyone. "Atlan, let''s go." Lizzie took his arm and guided him up. They slowly caught up to Ninth and her team in the HeadQuarter lobby. As the double doors were closing, he looked back at the crowd gathered in the streets. CREAK "Is the Emergency Meeting Room prepared?" Ninth asked the receptionist in the lobby. Her usually tidy appearance was nowhere to be seen as even receptionists like her were stressed by the current problem in the Church. Dealing with the civilians was hard enough, but even Saviors were complaining to her about the mission. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Yes. The Heads are already gathered inside." Ninth nodded and quickly walked over inside the HeadQuarters. Before she could though, someone took her hand. It was her father, Neumann. "I know you''re in a hurry, but I want you to know that it''s not your fault," he said. Even though she acted stoic and hard, he knew that she was taking the loss of the mission hard. And even though she was realms above his power, he was still her father. Ninth looked back and showed a smile. "Thanks, Dad." Neumann stayed behind as Ninth and the others walked inside the HeadQuarters. He was only a 4th stage Student. He wasn''t qualified for such high-level problems. Chapter 185 - 185: Control room They walked through the HeadQuarters, catching the attention of the Saviors inside. They were privy to more information than the normal civilian, so they knew that the situation was much more dire than people thought it was. Ninth gathered looks of respect as they walked through the HeadQuarters. The epaulet on their shoulders signified them as Saviors who have achieved tremendous strengths that not everybody could achieve even with hundreds of years of training. Becoming a Specialist Vanguard was a small club numbering less than fifty in the entire Genesis City. And among those Vanguards, Ninth was a noteworthy case. Unlike the veteran Specialists who achieved their rank through thousands of years of accumulation of strength, Ninth achieved that rank within only a hundred years! She was a special talent that only came once in a thousand years. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Her success rate on missions was nothing to scoff at either. Anything she touched was almost a guaranteed success. The fact that she ''failed'' this mission only served to show the Saviors that the situation was more dangerous than they thought. If she couldn''t even finish the mission, then no one in the City could. Even so, they respected Ninth and her team tremendously. They were an elite group that stood a head above the others. However, their expressions quickly turned sour once they saw the black battle-suited youth among the Specialists. Of course, Atlan was well known among the Saviors. His achievements were spread far and wide, especially since he achieved it so early in his career. When he was allowed to wear a black battle suit, only a few Saviors complained. Even though the privilege to modify a battle suit was only reserved for those with a higher power realm, HeadQuarters decided to make an exception for Atlan, the Star Porter. It didn''t gather any hate from the other Saviors because he was the only Porter in the low ranks, and it distinguished him well from the others. And when everyone learned that Atlan finished a mission that was four stages above his own, they were beyond shocked. It showed his tremendous talent as a porter. It gathered him a lot of respect from the Saviors. However, even with his status as the Star Porter, he wasn''t supposed to mingle with Specialist-level Saviors as a Student. Not even the Saviors at the Intern realm could walk up to Specialists like they were at the same level. They looked at Atlan like he was a lost puppy tagging along with a group of humans who didn''t want him there. "Why is he with them?" "This mission concerns our Church! I don''t think it''s appropriate for a novice to join them." "Where is Garuun? He''s the only Porter that is allowed at this level. He''s a Specialist!" The group ignored the murmurs until they finally came across the main HeadQuarters building reserved only for the officials and administrators managing the entire HeadQuarters. They were the people who made the big decisions. There were two guards stationed at the entrance. They quickly made way for Ninth and her team. They even gave Lizzie a nod when she passed through. However, when Atlan was about to step foot inside, the two guards immediately put their hands on his shoulders and stopped him in his tracks. "No unauthorized entry," they said. However, not even a second later, there was a deep voice that suddenly came out from inside the room. "Let him in." The guards panicked once they heard his voice and immediately took their hands away from Atlan. "You are authorized. Please enter." The rest of the Saviors forced to stay behind couldn''t help but voice out their shock to learn that Atlan was authorized to enter the Emergency Meeting. "How is he allowed inside?!" "That can''t be! Not even Specialists could waltz in there any time they wanted!" The administrative building in the HeadQuarters was where all the information around the City was being funneled. This was the first place that knew whether there was a Symptom in a district. This was where a group of authorized people assigned jobs to both Operators and Vanguards to complete the mission and get rid of the Symptom. This was the control room. The reason why not just any kind of Savior, Specialist or not, was allowed inside was because the administrators were only made up of mortal humans. They didn''t have any LifeSkills. Administrators were not allowed to be Drafted because it could create a bias inside them. To make just decisions regarding the safety of the City, they must be partial to both ''Knives'' and ''Quills''. Atlan looked around and saw a large open space full of blue screens and holograms showing parameters that Atlan had no idea about. If he looked around closely, he could see the entire map of Genesis City through the four walls of the control room. The entire room was filled with about a hundred employees with their own cubicles littered around the room. They used equipment and control systems that looked high-tech, with no knobs and physical buttons to touch. Instead, the employees were jacked up with a wire on their heads directly connected to the main equipment itself. On their screens was a large selection of pictures of Saviors, with a detailed description of their power realms, their LifeSkills, and even their personalities. These administrators scrolled through hundreds of Saviors as they searched for the right fit for the job. Atlan briefly saw his face pop up on one of their screens. There, his LifeSkill was listed as; "Atlan, follow us." Lizzie''s reminder pulled Atlan out of his fascination for the control room and followed them down a discreet door to the side. The door led them down to a corridor made purely out of steel. Further down was another black door with a very intimidating red print with the words; Pterina was the first to walk towards the door, and as she did, a strange holographic fabric scanned through her entire body before the door opened by itself. Each one of them was scanned before they were let inside. And as Atlan stepped foot inside the emergency meeting room, everyone went silent. Chapter 186 - 186: Emergency meeting Atlan saw a completely white room with no discernible walls. It looked like an endless snowy expanse, similar to what he experienced when he was first drafted. In front of him was a giant rectangular table with a very realistic and detailed depiction of the entire Genesis City. It could sit at least twenty people: fiive at the front, five at each side, and five nearest the door. The ones that sat in front were three men and two women, whose hairs were almost as white as the space around them. They looked old. Even with the slowed aging of immortality and increased SoulTime, the wrinkles on their faces showed the long journey they had in the sands of time. These people looked like the oldest people he''d ever seen. In Genesis City, even people who were thousands of years old didn''t look a day over forty years old, yet these people looked like they were older than a hundred. Even their discerning eyes showed the wisdom behind their minds. They pierced through Atlan''s body, as if they could see right through him. Atlan didn''t dare to use his Thermal Vision on them. He didn''t know if they could sense a LifeSkill being activated, but he would rather be cautious. But even without that, he noticed that these old people were emanating no kind of power on their bodies. Absolutely none. Even Saviors who were recently drafted and was in the 1st stage of the Student realm exhibited a much stronger pressure. Are they undrafted? They don''t have any LifeSkills? That was the only explanation he had for their lack of power. He felt like he could overpower all five of them with just his physical strength alone, but he knew better than to test that. He was in the control room; he wouldn''t be surprised if there were soldiers or Saviors hiding within the white space ready to defend the five old men and women. Ninth and her team took their respective seats at the right side of the rectangular table. Ninth took the position at the very middle, facing the people on the opposite side. On the other side, a group of five Saviors with blue battle suits stared back at Ninth and her team. They were Operators! Even though they were Operators, Atlan felt resistance in his eyes when he tried to look at them directly. They were strong! The aura manifestation of their powers were completely different from the tyrannical and destructiveness of Ninth and her team, but somehow, they were at the same intensity! The aura they gave off was sharp and cold. "We acknowledge the presence of Neumann the Ninth, and her team of Specialist Saviors," the old man with short white hair and beard announced slowly as he nodded at Ninth. Then, he turned towards the group of Saviors with blue battle suits. "We acknowledge the presence of Carmine, and his team of Specialist Operators." Atlan''s eyes went wide as he looked towards the middle aged man with slick-back orange hair. It finally made sense why their aura was completely equal to Ninth and her team. The two factions faced each other on the table. The ''Quills'' on the left side and the ''Knives'' on the right side. And unlike most confrontations between the two when Vanguards always had the advantage, this head-to-head was completely equal. "We acknowledge the presence of third party witnesses," the old man said as he briefly glanced at Atlan, Pterina, and Lizzie sitting on the opposite side. "Now, I understand that a Symptom emerged in the Church localization, is that correct?" The old man looked towards the Operators and expected them to answer. Carmine nodded and fixed his orange hair before saying, "Yes. Six hours after midnight today, we detected a Symptom in the Church. According to our research, we are dealing with a Gastros Enterifrits. It is localized only in the Church and its four major roads." "That''s not usually where they spawn," commented the old woman with her white hair tied up in a bun. "Yes," Carmine nodded with respect. "The Ifrit was originally located at the Masamune district, listed as an acute type of persistence, but it has now turned into a flare-up. Four clones went rogue." sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "So it spread to the church¡­continue," she said, nodding her head. Atlan had no idea what those terms meant. Lizzie looked like she followed the conversation, but he knew that he couldn''t voice out his questions. Pterina warned him that they should only be observing like flies on the wall. "Seeing as it has infected a Critical Point, the administration control room assigned the mission to us Specialist Operators for the procuring of the construct. We created it following protocol, with no deviations." Carmine finished his debrief and looked over at Ninth. It was her turn. "We received the oil lamp in perfect condition and set off to the Remedium. Using the construct, we dispatched the three clones with ease." "What happened with the fourth? Did the construct malfunction in some kind of way?" Ninth immediately shook her head. "No, sir. The construct worked as intended. My Savior counterpart has also perfectly assessed the parameters of the mission with good accuracy. There were no deviations or anomalies that they could have foreseen. The Operators did a perfect job to the best of their abilities." "Then, did you mess up?" This time, Carmine spoke up and defended Ninth and her team. "Violence was not the solution to this problem. They performed their job as well as Vanguards could have." Atlan was surprised that both leaders defended each other. He thought all ''Quills'' and ''Knives'' hated each other to the bones, especially with the anomalies popping up and costing the SoulTime of hundreds of people. I guess the high-ranking Saviors know that it''s not the Operators fault that the anomalies keep happening. Only the ignorant do. "The lone Ifrit clone somehow found their way to the Door," Carmine said with a grave tone. The moment the ''Door'' was mentioned, the five old men and women sighed and buried their faces in their hands. They knew exactly what this meant. "They''ve taken our hearts hostage," the old man muttered to himself. Chapter 187 - 187: Coax "We retreated as soon as we saw the Ifrit near the Door. My teammates briefly saw a window where we could get rid of the Canzer, but I stopped them. It was too risky." Ninth and her team saw the lone Ifrit clone walking over toward the Door. Some of her teammates thought that the clone was far enough away from the Door that they could have killed it without affecting the Door, but Ninth thought otherwise. Even if there was a 90% chance they were right, she still wouldn''t take that chance¡ªnot when the fate of the entire City was in her hands. "A wise decision," said the old woman with long white hair. The old man in the middle looked over towards Carmine and asked with a heavy tone, "Is there a chance that the Sapient Canzers had a hand in this?" Carmine consulted with his team, speaking in hushed tones. They didn''t seem to be that confident about their answers. "No. We don''t think so. They would have blown up the Door the moment they had the chance. The Ifrit reaching the Door was simply just an accident." Ninth nodded as she heard his explanation. She had experience dealing with the Sapient Canzers and knew that they had a deep-seated hatred against humans. They wouldn''t hesitate for a single second to detonate a bomb that would kill millions of people. "However, we are certain that they have heard about this incident. There is a 90% chance that they have already dispatched their forces to the Church to prevent any of us from killing the Ifrit. I''m certain that they will try to kill the Ifrit if they get close. We need to get there first before they cause the clone to self-destruct." The elderly people at the table grimaced at his words. Meanwhile, Atlan was surprised to learn the fact that Sapient Canzers could dispatch their forces. He never really knew how Canzers spawned in the Remedium. He always thought it was at random, but if he tried to decipher Carmine''s words, then it seemed like Canzers were more like an organization that could send their ''troops'' to any location any time they wanted to. That means that they live in some kind of place, right? Are they located in a dimension other than the Remedium? Wait. He only said that about Sapient Canzers. Maybe they''re the only ones that are organized¡­ "We must lock in our plan of attack." The bearded old man stood up from his chair and reached for the realistic miniature model hologram of Genesis City. His hand reached for the Church and he pinched it outwards. Suddenly, the holographic zoomed in to the Church and showed a realistic and detailed depiction of the Church''s interior. He waved his hand and the dark gothic colors of the interior of the church suddenly turned white. All of the colors were transformed into their negatives. This was a replica of the Church''s Remedium! The pews in the Church were skewed, the candles near the confessional were completely melted, and there were glass shards scattered about near the windows. This wasn''t a replica¡ªthis was a real-time depiction of the Church! What kind of technology is this? Lizzie said that all technology is made by Operators¡­how do they build this? The old man swiped forward and breezed past the altar and onwards to a discreet door hidden in the walls. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The hidden room led to a staircase that led further down the basement. At the end of the stairs was a dark room that was about 20 times bigger than Atlan''s own house. At the end of this empty room was a large wooden double door almost as tall as the ceiling of the Church itself! It was massive. There were carvings of different clocks and keys, which were prominent symbols of the Genesis God Himself. Even though this door was the largest door Atlan had ever seen, he didn''t see why this door was as important as others made it out to be. It didn''t exude any kind of magical or mystical presence that he expected. For a place that could spell the death of the entire City itself, he would have thought there were at least some paranormal lightings around it. Instead, it looked like a normal wooden door. SNAP The old man snapped his fingers and a statue of an Ifrit appeared one meter away from the door. "Is that an accurate depiction of the scene?" asked the old man. Ninth and her team nodded. It was exactly where the Ifrit was positioned when they left. "We have no way of sneaking up on it, so we must go from the front," one of the old men who stayed silent the whole time spoke. "Operator Carmine, what do you suggest we do?" Carmine fixed his orange hair and looked at the whole scene in front of him. He knew the traits and habits of Ifrit, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. He knew that as soon as they stepped foot off the staircase, the Ifrit would immediately notice them. Even with the fastest Savior in the City, that wouldn''t be enough time to subdue the Ifrit and prevent it from self-destructing. "Even if we create a new construct, it needs to be activated to at least within 50 meters from the target. The distance from the staircase to the Ifrit is 52 meters. Those two meters might seem like a short gap, but the Ifrit won''t let humans take a step for even half a meter before it wants to explode. For us to get near the Ifrit and close that gap, we must coax it." The old woman nodded her head. "What do you propose?" "Since this is a hostage situation, we must establish contact. We will consult with another Specialist Operator about the proper body language to disarm the Ifrit and show that we mean no harm. Once we have assured the Canzer of its safety, then we must answer its demands. We must give it Ninth''s blood and a pound of her flesh." Chapter 188 - 188: Planning "Why?" Atlan asked. The room turned silent with the interruption of the youthful porter. Someone in the 3rd stage Student realm shouldn''t even be allowed inside the administration building, let alone the emergency room. Yet, Atlan was the exception and was allowed inside. He should be nothing more than an observant¡ªa witness. In such high stakes and high-level conversation, everyone slowly forgot that Atlan was inside the meeting at all. However, that was soon broken when they heard him voice out a question. He was supposed to be a fly in the wall, quietly observing everything without uttering a single word, yet his youthful curiosity couldn''t help but speak out. "Why?" Atlan asked again. Carmine didn''t mind answering the young man, but he knew that they were in the presence of the Elder Heads. They were the oldest people in the entire City, and they were in charge of everything that happened there. They weren''t people who could be spoken to like a normal person, especially from a young one like Atlan. Even the five Specialist Operators behind Carmine had to hold their breath and prevent themselves from speaking out. They knew that the five Elder Heads didn''t tolerate any disrespect to people who spoke without being spoken to. However, the old woman with her hair tied in a bun nodded her head and allowed Carmine to explain. "Teach the young one why we need her flesh and blood." This shocked Carmine and the rest of the Operators into silence. They didn''t think that she would express her desire for the Operators to teach a porter about Canzer knowledge. This made them wonder why Atlan was given such an exception. First, he was allowed to modify his green battle suit into a black one, which violated many traditions and protocols. Next, he was given authority to not only enter the administration building but to also be inside the meeting. Now, he was allowed to talk?! They didn''t understand why they put such importance on a porter. Sure, he was the most talented Porter the City''s ever seen, but that hardly mattered in high-level conversations such as this. They were in a state of emergency; they thought that they didn''t have time to teach a newborn how to walk and talk. But as it turned out, they had to. Carmine fixed his hair and faced Atlan. "Ifrits are vengeful in nature. Its thousands of clones are defeated in the Masamune district, with only four surviving enough for them to spread to the Church. Yet, it wasn''t long before the other three were hunted down and killed by more humans. It wants retribution. It''s the reason why it hasn''t exploded yet. It wants to kill the humans who reduced it to this state. Offering the blood and flesh of the woman who killed its last clones will be enough to appease it like a dog given a bone. It will give us enough goodwill to advance closer." Atlan nodded as he understood their plan. He looked towards Ninth and saw no complaints from her. A sacrifice of her blood and flesh was nothing if it meant saving the City. "I''m willing to contribute anything," she declared. However, Atan saw a tiny flaw in their plan. "Wouldn''t it want to explode the moment it sees Ninth and her team again?" Carmine looked over to the elders and saw that they didn''t intend to stop the youth from asking questions. So, he answered truthfully like a teacher would. "You are making the wrong assumption. We won''t be assigning Ninth and her team to this mission again. There is a protocol in place for failed missions: any team that fails in the Remedium will not be allowed to enter back inside. It will be finished by another team." Atlan heard about that protocol. He was scolded during his first mission because of it. After he left the Remedium, he should have let the reinforcement team do their job. He shouldn''t have gone back and saved his teammates by himself. He didn''t get reprimanded for breaking protocol because HeadQuarters wanted to praise his bravery and sweep the anomaly under the rug. "This brings me to my next point," Carmine said. "I suggest that we bring in a team of mostly speedsters for this mission. Mostly women. Having a team of buff and muscular men will only serve to aggravate the Ifrit. And since an Ifrit harbors grudges against Ninth and her team, we can''t send any Specialists on the mission. Their auras are too powerful and will only spook the Ifrit. It could explode before they even step foot in the basement. But, we can''t send low-level Saviors either. We need experienced women with a success rate greater than 90%." Ninth spoke up. "I know a few Intern Saviors just a few stages away from advancing to the Specialist realm. They have the required experience for such a high-stakes mission. Speed is not their specialty, but they are fast enough if they leave behind their weapons." Carmine thought deep and hard. "It''s not ideal. Our window of opportunity is extremely small. We can''t leave it up to chance." Ninth understood that and kept silent. Assigning Saviors for a mission was not a Vanguard''s job anyway. Carmine and his team took out their tablets and started scouring through the Interns available in the City. They skipped through names as fast as they could swipe their screens. But no matter how much they scoured through the list, they couldn''t find an appropriate team, let alone a name, that could take on this heavy mission. It frustrated them. The old man with a beard looked at the Operators and spoke, "What is the estimated time of creation for the construct? How soon will you have it ready?" S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Carmine did some calculations in his head and came up with the answer, "We can procure it within half an hour." The old man nodded. "Good. You create it right now while we convene." Carmine was confused. Constructs had a time limit to when they were effective. The fact that the Elder Heads issued them to create the construct now meant that they were ready to greenlight the mission even though they hadn''t found anyone suitable yet. Did they find someone that fits? Chapter 189 - 189: Voiceless conversation Carmine wanted to talk to them about their choice, but they weren''t listening. The elderly men and women talked with each other, but surprisingly, their voices turned completely silent. Atlan watched their mouths move, but there was no sound coming out of them. It was as if they were muted! Despite that, the old men and women were conversing like normal. Judging from the nods and the dialogue exchange between them, it seemed that they could still understand each other without sound. Carmine and Ninth were no strangers to their ''secret'' talk. The Elder Heads often convened with each other to talk about important matters, but since they were just ordinary mortals, they didn''t have the strength to keep their conversations private from any prying spies. So, they were given a blessing from the Genesis God Himself. They could talk to each other in private by letting only the five of them hear each other''s words. No overpowered LifeSkill power could overcome the power of a God. Even Saviors at the top of their field had no chance of ever hearing the conversation of the Elder Heads. This was a fact. But when Atlan looked at their voiceless mouths, he sensed a familiar feeling surrounding their bodies. It was like an invisible gas that revolved around the Elder Heads. Wait¡­that''s¡­that''s Angel Power! It surrounds them and prevents any sound from coming out of their conversation. Then, a rude thought popped up in his head. Can I eavesdrop on their conversation? Atlan didn''t know if he could, but he knew that he understood Angel power much better than others. It was in his bloodline. There was an inherent power inside him that could completely understand the hidden mechanics inside that invisible gas. But how? As he observed the invisible cloud of Angel power gas, he noticed that there were ripples in the fluid. And if he looked closely enough, those ripples coincided perfectly with when one of them would speak. As he focused on the ripples, he heard a faint voice reach his ears. "....this plan is incredibly risky, yes. But it''s the only one we''ve got." Atlan almost voiced out his shock when those words coincided perfectly with the mouth movements of the bearded old man. Somehow, he could understand their conversation. Why can I understand them? I haven''t even done anything yet¡­ Atlan didn''t know how he suddenly understood their conversation, but he decided to roll with it and use it to his advantage. People who were used to privacy would not hesitate to voice out their secrets. This may be one of those times. "Is there truly no other way? We can ask for help from the other Territories. They must have talented individuals with more experience who can pull off this plan without the excessive risk," said the old man who sat on the very left side. "I agree. The Olympians have multiple talents who had been given the talents of Hermes. They are quick," said the long-haired woman sitting next to him. But the bald old man who sat on the very right side shook his head. "They''ll demand an excessive cost. It''s no secret that our God''s heart has been targeted. We don''t have any capacity to pay off their demands or else we''ll be in tremendous debt." Atlan couldn''t believe his ears when he heard those words. God''s heart¡­The Church is the Genesis God''s heart. Or more exactly, is that what the giant Door is? It''s the God''s heart? With that revelation, Atlan finally found the reason for the Door''s importance. It turned out that it''s the God''s most important organ itself! If a God died, then their territory would die with it. Ninth was not lying when she said that the fate of the entire City depended on disarming the Ifrit bomb threat on the Door. "Then we''ll pay it off! Debts can always be paid off one way or another. We are not lacking in treasures," replied the old man on the very left. This time, the bearded old man was the one to answer. "It''s not what they want. It''s who¡­" The five Elder Heads slowly turned their heads to the black battle suited youth on the opposite side of the table. Atlan was very thankful for his SSS class Physique LifeSkill allowing him perfect control of his own body. If not, then he would have jumped out of his seat once they all looked over to him simultaneously. He was afraid that they figured out that he was eavesdropping on their conversation. The bombshells that they were dropping were secrets that could topple the whole belief system of the whole City itself. They would surely kill to make sure they were the only ones who knew the truth. "The boy has garnered attention from all over the territories. They have been offering tons of benefits for his transfer. If it were any other time, we would have taken it. Alas¡­" said the bearded old man. "We already owe Olympus a lot for the deaths of their kids during their friendly visit. Not to mention our God''s aversion to the Greek Gods, we can''t ask them to solve our problems for us," said the old woman with her white hair tied up in a bun. "The Territories around us have resorted to sending spies by the hordes. They want to find leverage so that we''d be forced to transfer the boy over. But we can''t let him go. No matter what," said the bald old man on the right. It was three against two. And with their points heard, the two finally acquiesced. "I relent. The boy bears a responsibility that is vital to the survival of this City, so we can''t risk the other territories getting him," said the straight-haired old woman. "Still, this emergency takes precedence. We can''t worry about future matters if there''s no future," said the old man on the left. Once the conversation was over, the bearded old man looked over his peers. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "So, are we all in accordance with this plan?" The rest of the Elder Heads nodded. They deactivated their ''secret'' conversation and could finally voice out their words to the table. "Then, we have decided to let the Star Porter take on this mission." Chapter 190 - 190: Confidence in strength The emergency room went silent with the Elder Heads'' decision. Never in a million years would Carmine and Ninth think that a 3rd stage Novice with only 2 missions under his name and who had only been a Savior for a measly 2 weeks was chosen to helm this extremely important mission. It was no exaggeration to say that the result of this mission could spell the doom of the entire Genesis City and the humans within it. Just one mistake, one wrong move, and the Ifrit would explode. Putting that kind of responsibility on a kid was highly irresponsible. The Specialist Saviors couldn''t close their dropped jaws. They couldn''t even utter a guttural sound to display their disapproval of this decision. The Elder Heads made a decision, and no one, not even Specialist Saviors, could veto their words. Even if they were 5000 years old, they would still seem like kids to the Elder Heads. The wisdom they accumulated from their long life supported this decision. This meant that, in all likelihood, their decision was the right one in this kind of situation. However, Ninth and Carmine couldn''t help but doubt that. Despite their disapproval, they couldn''t speak their words. "NO!" Lizzie screamed. Her voice broke the silence in the white expanse of the emergency room. She looked at the white-haired old men and women opposite her with indignance in her eyes. She didn''t care if they were the Elder Heads. She was going to protect Atlan even if it meant that she had to fight against the very highest authority in the City. "How can you put this responsibility on a mere child?!" She looked at Ninth in desperation. "You said you knew some Intern Saviors, right? Why can''t we give the mission to them?" Ninth was silent. She looked at the Elder Heads and saw that they were unfazed by Lizzie''s outburst. They took her words seriously. The bearded old man spoke. "It must be done. This is a job that only the Star Porter can do." Lizzie couldn''t believe their excuse. Atlan''s talent may transcend levels above his own, but it was not enough to fight in the big leagues. This was rated at the Specialist-level difficulty for a reason. "I don''t believe that! Do you want to sabotage his progress? Will you compensate his SoulTime if it goes to zero in this mission?!" The bearded old man shook his head. "On the contrary. We want the Star Porter to ascend as fast as possible." "Then why?! Even if the clone is only rated at the 6th stage Student level, the Remedium in the basement of the Church is rated at the Specialist level! That means the Remedium itself will try to kill anyone that comes inside it! Atlan has no training to help him deal with that kind of danger." On high-level missions, especially on Critical Points like the Church''s basement where the Door was hidden, the Remedium was a lot more hostile than the Remediums Atlan had been on before. It was one of the reasons why Ninth and her team were dispatched to kill just a few clones of low-level Ifrits. "Carmine!" Lizzie glared at him. "You said that Sapient Canzers are going to be invading the Remedium as well, right? That means they''ll be dispatching Specialist-level Sapient Canzers to fight Atlan." This time, Lizzie''s argument seemed to have given Carmine enough motivation to question the Elder Heads'' decision. "Elizabeth is right," Carmine said. "They''ll be sending an armada to intercept us. We can''t let the Porter go on this mission." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But no matter how much they reasoned, the Elder Heads stuck to their decision. No amount of convincing could make them change their minds. "Do you not believe in the Star Porter''s abilities?" asked the bearded old man. His questions made Lizzie pause and look at the black battle suited youth right next to her. Even though he was still wet behind the ears and ignorant of a lot of things about the world, no one could deny his ability to somehow defy all the odds against him. Time and time again, he broke expectations and limits imposed on him like it was nothing. Atlan was strong, Lizzie did not doubt that. There wasn''t any doubt in her mind that Atlan had what it took to complete this mission better than any other experienced Savior could. In front of insurmountable odds, always bet on Atlan. But the problem wasn''t Atlan''s lack of strength, it''s how strong he was that''s the problem. Atlan was so competent that he seemed to have gained self-confidence that made him take risks that he shouldn''t be taking under any circumstances. In his first mission, if he didn''t believe that he could have survived, he wouldn''t have walked back and saved his teammates. In the Pocket Remedium, if he didn''t know he could survive by himself, he wouldn''t have sacrificed himself to the horde of Pseudo Canzers and let the others advance through the streets. And in his latest mission, if he wasn''t so comfortable in his strength, then he wouldn''t have even joined the mission meant for 6th stage Saviors in the first place. His immeasurable strength and talent saved him countless times, and Lizzie thought that it would only be a matter of time until his luck ran out. If he kept doing what he was doing, then there could come a time when he faced an opponent so strong that he could not overcome them even with his immense talent. Lizzie thought that that day could be today. For some reason, as lucky as Atlan was, he was equally as unlucky. Lizzie noticed that the youth seemed to be an attractor of anomalies everywhere he went. If he went on this mission, then Lizzie had the suspicion that something bad would happen. There would be another anomaly that none of them ever expected to appear. No matter how much they planned, it would all be useless in the face of the unknown. Chapter 191 - 191: Why me? Atlan, who''d been silent all this time, finally spoke up. "Why me?" he asked them. He didn''t hear much about the reason why they were so insistent on him going on this mission. He knew that it wasn''t because they wanted to kill him or something. Surprisingly, judging by their secret conversation, his transfer was desired by a lot of Territories, but they had no intention of letting him go. For some unknown reason, they said he had to stay in Genesis City at all costs. If that was true, then they wouldn''t send him to his death. "This mission necessitates a Savior capable of carrying heavy constructs that are designed to be able to disable the Ifrit from a long distance. Correct me if I''m wrong, but as I recall, the more complex the construct, the heavier and denser they are." Carmine nodded at the old bearded man''s words. "It will take multiple Saviors just to carry the construct in the Remedium. That is not ideal. Having more people on this job will only increase the likelihood of something going wrong. So, the job required for this mission is a single Porter." Atlan looked up at them. "And that''s me? But I am not the only Porter in Genesis City. There is Garuun, who is in the Specialist realm. Wouldn''t he be more suitable for this kind of mission?" At the mention of Garuun, both Carmine and Ninth showed pained expressions. "Sigh¡­Due to unforeseen circumstances, Garuun is currently unavailable for this mission. This leaves you as the only one capable Porter that is available to the City." "And as you said, he is a Specialist Savior. His aura would immediately intimidate and alert the Ifrit, causing it to be volatile for self-destruction," explained the old lady with a bun. "You are only in the 3rd stage Student realm. Your aura is nonexistent. The Ifrit will treat you as nothing more than an ant¨Ca small fry¨Cwhich will give you enough leeway to approach the Canzer without spooking it too much," said the bearded old man. Their explanation was sound and logical, but it didn''t seem like the only reason why they wanted him on this mission. "You''re not factoring in the fact that he''d have to face the Remedium all alone! He doesn''t even know his way to the basement, how will you expect him to avoid all the traps inside?! It''s better to assign this mission to Saviors who have experience in the Church''s Remedium. Even if it meant having multiple people carrying the construct, they only had to activate it on the Ifrit. They don''t have to fight it." Lizzie didn''t back down. Kudos to the Elder Heads, they didn''t lose their cool when she spoke rudely in front of them. They were too old to get angry at a child lashing out trying to protect another child. "They are not porters. Plain and simple. Speed is the key to the mission, and only the Star Porter can carry the construct inside without impeding his agility. And as for the dangers of the Remedium, we can simply teach the young boy. He has shown a tremendous ability to learn, and we estimate that it will only take a few hours of preparation and teaching for him to learn everything there is to know and do in the Church basement." The elderly woman with her hair tied in a bun showed a rare understanding expression on her face. She sympathized with Lizzie''s emotions. "Do not worry, child. We are not leaving him out to die in the Remedium. Trust me, we are just as invested in his life as you are¡ªprobably even more." She muttered that last part. The bearded old man looked at Atlan in the eyes and asked, "What is your decision, child? Will you accept this mission?" Atlan stayed silent as he thought about his decision. On the one hand, this mission was extremely dangerous. Unlike in every other mission he joined¨Cwhich to be honest, wasn''t that much¨Che was always accompanied by much more experienced Saviors who guided him in things he didn''t know. But in this mission, he''d be all alone. He''d be walking on unknown territory, facing unknown threats. However, risks always come with rewards. "What about the Sapient Canzers that will be arriving in the Remedium? Who will be dealing with that?" The bearded old man looked at Ninth. "We are giving this responsibility to Ninth and her team. This is their chance to rectify their failure in their mission." Ninth and her team looked up with surprise at the Elder Heads. They didn''t think they''d get this chance at all. They thought they''d have to live with this failure etched in their hearts forever. But now, they had the chance to finish what they started. "We humbly accept this responsibility," Ninth said as she bowed her head. Her team followed her lead and thanked the Elder Heads as well. This was exactly what Atlan wanted to hear. He almost couldn''t hide his excitement. If he was able to witness the fight between Ninth and the Specialist-level Canzers in the Remedium, then he''d have the chance to reap the high-level deaths that will occur in the aftermath! The last time he reaped the death of the Giant Werewolf rated at the Specialist level, he obtained the Pre-Intern realm LifeSkill Bloodline Transformation! That power proved to be something that could defeat Sapient Canzers with ease! He was almost salivating at the thought of all the experiences, LifeSkills, and genuses that he could get from this mission. As long as he stayed on the sidelines, he could reap the rewards while Ninth and her team did all the hard work. Of course, there was always a chance for things to go wrong, but that just came with the job. The rewards were completely worth it! Atlan already decided that he would take the mission, but he didn''t show it on his face. He showed them a contemplating expression on the verge of making a decision. "If I am to take on this mission, then I would be putting myself at a tremendous amount of risk," Atlan said, his words trailing off. The bearded old man seemed to know where Atlan was getting at. "Go on¡­" "If that is so, then I demand that I be given a reward equal to that of the risk that I will be partaking." sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 192 - 192: What are you offering? "Atlan! You seriously aren''t thinking about accepting the mission, right?!" Lizzie looked at Atlan as if he was insane. In her opinion, no amount of rewards could make up for the fact that he could lose his entire SoulTime in this mission. "What do you require?" asked the bearded old man. Atlan stayed silent. He didn''t want to show his hand quite as easily as that. If he told them what he wanted right away, then he''d be shutting the doors for any kind of reward that they might offer. "You need me more than I need you. I''m the one that needs convincing, so you tell me what you''re prepared to offer." Atlan''s bold strategy horrified Carmine and impressed the Elder Heads. By letting them offer something first, then Atlan would be sure that he could negotiate much more than what they''re currently offering. After all, he didn''t even know what kind of rewards they could offer. If he simply asked for more SoulTime or a better house, then he could be missing the chance to get something that he never even thought of in the first place. It was better to let them speak first so that he could gauge the possibilities. The Elder Heads looked at each other and nodded silently. They didn''t even need to ''silent talk'' to themselves as if they already knew what they were going to offer. "1000 years of SoulTime," the bearded old man said. The Specialist Saviors watching on the sidelines envied the Star Porter for being offered that much SoulTime so early in his career. Sure, as Specialist Saviors, they could get that much SoulTime with only a few missions with ease, but that was only because they were already thousands of years old at this point. If they were given 1000 SoulTime during their novice years, then they could have advanced to the Specialist realm at least a few hundred years earlier! On Student-realm missions, Canzers were so weak that they''d only do a few months or days of damage. Having 1000 years meant that Atlan would be unbeatable in the novice missions. And since lost SoulTime would get compensated after the completion of the mission, Atlan would slowly grow his SoulTime and continue to be even more unkillable. The Specialists thought that Atlan would surely accept this offer. Instead, he simply shrugged. "I don''t need that." The bearded old man looked at Atlan with a serious look. "You don''t know how valuable SoulTime is in this current era." Of course, Atlan knew what they were talking about. He knew that immortality was long gone, along with the Angels that protect humans from death at all times. SoulTime was the only thing protecting people from dying. Having more meant you''d be much safer from harm than others. But Atlan had his Photosynthesis mutation that allowed him to gain 1 year of SoulTime for every second he spent under the sun. It would only take him a thousand seconds for him to get that much SoulTime, given that he could activate his mutation that long. "That is not nearly enough to offset the risks of this mission," Atlan explained. "I need something a little bit more tangible¡ªsomething that can help me right now." The Elder Heads saw the unwillingness in Atlan''s eyes. He didn''t even flinch when they offered him so much SoulTime for a novice. He''s a greedy one, they thought. "If you want something that can help you right now, then we are willing to provide you with 5000 experience points. Of course, this is just an advance payment. By getting 5000 experience right now, you won''t be getting any experience points at the end of the mission. What do you say? It will allow you to advance to the 4th stage Student realm right this instant and increase your survivability by a large extent." Even Ninth and Carmine couldn''t help but show their shock when they heard the Elder Heads'' offer. They weren''t given this option even once in their entire lifetime, yet now, they were giving it to a novice like Atlan. For Student-realm Saviors, 5000 experience points was a lot; usually, a mission only netted them a few hundred experience points. The reward for this mission was equivalent to about 50 missions altogether! It was a lucrative offer for any novice Savior. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But Atlan wasn''t just any kind of Savior. Five thousand experience points was nothing to him. Cheap change. "Not enough." Atlan crossed his arms and faced the Elder Heads with an unyielding look. The old men and women looked down at the Star Porter and wondered where he got the confidence to refuse their generous offer. "Since you have just visited the Vineyard and obtained a new Genus for yourself, we cannot give you another entry ticket. It is not good to obtain a new one without consolidating your new mutation, whatever it was that you got. I am guessing that you have no idea how to progress your mutation, is that right?" As much as Atlan didn''t want to agree with the old man, he was right. Atlan had no idea how to advance his mutations past their base form. His ''training'' yielded only a few seconds of usage with his mutations. He didn''t know if that was slow or not. "Is there a way to advance your mutation?" "Yes. Mutations are a vital asset in a Savior''s repertoire. It usually serves as a second LifeSkill for most Saviors and allows them to double or triple their powers even while staying in the same power realm. However, they do not increase in power even if a Savior goes from 5th stage Student to 9th stage Student. The Mutation will eventually be left behind. What you don''t know is that Mutations have something called ''mastery''. By increasing this ''mastery'' you''ll slowly be able to unlock the hidden potential of mutations and increase their power! Usually, you will only be taught this knowledge once you have reached the 5th stage Student realm, but we are willing to let you learn the secrets of mastery!" Chapter 193 - 193: That and more Atlan was very tempted to say yes to their offer right now. It was the only reward that he knew that could help him right this instant. If he knew how to ''master'' all of his mutations, then he could upgrade his strength to a whole new level. And just as he was about to say something, Lizzie stopped him. "That is not nearly enough! If you want him to risk his SoulTime in a Specialist-level mission, then you''d better take everything out of your coffers and give it to Atlan. First, instead of giving him 1000 years of SoulTime, you give him 5000! And you must give it to him right now so that he won''t die with just one hit from the Specialist Canzers. Second, instead of 5000 experience points, you give him 10,000! That is only a very conservative estimate of the amount of experience he should gain from partaking in this mission. Third, learning about mutation mastery shouldn''t even be a reward. It should be a necessary training process that you should give Atlan so that we can assure his safety. I''m going to teach him everything there is to know about mutation, and I am doing this out of my own goodwill. Fourth, his equipment. You seriously can''t expect him to go there without proper defensive armor, right? We need to commission a special battle suit for him, one that Carmine himself will build. It must have capabilities that can deter an attack from any Specialist Sapient Canzer for at least a few seconds!" Seeing that he was name-dropped in the conversation, Carmine spoke up. "It''s not that easy procuring a Specialist-level battle suit. Not to mention the fact that we are not used to creating that kind of battle suit for a novice, but the time to create a battle suit in itself will take days, if not weeks even in a rush! You are also forgetting the fact that we''ll need Specialist Canzer materials to create the battle suit you''re talking about. We are severely lacking in materials right now and cannot afford to waste some on a battle suit meant for a novice¡ª" Carmine was going to keep on rejecting the idea of a special battle suit for the Star Porter, but Lizzie''s piercing stare made the words stuck in his mouth. "You were saying?" Lizzie said, with her eyes as deadly as Specialist-level Canzers. A nonexistent cold breeze made Carmine shiver in fear. He quickly backtracked his words earlier. "I''m saying that I will be honored to create a battle suit for Atlan¡­" But even with his optimistic words, Lizzie''s death stare didn''t end. "I will personally use materials out of my collection to create the battle suit¡­," he relented. Are you happy now, witch?! Carmine thought to himself. But even with that, she seemed to have sensed the hostility in his thoughts. "You want to say something else? Because I''m not done." "No, go ahead please¡­" Carmine bowed his head and let her continue her tirade. "Fifth, if any kind of anomaly happens, then Ninth and her team should prioritize his safety above everything else. If he is the only one that can do this mission, as you all said yourselves, then that means it is only appropriate for you to fulfill all the conditions I have stated." Atlan looked at Lizzie and saw her in a completely different light. He didn''t know she could burst out like this. She didn''t hesitate to call out the Elder Heads even though they were the main authority in the entire City. She fought for Atlan to get everything he deserved and even more! She was a true friend who cared for his safety above everything else. Even if Atlan revealed his true strength to Lizzie, he had a feeling that she would still be overprotective towards him. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That''s how much she cared for Atlan. "Give us a moment," said the bearded old man as he convened with the others. As usual, nobody could hear their conversations¡ªexcept for Atlan. "What are your thoughts?" asked the bearded old man. "The rewards are nothing to scoff at, but it is just at the limit of what we can afford. The SoulTime and experience are easy, but the specialist-level battle suit will seriously hurt our treasury, especially since it will be built in such a rush," replied the bald man. "I agree, but, material can always be earned. There is only one Star Porter in the entire world. We can''t skimp out on his safety just because we''re going to lose a few materials." "So, we are all in agreement, then?" asked the bearded old man. Seeing that no one objected, they finished their ''secret'' conversation and faced the table once again. "We accept your proposal. Carmine, you will personally build a new battle suit for the Star Porter while your team creates the construct. The battle suit must be worn and ready in two hours. That is an order." Carmine bowed his head, but on the inside, he was distressed. Two hours to create a new battle suit was a hard task that even he was not confident in achieving. One small mistake would ruin the entire battle suit. This means he''d have to create it on his first try. What did I do to deserve this?! He complained to himself. "Ninth, you and your team must prepare for your mission as soon as possible. Your job is to escort Atlan to the Church''s basement and protect him from any Sapient Canzer that might try to destroy the construct in his hands." Ninth and her team bowed to the Elder Heads. They couldn''t hide their excitement. "We will not disappoint you a second time." "Elizabeth," the bearded old man said to Lizzie. "As you suggested earlier, you will be the one to teach the young Porter about mastery of a mutation. We trust that you''ll be able to shore up his lack of knowledge fast enough for it to be usable in this mission." "You can count on me. If he''s not ready, I''ll drag him away from the City myself." But just as everybody was preparing to leave the meeting, Atlan raised his hand and spoke up. "Wait. I have one more request." Chapter 194 - 194: Want to enroll He wanted more?! Atlan had some serious gut for him to ask for more after getting so much with the deal. The bearded old man showed a rare serious expression on his face as he looked Atlan straight in the eyes. "I urge you to reign in your greed, kid. We are already extending a hand with your rewards. Don''t make us take it back." Atlan waved off their concerns. "My request is nothing big." "Then what is it?" Atlan looked over to the blue battle-suited Saviors on his left. His curiosity and interest in Operators only got higher and higher the more he learned about them. They used their powers in inexplicable ways. He did not only want to learn about Canzers and their weaknesses, but he also wanted to learn how Operators knew which Canzer they were dealing with and what Symptoms they represented. For him, it felt random. But he knew that Operators had a system and method to accurately find out about Canzers without even stepping foot inside the Remedium. Atlan wanted to learn that. "I want to enroll in the University." His answer sent curious looks among everyone in the room. They thought he''d ask for more SoulTime or even a better house. They didn''t expect him to want to study at the City University. "Curious¡­what is your motive in going there?" asked the old woman with her white hair tied in a bun. "You are a Vanguard¡ªa porter, but a Vanguard nonetheless. Your request is highly unusual, especially in the current state of rivalry between the Vanguards and the Operators. Do, pray tell." "I want to learn about Canzers. I want to know the Symptoms they cause, and how Operators deal with them. If I know a lot about Canzers, then I wouldn''t be caught unprepared when an anomaly happens." Atlan''s reason was rooted in the fact that anomalies kept happening during his missions. The only reason he''d been able to survive the Canzers was because he had different powers in his arsenal, as well as a power from the Angels. Thankfully, that was a weakness of Canzers that he was able to exploit. But there could come a time when even his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill wouldn''t be able to save him. Pterina knew about Atlan''s interest in Operators. He even requested for her to guide him to the University so that he could take a look at the sanctuary of knowledge for Operators. She thought his interest was nothing more than youthful curiosity. She thought that he simply wanted to take a look at the University, and nothing more. She didn''t think that his curiosity was so intense that he would actually want to enroll in the classes! "I invited the Star Porter to tour around the University because he said that he was curious about Operators. I neglected to inform him that he wouldn''t be able to enroll in the University because of his lineage as a former nomad of the Unclaimed Lands." The old woman nodded. "There is a rule in our City that prevents recruits from the Unclaimed Lands to enroll in the University. Why? That is because information is power. The University is a place where all our knowledge about everything about the world is funneled into. We have knowledge ranging from general facts to secrets that even Mount Olympus doesn''t know. Secrets are a valuable resource. As such, it is often coveted by dubious forces. There could be spies planted in the recruits from the Unclaimed Lands whose only goal is to find sensitive information about the City. We can''t let those people inside our University. That is the reason why we forbid recruits from enrolling in our University, especially if they are Vanguards." The old woman looked at Atlan with a playful smile on her face. "Are you telling us to treat you not as a spy, but as a local citizen of Genesis City? Is that the reward you seek?" Atlan smiled back at her. "It''s only natural. If I''m risking my SoulTime for the City, then I must be treated as a loyal citizen who is entitled to perks not limited to¡­enrolling in the University." S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The old woman looked at the rest of the Elder Heads. She gave them an imperceptible nod, signaling her approval to let Atlan enroll in the University. "Well, then welcome aboard," she said with a smile. "You are now eligible to enroll in the University as a Scholar." To which, Atlan immediately asked. "What''s a Scholar? Are they allowed to learn about Canzers?" Carmine almost slapped his own head when he heard Atlan''s question. The Porter didn''t realize it, but he was speaking to the very first Scholar of Genesis City. The elderly woman with her hair tied in a bun was the woman who knew the most about Canzers! She was the premiere scholar who taught all Operators everything they knew. "Yes," she chuckled. "It is as you described. Scholars learn everything there is to know about Canzers." But even with that, Atlan didn''t seem satisfied. "How about constructs? Can I learn how to create them?" "You also want to be an Alchemist?!" Carmine couldn''t help but speak out. The old woman looked surprised too. "Are you not aware that only those with an Operator LifeSkill could create constructs? If you do not have the appropriate job and power, then you will have no chance of ever creating a construct." Atlan wasn''t deterred. With his reaping skill, he knew that it would only be a matter of time until he was able to reap an Operator LifeSkill that would give him the ability to create constructs. Without the proper knowledge, that power would be useless. "I don''t care. I want to enroll in those classes as well. Even if I just sit there and do nothing but watch the lecture, then I am satisfied." Carmine couldn''t believe the insanity that was unfolding upon his very eyes. There was actually a Vanguard that wanted to become an Operator! In all the years of his life, he''d never heard of such things. Chapter 195 - 195: Alchemist "That is not an easy request," said the elderly woman. "I know. So is this mission." Seeing the Elder Heads look hesitant to fulfill his wish, Atlan decided to use their words against them. As she said, secrets were a valuable resource, and it was something that he would fully take advantage of. "By allowing me to enroll in the University as a Scholar and an Alchemist, I''ll be able to better prepare myself for my missions. Unless you can guarantee to me that no anomalies will ever happen again, then I will need all the knowledge I can get before I go on any missions. This is a deal breaker for me. If I don''t get to enroll in the University, then I will never feel at ease during my missions. I''ll be helpless with another anomaly. I would rather go to a lesser Territory if this is the case." By mentioning the possibility of him leaving Genesis City, he put the Elder Heads in a difficult position. He heard them talk extensively about other Territories vying to transfer him to their Territory, and how the Elder Heads were fighting against it. They wanted him to stay in Genesis City, and Atlan used that to his advantage. The Elder Heads looked at each other, with their eyes clashing and arguing with only a simple look. It was clear that Atlan''s request divided the opinions between the Elder Heads. The elderly woman with her hair tied to a bun, and the old bald man to her right were inclined to let Atlan''s request be fulfilled. Meanwhile, at the opposite side of their side of the table, the old woman with straight hair and the old man at the furthest left was strongly against letting Atlan enroll as an Alchemist. They were already against him becoming a Scholar, but they relented because of the current situation. The only one who stayed still was the bearded old man in the middle of the table. He kept his eyes closed as he contemplated his decision. After a few back and forths between the two factions, those for and those against, the bearded old man decided to break the tie. He looked at Atlan and criticized his stature. And after a few seconds, he slowly nodded his head, letting them know that he sided with Atlan''s request. It was three against two. "We are letting you enroll in the University as a Scholar and an Alchemist," said the bearded old man. This left Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators shocked and speechless. This was an unprecedented turn of events. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They didn''t know how their peers would react once they learned this fact. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that a riot might occur in the University to try and convince the Elder Heads to retract their decision. There will be those who will not care that a Vanguard enrolled in the University, but there will be more who vehemently oppose it. This was not the best time to have a Vanguard traipsing around campus and ''intruding'' on the Operators'' territory¡ªespecially when the tensions were at an all-time high between the ''Knives'' and ''Quills''. "You will not be given any advantages in the University. You will not be given any easier tests just because you do not know the prerequisite knowledge needed for the courses. You will be treated as an ordinary student." "I''m fine with that." Carmine heaved a sigh of relief. If a Vanguard was given extra points while the Operators were not, then there would definitely be violent chaos in the University. "If that is all, then I hereby announce that this meeting is adjourned. We will be monitoring each of your preparations to ensure that everything will proceed as intended. Please leave the premises." Ninth and her team were the first ones to leave, followed by Carmine and his team of Operators. The last to leave were Pterina, Lizzie, and Atlan. Before he stepped foot outside, he looked back at the five elders and saw their mouths were moving with no sound. They were having their ''secret'' talk. Of course, Atlan eavesdropped on their conversation¡ªor at least a bit of it. "....we need to speed up his advancement. We need to replace¡ª" The bearded old man''s voice cut off the moment the red door to the emergency room closed. Atlan was left wondering what the rest of his sentence meant. Speed up¡­my¡­advancement? They want me to power up quickly because they want me to replace¡­who? The only person he could think of was Garuun, the Specialist Porter. The last time he was mentioned, everyone showed a somber expression. According to the bearded old man, Garuun was unavailable to perform any mission for the foreseeable future. Did something happen to him? Is he¡­dead?! If that was true, then the consequences could be severe, not only for the entire City but for Atlan as well. Without any proper porter at the Specialist level, then missions would always be performed by Saviors who were burdened with carrying the heavy construct. They would need three or more Specialist-level Saviors just to carry the construct to the Remedium properly. That was a huge waste of resources, especially since those three Specialists could use their skills to fight Canzers. Instead, they''ll be delegated to porters. Is that why they want me to advance quickly? They want me to take his mantle and become a porter for high-level missions? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Even the mission he was currently tasked to do, was rated at the Specialist level. The Elder Heads probably entrusted this mission to him to test out his capabilities in a high-stakes situation. If he proved himself capable, then he would get assigned even more difficult missions in the future! Atlan didn''t shy away from hard missions, but he knew his limits. Even with all his powers, he knew he wouldn''t survive for even a second against Specialist level Canzers. At least, not right now. If the Elders want him to take a mission he deems too dangerous and out-of-his-league, then he''ll reject it immediately. "Atlan, come on. We have a lot to talk about." Lizzie didn''t wait a second to wait for Atlan and left the control room. She looked mad. Chapter 196 - 196: Chase through the roofs The rest of them went their separate ways. Ninth and her team immediately set off to the Masamune district to sharpen their equipment; they didn''t want a dull blade to cost them another failure in their record. Carmine and the rest of the Operators all took a lingering look at Atlan before setting off to do their jobs. "Porter. Come back here in 2 hours, we''ll have your new battle suit ready for you. Don''t be late or else you won''t know the capabilities of what you''ll be wearing," he said before quickly leaving. Atlan promised to return early and bid them goodbye. Although there was a bit of tension between him and the Operators, they didn''t have any bad feelings about him. They were shocked that he was allowed to enroll in the University, but they didn''t oppose it. They just knew that this would cause divided opinions among other Operators, especially those who hated ''Knives'' with a passion. This left Lizzie and Atlan alone just outside the administration building. "Follow me," Lizzie said without turning back to face him. Atlan followed behind her and noticed that her footsteps were faster than normal. It even looked like she was stomping the ground a little harder than usual. She''s mad, isn''t she? Lizzie turned a corner onto an alleyway in the middle of two tall buildings. Atlan followed behind her and was surprised to see no sign of the curly-haired woman in the discreet alley. It only took less than a second for her to disappear from Atlan''s sight. If it was any other novice, they would have completely lost sight of Lizzie. But Atlan was no ordinary novice. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision and looked around. In the buildings full of lifeless and cold blue colors, he saw a distinct figure jumping through the tiles on top of the roof. She didn''t even look back at Atlan and continued getting farther and farther away from him with each second. He looked at the large gap between the walls and saw the thermal imprint of her small hands on each wall. She jumped from wall to wall and used it to get up the building¡­ That maneuver not only took a lot of skill but also finesse. The fact that she disappeared within only a fraction of a second meant that she was extremely nimble, even more than him. I can''t do that, but I can jump. Atlan squatted down and activated his Physique LifeSkill all over his body. Within a second, black flames enveloped his body and endowed him with tremendous physical power. Atlan jumped, breaking the cement flooring below due to the intense force around his body. He rose to 50 feet, easily going over the buildings surrounding him. Lizzie looked behind her and saw Atlan''s figure landing on the roof. "Tsk," she muttered. She gathered more energy around her body and increased her speed even further, creating more distance between the two of them. But as soon as Atlan landed on the roof, he accelerated towards her at an even faster speed, slowly closing the gap. Even when she had a couple of seconds of a head start, she still couldn''t create a large enough gap for her to leave him behind completely. She wanted to show him that he wasn''t ready to take on this kind of mission, but the fact that he could catch up to her meant that he was more than ready. Lizzie skillfully maneuvered her body around the roofs, even tumbling and squeezing herself through tight gaps as long as it was the fastest way around an obstacle. She was not physically fast, but the fact that she used the environment around her to ''swim'' through the concrete jungle of the City allowed her to get to her destination a lot faster than running through the streets. Meanwhile, Atlan bypassed all of the obstacles in the uneven roofings by jumping over them with speed and explosiveness. Her parkouring was not a match against his physical prowess. It wasn''t long before Atlan caught up right next to her. "Why are you running away?" he asked her, but she didn''t answer. She continued to weave through the buildings to try and get away from Atlan as fast as possible. But it was no use. Just as she jumped the gap between the two roofs, she suddenly saw Atlan''s upper body hanging upside down right in front of her, ready to catch her body. This caused her to lose her footing on one of the roof''s loose tiles and almost made her plummet 50 feet down into the highway below. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Thankfully, Atlan caught her body just in time. "You can''t run away from me," Atlan said as he jumped down from the ceiling below and pushed Lizzie against the wall. Lizzie''s face turned red. "I''m your senior! You can''t treat me this way." Atlan smiled. "I can, if you''re acting like a kid. Why are you running away instead of talking to me?" For some reason, seeing Lizzie so flustered like this made him excited. She always acted maturely towards him, like a teacher scolding her student. He wanted to tease her more. But unfortunately, Lizzie skillfully used her nimble body to wrestle her way out of Atlan''s grasp. She walked to the edge and looked down at the bustling City below. "I don''t want you getting hurt," she muttered. Atlan finally understood why. This was a test. If he couldn''t even catch up to her, then he didn''t have the skills necessary to go on this mission. She mentioned that the Remedium in Critical Points like the Church was much more dangerous than other Remediums. The Ifrit would be the least of his worries. "I won''t. I promise," he said. There was a moment of silence between them. After a few seconds¡­ "Cough¡­I''ll make sure of that." She turned around, with her usual stern and mature look. There was no longer any visible anxiety or worry on her face. "Follow me down. I have to teach you some lessons." Chapter 197 - 197: Half feline Lizzie led Atlan down the next building to a dojo where Saviors and aspiring Saviors alike could train their skills. They entered a private room, which was already arranged and ready for them to enter as soon as they stepped foot on the building. The Elder Heads worked fast and already guaranteed that things would go smoothly for their training session. There were plenty of veterans and novices crowding the dojos these past few days because of the current ban on Pocket Remediums. This was the only place they could practice their skills and make sure that it wouldn''t stagnate. If they didn''t have the Elder Heads'' intervention, they would have waited days before they could book the largest training room they had available. They were led by the owner of the dojo itself to the biggest room, where they were assured that they could unleash the full power of their LifeSkills without worrying about it causing damage to the walls. Once the owner locked them in, nothing could disturb them for two hours. "What do you think is stronger, a 4-star mutation, or a 9-stage Student LifeSkill?" Atlan didn''t know the answer to her question. From his experience, both LifeSkills and mutations had different powers that were hard to compare. "I''ll change the question. Which do you think is stronger: a 4-star mutation or a 7-star mutation?" The answer seemed obvious. Of course, the higher rarity mutation was a lot stronger than the lower rarity one. It was one of the main reasons why high star Genuses were highly coveted. They want the corresponding high star mutation that came with it. "Isn''t the answer obvious?" "You would think so, but no." Lizzie stood opposite Atlan, with the entire room behind her. She started stretching her body, which reminded him of a cat that just woke up. "A 4-star mutation can be a lot stronger than a 7-star mutation," she stated while licking her hands like a cat licking its paws. "How? That is hard to believe." From what she told him a while back, a 4-star mutation wasn''t even powerful enough to be hidden. Mutations with only a low rarity were manifested in reality all the time, while the higher rarity mutations could be hidden and released at any time the user wanted. Lizzie had a 5-star rarity mutation that allowed her to become half-feline. Even if it was hidden, her mutations gave her a small boost in power according to her mutations. Even when her eyes remained human, she still benefited from enhanced eyesight. But if she manifested her cat eye mutation, then her eyesight would be enhanced multiple times. By the mere fact that her mutation was a 5-star mutation, she was able to turn off her mutation and let it rest when she didn''t need it. This gave her the benefit of having enhanced power without the drawback of having a non-human mutation hindering her daily life. Having an octopus-leg mutation or horse-leg mutation was a pain to deal with in a daily life scenario. "It''s better for me to show you. This is my feline mutation," Lizzie said as she bent down on all fours, with her nails digging into the very metal flooring itself. Two red pointy ears grew out of her head and gave her the ability to hear a pin drop even in the middle of an explosion. The pupils in her eyes turned vertical. She looked at him as if he was her prey. Every micro-movement he did was caught by those eyes and she was able to follow him without lagging behind. Three whiskers grew on each of her cheeks. Atlan didn''t know what these mutations did for her, but he found that it made Lizzie even cuter than before. A red tail popped up from behind her, which swayed back and forth gracefully from her left shoulder to her right. It seemed to have a mind of its own and moved with such fluidity that it put Atlan into a trance. It only took him a fraction of a second to get him out of the distraction, but that was already enough for her to disappear from his sight. Atlan couldn''t hide his shock. He couldn''t even sense her anywhere near him. It was only when he felt something poking his arm did he realize that Lizzie was already beside him, with her claws digging into his forearm with barely any resistance. Atlan used his other hand and pushed Lizzie''s claws away, taking with her a torn piece of his battle suit. The black dye quickly dispersed and turned into the original green color. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I thought you didn''t want to hurt me?!" Atlan saw his SoulTime go down by a few minutes. Lizzie didn''t allow him to recover. She disappeared from his sight and reappeared just a few fractions of a second later to whittle away at his SoulTime by scratching his unprotected back. Atlan couldn''t believe it. Even with his enhanced physical strength, he couldn''t keep up with her speed at all! She was much faster than his eye by several magnitudes; he never even saw blur as she passed by. Atlan immediately used his LifeSkill and covered himself with a black flame. Just then, Lizzie''s claws came crashing down on his chest from up above. This time, his black fire allowed him to defend himself a little better. Though, he still lost a few seconds of SoulTime from her half-hearted attack. I can''t keep up with her¡­if that''s so, then I''ll have to get ahead of her. Atlan bent down and gathered all his power on his legs, and burst out running towards the wall. It didn''t take him long till he was about to crash into the steel enclosure of the room. But instead of colliding with the wall head-first, he raised his leg and jumped towards it, using the momentum he gathered to continue running up the wall! Atlan used the friction between the wall and his shoes to keep going up, but eventually, gravity started to pull him back down. Just as he was about to fall, he quickly turned around and faced Lizzie, who followed behind him as he expected. He used his last step on the wall to speed back down towards Lizzie. Chapter 198 - 198: Bridge a realm With Lizzie floating in mid-air, Atlan thought he finally had a chance to catch her. He thought wrong. The red tail behind her suddenly swung to the right and her body immediately changed directions as if a huge wind pushed her away from Atlan''s hands. Her tail allowed her to have omnidirectional movement in the air! He watched, unable to do anything, as she moved in mid-air as fast as she could on land. Once she dodged Atlan''s attack, her tail suddenly swung back again and pushed her right toward his body, allowing her to scratch his side and deal a couple of minutes of SoulTime. Without manifesting his Angel Wings, he was helpless against a battle in mid-air. He quickly fell to the ground, landing on his knees as he held the side of his stomach. Lizzie''s attacks were strong enough to pierce through the very thin layer of skin in his body, but nothing further. She made sure not to target any of his vital parts so that he''d be able to regenerate his injuries just a few minutes later. "Why are you doing this?" Atlan asked her. He thought she''d only be teaching him the basics about mutation, but all she did was attack him without explaining anything. Suddenly, she appeared in front of him. And for some reason, Atlan thought he was looking at a different person. Aside from her feline mutations, there wasn''t much that changed her physical appearance. She still had the same features as she had when she was in her human form. However, her countenance and attitude were completely different from before. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Her eyes, which were usually filled with kindness and wisdom, were replaced with a sense of wildness that was only enhanced by her feline features. There was a sense of spiciness in her face. Her usual straight posture was gone. She was slightly arched back, with her hips pushed forward and bent to the side. She had one hand on her hip, creating a visually striking flair that was completely uncharacteristic of what he knew about Lizzie. She walked towards him, with her leg going over the other in a straight line. Her hips swayed subtly as her arms naturally swung to her side. Atlan had to admit. He was a little bit intimidated by the current Lizzie. He was planning on teasing her, but it looked like he was the one being teased. "You''ve been a bad man¡­a very very bad man." "Have I?" Atlan retreated until he found the wall to his back. "Yes," she said as she stroked his cheek with her long nails. "Just because you advanced so fast in your stages, you think you can play me around like that?" Lizzie swayed her head to the side and smiled at him. "You''re lucky, you''re cute. Or else, I would have torn you apart." When she mentioned his fast advancement, he suddenly noticed something in her body that made him audibly gasp out loud. He deactivated his Physique LifeSkill and used his Thermal Vision to look at her entire body. Aside from the dangerous curves on her body, he saw no sign of LifeSkill heat emanating from her body! He couldn''t believe it. In all the times that she played with him and made him feel like a child, she never even used her LifeSkill power! "You¡­you''re not using your LifeSkill?" Lizzie smiled. "Took you long enough to notice, Star Porter. That''s right. All I''ve been using this entire time is my mutation." She then walked up closer to him and whispered in his ears. "And you want to know another secret?" He looked at her. "What?" "I''m only at the 1st stage Student realm¡­" To say he was shocked into silence was an understatement. He just looked at her for an entire five seconds of silence as he tried to understand her words. "Even when I''m only at the 1st stage, I can perform missions at the high Pre-Intern stages. Do you want to know why?" The revelations she kept giving to him were too much information to process. He couldn''t understand why she was only at the 1st stage Student realm and still be rated as a Savior in the Pre-Intern realm. It didn''t make sense. "The answer is my mutation. My feline bloodline allows me to have power that is equivalent to someone in the Pre-Intern stage." "A mutation¡­is that powerful?" He never knew that a mutation could bridge the gap between an entire realm! He thought he was already powerful by stomping Canzers rated above his level, but he didn''t know that there was someone even more impressive than him! If mutations were so powerful, then why were people even bothering to improve their LifeSkills? And if he was so popular for performing missions two stages above his level, then why hadn''t he heard anything about Lizzie and her ability to perform missions an entire realm above her LifeSkill? Then, it finally clicked. There was a reason why Lizzie knew someone as famous as Custodire, who was an indirect Masamune descendant in the Specialist realm. There was a reason why Lizzie was allowed to be in the emergency meeting alongside the Elder Heads and the Specialist Saviors. She had always been special. And Atlan was way too close to her to even notice it. "A mutation is powerful, but only a select few can fully harness their power. I am one of the best." Without even letting Atlan have a moment to consolidate all the new information he just learned, Lizzie started attacking him with slashes and cuts aimed straight at his body. Atlan was forced to stumble around trying to protect himself. He couldn''t see her, which meant he couldn''t dodge her attacks. And with his Thermal Vision, he saw her body barely even lit up. She wasn''t using her LifeSkill. He was forced to rely on his quick reflexes and physique defenses to guard against her imperceptible attacks. And just as Atlan was about to land one attack on her after missing a hundred, she suddenly wrapped her legs around his head and tackled him to the ground. Atlan found himself being straddled by a wild, feline, Lizzie. Chapter 199 - 199: Synergy of mutations "You''ve got a lot to learn, boy." It was hard to believe that a mutation could make a 1st stage Student become as strong as a Pre-Intern Savior. However, the evidence was staring him in the eyes, specifically cat eyes. With how easily she overpowered him, there was no doubt in his mind that she was someone who could complete Pre-Intern missions with ease. The only way he''d be able to go toe to toe against her was if he used his Blood Transformation LifeSkill. But even then, he didn''t know if it would have been enough; she wasn''t even using her katars in this fight! "Are you going to teach me?" Lizzie pushed her body closer to his and shushed him with one of her long nails. "In time. Don''t be impatient. We''re just starting to have fun." Atlan wasn''t used to this kind of Lizzie. She was¡­dominating. He didn''t hate this new her. She then took his hand and made him touch her soft and fluffy cat ears. "There are a lot of freaks with multiple mutations from different Genuses, and I think they''re just wasting their body spaces. Look at me. I only have feline mutations all over my body, now and in the future." She rubbed her whiskered cheeks on his hand. "I''ll be benevolent and tell you a secret. Mutations can increase each other''s power by multiple times as long as they are from the same Genus!" Atlan was curious with her words. "Is that why you have all cat parts on your body?" She nodded. "Yes! My first mutation is my cat eyes. Originally, I was only able to see things as far as 20 meters out, but once I got my cat ears, it changed to 40 meters. And once I got my whiskers, it changed to 80 meters. It continued to multiply by two with each cat mutation I obtained until I could see almost 500 meters out with crystal clear clarity! Not only that, all those subsequent mutations also benefited from the synergy of all my feline parts." Lizzie put her hands on his chest and dug in her claws. "I told you earlier that a 4-star mutation was stronger than a 7-star mutation. Can you tell me why?" Atlan felt her claws dig deep into his chest with each second he remained silent. Unless he figured out the answer to her question quick, then she would continue to claw her way to his heart. He fell silent for a few seconds until he finally found a reason. "Is it because a 4-star mutation can be easily obtained rather than a 7-star mutation?" Lizzie smiled and said, "Good job," as she licked her fingers and stroked his chest. Her feline saliva somehow closed to wounds on his skin and prevented further leakage on his SoulTime. "You can obtain ten 4-star mutations before you can get two 7-star mutations. By then, the person with the ten mutations, all at synergy with each other, will overpower the one with only one 7-star mutation by a large margin. Even if that person has ten 7-star mutations, but from different Genuses, then they would still lose against the synergy from the 4-star mutation. The synergy of mutations is that powerful." "Is that why you chose the 5-star feline mutation?" he asked her. "It''s high enough to be considered a high rarity bloodline, while also being easy enough to get mutations with." She nodded, satisfied with his answer. "Yes. My goal in this life is to fill my whole body with mutations, turning myself into a full feline! Of course, this is not an easy task. I don''t think I can fill 50% of my body with mutations for at least a couple of hundred years. But once I obtain mutations on 100% of my body and reach perfect mastery over all of them, then I am sure that I can perform Specialist-level missions all by myself! I''ll stand a head above Specialist Saviors. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I will do that, with only a 1st stage Student power LifeSkill, thereby proving the superiority of mutations to the world!" Atlan didn''t know that Lizzie had a passion for her mutations. She was so dedicated to her mutations that she was willing to let her LifeSkill stay at the very lowest level and only focus on improving her body mutations. That took a different level of courage and guts that Atlan was definitely impressed with. This was the first time he saw a hint of insanity in Lizzie, but it was the kind of craziness that was attractive. The fact that she was able to prove herself as a Savior with the strength of a Pre-Intern with only her mutations said a lot about dedication and her hard work. He wasn''t the only one who noticed her talent. Custodire, Ninth, the Elder Heads, and a lot of other people noticed Lizzie''s powerful mutations, and that was the reason why she was so well-known among the high-ranking Saviors. She was a pioneer in the area. She inspired other Saviors to invest more of their time and energy into their mutations as opposed to solely focusing on LifeSkills. And she did all of that within a hundred years. She was a talent that was on par with geniuses, but she was largely overlooked by the general public because they didn''t know about the true power of mutations. They only know that she was a 1st stage Student, and thought nothing of her. The more he thought about Lizzie, the more he desired the power of mutations. "Tell me how." Lizzie smiled when she heard that. "Mutations are like muscles, they need to be stretched and broken before they are rebuilt to something better and stronger. That is mastery. Most people think that mastery can only be achieved through hard work, patience, and time. That isn''t exactly wrong, but it''s not the most efficient way to achieve it. For you to achieve mastery over your mutation, then you have to sacrifice something." Chapter 200 - 200: Mastery of mutations "What is it?" "Your experience." What experience? My Soul System experience? "Most Saviors cherish their experience like gold. They hoard it until they have enough to advance to the next level. They don''t care if they have to go through tens of missions every month, as long as they earn enough experience, then they''ll do anything to get it. Now, if you tell them that they have to ''waste'' their experience on their mutation that only gives them a partial increase in strength, they would look at you as if you were insane. I would know; I''ve tried and failed to convince hundreds of Saviors to improve their mutation like I have. If they were given a choice between increasing the mastery of their mutation or increasing their LifeSkill by one stage, then they would most certainly choose the latter. A LifeSkill''s jump in power with each stage is very prominent. It makes them feel as if they have become two times stronger than they were before. And compared to what a mutation would give them, their improvement would only be a fraction of that. It is logical for them to be hesitant to use up their valuable experience for a mere 1% increase in their fighting capability. That is why most, if not all, Saviors treat mutations as nothing more than an extra weapon. But what they fail to understand is that mutations are like an extra body that is capable of having a different power equivalent to that of a new LifeSkill! And if you have multiple mutations, you''ll basically be a Savior with multiple LifeSkills. Imagine that! Of course, to achieve that level of power, they would have to sacrifice a lot of experience, effort, and time to do so. Most people simply aren''t that patient. They want the instant gratification of the advancement of a LifeSkill, as opposed to the slow growth of the mutation." Atlan finally understood why she stayed in the 1st stage Student realm. "You use all the experience you get from missions to increase the mastery of your mutation?" he asked her. Her cat ears wiggled separately. "Yes. By remaining in the 1st stage Student realm and completing missions in the Pre-Intern realm, the experience that I get is multiple times more than the normal Savior. It allows me to sustain the tremendous amount of experience points needed by my multiple mutations." As she explained, Atlan secretly tried to struggle away from her grasp, but any movement he made was completely grasped by her vertical cat eyes. She pushed him down harder. "What exactly is mastery?" he tried to distract her. "Just like the name implies, it is how much control you have over the foreign part of your body. The more control you have, the more you can use the full potential of the mutation you have. For new mutations like yours, it starts as 0% mastery. And as you improve and improve, you''ll eventually end up at the first barrier at 10% mastery." Atlan looked down at his Soul System and saw all of his mutations floating in the darkness of space. His Angel Wings that shined brightly in the dark, and the reddish black orb of his Gluttonous Soul towered over every single one of his mutations. Their superiority over everything was borne from their 10-star rarity. Down below was a severed chitinous mouth symbolizing his Canzer Mother Tongue that allowed him to understand all Canzer languages. Next to it was what Atlan assumed to be a voice box belonging to a Pseudo Canzer, symbolizing his Pseudo Canzer Whisperer mutation, allowing him to speak to their kind. A tall obelisk made out of obsidian symbolized his Sapient Canzer Polyglot mutation, allowing him to speak the language of Sapient Canzers. The last was a single leaf with its stomata open, ready to receive daylight and convert it into energy. This symbolized his Photosynthesis mutation that gave him 1 year of SoulTime with every second he spent in the sun. And when Atlan tried to use his blue wisps of experience to increase their ''mastery'' as she said, nothing happened. The blue wisps simply collided with his mutations in the Soul System and did not affect it a single bit. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "How do I increase my mastery?" She smiled, showing a bit of the sharp canine teeth in her mouth. "It''s the same as how you obtain mastery over any skill. You learn from experience, figuratively and literally. You need to fight an opponent and defeat them using solely your mutations, and nothing else. You cannot use your LifeSkill." The requirement to master a mutation was completely strict. Atlan was surprised by that. Ever since he was drafted, he was taught by everyone he knew that he should practice his LifeSkills as often as he could. In time, he could create a Giant Hand in his Soul System and activate his LifeSkill almost instantaneously without even any effort. To achieve that, Atlan had to build a habit of always using his LifeSkill in every fight he was in. Now, Lizzie was telling him that he should forget that built-up muscle memory, and only use his mutation. That was tremendously hard, to say the least. After all, he spent so much time trying to hide his mutations from everyone because all of his mutations were far too powerful for him to have obtained through normal means. He didn''t know how the Operators would react if they saw that his Wing mutation was emanating Angel Power. He''d have a hard time only using his mutation in a fight against the Canzers. "I can''t use anything else?" "Weapons are fine as long as they have good synergy with your mutations. Katars, for example, are perfect for my feline mutations and help me fight with a cat-like dexterity. But a two-handed sword will completely hinder my fighting skills. But absolutely no LifeSkills, or even mutations that do not have a synergy with your current mutation. If you want to increase the mastery of your mouse mutation, then you definitely can''t use your owl mutation in the fight. Those two Genus are predator and prey in the wild. They can''t synergize. You have to prove to yourself that your mutation alone is enough¡ªthat it is powerful enough to defeat your enemies. Once you have done that, you will have a window of opportunity in your Soul System where you can pour your experience inside them and increase their mastery." Chapter 201 - 201: Catch me if you can Atlan looked at his list of mutations and saw that most of them were completely useless in a battle. Three of them were solely used for talking and understanding Canzers. Unless he could kill them with words, then Atlan didn''t think he could use those in a fight. His Photosynthesis mutation was a little bit better as it could heal his injuries at a tremendously fast rate. He would gain an entire year of SoulTime with just one second of activating it. Of course, he was limited by the fact that it was hard to maintain. The only mutation that he could use was his Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings, but even that only gave him a boost in speed and maneuverability in mid-air. None of his mutations had any sort of explosive firepower that he could use to defeat an enemy. How can I defeat enemies using solely my mutations? "Let''s start our training session," said Lizzie with a devious hint in her tone. She got up off Atlan and walked away from him, with her hips swaying left and right rhythmically. She looked back at him and said, "Your only goal is to catch me, and nothing else. Don''t worry, I will be holding back my power to just a little bit above your own. It is your job to try and overcome your limit and ''defeat'' me. You can punch me, you can tackle me, you can kick me, anything is possible as long as you can take me down. It will count as a victory for you if you can use only your mutation. I know you got a high rarity mutation from the Vineyard, Pterina told me that she gave you a golden ticket. Don''t worry, you don''t have to show your mutation to me. It is imperative that you don''t. For you to sense just a glimpse of your mutation''s true power, then you must not manifest your mutation in your body. You must hide it, and only use the passive boost in power to triumph over me." Atlan got up off the floor. The only usable mutation he had in his arsenal right now was his Angel Wing mutation. He didn''t know how he''d be able to use it without using it. Her words were a riddle, and he had no idea how to solve it. "Remember, you must not use your LifeSkill. No matter how much your guts or your instincts tell you to activate your Physique LifeSkill to defend against my attacks, don''t. In under any circumstance, do not do it." Atlan took her words to heart and readied himself. "I''ll be lowering my strength to about the same level as a 4th stage Student." With the passive boost in speed given to him by his wings, he reckoned he would be able to keep up with a speedster at the 3rd stage Student. Unless he could use his Physique LifeSkill or manifest his Angel Wings behind his back, he didn''t know how to bridge the disparity between their strengths. "What are you waiting for¡ª" Just as she said that, Atlan immediately rushed towards her, with his hands outstretched and ready to catch her shoulders. Unfortunately for him, Lizzie wasn''t caught off guard. She smoothly turned around and ducked away from his grip. She stretched her legs and swept Atlan off his feet. Atlan, with no physical defense from his Physique, was left stumbling down to his knees. This allowed Lizzie to run behind him and give him a long scratch mark from his right shoulder to his left hip. He ignored the pain and tried to catch her, but his kneeled position gave him no freedom to reach behind him. Knowing this disadvantage, Atlan stood up and raised both his fists to protect his face. But that wasn''t what she was targeting. He saw a blur run past him as she reached down for his leg and bit his thigh, sinking her canine teeth deep into his muscle. Atlan tried to kick her, but she overpowered him with a classic cat swat. She was completely faster and stronger than he was just by a slight margin. It was enough for him to get close to her, but never be able to reach her because of the difference in speed. Atlan was almost tempted to kick the ground with his Physique LifeSkill, but he stopped himself at the last second. A habit''s hard to kill, he thought. Another scratch straight through his collarbones reminded him that this was no time to contemplate. She was relentless and gave him no respite. She was forcing him to his very limits. Atlan thought he saw a brief opening as she had her back turned against him. He dove towards her legs, hoping to catch her unprotected. But just as he got close, Lizzie jumped up and perfectly landed on his back with her thighs on his shoulders. She straddled his head, putting her legs over his neck and squeezing it with a lot of pressure. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan tried to get out of her grip, but she stayed on his head no matter how hard he tried to shake her off. Atlan had no choice but to run straight towards the wall and try to ram her to it. Lizzie, as expected, quickly let go of her legs strangling his neck. She jumped from his shoulders and somersaulted backward. Atlan immediately used the wall to rebound back, intending to catch Lizzie as she was about to land on the ground. But as Lizzie saw Atlan''s move while flipping in mid-air, she simply smiled and shook her head. The tail on her back suddenly rotated and pointed upwards, allowing her momentum to completely change from falling to rising! She changed her direction in mid-air, allowing her to suddenly move 4 feet upwards when she was already at the downward momentum of her somersault. She basically performed a double jump! Atlan was left grasping on nothing but the air as Lizzie jumped on top of his head and skipped away from him. "You''re still not using your mutation to their true potential." Chapter 202 - 202: Facilitator of power "How am I supposed to use my mutation without bringing it out?" Lizzie turned into nothing but a blur as she attacked Atlan from the front. Atlan quickly put up his two arms as a guard on his entire torso, which successfully blocked her claws and only damaged his arms. But Lizzie didn''t take a second longer as she slipped past him and disappeared from his view. Atlan turned around, but she followed his movements perfectly and stayed behind him, out of sight. He faked turning around and waited a second for her to run in front of him, but it seemed that she was wise to his tricks too. She pounced on his head and gave him a little tap on his hair, just enough for him to feel a little bit disoriented. Whichever way he went, she was always one step ahead of him. He couldn''t get a grasp on where she was, therefore he was unable to completely dodge away from her attacks. If she was being completely serious, she could have whittled away at his SoulTime by a large margin. Instead, she used only a fraction of her power to train him with intensity without compromising his health for the upcoming mission. If Atlan got injured from this training session, then it would be the complete opposite of her original intention. She wanted to train him because she wanted him to survive the trip to the Remedium. "Ask yourself this question. Is it the mutation that gives you power, or something else?" "What do you mean?" Atlan asked as he kicked towards the blur to his right. But Lizzie skillfully arced her body so far above what was possible from human anatomy and slipped away from Atlan''s kick. "Do you think that a normal cat could see far above 500 meters away with crystal clear clarity? Do you think their whiskers allow them to sense danger before they even happen? Do you think their tails allow them to defy the laws of physics and change their direction in mid-air?" Lizzie appeared behind Atlan and gave him a small bite on the neck and kicked him away from her afterward. Atlan held his neck and thought about her words. She''s right. The body part that we acquire is completely different from the body part of the original species. They have different capabilities, with the mutation becoming so much more powerful than what was possible. "So ask yourself this question. Is the body part giving you that power, or something else?" Atlan felt like he was slowly unraveling the secrets of a mutation. If what she said was right, then mutations were so much more than an alien body part spliced into a human body. They were more like LifeSkills with physical manifestations in reality than simply a strange new limb. As he was thinking, he saw a blur in the corner of his eye and immediately ducked down. He was able to dodge away from her claws for the first time. But Lizzie simply extended her clawed feet and kicked down towards his head. Atlan raised his hand to defend himself but when her attack hit his palms, he was surprised to feel a tremendous amount of force from her kick. It was enough to push Atlan a few meters away, with his shoes skidding on the metal flooring below. He looked at his palms and saw three claw marks embedded into the skin. Lizzie''s tail was still swinging behind her as she landed back on the floor. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She used her ''double jump'' to accelerate downwards and add more power to her kick! Even when he could anticipate her moves, he was still unable to catch even a thread of her battle suit. If I could use my Mage LifeSkill, I could trap her in the black web within just one second. Then, it hit him. His train of thought led him to think about Mages and their LifeSkill. Back in the Remedium Training Hall, he saw Mages wielding strange wooden wands instead of metal weapons like the other Saviors. He thought that those wands were a standard weapon for Mages, but then, his experience in the Masamune Heat Wave mission allowed him to fight alongside three 6th-stage Student Mages. They didn''t use wands. Instead, they uttered different sets of phrases before their magical spells were manifested in reality. If he were to ask Lizzie''s question with regards to Mages, then¡­ Are the wands the one filled with LifeSkill power or is it the person? Are the chants the ones filled with power? The answer to his questions was a resounding no. It wasn''t the wand, nor was it the chanting¡ªit was the Mage. If a Mage didn''t have a wand and didn''t chant their spell, then they could still create a magical power. It would take a lot more time to create it, but they would still be able to create it nonetheless. But if a normal person were to use the wand and chant some spells, they would never be able to manifest a magical power no matter how much time they put into it. If Atlan were to equate that to Lizzie''s mutations, then the wand/chanting was her cat ears, the ability to hear everything around a 500-meter radius was the spell. This meant that even without her cat ears, she could still hear everything within 500 meters, but it would only be a little bit harder to do. Atlan stopped and stood up straight. "The mutation is only the facilitator of power." Lizzie stopped in her tracks and smiled once she heard Atlan''s realization. "That is right, Atlan. I am proud of you for getting that concept so fast. The mutations in your body only help you achieve the hidden power in your bloodline! You can get more power from your mutation, you just haven''t pushed it far enough. It is a matter of persistence. You have to push and push, and if that still isn''t enough, then you push even harder. At some point, your mutation will respond. It will give you more power, allowing you to control its capabilities without having to manifest it in reality. The best part about this is that it won''t get tired. You can use that power for as long as you like because it is not manifested in reality." Chapter 203 - 203: Trying to touch the box Atlan liked the idea of increasing his base speed permanently. If he could harness a fraction of his speed when he used his Angel Wings, then he''d be able to catch Lizzie in a matter of seconds. She wouldn''t even see a blur. The problem lay in the fact that it was easier said than done. He understood the concept of pushing something past its limits. It was just like pushing a very heavy box up a hill. Sure, it''s hard to move the box and it would only get harder and harder as he went up, but at least he would know that he was progressing. The task presented to him by Lizzie was like pushing a very heavy box up a hill, but he didn''t even know where the box was. How could he start the arduous task of pushing the box up, when he couldn''t even lay his eyes on it? "I don''t know how to do that," admitted Atlan. Lizzie smiled. "It''s fine. This is what the training session is for. If you can''t get a grasp of your hidden mutation, then I will be the one to push you to your limits instead. Get ready for a beating." Her words turned out to be prophetic as she continued her barrage of clawed attacks at Atlan''s body. Atlan defended his side using his already injured arm and tried to catch her limb with his other arm, but she was already gone to target his legs before he could even extend his hand towards her. This pattern would continue, with Atlan completely helpless as his entire body got filled with cuts and reddened claw marks. She was relentless and gave him no chance to rest. It started to get on his nerves. Her attacks didn''t even hurt him physically. Her claws were as light as a love tap and only cost him a few minutes of his SoulTime in total, but the fact that he couldn''t even do anything from her continuous attacks got him riled up. With every move he had, she anticipated it. With every attack he tried to dodge, she would target another part. Every time he tried to catch her, she would always slip past him by a very slim margin. Atlan ran along the walls to prevent any more attacks from her, but she clawed the walls and ran along the walls above him. The martial arts he learned from previous fights were of no use against her. His kicking ability, which was his most confident strength, was rendered useless because of her slipperiness. What was frustrating for him was the fact that he already knew her moves. With his memory, he was able to grasp what sort of movements she made. She was like a cat. Her first move would be a burst of speed accompanied by a direct attack. As he tried to defend himself from this attack, she would move over to his blind spot. By then, she would lay in wait, with her legs and feet on the ground, ready to pounce for her next target. He dissected her moves in his head. He could even copy her moves if he wanted to, but without her mutation, it would only leave him vulnerable. He could see the weaknesses in her move set. He theoretically knew where he could catch her off guard. He knew that his best chance to catch her was the moment when she repositioned herself after she just finished attacking him. But everything was useless if she was faster than him. With her cat eyes, ears, and whiskers, no amount of feints or tactics could catch her off guard. The only way he''d be able to overpower her was if he was faster than her. Atlan resorted to wildly swinging his arms, hoping that his randomness would be able to even graze her just by a little bit. But, it was no use. Slowly, he started to get annoyed. He wanted to get faster, just so that he could finally catch her slippery body. He wasn''t even thinking about his mutations anymore. She didn''t give him any chance to think¡ªhe was forced to just¡­do. She kept weaving left and right, bouncing up and down, and doing everything she could to overwhelm him with attacks that he had no chance of ever dodging away from. His black battle suit slowly got torn into pieces, showing his skin and the cuts on his body. Lizzie bent her body low on the ground, with her upper body and head almost scraping the floor, and her lower body was tilted up. She was about to pounce. He knew what he was about to do, and he knew that he wasn''t going to be able to do anything about it. She knew that too. That''s why she didn''t care if she choreographed her moves to him. She was going to pounce up and give him a little tap on the head and bite him in the neck. It already happened several times before, and he was always helpless to defend against it. He was always one step too slow or too fast to avoid her attack. And in his desperation, Atlan stopped thinking and just went for it. Even though he knew that he wasn''t fast enough to charge towards her as she pounced, he still did it. All he had in his mind was a desire to be faster, to be quicker than he was before. Suddenly, the world around him turned silent. He couldn''t hear the sound of her claws scraping against the metal flooring, he couldn''t hear her playful teasing, he couldn''t even hear the nervous beating of his heart¡ªhe heard nothing at all. The white walls of the training room disappeared from his view. All he could see was the figure of Lizzie, with a slight grin on her face, ready to pounce towards him. She was his target. He dove forward by mere instinct. And somehow, his movements felt more natural than before. He wasn''t thinking about how to outsmart her, he wasn''t thinking about how to defend her, he was only thinking about catching her. As he felt his body reach towards her, he felt complete control over his body. If he wanted to, he could get faster than before. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And so he did. He accelerated towards her. This was the first time he experienced this. He was in a flow state; he was in the zone. Chapter 204 - 204: Catching the cat In his desire to get faster than he''d ever been before, he was able to tap into a power hidden deep in his body¡ªin his very DNA. Speed was supposed to come from the legs. It was supposed to be a factor in how much force he pushed the ground with his legs. But somehow, as he had his hand outstretched towards Lizzie''s pouncing position, his body started accelerating at an even faster rate than before. Yet, both of his legs were off the ground. This was supposed to be impossible. He felt a force from behind him push him forward. He felt the world turn slower. The blur he saw from before was now crystal clear. He could see Lizzie''s changing expression from a sly smile to a shocked expression. He could see her whiskers vibrate as she realized that he was getting fast enough to catch her before she could even pounce toward him. He could see the red tail behind her start to spin, allowing her to have a burst of momentum that pushed her backward. Lizzie jumped up and away from him like a spooked cat, but Atlan already anticipated her move. He stepped on the ground to catch up to her. And if someone looked at his foot clearly, his shoes were levitating just a few centimeters away from the ground! But even so, he was still able to burst forth to chase Lizzie before she could get away. Lizzie looked at Atlan''s face and saw his absent-minded eyes. Is he in the zone?! She quickly turned around and bent down on all fours, using both her feet and her arms to run on the ground. She buried her claws in the flooring and created more force for her to push forward. This was the fastest speed she''d ever been in, and it was something that Atlan couldn''t even see before. He would only see a blur. So, she thought she would have gotten rid of him. But, her whiskers suddenly wriggled on her cheeks. It alerted her of a dangerous threat coming towards her at fast speeds. She didn''t have to look back to know that Atlan''s hands were just mere inches away from her shoulders. She used her tail to suddenly change directions by turning a sharp right. Her mutation allowed her to keep her speed and momentum even while she turned 90 degrees. And just like before, she used this opportunity to take another sharp turn and end up behind Atlan to slip past into his blind spot. Only then could she control the pace of this battle. But as she turned, she only saw Atlan''s palms outstretched towards her face. She visibly gasped and quickly used her tail to retreat once again. I can''t even get to his blind spot anymore! Somehow, not only was Atlan fast enough to keep up with her four-legged sprint, but also her near-perfect agility! She couldn''t understand how he was able to turn sideways like her without losing any speed or drifting forward. He didn''t have any cat tail to help him perform those feats! Lizzie sprinted through the room, changing directions completely at random. Yet, somehow, Atlan was able to keep up with her all the same. She couldn''t even try to claw at him anymore. She knew that any time she tried to get close to him, he would take that opportunity to catch her in the act. Her only choice was to run. She had to run until the two-hour mark was finished. Only then could she discourage Atlan from partaking in the mission. But her whiskers and her ears were telling her that Atlan was getting even faster! If she were to run straight ahead, Atlan would be able to catch up to her in just a second! She had to resort to zigzagging through the room, changing her directions any time he was able to catch up to her. As she ran, her whiskers once again trembled. This time, her feline instincts kicked in and she turned around and swatted the hand that was about to catch her shoulders. Atlan''s hand was reflected away, but it didn''t take him a second to stretch his other hand and try to grab her in the air. Lizzie had no choice but to escape upwards. She elongated the claws in her hands and used them to scale the high walls of the training room. Once she was near the top, she jumped up using her legs and pierced her hand claws to the ceiling, allowing her to stay in the corner. She looked down and saw Atlan stop at the very edge of the wall. He had no claws to help him climb up the tall wall like her. She thought she''d be able to have a few minutes of rest up in the ceiling, but then, she suddenly saw him walking backward until he had his back against the wall. He bent down and put his hands on the floor, like a sprinter about to start a race. This gave her a bad feeling. There''s no way he''d be able to do it, right? Atlan served to prove her wrong by running towards the opposite wall with his fastest speed. It was a speed that would have caught Lizzie in a straight race. It only took him a fraction of a second to reach the opposite wall. But he didn''t stop. He continued running until he raised his leg and kicked the wall, allowing him to run upwards using the momentum he gathered from the sprint. Lizzie couldn''t hide the shock in her face as Atlan ran up the wall, about to reach her. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She had no choice but to retract her claws from the ceiling and let herself fall to the ground. But on the way down, she was intercepted by Atlan who jumped from the wall towards her to catch her in mid-air. She already anticipated this and used her tail''s ability, ''double jump'' to push herself forward and evade his arms. At least, she thought she did. But a fraction of a second later, she suddenly felt his arms wrap around her waist, catching her in mid-air. She looked back at him in surprise, and he looked at her with pure elation in his face. He did it. Chapter 205 - 205: Closing window The two of them fell to the floor. DUGG They landed on the ground, with their enhanced bodies protecting them from the fall. The training room went silent, with nothing but heavy breathing and panting coming out of their mouths. Lizzie looked up at Atlan, with her face flushed and her breathing heavy. Atlan was on top of her, with sweat on his forehead but a smile on his face. They looked at each other for a few seconds until Lizzie let go of the mutations in her body. Her aggressive vertical eyes slowly turned back to her meek round eyes. Her whiskers slowly merged back to her cheeks. Her cat ears flopped before sinking back into her hair. Her tail swayed back and forth before disappearing on her back. The dominance and assertiveness were gone, and she was back to her old self. With how close their faces were, Lizzie had to avert her eyes and speak in a hushed tone to Atlan. "You¡­you did it. You pushed your limits." Atlan looked back at her. "It''s all thanks to you." The adrenaline in his body kept him breathing heavily. He couldn''t forget the sense of focus and clarity he felt during that time. It allowed him to hone in on the hidden power in his body. "Is it a wing mutation?" she asked him. That was the only explanation she could come up with to explain his ability to not only have a tremendous amount of speed but also maneuverability in the air. She was supposed to have evaded his arms in the air with her ''double jump'', but Atlan followed her change in direction perfectly and was able to catch her. He wouldn''t be able to do that if he didn''t have a mutation that helped him maneuver in the air. "Yes. It''s a Wing mutation." He didn''t tell her that it was an Angel Wing mutation. She didn''t need to know that. "Did you feel it? The power of your wings?" Atlan thought back to that feeling¡ªthat urge to go faster. His desire for that power allowed him to tap into a hidden source, which he now understood to be his Angel Genus. The Angel Genus deep in his Soul System recreated the Angel Wings power and supplied him with its power. This allowed him to wield a fraction of its power without manifesting it in real life. "It was my Genus that gave me power." She nodded. "Yes. A mutation comes from the Genus, so it is only natural that it would be the one to unlock the hidden potential of your mutation. Now, you will be able to wield a portion of your mutation using only your base body." Atlan went silent for a second. Questions kept popping up in his head. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "How? When I sped up, I briefly thought I was using my Wings to fly and accelerate, but I clearly wasn''t. It was weird. It felt like my Wings were simultaneously present and absent at the same time." Lizzie understood that feeling. "It is similar to phantom limb pain. Back in the olden days, when people could not regenerate lost limbs, there was a strange phenomenon that happened to those who lost a leg or an arm in a war. Sometimes, they would feel pain on their lost leg, even though there was no leg for them to feel pain on. They would feel a painful tingling sensation on their ''phantom limb''. Their brains are convinced that there is still a limb on their stump. The principle for mutations remains the same. You have to convince your brain, in this case, your Genus, to supply your body with the power of the mutation, even though the mutation is not manifested in real life." Atlan felt a phantom Angel Wings behind him, always supplying him with speed any time he needed it. But, he would need time to get used to it. "Now that you have defeated an opponent using only your mutation, you will now have an opportunity to allocate experience points to your mutation and increase your mastery." Atlan closed his eyes and focused on his Soul System. He saw the gathering of the blue wisps of experience into one giant fuzzy ball. He commanded a few of them to leave in a line and surround the Angel Wings floating in the darkness of the space in his Soul System. The blue wisps bombarded the Angel Wings, but instead of getting absorbed, they were only repelled or bounced back in different directions. He couldn''t find a way to put experience in his mutation. "I can''t do it." "It''s okay," she assured him. "Just focus on trying to mold your experience points into something that can penetrate your mutations." Atlan tried to melt his blue wisps into one giant ball and condensed them into the smallest sphere he could make them. But when he threw this ball of experience to the Angel Wings, they disintegrated into the small blue wisps and dispersed. Nothing got absorbed. "You have to concentrate. This window of opportunity will not last long." Atlan molded his experience into a giant spear and tried to pierce through the Angel Wings but to no avail. He thought that the problem lay in the Angel Wings, not in his method. So, he tried to do it again to the other mutations. He tried it with his 10-star Gluttonous Soul and his other lower-rarity mutations. However, they led him to the same result. No matter what he did, the mutation would always repel the blue wisps and reject their entry. Lizzie looked at Atlan''s face and saw him struggling to complete this task all by himself. Even the heat in his body was slowly dissipating as it cooled down. This was bad news. It would only be a matter of a few minutes until the window of opportunity would close. The next time it would open was if Atlan defeated another opponent using only his mutation. She had to help him. "Fine," she said as she looked away in embarrassment. "This will mean nothing, okay? You must not tell anybody about this." Atlan opened his eyes. "What do you¡ª" But before he could continue his question¡­ Lizzie put her lips on his. Chapter 206 - 206: Kiss Warning: explicit depictions of kissing. If you do not want to read this, you can skip this chapter. Atlan felt the softness of her lips lock onto his. It was warm. He could feel every nervous quiver in her lips as she puckered up and opened her mouth. He felt lightning pass through his spine and envelop his whole body. This was the very first time he''d been this close¡ªthis intimate¡ªwith someone. His heart must have beat a thousand times per second. He was nervous, excited, and euphoric all at the same time. He didn''t even feel this way when he was fighting against Canzers higher than his level. He didn''t even feel this way when he squared off against the God of Death in his draft. Locking lips with someone was a foreign sensation for him, yet somehow, it felt like he''d been waiting for it for all his life. She pushed her soft but firm lips into his, sending butterflies to his stomach. Atlan opened his mouth to envelop her lips and feel that sensation again. He wanted more. He pulled his head closer to hers and moved his mouth to playfully bite her lips. Her eyes opened in surprise as she looked at Atlan. She pounded her fists on his chest in protest, but she didn''t take her lips away from him. Atlan took this as a sign to move his mouth even more aggressively, kissing her with more passion and wildness. His breath got heavier, and so did hers. They both closed their eyes and only felt the sensation of each other''s parts on their bodies. Atlan, in his inexperience and his craving for her lips, got a little bit too rough with his kiss. He bumped her head on the flooring. She tapped his chest and communicated with her eyes for him to slow down and take it easy. As much as he wanted to kiss her more, he knew that he had to be a little more caring with his moves. This was the time when he learned that ladies liked to be cared for. With this one mistake, he thought she would stop kissing him. But instead, she escalated the passion and heat. She put her tongue in his mouth. She raised her hands and put them over his neck as she kissed him with even more affection and intimacy. A new sensation filled his mind. As her tongue entwined with his, the texture of moistness and softness exploded into his life as if he had just discovered a new color. He never knew that kissing with tongues would give him such ecstasy and excitement. His tongue was laid there, with her mouth laying on top of it, and retracting it. Atlan copied her actions and playfully massaged her tongue with his. He didn''t know how much time had passed, but he knew that he wanted this time to last forever. If he was stuck locking lips with Lizzie for the rest of the day, then he would consider that a good one. Just then, he felt something cold enter his body. Atlan was familiar with this sensation. He immediately looked down at his Soul System and saw a new swarm of blue wisps enter the darkness of his space. These experience points were not here originally. He didn''t earn these experience points from reaping deaths. It was then that he finally understood. These blue wisps came from Lizzie. This was even more evident with the fact that he had absolutely no control over these experience points, yet they moved as if someone was controlling them. He didn''t know which one to focus on. Did he want to continue kissing Lizzie, or did he want to figure out what these blue wisps were for? As he focused on his Soul System, Lizzie didn''t stop caressing his tongue with hers. She kept intertwining it with his, with their salivas making the rubbing of their tongues smooth and pleasant. As she moved her tongue forward, the blue wisps moved forward. When she moved her tongue back, the blue wisps retreated. She was controlling the experience points with her kiss! Atlan finally knew the reason why she kissed him. She''s helping me put experience in my mutation¡­ Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lizzie continued kissing Atlan, manipulating the blue wisps visiting his Soul System. He watched as she slowly maneuvered the experience points to close into his mutations. Then, she stopped. She tried to push the blue wisps forward, but they would always miss the manifestations of his mutations. She can''t see my mutations¡­ If she couldn''t see the mutations, then she wouldn''t be able to put the experience to his mutation. I need to help her. Atlan found a new reason to be a little bit more aggressive with his tongue as he kissed her. With his eyes closed, the only thing he could feel was the sensation of her tongue, aimlessly moving around his mouth. He used his tongue to move her tongue, pushing her lightly in the right direction. She quickly understood what he was trying to do and let herself be led by Atlan. She used to be the one leading the kiss due to Atlan''s inexperience, but now, he was the one dominating the sensations in her mouth. She let his youthful liveliness lead the direction of their intimate moment. He was rough from too much excitement, but he was able to direct her tongue to where his Angel Wing mutations were located. As the swarm of blue wisps enveloped the Angel Wings, Lizzie and Atlan both moved their tongues with the same intensity and passion. They opened their mouths and enveloped each other''s lips. The experience points slowly revolved around his Angel Wings. As the heat from their passionate kiss reached a crescendo, the blue wisps slowly melted into a blue liquid that was able to bypass the Angel Wings'' outer layer and seep into its very structure. With every experience point it absorbed, the Angel Wings got filled with more and more energy. This energy built up until, at the very end, it exploded into a shockwave that filled Atlan''s Soul System with a bright white light. Chapter 207 - 207: Increased mastery Lizzie''s kiss turned out to be nothing more than a way to help him put experience into his mutation. He didn''t know how she did this, but she endowed him with her experience points and put them into his Angel Wings, allowing him to advance his mastery of it. Atlan looked down at his Soul System and saw his Angel Wings with only a tiny portion at the middle point glowing, while the rest of the wings were grayed out. [Mutation] ¡ª (4-star) Canzer Mother Tongue ¡ª (6-star) Pseudo Canzer Whisperer ¡ª (7-star) Photosynthesis ¡ª (7-star) Sapient Canzer Polyglot ¡ª (10-star) Gluttonous Soul ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings ¡ª¡ª¡ª 0.1% mastery Atlan and Lizzie both moved their lips away. They looked each other in the eyes for a moment, with Atlan remembering and yearning for that sensation to last just a little bit longer. He must have experienced a time skip because that kiss started and ended in a blink of an eye. He wished that he killed the God of Time instead of the God of Death so that he could rewind that moment and experience her delicate kiss again. Meanwhile, Lizzie turned her reddish cheeks away from Atlan in embarrassment. Even though she kissed him for a very different reason, she couldn''t help but squirm her feet as she felt his mouth play roughly with hers. She saw his eyes lit up with passion as if he desired to completely devour her. And if she were to be completely honest with herself, she didn''t hate kissing Atlan. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. When she looked at him, she could see his gaze still lingering on her lips. It was clear he wanted a second round. "Ahem¡­" Lizzie coughed to break the tension in the room. She slowly got up and walked away from Atlan, leaving him looking back at her figure. "As you can see, I only did that to help you increase the mastery of your mutation." But when she looked back at him, she noticed that he wasn''t listening and was slowly walking over towards her. He licked his lips while looking over at hers. "That''s why you should forget that it ever happened, okay?" Lizzie slowly backed away from him, but he was still slowly walking over towards her. The worst part about it for her was that there was a sly smile on his face. It was as if he thought that her words were merely an excuse. "It was only for an emergency because you had no more time to lose! You were losing your window of opportunity!" she said, with her back against the wall. Atlan walked over towards her and put his hand on the wall. "And you found yours. You found the chance to kiss me and took it." Lizzie couldn''t believe the confidence and swagger in his voice. "You wish!" she said, slapping his chest. "Oh, I do." Lizzie felt her body turn hot from embarrassment. If she looked in a mirror, she would see her skin fully turn into tomato red. She was his senior! She shouldn''t be led around by him. She should be the one to teach him a lesson, and yet, she couldn''t form the right words in her mouth. And as she thought that, she touched her lips. It was only a fraction of a second later that she realized what it might have looked like to Atlan. She quickly put down her hand, but it was far too late. There was already a huge smile on his face. "You don''t have to remember, I can let you experience it right now." "Oh shut it!" She moved his arm out and walked away. "Instead of worrying about¡­that¡­you should be thinking about your current mission!" Atlan walked over towards her and whispered in her ears. "I thought you didn''t want me to go on the mission?" "Hmph!" She crossed her arms. "I''ll push you to the portal myself!" Atlan chuckled. This was the first time he''d seen Lizzie so flustered. He didn''t know why she was the one more embarrassed about the kiss when it was he who experienced it for the first time. But as much as he wanted to feel that kiss again, he didn''t want to force her to do it again. He respected her too much to do that to her. It was true that she only kissed him to help her. If she hadn''t, then he wouldn''t have been able to find out how to put experience in his mutation. He would have lost his opportunity trying to figure it out by himself. She only kissed him so that he wouldn''t waste any more time when the fate of the City was on the line. He looked down at his Soul System and saw that the mastery of his Angel Wings was only at 0.1%. Lizzie didn''t share much experience with him because her only goal was to let him feel the sensation of how to merge his blue wisps into his mutation. Now that he knew how to do it, he could do it by himself. He commanded a thousand of his blue wisps to gather near his Angel Wing mutation and imitated what he felt when Lizzie commanded the blue wisps. He let them revolve around his Angel Wings, and with his own heat from his body generated from the LifeSkill planets around him, he melted down the blue wisps into liquid drops that slowly got absorbed by the Angel Wings. He looked at his Soul System again and saw that his mastery increased by 1% He was shocked. He used 10,000 experience points on that! He thought he''d fill it up to half, but he severely underestimated the experience needed to fully master one mutation. He used just about 50,000 experience on it for now to increase his mastery to 5%. Once it reached 5%, he could no longer add any more blue wisps even if he wanted to. The window was over. He''d need to win using only his mutation again to be able to put more experience in it. "It''s up to you how much you want to put into your mutation, but I suggest that you make it at least 5%. How much do you have now?" "One percent," he lied. "And I seem to have forgotten how to put experience into my mutation." He smiled at her. "Looks like you''ll have to show it to me again." Chapter 208 - 208: Operator building Atlan had a smile on his face as he walked towards the Operator building. He garnered a lot of weird looks from the blue battle-suited Saviors, but he didn''t care. He just experienced the best day of his life. The fact that he was merely an hour away from going on a mission that could destroy the entire City couldn''t bring him down. If he died today, he would be happy that he experienced that at least once. "Excuse me, what are you doing here?" A few overzealous Operators stopped Atlan in his tracks just as he was about to enter the production building reserved for high-level Operators. Even lowly Saviors like them weren''t allowed inside, much less a young Vanguard like Atlan. They didn''t recognize him because the world between Vanguards and Operators was extremely different. There was no overlap. So, the news about the current most talented Vanguard porter in the City did not reach the general public of Operators. This was also true for the news inside the Operator circles. Atlan never heard a peep about any of their current happenings. "I was invited here," said Atlan. The two Operators looked at each other, then back at Atlan''s epaulet with doubt painted on their faces. "I think you''re in the wrong building. The Student-realm Operators are on the other side of the street. This is only reserved for Specialist Operators." If the 3rd stage Student was here for a mission, then he surely wouldn''t be asking for any of the Specialist Operators. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They stopped Atlan because they didn''t want him disturbing the whole production building. They''ll be the ones getting scolded for letting a Vanguard wander into there. They even heard that Carmine was working on a very high-stakes production and must not be disturbed under any circumstances. "No, I''m sure it''s here. Carmine told me so." The Operators turned even more skeptical, to the point that they almost laughed at Atlan in his face. But then, the door suddenly opened, letting the heat and banging noise from the inside leak out towards them. Their jaws slowly dropped as they looked at the orange-haired man slowly coming out of the door behind Atlan. They immediately shut up and held their breaths. They were definitely getting scolded. He looked annoyed. Even his usually neat and tidy slicked-back hair was now messy and full of black grease. Carmine glared at the Operators blocking his door, then towards the young black battle suited youth in front of him. "Oh, Porter. You arrived just in time. Come in." The Specialist Operator welcomed the unfamiliar Vanguard and ignored his fellow Operators. This left them completely shocked to their core. Atlan waved at them goodbye, but they were still processing what they saw. So, he left them behind and entered the building with Carmine. "Who is that kid? Why is he allowed inside their building?" "How does he know Carmine?!" ### Atlan entered the production building and saw big moving structures of metal. They clamped onto strangely shaped materials on a conveyor belt that slowly led to a fiery opening similar to a furnace. And if saw them right, he saw giant objects made completely out of chitin. They were stacked in a tower, with one of the forklifts slowly transferring them one by one to a giant vat filled with bubbling acid. Are those Canzer corpses?! He heard Carmine and the others talk about using Canzer materials to construct high-level equipment, but he didn''t think they meant materials straight out of their corpses! But he didn''t have any time to assess the Canzer carcasses around him. Carmine kept on walking through the factory floor and left him behind. He had to follow closely so that he didn''t get trapped within the maze of tall boxes that littered the floor. "I saw you getting blocked by those Operators. Don''t be surprised if that happens again in the future. They don''t like ''Knives'' intruding on their spaces. But don''t mind them. Come follow me, my office is this way." And as he followed behind Carmine, he noticed the heat prickling his skin. The air from the building itself was almost suffocating. He started to sweat! This meant that the temperature inside this building was almost the same as the Heat Wave back in the Masamune district! But instead of getting third-degree burns, the Operators worked the giant cranes and forklifts normally without even skipping a beat. "I hope you don''t mind how hot it is. It takes a lot of energy to melt down high-quality materials from Canzers. Don''t worry, my office is air-conditioned. Maybe you''ll be a lot more comfortable there." "I''m fine, but how are you and the others okay with the heat? I thought Operators weren''t that strong?" Carmine looked back at Atlan and chuckled. "You severely underestimate Specialists, kid. Yes, compared to our counterparts, we can be considered to be quite weak physically. But compared to Students like you, our strengths are like the difference between heaven and earth. And you forget that Operators like us use technology to our advantage. Our blue battle suits are equipped to withstand higher temperatures than this. Sometimes, we even have to get inside the very furnace itself." This only showed Atlan''s complete lack of knowledge about Operators. But it wasn''t his fault. He had been living in the bubble of Vanguards with barely any interaction with the other faction of Saviors. The fact that they didn''t share information was a major reason why there had been so much hate between them. It all stemmed from ignorance. "Is my new battle suit like that?" he asked Carmine. To which, Carmine laughed again. "It does more than that, kid. If you knew how much materials and resources we used on it, then you wouldn''t be asking that question. Instead, you would have asked: what can''t it do?" Atlan and Carmine went up a flight of stairs leading to his main office. The moment he opened the door, Atlan felt a cold breeze hit him in the face. He looked around and couldn''t believe what he saw. Chapter 209 - 209: Mix of suits Hail and ice poured down all around, hitting the ground and melding into the already thick snow below. Atlan slowly walked forward and saw himself enter into a completely different world. He looked to the side and saw no visible walls or corners. And when he looked back at the door, he only saw a rectangular frame that led back down to the hot production floor. He walked back and saw that he could walk beyond the door! The door was just a rectangular thick frame in the middle of snow and ice. This wasn''t just an illusion; he was truly transported into a different world! He was standing in the middle of a blizzard, with barely anything visible beyond a few meters. "Oh, bad weather. I''ll change it to be a little bit clearer," said Carmine as he went on his tablet and entered some kind of command. Suddenly, the world seemed to have fast-forwarded. The blizzard increased in intensity for a few seconds and a fraction of a second later, the clouds soon dispersed to show clear blue skies up above. He saw the snow build up high just a few seconds ago but was now melting down to only a couple of inches deep. Once Carmine stopped his command, the world seemed to have slowed back down to its normal speed. He looked up and only saw pale blue skies with barely any clouds. Now that there was no blizzard, he finally saw the world around him. He was standing at the very peak of a snowy mountain, with a panoramic view of the horizon with a bigger world beyond him. There was a luscious environment filled with green and life away from the mountain. He couldn''t see the Unclaimed Lands anywhere. "Where are we?" Carmine opened his arms. "Welcome to my abode. I like to look at good scenery whenever I work on something hard, so I constructed a simulated world of a tall mountain with an amazing view of what I thought the world would have looked like back in the olden days. They didn''t have the Unclaimed Lands and had life sprawling around everywhere." Atlan bent down and touched the snow in his hands. It was cold and wet. And as he crushed it in his hands, some melted into water and some condensed into ice. "This¡­is a simulated world?" "Yes. I visited the cable car in Mount Infernal a while back and liked it so much that I built my office to have the same view." Atlan truly underestimated Specialist Operators. If they could create a world like this, then they almost had the power of a God! "How do you create this?" Carmine looked at Atlan and saw the pure curiosity in his eyes. It was the look of someone hungry for more knowledge. "Pterina was right about you. It seems you do have the talent to become an Operator." "Why do you say that?" Carmine gestured around him. "Look at what I have made. Do you think I would have been able to create this if I wasn''t curious about what the world would have looked like back then? Do you think we would have been able to kill Canzers if our forefathers weren''t curious about their weaknesses? Curiosity drives you to explore what''s out there and inspires you to find new things that weren''t there before. It encourages you to ask the right questions and seek the appropriate solutions. If you weren''t curious about Operators, then you wouldn''t have been able to find a way to force yourself into our world and enroll in the University. Not only that, you were also allowed to study Alchemy and the creation of constructs. Due to your curiosity, you have done the impossible." Carmine complimented the young Star Porter. What he has done was truly unprecedented, and from what he could see, it stemmed only from curiosity and the desire to know more. He was worried that the other Operators wouldn''t accept Atlan as one of their own in the University, but if he was able to show off his curiosity and his pure interest in learning, then they would understand that even if Atlan wasn''t one of them, he was one of them. "Do you want to see your new battle suit?" Atlan nodded. There was nothing he would like more to see. They walked over towards the very peak of the mountain¡ªthe very summit consisting only of a single sharp mound at the end. Carmine waved his hand, and a rectangular hole in the ground suddenly gave way. A new battle suit donned on an armor stand was being slowly pushed up from the rectangular hole until the full suit was revealed. Atlan looked at the battle suit and felt a strange force emanating from inside it. There was a mix of signals as if it was made out of different elements that were constantly fighting with each other. And if he studied it thoroughly, he could sense the familiar Angel Power running through the seams of his new battle suit. Atlan walked up to it and touched his new uniform. The protective padding was made out of something incredibly hard. Because of its color and shiny finish, he wouldn''t have recognized what it was if he didn''t touch it himself. It was made out of chitin! He would be wearing a battle suit made out of the carcass of Canzers! The cloth itself was very flexible yet incredibly firm as well. He tried to stretch it using all of his strength, including activating his Physique LifeSkill, but he still couldn''t tear the fabric apart. It was clear that just from the construction alone, this battle suit was made for high-level missions. "This is amazing," Atlan uttered. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You haven''t seen anything yet. This is a one-of-a-kind battle suit with programmed abilities and powers weaved into the very fabric itself. Some of it will activate even without your intervention, so you don''t have to worry about how to wield it. You''ll be protected from attacks even if you can''t see or react to them. Usually, that would be impossible. But this is different. It is state of the art. This battle suit is a combination of an Operator battle suit and a Vanguard battle suit. It is the best of both worlds." Chapter 210 - 210: Antivenom Atlan looked at the marvelous battle suit right in front of his very eyes. He didn''t know what kind of knowledge and skill it took to create such a masterpiece. Each fiber was laced with power and complexity that looked out of this world. "This battle suit is rated to defend against Specialist-level Canzers. The padding has five different layers, all separated by a vacuum. It corresponds to five full-powered attacks from the Canzers. Each one will crack and peel away when it gets destroyed, allowing you to have¨Cessentially¨Cfive brand new battle suits all in one." "These paddings¡­they''re made out of chitin? I didn''t think that we could use the carcasses of Canzers to create equipment like this." Carmine nodded and explained. "This world has a distinct lack of valuable natural resources. Back in the olden days, we had plenty, but ever since they turned into the Unclaimed Lands, we have nowhere else to gather any good materials. The ones that we have now are all recycled or bestowed upon us by the Genesis God. As you can guess, that''s not sustainable. We might not have many natural resources, but we do have a lot of corpses from all the missions we complete. So, our forefathers started to incorporate them into our equipment. They quickly found out that it''s much more resilient than natural elements. And as a bonus, we found that the equipment with Chitin has an unexpected magical power, allowing us to create constructs and weapons." Atlan focused on Carmine''s last words. "Constructs? They''re also made out of Canzer carcasses?" Carmine nodded. "Usually, I can''t tell you this, but since you''re officially enrolled in the University, you''ll eventually learn this fact. The magical effects of constructs¡ªthe very reason why they''re so effective in disabling a Canzer''s abilities of regeneration or cloning¡ªis because they are made out of the very Canzer''s innards and DNA." "What?!" Atlan couldn''t believe it. Whenever he came across a construct, he always felt the power of the Angels and some other kind of element; he never felt the presence of any Cancer-related ingredient. He thought that it was the Angel power that allowed constructs to disable a Canzer''s powers. But it turned out that it wasn''t the whole truth. "And more often than not, we use the carcass/remains of the same species of Canzers to create a construct that disables that same species," Carmine added. "How is that possible? How can you use a Canzer''s own corpse to disable their species? My intuition would tell me that doing that would only empower the Canzer rather than weaken them." Carmine felt like he was teaching a student, but he didn''t hate it. Atlan would need this basic knowledge to survive in the University. "This is not an uncommon practice. Even in the olden days, when there were no Gods and Canzers in the world, humans had a lot of trouble with snakes. Whenever they were bitten, they would get infected with a venom that would slowly kill them. Their solution to this was to extract that same venom from the snake itself and use that to create what''s called an ''antivenom'' that will be able to cure the bitten human. The same principle applies to constructs. We extract the essence of a specific Canzer from their corpse, and we inject them into a Pseudo Canzer. This Pseudo Canzer will treat this strange foreign essence as a poison that must be destroyed. So, their bodies would produce defenses that would kill this ''poison'' and start to heal their bodies. This is what we use. We harvest those defenses that can kill the essence of a Canzer and use it to create a construct." Atlan didn''t know that Pseudo Canzers were used that way. He thought they were only good for target practice or for injecting venom into people who want to have a good time. "This is why our City has invested a lot of our resources into Pseudo Canzer research. They are essential in our lives, not only for the creation of constructs but for our daily life as well. Did you know that mounts are also Pseudo Canzers? Did you know that most pets in households are Pseudo Canzers?" Atlan had no idea how integral Pseudo Canzers were to the functioning of the entire City. He now understood why the Garden club was abandoned in favor of the Pseudo Canzer division. No matter how much he thought about it, Pseudo Canzers were so much more useful. "Of course, some Canzers require more sophisticated methods that are sometimes completely illogical and arbitrary, but for the most basic Canzers, this is how we create constructs. You''ll learn them the higher you go in your courses at the University, but I''ll show you an example. I heard that you were part of the Pocket Remedium disaster, the one with the Giant Werewolf Canzer. Did you know that one of its weaknesses was its hubris?" Atlan knew the word, but he didn''t know if Carmine was talking about the noun, or something else. "Is that some kind of element?" "No. It means that the Giant Werewolf, or Giants, in particular, are typically arrogant and conceited. That is their weakness. If you can use their excessive pride to your advantage, then you will be able to weaken the Canzer by a tremendous amount. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Think about that. Hubris is not a physical object, it is merely an abstract word. Yet, it can affect the Canzer by a large degree." Atlan was fascinated and horrified at the same time. The fact that such a concept would be the downfall of a Specialist-level Canzer as powerful as the Giant Werewolf lit a fire of interest in his heart. He wanted to know more about other abstract weaknesses of Canzers. At the same time, he was scared at the thought of facing a Canzer that had no physical weaknesses. If he didn''t know the abstract weakness of a Canzer, he might never be able to kill them at all. Carmine smiled when he saw the conflicting expression on Atlan''s face. This was the very reason he mentioned this to him in the first place. He wanted to stoke the youth''s interest in constructs and Operators. "But you don''t have to worry about how to create a construct for now. At the very center of your battle suit is a control center," Carmine said as he pointed at a hexagonal black object embedded in the middle of the chest piece. Chapter 211 - 211: Capabilities of the suit "Each fiber of your battle suit is kind of like a miniature construct, in that it has all the ''antivenom'' of all the known Specialist-level Canzers that we expect to be in the mission. Of course, there could also be Canzers which we haven''t prepared for. If you encounter them and we haven''t prepared a construct for them, then you won''t be returning in one piece. This is what the control center is for. This little device is capable of creating a new construct in a matter of minutes by borrowing the ''antivenom'' from the fibers in your suit and creating an entirely new one!" Atlan looked at his battle suit with awe. "It can do that?! Why can''t all battle suits have this?" Carmine chuckled. "I told you, this is a one-of-a-kind battle suit. The creation of this piece exhausted all our resources. If I hadn''t been building something similar to this before, I wouldn''t have been able to build this in two hours, let alone two days! Thankfully, I already built the control center a long time ago, so I simply had to put the pieces together, which mind you, still took a lot of effort not to mess up." Atlan knew that it was logistically impossible to create a battle suit like this for everyone. However, he knew that this kind of technology would save a lot of lives in this current apocalypse. If a construct could be made in a Savior''s battle suit within minutes, then they wouldn''t have to worry about an anomaly anymore. In an ideal world, Atlan hoped that everyone was able to equip this weapon. "Also, you''re forgetting about the fact that this battle suit contains tens if not hundreds of constructs! Normal Saviors would not be able to carry this much weight on their bodies or risk getting crushed into a mushy puddle of blood and flesh. Even getting inside the battle suit is already a battle in and of itself. If your physique is not tough enough, you would not be able to squeeze inside it no matter how much you tried." Atlan forgot about the weight aspect of the battle suit. Because of his SSS class Physique, he never had trouble carrying any constructs that others deemed too heavy to carry. For him, it would be as light as a feather. But this battle suit was an entirely different beast. First of all, the constructs woven in the fabric were rated for Specialist-level Canzers. According to what he heard, constructs got heavier the more complex and powerful they were. He reckoned he would have trouble carrying just one Specialist-level construct, let alone a hundred of them. "Would I be able to carry that battle suit?" Carmine shrugged. "That''s what we''re here to find out." "What if I can''t?" Carmine took a deep sigh. "Then you can''t go on with the mission. We''ll have to find someone else who can use it. If we can''t find someone here in our City, we''ll have to lower our heads and ask for help from the other Territories." That was not the best outcome for this situation. Carmine created this battle suit specifically for Atlan. It had his measurements and his physical build fitted in the very fabric itself. Others who would try it on would only feel uncomfortable and therefore be unable to fully bring out their true capabilities. In the dangerous Remedium, every ounce of strength was needed. Carmine patted Atlan on the shoulders. "Let''s just hope you can, kid. But let''s not worry about that for now. You still have much to learn about this technological marvel of a battle suit. Your missions in the Remedium have been largely uneventful, correct? The danger from the anomalies you encounter only applies to the unexpected Canzers or Sapient Canzers that you encounter. In this particular mission, Canzers will not be your main problem. That''s the reason why we spent so much on your battle suit; it can deal with the Canzers. However, in Remedium of a higher-level difficulty mission, you will find that the very environment itself will try to kill you. It is hostile to both humans and Canzers. Sometimes, Specialist-level missions will only have trouble with the Remedium rather than the Canzer itself. It is unpredictable. One second, you''re in an open space, and the next, you''ll be swallowed by the ground and squeezed into minced meat. There is no preparation for that. Now, this mission is especially more dangerous. Not only is it a high-level mission, but it is also located at a Critical Point. The Remedium there will try to kill you in any way it could. It won''t be indiscriminate and random; it will actively sabotage you. I don''t have much experience with that, so I''ll let Ninth and her team brief you on it. However, what I can do is let you have the equipment available to get yourself out of such predicaments. The first one is an anti-gravity jetpack installed on the back. You won''t believe how many pitfalls Saviors fell on. The next is a torch installed on your shoulders that can light up a large room. You might think this is basic, but you don''t know how mentally exhausting it is to fight in the dark. The fear of the unknown will keep you in tension and slowly wear down your psyche. You mustn''t put yourself in that position because even if you can physically complete the mission, your drained psyche will prevent you from continuing on your journey. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Next is a heat and cold-resistant technology that will save you from the harshest of environments. If you find yourself swimming in lava, which is more than possible in the Remedium, you will be able to protect yourself for at least a couple of minutes before it wears down. And the next is the most important one." Carmine pointed at the small dark circle positioned near the stomach of the battle suit. Atlan took a closer look and saw that it was made out of glass. "This is a camera that will transmit a live video feed of everything you see in the Remedium. We''ll be able to see what you see." Chapter 212 - 212: Documentation purposes "A camera¡­" Atlan did not like the sound of that. As Carmine explicitly told him earlier, the Remedium in this mission would be actively trying to sabotage him. He not only had to worry about the Specialist-level Canzers trying to kill him, but he also had to worry about the ground suddenly growing arms and choking the life out of him. Carmine gave the battle suit new capabilities and gadgets, but Atlan knew that things could always go wrong in the Remedium and he''d only have to rely on his own capabilities to survive. He would be forced to use his real strength. He''d have to rely on all of his LifeSkills in his Soul System to get out of any dangerous situation that would eventually happen to him. That was one of the main reasons why he accepted the mission in the first place. As long as he knew that he could get in and out of the Remedium via his Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings, he didn''t have to worry about dying and being trapped in the Remedium. And he knew that with the combination of all his strength, he was probably equivalent to a Pre-Intern realm Savior, especially with his Bloodline Transformation. However, with a camera strapped to his chest, he would be under surveillance for the whole mission. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Who''d be watching the video?" Carmine pointed to himself. "Me, my team, and the Elder Heads." Atlan bit his lips. If the Elder Heads were to watch him suddenly use a LifeSkill different from his Physique, then they would immediately know that there was something wrong with him. Even if he saved the City and came back, he would most certainly be questioned under intense interrogation. "Why? Do you just want to see how the mission turns out?" Atlan asked. "It''s for documentation purposes," Carmine answered. "We, the Elder Heads specifically, want to see the current state of the Door underneath the Church. We must ensure that it is in perfect condition without any sign of damage. And since you are not knowledgeable in the area, you would have no idea what you''re looking at. You won''t know if the Door is healthy or not. That''s why we have the video. With it, we can be the ones to evaluate the Door. We can also tell you what to do next so that we can fix whatever problem we see." Atlan looked at the very small camera just underneath the chest area of the battle suit. "You can also talk to me using this?" Carmine nodded. "It has a built-in microphone and speaker that will allow us to talk to each other even in the Remedium." Atlan looked at Carmine and pleaded. "Do we have to? Can''t you just teach me how to spot any damage in the Door?" He was very hesitant about having a camera in his battle suit, but Carmine had no idea why Atlan didn''t want to have potentially life-saving equipment installed in the suit. "The camera is not only for the Door but also for you." "For me?" "For you. If you encounter a Specialist Canzer whom you have no idea about, you will have no idea how to survive their attacks. Even if your battle suit is equipped to handle attacks, it can only withstand five of them. It is your lifeline, not your defense. You must dodge, evade, run, and hide from these monsters using your own capabilities. However, how are you going to dodge an attack if you don''t know what they do? You might end up running straight towards the attack instead of running away from it. These Specialist Canzers have weird powers and abilities that cannot be explained by logic. Even Specialist-realm Saviors like Ninth and her team will be in trouble if they don''t have the knowledge to defeat the Canzer. How will you, a Student-realm porter, have any chance of surviving their attacks if you have neither the strength nor knowledge to do so?" Atlan went silent with his explanation. It made too much sense. However, he was still conflicted about the fact that he wouldn''t be able to use his full capabilities in such a dangerous environment. "It will take years if not centuries for you to catch up on the theoretical knowledge needed to deal with Specialist Canzers, and we simply do not have that time. Our best bet for the success of this mission is to transport our brain and knowledge with you to the Remedium. The solution is this camera. We will tell you what Canzer you''re dealing with, which one of their attacks you need to watch out for, and how to properly dodge them." Atlan considered his words. He had to choose. Which one did he think was more important for his survival: the full usage of his LifeSkills and powers or the knowledge needed to survive the mission? He stayed in silence as he contemplated the consequences of each choice. If he chose to remove the camera, then he would be going into the Remedium blind. He would have to deal with the Canzers all by himself without anyone to guide him. As Carmine said, he had no idea about the capabilities of the Canzers he was going to face. Not to mention the fact that the Remedium itself will sabotage and try to kill him, running away or hiding would be useless. He would have to fight. If he did, he''d have to rely on the battle suit. Sure, the battle suit had the capabilities to become an all-in-one construct that could disable all the Canzers and weaken them, but would he be able to properly use that if he didn''t even know how it worked? It was automatic, but what if it malfunctioned? And if he used his full powers, would it make a difference against Specialist-level Canzers? Probably not. They would turn his body into mere mush, the only difference would be if he lasted for one second or five seconds. Chapter 213 - 213: Stepping inside If he had Carmine''s expert opinion by his side, guiding him about the pitfalls and traps of the Remedium and the capabilities and weaknesses of Canzers, he wouldn''t even have to fight at all. He could simply use their weaknesses against them and sneak past into the Church and onto the basement where the Ifrit was located. That was the mission. It was about making sure the Door remained safe, it was not about fighting Specialist Canzers. He had no chance of ever killing them anyway. He didn''t have enough strength to do so, even with his full use of his LifeSkills and mutations. His most powerful LifeSkill right now was the 1st stage Pre-Intern realm Bloodline Transformation, and that was still two realms below the Specialist-realm. He had no chance. However, one of his goals for this mission was to witness and reap the death of the Canzers that Ninth and her team would defeat. If possible, he would like to contribute to that fight so that he could maximize gains and minimize the risk. If everything went well, then he could probably get another Pre-Intern LifeSkill from this mission. He didn''t need to use his LifeSkills or his mutations for that. Just the mere fact that he was using the battle suit was enough for him to contribute to the fight. Without the constructs installed into the very fabric of his battle suit, then Ninth and her team wouldn''t be able to defeat the Canzer, therefore, Atlan would be a major contributor to the fight. At least, he hoped so. He didn''t know the full parameters of the reward system. He didn''t know if he had to physically hurt the Canzer to be attributed as an assist, or if he simply had to help the team that killed it. With all things considered, Atlan thought that it was much more beneficial for him to have the camera in the battle suit. The fact that he could converse with Carmine and his team while he''s in the Remedium was a large reason why he conceded with this option. "Does the camera see everything?" "No. We can only see what you see. A 360-degree view camera will require much bulkier equipment installed in the battle suit. It will increase, not only the complexity of the suit itself but also its gross weight. It''s already quite heavy, if you ask me. We don''t want to hinder your ability to move any more than this." Atlan nodded to himself. If the camera couldn''t see his back, then it was still possible for him to manifest his Angel Wings mutation. This was his most important power. It could get him out of trouble whenever it got too dangerous. "Okay. I think it''s time for you to try it on," said Carmine, with a little bit of nervousness in his voice. "Touch the control center." Atlan took a deep breath and agreed. "Okay. I''ll do it." He walked forward and raised his hand toward the hexagonal black object in the middle of the battle suit''s chest piece. As his hand got closer, the black hexagon responded with a blue light that followed his finger, with its light intensifying as he got closer. Once he touched it, the hexagon completely lit up in a blue light that seeped into the very battle suit itself. Lines of blue light filled the battle suit, with each line activating the circuitry inside to respond to Atlan''s touch. TSHHH The battle suit split wide open in the middle, with the hexagonal control center staying intact and siding on the left side. The inside of his battle suit was made out of a gray material with a checkered design of blue and green squares, each lighting up periodically and randomly. "I suggest you use your Physique LifeSkill before you enter the battle suit. You''ll need it." Atlan heeded Carmine''s advice and immediately enveloped himself in a black fire. The change in pressure and aura emanating from Atlan completely surprised Carmine. It caught him off guard. He heard rumors about Atlan''s Physique LifeSkill, but this was the first time he''d ever witnessed it firsthand. Most porter LifeSkills were imperceptible and only increased a porter''s ability to carry heavy objects. Their physiques were completely altered to accommodate the tremendously heavy weight they were tasked to carry. However, Carmine saw a completely different thing with Atlan''s Physique LifeSkill. Those black flames enveloping his body didn''t give Atlan''s body an improvement in strength, it weakened everything else around him instead! S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Carmine couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Instead of boosting Atlan''s physical strength to carry heavy objects, those black flames weakened the force of the weight of everything he touched! He finally understood how Atlan was able to fight against 6th-stage Ifrits while only being in the 2nd-stage Student realm. When he first read about it in Atlan''s profile report, he couldn''t believe it. Even when he revealed the fact that his Physique LifeSkill was above an S class, Carmine still couldn''t find an explanation as to how he was able to use his Porter LifeSkill for offense. That was supposed to be impossible. But now, everything made sense. Those black flames weakened the Ifrits and allowed him to destroy them with mere physical force. As a Specialist-realm Operator, he had more sensitive senses than the regular Savior. He could accurately guess the class of most Saviors. Is his LifeSkill¡­SSS class?!?! But even so, something was bugging him about those black flames. Even if it was an SSS class, it still didn''t explain why it felt different than most Physique LifeSkills. It felt¡­alien. It didn''t conform to everything he knew about Vanguards and their powers. It was faint, but he also felt a tinge of an Operator''s power inside those black flames. I''m seeing things. I''m too exhausted. Carmine shook his head as let go of the thoughts in his mind. He instead focused on Atlan''s first steps towards his new battle suit. Atlan turned around and spread his arms as he backed away towards the battle suit''s mold. As soon as he stepped inside, the battle suit slowly closed. TSSHHHH Chapter 214 - 214: Struggle to stand Atlan felt the suit close in on his body, squeezing his body with a force that made him tense up. He held onto his Physique LifeSkill harder than he ever did before. He could feel his blood cut off from the circulation in his body. The pressure of the shoulder guards of his battle suit weighed him down significantly, making his legs and arms feel a painful prickling sensation. "Hold on! It''s not done yet," Carmine shouted. He could see the struggle in Atlan''s expression, but the battle suit had yet to completely close on his body. CLICK That sound signaled the complete locking of the battle suit onto Atlan''s body. He gritted his teeth. Even with his Physique LifeSkill activated at its fullest, he still could not overcome the pressure put on him by the battle suit. It felt like his bones would get fractured at any second. "You''re tilting! Don''t let yourself fall to the ground or else you won''t be able to get back up!" Carmine took a sharp breath. Atlan would only be able to overcome the weight of the battle suit while he was standing. Human anatomy was specialized this way and allowed him to collectively use his muscles to overcome the tremendous gravity. But if he were to fall, he would find it impossible to stand back up from a prone position. His muscles would be isolated and would be unable to overcome the force weighing him down. "Argh!" The battle suit was too much. This was the first time Atlan had ever felt something that his Physique LifeSkill could not overcome. It felt like the whole world was on his shoulders. He couldn''t help but tilt backward to try and help his spine from breaking in half, but that only made his balance unstable, causing him to be on a downward projection that would eventually leave him falling down the mountain. "GAAARRGGHHH!" Atlan screamed, forcing his left leg to raise and step back, stabilizing himself in a standing position. "Haaa¡­haaa¡­" He took deep breaths. He felt sweat pouring down his back even though the mountain was cold and breezy. This was the first time he''d ever labored himself just trying to stand up. "Are you okay?" Atlan took a few seconds of silence before he nodded his head slowly. He didn''t want to make any sudden movements¡ªnot that he could even if he wanted to. It felt like he was entombed into a rock-solid metal; his whole body was paralyzed. He exhausted all of his strength just by raising one leg. "It''s good that you can still stand up. I was worried that you wouldn''t even be able to keep yourself steady. But the battle has just started. You''ll have to find a way to walk. After that, you''ll have to find a way to run." Atlan was focused on keeping himself from being crushed by the sheer force of the battlesuit. He had no energy left to try and walk! Carmine gritted his teeth as he saw Atlan try and fail to raise his leg another time. No matter how much he tried to lessen the weight inside the battle suit, it was too much for the Star Porter. Even if Atlan was a talented genius with a LifeSkill rated in the SSS class, a three realm difference proved to be too much even for him. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And it wasn''t just a simple Specialist-level construct, it was the equivalent of tens of constructs! Should I get rid of some of them? No! I''ve already maximized the constructs. Any more and we''ll risk being unable to deal with a Specialist Canzer on the inside¡­but¡­if Atlan can''t even enter the Remedium, all those constructs will be useless anyway. A conflict appeared in Carmine''s mind. He considered trying to cut a huge bulk of the padding and armor defenses on his battle suit to try and keep the weight down, but that would only risk the Star Porter''s life. Lizzie wouldn''t forgive him if he cut down on Atlan''s protection. "It''s¡­so¡­heavy¡­" Atlan uttered. The best he could do was raise his hand forward, but it did not help in walking a single step. For him to advance, he''d have to put all of his weight on one leg while the other walked forward. That means his one leg would have to carry tens of thousands of tons of weight for a few seconds. Atlan was unsure whether his bones would be able to take that kind of pressure; he already heard a few of his bones break just from standing still. "This battle suit is a beast. It will want to overwhelm you before you can overwhelm it. The different Specialist-level Canzer ''antivenom'' installed in the fabric of your battle suit are fighting against each other, but now that it detected your presence, they will work together to try and bring you down. It is your job to reign them in!" Atlan suddenly looked up at Carmine as an idea came to his head. The weight comes from the Canzers? If that was true, then there was only one solution for this problem: he needed something that could weaken those arrogant Specialist Canzer essences. There was only one thing that he knew that could make even the strongest of Canzers bow down at his feet: Angel Power. If he was able to use the Angel Power in his bloodline, then he''d be able to show dominance with the Canzer essences in the battle suit and make them submit to him. With their compliance, there would be less weight on the battle suit, allowing him to walk with it. If he was alone, he could simply pop out his Angel Wings and show them the true holiness of its pure white feathers. However, he was in the presence of Carmine, a Specialist Operator who Atlan suspected knew about Angels and would immediately identify the true nature of his wings. I need to show my Angel bloodline to my battle suit, but not to Carmine. How will I do that? It didn''t take him a few seconds to find the answer. He licked his lips, remembering that moment with Lizzie. She didn''t just teach him the pleasure of kissing, but also how to use the power of a mutation without manifesting them in real life! Chapter 215 - 215: False mutation The memory was still fresh in his mind. With her plump lips on his, there was no way he was going to ever forget that feeling. He closed his eyes and remembered what happened when he achieved effortless focus and concentration during his fight with Lizzie. In his desire to get faster, he was able to tap into the hidden strength deep within his Soul System¡ªwithin his Angel genus. He forced himself to believe that there were, and always would be, Angel Wings behind him ready to supply him with lightspeed quickness. Lizzie told him to always think about the feeling of the Angel Wings as concrete as possible as if it was manifested in reality. Deep within his Soul System, within the 10 different genuses in his possession, he honed in on the second helix structure made out of pure white materials and glimmered brightly in the dark. This was his Angel Genus. He focused and tried to connect to his Genus. He needed to convey his need and his desire for the power that it possessed. After a few seconds, he finally made a connection with the Angel Genus. Slowly, it started to leak out some kind of white gas that expanded outwards and slowly exited his Soul System. The white gas slowly revolved around his body until it finally settled near his shoulder blades. It started to recreate the power of the Angel Wings even without its physical manifestation in reality. If someone was able to peer through the different dimensions, then they would see the outline of the Angel Wings attached to Atlan''s back. Meanwhile, Atlan closed his eyes. The world turned slower. His focus intensified. This was the same feeling he had when he was able to catch Lizzie in their sparring session! Altan successfully achieved it once again! Lizzie told him that this kind of power was called ''False Mutation!'' With this kind of power, he was able to bring out a fraction of the power of his mutation, without the burden of manifesting it in real life! Due to its lack of physical presence, it was not limited to Atlan''s low stamina or his inability to keep mutations for a long time. He could keep using the False Mutation of his Angel Wings indefinitely! Powered with this newfound strength, Atlan slowly stood up straight, commanding the battle suit to submit to his direction. The battle suit and the Canzer essences inside it fought back against him, using its collective strength to try and push him down using their weight. However, they were soon repelled by a force that was all too familiar for the essences. It was Angel Power. It enveloped Atlan''s entire body and coated him with a protective barrier that the Canzer essences could not break through. Instead, the Angel Power slowly wore down the last drudges and remnants of the deceased Canzers. Even fully alive Canzers were affected by Angel Power. These ''leftovers'' had no chance of trying to overpower someone blessed with the power of the extinct Angels! Atlan raised his leg and found it to be infinitely easier than before. It was still heavy, but there was no longer an oppressive force actively trying to squeeze his bones to the point of fracturing. Meanwhile, Carmine paced back and forth trying to figure out a solution for this current predicament. "I could get rid of the anti-gravity module¡­but no¡­it will only help him stay in place, but it won''t help him move forward. How about¡ª" Just then, he looked forward and suddenly saw Atlan take a step forward like an astronaut taking his first steps on alien land. There was caution in his movements, but Carmine was sure that he moved with excitement. "That''s great!" he shouted. "You took your first steps¡ª" S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But before he could even finish his first sentence, Atlan raised his other foot and took another step. But he didn''t end there. He took a few more steps in succession without taking any breaks in between. Carmine felt like he was looking at a toddler progressively advancing from barely walking, to a full stride like an adult human! Atlan finally felt freedom in his movements. He could walk, he could raise his hands, and he could even jump a minuscule bit, which utterly surprised Carmine to the point where he fell on his butt. "But¨Cbut¡­but how?! I''m happy that you''re able to walk normally, but¡­but I just can''t understand how!" Atlan''s movements were completely different from when he first put on the battle suit. He couldn''t even stand up straight before, but now, he could even jump and walk better than other Saviors who put on a normal battle suit. He quickly walked over to Atlan''s battle suit and inspected his craft. He checked the internal circuitry and the modules he put inside to make sure that they worked properly, but he found nothing wrong with them. He thought the battle suit malfunctioned, which allowed Atlan to walk normally, but he was wrong. The battle suit was fully powered up. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion. Now that Atlan proved that he could wield the battle suit well enough to enter the Remedium, then the mission would go on as they planned. However, as an Operator and a fellow curious mind, he couldn''t help but keep his mind on the battle suit. How is this possible? With his expertise in battle suits and constructs, he had no viable explanation for how Atlan was able to suddenly walk with the battle suit on when it weighed him down heavily just a minute ago. As a Specialist Operator, he thought he knew everything there was to know about his field. He was proved wrong. "Can you tell me how you did it?" Atlan kept silent for a second. He contemplated on which answer he would give to Carmine. Should he lie completely and tell him that he didn''t know what happened, or should he tell him a half-truth? His first instinct was to lie. The more secrets he kept to the world, the safer he would be. However, he couldn''t help but sympathize with his curious eyes. "It''s because of my mutation¡ªthe one I got from the Vineyard." Chapter 216 - 216: Hexagonal box "I see¡­" Carmine was in deep thought over Atlan''s words. It was no secret that the Star Porter was allowed to have an all-access ticket to the Vineyard where all their high-class genuses were stored. Carmine was not arrogant enough to declare that he knew everything about mutations and genuses, but from what he knew, there wasn''t a genus powerful enough to overcome tens of thousands of tons of weight like Atlan was doing right now. However, the fact that Atlan was able to show him the strength of this supposed ''mutation'' was all the evidence he needed to believe it. "Your mutation is quite powerful. If it''s something that can help you traverse through the Remedium, then all the better. This is good." Carmine then spent the next twenty minutes testing all the parameters of the battle suit. He had Atlan perform a few stretches to see how the fibers reacted to his movements. He must ensure that there won''t be any hindrance to Atlan''s agility. "You don''t feel any discomfort, do you?" "No discomfort." Carmine nodded. "That''s good. As you can see, the blue lines that light up around your battle suit are the circuitry I installed underneath. It makes sure that all the constructs that are hidden within your battle suit are connected to the control center. You must ensure that you protect the fibers of your battle suit from destruction or else the control center won''t be able to automatically activate the constructs. But don''t worry. If that happens, you can still manually activate it, you''ll just have to know how. That''s where the camera comes in. I''ll teach you on the go." Atlan tested out the fibers before and found them to be durable enough for him to be unable to rip them into shreds. Of course, that didn''t mean much in front of Specialist-level Canzers. He just had to trust that Carmine created a well-protected battle suit that could withstand attacks from those beasts. "Now, I''ll teach you how to activate your control center. In the mission, the control center will activate automatically once it senses a Canzer nearby. All you have to do then is to touch that black hexagonal object in your chest, and the construct will appear in your hands." Atlan touched the control center in his chest and felt a warm sensation spread out and flow around his body. "I guess I have to protect this control center from being destroyed," Atlan uttered. But Carmine eased his concerns. "You don''t have to worry about the control center. There''s a reason why I installed it in your chest. That hexagonal black object is the most durable thing in your battle suit and can even double as your protective padding. How strong, you wonder? The battle suit can be frayed and be destroyed into mere ashes, but the control center will remain unharmed. It is the apex of our technological capacity!" Atlan looked at the black hexagonal control center in his chest. It gave him comfort that he didn''t have to be concerned about its destruction. "As you can see, you don''t have to worry much about the battle suit. The problem now is when things go wrong. Even if I made this battle suit with the strongest defenses and ensured the circuitry was correct, there would be some anomalies that could make the battle suit malfunction. At that point, you will have to manually override the control center. Please make an ''X'' on the black hexagon." Atlan did as Carmine said by running his finger from the top corner of the hexagon diagonally down to the opposite corner. He did it on each side till he made an ''X''. As soon as he did, the black hexagon suddenly popped up and separated into fragments, with the ''X'' opening up to show the terminal underneath. Atlan saw rows and columns of buttons in the terminal, each showing a different letter of the human alphabet. On top of it was a rectangular screen that blinked lightly as it waited for an input. "I''m gonna have to tell you a series of codes that you''re going to input on the control center. You must do it without missing a letter or a beat. Once successful, it will hopefully fix any problem that comes up. If not, then I''ll keep on telling you to input codes till it works." Atlan nodded. He understood the instructions, but he was more interested in the fact that he could fix problems by just pushing a few buttons. He thought it''d be a bit more complicated than that. Although he was disappointed that he wasn''t going to be learning how to fix the battle suit using elbow grease, he knew inputting codes was much easier and could make his life in the Remedium much easier. "Next, I''m going to show you the construct you''ll need to defeat the Ifrit in the basement. You need to bring it out before you''re near the Ifrit, so the control center won''t automatically bring it out. You''ll have to be the one to do it. Push the control center for exactly five seconds." The control center returned to its original hexagonal shape once it sensed no input from Atlan. He then used his entire hand to push the black hexagon into his chest for five seconds, using the SoulTime in his Soul System as a guide for accuracy. ¡­four¡­five¡­now! Atlan released his hand, and suddenly, the hexagonal glowed a bright blue light that spread out to the fibers of his battle suit. It didn''t take long before Atlan felt a ''heaviness'' in his right hand. He slowly lifted it and saw golden particles gathering above his palm. These particles collided with each other and formed clumps. As more and more particles flowed out from his battle suit and joined the storm in his palm, the clumps slowly grew into an object that he was familiar with. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was a golden oil lamp, with its design a lot more intricate than the one they had in the Masamune mission. It was heavier too. Its difference was probably due to the fact that it was a huge upgrade from the original one. This construct could absorb the Ifrit even from far away. BEEP BEEP A loud noise interrupted their session. Carmine looked at his tablet and saw a notification. His eyes narrowed and his expression turned serious. "The Church is showing more Symptoms." Chapter 217 - 217: Main road to the church "What does that mean?" Atlan asked. "It means that the Specialist-level Canzers have already invaded the Church Remedium. Don''t worry, we expected this. It only means that we don''t have the time for practice or preparation. We have to go. Now." Atlan took a deep breath and readied himself. Even though he didn''t know everything there was to know about the battle suit, he was comforted by the fact that Carmine and his team of Specialist Operators could talk to him while in the Remedium. "You have to go and meet with Ninth and her team. She''ll brief you about the plans they prepared for this mission." Atlan walked forward, with his steps slow and heavy. Even with the False mutation of his Angel Wings activated, he was still not fast enough to run with the battle suit. It was way too heavy. Having limited mobility was a problem, but it was much better than not being able to walk at all. He slowly made his way back to the door that led out to the production floor of the Operator building. He expected to feel the intense temperature of the furnace, but he was surprised to see that he felt nothing at all. "Your battle suit is protecting you from the heat¡ªnot that you would have needed it anyway," said Carmine from behind him. As they walked down the flight of steps to the production floor, the other Operators working in the factory stopped their jobs and looked up at Atlan and Carmine. They looked at the bulky battle suit adorned by the Star Porter. They were part of the team that helped build that technical marvel of a battle suit. They knew how heavy it was. The fact that Atlan was walking normally with it was a tremendous feat of strength that surprised even the Specialist Operators. Many of them debated whether it was even possible for anyone to use it, but as it turned out, they were proven wrong¡ªand from a Student porter at that. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Carmine and Atlan walked out of the Operator building and made their way out of the HeadQuarters. They garnered a lot of looks, not because of the bulky armor-like battle suit donned by Atlan, but because he was walking alongside Carmine, a known Specialist Operator. This mission wasn''t spread to the public, so they had no idea about the specialized battle suit. There were some curious Saviors who walked up towards Atlan and Carmine, but they were quickly deterred by a couple of soldiers following closely behind them. The Elder Heads decreed that there be no delay in their journey to the Church Remedium. So, soldiers followed closely behind Atlan and Carmine and ensured that they would not be disturbed on their way there. Atlan took this time to familiarize himself with the battle suit. Unlike his normal battle suit, this one was a lot bulkier and served more as full body armor rather than a thin fabric that clung tightly to his skin. He had to get used to the fact that he wouldn''t be able to move as fast as he wanted to. Even if his mind could react fast, it did not mean that he could dodge just as fast. His body refused to move as quickly as he wanted to. He had to adjust his reaction time. Back then, he could dodge at the very last second to ensure that he could create a counter-attack that his enemy would not expect. But with this battle suit, he had to dodge at the very moment that he thought he was in trouble or else it''d be too late. Once they were out of the HeadQuarters, the soldiers guided them to a truck that would lead them directly to the Church. "Save our church!" "Why isn''t there any news about the Church yet?" "Why are they taking their time?!" Outside the HeadQuarters, a large group of civilians gathered outside the barricade. They pestered the soldiers for any news regarding the church, but they were always ignored. The increasing worry of the general public led the HeadQuarters to issue a City-wide announcement that assured them that the problem in the Church would soon be solved. Of course, without any explanations as to how they were going to do that, the general public continued their protests outside the barricade. Thankfully, the soldiers were able to create a convoy through the traffic and lead them towards their intended destination. While on the way, Carmine told Atlan some much-needed advice for the mission. "You''ll be encountering Specialist Canzers, and you mustn''t try to fight them. You must activate the construct first and foremost, and use that to run away from them. Their powers are unlike anything you''d ever seen before. Some can bend reality. You''ll find yourself playing by their rules¡ªplaying in the world that they created. Even if they are not Sapient Canzers, do not underestimate their intelligence. At the same time, you must use their intelligence to your advantage. Ninth and her team will protect you until you reach the basement, but after that, you''ll be by yourself. Beware of the Remedium. Remember that." Atlan took Carmine''s words to heart. His experience with the Student-level Canzers was wholly inadequate for him to create expectations for this mission. Specialist-level Canzers were completely on a different level. It made his heart beat wildly, both in nervousness and excitement. He didn''t even notice the time passing by in the truck. Carmine had to shake him to get him out of his stupor. "Atlan. We''re here." Atlan stepped foot off the truck and followed behind Carmine. He looked around and was surprised to see that they were not near the Church at all; they were in one of the barricaded main roads leading there! This place was the first road that he and Lizzietook to try and get to the Church. And just beyond the blockade, there were a couple of people already waiting for him. One of which, was a curly haired woman with a look of worry on her face. Chapter 218 - 218: Briefing "Atlan." Lizzie came running towards him and buried her face in his chest. She clicked her tongue once she saw Atlan walking normally in the battle suit. There was a small part of her that wished that Atlan wasn''t able to carry the battle suit at all. That way, he wouldn''t have to go on the mission. "It''s not too late to back down." "I have to do this," he replied. Lizzie removed herself from him and sniffed. "Fine. My only solace to the fact that you''re embarking on this mission is because of Ninth. I''m sure that she''d protect you to the best of her abilities. Just make sure to always follow her instructions. No going off on your own. I repeat, no shenanigans! Don''t think I don''t know you, Atlan. You will undoubtedly do some stupid thing and risk your life for no reason." Atlan smiled guiltily. She was right on the mark. He was explicitly told by everyone that he shouldn''t try to fight the Specialist Canzers, but Atlan planned on getting at least one hit on them. Of course, he wasn''t going to do it if it risked his life. But, if he found an opportunity, he was going to take it. Seeing his silence, Lizzie felt annoyed once again. "Whatever! Go and talk to Ninth. I''m sure that she''ll whip you into shape. She won''t allow any deviance in her plans." Atlan walked over to Ninth, who was still busy talking to her team. "Atlan, you''re finally here." Ninth welcomed him. She observed his movements. Although he was moving slowly, he showed no difficulty in maneuvering the heavy battle suit. Just from his walk alone, she was able to assess his readiness for the mission. She was thoroughly impressed to realize that Atlan would be able to keep up with them even with his battle suit. "Woah¡­I didn''t think that was possible." "Ninth, you were right. He was able to wield the battle suit after all." "I thought we''d have to postpone. I''m happy to admit I''m wrong." The rest of her team expressed their surprise once they saw Atlan. They were briefed about the capabilities of Atlan''s battle suit and knew that it contained tens if not hundreds of constructs in one. They thought that it was impossible for anyone, much less a Student-level porter, to walk with it. In truth, Atlan did not have the strength to carry the battle suit. It was all thanks to his Angel bloodline. It helped him subdue the wild leftover Canzer essences in the battle suit and lessened the weight they were putting on him. "I''ll have to introduce you to my team, Atlan. We have 8 people in total, including you. We have two tanks, one mage, one DPS, a sniper, a scout, a Mesmer, and a porter." Ninth introduced each and every one of her team to Atlan, including their jobs in this current mission. "In the very front is our main tank. His job is to be the first one the Canzers lock on to. He will exhaust their attacks, giving us the opportunity to attack. Floating on his right is our scout. His position can vary. He can go at the very front, or the very back. Since we don''t know what kinds of Canzers are awaiting us on the inside, his job is crucial. He will be informing us on what we''ll be facing before we face them. Behind the main tank is the DPS, me. My job is to search for any weaknesses in the Canzer and exploit them. Behind me is the Mage, the Mesmer, and the Sniper. The Mage''s job is to deal damage in a large area. Her job is to make sure we don''t get surrounded by enemies in all directions. The Mesmer works in tandem with me and the Tank. He will conjure illusions and mind tricks that will disorient our enemies, allowing me to close in and attack their weaknesses. The Sniper''s job is to deal damage from afar. He will be the first to attack long before the Canzer can get near our positions, giving us the advantage. Atlan, you''ll be positioned behind them. Usually, a porter is at the very back of the formation, but this mission is different. We''ll position the other tank behind you, and his sole job is to protect you from any harm. Even if our team gets ravaged, he will not move. He is your bodyguard." sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The bodyguard tank walked up to Atlan and shook his hand. "If I say to move, you move. If I tell you to stay, you stay. I can''t protect you if I don''t know how you''ll move. The Remedium will get more wonkier the closer we get to the Church, so you better stick close to me." Atlan nodded. He understood the man''s concern, but that didn''t mean he was going to follow it. He quickly changed the subject. "By the way, why aren''t we entering the Remedium directly in the Church? Why do we have to enter through one of the main roads?" Ninth answered his question. "The Canzers have already appeared on the Church Remedium. They got to it first. This means that they''ll be able to prepare for our entry. If we go through the portal in the Church, we''ll end up in the middle of the Canzers. It is an immediate disadvantage. But if we enter through the main roads, we''ll be approaching them on our own accord. We can take them one by one." The thought of fighting multiple Specialist-level Canzers scared the wits out of Atlan. "If we know that there are Specialist Canzers there, why don''t we have all the Specialist Saviors join us in the mission?" Since this mission was critical to the City''s safety, it only made sense for all the Specialist Vanguards to join hands. Atlan found it weird that only 7 Specialist Saviors were assigned to this mission. "We can, but it will only allow other Canzers to infiltrate the Remedium. There is a reason why each team is limited to a maximum of 8 members. If we exceed that, our presence will create a hole in the Remedium allowing other Canzers to easily enter the Remedium. But if we only have eight members enter, we can be sure that there are only a maximum of eight Canzers inside." Chapter 219 - 219: Don’t be risky Atlan didn''t know that there was such a rule in missions. But if that was true, then he understood why they limited the amount of Saviors in this mission. If the City dispatched 50 Specialist-level Canzers, then that would mean that the Remedium could also have 50 Specialist-level Canzers waiting for them inside. No matter how strong humans were, they could not hold a candle against a Canzer''s ability to regenerate or make clones of itself. Yes, with 50 Saviors all working together to fight the Canzers, they might be able to subdue them for a long time. But, things could always go wrong. There could be an anomaly amongst the Canzers that the Operators had not prepared for. It would be troublesome enough just to carry 50 constructs inside. Logistics alone would mean that at least half of the 50 Specialist Saviors needed to carry the constructs inside the Remedium. After all, they had no other Porters left in the City other than Atlan. "The ideal composition of a team is 7 members, but it could be as high as 9 or as low as 4," Ninth explained. "We have 8 members right now, but since you will be going off on your own, we''ll be left with 7 members. We''ll need our full strength to deal with the Canzers that will try to pursue you." He didn''t know which one of them had a harder job. Ninth and her team would have to deal with multiple Canzers trying to break into the Church without any constructs to help them; it was a battle of attrition that could only either end in a draw or a loss. On the one hand, Atlan had to shoulder the fate of the City in his hands; if he didn''t subdue the Ifrit and it blew up the Door, then the whole City would turn into nothing but rubble and crater. "Now that we''ve explained the basics to you, we''ll proceed with the more advanced tactics we have prepared," Ninth said. "First, we''ll have to discuss your arrival at the Church." "I''ll go straight to the basement, correct?" "Yes¡ªif you can find it, that is." "What do you mean?" "The Church Remedium will not perfectly mirror the real world. The doors that lead to the atrium will not lead you to the atrium. We''ve told you before that the Remedium is hostile to humans, right? It will prevent you from reaching the basement in any way that it can. That includes turning the whole pathway into a topsy-turvy world where up is down, and left is right. You will lose your sense of direction and be trapped wandering in its halls. This is one of its tamer tricks." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan was so focused on figuring out how to outsmart the Ifrit that he didn''t think about how to get there first. He thought it was a straightforward path. "Will you be helping me?" Ninth shook her head. "You will have no one to help but yourself. We won''t be entering the Church. We''ll be barricading the outside and preventing the Canzers from infiltrating inside. They must not reach the basement. That is our primary goal." Atlan took a deep breath. He wasn''t confident about his chances of reaching the basement. After all, he had never experienced a hostile Remedium before. Heck, he didn''t even know what the basement looked like in the Remedium. According to Ninth, it won''t be a perfect mirror of the real world. "Second, you must prepare yourself for an arduous task. This mission will take days, if not weeks to accomplish. We''ll make camp in the Remedium, where we can rest and take a break. During those times, we will be assigning a lookout. They will alert everyone of a threat." The thought of spending so much time in the Remedium unnerved Atlan. The longer they spent inside, the more he thought that an anomaly may spawn inside. He was already expecting them. "Why will it take so long?" "We must not rush the process. According to Carmine and his team, at least three Specialist-level Canzers are waiting for us inside. We can''t advance further unless we kill these monsters or else they''ll cause further Symptoms in the real world. You''ve seen what happens; it''s not good to let our citizens see any more desecration of our Church." Although fighting Specialist-level Canzers was a terrifying thought, Atlan couldn''t help but think of the silver lining in all of this. If Ninth and the others were guaranteeing the death of the Specialist Canzers, then that meant that Atlan would be able to reap their deaths! "You don''t seem to be concerned about that," Ninth remarked. Atlan showed no sign of distress when he heard it. And if he didn''t have full control of his body, he''d be showing a smile on his face right now. "I trust you and your team. You can kill those Canzers." Ninth nodded and smiled. "That''s good, but let''s focus on the mission at hand. Once you have finished your duty and dealt with the Ifrit in the basement, you must immediately leave the Church and meet up with us. There can be no delay, understood?" "Understood," Atlan replied. "Okay. I know that things always tend to go off course in the Remediums, so when you are forced to improvise, I hope that you use discretion. I have been told that you tend to make risky and hasty decisions¡ªwell, don''t. You must always think about your own safety. Even if I or the rest of my team is in trouble, if I tell you to run, then you run. Do not try to help us, got that?" Atlan was silent for a few seconds. He would not be able to promise that. It was in his principle to always help those who were suffering. "I won''t risk my life," Atlan said. As long as he was careful, he could save himself and others if he needed to. That''s what his strength was for. Chapter 220 - 220: Riddle me this "Do you have any more questions?" Atlan shook his head. Ninth already told him the basic plan. It was useless to go into more detail because things could always change in the Remedium. It would be much better to familiarize themselves with each other''s tendencies so that they could anticipate each other''s moves when plans go awry. It was a pity that they didn''t have the time to do so. Ninth would have wanted to practice in the dojo and let Atlan witness their teamwork before they embarked on the mission, but they didn''t have any time to waste. The least she could do was tell Atlan her team''s jobs and responsibilities. "Just make sure to always stick to your bodyguard." The tank raised his bicep and flexed it to Atlan, showing him that he was more than capable of protecting him. Atlan ignored him. "Go to the Reverend. He has to give you something." Atlan looked to the side and saw Reverend Fifty-Seventh. He was muttering a prayer in the sky. He only finished his prayers once Atlan walked over towards him. "God blesses you, young man. It is a huge honor for you to be the one to enter into the Church''s holy basement. I implore you to, please, be careful." Atlan wasn''t supposed to know this, but he heard from the Elder Heads that the Door in the basement was actually the Genesis God''s literal heart. It was no wonder why the Reverend looked so stressed. With the Ifrit taking hostage of their God''s heart, it was as if it took everyone''s heart hostage as well, literally and figuratively. "Can you give me any advice on how to find the basement? Ninth told me that the Remedium won''t exactly mirror the real world." The Reverend closed his eyes and muttered a prayer Atlan couldn''t understand. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes. Atlan was shocked to see that the Reverend''s irises turned grayish, and his pupils turned pure white. His expression of zealousness was gone and was replaced by numbness and indifference. Then, in a low voice rumbling voice, he utters, "In the realm beneath your feet, where shadows often creep, A world turned upside down, where secrets lie and sleep. Not quite the attic, nor the sky so bright, A place of hidden wonders, away from the light." The reverend soon closed his eyes and opened them to reveal his normal brown iris and black pupils. His expression returned to normal and showed a¡­human¡­expression. "What was that?" Atlan asked. "It is the answer to your question," the Reverend said. "The Genesis God gave you a riddle that you must find the answer yourself." Atlan found it quite ridiculous. This mission was supposed to help the Genesis God and get rid of the Canzer taking hostage of His heart. He couldn''t understand why the God wouldn''t just give him the answer so that he wouldn''t have any trouble with the mission. "Why can''t he just tell me the answer himself? Why the riddle?" "If He tells you what happens, then it will not happen. The moment you learn the truth to where the basement is located, is the moment that its location changes. The Remedium will not let you go to its most critical point so easily; it will trip you, confuse you, and force you to turn back. You must find the answer yourself if you want to reach the basement." Atlan frowned. "Is my thinking correct that the Remedium is the God''s body?" The Reverend remained silent for a few moments before saying, "Yes." "If so, then why couldn''t the God command His own body to guide me towards the basement? Why must the Remedium be hostile to those who are trying to help Him?" The Reverend looked at Atlan and pondered, for a second, whether it was all right to reveal some of the God''s secrets to him. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Just like how a person cannot control the mechanisms of his own body, a God cannot interfere in His own Remedium. That is the very reason why humans¡ªSaviors¡ªare needed in the first place. They are the only ones that can help the God." "But why not? If he is a God, then surely he must have the power to make the impossible possible." "Young man, can you control the beating of your own heart? Can you make your veins stop themselves from passing blood? If you cannot, then does that mean that you do not own your body? Does that mean that you cannot control your own body? "No, I can''t. But I am not a God." The Reverend put his hands behind his back. "No, you are not." "If the Genesis God is not all-powerful, then is he still considered God?" Atlan asked. The Reverend went silent and looked up at the skies. "This is not the time to argue about philosophy, young man. These are the rules of the world, and we must abide by them. It might not make sense for us mere mortals, but who are we to comprehend the divine? You cannot explain it by human logic or sense." Atlan went silent. For him, this mission was important to preserve the lives of everyone in the City. He didn''t want to lose. Failing means that millions of people will suffer. Atlan couldn''t let that happen, which was why he couldn''t understand why the God wouldn''t help him find the basement. "I suggest that you focus on your mission. This is a job that only you can accomplish." The Reverend then raised his hands in the sky and muttered a prayer under his breath. Atlan watched as a cloud above them suddenly turned golden. A bright ray of light beamed down towards Atlan and bathed him with warmth. "As the Elder Heads decreed, you are entitled to rewards for accepting this mission. The Genesis God has allowed you to receive them, and will endow you with his blessing." Just as the Reverend said that, blue wisps and golden sand particles suddenly descended from the skies and spiraled towards Atlan. Chapter 221 - 221: Motivation to get back The Genesis God''s blessing rained down on Atlan and bathed him with experience points and SoulTime. Slowly, they sunk deep into his skin and made their way towards his Soul System. [You have received 5000 years of SoulTime] [You have received 10,000 experience points] Atlan looked at his current lifespan. [SoulTime] ¡ª5050yrs : 116d : 01hrs : 34min : 09s With 5000 years, he would be able to survive a fight against Specialist-level Canzers a lot better. According to Ninth and her team, they usually lose more than a thousand years of SoulTime whenever they fight against one Specialist Canzer in a mission. This meant that he would not die in one hit from a Specialist Canzer. He would only die from five hits. Although that was a terrifying thought, Atlan didn''t have to worry about losing Soultime with his battle suit. It was perfectly capable of deterring an attack of that kind of magnitude for at least 5 full-powered attacks. So in total, Atlan could survive against Canzers in 10 hits. Although that seemed low, it was mighty impressive for a Student-realm Savior like him. Even those in the Pre-Intern or Intern realm would not be able to withstand the full power of a Specialist Canzer for one attack. [Experience: 114,911.2] Atlan had no LifeSkill to pour his experience onto yet, so Atlan''s only option for getting strong was to increase his mastery of mutations. However, he''d have to fight a Canzer and win only using his mutations for him to increase its mastery. Surviving is hard enough. Beating a Canzer three realms above me is impossible. "I wish you all the best, young man." The Reverend quickly departed once the blessing was over. "Have you finished your preparations?" Ninth walked over to Atlan. Her team was ready to embark, and they were only waiting on the Star Porter. "Yes. I''m done with my preparations." "By the way, the Reverend left early. Did you say something wrong to him?" "Hm? Oh. It''s nothing. We just argued a bit about Gods and all that." Ninth gave Atlan a weird look. "Whatever. Carmine inspected the Church and saw an increasing intensity of the Symptoms. They''re trying to get into the Church. We don''t have any time to spare." Atlan nodded and quickly went over the barricades along with Ninth. In the middle of the empty and desolate road was a circular portal with a black shimmering liquid inside its area. This portal was large enough for the team to enter without breaking off their formation. The Elder Heads instructed the Operators to not skimp on the creation of this portal to make sure that the mission would go smoothly. They didn''t know whether a Canzer would be welcoming them as soon as they entered the Remedium, so they needed to keep their formation as tight as possible. As the team made their final preparations, Lizzie approached Atlan. "It''s not too late to back out," she said. Atlan smiled and whispered in her ears. "It''s not too late to kiss me." Lizzie''s cheeks immediately turned red. She bashed her arms on his chest repeatedly. "I told you to forget that!" "How could I? It might be the last memory you''ll ever have of me." She punched his chest again. "Don''t joke about that." Atlan took her hand and held it. "I''m serious. I don''t know if I''ll be able to get out of this mission alive. But I want you to know that I''m thankful for you. If I do take my last breath, then I''ll die happily knowing that you let me experience something wonderful¡ªeven if it was for a totally different reason." "It is! I¡­kissed¡­you only for your mastery!" "Sure," he said sarcastically. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She looked up at him. "You better return in one piece, or else I''ll hack you into pieces!" "I''ll try my best." "That''s not enough. I don''t care if you have to fight a God, you better return to me!" Atlan smiled. "To you?" "I mean, you better return to us¡ªto your friends! Wemby and Neumann are worried sick for you." "I''ll complete the mission no matter what it takes. Even if I have to sacrifice myself, I won''t let that monster blow up the entire City." "No! You can''t let those monsters get you!" "You''re not making any sense. What if I need to choose between me and the City? You want me to save myself and doom the rest of you?" "I want you to save yourself and the City!" "That''s a hard task," Atlan said with a smirk on his face. "I''ll need sufficient motivation. What you''re entrusting me with is impossible." Lizzie''s entire face was red. She muttered something under her breath that Atlan couldn''t hear properly. "What did you say?" "...back¡­" "What?" She stomped her feet. "I''ll¡­kiss¡­you when you get back!" Atlan smiled. "That''s a promise, right?" "Only on the cheeks!" "Sure," he said sarcastically. "I''ll triumphantly return and seek your luscious lips!" "Shut it! Whatever! Go away!" Lizzie turned around and crossed her arms. Atlan chuckled and walked over to Ninth and her team. "Seems you''re bonding well with Lizzie," Ninth commented. "Yeah. We''re close." "I can see that. Not everyone could make her act this way. I can practically see smoke coming out of her ears. What did you say to her?" Atlan smiled. "She just promised me something." "And that is?" "We''ll practice my mutation mastery¡­all-day-long¡­" Ninth looked at Atlan and couldn''t understand why there was a large smile on his face as he said that. "It''s good that you have some motivation to get back in one piece. We''re gonna need it." Ninth then looked over at her team and saw their eyes respond with strength and solidarity. They were more than ready. "Team, this mission will be hard. I can''t guarantee everyone''s safety, but it must be done. The fate of the City is on the line. Are you ready?" "YES!" they screamed. The Scout was the first one to enter, followed by the tank and the rest of the team. Atlan took a deep breath and entered the portal. Chapter 222 - 222: Looped Atlan stepped foot inside the Remedium and saw its signature negative color scheme mirroring the real world. As of now, he saw no deviation inside. The streets looked as empty as it was outside the Remedium, the buildings to the side were neatly lined up in their respective streets, and they could see the dark exterior of the Church just further away from them. If Atlan didn''t know any better, he would have thought that the way to the Church was as easy as walking a few kilometers. But judging from the wary expressions of Ninth and her team, he knew that this was not the time to relax. "Keep to your wits. The Remedium will try to lull you into a sense of comfort, but the moment that you show any weakness, it will pounce. We must keep our eyes peeled." Ninth''s cautious words were heeded by everyone. They walked forward on the main road, with the Scout at the very top of the formation. He looked left and right in a second of interval, trying to discern any sign of danger. Since this was near the City Center, the buildings were neatly built into blocks, with streets numbered from one up to 100. It was also evident that this was a high-class part of the City, with the buildings a lot more sophisticated and made of better quality materials than the normal buildings Atlan saw in the other districts. The main road itself was wide enough to have three lanes on each side, which made their formation a lot easier to keep. Atlan looked to the side and peeked through the streets they passed. And so far, he hadn''t seen anything wrong with the environment. Even the white skies and black moon above their heads showed no sign of any anomalies. For some reason, that was even more unnerving than seeing something wrong. The lack of any disturbance made the air even eerier than before. The tension only seemed to grow as they advanced further up the main road. "Wait!" The Scout stopped in his tracks, and the rest of the team froze in place. Atlan was surprised to see that some people on the team literally froze their own bodies while walking. They had their legs up in the air as they were about to take another step. Instead of putting them down, they kept their legs up as they heard the Scout''s warning. In their experience, they knew that any excessive movements could set off a trap that none of them expected. When their Scout told them to stop, then they stopped completely and made no extra movements. "Let''s take a detour," he said. Ninth didn''t take a second to hesitate as she agreed with his words. "Okay. Lead the way." The Scout didn''t have to explain. There was a deep bond of trust between them that negated the need for any explanations. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The group took a sharp left turn and entered 24th Street as a detour. Atlan had no idea why, but he wasn''t going to question them. As they took a turn, Atlan activated his Thermal Vision and observed the supposed hazardous route. But, he saw no difference in thermal energy than normal. What''s wrong with going this way? He dared not to blurt out his question. The rest of the team uttered not a single breath as they walked on the side street. Atlan was afraid that talking would somehow trigger an event that would destabilize the current peace in the Remedium. The 24th street was a particularly short block of street, consisting only of two office buildings on each side. It didn''t take them long to go through the street and come out on the other side. As they walked forward, the road opened up as they converged onto another main road. But as Atlan turned and looked forward, he was surprised to see that the road led to the Church once again. Once he remembered what the main road looked like, he was horrified to realize that this road was extremely similar to the road they left earlier. It was as if they turned back around and re-entered the path back where they wanted to avoid. "Is this a loop?" Ninth asked. The Scout looked to the left and saw the 24th Street again. They should have already left that street, but here it was again. "I''m afraid so. We''ll have to find the right way if we want to get out of it." Atlan had no idea what they were talking about, but it seemed that this was not the first time they encountered this. He had to take comfort in the fact that they at least knew how to get out of it. Ninth walked forward right next to the scout and took out the one-handed sword on her back. She didn''t even have to use her LifeSkill powers to generate a tremendous amount of force in her blade. With one swing of her sword, a giant cut suddenly appeared and split the road ahead and the skies up above in half! Atlan raised his hand and protected himself from the air generated by the swing of her sword, but he didn''t take his eyes off the cut that split the Remedium in half. Then, the Mage behind her suddenly chanted something under her breath and pointed her wooden staff at the split in reality. Suddenly, violet hands manifested in mid-air and pierced their fingers into the very seam of the cut. The Mage strained her face as she commanded the hands to pull the cut open. The very layer of reality crumpled under the giant violet hands and showed the true scenery of the road under the illusion. If they kept on walking forward, they would have plummeted down a dark abyss that would have swallowed them whole. Ninth and the others looked down and saw the ground subducting under itself as if it was a giant beast swallowing the very earth itself. Chapter 223 - 223: Detours "Take care not to fall in. You won''t come back up," said Atlan''s bodyguard beside him. Atlan had no intention of falling into that abyss. If even Specialist-realm Saviors were wary of this trap, then a Student-realm porter like him would stand no chance of surviving that. "Let''s find another route," Ninth commanded. This was the Scout''s job, so he quickly surveyed his surroundings without going off too far. Atlan saw his body lighting up in warm light with his Thermal Vision, so he knew that the Scout was using his LifeSkill to discern any traps in front of him. And according to his expert judgment, the best way to go forward was to go back to where they came from¡ªback to the portal. Ninth trusted the Scout''s judgment and ordered a tactical retreat that her team quickly followed. Atlan tagged along and followed in their footsteps. No wonder she said that this journey might take days. We''ve been here an hour, and yet we''re about to go back and retract all our progress. But he couldn''t complain. He would rather spend a week in the Remedium if it meant that they wouldn''t have to worry about pitfalls suddenly taking the ground from underneath their feet. As they walked back, the Scout would occasionally stop the group and order them to take a detour to a new street to avoid another pitfall. And then, perhaps the most confusing of all, the Scout ordered them to go through an office building to the side. They went through the lobby and looked for the fire exit. They scaled almost 40 levels before they were able to reach the very top floor and onto the rooftop. Atlan finally understood why they said that this mission would be arduous. They hadn''t even met any Specialist Canzers as of yet, but Atlan was already tired mentally and physically. First of all, he was wearing the heaviest thing in existence and walking up 40 flights of stairs without any break. This made him pant like a dog from exhaustion, but he kept going up with the team because he didn''t want to burden them with a break. Second, they walked up the 40-story building in absolute silence. Everyone kept their guards up and had their weapons at the ready. They were on edge. The suspenseful air and the possibility of a Canzer ambushing them were always on their mind and prevented them from taking a break. They hoped that there wouldn''t be a confrontation in the flight of stairs. After all, it was incredibly cramped and they had to walk up one by one, with their formation completely in shambles. Thankfully, after a few minutes, they finally reached the rooftop with no anomalies taking them by surprise. Atlan was tired at this point and wanted to take a break. The Scout opened the door to the rooftop and walked outside. Just as Atlan was about to say something, the words were suddenly caught in his throat as he stepped foot out of the staircase. Instead of seeing a panoramic view of the City atop one of the skyscrapers, Atlan was surprised to see that they were back on the main road leading to the Church! It was as if they walked up 40 flights of stairs for nothing. "How are we back here?" he asked. "Everything was an illusion," the Scout said. "Although it may have looked like we went back towards the portal, in reality, we have been steadily advancing towards the Church." "But what about the building? The burning feeling in my thighs is not an illusion." S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "...it''s a very realistic illusion," he muttered. Atlan forced himself to calm down. At least his efforts weren''t in vain; they were one step closer to the Church. "There''s another pitfall here," the Scout said as he pointed at the pathway leading to 26th Street. Ninth and the Mage cooperated once again to tear apart the fabric of reality. This time, the cut showed a scene that seemed to have come from up above the skies. The ground, which was supposed to be full of soil and stone, was replaced by a white sky. And below this sky was a top-down view of the Genesis City itself. If they fell through the pitfall, they would fall through the skies at terminal velocity and undoubtedly splat on the ground. "Damn! We''re trapped." The Scout looked in every direction but only saw illusions everywhere he looked. He looked back to the door where they went through, but it was already gone¨Cvanished as if it never existed in the first place. "Protocol 11 everyone!" Ninth shouted. Her team immediately altered their positions by changing their formation from a four-sided diamond to a circular one with Atlan at the very center. Their bodies immediately emitted some sort of light as they activated their LifeSkills one by one. The sniper took the Karabiner 98k off his shoulders and looked through its scope. With the pull of a trigger, an electric bullet whizzed through the air and pierced through the veil of illusions to show a tsunami made entirely out of lava. The Mage, Ninth, and the Mesmer, all created ''holes'' in the illusion with their LifeSkills. The Mage created those violet hands, Ninth used her sword, and the Mesmer chanted a spell that fought illusion with another illusion. This resulted in the annihilation of both, showing the true environment that lay behind it. Thankfully, the Mesmer''s pathway showed a suspension bridge held together by hemp rope and wooden planks. Below this bridge is an abyss that led to another pitfall filled with nothing but spiked stalagmites. Despite being a sketchy fabrication, the team had no other choice but to cross it. The tsunami of lava came running towards them at uncharacteristically fast speeds. "Cross the bridge," Ninth shouted. The rest of her team immediately ran towards the bridge. And despite the precarious situation, they went on it one by one to prevent any undue pressure on the fragile suspension bridge. The only ones still left on the other side were Atlan and the tank behind him. Despite how much he tried to hurry himself, Atlan could not overcome the weight of the battle suit to go any faster. Chapter 224 - 224: Collapsing bridge Atlan moved forward with the swaying suspension bridge step by step. As he advanced, he heard the sound of the rope twisting and stretching as if it were in the limit of its strength. However, Atlan weighed tens of tons of kilograms, yet he was able to take at least 5 steps into the bridge without it collapsing entirely. If this was a normal bridge, it would have snapped by the first step. It was easy to conclude that the bridge had magical properties that could not be explained by logic. Despite that, the planks in the bridge kept creaking with each step he took forward as if it was about to break in half. "Keep on walking," said the bodyguard behind. "It won''t fall. It''s purely for psychological horror, making you think that it will snap." Atlan took his words to heart and stopped worrying about the bridge. Meanwhile, the only one still left on the other side was the tank, Atlan''s bodyguard. The sound of bubbling lava inched closer and closer toward him as the tsunami made of magma rushed toward him. "Damn! I have to move," he said. He stepped foot on the bridge, making it sway left and right. Atlan lost his footing and his left leg sunk deep into one of the gaps in the wooden planks. Thankfully, he caught himself just in time and was able to pull it back up. "We have to move, Porter!" The Tank''s voice was full of anxiety. He could feel the heat of the lava behind him. In his desperation, the Tank activated his LifeSkill and created a wall in mid-air just behind Atlan. He then pushed this wall and tried to help Atlan walk through the bridge faster. But he was shocked to find out that he could not move Atlan by a single inch. The Specialist-realm Tank used all of his power to try and push him forward, but he felt like he was pushing Mount Olympus itself! The battle suit is that heavy?! S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He heard about its immense weight, but it was another thing to witness it himself. He was just pushing it forward, yet he could not make it move a single bit. If he put himself in Atlan''s position and tried to bear the weight of the battle suit on his entire body, he would simply collapse. What kind of monster is this kid? The fact that Atlan could still walk forward was an impossible task by the Tank''s standard. It made him realize why it was only the Star Porter who could complete this mission. If it was any other, they wouldn''t even have been able to handle the battle suit alone, much less traverse the dangerous Remedium with it. "Go ahead of me! I''ll be fine," Atlan shouted to the tank behind him. "Are you crazy?!" Atlan pointed at his battle suit. "This thing''s rated to withstand intense temperatures! Does yours?" The Tank was hesitant to follow Atlan''s suggestion because he was supposed to be the one to protect him. "Go! He''s telling the truth," Ninth shouted from the other side of the bridge. The Tank gritted his teeth and climbed up the wall that he created. Bricks suddenly came out of nowhere and extended the wall forward, allowing a small walkway above the bridge for the Tank to traverse. Atlan was left behind, with the tsunami of lava already reaching the bridge. It won''t fall, Atlan reminded himself. The Remedium is designed to challenge my mentality. At this point, the lava had already reached the wooden bridge and engulfed it in its boiling temperature. It consumed the wooden stake keeping the suspension bridge tethered to the ground. The bridge snapped as its rope melted into liquid. The planks slowly fell into the abyss, with their fall only being broken by the sharp stalagmites. Atlan was about to fall, but Atlan did not panic. Instead, he closed his eyes and took each step forward as he would have if the lava hadn''t destroyed the suspension bridge. As the planks fell, Atlan''s feet surprisingly stayed floating in the air. If one looked closely, they would see that the soles of his battle suit were glowing blue, with strange invisible waves permeating from it. This was one of the battle suit''s gadgets: antigrav boots. According to Carmine, these boots only served to let Atlan stay in place. This wouldn''t allow him to fly in the air but only hover in the same position as he was before. This saved him from plummeting to the stalagmites, but he wouldn''t be able to ''spacewalk'' forward. He would find himself simply walking in the air without advancing even a single step. Carmine compared it to an astronaut stuck in space trying to walk forward and only ended up wasting energy. Atlan didn''t understand that analogy, but he understood the principle. Just then, the tsunami of lava finally engulfed Atlan''s entire body into boiling, liquid rock. Luckily for the rest of the team, there seemed to be an invisible wall that the lava could not cross over. The tsunami reached 50 feet in the air and collided with the invisible wall. Some of the lava flowed back, but most of them sunk into the abyss down below, creating a pool of bubbling lava. Atlan''s bodyguard stomped the ground in anger. "I shouldn''t have left him alone! I''ll come get him." But just as he was about to jump into the pool of lava below, Ninth grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. "Look," she said. As the lava slowly descended into the abyss, the team slowly saw that a small mound of lava stayed in place where the bridge was supposed to be. Slowly, the lava dripped down this ''mound'' to finally reveal Atlan''s body, completely unharmed from the boiling lava that engulfed his entire battlesuit. As it turned out, a protective bubble appeared on his body as soon as his suit detected the heat of the lava. It protected him from being boiled alive. Chapter 225 - 225: Trusting the illusion Atlan had his eyes closed as he stood in mid-air. Don''t believe the illusions, he reminded himself. Atlan raised his hand and pushed a button in his battle suit. And the blue light on his soles suddenly blinked and lost its power. Without the antigrav boots turned on, Atlan would plummet down into the abyss where even the 50-foot lava tsunami could not fill halfway. Despite that, Atlan closed his eyes and let himself lose the antigrav boots. His body fell, but surprisingly, there was an invisible flooring underneath his feet that caught him just when everybody thought he would plummet down into the stalagmites. Atlan, with his eyes still closed, raised his leg and walked forward. He recalled the image of the swaying suspension bridge in his mind. He ignored reality and let his imagination dictate his actions. Even though there was nothing to walk towards, Atlan still walked forward with no hesitation in his movements. And as he took a step, his foot felt a solid wooden floor in front of him. He smiled. Just as he thought, the collapse of the wooden suspension bridge was only an illusion. Even as the tsunami of lava engulfed it in its melting temperature, it still stood tall and defied logic. Atlan took another step forward and felt another plank in front of him. Slowly, he made his way toward the invisible suspension bridge. This time, there was nothing to rush him. Ninth smiled when she saw this. "Our Star Porter has guts, I''ll give him that." This Remedium has a strange property where it made illusions based on the imagination of the Saviors traversing it. When the tsunami of lava reached the bridge, everyone knew what would happen next. They thought that the bridge would collapse and be melted by the lava that engulfed it. And due to their ''human'' thinking, the bridge did collapse. It followed their imagination and gave them an illusion that destroyed the wooden suspension bridge. "If a Student saw the bridge falling, what would they think would happen next?" she asked her team. "They''d think that they would fall into the abyss," answered the Mage. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Yes. And because of their thinking, they would actually fall to the abyss and get swallowed by the Remedium, never to be seen again." That was normal. Even if they knew that it was an illusion, their innate logic would imagine that they would fall once their foothold got destroyed. It was human to think that. "The only way to survive this is to go against logic," Ninth said. If one truly believed that the suspension bridge survived the tsunami of lava, then the Remedium would make it true. That is what Atlan did. He closed his eyes and believed his imagination. He imagined that he was crossing through the suspension bridge safely, plank by plank. Even though there was nothing underneath his feet, he was able to walk in the air. "Do you think other Students would have been able to do that," asked Ninth to her team. The answer was obvious. They wouldn''t. The Remedium would prey on their inexperience. That is one of the reasons why Students weren''t allowed on missions for Critical Points in the City. Of course, this mission was the exception since they needed the Star Porter to carry the constructs inside. Atlan took his final step forward and landed back on the asphalt of the main road. He opened his eyes and saw that they were a lot closer to the Church than they were before. He looked to the side and saw that were at 40th Street. They only needed to traverse 60 more streets to finally reach the Church. "Good job, kid." The rest of the team lauded Atlan for his unwavering confidence. It made them trust the young Star Porter much more than they did before. Their main concern during this mission was not Atlan''s lack of strength or experience, it was his mentality. Usually, novices like him would panic whenever a dangerous situation occurred. Students would forget all their training and go out of position in an attempt to run away or save themselves from harm. Nothing was more dangerous than a panicked Savior who was only out to save himself. They were unpredictable. They could deal with a weak Savior, but not a hysterical one. This was their main concern with Atlan. However, they were quickly proven wrong. Even in the face of a 50-foot lava Tsunami threatening to overwhelm him, he kept calm and trusted the battle suit entrusted to him. If he panicked and tried to run, he would only trip himself and eventually fall to his death in the abyss. He also showed tremendous conviction. If he wavered even a little bit when he walked through the invisible suspension bridge, he would immediately fall to his death. This showed to the Specialist Saviors that Atlan was the kind of guy who kept calm under the most extremes of pressure. They could work with someone like him. They could rest easy knowing that Atlan would not panic and cause chaos in the team''s formation. They could focus solely on protecting him and letting him reach the Church in one piece. "Care to tell us how you did that?" Ninth asked. "You said it was all an illusion, and I believe it. If the suspension bridge was strong enough to not break under the full weight of my battle suit, then it surely wouldn''t get destroyed by some lava. Because of that, it was easier for me to believe that the bridge was still there, just invisible." Ninth patted him on the shoulders. "My father was right about you." "What did he say?" She smiled. "He said that you''re crazy. In a good way." Only a crazy person would put his life on the line by trusting his imagination. Insanity bordered genius. She still didn''t know which side he was on. "I hope you continue to be crazy because the Remedium has yet to show us its craziest side." Chapter 226 - 226: Setting up camp As they walked forward, Atlan couldn''t help but ask if the Remedium they usually faced was anything as arbitrary as the one they faced just a few minutes ago. "Yes. This is normal for high-realm missions like this one¡ªespecially so since there are multiple Specialist Canzers inside. As we get closer and closer to the Church, the hostility of the Remedium will become even more prominent. For now, it is still unbiased. As long as you are strong and capable, then you can traverse through it. An example would be the suspension bridge earlier. Our Scout figured out that the only safe pathway would be through that way. And as you saw, the tsunami of lava could not penetrate through to the other side. This meant that the Remedium still wanted us to advance forward. If it was a little bit more hostile, it wouldn''t have given a safe pathway in the first place. It would have trapped us inside till we succumbed to the lava." Atlan was frightened but intrigued at the Remedium. The Remedium was the God''s body. And even though they¨Cthe Saviors¨Cwere trying to help the God by getting rid of the Canzers, the Remedium made things so much harder for them instead of making it easier. This meant that the God was sabotaging Themselves from being helped. He didn''t understand it. Atlan decided to not think about it any further. According to the Reverend, the Divine could not be explained by the human. He also realized that this was not the time to think about unnecessary things. While Ninth and her team had their focus on the pitfalls and traps around them, Atlan was the only one with the leisure to think about stuff outside the mission. They walked forward, with their steps one pace slower than the normal mission protocol. Ninth was worried about the current silence. It had been an hour after that bridge incident, and now they were at 50th Street. Just 50 more and they would arrive at the Church, yet they hadn''t seen a single Canzer in sight. This unnerved the rest of the team. If they didn''t encounter a single Canzer on the road, then that meant only one thing: the Canzers were all gathered in one place. That was bad news. The team was fully prepared to fight a couple of Canzers one by one to whittle down their numbers before they reached the Church. Ninth and the others were confident they could kill any Canzer that came their way. But if they were all at the same place, then they would have to fight multiple Canzers at the same time. "Be careful," the Scout said. He stopped the team and led them towards the mall skyscraper to the side. "Let''s move here." Then, he walked over to the glass walls of the skyscraper and walked upwards! It was as if there was no gravity to pull him down. Ninth and the rest of the team followed behind him. They all walked up the building, with the transition from ground to wall as as easy as walking from one corner to another. Atlan stopped at the very edge of the wall but found himself falling towards it. He was able to stop himself using his arms. Strangely, even though he was standing upright with his hands against the wall, it was as if he was performing a push-up! The gravity was pulling him towards the walls of the skyscraper. Atlan strained himself as he used all the power in his body to stand up. As he did, he found himself scaling the wall as if he was walking on the ground. In front of him, instead of seeing the horizon of the City, he saw instead the white skies and the black moon up above. "Come on," Ninth said in front of him. "We''ll spend the night at the top of the building." Atlan followed behind her and asked, "We''re spending the night here?" She nodded. "We can''t get there too fast." He didn''t understand. "Wouldn''t we get ambushed at this point? What if some Canzer attacks us while we sleep." Instead of being worried, Ninth smiled. "That''s the point. We want them to attack us. We have to lure them out of the church one by one so we can kill them one by one. That is our best bet to get you to the basement as safely as possible." Atlan admired the confidence they had. If Atlan was in charge, he wouldn''t want to clash with the Canzers and try to sneak into the Church. I guess that''s the confidence of a Specialist-realm Vanguard. They must have killed thousands of Canzers at this point in their career. He didn''t have that much experience, so he was still hesitant in dealing with Canzers. As they ''climbed'' the skyscraper, the Scout led them towards different floors to circumvent any traps from the Remedium. They ''technically'' weren''t walking towards the Remedium, so its hostility wasn''t that high compared to when they first started. After half an hour, they finally reached the rooftop of the skyscraper. The gravity finally returned to normal. They quickly set up ''camp'' on the rooftop. However, they didn''t have the right equipment to properly call it a camp. They simply laid down on the concrete floor without going out of their formation; they never even let go of the weapons in their hands. Their definition of a camp was just a place where they could sleep. "I''ll take the first shift," Ninth said. "Sleep now and recover your strength for tomorrow. This is just the start of our journey, and we can''t be fighting with sleep deprivation on our faces." The rest of the team nodded and quickly closed their eyes. Atlan was surprised with their ability to go from alert to asleep in just a few seconds. It was as if they just flicked a switch. I guess this is not the first time they had to sleep in the Remedium. "You too, Porter. Do you want to get out of your battle suit as you sleep?" Atlan went silent for a second before he answered. "We could get ambushed tonight, right?" She nodded. "Then, I won''t." S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 227 - 227: Dark forest "Wake up! Wake up!" "What happened?! Who was supposed to be on shift?" "It doesn''t matter now. Wake up the Porter!" Atlan felt someone shake him from his sleep. What happened, he asked himself. After they took camp last night, Atlan laid on the cold hard ground and found himself staring at the white skies and the black sun. He couldn''t sleep. So, he stayed awake with Ninth, who was on the first shift to be on guard. They didn''t talk much and only spent the night in silence. That was all he remembered. I must have slept soon after that. He didn''t remember falling asleep, but he clearly did. That was because the environment around him was different from the one he saw yesterday. Up above him was a dark sky and an even darker sun. A day had passed, which meant that in the real world, it was early in the morning. And since the Remedium showed the complete negative of the colors, the bright blue skies had turned into a very dark and ominous red. The sun, on the other hand, turned into a hole of blackness that swallowed all the light that bounced off it. "Get up." Atlan''s bodyguard, the second tank in the group, offered his hand to him. Atlan didn''t take his hand and got up by himself. If he took the man''s hand, he would only get pulled down to the ground because of the battle suit''s immense weight. "Where are we," he asked the tank. They were supposed to be on the rooftop of the skyscraper they climbed yesterday. They were supposed to see the skyline of the City down below them. Instead, Atlan found himself stepping on wet and moist ground. All around him were black dead trees with no sign of leaves anywhere. Even the shrubbery near the trunks was only filled with thorny branches that extended outwards. And because of the darkness of the sky above them, they could barely see anything in front of them. It was shrouded by a sinister fog that permeated the air. "Where are we," he asked again, this time a little bit louder. Ninth looked back at him and said, "It''s here." She didn''t have to explain any further. Last night, they were talking about how Canzers could sabotage them deep in the night, and now it seemed that it really did happen. "Places, everyone!" she screamed. "We don''t know what''s out there, so do not get careless. And by the looks of it, it seems that the Canzer is not our only problem. The Remedium is showing its fangs." Judging by the fact that the entire environment changed around them meant that the Remedium itself was sabotaging them. "But we haven''t even gotten near the Church yet," Atlan questioned. "The Remedium is not controlling itself. It''s being controlled by something else," Ninth answered. "By what?" Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Canzers," she said plainly. "There are some Canzers whose depravity and chaos are so strong that they influence the Remedium around them. They bend it to their advantage." "They can do that?" She nodded. "We must move now. We can''t stay here in one place or else we''ll lose the advantage. We must find the Canzer before it finds us." Ninth looked at her team and gave out her orders. "Sniper, see if you can see anything in the fog. If you do see something, hold your fire until I say so. Mesmer, you know what to do when the Canzer appears. Give me enough time to slice it in half. Tank, protect the Mesmer, and ensure that he can activate his spell. If our Sniper gets attacked, don''t worry, I''ll protect him. Mage, can you cast a spell that can disperse the fog?" The Mage nodded. "Yes, but it will send out a large flare for the Canzer to find us. I don''t think it is worth it." Ninth bit her lips. "Fine. Just ready an area-of-attack spell whenever you sense anything amiss." "I''ll use a combination of light and earth energy. It will most likely be more effective with all the miasma and dark energy in this dead forest," the mage answered. As for Atlan and the tank behind him, they didn''t have much to do. His only responsibility was to stay out of danger and reach the basement safely, while his bodyguards'' only duty was to make sure no Canzer got to him. Slowly, they walked forward through the dark and dead forest. CAWW¡­CAWW¡­ Occasionally, they heard a raven''s cry echo through the forest. The Scout wanted to investigate the source of this sound, but Ninth stopped him. If he separated from the group now, he could probably get lost in the dense fog around them. After a few minutes, they came across a stream that flowed with dark water. The Scout couldn''t figure out its nature, so as a precaution, Ninth ordered them to find another path. The stream was too wide for them to jump. SWOO Atlan suddenly saw something from the corner of his eyes. But when he looked to the side, he saw nothing but a dead tree and its roots. "What''s that?" he asked. "With a forest like this, the Remedium will try to play tricks on your eyes. It''s best to ignore them. The tank will protect you if something tries to approach you," the Scout said. Atlan was sure he saw something, but he wasn''t sure if it was an illusion or not. As they kept walking, Atlan kept seeing things flash by at the corner of his eyes. And whenever he tried to look at it, it would disappear from his sight. Trying to look at it was as useless as trying to outrun his shadow. ''...umans¡­.'' Atlan stopped in his tracks, alerting the tank behind him. "What''s wrong?" Atlan looked around him and closed his eyes. If he got rid of his sight, then his sense of hearing would be enhanced. ''Humans are here¡­I want to eat them¡­'' He was right! Those were Canzers! Chapter 228 - 228: I’m so happy "Do you guys hear that?" Altna said out loud. Everyone kept their ears open but none of them could hear what Atlan heard. Even if they couldn''t understand the Canzer language, they still couldn''t hear anything but the sounds of dead branches creaking and crows crying in the distance. Despite that, Ninth didn''t completely dismiss his words. "What did you hear?" "I think it''s a Canzer." She didn''t know how he got that information, but she knew better than to question a hunch. Sometimes, it was much better to trust someone''s sixth sense rather than the other five. A crescent beam of white light suddenly shone towards them at almost light speed! It came from the deepest depths of the fog seemingly out of nowhere. Thanks to Atlan''s timely warning, the Tank already readied a defense for the formation. His body lit up in a red tint as he activated his LifeSkill, bashing his expanding shield toward the beam and redirecting it out of harm''s way. TANG! The crescent beam reflected out, hitting one of the dead trees. Everyone watched as the dark and dead tree suddenly vibrated, slowly inching its branch outwards as if it were a giant archaic beast awakening from its thousand years of slumber. A curved slit suddenly appeared from out of its thick trunk, creating a permanent sinister smile on the tree. And even though it had no eyes, Atlan felt as if it was looking at him straight in the eye. It pulled its roots out of the ground and stretched its ''legs'' before making its way towards him and the group. "I''ll take care of this," Ninth said as she sprinted towards the tree with her one-handed sword skidding through the mud. The animated tree bent its body left and right as it welcomed the arrival of Ninth. It didn''t seem aggressive. In fact, it even looked as if it was dancing in the night with jovial ignorance. But just as she stepped foot where its branches could reach her, its mouth curved up even higher. It swung down its dead branch towards her at speeds Atlan couldn''t see. In response, Ninth raised her sword and blocked the branch easily. Then, she pushed the branch outwards, disorienting the animated tree. Once the tree showed a weakness in its position, she quickly took advantage and brought down her mighty sword. The blade created a split directly in the middle of the tree. Once her sword hit the ground, the tree broke in half and dissipated into nothingness. Atlan waited for the tree to make clones of itself or regenerate, but after a few seconds, nothing happened. "The Canzer has yet to grace us with its presence," Ninth explained. "It seems that one of its powers is to create live monsters from inanimate objects." Just then, Atlan heard another scream from the fog. ''Kukuku¡­I''m so happy! So happy! Victory is mine! I''m so happy.'' This time, he wasn''t the only one who heard the Canzer''s words. Everyone turned their heads from the source of the beam of light. And even though they hadn''t seen anything yet, they felt the air turn¡­heavy. Beyond this fog was the Canzer. "Sniper¡­take the shot," Ninth whispered. The sharpshooter never left his head off the scope of his gun. And with her permission, he activated his sniper LifeSkill. A blue magic circle appeared near his scope and enhanced his vision. And as soon as he saw the outline of his target, he pulled the trigger. The bullet left the barrel at intense speeds, gathering momentum from each meter it traveled. Though the bullet looked nothing special, Atlan knew better than to underestimate a Specialist-level Sniper¡ª-something that the Canzer didn''t do. The Canzer jumped up from its left leg to its right, as if it had the leisure to dance while the bullet headed straight for its head. As it neared its chitinous body, the Canzer beamed a smile from its mouth and intercepted the bullet in mid-air. The ray of light was a crescent smile that hit the bullet almost instantaneously after the Canzer smiled. As soon as it was hit by the ray of light, the bullet suddenly slowed down in mid-air. The Sniper saw his bullet suddenly split open in the front which created a sinister smile similar to that of the dead tree from earlier. Once it was assimilated, the bullet slowly turned around and whizzed straight toward its sender! Just as the sniper thought he''d get hit by his own bullet, the Tank suddenly appeared in front of him and deflected the bullet to the ground. The bullet spiraled into the mud before losing all its momentum and dissipating into nothingness. ''Kukuku! Victory is mine! I will carve a smile on all your faces!'' The Sniper gritted his teeth as he stared down the Canzer in his scope. "Don''t think that''s the end." Suddenly, the Canzer stopped jumping up and down as it sensed something behind it. Two more bullets, each with a force greater than the original bullet, pierced the Canzer''s sides, tearing through its chitinous armor and wreaking havoc inside. The Sniper smiled. His LifeSkill allowed him to create copies of his bullet that targetted his enemies in different directions! ''Kuahh! Ha! Ha! I''m so happy! I''ll make you humans even happier than me!'' Strangely, even when it had two enormous holes at the side of its body, it didn''t express any anger or fury. It simply showed even more excitement and happiness. Atlan couldn''t understand it. "I''m hating that high-pitched scream," Ninth said. As if it wanted to respond to that rude comment, the Canzer screamed at the top of its ''lungs'' and created a shockwave that would disorient the whole group. Thankfully, the Tank used his LifeSkill to literally bounce the sound away from their location, letting them hear nothing but a silent murmur in the distance. This saved them from a horrible case of tinnitus, but that meant that Atlan only heard a small part of the Canzer''s words. ''¡­.slow human is delicious¡­'' S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 229 - 229: Happy trees Atlan didn''t know why but he felt like the Canzer was aiming straight for him. If the Canzer was any bit more intelligent as a child, then it would quickly figure out that Atlan was the weakest out of the group. Not only was he the human who displayed the weakest aura out of everyone else, but his movements were also so slow that he would not be able to react even if he could see the Canzer''s movements¡ªwhich he didn''t. Just as he was about to move, the Canzer suddenly disappeared from the fog and finally revealed himself to the group. Unfortunate as it was, Atlan was right; it was targeting him. The Canzer had a hideous stocky figure, with a face as big as a human. It had big eyes with thick eyebrows made out of chitinous hairs. Its nose, which was as big as a human torso, had bulbous warts and pimples all over its greenish skin. Its defining feature was its smile. It was permanent and unmoving. Coupled with its dead and soulless eyes, it was enough to give even the most courageous of warriors feel a creep running underneath their skins. And if one looked closely, they would see the tips of its teeth hanging out of its lips like a tiger waiting to pounce. Although its face was human-like, its body was more typical of a Canzer. Its short and thick limbs were made out of layered chitin. Strangest of all was the fact that the Canzer seemed to be wearing clothes! Its torso was covered by a red long-sleeved vest and blue trousers buckled by a black belt. On top of its head was a golden cone of a hat, with it drooping to the left by a little bit. How could Atlan not see the hideous face of the Canzer with crystal clear clarity? After all, it teleported directly in front of his face! Atlan couldn''t even think fast enough to defend himself against the surprise attack. His battle suit wasn''t even a factor at all. The Specialist Canzer was far too strong compared to a Student like him. His survival instincts kicked in and his shoulder blades began to feel prickly and numb. He was just a fraction of a second away from activating his Angel Wings and bursting out into the air for safety. Thankfully, he didn''t need to. The tank behind Atlan glowed a green light as he activated his LifeSkill. A mystical and ethereal octopus arm suddenly wrapped itself around Atlan''s body and immediately yanked it out. But Atlan''s body remained in place. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The ''happy'' Canzer opened its wide maws and swallowed Atlan''s body whole. His lower body hung on the Canzer''s mouth, lifeless. Then, it bit into his body and crunched it into two. The Canzer thought it killed Atlan, but then, his ''corpse'' suddenly turned into a lifeless straw doll! The real Atlan was safe beside his bodyguard. The second tank''s LifeSkill allowed a friendly target to be substituted into a straw doll the moment they received any damage. It was a perfect power for a bodyguard because it did not depend on timing. As long as that ethereal octopus arm hit Atlan, he had guaranteed protection for a minute. Wow¡­that was weird. Atlan''s perspective was sort of like an out-of-body experience where he saw his own body get devoured by the Canzer. It was surreal. "Don''t worry. I got you, man!" said the bodyguard. Atlan was safe, which strangely made the Canzer even happier, with its smile a lot more curved but its eyes turning even more soulless. ''Happy! Happy! I want to spread joy!'' It jumped up and down, alternating from its stubby left leg to its right in a little dance and a hum. "Don''t think you can get away with targeting our porter!" Ninth immediately rushed after the Canzer and swung down the might of her sword. The happy Canzer opened its mouth and sang its song, creating musical notes out of the air. As her blade reached the Canzer, the Canzer increased its pitch and subsequently enlarged the notes in the air. As soon as Ninth''s blade hit the treble clef, it exploded like a balloon, allowing the Canzer to fly away from her sword. But just when it thought it got away, three bullets suddenly appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the Canzer. TRKKK! The bullets pierced the Canzer''s chitinous shell and buried itself deep in its body, staining its red clothes purple. Interestingly, its injuries never healed. ''Kagh! You have a party? Let''s turn this into a party!'' In retaliation, the Canzer opened its maws wide, showing a light deep in its throat. Then, it shot out a ray of the crescent beam with the same shape as its smile towards the surroundings. The Tank didn''t have to deflect anything. The Canzer didn''t aim for them. Instead, it aimed for the dead trees around them. Soon enough, tens if not hundreds of branches and trunks vibrated as it got endowed with a new life. They ripped their roots out of the wet soil and walked toward Atlan and the team. If Atlan estimated their strengths correctly, each one of these trees had the equivalent of an Intern Savior! He would not be able to defeat even a single one, much less survive in a one-on-one fight. The worst part about it was that the Canzer could create these dead trees endlessly. "Trying to overwhelm us? Not while I''m around." The Mage raised her wooden wand and conjured a spell. Immediately, hundreds of violet hands appeared above the swinging trees. And with perfect synchronicity, they paired up and grabbed the trunks in two opposite directions before twisting them till they splintered. Within a few seconds of their life, they immediately died in the ''hands'' of the mage. Atlan was amazed at how easily she dealt with such a dangerous situation. Ninth and her team had the perfect composition to deal with this particular Canzer. Ninth and the Sniper dealt with the main Canzer, while the Mage and the tank dealt with the surrounding enemies. Chapter 230 - 230: Maniacal laughter ''YODEL! YODEL! I need help yodeling'' "What are you yapping about?!" Ninth said as she swung her sword down to split the Canzer in half. Unfortunately, its singing created defensive notes that protected it from harm. BANG! The Sniper immediately supported his leader. He pulled the trigger and created a flaming bullet that headed straight toward the Canzer''s head. But once again, to protect itself, it smiled and created a beam that turned the bullet into a friendly object for the Canzer. The bullet turned back and headed straight for the Sniper hoping to bury it in his head. Thankfully, the Tank was already in front of the Sniper. But just when the Tank was going to activate his defense, the bullet turned a complete 90 degrees and targeted Atlan! Thankfully, his bodyguard used his shield to protect Atlan''s head from a friendly headshot. WHIZZ Three more flaming bullets appeared behind the Canzer and surrounded it from all sides. But it learned its lesson. It commanded all dead trees to saunter over towards its body and shield it from harm. The bullets pierced through ten dead trunks each before it was finally stopped just a few inches away from the Canzer. ''Happy! Happy dodge!'' It jumped up and down in elation after dodging the Sniper''s attacks. Up until now, it was the Sniper who was the only one on their team to do damage to its body. Because of that, it wrongly assumed that it was the strongest human it was facing. It didn''t know that Ninth was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. "Stop your jumping, submit to dying!" The Mesmer finally finished casting his spell. He played on his flute and created a melodic sound that reverberated through the dark forest and headed straight for the Canzer. The melodic sound was pleasing to the ears of most Canzers, especially this specific Canzer because of its fondness for singing. It stopped its elated hopping and listened intently to the music. It tilted its head in confusion. The music was intended to create a somewhat familiar sound to Canzers, but almost entirely different. It was as if the Canzer was given a set of Canzer words that looked like it made sense, but it actually didn''t. The Mesmer''s spell disoriented the Canzer for at least a second before it was able to snap itself out of confusion. But it was too late. Ninth already had her sword down on the ground after slicing it towards the Canzer. Even its musical notes couldn''t protect it from Ninth''s tyrannical slash. CLING! The Canzer''s right arm was entirely severed from its body, with it spurting out violet blood everywhere. "Tsk. It''s still able to dodge while mesmerized? I was aiming to cleave it entirely in half." Ninth expressed her disappointment. She hoped to finish the fight using only her brute strength and without using her LifeSkill. It would save her much energy for later. ''KAGH!!!! That''s so pleasing! So happy!'' Instead of wincing in pain, the Canzer instead became even happier than before. The curved smile on its face almost turned into a circle! Its chitinous body rattled as it vibrated in happiness. It suddenly turned its severed body towards Ninth and aimed the spurting violet blood toward her face. Ninth swung her sword in a circle, protecting her from the majority of the violet blood. Even if she didn''t know what it did, she knew better than to let a Canzer get the best of her. TSSS Unknowingly, one drop of blood hit her skin. She looked down and saw the infected part of her arm open up into a smile. It resembled the Canzer''s sinister smile. It suddenly laughed and created a tiny high-pitched noise that suddenly brought about an infectious case of laughter. The surrounding skin suddenly opened up to reveal more mouths that smiled and laughed with the original infected skin. This, in turn, created more smiling mouths on her arm and threatened to spread towards her wrist. Ninth ruthlessly mutilated herself, skinning the infected skin on her arm before it spread any further. After a few seconds, new and healthy skin grew on her bleeding and exposed injury. "200 years¡­it packs quite a punch," she muttered. "But don''t think only you can do that." The Canzer, with its bleeding right arm, suddenly turned around as it felt a threat coming from its blind spot. But before it could even move its body back, it suddenly felt a strong force hitting it from behind and cracking its chitinous shell. It flew outwards and landed on a few dead trees, killing its own creation. The Scout retracted his fist after a successful sneak attack. He had a mutated fist made entirely out of shadows. The longer he remained undetected before an attack, the stronger his fist became. Thankfully, the Canzer wasn''t that attentive after it lost an entire limb. "Don''t let it have any rest," Ninth muttered S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You don''t have to tell us twice." The Sniper and the Mage prepared their LifeSkills and targeted the prone Canzer. The Mage conjured hundreds of hands that encircled the Canzer. Interestingly, these hands were not made out of an ethereal and magical material but were instead made out of a crystal that perfectly refracted and reflected light. It acted as a multi-faceted mirror! As the Sniper triggered his gun, a single bullet fired toward the Canzer. As it reached the wall of crystal hands, its image perfectly reflected on the palms of the hundreds of hands. Suddenly, these ''images'' of the bullet shot out of the palms and headed straight for the Canzer. Instead of being only one bullet, there were now three hundred bullets that each had the same firepower as the original. TIK TAK TAK TIK The Canzer''s body was riddled with bullet holes that exploded and tore its chitinous body apart. Slowly, a pool of violet blood gathered around the lifeless body of the Canzer. After that was silence. Atlan held his breath as he looked at the ''dead'' Canzer. His Thermal Vision showed that the Canzer no longer had any sign of life in its body, but he couldn''t trust what he saw. He had a gut feeling that this wasn''t finished yet. Suddenly, he heard a maniac laughter echoing through the dark woods. ''HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'' Chapter 231 - 231: Ray of sunshine Atlan looked around and realized that the Canzer''s laughter was coming out of everywhere¡ªthe dead black trees, the slightly wet muddy soil, and the dark skies and black sun broadcasted the high-pitched maniacal laughter. It was as if everything was infected by its unexplainable happiness. Suddenly, the whole dark forest experienced an earthquake that almost made Atlan lose his footing. Everything shook as the endless dead trees simultaneously vibrated and moved their roots out of the ground. The dead trees rose their branches upwards as if they were stretching out to the black skies above. Just like before, a creepy smile morphed out of their trunks. This time, there was a small light coming out of their mouths. They all jumped up and down and embodied the happy Canzer. Their mouths curved up in happiness and their bodies creaked in an attempt to sing just like their creator. ''Make the humans happy'' Atlan heard a whisper through the woods. It was imperceptible to the likes of normal humans like Ninth and her team, but it was loud and clear to Atlan''s ears. Even though he hadn''t seen anything or felt any threatening movements, he shouted towards his bodyguard. "Make me a straw man," he said. The bodyguard didn''t waste a second and manifested the ethereal octopus arm that wrapped itself around Atlan''s body. This was an additional lifeline he desperately needed. Just then, a creepy smile formed underneath Atlan''s feet. And before he could look down and notice it, a big mound of mud emerged out of the ground and showed its infectious smile to Atlan''s back. In just a fraction of a second, a hand formed at the mound''s side and threatened to crush Atlan into a mushy paste. Atlan knew that he didn''t have the speed nor the reaction time to fight such a strong monster. He could only rely on his intellect and memory to protect himself from being hit by its heavy hand. He knew that the animated dead tree had no sort of complex thinking and could only use the most basic of attacks. It only brought down its branch as its main offense and defense. Atlan didn''t have to guess that whatever monster was behind him was controlled by the Canzer. If that was true, then it was only logical to assume that it could only use a crude, instinctual, and animalistic form of attack. Based on that guess, Atlan ducked down in anticipation of a diagonal attack that aimed for his head. SWOOSH Atlan felt a cold air breeze past the back of his neck as the mud golem''s arm swung and missed his head. Even though he was bogged down by his battle suit and even though he was two realms lower than the mud monster, he was able to protect himself from a certain hit by only using his guts and his intellect. A smile formed on his face before the mud monster opened its mouth and devoured Atlan''s entire body. Just before his head was crushed under the weight of the monster''s mouth, his body turned into a straw doll and saved him from being consumed. He appeared right next to the bodyguard safe and sound. Did he get lucky? The bodyguard never would have thought that a Student wearing tens of thousands of tons on his battle suit would ever be able to dodge against a monster multiple levels higher than him. But, he was thankful that Atlan made his job a lot easier. ''HAHAHAHA! I''m a ray of sunshine!'' The Canzer''s hideous face suddenly formed out of the black skies. It was so big that it dwarfed the black sun in the sky and turned this entire Remedium into its domain. It felt like it could see everything with its enormous eyes that looked down at the team. ''Soon, you''ll play to my tune!'' the Canzer sang. A musical tune suddenly echoed through the dark forest, making the trees dance and jump in happiness. More and more mud golems formed on the ground, with their smiles carved onto the very pathway itself. They danced, creating an earthquake based on the music''s rhythm. "Mage!" Ninth ordered. "Copy, boss!" The Mage looked up and chanted a spell. Suddenly, tens of thousands of violet hands burst forth from the tip of her wand and twisted upwards, creating a cloud of hands intertwined with each other. This cloud spread through the skies and covered the entire forest, tinting the dark forest with a violet light. Atlan looked up and couldn''t even see a glimpse of the skies above them. Even the incessant laughing of the Canzer''s face plastered on the skies was muffled into silence. He even tried using his Thermal Vision to look up and peek at the skies, but all he could see was a swarm of hot and warm hands in his vision. "Bring forth the finger of melancholy!" the Mage screamed. Suddenly, thousands of hands rained forth on the ground. These hands only had their pointy fingers extended, creating a sharp peak that pierced through the air. In just seconds, the thousands of singing dead trees and mud golems got riddled with holes as these pointy hands rained on their bodies. Try as they might to sing through the barrage, their bodies could not overcome the damage. They all turned into ripped pieces of their basic elements. After that, silence. So this is a Mage LifeSkill, Atlan admired. Her power permeated through the entire Remedium! He could only wonder how much power she held to extend her LifeSkill to such lengths while keeping enough power. ''KUHAHAHA! Thank the humans! They spread happiness!'' The hideous face of the Canzer suddenly morphed from the thousands of hands in the cloud. It taunted the Mage and laughed at her attempts at preventing its happiness. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Kugh! It took control of my spell! I have to retract it!" The Mage stopped her spell, dissipating the hands into mere particles. The black skies revealed themselves again, letting the giant face of the Canzer sing to the Remedium. ''AWAKE!'' Suddenly, all the shredded pieces of bark and soil grew their own crescent mouths and laughed alongside the Canzer. They must have been numbering in the billions. Chapter 232 - 232: Swarm of happiness Before they knew it, there were swarms of tiny-mouthed creatures laughing and smiling at the ground and in the air. Their small but high-pitched screeches created a shockwave that made Atlan and the rest of the team wince in pain. Even if they blocked their ears, they could still hear that incessant laughter echoing in their minds. There was no way they could escape. Ninth swung her sword around her, killing thousands upon thousands of pests. Yet it made no difference. As soon as there was space, the swarm would fill it up as if there was an endless supply of them¡ªwhich wasn''t entirely false. The Sniper kept shooting his gun and multiplying his bullets, yet he wasn''t able to keep them from biting his battle suit and turning his skin into a feeding ground. The Tank was a little bit better as he could protect himself from harm using his shield that repelled anything. But, he was limited only to a specific direction, leaving him vulnerable from behind. Everyone used their LifeSkills to save themselves, but the swarm was too much. It felt as if they were swimming in a sea of tiny mosquitoes that ruthlessly bit their battle suits and threatened to devour them down to their bones. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The worst part about it was the annoying tiny laughter echoing in their ears. The pests took away an entire year of SoulTime for every second they spent inside the swarm. For Specialist Saviors like them, losing that little amount of SoulTime was almost negligible. As for Atlan, he was protected by his battle suit, with the chitinous padding being slowly whittled down. "Should I destroy them?" the Mage asked loudly. Ninth considered the thought. Even though a large number of enemies like this was perfect for an area of effect mage, Ninth had a feeling that it would only exacerbate the situation. Billions could turn to quadrillions. "Let''s hold on for now," she said. "It''s still manageable." While Atlan fought off the swarm of pests with his slow punches, he couldn''t help but wonder about the Canzer. From what he witnessed earlier, the Canzer couldn''t regenerate its injuries fast enough. It was still affected by the Sniper''s previous bullets, hindering its ability to dodge attacks. Therefore, it wasn''t a Destruction Canzer. If it did, then it would have been able to shrug off any normal attacks that Ninth and the Sniper inflicted on it. At least, it should have shown some kind of healing ability even if it was slowed down. But it didn''t. Is it an Infection Canzer, Atlan thought. It would explain why it didn''t die from being riddled by bullets. And the fact that it was able to show itself in the sky could be another manifestation of its cloning ability. Even the smiling creatures, the dead trees, the mud golems, and the mouthed pests, were all ''infected'' by the Canzer''s happiness. They got contaminated with the spirit of the Canzer and were forced to do its bidding. It made sense. "Boss! How long are we going to endure this?" asked the Scout. "It''s fine if this is our only opponent, but we have several more Canzers to defeat!" On a normal mission, Ninth and her team didn''t have to worry much about their SoulTime. They saved up enough lifespan for them to not worry about a Canzer''s attacks like the pests they were experiencing right now. However, this was not a normal mission. It was already confirmed before they went to the Remedium that there would be at least 3 Specialist Canzers inside! Even if they had a surplus of SoulTime, they would eventually run out of time if they fought three Canzers all in succession. And there was a possibility to have more hiding further down the Church. They had to be frugal with their SoulTime. They would only receive the reward or compensation of SoulTime after they finished the mission. They wouldn''t replenish their lifespan until they saved the Church from the hostage situation. If they lost half of their life in this fight, then they would only doom themselves later on. "Hold on! We need it to show more. It''s hiding something." Ninth''s words surprised Atlan. "This isn''t normal?" "It''s not acting in a typical manner," the Tank next to him explained. "It''s acting weak. It should be stronger than this." This is weak? Atlan could barely even keep up with just one of the dead trees, yet the bodyguard was telling him that normal Specialist Canzers were a lot stronger than this. He could hardly believe it. "Show your ugly face, you bastard!" Ninth screamed as she held her one-handed sword up in the air and finally activated her LifeSkill. A colossal apparition of a sword-maiden with the same structural face as Ninth and garbed with traditional knight armor appeared behind her. It exuded a sense of sharpness that could cut through anyone who looked up at her giant figure. Atlan couldn''t even look up at the majesty of Ninth''s LifeSkill up so close. If he looked at it too hard, he would feel a prickly sensation in his eyes that would force him to avert his gaze. But even then, she was lenient. If Atlan was an enemy, he wouldn''t be able to stand so close to her without bursting into a thousand slices of his body. The pests that tried to overwhelm the apparition learned that lesson the hard way. No matter how much they tried to overwhelm her, they could not get within two meters of her figure without bursting into mere atoms. And that was just the manifestation of her LifeSkill. She hadn''t done anything yet¡­Till now. She raised her sword in the air, and so did the apparition. Her sword, just by merely raising it in the air, cleaved through the skies and threatened to split the sky as well as the annoying smile on the Canzer''s face. "HYAAA!" Ninth screamed and brought down her sword, creating a huge pressure that divided the whole swarm as if she was parting the sea. Chapter 233 - 233: Swordmaiden The sword split the heavens. Atlan saw a brief moment in which the Canzer atop the skies looked at the sword with fear in its eyes. There was an actual threat within that blade that even the happiest Canzer could not overcome. Atlan didn''t know if the expression it showed was it trying to escape from Ninth''s attack or if it was just jumping up and down from happiness, but it didn''t matter. It would get cut down regardless. The sword looked so heavy that it sent a huge gust of wind greater than a tornado. If Atlan wasn''t so heavy, he would feel himself get lifted off the ground. And that was just Ninth bringing down her sword with a very slow movement! As the tip of her blade reached the giant obnoxious face of the Canzer in the skies, its forehead got indented as a slight tear started to go down and threatened to split the Canzer''s face in half. Even though Ninth''s swordmaiden apparition was not even tall enough to reach the clouds, and the Canzer''s face looked like it was another planet far away from the world, the sword somehow reached its target. It was like an optical illusion. From Atlan''s perspective down below, Ninth''s sword somehow crossed with the Canzer''s face right at the point where the two images intersected. Atlan couldn''t believe it. He thought he was seeing things. Ninth''s sword shouldn''t be tall enough to reach the planet-like Canzer. But it did. It was as absurd as if a human raised their hands in the sky and pinched the moon. And somehow, they were able to grab ahold of it and crush it in their hands! ''GUAAAGHHHHH!'' The Canzer screamed as it felt its face get torn down from forehead to chin. And no matter how much it tried to get away from her sword, it was as if there was a gravitational force that kept the sword attracted and attached to the Canzer itself! Suddenly, its chubby and stocky hands appeared out of the skies and tried to wrestle the giant sword away from its face. Yet, the swordmaiden''s hands could not get swayed. She held a tight grip on it that even the gods could not rip away from her. It opened its mouth and showed its ugly set of teeth. Out from its throat, a bright white light came and burst out towards the swordmaiden. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Ninth frowned and adjusted her stance. She kept one hand on her sword and kept trying to split the Canzer''s face in half, while her other hand moved in a swift martial arts defense that deflected the beam with her bare hands. But, as it turned out, the beam of light accidentally hit the black sun in the skies. Suddenly, it started to grow in size. No, it wasn''t growing, it was advancing towards them! And as it did, a curved white smile appeared in the black sun. As it started to get bigger, everyone felt the temperature in the Remedium become hotter and hotter. The muddy soil in the ground immediately dried up and started to crack. The dead trees became even smaller and more brittle, with it splintering with just a weak gust of air. Those without much defense started to feel their skin burn. The Sniper, the Scout, the Mage, and the Mesmer all immediately huddled towards the two Tanks before their blood boiled from the inside. The Tanks used their LifeSkills to create a dome of safety where the temperature was lessened to a large degree. Only then could they take a deep breath and relax. But the sun''s assault didn''t end there. It suddenly shone with a black ray of light directly towards the apparition of the giant swordmaiden. Ninth gritted her teeth as she felt the intensified heat of the sun directly on her body. Her skin started to burn and blacken, but her internal body healing allowed her to quickly shed off her burned skin and replace it with a stronger, more resilient patch. However, this cost her about 10 years of SoulTime for every second. It was not sustainable. The giant swordmaiden slowly got enveloped in a black fire that tested her mettle. If she just let go of her sword pinning the Canzer''s face in the sky, then she could get away from the harmful rays of the black sun and save herself. But if she kept with her stubborn ways, then she would only suffer an even more intense heat that could potentially burn her entire body into ashes. "You underestimate me, Canzer!" she muttered. Her grip on the sword tightened as well as her resolve. She would finish this fight no matter what it took. "Code of Honor!" Ninth''s sword slowly gathered momentum out of nowhere. She finally cleaved through the Canzer''s forehead and separated its eyes. It almost turned cross-eyed as it looked at the sword in disbelief. But she didn''t end there. Her sword split its green bulbous nose, with its warts and pimples popping out. The Canzer, perhaps knowing its demise, bellowed out a laughter. ''HAHAHAHA¡ª'' Then, with swift force, she cleaved through that annoying smile, stopping its laughter from echoing further in the Remedium. The Canzer''s face was split in half. Slowly, they disintegrated from mere particles and disappeared off the face of the skies. Then, its original body fell from the heavens and landed in front of Ninth. She looked down and saw the Canzer''s body completely split in half, with violet blood and guts spilling out of its body. The black sun soon returned to normal and a cool air breezed through the black forest, allowing the whole team a second of reprieve. Atlan waited with bated breaths for something to happen. But after a minute of silence, the Canzer''s corpse showed no signs of healing back together or cloning itself. "Is¡­is it over?" he asked out loud. But, his question was met with silence. There was a worried expression on everyone''s faces. Atlan knew that something was wrong. He just didn''t want to admit it. After all, no Specialist Canzer would ever be killed with just brute force and without the use of an Operator construct. Just then, they heard numerous footsteps coming at them from all directions. Chapter 234 - 234: Cone tipped hats The whole dark forest seemed to become even more foggy. It was dense¡ªtoo dense to even see those around them. Aside from the bodyguard just a few inches away from him, Atlan could only see the silhouette of his teammates. He had a bad feeling about this. He tried to use his Thermal Vision, but it was as if the fog could obscure his LifeSkill as well. It was overpowered by the mystical powers of the Remedium and could not see through them. The Scout immediately sensed something and warned the others. "Incoming!" he shouted. The Tank immediately activated his LifeSkill and created a protective wall around the team. The Sniper kept his eyes on the scope and his finger on the trigger. Even Ninth held her one-handed sword above her head ready to cut down whatever was about to come towards them. And just as they feared, ''Damn humans! They''ve gone and killed our brother!'' ''Ha¡­haa¡­hachoo! Sniff¡­the smell of these humans makes my allergy act up!'' ''Can they see me? I don''t want them to see me!'' ''Hehe¡­the smell here is nice hehe, isn''t it?'' ''Zzzzz¡­.POP!¡­huh? Yeah¡­yeah¡­I''ll just go back to¡­sleep¡­'' Five more distinct Canzer voices echoed through the dark woods. Even though each one of those voices came with a very varied aura and power, there wasn''t any doubt in everyone that they were all either as strong or stronger than the happy Canzer they killed. And it looked like they came for revenge. ''Look how they massacred our boy.'' Everyone''s eyes went wide as they suddenly saw a large clothed Canzer appear in front of Ninth. It observed the corpse of the happy Canzer with a melancholic expression. Atlan didn''t even notice it came from anywhere. It simply appeared without any warning or effects. ''Dee! Can you stop that damn smoking?! It''s clouding the whole forest!'' The thick and dense fog finally cleared, allowing them to lay eyes on the Canzer in front of them. It was as hideous as the one before, with a face as big as a human''s body. It somehow wore large human clothes with a red long-sleeved shirt, orange trousers, brown shoes, and a cone-tipped hat. Its garb was similar to that of the happy Canzer, but this time, it had large round glasses that hid its eyes that seemed like it could pierce through the veil of truth. This Canzer didn''t seem aggressive and only focused its attention on the corpse below. It didn''t even react to the bloodlust that Ninth emitted just a few meters away from it. It was as if she didn''t even exist. "Boss! Just give me the go-ahead and I''ll blow the brains out of that monster!" The Sniper was ready to destroy the bespectacled Canzer in front of her. He would have already done so, but Ninth''s silence made him hesitate. If she wasn''t going to do something, then it wasn''t his place to do so either. "Be careful," Ninth warned her team. "There''s something amiss." Slowly, as the fog dispersed and showed the replenished dead trees, the team finally laid their eyes upon the six different Canzers. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Ah! Dee, can you please blow some smoke again? These humans are looking at me!'' ''I''ll beat these bastards up myself if they keep leering at us like this.'' ''Hehe¡­hehe¡­Gee, relax¡­they have seven, we have seven¡­it''s perfect.'' There were six of them in total. Five of them were on the outskirts of the black forest and surrounded Ninth and the group. The last one was inside the group and faced Ninth directly. The one called ''Dee'' wore a green long-sleeved shirt and green trousers. It wore a violet hat and had a pipe in its mouth constantly billowing smoke out of its chamber. Atlan noticed that the smoke it blew away was perfectly similar to the fog in the black forest. And according to what he heard from their conversation, it was ''Dee'' who was responsible for the obscure nature of the Remedium. ''Gee'' wore entirely red clothes, with its shirt and trousers matching in colors. It wore an orange cone-tipped hat and was the only one among the group of Canzers who had a great big white beard obscuring its mouth. And despite that, the frown on its face was as clear as day. It couldn''t display any other expression. ''Zee! Would you stop sleeping!'' ''Zee'', just like the angry ''Gee'', wore an entirely red attire, but with a blue cone-tipped hat. This Canzer was lying down on its side and constantly yawned¡ªwhich was unnatural and human-like at the same time. It desperately tried to get up just like its ''brothers'' said, but it would always end up falling and sleeping within a second. ''My damn useless brothers! Why are you hiding, Bee? Get over here!'' yelled the angry Gee. Obscuring its large stature behind a thin dead tree was ''Bee''. It wore a yellow long-sleeved shirt and a blue-green hat. This one always had its head down and couldn''t keep its gaze long enough to make eye contact with the humans. HACHOOO! The last Canzer sneezed so hard that it induced a head-splitting headache in Atlan and the team. Not even Ninth could react fast enough to protect herself from the disorientation. It took them a second to wake themselves up from their stupor. The Canzers could have used this opportunity to unleash untold damage on the humans. Yet, they didn''t. They didn''t know if it was because they didn''t want to, or because they didn''t need to. The Tanks gritted their teeth as they realized that they faced an opponent that they could not let their guard down. Because of their carelessness, they could have let down their team and let the Canzers take the upper hand. ''That was a big one, Ess! Hehe¡­'' Even an effortless sneeze was enough to send chills down their spine. The tanks kept their eyes on the Canzer named ''Ess''. It wore clothes colored entirely of brown, with a yellow cone-tipped hat on its head. Its biggest feature was its big nose, which was large enough to suck up an entire human without any trouble at all. The Canzer constantly rubbed its nose and always had an expression as if it was about to sneeze. Chapter 235 - 235: Distinct personalities They were surrounded by these hideous monsters with unknown powers and unknown motives. This was a dangerous situation if there ever was one. Atlan couldn''t figure out what type of monsters they were dealing with. Was it an Infection or Destruction type Canzer? If it was an Infection Canzer, then that would mean that all of these strange creatures wearing large human clothes were clones and copies of each other. But that didn''t make sense. If they were, then they should all be identical with the same powers and personalities. But from what he could see and hear from their conversations, each one of them had their distinct attitudes that clashed with each other. These weren''t clones. The very definition of that word meant that the copies should all be identical, but they were the exact opposite. If it wasn''t an Infection Canzer, then it could only be a Destruction Canzer. For Atlan, that would be the worst-case scenario. If these six Canzers were of the Destruction type, then that would mean that they all had endless regeneration that could only be disabled by six different Operator constructs. Fighting them would be hell. But if they were the same as the happy Canzer from earlier, then that would mean that they didn''t have regeneration. The previous one got killed because it couldn''t heal its injuries. If it can''t regenerate and it can''t make clones, then what are they? If he was fighting this group alone, he would simply bring out his Angel Wings and leave the Remedium altogether. But seeing as there was still a fire in everyone''s eyes, Atlan had no intention of giving up. They would fight. "On my mark," Ninth uttered with hushed tones. "We bring down God''s fury on this Canzer in front of us. We need to bring down their numbers." As expected of the Specialist team, they acted with professionalism. They showed no reaction after hearing Ninth''s words. If they all turned to look at the bespectacled Canzer, they would basically be broadcasting to the entire Remedium that they were about to attack. These Canzers were too intelligent to not notice that. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''How¡ªhow¡­how about it ''Oc? Can-can you heal Aitch so we¡ªwe can get out¡­of here?'' said the shy Bee. ''You want to go home now?! We haven''t even taught these humans a lesson for hurting OUR brother!'' yelled the angry Gee. ''Zzzzzzz¡­..'' ''Oh, Bee¡­do you want me to give you something to help you calm down?'' asked the smoking Dee. This, in turn, angered Gee. ''Oh hell no, you won''t! The last time you gave him something, I had to deal with the aftermath!'' As Atlan listened to the Canzer''s conversation, he couldn''t help but be bewildered at their likeness to humans. They acted like one, they bantered like one, and they had complex social interactions just like how a human group would react. If their chitinous faces weren''t so hideous, Atlan would have thought he was listening to humans! Their conversation also proved a guess that''s been on his mind lately. Does the Canzer have their own dimension they could call home? They had history. They didn''t just spawn out of nowhere. They had lives before they arrived at the Remedium. They certainly weren''t living in the real world before that so the only conclusion he could come up with was that the Canzers had their world in a different dimension. Maybe they even had their own homes and territories like humans. With their intelligence, Atlan could even imagine there being a society of Canzers, where the strong ruled the weak. And from what he could recall in the emergency meeting room, the Canzers organized this very attack. They sensed a weakness. They knew that there was a hostage situation within the church, and they immediately dispatched some ''soldiers'' to prevent the humans from solving the situation. Atlan could only wonder what kind of monster could command Specialist-level Canzefs like they were mere foot soldiers. ''How long do we have to stay here, ''Oc?! I''m getting tired of standing around!'' ''POP!¡­huh?¡­.Zzzzzzz¡­..'' ''Dude, you need a chill pill. I can give you one.'' While the Canzers were having their conversations, Ninth and her team were already revving up their LifeSkills. They wanted to burst down the bespectacled Canzer named ''Oc before it could even react. And to do that, they needed to act with quick and precise burst movements. Ninth looked back and knew from one look that her team was ready. All she needed to do was give the signal. She whispered, "Now.'' With perfect synchronicity, they all lit up in different lights corresponding to the element of their LifeSkill. The Mesmer took out his flute and played very calm and soothing notes that physically affected the Remedium. The visible shockwaves of the sound created a protective bubble around the group, creating an illusion on the outside. From the Canzer''s perspective, the humans never left their spot. They didn''t even move. The Mesmer''s spell allowed the team to create an ambush right from plain sight! Ninth was the first one to move as she burst forth towards the Canzer named ''Oc with her blade above her head. As she was about to exit the Mesmer''s bubble of illusion, she swung her sword down in anticipation of reaching the Canzer''s head. The bespectacled Canzer only saw the tip of the blade come towards its head. Its dark sunglasses glinted in the sunlight. It simply bent down its head, letting Ninth''s sword hit its brown cone-tipped hat. The two collided, sending sparks flying everywhere. Yet no matter how much strength Ninth used, she could not even cut through the Canzer''s strange hat. The realization dawned on her that this Canzer was not something she could cut down without her LifeSkill. Her team, seeing her attack fail, tried to activate their LifeSkills as they planned. But just as they were about to, the whole Remedium suddenly rumbled as the Canzer called ''Ess'' induced another world-shaking sneeze. ''HACHOOOO!'' The shockwave disrupted the Mesmer''s illusion, popping it like it was nothing. The Sniper, the Mage, the Tank, and the Scout all found themselves too stunned to gather any strength in their Soul System. They couldn''t activate their LifeSkill! Chapter 236 - 236: Beard or Big Nose? Everyone felt their entire Soul System shake from that sneeze, discombobulating them from accessing their powers. This would have been the time to panic, but thankfully, none of the Canzers moved to attack them. "Kugh! How did it know?!" "It shouldn''t have! My illusion was perfect!" The Canzers shouldn''t have seen them move at all. The Mesmer''s illusion prevented any disturbance from leaking out perfectly. Yet, somehow, the Canzer was able to ''sneeze'' and disrupt their casting at the most critical moment. If they were able to support Ninth, they would have killed or at least injured the bespectacled Canzer named ''Oc. ''My allergy is really acting up!'' It turned out that ''Ess'' never even sensed the upcoming ambush! Atlan didn''t know if it was just a coincidence or something else. Either way, they would have to keep an eye on the sneezing Canzer and brace themselves so that their LifeSkill wouldn''t get interrupted. Meanwhile, seeing as she was the only one facing the Canzer, Ninth immediately retracted her sword and struck the Canzer''s brown hat again, creating another spark. She didn''t stop there. She kept slashing it continuously without break, reaching a thousand hits a minute. Her stubbornness disallowed herself to be bested by a Canzer''s ''hat''. And the fact that the Canzer did nothing as she hacked her sword made her even angrier. It was as if the Canzer knew that she couldn''t ever cut through it. Finally, the bespectacled Canzer looked up at Ninth and took out a mining pickaxe from behind its back. This weapon seemed to have materialized out of nowhere because it was way bigger than the Canzer''s body itself. The Canzer swung the pickaxe towards Ninth without any windup. It looked like a throw-away attack with no effort. But when Ninth received this attack, she felt its heaviness push her outwards. She tried to fight it by digging her feet in the soil, but the Canzer proved to be too strong for her to overcome. Ninth was thrown backward and was caught by the Tank behind her. The two of them skidded on the ground for a few meters before they finally stopped. Ninth looked at her shaking hands. The power she felt from that pickaxe still lingered in her mind. It was at that point that she realized that she wouldn''t be able to contend with the bespectacled Canzer in terms of brute strength. Given that physical prowess was not her strongest suit, she was still the strongest person in the team by a large margin. If she couldn''t overcome it, then no one could. She''d had to fight it some other way. "I''m sorry, Ninth. I thought my illusion was perfect." "It was. They just have better eyes." "Do you want me to take the shot? I can still hit him," asked the Sniper. She shook her head. "That thing''s too tough. For now, I want you to shoot for defense. If you see any one of those Canzers moves, then make sure they only move backward. Don''t let them approach." "Copy." "Mage, same goes with you. Coordinate with our Sniper and make sure we only fight one by one. Keep them at bay." The Mage nodded, with her wooden wand at the ready. "Scout, tell me if you see any sneak attacks or traps." "I will," he responded. "As for you," Ninth said as she looked at Atlan. "Are you feeling okay?" Atlan nodded. Although he was completely too slow to see attacks of these high-level Canzers, much more dodge them, he still had an advantage that nobody knew about. He could hear the Canzers talk to each other. "As long as you stay deep in our formation, we''ll protect you," she assured. "I don''t think we have to worry about that," said the bodyguard beside Atlan. "They don''t look like they''re aggressive. They haven''t attacked us yet." But it seemed his words were said a little bit too soon. Atlan heard the impatient voice of a Canzer who was rearing to go. ''Is it going to take any longer?! I''m running out of patience here!'' Gee bellowed. The bespectacled Canzer named ''Oc looked at the angry ''Gee'' and replied, "You can do as you please. This will take a while." As soon as he heard that, Gee rubbed his white beard and eyed the humans with a hidden bloodlust. For someone who was angry all the time, this Canzer was very skilled in hiding its violent expression. "It''s about to attack!" Atlan warned. "How do you know that?" asked the Mage. Even the Scout was surprised. "I haven''t seen any sign of them using their powers." Meanwhile, Ninth looked at Atlan with a serious expression. "Who?" As expected of a good leader, she immediately believed Atlan without a second of hesitation. "The white beard," he said with a hushed tone. He made sure not to move his eyes away from the ground. He didn''t want to alert the Canzers. She then made eye contact with the Tank, ordering him to heed Atlan''s advice and keep an eye out on the bearded Canzer. However, the Tank thought differently. "I think I should keep watching the Big Nose. I''m tired of it messing up our rhythm. As long as I keep a careful watch, I can reflect its sneeze outwards and let them have a taste of their own medicine." The Tank could only face one direction at a time. It just so happened that the angry, bearded ''Gee'' was on the opposite side of the Big Nose sneezer called ''Ess''. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Although Atlan warned them about the upcoming attack, he gave no reason as to how he acquired that knowledge. They didn''t know if it was an educated guess based on evidence, or if it was just a baseless hunch. The Tank''s tactic, on the other hand, was much more realistic. From the beginning till now, it was only the Big Nose ''Ess'' who posed an actual threat to the team. Two of its sneezes proved to be powerful enough to disorient them for a good second and disrupt their Soul System enough to disable their LifeSkills. It was only natural to devote their defenses to countering the sneeze. Ninth was put into a dilemma. Should she follow logic and go with the Tank, or should she trust a novice''s gut hunch? Chapter 237 - 237: In hindsight Although it was a hard decision for others, Atlan, found it to be the most logical course of action. Since he could hear the conversations of the Canzers, he knew that the Big Nose sneezing Canzer didn''t plan its sneezes ahead of time. It showed no aggressiveness against the humans, at least for now. However, the bearded Canzer named ''Gee'' was actively trying to attack them. It was practically fuming. And now that it was permitted to attack, then Atlan did not doubt that it was only a matter of seconds until it did. Compared to the sneezer, choosing to defend against the angry ''Gee'' was a no-brainer. Atlan was frustrated that they couldn''t hear what he heard. He could have also told them about his ability to understand the Canzer''s language, but that in and of itself would open a can of worms. Not to mention the fact that they might not even believe him, the trouble would come if they did. They''d no doubt ask a lot of questions as to how he acquired that skill. He had no intention of revealing his grim reaper powers as of now. Atlan had to find another way to convince them. He could see from Ninth''s expression that she was slowly leaning towards going with the Tank''s suggestion. It was the most logical decision. The fact that she was still considering Atlan''s suggestion was a sign that she trusted him a lot. Any other would have dismissed his words entirely. "I''m sorry, Atlan but¡ª" Just as she was about to say something, Atlan suddenly jumped up and pointed at the bearded Canzer. "Look!" Everyone turned to look at the Canzer, including the main Tank. Their faces were full of cautiousness. They immediately put their guards up and prepared themselves for the upcoming attack. But after a few moments, nothing happened. The bearded Canzer stayed in its place without doing anything suspicious. Atlan lied. The Tank almost shouted out in anger. Although Atlan was a novice, the Tank didn''t think that he would be such a liability on the mission. This was sabotage, plain and simple. This little stunt of his could have cost them the entire mission. It was already hard fighting a Canzer, but it got even harder when there was an internal weakness inside the team. The Tank wanted to shout to Atlan, Shut up, don''t do anything stupid, that''s the least you can do. But just as he was about to turn around and face the Big Nose Canzer instead, he suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eyes. The bearded Canzer suddenly appeared in front of the Tank. Its face was contorted into one like that of a red demon whose only expression was anger and fury. Behind it were a thousand arms, each one had their chitinous fingers spread apart. The Canzer reared its arms back and then pushed its palms towards the Tank with the force of a thousand arms altogether. The Tank''s hair stood on end. With his instinct and reaction time as an experienced Specialist Tank, he was able to create a half-hearted wall of defense in front of him right at the very last second. As soon as the Canzer''s palms hit the semi-transparent wall, it immediately burst through without much resistance. CRACK Its thunderous palms hit the Tank''s body. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, showing only the whites. The Canzer''s hands were as big as his body, letting the Tank''s entire being feel the full brunt of the force. The Tank''s body collided against the forest of dead trees, but none of them could break his momentum. He would have continued to fly through the Remedium and be engulfed in the heavy fog around the forest. Once he was gone, he would either be lost in it forever or be swallowed by the hostile environment. But thankfully, the wall he conjured at the last second helped him weaken the blow. He slowly opened up his eyes in mid-air and ignored the pain in his broken ribs. He activated his LifeSkill and created a brick wall a few meters behind him. As he collided with the wall, it bent itself backward and cushioned his landing. "Argh," he groaned as he straightened his back. He landed on the floor, stumbling forward until he kneeled on the ground. BLEURGH He vomited blood. He looked at his Soul System and saw that he lost 900 years of SoulTime from that! He slowly looked up, with blood pouring from his forehead and staining his vision. Even still, he couldn''t help but look at the black battle suited porter in the distance. He was only able to awaken himself and stop his momentum because of that wall he created at the last second. This meant that if he hadn''t been facing the bearded Canzer and had his back turned against it like he originally planned, then he would have been caught unprepared. He would probably get lost in the fog and unable to help the team. If Atlan hadn''t pointed their attention towards the bearded Canzer, the Tank would have been knocked out of the fight. And without him, the team would have been fighting against the six Canzers at a total disadvantage. Atlan saved them from a total disaster, but they weren''t out of trouble yet. Even if he wasn''t knocked out, the Tank was still out of position. It would take him a couple of seconds at the least to run up and rejoin the team''s formation. If the Tank had listened to the ''newbie'' Porter in the first place, then he would have been able to properly defend against the bearded Canzer''s surprise attack. He wouldn''t have been thrown out and would have probably turned the fight around. They could have turned the situation on its head and planned a counterattack if they had just listened to the Porter. The Tank admonished himself for being prideful. He shouldn''t have dismissed the Porter''s words just because he was a newbie. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But hindsight was 20/20. It was no use crying over spilled milk. The Tank ran back as fast as he could. Without him, the team was vulnerable to all attacks. Chapter 238 - 238: Tankless team Atlan gritted his teeth as he saw the Tank get blasted out into the fog. He thought if he turned their attention towards the Canzer at the right time, they would be able to defend themselves against its surprise attack. But it seemed he underestimated the Canzer''s speed and overestimated their trust in him. With the Tank out of the picture, there was nobody left to deal with the thousand-armed angry Canzer in front of them. "You''ll pay for that!" Ninth screamed as she brought down the might of her one-handed sword to the back of the angry Canzer. But even without looking at her, the Canzer used its thousand arms sprouting on its back to catch her sword in mid-air. Ninth gritted her teeth and increased her strength, slicing through multiple palms that tried to catch her sword. But as she got nearer and nearer to the Canzer''s back, she realized that its red hands became even harder to cut as its color got darker and darker. Her sword finally stopped at the last set of black hands. And before she could move her sword out, more and more hands sprouted out from its back and replenished its dead hands. Each one of those hands, no matter how weak they were, grabbed onto her blade and refused to let go. She tried to wiggle her sword out of its hands, but it wouldn''t budge. "Do not sully my sword!" Ninth shouted at the top of her lungs and activated her LifeSkill. A giant ethereal swordmaiden suddenly manifested behind her and endowed her with strength equivalent to that of her size. She yanked her sword out of the Canzer''s hands, cutting a hundred more on the way out. ''Damn human! Brothers, aren''t you joining in?'' screamed the bearded Canzer. Atlan was alarmed as he heard that. He immediately turned to the Mage, the Mesmer, and the Sniper. "They''re others are about to attack!" They didn''t know how he knew that, but they witnessed firsthand how he was able to predict the bearded Canzer''s surprise attack. If they had heeded his advice earlier, then they wouldn''t have been put in a situation where their main tank was out of sight. They weren''t going to make that mistake again. They initiated their LifeSkills and preemptively struck the Canzers surrounding them. The Sniper looked through his scope and looked upwards. With a pull of the trigger, a single bullet fired through the black skies and disappeared. Suddenly, more than a hundred thousand bullets surrounded them in a circle. Each one of them whizzed through the air and indiscriminately shot the Remedium. Most of them hit nothing but the ground and the dead trees, but quite a few of them buried themselves deep into the Canzers'' chitinous bodies. ''Ahhhh! They found me! don''t look at me!'' The shy one named ''Bee'' hid itself behind the trees, but the bullets pierced through them and hit its body nonetheless. ''Zzzzzz¡­..POP¡­.ouch¡­.zzzzzzz.'' ''Haa¡­.haa¡­Hacho¡ª-OW!'' The Big Nose sneezer was about to sneeze again, but the Sniper''s preemptive strike stopped it just in time. Luckily, some of the bullets hit the Canzer smoking a pipe. Surprisingly, the Canzer''s body turned into nothing but a body of smoke. It turned out that all this time, the Canzer had only been a smoke clone. Due to how many bullets shot out everywhere, an empty spot suddenly got disrupted by the bullets whizzing by. The environment turned into smoke and revealed the true scene behind it. ''Ah! They found me¡­hehe¡­it''s all good.'' It turned out that the smoking Canzer with a pipe in its mouth was only a few meters away from ambushing Ninth from behind! It already had a ball made out of chitinous layers in its hands ready to throw it to her. But despite being found out, the Canzer still threw the unknown bomb towards her. Ninth quickly turned around and used the flat part of her blade to deflect it out towards the angry bearded Canzer. CRACK! TSSSSS! ''Argh! Dee, you bastard! I''ll kill you!'' The thousand-armed bearded Canzer ignored Ninth and chased down the smoking Canzer. But as its hands reached the other Canzer, it turned into nothing but smoke. ''Damn! I''ll get you!'' With the two Canzers chasing each other, Ninth finally got a moment of reprieve. She took a deep breath. If the Canzer hadn''t been disrupted by the rain of bullets, she wouldn''t have known that there was an ambush coming. She certainly wouldn''t have been able to defend against it. ''GARGHHHH! I''ll destroy every single one of you!'' The bearded Canzer shouted to the sky and sprouted more hands in its body. Then, some of the hands merged into one another and created a much bigger hand. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This continued until the bearded Canzer''s body was already five times its original size, and it still wasn''t done growing. With its arms flailing around, the Canzer created destruction all around it. Dead trees got uprooted from the ground and flew through the air, threatening to bury everyone in a rain of dead trees. Without the Tank to protect the team, the responsibility fell to the leader, Ninth. She turned around and swung her sword down, with the ethereal swordmaiden following her movements. The giant sword cut through the forest of trees and saved the entire team from being buried. She saved the team but at the cost of her own safety. The thousand-armed Canzer, which was now almost half as tall as the swordmaiden, rotated its body and created a circular saw with its fingers as the ''teeth''. It jumped towards Ninth''s ethereal swordmaiden threatening to shred her into pieces. Ninth continued her swing from before and used its momentum to quickly turn around and defend herself from the Canzer. However, the Canzer was still able to shred the right shoulder of the swordmaiden. Ninth''s real body down below winced as she felt the pain her swordmaiden felt. Red blood stained her right shoulder. "150 years¡­" she muttered. Even though that damage wasn''t as severe as she thought, she knew that it would eventually accumulate. Without the Tank, she''d be forced to carry on that task and risk her life in the process. Chapter 239 - 239: Angry superior trees As much as the rest of the team wanted to help Ninth, they knew that they shouldn''t. It wasn''t their job. Their role in this fight was to suppress the other Canzers and prevent them from interfering with their leader''s fight. They just had to trust that Ninth would overcome the bearded Canzer by herself. The Mage raised her wooden sword as she chanted her spell. Violet hands suddenly sprouted out of its tip and spread out in a circle around them. Each one of these hands intertwined with each other and acted like a huge body of water. Then, with a swish of her wand, the ocean of hands suddenly rose in the air and created a giant wave outwards. She intended to drive out the rest of the Canzers away and into the fog. Her LifeSkill was not specialized towards this kind of ''area control'' but it was fine if she could at least prevent the Canzers from attacking by at least a few seconds. That was her job. The wave rose 40 feet in the air and swallowed everything in its path. Individual violet hands opened their hands and caught some of the dead trees in their path and created a physical barrier in the wave. The sleeping Canzer didn''t do anything as it got swept up by the dead trees. It seemed to smile as it got carried away into the fog¡ªhappy that it could finally have some peace and quiet to itself. The shy Canzer seemed deathly afraid of the wave of hands. Each of them moved and wriggled independently, making it seem like they were all different individuals. The Canzer seemed to have thought that each of those hands was human and got so shy that it started running away from the wave. Just as the wave was about to hit the big nose Canzer, it suddenly raised its head, closed its eyes, and opened its mouth as if it was yawning. ''Ha¡­ha¡­.HACHOO!'' The sneeze reverberated out into the Remedium and clashed with the violet hands. Unfortunately, before it could completely sweep away the rest of the Canzers, the hands suddenly popped out of existence as soon as they got hit by the shockwave of the sneeze. "Kagh!" the mage groaned. "Brace yourselves!" Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The sneeze spread towards the team and induced another splitting headache. Even though they were ready for it this time, they still couldn''t muster up any strength to fight against its disorienting effect. Their Soul System was shaken. They couldn''t use their LifeSkill for an entire second! The smoking Canzer finally took this chance to take out a ball made of chitin and throw it towards the team. Without their tank, they were unable to deflect this dangerous object away. CRACK! SPLASH! The ball exploded and spread a purplish liquid with a very thick consistency. The team couldn''t get away in time and was sprayed with this strange liquid which covered their entire bodies. At such critical moments, it was the Mesmer''s job to create an illusion to protect the team. But he found it almost impossible to even raise his flute because it was covered with the thick purple liquid. The same went with the Mage and the Sniper; they couldn''t even raise their weapons to defend themselves. ''Finally! Took you long enough, Dee!'' The bearded Canzer saw his opportunity and wanted to pounce. These humans were served up on a platter perfectly for him to eat. "Oh no, you don''t!" screamed Ninth as the swordmaiden struck the ten-thousand-armed Canzer on its back. Her blade sliced through thousands of arms, finally cleaving through the last layer of black hands and reaching its chitinous body. ''KAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH!'' it screamed, with violet blood bursting from its back. The whole Remedium shook with its scream, comparable to the big nose''s sneezes. Suddenly, the dead trees swept up by the wave of hands vibrated with life. Each one of them grew an angry demon mask on its trunk similar to the bearded Canzer''s face. And just like it, the trees also inherited the Canzer''s anger. ''GAAHH!'' they bellowed, striking the ground and trampling each other. It was chaos for the newly birthed trees. Those that felled a tree would absorb and eat the ones they defeated. As they did, their trunks got even thicker and darker, showing their improved defenses and attacks. The thousands of trees were in a royal rumble until finally, there were only five superior trees that survived. These trees were much bigger and thicker than before. Their trunks got nimbler, acting more like a limb of a human. They grew a crown of thorns on their heads and roots that acted like octopus arms. And most terrifying of all was the improved mask on the trunks. They were no longer static. The mouth moved like a real human showing an angry expression. Its eyes, however, showed an intelligence that shined in the purpose of killing humans. The Mesmer struggled until he could finally put his flute in his mouth and play a high-paced song that created an illusion that displaced their original location. The five superior trees angrily moved with their roots toward the illusion. Their branches extended outwards and pierced the human bodies with their sharp crowns. The humans died with no resistance according to the illusion. The Mesmer purposefully created this illusion in the hopes that the trees were so indulgent in their fury that they didn''t notice that they were under his spell. Unfortunately, he underestimated their intelligence. The superior trees looked at the dead humans skewered through their branches and found something amiss. They showed no sign of suffering. They looked around with an even angrier expression until finally, one of them raised their branch and pierced through an empty space in the forest. The branch pierced through the illusion, deflating the musical notes that composed the very spell. The other trees followed its lead and pierced through the illusion, dispelling it completely. The trees sauntered over to the team. One of them raised their branches and struck the Mesmer outwards, breaking several of his ribs and losing him 100 years of SoulTime in the process. Chapter 240 - 240: Team down With the Mesmer down and out, there was nothing else preventing the superior trees from wreaking havoc on the whole team. The Sniper raised his kar 98 in front of him and aimed it towards the walking angry tree. He couldn''t find the strength to put his head next to the scope, so he was forced to fire from the hip, which lowered his accuracy to the point that he''d be lucky he''d hit his target while in medium range. As he pulled the trigger, the bullet whizzed through the air and headed for the tree. Unfortunately, it was only able to scrape past through its side. He activated his LifeSkill and multiplied his bullets 10 times, creating a wall of bullets that would surely hit the Canzer even without good accuracy. BANG! BANG! BANG! The bullets were stopped by the trunk for a fraction of a second, but they were imparted with a spinning power that allowed it to bury itself through the thick trunk. It staggered the superior tree just enough for the Sniper to fire another shot. His first shot missed completely, but its copy allowed 4 of them to pierce through its trunk. The Sniper thought it would have been enough to deal with the monster, but he underestimated them. The tree slammed its roots and branches on the ground as it threw a temper tantrum. It was livid. It couldn''t believe that a human was able to damage its trunk. In its anger, the tree''s whole body slowly glowed a bright yellow. Its body emitted a very hot temperature that somehow melted the bullets lodged inside its body. After a few moments, they were turned into nothing but smoke that came out of its ''ears''. Once it had recovered, it immediately walked over to the Sniper to enact its revenge. It slithered its roots toward his legs and slowly wrapped them around his whole body. The Sniper soon turned red as his whole body got squeezed so hard that multiple of his bones broke inside his body. His head ballooned as all the blood got trapped in his skull, turning his whole face purplish It would only take a couple more minutes until he was fully asphyxiated, yet he could do nothing but hold on. Everyone else was dealing with their own troubles. The Mage got the worst of it because four superior trees were targeting her. They were attracted to the violet hands she conjured in the air because they reminded them of their creator, the angry bearded Canzer. She commanded the thousands of violet hands to grab ahold of the trees'' branches and rip them away from the trunks. The trees, in return, used their roots to do the same with the hands. Those tentacle-like roots tied the violet hands into a knot and squeezed them together until they popped out of existence. The Mage gritted her teeth as she summoned ten thousand more violet hands that supported the original ones. They reinforced each other by linking hands and essentially creating a tug-of-war between the trees. CREAK! CRACK! Slowly, branches got ripped out of the trees, inflicting upon them the pain of losing their body part. Now that they were a little bit more intelligent, they were more susceptible to pain. This allowed her to gain the upper hand and suppress four superior trees all at once. Unfortunately, the focus it took to fight against these trees created a vulnerability within her position. She didn''t notice that there was a single root slithering through the soil and slowly inching towards her without her knowledge. "AAAYYHHH!" the Mage screamed as her leg got pulled out, causing her to fall backward. This small moment of distraction disrupted her spell. Thousands upon thousands of violet hands popped out of existence and allowed the trees a moment of reprieve. The torn branches fell to the ground and were quickly picked up by the trees'' other branches and shoved it back to their original place. The sap from these ''injuries'' acted like glue that quickly dried and healed the torn branches. The Mage took a second to refocus her attention on her spell. But just as she was about to chant and activate her LifeSkill, a shadow cast over her head as the four superior trees converged on her location. These creatures were angry the moment they were born. Their fury towards someone that brutalized them was something that couldn''t be explained. They raised their branches in the air and started to pummel the Mage as hard as they could. "GAAAaaaaa¡­.." the Mage couldn''t even utter a shout as her vision was stained with blood. Her entire body was in pain and she was losing a hundred years of SoulTime for each punch they hit her with. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The worst part was that the trees had no intention of ever stopping. Their anger never seemed to be satiated with the pummeling, and only served to increase their fury. Ninth gritted her teeth as she looked at her team and saw the state they were in. She raised her sword and sliced the superior trees in half. They were far too angry at the Mage to even notice the swordmaiden and ended up dying with anger frozen in their faces. She saved the Mage from losing thousands of years of SoulTime. Unfortunately, the bearded Canzer didn''t like that. ''How dare a mere human kill my creation?! You will pay for this!'' The giant bearded Canzer rotated the thousands of hands in its body. Each hand had fingers with sharp nails that acted as teeth that shredded everything in its path. It attacked Ninth from behind, hitting her squarely on her lower back. Ninth groaned and swallowed back the blood in her mouth. She quickly turned around and sliced her sword towards the Canzer, creating thousands of sparks that rained down on the Remedium as her blade collided with the Canzer''s saw-like hands. Everyone was injured and bleeding. She gritted her teeth and admonished herself. This wouldn''t have happened if the Tank hadn''t been pushed out of the fight. That wouldn''t have happened if she hadn''t dismissed the Porter''s words so easily. Now, they were paying for it dearly. Chapter 241 - 241: Shy Canzer Atlan looked around and could see nothing but destruction and suffering. It only took one mistake for the entire thing to snowball into something uncontrollable. The Mage was coughing and barely clinging to life, the Sniper was pummeled to the ground, and the Mesmer couldn''t even speak out, much more try to play a song with his flute. The only one still standing was Ninth, who was fighting both the angry bearded Canzer and the smoking Canzer at the same time. And they were still considered quite lucky. After all, only half of the Canzers were actively fighting against them. Atlan could only imagine the chaos if all six fought them at the same time. Should I fight with them? He could no longer stand by and simply watch as the entire team got overwhelmed by the Canzers. He could at least act as bait for them and let the others recover. But just as he was about to move, his bodyguard gripped his shoulder. "Don''t go." "But¡ª" "It is not your job to fight these Canzers. It is your job to survive and reach the Church. Once there, you''ll have plenty of danger you have to face. For now, you should do nothing but watch." Atlan couldn''t believe it. "Aren''t you worried?" "No," he answered. "They are Specialist Saviors for a reason. Don''t underestimate their resilience." Just then, they felt the ground shake. DUG DUG DUG DUG ''Gyah! Don''t look at me!'' The shy Canzer ran towards them with its hands covering its eyes. The dead trees on its way broke like twigs under its rush and each of its steps induced an earthquake that shook the entire Remedium. Its feet dug deep into the soil, creating deep footsteps that went as far as 4 feet. Atlan was sure that he''d get squished into a pancake if he got trampled by that Canzer. "Move!" his bodyguard shouted. Atlan took one step at a time to move away from the Canzer''s path. Unfortunately, as the shy Canzer got nearer to Atlan and the bodyguard, it peeked through its hands covering its eyes, and saw the two humans in front of it. ''Ahhh! They''re looking at me!'' In its panic, the Canzer stepped to the side and negated Atlan''s efforts of dodging. Thankfully, his bodyguard used his LifeSkill and manifested an ethereal octopus arm that wrapped itself around Atlan''s body. The shy Canzer''s foot trampled on Atlan''s body, which quickly turned into a straw copy. Atlan reappeared right next to his bodyguard safe and sound. The shy Canzer continued running straight until it tripped and crashed into the big nose Canzer. They both fell to the ground. ''Woah, thanks Bee. I almost sneezed there.'' ''Wahhh! I don''t want the humans to see me!'' ''Who? Them?'' The big nose Canzer pointed towards Atlan and the bodyguard. The shy Canzer subconsciously looked towards them and immediately made eye contact with both humans. Its face turned bright red with smoke coming out of its ears. It covered its eyes, but it couldn''t help but feel as if the humans were still staring. The bodyguard was still wary of another rush, so he was cautiously keeping an eye on it so that he''d be able to protect Atlan if it decided to run towards them again. But he didn''t know that it would provoke a reaction from the Canzer. ''DON''T LOOK AT ME!'' it screamed and rushed towards the two of them with its eyes still covered. The Canzer was in a full-on sprint towards them and Atlan was far too slow to dodge away. His bodyguard immediately activated his LifeSkill, creating an ethereal octopus arm sticking out from the ground. And just as he was about to move his octopus arm, a rotten chitinous hand suddenly grew out the back of his head and covered his eyes. The bodyguard tried to pry the hands away from his eyes but found them extremely hard to budge. It was as if they were permanently glued to his eyelids. Not only that, more and more chitinous hands wrapped around his body and covered him completely. His ears were blocked, making him hear nothing but a muffled sound of Atlan shouting towards him. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He couldn''t even feel the ground underneath his feet. The chitinous hands wrapped around his body numbed him to the point that he couldn''t even feel the air or the soil. With his senses completely obscured, he couldn''t see or feel anything around him. And without sensing Atlan, he wouldn''t be able to activate his LifeSkill. The octopus arm flailed around but hit nothing but the air. This left Atlan completely vulnerable to the rushing Canzer. After all, he was also covered with chitinous hands all over his body. But even without his vision obscured, he stood no chance of dodging with tens of thousands of tons weighing him down. The Canzer ran through the forest of dead trees. It was only moments away from trampling Atlan into a pancake. Just as it was about to take its last step, a sudden force suddenly pushed the Canzer sideways. The attack was strong enough to throw the shy Canzer up in the air until it fell tumbling through the forest. The Scout appeared in front of Atlan, with his fist made entirely of shadow. He had stayed in stealth for all this time, empowering the shadow mutation in his fist. The longer he stayed unnoticed, the stronger his shadow power became. He could have used this power to save the Mage, the Mesmer, the Sniper, or even Ninth from losing hundreds of years of SoulTime, but the Scout chose not to. His main job in this mission was to look for traps and let the team traverse the dangerous Remedium safely. However, that was not his only job. He was also in charge of helping the Tank bodyguard in protecting the Star Porter. His patience paid off and he was able to save the Porter from being trampled by that shy Canzer. Chapter 242 - 242: Shy shy shy Once the shy Canzer was thrown out, the chitinous hands suddenly retracted back to their bodies and disappeared completely. The bodyguard looked around and was relieved when he saw Atlan safe and sound. It would have been his fault if the Star Porter got injured from that Canzer. He neglected to prepare for a situation where his senses were completely obscured. "Thanks, Scout. I owe you one." "It''s fine. The Porter is all our priority." Just then, the bodyguard sensed something and used his shield to bash the flying tree away from Atlan. They all looked back and saw an intense fight between Ninth and the two Canzers. Her swordmaiden sliced through the air and hit the rotating bearded Canzer, creating sparks everywhere as her blade hit its sharp nails. The fact that it had hands all over its body meant that she could not find a vulnerable spot that she could use to her advantage. She just had to hack the Canzer enough times to break through its hard chitin. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It wasn''t easy, especially since she was fighting two Canzers at the same time. The Canzer with a pipe in its mouth blew smoke toward her and induced a nauseating effect that hindered her reactions. She massaged her head to try and heal her mind, but the bearded Canzer spiraled towards her right shoulder and drew blood. She sliced her one-handed sword toward it, but her attack was repelled by its fast-rotating body. In the chaos of their fight, dead trees and huge chunks of land were flying everywhere and causing a dangerous hazard for everyone inside the forest. ''A¡­A¡­.A HUMAN TOUCHED ME!!!!'' The Canzer''s bellowing scream reached Atlan and warned him of the impending attack. Even though he couldn''t see the shy Canzer anywhere, he knew that it was about to attack them¡ªspecifically, it was about to attack the Scout as a form of revenge. "It''s coming for you!" he warned the Scout, but what could he do? He was neither a Tank nor a fighter. The only reason he was able to do damage was through his mutation. An ambush was his only form of offense; he had no defense if he was being the one ambushed. "Use your LifeSill on him!" Atlan shouted to his bodyguard. The man activated his LifeSkill, conjuring an octopus arm that pierced through the ground. But instead of wrapping itself towards the Scout, it went for Atlan and protected him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Atlan screamed. "He''s not our priority!" Just as he said that, they all suddenly saw the world turn. They were seeing the black skies and dark moon under their sight, while the ground was above it. This was enough to disorient them for a good second, but they were horrified to find that their movements were also reversed! When Atlan raised his left hand, his right hand moved up instead. Even though he had perfect control of his own body, he found himself falling to the ground like a newborn unable to support his own body. The bodyguard and the Scout were no better. They fell on their knees as they tried to figure out how to get out of this spell. DUG DUG DUG DUG Just then, they saw the shy Canzer running towards them at intense speeds. It looked at the Scout and immediately moved its eyes away from him in embarrassment. It was shy. But instead of running in the opposite direction, it moved towards the Scout with purpose. It wanted to trample him. As someone who was well versed in the traps of the Remedium, the Scout immediately figured out that this reversed ''illusion'' was the doing of the shy Canzer. Meaning that he couldn''t dispel it unless he knocked out the Canzer. The problem lay precisely on that. He was only a Scout. He immediately ran away from the Canzer, forcing it to separate from Atlan and the bodyguard. As expected of a Specialist Vanguard, he was able to familiarize himself with the reversed controls of his own body. Once it was focused solely on him, the Scout performed a skillful maneuver through the dead forest. He was able to leverage his skills as a Scout to create distance between himself and the shy Canzer. But just as he was about to slip away from the monster''s grasp, it cried out into the remedium. ''Nobody look at me!'' The Canzer shimmered in the air until it disappeared from the Scout''s eyes. Even with his discerning eyes, he couldn''t see a trace of it. And if that wasn''t enough, he soon felt his vision turn even more topsy-turvy. The whole Remedium seemed to have separated into puzzle pieces that rearranged themselves in his vision. The distraction made him trip and fall into the ground. And before he could recover, he felt the weight of a thousand tons crush his very body into the ground. ''Ah! Where''s the human? I can''t see him!'' The Canzer rematerialized just above the bloody body of the Scout and started to jump up and down out of nervousness. It bit its nails, not knowing that the human it was so worried about was under its feet and getting trampled multiple times. "GAAGHHH!" the Scout could only vomit out blood as his consciousness was fading in and out. He lost a total of 1000 years of SoulTime before the shy Canzer finally ran away and stopped its rampage. It ran towards Atlan and the bodyguard again, as if it wanted to finish the job. The Scout raised his hand in an attempt to stop the Canzer, but he was too injured. His head fell to the ground, unconscious. The shy Canzer stepped on the ground as hard as it trampled the Scout. The bodyguard was ready, with the octopus arm already wrapped around Atlan''s waist. The Canzer only took a few moments before it reached Atlan, only one step away from completely stomping him into the ground. Just then, ''HA¡­HACHOOOO!'' The bodyguard felt his entire Soul System shake, losing his control over his own LifeSkill. The octopus arm disintegrated, leaving Atlan completely vulnerable to the Canzer''s tremendous weight. Chapter 243 - 243: I can see you Atlan had to think fast. He lost his only protection, which meant that he would have to bear the full brunt of the Canzer''s force. He could choose to simply let himself be trampled since his battle suit armor allowed him to withstand 5 full-powered attacks from Canzers. However, he knew that even with its shy nature, the Canzer tended to be vindictive. The Scout was subjected to multiple tramplings just because he was a human who dared to touch the Canzer. Who''s to say that it would be so magnanimous as to finish stomping Atlan with just five steps? Maybe it wouldn''t stop until ten or twenty. Sure, he had 5000 years of SoulTime in his System to help him mitigate the damage, but that was his lifeline¡ªliterally. It would be ideal if he didn''t spend so much of his SoulTime on the first Canzer he encountered in this mission. Therefore, he couldn''t do nothing. He had to get away by himself. One of the immediate solutions that came to mind was his Angel Wings. With the power of his mutation, he''d be able to move away from the Canzer just in time. However, the problems that came with that were obvious. Unless he could use his Modify Memory Spore to these Specialist Vanguards, then there was no chance he''d be able to explain his way out of having Angel powers. The same problem came with his other LifeSkills. His Cherubic Retribution may be powerful enough to damage a Specialist-level Canzer due to its Angel powers, but it needed a few seconds of preparation and absolute focus. It was unfeasible to do in the current situation even if he was prepared to show this LifeSkill to other people. His Chitinous Webs may be weak, but it could possibly stagger the Canzer for at least a fraction of a second. It would certainly help, but it wouldn''t save him from being trampled. It was the same with the Apocalyptic Hellfire; they were too weak. The only LifeSkill that could help him right now was his Bloodline Transformation which was at the 1st stage Pre-Intern realm. I can''t use my LifeSkills¡­they''re too eye-catching¡­ The situation was dangerous, but it wasn''t critical. Atlan decided he would only reveal his true powers once it was a matter of life and death. What about my mutations? Is there anything that can help me? Aside from his Angel Wings, his Photosynthesis mutation seemed to be the one most useful. After all, he could gain a year of SoulTime for every second of activation under the sun. He assumed that the sun worked the same in the Remedium. Except for the fact that its color was negative, it functioned the same way and allowed his Photosynthesis mutation to transform light energy into lifespan. It was a good backup, but it didn''t solve his problem. He had to find a way to avoid the shy Canzer''s stomping. Think! Think! Think!, Atlan said to himself. The Canzer had its leg raised and was about to trample Atlan into the ground. ''Don''t look at me!'' The shy Canzer screamed. Just then, Atlan widened his eyes as he realized something. He opened his mouth and directed a seemingly unintelligible set of words towards the Canzer. ''I can see you¡­'' The shy Canzer stopped in its tracks and looked around. Only when it saw no other Canzer around did it direct its gaze to the little human in front of it. The unexpected words that it understood from the human were shocking enough to short-circuit its brain into being stunned. It opened and closed its mouth, unable to utter a single word. The Canzer thought it was simply hearing things, but Atlan''s expression was clear. He said what he said. The fact that a human could speak a Canzer''s language meant that it could also understand their words. That was perhaps the most terrifying thing for the Canzer. It was already bashful enough when humans were looking at it, imagine how flustered it was to learn that a human had been understanding its words since the beginning. ''Mon¡­mons¡­MONSTER! Stay away from me! Don''t look at me!'' The Canzer''s shyness was unlike anything from before. It usually covered its eyes with its hands, but it still peeked through the gaps to see its surroundings. Now, it wasn''t covering its eyes. Instead, it bolted away from its source of fear as fast as possible as if it was a matter of life and death. ''AAAAHHHHHH!'' It didn''t take a few seconds before the shy Canzer was nowhere to be seen. It disappeared into the fog with no intention of ever returning to the battlefield. It was traumatized. ''Damn it, Bee! The fight''s not over, where are you going?!'' ''Hehehe¡­he''s so bashful¡­'' ''Zzzz¡­POP¡­.if he can go home, can I go home?'' ''You bastards! Fine! I''ll kill all the humans myself.'' ''Hehe¡­don''t worry, you have me Gee.'' With his life saved, Atlan breathed out a sigh of relief. He didn''t know if his last-second plan would have worked, but it was worth a shot. And it paid off quite well. "Porter¡­what happened?" From the bodyguard''s perspective, Atlan simply uttered a shout. And somehow, the Canzer ran away without any rhyme or reason. It didn''t even register in the bodyguard''s mind that Atlan did something to scare away the Canzer. "I don''t know," he lied. The reason why he triumphed against the shy Canzer was because of a particular mutation in his Soul System. [Mutation] ¡ª (7-star) Sapient Canzer Polyglot Since the shy Canzer could speak with perfect grammar and think like a real human, Atlan assumed that it was a Sapient Canzer. If it could speak, then it could understand. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The only thing Atlan needed to do was poke its insecurities and fears. Since he heard its words and mannerisms, he knew that it had a shy temperament. So, he scared the Canzer by showing it that Atlan was a personification of its fears: humans perceiving the Canzer. With just a few words, Atlan was able to reduce the amount of Canzers they had to fight. And he did it without lifting a single finger. Chapter 244 - 244: ‘Oc finally moves "This is good¡­" Ninth was relieved that at least one of the Canzers disappeared. Even more reassuring was the fact that the Porter was safe and sound after being targeted by the shy Canzer. She had an eye on the situation from the beginning and was contemplating whether she was going to have to interfere or not. If she did, then she''d open herself up to the unrelenting offense of the angry bearded Canzef and the smoking Canzer. These two were the primary attack force of the Canzers and the only ones she had to actively worry about. The sneezing Canzer had the ability to disorient her, but it was infrequent enough for her to ignore for now. The other three Canzers, aside from the shy Canzer, showed no sign of being aggressive. It was a good sign. As long as she could deal with the two right now, then it was more than possible for her to defeat the whole group in the future. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Her resolve burned brighter and it manifested with a blue fire that enveloped the giant swordsmaiden. Its moves became even faster and were filled with more ''life'' as if Ninth herself became the giant swordmaiden above. She performed the Neumann sword style, slicing the air nine times, which was an accumulation of all the stances that her predecessors evolved throughout their lives. The first stance was a bunch of thrusts, targeting a direct straight line from the Canzer''s head to its toes. It was able to chop some of the Canzer''s hands and expose its inner chitin. The second to the sixth stance was an asterisk-style slash that destroyed most if not all the hands that tried to replenish the hands that it lost. The seventh to ninth stances required a more mobile stance as she dashed back and forth towards her target at immense speeds, turning her figure into a blur. Even with the thousands of hands at its disposal, it couldn''t defend against the fury of strikes that came its way. Soon enough, Ninth could see the vulnerable chitin in its torso. The smoking Canzer supported its brethren by blowing a gray cloud that contained a hallucinogen towards her. Ninth simply slashed her way out of the cloud. However, the angry Canzer was no longer in her sights. It retreated to a safe place where it could regenerate its hands. ''Damn it! Dee, aren''t you going to help me?!'' ''Hehehe¡­fine, fine¡­I''ll give you the good stuff!'' ''Finally!'' The smoking Canzer took something out of its pockets and chewed on it like tobacco. With the juices from its concoction, it took a deep breath in and blew on its pipe. Red smoke came out of its chamber and made its way toward the angry Canzer. It happily breathed it in. ''You should have given me this in the first place, damn it!'' ''Hehe¡­you''re welcome¡­'' The angry Canzer bellowed to the black skies as it felt the power coursing through its violet blood. With each second it circulated in its body, it felt angrier and angrier as if something was triggering its fury. The Canzer felt like it was about to explode in rage. ''FEEL MY WRATH!'' The whole black forest responded to the Canzer''s rage. Clouds gathered from the condensation above the skies and quickly turned into a hurricane. Large gusts of winds swept the dead trees, uprooting them from the ground and displacing them hundreds of meters away from their original location. Then, precipitation came. It was as if a sea was dropped from the skies and rained down bullets of water. These droplets were so fast that they turned into a spear that pierced through everything it touched. The trees, the ground, and even Ninth''s swordmaiden got inundated with water spears and lost her hundreds of SoulTime a second. She powered up her LifeSkill and swung her blade around her, creating a wall of air that dispersed the droplets away from her. But after a few seconds, that became unnecessary. A tornado grew from a small stream to a giant one that commanded the skies. It swallowed everything in its path, including the bullet rain that fell to the ground. It continued to wreak havoc through the black forest and made Ninth stick her sword on the ground for stability. Due to the cold temperature induced by the intense winds, all the gathered water from the tornado solidified into a giant icicle as tall as the swordmaiden. ''Take this, damned human!'' The giant icicle turned vertical and immediately rushed toward the swordmaiden''s heart. It was immensely fast for its size, something that even Ninth could not achieve. Ninth only raised her sword in defense, with the flat part of her blade facing forward, because of her instinct born from her years and years of experience. The collision sent ice and ethereal metal flying everywhere. For a second, Ninth pushed back against the icicle, but it was supported by the hurricane which siphoned its strength towards the icicle. Ninth''s face contorted as she used the last burst of strength in her LifeSkill to fling the icicle away from her and towards the angry bearded Canzer controlling the weather. Unfortunately, even its fury could not stand against its creator. It slowly dissolved into nothing but mist once it reached the Canzer''s thousand hands. ''Taste the fury of nature!'' The whole dark forest trembled as a mound made up of igneous rocks emerged from the dead trees and stale puddles. It continued to grow, with the land subducting under the newly grown formation. It wasn''t long before a mighty volcano emerged in the woods. RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE BOOM! The volcano exploded, sending scalding hot black smoke everywhere. The clouds seemed angry too as it rained down water and created a flash flood that swept everything off the ground. Ninth faced these angry forces of nature all at once. She looked at her team and saw them struggling to move their injured bodies away from safety. And as if the situation couldn''t get any worse, the Canzers proved it wrong. ''It''s time, my brethren. Let us annihilate these humans and return home. She is waiting for us.'' The Canzer named ''Oc who had stayed silent all this time, finally spoke to the rest of the Canzers. Surprisingly, the angry Canzer obediently moved towards the bespectacled ''Oc and stood next to him in support. Next to him was the smoking Dee with a pipe in its mouth. The sneezing Canzer moved closer to them, rubbing its nose as if it was about to blow. The shy Canzer, who had stayed away after confronting Atlan, slowly walked over to the back. Even the Canzer who only knew how to sleep, stood up and walked right next to its brethren. Ninth felt a chill on her back as she faced all six Canzers in front of her. They all emanated their own distinct powers just waiting to be unleashed. Chapter 245 - 245: Surrounded by six The bespectacled Canzer led the other five Canzers. Once it ordered something, the rest of them obeyed its words as if they were made out of stone. This was the worst situation for Ninth. She knew that she had to defeat them all, but she at least thought she''d have the time to pick them off one by one. It was only a matter of time until she killed the angry bearded Canzer, but all that was over once the others joined hands. ''My dear brothers, we shall triumph against these humans because they are a threat to her. We must destroy them now because it will only be a matter of time until they target her.'' ''Damned humans! I would have killed all of them if I was given more time.; ''Hehehe¡­sure, sure, Gee. Either way, I''m just happy we''re all here together.'' ''Ha¡­ha¡­HA¡ª-hooo¡­.close one. I almost blew everyone out of the forest.'' ''YAWN! Can we get this done fast? I''m losing sleeping hours.'' ''¡­.I''ll just hide here¡­.I don''t¡­.don''t want to be seen¡­'' Ninth didn''t know what they were planning, but she didn''t have to. Their bloodlust was as clear as day, with their natural powers directed directly at her. "It''s fine! We can kill them as long as we can work together¡ª-" Ninth stopped her words as she looked behind her. The Mage, the Sniper, the Mesmer, and the Scout were all hanging by a thread. They struggled just to stay alive as the fury of nature rained down upon them. Lava, thunderstorms, and tornadoes rampaged through the dark forest and made recovery almost impossible. She realized that she was fighting this battle all alone. There was no one else for her to count on. It was already hard to triumph against these Canzers if she had the support of her team. Fighting them off by herself was impossible. "Ninth! I''m going to help!" Atlan heard the situation from these Canzers. He wasn''t going to let her suffer through these monsters all by herself while he just stood there and watched. But before he could even walk towards her, she raised her hand and stopped him. "Don''t come any closer." "You need help. You don''t know what these Canzers are planning. You need my help!" Ninth shook her head. "Don''t let him be stupid," she said as she looked at the bodyguard right next to Atlan. He grabbed the Star Porter''s shoulders and refused to let him walk. "You guys should start running as far away as you can. Do not return unless the Remedium returns to normal. That means I''ve defeated these Canzers. If it doesn''t, then you should figure out a way to get out by yourselves. I wouldn''t be able to help you." "That''s crazy¡ª" "You can count on me, boss. Good luck." The bodyguard started dragging Atlan away from the Canzers, but he refused to go anywhere. Just then, the clouds rumbled with thunder. Atlan heard the bespectacled Canzer named ''Oc whisper to the yawning Canzer. ''Put ''em to sleep.'' Before Atlan could warn Ninth, the sleepy Canzer took a deep breath and yawned to the skies. Manifestations of the word ''Zzzzzzzz'' appeared out of his mouth and floated up to the clouds. It wasn''t long until the thick clouds morphed a ''mouth'' that yawned along with the sleepy Canzer. As it did, the words ''Zzzzz'' once again floated everywhere and infected all the natural elements of the black forest. It wasn''t long before everything was infected with the need to sleep. Ninth couldn''t even see the spell, but she suddenly felt the urgent need to lay down and sleep. It came to her so naturally that she thought that the need to sleep came from her own body, not a spell the Canzer infected her with. She was used to pulling all-nighters during missions and was used to staying awake for three days at a time. Yet this was the first time she felt as if her body was screaming at her to take a little sleep. It was so pervasive that she was almost tempted to close her eyes and sleep for a few minutes. But she fought it off. She knew that she wouldn''t wake up for hours or even days if she fell into that trap. Her swordmaiden flickered as if it too was about to sleep. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at Ninth with worry. He saw her fighting the urge to sleep with every fiber of her being. And she was losing. Slowly, her blinking was becoming longer and longer until it was extended to a few seconds with each blink. This spell was too powerful. Even his bodyguard could not fight the urge and was forced to kneel. He was the only one unaffected by it. Because his False Mutation of his Angel Wings was always activated, there was an invisible layer of angel power surrounding his body at all times. Somehow, that was enough to prevent the spell from entering his psyche. "Wake up!" Atlan touched the bodyguard''s shoulder. And just like that, the bodyguard felt as refreshed as he had ever been. It was as if the urge to sleep was flicked away like a switch. "Woah¡­what happened?" "I don''t know. I think the battle suit has some kind of power that can resist the sleepiness." The bodyguard accepted his explanation without hesitation. He stood up, making sure that Atlan''s hands remained on his shoulder. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They both walked over to Ninth until he could touch her shoulder as well, waking her up from the sleepy Canzer''s spell. "Thanks," she said. "Is it your battle suit?" But before they could celebrate this little victory, they suddenly felt the entire Remedium shake. The bespectacled Canzer named ''Oc released a burst of energy that became streams that connected to each Canzer beside him. The angry bearded Canzer turned even angrier as he commanded the skies to be furious with him. Thunder struck from every direction, slowly coming towards the three of them like a storm. The smoking Canzer let out an ominous black smoke that started to envelop the whole black forest and slowly inched towards the group. The shy Canzer from the back created another illusion that turned everything upside down and topsy turvy. The big nose Canzer sneezed like thunder, disabling any attempts by the humans trying to escape with their LifeSkill. They were surrounded, with no one but Ninth to fight against the six Canzers. Just when Atlan contemplated using his Angel Wings to escape, he suddenly heard something in his chest. "CRACK¡­CRACK¡­hello? Can you hear me?" Chapter 246 - 246: Seven damned Canzers Just when all seemed lost, his battle suit finally came through. "Hello, hello? Can you hear me?" Ninth recognized that voice. It''s not as annoying as it was in real life, but it was the same voice nonetheless. "Carmine, is that you?" "Thank the gods! Yes, it''s me." Ninth suddenly turned around and hit Atlan''s chest, specifically the camera installed above his stomach. "Hey! Be careful with that or I''ll make you pay for the materials yourself!" "What took you so long?! We''ve been dying out here!" Ninth''s outburst was completely understandable. She and her whole team spent the entire fight on the defense. They could do nothing but stand there and take the Canzers'' attacks and lose a lot of SoulTime in the process. She was the only one in her team still standing and it was all because of Carmine and his incompetence. He should have helped them by now and not let the situation get so bad. Carmine told Atlan that the battle suit was equipped with a camera and a mic that transmitted everything that he saw in the Remedium to the real world. Carmine and his team of Operators could see everything unfolding in real-time. However, the camera had been silent for so long that Atlan even forgot that there was a camera in his battle suit. "Sorry, there have been a lot of technical difficulties on our part. We underestimated the disturbance in the Remedium and we had to recalibrate our equipment for an entire day! With how much we''ve been scolded by the Elder Heads, you don''t know the kind of hell we''ve been through these past few hours, and frankly, I don''t appreciate your tone!" Atlan directed the camera towards the six Canzers in front of them, each of them glowing with different lights as they activated their powers. He also showed them how the Mage, the Sniper, the Mesmer, and the Scout, couldn''t even stand up straight from all the injuries they sustained. "¡­hmmm¡­I see. I stand corrected. You guys have it rougher." "Never mind that," Atlan said in a hurry. "Can you tell me how we can kill these Canzers? Because they sure as hell know how to kill us!" Back in the real world, Carmine, his team of Specialist Operators, and the Elder Heads, all looked at a holographic screen projected on a wall in the Emergency Meeting room. It showed the dire situation the Vanguard team was in. The Operators zoomed in on the still picture of the six Canzers all lined up in front of Atlan. They frantically consulted between books and scrolls as they tried to figure out what kind of Canzers they were dealing with. The fact that there were six of them might look like it was a hard task, but it actually made things easier. After all, there were only a very few groups of Canzers that manifested as different Canzers each having specific powers. Not only that, they also had a support team of Operators surveying the scene on the main roads of the Church. They would learn a lot about a Canzer based on the Symptoms they showed in the real world. The bigger the Symptom, the easier it was to identify. Fortunately, these Canzers were powerful enough to show a distinct Symptom. "What are the reports on our ground team?" ### A few blue battle-suited Saviors slowly walked on a cobblestone road. This was supposed to be the asphalt main road towards the Church, but because of the Symptoms, it changed into an old-timey cobblestone road back when horses and carriages were the norm. Instead of seeing the signature tall towers and skyscraper architecture of Genesis City, all they saw around them were wooden huts equipped with wells and hay bales. In the distance, the gothic Church had turned into a magnificent castle that towered over everything. Even though they wore protective helmets around their heads, they still heard the distinct sound of orchestral music playing in their ears. Its lush melodies and rich harmonies created a magical and almost whimsical atmosphere that tied the whole thing together. It was as if there was a bard playing right by their ears. "Carmine? Come, in Carmine," said one of the Operators on his radio. "What did you find out," Carmine asked. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "It''s bad¡­" The Operator told everything they saw in the Symptoms without missing anything. ### "You all heard that. What do you think?" Carmine asked his team of Operators in the Emergency Meeting room. The whole team was silent. It wasn''t because they didn''t know what kind of Canzer they were dealing with, but because they knew it precisely. Carmine knew it too, he just didn''t want to admit it. He wanted his team to say a different Canzer so that it would have been easier to deal with. Seeing that they weren''t coming up with anything, Carmine pushed the button and communicated with Atlan. "How many Canzers are you facing right now?" "There''s six of them in front of us," Atlan''s robotic voice transmitted over the speaker. And for a brief second, Carmine was a little bit relieved with what he heard. There was a slight chance that their diagnosis of the Symptom was wrong and it was actually a different monster. After all, the Canzer they were dealing with was supposed to have more than six Canzers. It was exactly¡ª "But we killed one earlier. It also had the same face and clothes as the others. So, in total¡ª-" "It was seven. Seven damned Canzers. Damn!" Carmine punched the table. ### Atlan heard Carmine''s words and felt his frustration even in the Remedium. "What''s wrong? Can''t I use my battle suit to create a construct that kills them?" Atlan thought that Carmine would tell him some kind of code that he could input into his battle suit that would magically kill all six Canzers. But it seemed he was living in a fantasy. Killing Specialist Canzers wasn''t that easy. "You can''t kill these six Canzers with a construct." "Then we just have to kill them normally?" "No. Killing them won''t solve anything." "Why?" Carmine took a second of pause. "Because they''re just puppets." Chapter 247 - 247: White Chitin "Puppets?! What the hell do you mean puppets?!" Ninth burst out towards the camera. "You guys killed one of their ''brothers'' am I right? Did you notice that they didn''t have any special regenerative healing or cloning capabilities? That means they''re not Canzers. They''re puppets." Atlan thought perhaps that these Canzers were a set. He thought that if they killed all the ''brothers'', then they could get rid of them for good. Ninth thought so too. That was why they were so adamant about dealing with the Canzers one by one so that they could slowly eliminate the threats. However, it seemed that their assumption was wrong. Killing these Canzers wouldn''t do anything at all because they were not the real problem to begin with. It was as if they were trying to fight the shadow not knowing the tree was behind them. "These six puppets all have their distinct personalities and powers. Each of them has the capability of influencing the Remedium around them, letting nature be swept up by their emotions. One of them is nicknamed Bashful for its shy tendencies. It dislikes eye contact, especially with humans. I''ll take a wild guess here and say that it already picked a fight with you guys because someone looked at it for a brief second. Its powers allow the environment to cater to its needs: lack of attention. Reality will bend so that it will be harder to keep track of the Bashful Canzer. There''s one nicknamed Grumpy, for its permanent irritable mood. Anything can set off this guy''s anger, especially with humans. It''ll be the first one to attack the group, but I guess you already know that. One of its specialties is to create anger and fury from the very Remedium itself. Volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, hurricanes, you name it. If it looks like the weather is angry at you, then it''s probably that guy''s fault. Another one is called Dopey. From its name alone, you can surmise that this guy does drugs. It is ''high'' all the time and uses its immense knowledge to concoct bombs, medicine, and chemicals to do whatever task is necessary. If the puppets want to feel mellow or if they want to poison the whole human race, then Dopey''s their guy. Careful with its pipe, it''s where all the poison is stored. The next one is called Happy. It is forever in a state of bliss or joy¡ªannoyingly so. It will want everyone it encounters, be it Canzer or human, to smile to the best of their abilities. It didn''t matter if you bled or lost your right leg, this guy will do whatever it takes to turn that frown upside down. By force, if it had to. The least of your problems is called Sleepy. It is always deemed a non-threat by itself because all it does is sleep. Even if a human were to injure it while it was asleep, it would simply ''shoo!'' them away and go right back to sleep. It is not vindictive, just sleepy. Its powers, as you guessed it, will make others as sleepy as it is. If everyone is asleep, then there''s no one there to bother it. The one called Sneezy is a bit of a wild card. Its large bulbous nose allows it to, well, sneeze so hard that it could shake the very foundation of the Remedium itself. You''ll find it impossible to resist the shaking. Keeping your focus will be a hard task, especially activating a LifeSkill. The good or bad thing about this Canzer is that it is sneezing at random. Even the other Canzers don''t expect a sneeze and will make them lose their focus. Now, the most dangerous of them all is the one called Doc. It doesn''t have a powerful emotion or desire that allows it to bend reality, but it does have dominion over all the other Canzers. They listen to it. They obey. That''s why this is the most dangerous one out of all of them because it can command the rest of the Canzers to unite and fight together. By themselves, these puppets will not be immediately aggressive. They will not attack. But just one word from the one named Doc will make them overcome their sleepiness or their shyness and do as they were told. If Doc told them to sneeze, they would sneeze. That is why it is a dangerous creature. It makes all of them dangerous." Everything Carmine said coincided with what Atlan observed from these Canzers. They acted just like their nickname and they could influence the Remedium to their specific emotion. However, there was one thing missing. Atlan heard from the bespectacled Canzer named Doc, that they were going to go home with ''her''. He didn''t know who this Canzer was nor why they were so adamant about returning home. She was also the reason why Doc decided that the humans must be eradicated. They started to work together because they were afraid that Atlan and the team would attack ''her''. "Thanks for the info, but what good does that tell us if you say that killing these Canzers won''t do any good?" Ninth said in frustration. "How do we kill them," Atlan asked as well. "First, let me tell you what this Canzer''s full name is¡­it is called White Chitin and the Seven Deadly Puppets. As you can tell, the key to eradicating these puppets is by killing the one called White Chitin." S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Is that the puppet master?" "Yes. If you kill the White Chitin, then the rest of the seven puppets will die with it." "That''s great!" Ninth readied her sword. "Tell me where it is and I''ll kill it myself!" "No, no! Ninth, under no circumstances must you be the one to kill the White Chitin. Once you show any kind of threat towards their leader¡ªor if you simply just know where the White Chitin''s secret hideout is, then the seven Canzers would not show you their mercy. They will unleash hell upon you, making it almost impossible to kill the White Canzer. No, you can''t do it. It must be done by someone else, unfortunately." "Then who?" Carmine paused. Ninth finally realized who he was talking about as she raised her gaze toward the Star Porter''s face. Chapter 248 - 248: Finding the puppet master "Me?" Atlan pointed at himself once he realized they were talking about him. "¡­yes. This is something that only the Porter can do." "Oy, oy, oy!" Ninth tapped the camera with the tip of her sword. "Do you seriously know what you''re talking about? Are you saying that we should send a Student realm novice to go by himself and find this ''White Chitin'' through the dangerous Remedium? You must have lost your damn mind! It''s already risky for him to be on this mission in the first place. We only agreed because we can protect him ourselves if anything happens to him. But now you''re saying he should go out there without my protection?!" Atlan''s bodyguard spoke up as well. "It''ll be hard if I have to protect him on my own. It''s doable, but I prefer to be cautious and let the others protect the porter as well." "No. I''m sorry, but he can''t be accompanied by the bodyguard as well." "Are you fuc¡ª" "Yes, yes, I am serious. I know what I''m asking, but this is the only way." "I don''t think you do. How can a Student-realm Porter survive this Specialist-realm Remedium by himself? Not to mention the possibility of a rogue Canzer or a damned animated dead tree appearing, our Porter is as good as dead." Ninth released the anger and frustration she had from Carmine to the Canzers. She swung her sword wide, creating a huge gust of wind that repelled the black smoke and the flowing lava from coming towards them. All this time, she didn''t stop the Canzer''s furious onslaught. But, she wouldn''t be able to keep them on hold for long. The dangerous manifestations of the Canzers'' powers were slowly encircling the group and destroying everything in its path. Which was why she was so irritated by Carmine. She wanted to deal with it fast, but he was dilly-dallying and wasting time. "I will guide him to where the White Chitin is hiding. I suspect we won''t be encountering any enemies on the way if he''s alone. But if either of you insists on going with Atlan, then there will surely be something that pops up and ruins the plan. You''re both Specialist Saviors. Your aura is too bright for these Canzers not to notice. Ninth, if you go join the Porter, you''ll be taking the seven puppets with you. And once they notice you''re going to hunt their princess, they''ll unleash their fury, not just on you, but the Porter as well. The bodyguard is also a no-go. The seven puppets will sense something amiss and immediately know that there''s something wrong. Ninth, no matter how much you stop them, they will stop at nothing to hunt down Atlan and the bodyguard. Our best course of action is to have Atlan go by himself. First of all, he has the battle suit with the Operator construct, so he''d have to go anyway. But the fact that he''s a Student-realm Savior gives us a tremendous advantage. They won''t see us coming. We can approach the White Chitin undetected and assassinate it before the seven puppets know what''s happening." Ninth gritted her teeth. It pained her to know that she''d be sending Atlan to a very dangerous mission all by himself. But Carmine''s words made sense. No matter how annoying it was to listen to his words, he was logical. This was the best course of action. "Ninth and the bodyguard will stay here and keep the seven puppets at bay while Atlan sneaks out and finds the White Chitin. That is our plan, got it? What do you think, Star Porter? Do you think you can do it?" Atlan contemplated for a moment before nodding his head. Having no protection from the bodyguard or the rest of the team would lower his chances of survival, but he knew that he could overcome this mission. "I''ll do it." The bodyguard nodded his head and patted Atlan''s shoulder. "Good luck out there, kid." "I''ll kill these Canzers before you can even find that White Chitin," Ninth said and proudly brandished her sword. Atlan turned back and walked away from them one step at a time. Just then, somebody grabbed his foot. He looked down and saw the Scout looking up at him with guilty eyes. "¡­tha¡­thanks¡­.porter." The man had trouble even raising his head, but he forced himself to speak and give thanks to Atlan. They were the ones supposed to help him, but they were the ones getting saved instead. It shattered the pride of Specialist Saviors like him. "Don''t worry," he gently patted his hand and walked forward. Ninth slashed down with her sword and created a momentary pathway for him to advance. She buried this move with multiple others to make sure the other Canzers didn''t notice the difference. Atlan took this chance to advance outwards, away from the eyes of the puppets Just before the fog closed back up behind him, Atlan heard Ninth scream at the top of her lungs. "Soul Domain! Code of Swords!" He felt a strange, powerful force emanating behind him. He looked back but saw nothing but the fog. He couldn''t even see past it with his Thermal Vision as if the whole region was locked in space. "That''s a Savior''s Domain. It''s a special move that creates a space where a Savior is in complete control. This time, it''s the Canzers who''ll have to play by her rules. You shouldn''t experience it till you''re at the Specialist realm," Just from the sharp, almost tangible, power leaking out of the ''domain'', Atlan knew that this power was unlike anything he had ever seen or felt before. It was very reminiscent of when he was back in the Draft, where he met the God of Death. It was weak, but there was a definite similarity between the two powers. RUMBLE RUMBLE CRASH! BOOM! S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Remedium shook as the battle got more intense in Ninth''s domain. Even after he walked a couple of steps away from it, he could still feel the after-effects of their battle. Chapter 249 - 249: The Huntsman "Be careful. We are still in the sphere of influence of these Canzers. There could still be some monsters who spawn because of their powers." Atlan had to brave the Remedium with nothing but the words of Carmine guiding his steps. He couldn''t see anything past the fog of the dark forest His pace was measured. With each shadow that crossed his eyes, he had to prepare himself for a speedy reaction that his life entirely depended on. Every time he came across a tree or a log in the way, he would first see a dark silhouette looming just in front of him. If it was a real monster like those animated dead trees or those mud golems, then it would have already been too late. They would have attacked him long before he could even see a glimpse of their shadow. So, he was extra careful with his steps. His Angel Wings were always at the ready. With just one thought, he could summon them and give him a tremendous boost in speed and reaction time. "What are we supposed to find?" he whispered. "First, you must stray away from the cobblestone road and start walking off the beaten path. This path will lead you nowhere and will only trap you inside without a way to get out." Atlan was a bit hesitant with Carmine''s suggestion because the cobblestone road was what connected him to Ninth and the rest of the team. It gave him comfort that he could simply follow the path and come back to them at any time. By going off the path, he could lose all sense of direction and find no way to go back to the team. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. No, I must find the White Chitin and finish it off for good, Atlan resolved. Finally, he stepped foot off the cobblestone road and found himself walking on soft, muddy ground. He looked down and saw the soil slowly rising to his feet and engulfing his entire leg. "You must walk fast or else the Remedium will swallow you whole." Atlan strained his body and almost turned his walk into a jog. "But not too fast. The disturbance you cause can attract some unwanted attention." He found a middle ground and was able to tread through the muddy ground with a pace fast enough to escape the soil, but not fast enough to echo his footsteps to the entire Remedium. Just then, Atlan heard something whizzing in the distance. ''Arrows fly true¡­'' Atlan heard the sound of a Canzer speaking in hushed tones. It was subtle, but in the deafening silence of the fog, it was more akin to a shout than a whisper. "I thought you told me there''s no more Canzers here!" "There''s not! What are you talking about? I can''t see anything." Atlan closed his eyes and focused on the sound of the voice. It came from behind him and headed straight in between his shoulder blades. Atlan was sure that if it penetrated through his chitinous battle suit armor, it would pierce through his chest. He quickly turned his body to the side to try and dodge the arrow. But the arrow moved so fast that the arrow grazed past his armor and scratched the chitin protecting his sides. "What the hell?! An arrow just flew past you!¡­wait¡­no¡­that can''t be! The huntsman is here! You are so unbelievably unlucky, Star Porter. Wait a minute. How did you dodge that?!" Even with the advantage of hearing the arrow being notched in the bow, and knowing where the huntsman was targeting him, the best Atlan could do was let it hit his sides which fortunately bounced it off. He was far too slow, and the arrow was far too fast. He was at a disadvantage in every way possible. ''The human dodged my arrow?¡­.'' Atlan kept his ears open for another arrow, but he knew that the ''huntsman'' or whoever it was, wouldn''t be underestimating him now that he was able to dodge its arrows. "Who''s the huntsman?" "Well, truth be told, Canzers are a lot more complex than what they teach low-level Saviors and normal people. It is not all black and white. It''s not humans versus the Canzers. Sometimes, just like humans, there will be Canzers who fight other Canzers." "That''s possible?" "It''s a lot more common than you think. These Sapient Canzers who are intelligent enough to build their own society, will have their own desires and wants. Sometimes, those clash with what other Canzers want. And what do you think will happen to solve that conflict? Are they going to make peace? No. They''re as vicious as us humans. This huntsman is a predator of the White Chitin, but so far, it hasn''t succeeded yet. It will never succeed. So, it spends the rest of its days wandering the dark forests in search of the White Canzer." The complex relationships of Canzers surprised Atlan. They loved, they hated, they cherished, and they sought revenge. It was as if the only difference between Canzers and humans was their exterior appearance. Aside from that, they were basically just a foreign race of humans with different skin. "So it''s a different Canzer than the White Canzer and the Seven damned Puppets?" "Seven deadly puppets. And yes. It''s a totally different Canzer." Atlan took a deep breath. "So that means I need an entirely different operator construct to kill it?" "¡­yes. That''s why I said you were unlucky. You don''t have the protection of your teammates. You''ll have to rely on your wit and skill to escape this Canzer." "Is it stronger than the White Canzer?" he asked, but before he heard another answer, another arrow whizzed through the fog and aimed right for his head. This time, the target was a lot smaller and Atlan''s head wasn''t burdened by the immense weight of the battle suit, so he could quickly bend his head sideways to dodge the attack. Atlan watched as it barely scraped past his cheek, taking 10 months off his SoulTime. But due to his long lifespan, the wound closed up in just a second. "Good dodging! How in the hell are you doing that?!" Chapter 250 - 250: Need for a boar’s heart The huntsman was a bona fide Specialist Canzer. It wasn''t the likes of the seven puppets, who were admittedly strong, but objectively weaker than real Canzers like the huntsman. The White Canzer relied on the seven puppets to dispose of its enemies, while the Huntsman relied solely on its skill. It means that it basically had the same power and strength as the seven puppets combined! Yet somehow, Atlan was able to dodge its attacks and barely get off with just a scratch. Sure, they were normal attacks without any power, but that was still a feat that no Student could ever hope to achieve. It was as if Atlan knew where the arrow was going before it was fired. ''Impressive human¡­I''ll hunt your legs this time.'' Of course, everything was easier when the Canzer itself was broadcasting its next moves to Atlan without knowing about it. He wouldn''t have even been able to react to its attack if he didn''t hear about it. But it was only a matter of time until the Canzer decided that enough was enough. It wouldn''t hold back anymore. Atlan had to find a way to escape his fate of becoming mere prey in front of the Huntsman. "Can you tell me more about this Huntsman? What is its weakness?" Atlan said as an arrow scraped by his left knee. "First of all, run. That''s the only thing you can do with a Canzer of this caliber. But to do that, you need to find its weakness. The Huntsman is a skilled sniper with the capabilities rivaling that of our greatest sharpshooter in the City¡ªperhaps even better. It mainly uses a bow and an arrow, but will resort to using a crossbow once it is backed into a corner. It uses the fog in the dark forest to its advantage, never letting its prey take a glimpse of its true body. The only thing they''ll see is an arrow stuck to their heart. It is a Destruction type Canzer, which means that it can regenerate endlessly without the use of an Operator construct. I know the recipe to make it, but it will be useless to you. You''d need to damage the Huntsman by a large degree before the construct can take effect. Instead, what you should focus on is a way to escape. Fortunately, I know just how to do it." Atlan dodged another arrow directed at his head, but this time, it was able to pierce through his left ear, taking a year and a half of SoulTime with it. He didn''t stop and continued to move forward to try and escape from the Huntsman, but it was no use. Atlan couldn''t see anything past a meter into the fog while the Huntsman seemed to have full clear vision of the whole dark forest. He wasn''t going to escape with normal means. "I would appreciate it if you told me how to escape it right now!" Atlan lifted his leg, but another arrow shot towards the calf. It was a perfect hit, cracking the chitin armor on his battle suit. "You will need a boar''s heart. If you have that object, the Huntsman will not be able to look at you and you will have a chance to escape." "A boar''s heart? Why?" It seemed random. Why would a huntsman, who hunted animals like boars or deers for a living, be afraid of a boar''s heart so much that it wouldn''t even be able to look at someone? "It''s complicated. The lore on this Huntsman runs deep. Are you sure you have the luxury to listen to such a story?" Atlan was currently bombarded with arrows left and right. Slowly, his battle suit was being inundated with scratches and cracks from all the arrows the Huntsman fired at him. The only reason he was able to last this long was because he listened to the Canzer''s words, which gave him the necessary foresight to dodge before the arrow was even fired. That was how he overcame his weakness in speed. If he continued to listen to Carmine''s story, he might get too distracted to listen for the Canzer''s words. If that happened, then he can be sure that he''d learn that lesson with an arrow sticking out of his chest. "Tell me. I need to know." He decided that listening to the Huntsman''s story was worth the risk. It could give him valuable pieces of information that he could fully use to his advantage. After all, he can both listen and talk to Canzers. And as with the shy Canzer, he has figured out that even these Specialist-level Canzers were more than susceptible to some emotional manipulation. If he could find the Huntsman''s weak point, he could use it to give himself time to escape. "So be it. The story starts with the Huntsman in the forest¡­" ### The chitinous being wearing camouflage clothes walked through a green and luscious forest. He had a quiet temperament and only moved when the surroundings moved. It was his way to conceal himself. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He had a bow and a half-notched arrow in his hands as he bent down and looked at the patch of grass right next to a tree''s roots. He plucked a few blades and tossed them in the air. The wind blew and took them further up ahead. "The boar''s this way." He could tell just by how the grass was indented that the boar walked past this specific patch of land just a few minutes ago. He was sure that if he walked in a straight line for a few minutes, he would see his prized boar. He readied his bow and walked forward through the darkening forest. As he got nearer to the boar''s estimated location, he suddenly heard a rustling sound on the bush right in front of him. He immediately stopped walking and squatted down. His breathing got slower and slower as if his entire being had become stone. Then, he stretched his arms and readied a full-powered shot. Sorry, boar. I need sustenance for my mission. Once he was ready, he stood up and aimed at his target''s head. The bush shook from his appearance, startling the birds perched high up on the trees. But instead of seeing an animalistic swine, he saw a beautiful maiden with snowy white chitin wearing a dress befitting only a royal princess. Chapter 251 - 251: Dragon’s hoard The Huntsman quickly changed the direction of his aim and let his full-powered arrow fly loose through the forest. "Kyaaa! Please don''t hurt me!" sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The White Chitinous being raised her hands in the air and looked away from the scary Huntsman. She bowed her head and pleaded for her life. "Who are you?" The huntsman, after just letting loose an arrow, already had another one notched in his bow ready to kill this unknown being. But once he realized that she was no threat, he returned the arrow to his quiver and slung his bow on his back. How could she be dangerous? He could hear the white chitinous layers on her whole body rattling from fear. And her chitin wasn''t made of hard armor, but was soft, shiny, skin instead. It was so thin that even a dull blade of grass could give her a nasty cut. It made him pity her. With how fragile she looked, there was no way she was going to survive this forest for even half a day¡ªonly a few hours tops. She''d get devoured by boars down to her exoskeleton. "I''m¡ªI''m a nobody!" the White Canzer said, but the Huntsman didn''t believe it. "That dress you''re wearing says you''re someone important." She wore a tattered blue dress that the Huntsman frequently saw only royals and nobles wear. Even if it was dirtied and filled with holes, the rare and special materials it was made by were still shining as clear as day. Her white skin gave away the fact that she''d never been outside her castle her whole life. Not to mention the fact that she had a tiara on her head, everything about her pointed to an identity of a lost princess in the woods. "Yes, you''ve caught me. I am of noble descent born from a mere lowly baron on the outskirts of the royal realm. We make do with the little tax we get from our poor citizens. As you can guess, we are very much the unluckiest family in the whole kingdom, that is why I am currently living in the forests by myself." The White Chitin displayed her doe red eyes to the Huntsman and told a story that was obviously a lie. Just her temperament alone painted her as a sheltered princess, not some ''lowly'' baron''s daughter. "You''re a princess," the Huntsman corrected her. "After all, no one would dare describe a baron as a ''lowly'' rank¡ªnot even descendants of the barons themselves. Only royalties can get away with that kind of disrespect." The ''princess'' gritted her teeth. She thought that the scary Huntsman would take pity on her and let her go once she told that story. After all, who wasn''t more pitiful than being born into a baron''s family? She didn''t think her lie would get so easily figured out. She didn''t know that lying to the Huntsman was a cardinal sin that only dead beings knew. He already had his arrow notched and ready to plunge into the liar''s head, but for some reason, he couldn''t bring himself to do it. Her white chitin was something else to behold, something he hadn''t ever seen before. She was beautiful. He was afraid that the beauty would disappear if he killed her, so he gave her a second chance. The White Canzer saw the glint in the Huntsman''s eyes and saw his intent to kill. So, she told the truth; she wasn''t stupid. "Oh please forgive me for my untruthfulness! It is not due to ill will, you see. I am simply afraid for my life in this strange, unknown world. I have already spent an hour in this place and my dress has been torn asunder. I am afraid that if I spend an entire day in this place, I will perish from the unsanitary nature of this forest. Please take pity on me, sir Knight. I can see that you are a capable and honorable man who would not let a beautiful princess like me rot in this place. I am in current need of your experienced eyes and thick chitin. Please, save me from this hell hole, I beg of you!" The White Chitin got on her knees and held both of her hands towards the Huntsman. Her upbringing as a princess helped her create a very elegant and graceful picture that stunned even the experienced Huntsman. It was as if the sun shined on the White Canzer and specifically emphasized its snowy white Chitin even more. For a second, he hesitated. The Huntsman had to bite his tongue to wake himself from this stunned state. "I cannot. I am currently tied up by a mission that is in urgent need of completion." The White Canzer crawled closer to the Huntsman, almost hugging his knees. She wouldn''t let go even as the Huntsman backed away from her. "Oh, please, sir Knight! This is an emergency! Surely there must be something that you could do¡­" The Huntsman stayed silent, fighting the urge to say yes to the damsel in distress. The White Canzer, seeing as the Huntsman was slowly opening up to her, added a bit more of an incentive to push him into finally helping her. "Of course, you will be graciously rewarded by the Queen herself! You can become rich beyond your heart''s content where even a dragon will be jealous of your hoard. All I ask in return is for you to escort me safely to the neighboring kingdoms!" Anyone would be tempted by such a reward. A dragon''s hoard of riches was anyone''s dream, certainly for a working man like the Huntsman. It was a tempting reward¡ªgiven that it was real. "I hate lies, but I hate false promises even more, princess. You are not in such a position to give away such treasures, am I right? Or else you wouldn''t be in this position in the first place." A princess of her magnitude would have escorts and bodyguards surrounding her like an army whenever she stepped foot off the castle grounds. The fact that none of them were here meant that either everyone was dead, or she was abandoned by the kingdom itself. The White Canzer was as penniless as a beggar. "I apologize profusely, sir Knight! The truth is that I am estranged from my family and the kingdom. Therefore, I do not have the riches that I have promised to reward you. But I can indeed offer you something even better than riches. I can offer you¡­myself¡­" Chapter 252 - 252: Double down lies The Huntsman felt something he never thought he would ever feel again. He felt his chitinous heart beating loudly, almost bursting out of his chest. And it was all due to the being in front of him with chitin as white as snow. Her words felt like arrows piercing through his heart. His calculative mind stopped working and only his instincts remained. All he wanted to do now was to save her from distress and take her somewhere they could be all by themselves. "I¡­I¡­" the Huntsman stuttered. The White Canzer begged even harder, fluttering her chitinous eyelids and letting her skin shine through the sunlight. She knew that he was on the verge of falling to her temptations. He could not take his eyes off her, his heartbeat sped up, and he had trouble speaking out the right words; he was about to say yes. "I cannot." The Huntsman forcefully removed her hands away from his legs. "You¡­you what?!" The White Canzer couldn''t believe it. The Huntsman rejected her advances! Through sheer power of will, he was able to resist her temptation and refuse her offer outright. Truthfully, he was about to accept it, but his code of honor woke up something inside of him and allowed him to have the internal strength to push her away. The White Canzer thought she had the Huntsman right where she wanted him. He was about to fall for her charms like a moth to a flame, but somehow, he was able to turn away and move out into the dark! It was illogical. "I am a man of honor, princess. And as much as I want to rescue you from certain doom, I always follow my code. I only act when the mission demands me to act. And I cannot accept a mission without monetary rewards. As such, I will not help you unless you can offer me riches equivalent to the mission''s difficulty right in this instant. If you cannot, then I will not help you." The White Canzer panicked. The Huntsman was the only way she could survive this forest. He was her only hope. "How about my tiara? I can peel it off my skin and you can sell it for a high price, I guarantee it. If that''s not enough, I can give you my dress so you can sell it to merchants all over the realm. And the mission will be easy. I''ll only need help being escorted out of this forest. Unless I am attacked, then you need not to even be beside me. You can simply shoot your arrow from afar. Surely that is easy enough for you to accept my rewards!" For the Huntsman, her offer was just and proper. He was tempted to accept her offer because, in any other circumstance, he would accept that kind of mission from any client that came to him. And the fact that a beautiful white being was asking him was just another bonus. However, this was a special circumstance. "As I have told you, princess. I only live by my code of honor. I cannot accept a mission when I am already encumbered by an ongoing mission¡ªespecially if it interferes with the mission. No amount of reward will make me break this code." "Why?! Please! How about I help you with the mission while you''re escorting me? I saw that you were on your way to hunt a boar. I can help you with that. I can smell it all the way from here so I can help you track it down!" "You cannot help me in my mission. I am not tasked to kill a boar." "Then what is your mission?!" The Huntsman notched the arrow in his bow and stretched it to full power. He then aimed it straight at the White Canzer''s head point blank. "It''s to kill you, princess." The White Canzer turned even paler once it realized that it had been asking the wrong being to ask. It was as if she was a fly asking a spider how to escape its webs! She immediately stood up with quickness that betrayed her whole ''weak and disheveled'' princess persona. It was as if her distress was merely a mask that she put on so that the Huntsman would take pity on her. "You! The Queen put you up to this?!" The Huntsman nodded. "Yes, princess. She gave me a dragon''s hoard of riches in advance for your death. It''s one of the reasons why I know you were lying about the reward. It''s because I already received it." The White Canzer''s lie was futile from the very beginning. All her attempts at trying to convince the Huntsman for help were never going to work. Most beings caught in this situation where they were directly in front of their hunter would go with their first instinct and run. But the White Canzer didn''t do that. Instead, she walked towards the Huntsman as if she had no care for her life. "Please, sir Knight. This is an injustice of the highest degree! You must not believe the lies of that wicked Queen!" She doubled down on her lies. Now, most normal beings would immediately regard her words as nothing more than a bare-faced lie. After all, it had been proven yet again that she was an untrustworthy source of information. She lied every time she could just to save herself. Anyone would immediately know that this was simply another attempt at saving herself. "¡­wicked?" the Huntsman whispered, with hesitation painted on his face. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Huntsman fell for her lies. After all, he was a man of principle. It was in his code of morals that he would never kill anyone unworthy of death. The fact that there was a chance that she was innocent being put a moment of hesitation in his mind. As for why he believed it, no one knew but him. The fact that she was a beautiful creature who enamored his heart could be a factor for his naivety, but who knew for sure? "Yes! She is wicked! The Queen is an evil witch who tried to poison me with an apple!" Chapter 253 - 253: Fallen into lies "It''s true, sir Knight! The evil Queen once tried to feed me with an apple that was laced with poison. It would put me to sleep for an eternity! Imagine the horror!" The White Canzer then stretched her arm and showed her blemish-free snowy white skin to the Huntsman. "I wouldn''t be able to bask in the sunlight. I wouldn''t be able to hear the birds sing with music. And most of all, the world and the royal kingdom would be deprived of my beauty. It is a sin worthy of treason." The Huntsman, still regaining a little bit of logical reasoning in his mind, asked why. "Does the Queen have a worthy reason for doing so? Have you committed a crime?" Of course, the White Canzer vehemently shook her head. "No, sir knight. I am an honorable princess brought up with the highest of standards. You will not see a speck of blemish on my record." "Then why would she do that?" "That is what I''m telling you, oh honorable one. Please help me bring justice to this cruelty. The evil Queen, my stepmother, has been jealous of my beauty since forever. She covets what she doesn''t have. To make herself the fairest one out of all in the land, she dared to commit a sin¡ªa sin of trying to kill the most beautiful maiden in the world. Three times, she tried to kill me. The first time was during the celebration of my day of birth. That wicked Queen gave me a silky laced bodice as a gift. I, not knowing of her evil schemes, accepted it with graciousness. She even offered to tie it up for me, which I let her do. Little did I know that it was a mistake. She tied the bodice so tight that I was unable to breathe and passed out almost immediately. It was only when a dear friend of mine saw my state that they untied the bodice and saved me from death. When I tried to tell everyone about her attempt at murder, they dismissed me as nothing but a liar. Even my friends were skeptical because they did not see the queen when I was passed out. The second time she tried to kill me was when she poisoned a comb and stroked my hair with it. I would have died if it weren''t for my friend picking out the comb and tossing it away from me. For the third time, that wicked Queen disguised herself as an old lady whose husband was a farmer. She sold me an apple, which she said was her prized possession. I was skeptical at first because of my previous traumas, but she deceived me by biting into the apple and making it seem as if it wasn''t poisoned. It turned out that only my side of the apple was laced with death. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I was only able to survive due to a friend of mine removing the lodged apple from my throat. I never knew why she would go to such lengths to kill me until I confronted her myself. She confessed that she envied my looks and wished that she was the only true beauty in our kingdom. It is unfortunate that this beauty is mine, and mine alone. Or else I would have given it to her so that we can finally squash this quarrel. Please do not be an accomplice to her schemes and let me escape this cruel fate, sir Knight. She only wants to kill me for vain reasons. Surely that is against your code of honor!" The Huntsman listened to the White Canzer''s story and slowly, his face morphed into one of anger. He couldn''t believe that the Queen passed off her dirty deeds to him and washed her hands of the whole affair. He wouldn''t have even known the ''truth'' if he had listened to the Queen''s warning that he should kill her at first sight and never listen to her words. Of course, that was what he thought, not what was objectively true. "Not even a dragon''s hoard will make the shame of killing an innocent being go away." The White Canzer, hearing his words, flashed an imperceptible smile on her face. Her lies worked once again. "Maybe killing the Queen will be enough to return the humiliation she gave you," the White Canzer said, flashing her beautiful red eyes at him. "No, it is in my code of honor to never backstab a client whose mission I''ve accepted. It is my mistake. I should have never accepted it in the first place. The best I could do for you, princess, is to let you escape with your life." "But what about the Queen? Trust me when I say that she will exact revenge on you once she realizes that you have failed your mission," said the White Canzer, feigning concern. The Huntsman then walked towards a bush in the distance. Just beside its roots was a dead boar whose head had been pierced with an arrow. It turned out that his first shot, the one that ''missed'' the White Canzer when they first met, actually struck the original boar he was hunting instead! "I will offer this boar''s heart to the Queen and lie that it is yours." The White Canzer gasped exaggeratingly. "You will do that for me, sir Knight?" "It is the least I can do, considering I will be unable to escort you into safety." The Huntsman skillfully used the tip of his arrow to dissect the boar and let it bleed out into the ground. It didn''t take a minute for him to present a bloody, chitinous heart that would serve as a perfect replacement for the White Canzer''s heart. He then took out a bejeweled box and secured it on his knapsack. "I will never forget your kindness. Thank you, sir knight!" the White Canzer said as she picked up the hems of her dress and ran away further into the woods. "Thank you for being so stupid," uttered the White Canzer to herself. Chapter 254 - 254: Broken enamore "So, what happened next?" asked Atlan. "Well, the Huntsman returned to the castle to deliver the boar''s heart to the ''evil'' wicked Queen¡­" #### "Queen, stored in this jewel box is the heart of the White Canzer. I have fulfilled my duty as per our agreement." The Huntsman gave the jewel box containing the boar''s heart to the feet of her throne. "This ends our agreement." He looked at the Queen and saw relief on her face when he mentioned that the White Canzer was dead. He, believing the White Canzer''s words, thought that she was happy that she was finally the most beautiful maiden in all the lands. The Queen didn''t even turn around to look at the jeweled box on her feet. She simply let her servants take it away. He turned around and walked away from the royal throne. She cares not for her stepchild, he thought. This further reinforced the lie in his mind that the Queen assassinated the White Canzer for dubious reasons. He was disgusted with this and walked out of the royal chamber. The door closed behind him. And just as he was about to take his first step away, he suddenly heard a single drop echo through the hallways. It was so subtle and quiet that no normal being would have been able to perceive it. But his enhanced hearing as a Huntsman provided him with the necessary insight to know that something echoed behind him. DRIP He turned around and realized that it came from the royal chamber itself. He raised his hand and opened the door. And what he saw confused him. The Queen, high up on the pedestal of her throne, sobbed quietly with her head down. The sound of her tears falling to the marble tiles was echoing through the chambers, albeit softly. Why is she crying? he asked himself. Is she doing this for show so that others wouldn''t be suspicious of her? But when he looked around, he realized that her servants and knights were away from the chamber. There was no one there to witness her cry. They wouldn''t leave unless the Queen herself made them leave. So if the Queen was only doing it for show, then she wouldn''t sob quietly by herself without an audience. She hadn''t even realized that he was back in her chambers. She rubbed her eyes and only noticed him approach once she was done grieving to herself. "Why are you crying," he asked her. "Am I not permitted to cry?" It was only then that a sliver of doubt finally appeared on the Huntsman''s mind. It made him question the very nature of the Queen herself. The White Canzer painted her as the type of narcissist who would not care about anyone other than themselves. If so, then she shouldn''t have cried without anyone looking at them. He also looked around the room and realized that everything was a mess. The White Canzer told him that the Queen was a person who was obsessed with beauty. The very reason why she hired the Huntsman to kill the White Canzer was because she was envious of her beauty. But if that was true, then wouldn''t she have flowers and beautiful arrangements designed around the royal chamber where she spent most of her days? Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Huntsman looked at her and said, "Are you the fairest one of them all?" The Queen shook her head. "No." "But surely, now that the White Canzer is gone, you are the next in line to be the most beautiful maiden in all the lands, the royal realm, and even the world! Shouldn''t you take her rightful place?" The Queen finally looked up at him and he saw her disheveled state. It looked like she hadn''t been taking care of herself for far too long. She was even in much worse shape than the White Canzer who spent the whole day in the muddy woods! If she was really obsessed with beauty, then she wouldn''t let herself go in such a manner. She would have prepared herself to be undoubtedly the most beautiful maiden in the court. "I care not for beauty," replied the Queen. "But why not? Beauty is not only for such shallow purposes. It will allow you to assert dominance over all the men in the kingdom and have the rest of the women want to follow your lead. Surely a Queen such as yourself covets a beauty that cannot be topped by others." Another tear dropped from her cheeks. "I care not for beauty because it will not bring back my husband and my children." The Huntsman was stunned in silence. "I do not understand. Please tell me the truth. For what reason did you have me kill the White Canzer?" "Because the royal court demanded it." "They did?" The Queen nodded. "The judiciary system has deemed the White Canzer guilty of her crimes. She has been tried and sentenced to death for the murder of my husband, the King, and my child, the princess." "WHAT?! Why have you not told me about this in the first place?" "I have told you, do you not remember?" The Huntsman took a step back from the shock he received. It was then in that moment that a surge of memories finally flowed through his mind as if a dam had been broken. All things had been let loose. He remembered entering the kingdom and hearing about the King and the Princess''s death. He heard about the murderer''s escape and volunteered to hunt her in exchange for a reward. The Queen already told him the crimes of the White Canzer from the very beginning. It was the very reason why he accepted the mission in the first place. Back when the White Canzer was talking to him, he wondered to himself why he would accept such a mission if he was hunting an innocent being. He thought that he had made a blunder. As it turned out, he didn''t. Chapter 255 - 255: Boar a weakness He knew from the very start that the White Canzer was guilty of all her crimes. However, he seemed to have forgotten that. The moment he set his eyes on the White Canzer, it was as if all the memories of her evil deeds were erased from his mind. He became enamored with her beauty so much that he became an idiot. He could not believe that he let himself get to such a state. He had never made this mistake before. "I can''t believe it¡­" The Huntsman, in his despair, fell on his knees. "I cannot believe it myself," the Queen uttered. "If it weren''t for my loyal servants, I would have died from the poisoned apple." The Huntsman covered his head in shame. He should have realized from the very beginning that everything that came out of the White Canzer''s mouth was all lies. There was not a speck of truth in everything she said. The lie that the Queen tried to kill her three times were all twisted truths. She was the one who tried to kill the entire royal family instead! She used the poisoned comb on the King and killed him with it. She used the laced bodice to suffocate the princess till she died, and finally, she used the poisoned apple to try and kill the Queen. It was an attempt to take control of the whole kingdom for herself. She was a psychopath willing to sacrifice even her family to finally ascend the throne and take control of the entire kingdom for herself. Fortunately, her plan failed. The Queen survived and was able to report her crimes to the royal court. And now, the White Canzer was on the run. The Huntsman, who touted himself as an ally of fairness, was supposed to be the one to bring justice for the entire royal family. But he failed to do so. Instead, he was tricked by her and even suspected the Queen of evil intent. He slowly stood up, gripping his bow very tight. His eyes were full of rage and embarrassment. Not only did the White Canzer tarnish his reputation, but also trampled on his dignity. He gave her a helping hand, but he didn''t know that she poisoned her hand and infected him with it to save herself. "Please forgive me, your highness! I have made a grave mistake." The Queen looked down at him. She was astute and saw the regret on his face. She sighed. Even without him telling her, she could already guess what had happened. After all, this was not the first time when the White Canzer used her beauty to enamor and trick people into doing her bidding. It was the very reason why she was able to kill her husband and daughter so easily. It was because she had help from someone who also thought that he was doing the right thing. "She convinced me that you wanted to kill her for her beauty. It is obvious now that it is not true." "Even a rock can be bewitched by her. Do not blame yourself." The Huntsman took two arrows from his quiver. He used one of them to carve two words onto the remaining arrow''s tip. Engraved in it was: W.C. This arrow will only be used to pierce through the White Canzer''s heart. This wasn''t a warning, it was a promise. He would not rest until his shame and embarrassment were washed away by the violet blood of that wicked princess. "I only gave you a boar''s heart to trick you. I must go now, Your Highness. I must retrieve the object of our original promise. But I will apologize right now, for that princess'' heart could return to your hands as a mere squashed muscle." "It''s best if you don''t, Huntsman. It has already been done. For my closure, it''s best if I never hear or see that¡­being¡­for the rest of my life. I shall treat that boar''s heart as a symbol for her death." The Huntsman winced when the Queen mentioned the boar''s heart. It was the symbol of his failure. It was a reminder that he broke his code of honor for an unworthy witch who tricked him. He couldn''t even be anywhere near the castle anymore, for it stored the boar''s heart. He walked away in shame, with the Queen hanging her head low on the throne. ### "And ever since, the Huntsman will never approach anyone with a boar''s heart. It became his weakness. Once you have a boar''s heart, you can escape the Huntsman''s hunt." Atlan never knew that a Canzer''s weakness was deeply intertwined with their backstory. Their history dictated their flaws. He thought back to all the Canzers he encountered from here to now. The Ifrit, whose weakness was a magical oil lamp, must have had a backstory where it experienced something traumatic with the oil lamp as a catalyst. And one thing he noticed was that all Canzers had a weakness against angel power. Does that mean that the origin of the Canzer species as a whole was intertwined with the Angels? WHIZZ! Atlan dodged another arrow to his head, scraping past his eyebrows. "So how will I get the boar''s heart? Can it be created with the control center?" S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The black hexagonal box in his chest was a magical piece of equipment that could spawn all kinds of constructs by stitching together the different essences planted inside. He didn''t know how it worked, but he imagined that it would be like piecing together different puzzle pieces into an entirely different picture. "The control center can do a lot of things, but it cannot do that. Since the boar''s heart is not a construct, but merely a weakness, your battle suit cannot create it out of nowhere. But what it can do is create something like a sonar which will point you in the direction of the nearest boar. It is your job to find that boar, kill it, and harvest its heart. But be careful, the Huntsman will do everything in its power to stop you from unearthing its weakness." Chapter 256 - 256: Boar finder "Is there even a boar in this dark woods?" asked Atlan. After all, they weren''t in a normal forest where it was teeming with life. This was an artificial world created by the Canzers and the Remedium. There was supposed to be no one else other than the Canzers and the humans. "Yes. The Huntsman is here, therefore the boar is somewhere in this Remedium. Those two will never be separated. Whenever he appears, his weakness appears with him. A Canzer''s weakness is so deeply intertwined with their identity that they subconsciously summon their weakness around them. It is just like how they can morph the Remedium into their familiar territory, something like a dark forest in the medieval times, they will also summon their downfall. It is their fate." Atlan looked around the Remedium, but could only see a thick fog that obscured everything beyond a few meters. He could even only see a sparse few dead trees lying about. He wouldn''t think that a boar would make its home here. "How do I create the boar finder?" "Touch the control center," Carmine said. Atlan did as he was told and pushed his finger onto the black hexagon attached to his chest. After a few moments, it suddenly split in half and revealed the inner mechanisms inside. There was a miniature keyboard installed inside, with a small rectangular screen on top. He had to input the right code into the control system for it to blend the right types of essences in the right quantities to create an object with the desired quality. If even one input was wrong, then the battle suit might spit out a rock instead of a high-tech boar finder. "If you are not sure about the sequence of inputs, then don''t be afraid to ask me again. We only have one shot at this, or else you''ll have to wait for another hour before your battle suit can spit out another one of those again." Atlan wasn''t even sure if he would survive if that happened. Slowly, his entire battle suit was getting cracked and fractured to the point where the Huntsman only needed one good shot before his first layer of defense was gone for good. "Here it goes¡­aB42)5#(8JHhl2$G@%..." Carmine listed out the specific sequence for conjuring the boar finder. These inputs numbered in the thousands because Carmine was basically speaking out the very DNA of the object. And if Carmine hadn''t improved the design of the battle suit, then Atlan would have had to input millions upon millions of code into the battle suit. But before he even got to the hundredth letter, an arrow suddenly grazed past Atlan''s head, just above his ear. Suddenly, all he could hear was a loud ringing noise that deafened him from hearing anything around him, including Carmine''s input. "Wait! Wait! What''s the code after 13hn%@?" Carmine paused for a second and said, "I didn''t say %@, I said @$" Because of the distraction, Atlan inputted the wrong button on the screen and almost ruined the entire thing. "Let''s just start over from the beginning." Although it was a pain to do, they would rather waste a couple of minutes rather than input a thousand words and end up wasting this opportunity because of a wrong input in the hundreds. Atlan pressed the clear button and started over from the very beginning, with Carmine listing out the code in a very loud and clear voice. It wasn''t supposed to be this hard. Carmine designed this battle suit with the assumption that Atlan would be fighting with Ninth and her team. While Atlan was putting the code on his battle suit for a construct, the team would do everything in their power to protect him from any harm. That way, he wouldn''t have to worry about a stray arrow suddenly piercing through his ear and distracting him for a second. Now, Atlan had to do things the hard way. Not only did he have to listen to his surroundings for the Huntsman''s words, he also had to listen to Carmine and input the correct set of code to the control center. His sense of hearing was overloaded. He couldn''t even complain to Carmine about this. After all, he didn''t know that Atlan used his sense of hearing to barely dodge the arrows and prevent his body from getting riddled with holes. "Can you slow down?" "Are you sure about this? The longer we stay here, the higher the chance the Huntsman becomes bored and uses his full power on you." Atlan had no other choice. "Yes, please." Carmine slowed down his words, allowing Atlan to listen to both him and the Huntsman at the same time. It required tremendous focus and attention, which fortunately, he had something a lot of. "A$*8742%F. And that''s the last of it." sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After half an hour, Atlan finally inputted the last set of code to the control center. "Let''s double check¡ª" "No need," Atlan said confidently. "It''s right." "....are you sure about this? I told you, we only have one shot at this. It''s better to be safe than sorry." Atlan was a careful guy. In any other circumstances, he would have decided to recheck the inputted code three times before he considered it as correct. However, he didn''t have the luxury of time. He hadn''t even found the boar yet, but he was already on the last legs of his first layer of chitinous armor. He expected another big confrontation from the Huntsman once he got too close to the boar, so Atlan would rather reserve his defenses for that. He couldn''t let the Huntsman wear away his armor with petty shots. "I have a good memory. I inputted every single code correctly with no mistakes this time." Carmine liked the confidence of their Star Porter. Sometimes, guts were all that was needed. "Press the enter button." Atlan pressed it, and suddenly, his entire battle suit lit up in a blue light. Warmth spread from his toes to his shoulders. Chapter 257 - 257: Black water Atlan felt the battle suit vibrating from all the microscopic machinery built inside it. It made him feel as if he was a giant as big as the world, and the battle suit was a seismic earthquake that shook every part of him. Suddenly, blue particles floated up from his control center and gathered above his palms. These particles were filled with different kinds of elements, but he was sure that there was a tiniest bit of Angel Power hiding inside. Looks like Angel Power is needed in everything¡­ Atlan didn''t have to wait for a few seconds before the particles solidified into a very thin cylinder with a diamond tip at the very end. This object looked very familiar. "It''s done. This is the boar finder. It will point you into the general direction of the boar. If you see it suddenly leave your side, then the boar is very close. The finder will hover above the boar for you to find." BOOM! A miniature explosion occurred as the blue particles finally condensed into a real object. It was an arrow. He finally knew why it was familiar. It was the very same arrow that the Huntsman used to hunt him! It turned out that the very boar finder that he was going to use was the same arrow that the Huntsman used to kill the boar! It was kind of poetic, in a sense¡ªor ironic, if you looked at it in a different way. The arrow hovered about a meter in front of him and pointed towards the left. He looked to the side and saw nothing but the fog. If he had just followed his guts, he would have no chance of ever finding the boar. He would have been running in circles. He quickly turned around and followed the direction of the arrow. Thankfully, once he moved, the arrow moved with him. It followed his every movement and always stayed one meter away from him, which meant that if he slowed down, it would slow down. If he sped up, it would speed up. He walked and walked until he had to skip past a small stream of dark water. Atlan didn''t know if it was dangerous or not. "Find a way to get over it. This is not normal water; this is the Remedium. It will actively try to sabotage you." For normal people, it would have been very easy to jump across the gap. However, Atlan could barely even jog due to the immense weight of his battle suit, so there was no way he could jump across it. He would have to circumvent the stream of water. Even if it took more time, it didn''t matter anyway because the arrow would always be pointing him in the right direction. But before he could even walk away, he suddenly saw the arrow''s pointed tip move from left and slowly to the front. What? Why did the arrow move? I haven''t even moved yet¡­unless¡­. Then, he realized something. The boar''s moving! And it was walking right in front of him. He didn''t know how far, but it must have been close enough for its walk to register on the boar finder. If it was far away, the arrow would barely move. But if it was close enough, even a small trot from the animal would register as a big move in the arrow. This was incredible. He thought that he would have to walk for at least an hour before he would come close to the boar. But he only needed a few minutes! And if that wasn''t enough, the arrow suddenly flew away from him and disappeared into the fog! That only meant one thing: the boar was close enough for him to hunt. According to Carmine, the arrow would hover above the boar at a certain distance, and would point it down for Atlan to gauge how far away it was. Amazingly enough, the arrow was still visible to him even in the fog. He could see through the thick veil and see the arrow slowly hovering in the air until it finally stopped. Then, it pointed down. Even though Atlan couldn''t see the boar, he could see its movements based on how the arrow moved. And if he judged it correctly, the boar was only about 10 meters away from him! This was incredibly close! He immediately got the urge to step into the dark stream of water and try to catch up to the boar. It was already close enough, he just needed a few steps and he would see it. "What will you do, Star Porter? Will you chase after it, or will you wait until you''re over the water?" Atlan could take his chances and walk the small stream of water. After all, it would only take a minimum of one step, and he would immediately cross over to the other side. Since it was extremely thin, it would seem as if the chances of something wrong happening was small. The problem with this was that the body of water was dead. It was extremely still. It looked as if it was running, but upon closer inspection, it was only an optical illusion meant to simulate the real thing. It looked even more dangerous now. After all, if it was trying to deceive him from making it seem as if it was a stream of water, then there was something sinister in plan for him. He also had the chance to let the boar go for now. He would find a way to go around this stream of water, but that would mean that he would get further and further away from the boar. This was the safest option. After all, the boar wasn''t going anywhere. It would always be in this dark forest for as long as the Huntsman was here. Even if Atlan lost the boar now, he could always find it with the magical arrow later. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The problem with this was time. He wasn''t sure if the Huntsman would give him any. Just as he thought that, an arrow whizzed through the fog and headed straight for his back. Chapter 258 - 258: Leaking angel power The arrow was headed straight for the point in between his shoulder blades. Atlan had no other choice. The only way he could dodge this attack was to bend his upper body forwards. But because of the uneven terrain of the dark forest, especially the dark ''stream'' of water where it sloped down, Atlan would be forced into an unbalanced position. He would get tipped forwards and eventually end up falling into the stream because of it! He couldn''t think any longer. The Huntsman already let go of the arrow and gave him no time to ponder. He had to go and step into the dark body of water. Atlan bent his body forwards, but because of the very thick battle suit, his mobility was limited. He was only able to bend forwards by a little bit, which meant that he wouldn''t be able to dodge the arrow fully. PENG! A strange sound came out of his back. It wasn''t the usual silent arrow that pierced through the chitinous armor. It sounded as if the arrow bounced off his battle suit. But that was strange. After all, the first layer of his chitinous armor was already on its last leg. It only needed one more hit from the Huntsman''s arrow for it to be completely destroyed. When he looked up, he saw the arrow that was deflected off his back. He focused on its tip and saw that it didn''t have a tip at all! It only had a sphere as its tip! And judging from the ball''s speed, the arrow was quite slow compared to the Huntsman''s other arrows. He didn''t understand why the Huntsman would choose to use this kind of arrow instead of a sharp-tipped one. But then, he realized that the momentum from the heavy ball arrow was quickly transferred over to his body. He was being tipped forwards into the black ''stream'' of water! The Huntsman never planned to destroy his last layer of chitin armor at all! It only wanted him to fall into the Remedium''s trap instead! Atlan couldn''t stop his momentum. The only thing he could do was raise his leg and step onto the black water, or else he would have fallen head first into it. And as soon as he stepped foot onto it, he felt the consistency of this ''water'' to be extremely thick. It seemed to be even thicker than slime! Because of its viscosity, Atlan had a hard time raising his leg out of the black water. After all, he was also getting pushed down by the immense weight of his battle suit. He was only further getting sunk deeper and deeper into the black stream of water, with no sign of a bottom anywhere. "Carmine! Any help?!" "We''re working on it! We were busy trying to figure out if the black stream was safe to cross or not, but that''s all moot now." "You think?!" "Okay, listen up. Thankfully, this black stream isn''t that dangerous. With just a little bit of force, you can take your leg off of it." Atlan tried to move his leg, but it only further sunk it deep into the black water. It was up to his shin now, and slowly creeping up to his knees. "It''s sinking me in deeper and deeper!" "Wait what?! That''s not possible!" "What''s not possible?" "...." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Carmine went silent in the worst possible time. That was not the best thing to hear when he was about to get swallowed by the black water of the Remedium. And because he was unable to balance himself, he was forced to put his other foot inside the black water. "Carmine? Carmine? Are you there?" If push came to shove, then Atlan had no other choice but to activate his Angel Wings and get out of here. After all, he didn''t want to get swallowed by the Remedium where he didn''t know if his mutation would even activate. At that point, he was as good as dead. "We''re working on it. This shouldn''t be possible! We don''t have this kind of black stream in our database. This black stream isn''t supposed to even be dangerous to humans. It''s only effective against supernatural beings. Can you check you open up your control center and see if the green light has turned red? If it has, then that means something is leaking and it could be the reason why you are falling into the dark water." Atlan did as he was told and touched the black hexagonal box in his chest. Once it opened up, he saw the same small keyboard and screen in the middle. And on the top right was a small LED bulb which was always on with a green light. "It''s still green." "Damn! It''s not a leak!" "What would be the problem if it was a leak?" "This black stream is attracted to supernatural elements. And your battle suit is filled with it. It has about a thousand essences threaded in the very fabric of your suit. If it is leaking, then that could be the reason why the black water is pulling you down!" But according to the battle suit itself, there was no leak. Unless the light on his control center was malfunctioning, then his battle suit couldn''t be the reason for why he was being pulled down further into the black water. "Can you think of something else?! I''m in knee deep trouble now!" "We are! We are! Are you sure that the light is still green?" "Yes! It''s still green!" "Damn it! How?! Your descent is way too fast for a small leak. It would only be this fast if your entire battle suit is emanating some sort of supernatural essence!" Then, he realized something. His battle suit was leaking a supernatural essence. He was emanating Angel Power. He was using the False Mutation of his Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings to move his body faster to try and get out of the black water. This caused his whole body to be coated in an Angel Power. And as he pushed his false mutation faster and faster, the more Angel Power was leaking out! Chapter 259 - 259: Finding the boar Now that he found the root of the problem, Atlan simply stopped using the False Mutation of his Angel Wings. "Sorry, Atlan. We don''t know what''s causing¡ªWHAT?! How?!" From Carmine''s perspective, Atlan''s slow descent into the black water suddenly stopped and was now pushing him upwards! It was as if the Remedium was trying to vomit him out now that it no longer liked the taste he was giving out. Without the Angel power coating his whole body, then the Remedium no longer wanted to consume him. "What happened?" Carmine asked. Atlan lied, "I don''t know." The Remedium''s upwards push on his body counteracted even his battle suit''s immense weight. He was airborne for a few moments until he landed on the opposite side of the black water. "Well, lucky us that this happened. I apologize. We should have been able to find the cause of that problem." "It''s fine. Don''t worry about it. I''ll focus on finding the boar for now." The magical arrow had already returned to his side. And it went back to pointing in a single direction. This meant that the boar ran away and was already far away enough for its movements to not register. It must have been spooked by Atlan''s movements. For him to hunt this boar, he had to make as little noise as possible. After all, he had no bow and arrow like the Huntsman; he only had his two fists and his clever mind as his weapons to hunt it. Not to mention the fact that he moved extremely slowly, the only way he''d be able to hunt the boar was if he was able to approach it at an extremely close distance without it noticing anything. If he could use his other LifeSkills and mutations, it would be easy. Unfortunately, he was stuck with only his Physique LifeSkill by his side. "Don''t worry, this boar is only a normal animal. It doesn''t have any special powers and you can hunt it like normal. Your Physique LifeSkill should be sufficient to triumph over it. But I will warn you again. The Huntsman will not stand back as you pick out its weakness. It will stop treating you as entertainment and start looking at you as prey. Then, the hunt begins." Atlan didn''t have to be reminded, the Huntsman did it for him. He heard another word from the Canzer that it would be targeting his head again. As usual, he turned his head to the side and dodged the arrow. Now that he''d been getting hit by those arrows for a couple of times already, he was getting used to the momentum and was able to completely dodge the attacks. It was a good thing. He didn''t want his first line of defense to be broken so easily. Atlan followed the arrow''s direction until he suddenly saw it shoot off into the distance. The boar was near! He immediately walked forward with a faster stride. He didn''t want the boar to get away this time. The arrow stopped going forward and pointed down, showing precisely where the boar''s location was. Other people would have gotten excited, making their heartbeat elevated and their breathing heavy. The likelihood of human error increased as humans got more and more excited. Atlan would have been subjected to that too, if it weren''t for his SSS class Physique LifeSkill. It gave him complete control of his own body, making his heartbeat and breathing as low as possible. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. From Carmine''s perspective, Atlan seemed to have turned into stone; he didn''t move. But in truth, Atlan was slowly walking forwards with a pace much slower than a snail. Although it was extremely slow, Atlan didn''t want the boar to escape again. He would rather waste a few more minutes than have the boar burst out into a run again. And after a few minutes, his patience paid off. He finally saw a sliver of a black sillhouete right in front of him. The arrow pointing directly below it was an indication that his guess was right. Finally, he saw the real thing. It had a big snout, with two tusks on its side. It grazed on the dead grass around the damp soil and minded its own business just like a normal animal would have. He even looked at it with his Thermal Vision and saw that it had a normal structure with a normal boar. There was nothing special with this animal, nor was there anything magical on it. It wasn''t like the lifeless trees and animated golems in the Remedium. This one looked like it was plucked out of the real world and lived entirely to cope in the Remedium. And because of his careful approach, the boar was none the wiser that Atlan was already hot on its tail. Step by step, his pace became even slower. As he got too close to the boar, almost enough for him to grab it at arm''s length, he slowed down to a stand still. At this point, he knew that any movement would get noticed by the boar no matter how careful he got. The best way to go about this was to let the boar come to him. This was a waiting game¡ªwith a time limit. It would only be a matter of time until his human scent wafted off to the boar''s snout. Come on, come on, Atlan thought to himself. After a few seconds, he had enough and knew that he had to do something. He picked out a small piece of chitinous armor from his battle suit, about as big as his fingernails, and tossed it forwards. tuk¡­ That slight sound was like an alarm in the boar''s ear. It alerted it of a potential threat right in front of itself. Its instincts took over and it immediately turned around and readied to bolt. But it didn''t know that it would be walking straight into the arms of Atlan. The only thing he had to do was dive down and catch the boar with his bare hands. But just then, a very noisy and slow arrow whizzed and penetrated through the fog. Chapter 260 - 260: The Huntsman’s game This arrow was so slow that Atlan would be able to dodge its trajectory even with his eyes closed and his battle suit''s weight doubled. How could he not, when the arrow ''whistled'' so loud that it announced itself before it even appeared. With how strong and fast the other arrows aimed for him before, this one was below the quality of someone with the name ''Huntsman''. It was something that even the weakest Student-level Canzer could do better. From the arrow''s trajectory, he could clearly see that it was not aimed for him. It was directed at the boar! And since the arrow was so loud, the boar was able to immediately sense its approach and turned around a second time. Atlan was already on a downward trajectory as he lunged down towards the boar. But because of the whistling arrow, the boar had already ran away from him before he could even touch a single strand of its hair. KEEEK! KEEEK! the boar squealed. It ran off out into the fog, with the magical arrow returning back to his side after hovering above the boar''s head. In just under a second, the boar was able to get more than 10 meters away from him. It was an understatement to call it a bit ''spooked''. Atlan fell to his knees, unable to do anything as the boar slipped past him. He was so close from getting the boar, but that whistling arrow spoiled all his plans. He painstakingly approached the boar with endless patience and endurance, yet a single arrow from the Huntsman was all it took to mess everything up. Carmine wasn''t kidding when it said that the Huntsman would do everything in its power to prevent him from getting its weakness. It was its bane, after all. ''This human wants to use that boar''s heart to escape me? How interesting¡­well then, let me give you a taste of my power and see if you have what it takes to receive the boar''s heart.'' Fortunately, for Atlan, the Huntsman was still mildly amused by him. If it had decided to get serious, then it would not be an exaggeration if one were to say that Atlan would be killed in just under three seconds. That was how lethal the Huntsman Canzer was. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The fact that he was so easy to kill worked to his advantage. The Huntsman wanted to play with his food and decided to humor Atlan''s antics up till now. It was also fortunate that the Huntsman liked a good challenge. And Atlan, who seemed quite weak at first, was able to dodge quite a few of its normal arrows despite his build. He shouldn''t have been able to last till the second arrow, or the third or the thirtieth. The Huntsman was mildly impressed by Atlan and wanted to know more about him. That was why he was lenient. Of course, leniency had a limit. The Huntsman had been only using normal arrows up till now. But the fact that Atlan dared to go and harvest the boar''s heart to take for himself was a crime that needed a punishment. It may not be severe enough for an execution, but it was enough of a provocation for the Huntsman to reveal one of its powers. "Cross of roads: Arrow piercing!" the Huntsman uttered as he fired a magical arrow. It had a red tipped bit that seemed to oscillate between dark and light. And unlike the other arrows he fired at Atlan, this one didn''t seem to be long for the physical world. It seemed to pierce through the Remedium and influence its surroundings to whatever the Huntsman needed. And before Atlan knew it, there was a group of arrows firing from left to right right in front of him. He could feel the air breeze past his face as a couple of arrows fired from the left and right directions. Not only that, he noticed that the ground he stood underneath was changed into something like the shore of a river. This river seemed to be quite aggressive for its size because it kept surging out big waves all over the shore. Atlan knew that if he got hit by that wave, he would only get swallowed by the water and be unable to swim up by himself. His battle suit could do a lot of things, but it cannot swim underwater unless he created a construct to survive. But since he already created the magic arrow, he wouldn''t be able to create another construct for another half an hour. This only meant that Atlan didn''t want to cross the raging river. Even the multiple arrows firing from left to right was barring him from entering the lake, even if he had any intention to do so. Atlan immediately took a step back and away from the river and the arrows. "Wait! Don''t¡ª" Carmine''s warning proved to be too late as all the arrows changed their direction in mid air and targeted Atlan all over his front body. Each of his organs, and his body points were targeted by the glowing-tipped arrows. And judging from the magical aura they emanated, Atlan guessed that these arrows were laced with some kind of power that would definitely try to harm him in some way. Atlan didn''t want to figure it out by himself. "Quick! Return to your original position!" Atlan had full trust on Carmine with regards to Canzers and Remediums, so he didn''t even hesitate for a second as he took a step diagonally forwards and retraced his steps from before. Once he did so, the arrows suddenly changed directions once again and returned to their original trajectory. They kept spawning out of the fog and firing from left to right. "What am I supposed to do here?" "This is one of the Huntsman''s tricks. You can consider yourself lucky because you''ll be playing a game this time around. The only caveat would be the fact that you would have to bet your own life for it." Chapter 261 - 261: Cross the lake "What game am I supposed to play?" "It''s a childhood game called ''cross the road''." "I don''t know what you''re talking about¡­" "Come on! It''s a very popular game here in Genesis City and all over the globe! You must have been living under a rock¡ª" "I was." "Oh¡­right. You were from the Unclaimed Lands. I forgot¡­Well, this game is very popular among kids because it trains their reaction, decision-making, and speed¡ªall of which are important when they want to become a Savior in the future. Do you see the large lake in front of you?" Atlan looked forward and could see the very tumultuous waves of the great lake. It was as if there was a storm brewing on the very water itself, yet Atlan could not feel even a single breeze on the shore. "The objective of this game is to cross the lake without drowning. It''s as easy as that." "But can''t I just go around the lake and get to the other side that way?" If he followed the shoreline of the lake, he would eventually reach the other side. He didn''t have to cross the wavy lakes at all. It would be much safer to stay on land and walk for a little while. It would only be a thirty-minute walk at the latest. "You can''t. Didn''t you see what happened when you stepped out of bounds from the game? Those arrows will come at you with their full force and bombard you until you come back to the game. There are two rules in this game. First, you cannot walk diagonally. You must only walk towards the left or right. The second rule is that you cannot go back, only forwards. That is the reason why you were attacked earlier. You stepped back and got out of bounds." Atlan nodded. "Okay, I get that. But how am I going to cross this lake?" "There are logs of wood crossing horizontally in front of you. They will either go from left to right or right to left. You can walk across different logs as long as you follow the rules¡ªwhich is that you can only walk forwards, left, or right." Atlan looked at the lake in front of him but couldn''t see any sign of the logs that Carmine described. He didn''t even think wooden logs could float on such turbulent waters. And even if they could, Atlan didn''t think he could walk on it without tumbling into the waters. "I don''t see any logs." "They will appear once you enter the game." "This is not the game yet?" "Not yet. The Huntsman is still giving you a choice. You could either retreat or you could play the game. It''s your choice." Atlan looked at the floating arrow in front of him. It was still pointing toward the north, which meant that the boar was on the other side of the lake. If he wanted to get to it, then he''d have to play the game. "Will the Huntsman leave me alone if I don''t play his game?" "...no. It will probably become more aggressive towards you. It likes your courage. That''s the reason why it''s been humoring you all this time. If you stop being courageous, then it might get bored and decide to get rid of you once and for all." Atlan walked forward without any more hesitation. And the moment he did, he suddenly heard a very rhythmic drum pattern. It made the atmosphere very ''gamey''. Then, he suddenly saw logs of wood spawn from his left and right. These logs crossed over to the other side and disappeared into the fog once they went out of the bounds of the ''game''. The objective was to cross the lake, and he had to walk across these logs to get to the other side. However, the arrows shooting from both sides prevented him from crossing the logs at any time he wanted. He had to wait for the right timing. The first row of arrows fired at a constant rate. It was one second of constant barrages, followed by half a second of wait time. Even though this first part was easy, Atlan didn''t immediately go. He was worried that he wouldn''t be able to balance himself on the log. After all, it was only wide enough for two feet. He couldn''t re-balance himself if he couldn''t take a misstep. Fortunately, there wasn''t a time limit¡ª-at least, not right now. Who''s to say that things wouldn''t change when Atlan stepped foot on the first log? And since he couldn''t take a step back, he had to plan ahead of time. He had to think about 3 steps forward at all times or else he could be walking into a trap. He could see arrows firing right on top of some of the logs that he had to cross. First step¡­wait three seconds¡­cross¡­move right¡­wait two seconds¡­cross¡­ Atlan planned his first series of moves so that he''d land on a log that didn''t have any arrows firing on top of it. This would give him time to think about his next few moves. After waiting for one more cycle, Atlan finally stepped foot on the first log. He was going to wait for three more seconds before he crossed over to the next log, but things didn''t go as he planned. When his foot hit the log, it suddenly sank deep into the waters! His battle suit was far too heavy for the log to carry. Atlan inwardly cursed this game designed by the Huntsman. If all this was made out of magic powers, then couldn''t it have used a better log¡ªone that didn''t follow the rules of physics? Atlan had to improvise right at the very start of the game. If he didn''t want to sink, then he had to move right now. Once one of his knees hit the water, he wouldn''t be able to pull himself up towards the next log. He immediately walked over to the next log two seconds ahead of his schedule. WHIZZ! S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Five arrows, all pointing towards him from different heights, raced through the air and targeted his whole body. Chapter 262 - 262: Sinking logs Atlan immediately puts his foot down on the next wooden log, but the arrows pierced through his arm, finally destroying the first layer of his chitinous armor. The cracked chitinous armor peeled off in a matter of less than a second and disintegrated into nothingness. It only left behind a new set of chitinous armor on Atlan''s battle suit. But his troubles didn''t end there. Because of the arrow''s momentum, he was forced to move to the left, effectively making his movements into a diagonal shape. That was one of the only rules of this game, and he broke it. Immediately, the arrows from behind him and in front of him converged in his direction, bombarding him with arrow shots. Thankfully, these arrows were not as strong as the Huntsman''s attacks, and they bounced off his new chitinous armor and only left a small scratch. "This is the first rule you''ve broken, so the punishment isn''t that severe. But you only get three chances. Once you''ve blown all three, the barrage of arrows won''t stop and continue to hit you with full force. It will be comparable to the Huntsman''s attacks." Atlan knew that he had to be careful, but the situation didn''t let him have the time to be. He should have expected his battle suit to be too heavy for these wooden logs, but he thought that the Huntsman would have been a lot fairer and constructed better wooden logs. As soon as he stepped foot on the second log, his feet started sinking into the water again. He didn''t have another second to think about his movements and just walked over to the next log, hoping that he wouldn''t get hit by the arrows. Thankfully enough, he seemed to be lucky this time. The arrow whizzed past behind him just as he moved forward again. Now that he''d made good progress, he was able to stop panicking and think about his situation. As long as he didn''t step backward, he could do anything. That meant that he could continue to step left or right endlessly and make time for him to think about his next moves. He stepped to the left log just as his foot was about to sink again. He was able to save himself for now, but he had to move his feet again after another second because this wooden log was starting to sink too. He looked to the side and saw the previous log he stepped foot on was rising back to the surface! Atlan stepped foot back on the log. Once that log started sinking again, Atlan stepped foot on the right log to save himself from sinking. He continued this cycle and found that he was able to juggle the wooden logs for a second each time. Thankfully enough, the logs started floating up again as soon as his leg wasn''t stepping on them. This meant that he didn''t have to wait for a long while before he could step on the logs again. Using this time, he was able to plan his next five moves without much trouble. Now that he''d had enough experience in dealing with this game, he started to get a hang of it. He thought he''d have trouble balancing himself on the logs, but surprisingly, his SSS class Physique allowed him to have complete control over his movements. As soon as he felt himself tipping over to the other side, he would raise his arm and change his center of gravity. "That''s it! Just continue forward. You''re doing great." Carmine was very impressed with Atlan''s quick thinking. Other people would have drowned by now when they found themselves sinking because of the battle suit, but Atlan was somehow able to keep his calm and think of an ingenious solution. Atlan continued crossing the lake and was able to make good progress. He could see the halfway point just up ahead. But suddenly, he heard the Huntsman''s words echo through the body of water. ''You have done well. I always appreciate a prey that can challenge me. I hope you''ll keep that up.'' Suddenly, the air changed and became even heavier. The arrows whizzing back and forth suddenly glowed different lights. One of the arrows that was glowing red blinked in and out of existence as soon as it fired right in front of him. Without any warning, it exploded into a fiery explosion that caused a huge wave through the already turbulent waters. Atlan had to use his hand to balance himself on the log. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I can''t get close to those arrows¡­" "The explosive arrow is not the only arrow you have to be careful of. Some arrows can send¡ª" Just as Carmine was about to warn him about something, another arrow whizzed past right in front of him. It carried with it an intense wind that was so powerful that it sent the wooden logs out of their position! They were no longer running in parallel but were now floating all over the place. And before he had a chance to think about anything else, he saw that the wooden logs around him were getting further and further away from him. The explosion and the huge gust of wind were enough to cause this disruption. Atlan immediately walked over to the nearest wooden log, almost splitting his legs in the process. ''How about another explosion?'' whispered the Huntsman. And just as he said, another red blinking arrow shot past behind Atlan and exploded. But because he was able to understand the Huntsman''s words, he was able to prepare himself and move out of the way just in time. Atlan was able to stabilize himself by walking left and right through the logs. Thankfully, the Huntsman never got rid of its habit of speaking out its next moves. Thanks to that, Atlan was able to anticipate whenever the arrows would suddenly become special arrows with abilities. "Amazing! I don''t know how you''re doing it, but you''re dodging those arrows like a champ! Chapter 263 - 263: Lake’s halfway point Atlan walked through the logs with such ease that Carmine couldn''t understand how he was able to predict which arrow would suddenly become powered with the Huntsman''s magic. It was as if he had eyes on the back of his head! Even though Carmine had never told Atlan about the probability of those arrows appearing, he could still disregard arrows as if he knew that they were nothing more than normal ones that wouldn''t do anything to his chitinous armor! ''Strange¡­how is this human not affected by my arrows?'' asked the Huntsman. He knew that Atlan was an interesting human that wasn''t like the other humans it had ever faced before. Yet, it didn''t expect him to be this adept at dodging its arrows. Atlan continued to walk through the logs, while only walking left, right, or forwards. He would juggle between two different logs as he waited for the right timing for his next advancement. It didn''t take him long before he was nearing the halfway point of the lake. ''I didn''t think this human would have reached this point so fast¡­haha! Interesting. Well, let me up the difficulty! Show me more of your powers!'' The Huntsman fired off multiple more arrows from an undisclosed location, and they all appeared at different points in the lake. Each one sunk deep into the waters and pierced the very soil bed. BRRRRR The arrows started vibrating at a very strong frequency, disturbing the muddy soil beneath. These arrows harmonized with each other and only increased the intensity of the shaking. It wasn''t long before it was able to simulate a real earthquake. Atlan could even feel it from the logs itself. The waters of the lake were turbulent already before this new development. It made it hard to balance on the wooden logs, but if he was able to keep himself from falling, then he could keep still. The waves, despite how chaotic they were before, didn''t displace any of the logs away from their original position. They only moved them up and down, creating an unstable platform for the ''player''. But once Atlan reached the halfway point and the earthquake appeared, the waves seemed to have gained a different kind of power. It was now powerful and fast enough to move the logs away from their position and push them out of the bounds of the game and into the fog! Atlan couldn''t simply just juggle himself between two logs forever! After a few seconds, those logs would have carried him out and away from the other logs, effectively stranding him out into the open waters! At that point, he would only have two choices. Either stay at the log and get bombarded by arrows due to going out of bounds of the game, or jump out of the log and try to swim towards the next set of logs. If he didn''t have thousands of tons of weight on his battle suit, then it would have been a valid solution. TING! As Atlan crossed over to the next log in front of him, a stray arrow suddenly hit him on his bicep. Unfortunately, it was strong enough to cause a dent in his armor. If just one arrow was able to do that much damage, then he would only need about ten arrows before it was able to pierce through his ''new'' chitinous armor. This was extremely bad news. He could no longer disregard the arrows as he did before. He had to be a lot more careful with his timing. He had to be perfect at every step. It would have been easy if he could plan out his movements ahead of time, but the moving logs prevented him from thinking about his steps for more than a few seconds. He had to decide within three seconds of walking into another log. "Carmine! Any advice?" "I would say just keep on doing what you''re doing, but it seems that the Huntsman took a liking to you. The only thing you can rely on in this part is luck." Atlan refused to let luck play a part in whether he lived or died. He had to think up a solution, just like how he was able to get himself out of that black water. !!! Just then, Atlan had an idea. It was a long shot, but it was his only chance. The Huntsman wants to play with me, right? Well, what if I don''t want to play? Atlan stopped walking forward and simply balanced himself on two logs. He was walking between those two wooden platforms and was able to keep himself afloat. The problem was that because of the earthquake, the waters started to carry the logs away from the playing field and out into the fog. At this point, he was only a few seconds away from being out of bounds. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even as his last chance to walk onto the next set of logs disappeared, Atlan still showed no sign of ever going forward. He just stayed in place and kept balancing himself on two logs. ''What is this human doing?! Why is he not playing?'' As Atlan touched the very line between the playing field and out of bounds, the Huntsman immediately ordered the arrows to head straight for him. Atlan took on a defensive stance and started parrying the arrows coming straight for him. Of course, he wasn''t fast enough to dodge all of the attacks. But he made sure that the arrows never hit the same place in his armor twice in a row. He made sure to spread out the damage on different parts of his body so that his chitin wouldn''t get destroyed so easily. ''This human! He doesn''t want to play the game. He intends to simply defend the arrows! That is boring. I''ll give you the wrath of explosions and tornadoes!'' The Huntsman empowered all the other arrows with powers of explosions and wind gusts. Each of these arrows was powerful enough to send Atlan out of the comfort of his wooden logs and out into the open waters where he would surely drown. Chapter 264 - 264: Overloading False Mutation "What are you doing?! Dodge it!" screamed Carmine through the radio. Instead of positioning himself to have the least amount of body area to reduce the damage, Atlan did the unthinkable. He opened up his body and accepted the powered arrows. His arms were wide open as if he was welcoming the arrival of a cherished friend. But these arrows were no ally. They were designed to kill him with the most amount of damage possible as punishment for leaving the game grounds. The Huntsman held nothing back and unleashed the full force of his arrows. After all, he designed this game to test the human''s ability. Atlan was doing great all this while, showing off his strange predictive ability, which the Huntsman greatly appreciated. The Huntsman wanted to know how Atlan was doing it, so it kept pushing Atlan into revealing more of his powers. However, for some unknown reason, Atlan didn''t try to dodge this time around. He even seemed to welcome it as if it weren''t trying to actively kill him. ''Is the human trying to tell me that my arrows are ineffective?'' The Huntsman wasn''t supposed to control the arrows further once they had flown toward Atlan. But because it was offended by Atlan''s confidence, it commanded the arrows to all fly towards his chest. Atlan gave out an imperceptible smile. Just as he was about to get hit by the arrows, he increased the output of his False Mutation, enveloping himself with more and more Angle Power. He had never tried this before because it would create an imbalance around his powers. He had to make sure that his False Mutation wasn''t manifesting too strongly because it could cause his real mutation to come out. It would have been okay if he was alone, but Carmine was always watching him right now. He didn''t know if they could see it or not, but even if they couldn''t, Atlan didn''t want to show his trump card so soon. The Huntsman was an intelligent creature. It would surely target him much more seriously if it figured out that Atlan was an actual threat. After all, he had the bloodline of the Angels. Even if he was only in the Student realm, he posed an actual threat that could not be ignored. That was the reason why he hadn''t tried to overload his False Mutation to move faster. He didn''t want to accidentally summon his real wings. But now, he was willing to take the risk. He was going to summon his Angel Wings if he failed this, either way. So, he was going to risk it all and overload it right now. His entire body almost glowed in a white light. If one looked closely, there was a very thin white line surrounding his whole physique. Thankfully, the battle suit wasn''t included, so Carmine could only see a slightly increased saturation in the video quality. The arrows numbering above ten, all hit Atlan on his chest. Carmine subconsciously closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable explosion followed by an intense shockwave and wind that would knock Atlan out into the open waters. However, after another second, nothing happened. Carmine opened his eyes and saw an incredulous sight. Atlan''s face contorted into one of concentration as he held the arrows at bay just a few inches away from his chest. They all blinked in different lights, an indication of their magical powers about to burst. However, nothing happened. No matter how much the powers tried to explode in the arrow, there seemed to be some invisible power keeping it at bay. From everybody''s perspective aside from Atlan, nothing was keeping the arrows from hitting his battle suit. But if they were able to peer through the different dimensions, they would be able to see an extension of Atlan''s hand as an amalgam collection of Angel power. It was holding the Huntsman''s magic from exploding into different elements. After all, Angel power was the very weakness of Canzers. Therefore, even if Atlan''s power was extremely low compared to that of the Huntsman, he was still able to suppress it in his hands. ''How is he doing this¡­'' "How are you doing this?!" Atlan stayed silent. He wouldn''t explain to them how he accomplished this even if he wanted to. He was too busy concentrating on balancing the Angel power in his body. "Kuukkk!" Atlan could feel the arrows trying to pierce themselves through the Angel power and towards his battle suit. The lights on the tip of the arrows blinked in quick succession, signaling that they were only moments away from exploding. He had to increase the Angle power in his body. Finally, he was able to suppress the arrows for now, forcing them just an inch away from his chest. But he wasn''t concentrating on this small victory. Increasing the Angle power in his body came at a cost. He could feel a warm sensation flowing through his veins, making him feel very powerful and in control of the Huntsman''s game. It was intoxicating. This was the first time he felt like he could beat the Canzer itself. If he could just unleash his Angel Wings, maybe¡ªjust maybe¡ª-he would be able to kill a Specialist Canzer all by himself. No! Atlan warned himself. The Canzer has yet to show its full power. I''d be an idiot if I revealed all my cards now. If he wasn''t careful, he could accidentally unleash all the Angle power in his body and manifest his Angel Wings in reality. He had to focus on the task at hand: catching the boar by winning the Huntsman''s game. Atlan released all the useless thoughts in his brain and followed his original plan. Now that he had all the powered arrows in his hands, he could finally use them to his advantage. First, he coated his entire fist with Angel power and took out one of the green-glowing arrows just an inch away from his chest. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He then moved them over to his back, making sure that it was pointed away from him. Once it was placed in the right direction, Atlan let go of the arrow and the Angel power suppressed it. The arrow exploded into a huge gust of wind that boosted Atlan diagonally upwards. Chapter 265 - 265: Serious lightning arrow As soon as Atlan removed the Angel power holding the green arrow at bay, it immediately released all the pent-up tension and power inside of it. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The explosion created a giant gust of wind. This arrow was originally intended to create a force powerful enough to topple the ''player'' out of the comfort of their logs. They would stand no chance as they got hit by this arrow that had the same power as a tornado wrapped up in a small tip. But Atlan, because of his unique set of powers, was able to harness that energy for himself. He released the arrow behind him, creating a propulsion effect that launched him forward, The force was powerful enough to send him almost 30 feet in the air and 30 feet forward! But that wasn''t the end of it all. While in mid-air, Atlan took out another one of the green-tipped arrows and positioned it behind him. It was the same thing he did before! He released the Angel power holding that arrow and let it explode into a huge breeze of air that took Atlan further and further forward, high up in the air. The best thing about this was that he completely circumvented the obstacles designed to hinder him. The arrows under him were only designed to go from left to right, or right to left. They weren''t designed to go upwards! And since Atlan wasn''t technically breaking any rules, then the arrows couldn''t launch themselves towards him. And even if the Huntsman could command the arrows to target Atlan, it knew that it wasn''t the best idea. After all, Atlan already proved that he could use the arrows to his advantage. The Huntsman would only help him by sending more arrows towards his way. WHOOSH! Atlan continued to launch himself further forward with the green arrows, making so much progress that he could already see the shore up ahead. Before he figured out this ''cheat'', he was inches away from leaving the grounds of the game entirely. When he looked down, he could see the traps and obstacles that he was supposed to cross during the game. From visual inspection alone, he knew that it would take a lot of effort, luck, endurance, and skill to maneuver past those traps. He saw whirlpools, shark-infested waters, and even a large crevice where all the water drained downwards. He wouldn''t know how to deal with that. But because of this ingenious way of beating the game, he didn''t have to. "Porter! How are you doing that? I want to commend you for this ingenious way of crossing the lake, but I am beside myself with confusion. There must be something in your Physique LifeSkill that can do that, am I right? But I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what that is! Maybe it''s your mutation¡­but that still doesn''t make sense! I know all the mutations that are available in the Vineyard, and there''s nothing in there that could give you the ability to grab a Canzer''s power and disable it for a moment in time! This is breaking my brain! My pride as an Operator is shattered. I thought I knew everything there was to know about LifeSkills and mutations, but it seemed that I was still a frog in the well. Can you tell me how you''re doing it, please!" Despite Carmine''s pleas, Atlan had no intention of telling the truth, at least for now. And even if he wanted to tell the truth, he couldn''t. After all, he was too busy dealing with the current problem he was on right now. ''You have cheated. Prepare for the full force of my arrow.'' The Canzer gave out an ominous warning that sent shivers down Atlan''s spine. Even though he was high up in the air, with a couple more green-tipped arrows floating an inch away from his chest ready to give him a boost, with the shore of the lake in clear view from his position, he knew that the fight was far from over. KRAKKKKK! The air crackled with electricity as the Huntsman released a full-powered arrow heading towards Atlan at almost lightspeed. Atlan had no way to dodge. The moment he heard the Huntsman''s words was the moment he saw the arrow just two meters away from his body. He had no way to think. His instincts kicked in and he released his Angel Wings¡ªat least he planned to. After all, manifesting his Angel Wings wasn''t as instant as he would like it to be. There was a fraction of a second of a delay¡ªa delay that he did not have time for. Thankfully, by activating his mutation, he had to let go of his False Mutation for a brief second. And in this brief second, the arrows in front of his chest were released from their suppression. There was no longer any Angel Power preventing them from exploding. In that instant, fifteen green-tipped and red-tipped arrows exploded right in front of Atlan''s chest, creating a powerful force that cracked his chitinous armor. In any other situation, this would have been a bad outcome. But on this specific occasion, it was extremely fortunate for Atlan. After all, the force from the multiple arrows was somehow able to weaken the serious lightning arrow fired personally by the Huntsman. It was a genuine, bona fide, Specialist-level attack. It would have destroyed Atlan''s chitinous armor with just one attack. But because of the explosion, it was weakened by a small degree. And most importantly of all, the force was enough to redirect it away from Atlan''s chest, and towards his side. Even still, as the arrow hit his battle suit, it induced an electric shock that gave Atlan a pain that he had never felt before. It paralyzed him. He couldn''t even utter a painful cry. Just by a small graze from that arrow, he lost 500 years of SoulTime. His incapacitated body flew through the air and finally landed on the shores. He was finally on the other side of the lake. Chapter 266 - 266: Costs an arm and a leg Atlan crash-landed on the shore of the lake, with mud and soil welcoming his descent. He coughed up blood. Losing 500 years of SoulTime was no painless endeavor. After all, this was the first time he''d ever been injured to this extent. It was a miracle he could even keep his consciousness. Despite reaching his goal, Atlan found it extremely hard to move his entire body. The fact that his battle suit was thousands of tons of weight didn''t help him a slight bit. The problem was the fact that he overloaded his False Mutation so much that his muscles were basically too tired to even muster up any strength. This meant that he wouldn''t be able to move his entire body at all. He''d just have to lay in the soil, waiting for the inevitable arrow that pierced through his heart. "Are you okay?!" S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I can''t¡­I can''t¡­even move a finger¡­" "How much SoulTime did you lose?" "500 years." "That''s good. You only lost a slight bit. You got extremely lucky there because even Intern-realm Saviors wouldn''t be able to survive a real attack from a Specialist Canzer like the Huntsman. You, my good man, have the goddess of luck on your side." Atlan felt his whole body prickling with pain. "I don''t think so¡­" "Listen up. We only have a limited amount of time until the Huntsman decides to kill you. You have to heal your body." "How?" "It''s a technique that only veterans know. You''ve surely seen Ninth and the other Specialist Saviors use this during their fights. Did you notice that every time they get injured, they suddenly heal super fast without any sort of healing powers activated?" Atlan noticed that. However, he simply thought that it was one of those powers that Specialist Saviors only had. He even thought that it was a unique mutation. "Are you telling me¡­I can heal my body?" "Yes. But it will come at a cost. SoulTime. You''ve been taught that your SoulTime is your lifespan. We measure attacks based on how much lifespan a person loses. If you get your arm cut off, then that is equivalent to about less than half of your SoulTime in total. That means that if you don''t heal your injuries, you will live in the amount of SoulTime you have left. But of course, if you heal your injuries by stopping the leaking blood, then your SoulTime will increase. This is the best way of recovering from an injury. However, people like Ninth and the other Saviors don''t have the luxury of taping their injuries and resting for months at a time during their missions. If they get their arms cut off, then they would have to fight the entire mission with a reduced amount of SoulTime. But there is another way that they could heal." "....How?" "It''s by using more of your SoulTime to close any wounds. It could even heal your body to its original state. For example, let''s say that you have 2000 years of SoulTime. And if you lose an arm, then you will only have 1000 years of SoulTime left. But if you heal properly by closing off your stump or healing them through supernatural means, then your SoulTime could return to 2000 years. This means that any injury that does not affect your health too much would only give a temporary decrease in SoulTime. But if you decide to heal your injuries by sacrificing your SoulTime, then that temporary decrease will be permanent. If you need that arm during a fight, you can decide to heal it back for the price of 500 more years. During a fight, this is extremely important. But after that fight, your original 2000 years of SoulTime will now only become 500 years of Soultime. As you can see, it is extremely costly. If you had just waited and healed your injuries naturally or with help, then you would hardly lose any SoulTime at all. But of course, there are special instances where the cost isn''t important. What you need right now is to heal your body so that you can move and finally get that boar!" Atlan forced his head up and towards the forest after the shore. And on the very precipice where the soil met the grass, there was a very inconspicuous brown boar minding its own business. It hadn''t noticed Atlan yet. It was ripe for the taking. All he had to do was stand up and finally catch the boar with his very hands. "How can I heal my body?" "It''s quite complicated. You''d have to be completely in control of your Soul System." "Just tell me how." "....you have to look deep into your Soul System and locate the sands of SoulTime. It is encased in an hourglass that cannot be broken under normal means." Atlan closed his eyes and focused on the giant hourglass floating in the darkness of his Soul System. Unlike normal people where the sands of time flowed downwards, his hourglass defied normal gravity and instead flowed upwards! That was because instead of losing time, Atlan was gaining it with every second that occurred. This unknown power would have been enough to heal normal injuries, but the paralyzation brought about by the Huntsman was too damaging. "Once you have located it, try to summon all your strengths and break the glass. Once you have done so, you can get all the sands of time you need to heal your body." Atlan did as Carmine said and imagined himself facing the giant glass. He held out his hand and punched the glass with the strength of his SSS class Physique LifeSkill. But he found that he could not conjure the signature black flames of his LifeSkill. He even tried using his Angel Wings, but it was as if they didn''t exist. Carmine was right when he said that he could not do this under normal means. He''d have to find another way. "You can''t, right? This is the reason why only veterans can do this sacrificial technique. You would need years and years of practice before you can even cause a crack on that glass. Your body will fight you at every step it can. It''s a self-defense mechanism." Chapter 267 - 267: Another source of sands Atlan couldn''t muster out any kind of strength in his Soul System. It was as if he was simply an ethereal spirit that could not interact with the physical world of the Soul System. He could not even comprehend how some Saviors could crack the glass of the SoulTime. It seemed impossible. "How do the veterans do this?" "They start slowly, making their spiritual manifestation of their bodies in their Soul System as strong as possible. It takes a lot of self-focus and imagination to make your manifestation as strong as your real body. This takes most Saviors half a century. Once that is done, they slowly crack the glass of their SoulTime. And they slowly grow that crack into a large enough hole where they can get some of the sands of Time. This usually takes anywhere between a century and a thousand years." The normal way of acquiring this technique was simply impossible for Atlan to achieve in his current state. Unless he could stop time and practice for a thousand years, then he wouldn''t be able to crack the glass in SoulTime. "This warning may be useless, but you must be careful in creating a crack in your hourglass. If it is too large, then your SoulTime could leak out, losing years of your lifespan in just a few seconds." Atlan kept trying to smash his hand on the hourglass, but it didn''t even budge. It was as if he was an ant trying to create a hole in a metal. It was simply impossible. "There''s no other choice. I''m going to have to signal Ninth and the others to retreat and save you." sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Carmine saw the situation as unwinnable. If they were simply dealing with the White Canzer, then Atlan still stood a chance. But the appearance of this Huntsman threw a wrench in their plans. And now, it forced them to retreat and consider this mission a failure. EEEEK! EEEEK! the boar cried. Atlan refused to give up. He was only a few meters away from killing the boar and harvesting its heart. This wasn''t just about surviving. It was about his pride. He wanted to be the first Student-level Savior to be able to fight against a Specialist-level Canzer and survive. Think, think! Atlan said to himself. I need to sacrifice my SoulTime to heal my body! Just as he thought that, an idea popped up in his head. Wait a minute¡­the hourglass is not the only source of the SoulTime for me¡­ At the dark expanse of his Soul System, he turned his head away from the giant hourglass and focused on the mutations of his body. Specifically, he looked towards the one with a symbolization of a leaf with its stomata open. This was his Photosynthesis mutation, which allowed him to gain a year of SoulTime for each second he spent in the sunlight. The reason why he hadn''t been using this mutation all the time was because it was very noticeable. Every time he activated this mutation, his skin opened up its pores and absorbed the sunlight just like how a plant would. People who saw this change in his body would immediately know that he was using a mutation. But, he already decided that the mutation he obtained from the Vineyard was a Wing mutation. If people investigated him thoroughly, they would notice this discrepancy. And with regards to Carmine and the camera in his battle suit, Atlan was sure that they could not see his body. If he did, then he would have noticed the white light surrounding his body when he overloaded his False Mutation. Atlan closed his eyes and activated his mutation. He felt a tingly sensation all over his body as his pores opened up like giant stomata, absorbing the black sunlight of the Remedium. [SoulTime] ¡ª4550yrs : 116d : 12hrs : 54min : 34s ¡ª4551yrs : 116d : 12hrs : 54min : 34s ¡ª4552yrs : 116d : 12hrs : 54min : 34s He immediately looked over at his Soul System and focused his attention on the hourglass. Just like he thought, there were golden grains of sand that were floating down from the depths of space and phasing over the glass. "If I have the sands of time, how can I heal my body?" "Don''t worry about that right now," said Carmine. "We''re doing our best to contact Ninth and her team to retreat and find you." "No need. Just tell me how to heal my body with SoulTime." Carmine went silent for a second. "What do you mean? We can''t just leave you there! This is not the end. You guys may have failed this mission, but that doesn''t mean that you can''t tackle it another day. This is only a tactical retreat." "Just tell me how!" Atlan screamed. "....fine! You must use those grains of sand and carry it out of the Soul System and spread it all over your body. If your injury is just one part of your body, then you just spread it on the affected part. But since your whole body is affected, then you must spread it all over your body." The sands of time that his Photosynthesis mutation gathered floated from the darkness of his Soul System down towards the hourglass. All Atlan had to do was scoop all those golden grains of sand in his hand and transfer it out into his body. Atlan poured the equivalent of one year of SoulTime directly into his veins. He could feel the grains of sand circulating all over his body, being absorbed by his muscles and skeleton as they passed along it. He spent the next minute gathering a total of 60 years of SoulTime and siphoning it towards his body directly. Slowly, he felt the fatigue and pain in his body subside and was replaced by a newfound strength. He spread the SoulTime evenly, except for one place. He gathered a lot of SoulTime near his shoulder blades, where his Angel Wings were supposed to be. Because of that, he could finally use the False Mutation of his Angel Wings and move his body despite the tremendous weight of his battle suit. "Hrnggg¡­" Atlan pushed his body up from a prone position to a kneeling one. Then, with one last push from the ground, he finally stood up on his own two feet. "HOW?!?! DON''T TELL ME YOU WERE ABLE TO CRACK THE HOURGLASS!" Chapter 268 - 268: Boar’s heart secured "I was able to get the sands of time." Technically, Atlan didn''t lie. After all, he did get the sands of time, but he didn''t tell Carmine how or where he obtained it. "You are full of mysteries, Star Porter. I don''t know how you''re doing these things, but I guess it''s the reason why you were the one chosen for this mission. I''ll interview you thoroughly after this mission, but for now, your priority is to catch that boar and get its heart before the Huntsman kills you." But despite healing his body enough to stand up, it wasn''t enough to completely heal him to what he was before. He''d need to gather more SoulTime and pour it directly into his body. Unfortunately, that would take a couple more minutes. If he waited that long, he was sure that the Huntsman would bury an arrow directly in his heart. "Kugh!" Atlan forced his body to move faster towards the unsuspecting boar. He had to keep his noise to a minimum or else the boar would run away from him. He didn''t think that the Huntsman would allow him to run after the boar again after he cheated it''s game. With each step, he got closer and closer until he was only one step away before he could secure his target. Atlan spread his arms wide and leaned towards the boar. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to catch the boar using his speed, so he instead used the momentum of his body falling to accelerate towards the boar without it noticing. KEEEK! The boar squealed as it finally noticed Atlan''s behind it, but it was already too late. He was already falling towards the boar with his hands ready to grab its entire body. Even as the boar jumped away from him, Atlan''s hands perfectly caught its head and stopped it from running away. KEEEK...keeeeek! Atlan fell on the boar and secured it by falling onto its body. And because his battle suit weighed greater than a ton, the normal boar was immediately squeezed to death. It wasn''t able to handle his weight and quickly turned into mush. "Damn!" Atlan knew the boar would die from the weight, but he didn''t think that it would have been crushed so easily. Its bones and meat turned into nothing but a bloody mess. Fearing that he would have destroyed the boar''s heart, Atlan quickly moved to the side. "Haaa¡­haaaa¡­.." Atlan took a second to take a deep breath before he turned to the dead boar beside him. Its lower body had been completely squeezed in half, while its upper body was squished just enough to be deformed. "Great job, Atlan. Now, you must be careful and extract the boar''s heart without destroying it. This requires finesse, not force. If the boar''s heart is destroyed, then it will respawn in another location. You''d have to find it again, so be careful." "Thanks for the reminder." Atlan carefully moved his hands toward the boar''s lower body. Because it was mangled beyond recognition, it was easy to go from under and reach towards the boar''s innards. "You''re searching for something soft. If you''ve reached the ribs, then you''re searching in the right place. If you''ve touched its legs, then you''ve gone too far¡­" Carmine did his best to guide Atlan through the boar''s internal anatomy. "You must get rid of the stomach first before you reach the heart. This is where you must be careful. You don''t know if you''re destroying the stomach or the heart. I suggest you slow down and take your time." For other people, it would have been an extremely hard task. But Atlan was no normal guy. After all, he had something that would help him see through the boar''s internal body. He immediately activated his Thermal Vision and saw the world change. The boar was still glowing red and orange since it was still fresh. And since each organ was made out of different flesh and anatomy, they had different internal body temperatures. It made it easy for Atlan to identify which one he was looking at. "Found it." "Did you find the stomach? That''s good." Atlan slowly pulled out his hand from the boar''s body to reveal an organ still leaking blood. "You! You! You got the heart?!" Carmine was barely even done explaining the basic anatomy of the boar to Atlan, but he had already finished the task like it was nothing. He didn''t know if Atlan was just reckless or a genius. Perhaps, he was both. "That''s good! Now, you just have to leave¡ª" Just as he was about to finish his sentence, both of them suddenly saw the fog thicken around them. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan looked around and saw that the shore from where he came from was already gone. All he could see around him were dead, dark trees surrounded by a fog. STEP STEP STEP The dark silhouette of a creature slowly appeared walking towards Atlan. It was walking on two legs, with what seemed like a feathered hat. It was holding a bow on one hand, and an arrow on the other. This was the Huntsman, Atlan was sure of it. Even if he couldn''t see its silhouette, that aura and pressure it emitted as a Specialist-level Canzer was not something to be ignored. It was enough to make Atlan break in a cold sweat. "Run. now." Carmine''s warning was quiet but full of haste. It was as if he didn''t want to alert the Huntsman of their position, even if it was a fruitless endeavor. The Huntsman already knew where Atlan was even before it arrived in this place. Atlan raised the boar''s heart in front of him. "I thought you said that if I have the boar''s heart, the Huntsman would leave me alone." "Yeah¡­that was before he arrived here. It will take one more chance to destroy that heart before you can escape." WHIZZ Atlan didn''t even see the silhouette move, but he already heard the sound of an arrow heading straight for his head. Chapter 269 - 269: One last arrow The Huntsman''s arrow whizzed through the air and aimed straight for the boar''s heart. Strangely enough, this arrow was slow enough for Atlan to be able to react to it, albeit barely. The arrow was fast, but Atlan could at least be able to see a blur in his vision, which meant that he would be able to dodge it if he was fast enough. Atlan quickly moved the boar''s heart away from the arrow, but found that it would be too late. He decided to use his own body to block the arrow. It bounced off his chitinous armor, making a large dent in his bulky battle suit. "Do not worry, for I am not an unfair being. Despite your cheating methods, you have won the game. You reached the boar and harvested its heart even though you were severely injured. You are a remarkable human, and I respect that. You are not able to understand this, but it does not matter. I will only fire one arrow at you, for I cannot stand the sight of that boar''s heart. It digs deep into my own and makes me remember the regret that has been plaguing it. So, run. Run to the farthest reaches of the dark forest and never return to my territory ever again." The Huntsman pulled out an arrow from his quiver and notched it in his bow. Even if he couldn''t understand its words, Atlan wouldn''t have stood still as the Huntsman aimed directly at his heart. Despite the aching pain of his body, he started to overload his body with the False Mutation of his Angel Wings once again. Once activated, he was able to push his body faster and faster until he was able to get away from the Huntsman. Each step he made left a deep imprint on the wet soil. It would have been extremely easy to track him down if the Huntsman wanted it. But it didn''t. It stayed in place and aimed his arrow at Atlan without moving a single inch. It was as if it was giving him enough time to leave as far away as he could. Atlan continued running in a straight line. He knew that trying to confuse the Huntsman was a fruitless endeavor. It could find him even in the thickest parts of the fog. He would only be wasting precious energy and time by doing so. He ran, and ran, and ran. Until he finally heard the sound of the bow''s string snapping behind him. TWANG! The promised arrow arrived behind Atlan, following closely behind him. Atlan tried his best to outrun the slow arrow, but it stayed behind him at the perfect pace. And slowly, it started to shorten the distance. "Protect the boar''s heart at all costs, Atlan. It is the only reason why the Huntsman didn''t kill you the moment it set its eyes on you." The arrow had a clear objective. It wanted to pierce through the object of the Huntsman''s regret. It wanted to get rid of the very source of its sadness. The boar''s heart was never meant to be in the hands of a human. If the Huntsman didn''t experience such tremendous heartbreak whenever it saw the boar''s heart, then it would have killed Atlan before he could even approach the boar. Atlan shielded the boar''s heart by putting his own body in its line of sight. Unfortunately, the Huntsman''s arrow was no normal arrow. It suddenly increased its speed and overtook him in just a fraction of a second. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Then, it defied physics by quickly turning around and aiming for the boar''s heart that was hidden in front of his chest. It dived down, forcing Atlan to move the heart to the side. And just as the arrow was about to hit his chest, it suddenly stopped and hovered an inch above his battle suit. Then, it turned to the side and chased after the heart in Atlan''s hands. He tried his best to avoid the arrow, but it would follow his every movement no matter where he positioned his hands. Just as the arrow was about to hit the heart, it suddenly embedded itself deep into a dead tree. Atlan purposefully walked next to the dead trees of the dark forest, hoping that it would be enough to deter the arrow from chasing him. TGUSH! The arrow burst through the other side of the tree and continued chasing after him. Atlan continued to jog through the dark forest, occasionally running past the vines and the shrubbery in an attempt to slow down the arrow, but it continued to chase after him as if it had a mind of its own. It perfectly matched his speed. He guessed that even if he used his Angel Wings, it would be perfectly capable of keeping up with him as long as he had the boar''s heart in his hands. Just then, as if it had enough, the arrow rushed ahead of Atlan and stopped 50 meters in front of him. Atlan stopped, feeling an ominous premonition from the arrow. The tip of the arrow suddenly glowed blue as electricity crackled on its surface. Not only that, the shaft turned red with yellow cracks like magma. The combination of both elements destroyed everything in its path. The dead trees, shrubbery, and grass that dared to be in its way were disintegrated into mere ashes. This dangerous arrow headed straight for Atlan at speeds much faster than what it had shown before. He could only see a blur. This was serious. He quickly moved the boar''s heart to the side, hoping that he''d be able to move it away from harm''s way. But the arrow didn''t change directions. It kept going straight. A realization dawned on him. This time, the arrow wasn''t aiming for the boar''s heart; it was aiming for him! "Damn! Atlan, you must dodge away from this attack. If it hits you head-on, then it could destroy a whole layer of your chitinous armor!" Chapter 270 - 270: Photosynthesis false mutation Atlan didn''t need Carmine''s warning; the arrow''s terrifying pressure and aura were enough to make him know that this was no ordinary attack. It wasn''t like before when it was only chasing the heart. This time, its only objective was to destroy him. He immediately jumped backward, hoping that he would be able to lessen the impact of the arrow. But he knew that it wasn''t enough. The electric and magma power imbued into the arrow was not something that could be lessened by simply physical means. He had to fight it using supernatural powers. He had no other choice but to overload his False Mutation once again. It was the only way he was going to suppress the powers hidden inside that arrow. If he couldn''t, then not only would his battle suit get brought down to only three layers, but he would also get knocked unconscious for minutes at a time. By the time he would wake up, the boar''s heart would be destroyed and the Huntsman would be staring at him right in the eyes. As he concentrated and tapped the Angel genus in his Soul System, his whole body was coated in a power equivalent to what the wing mutation would have given him. He felt intoxicated by the powers once again. He knew that this was enough to at least suppress the arrow''s supernatural force from knocking him out completely. However, just as he was powering up his False Mutation, he found himself falling short of the power that he needed. It was as if the gas was empty on his machine. And instead of feeling the power, the aching pain from before returned and made him completely feel as if he couldn''t even stand up. This was the complete opposite of what he wanted. He was at his lowest. Unfortunately for him, the arrow was indiscriminate in its attack. It continued on its trajectory headed straight for his chest. If it wasn''t going to get the boar''s heart, then it would get Atlan''s instead. Think! Think! The very reason why he couldn''t muster out any kind of power was because his body was still exhausted from the previous time he overloaded his False Mutation. It still wasn''t healed completely. That''s it! Atlan rejoiced to himself. I just need to heal my body with more SoulTime. Unfortunately, he couldn''t use his photosynthesis mutation while in action. He had to be completely still, just like how a plant would act under the sun. Wait! The Photosynthesis mutation! I need to activate its False Mutation! If he was able to do that, then he''d be able to supply his body with SoulTime without any concentration. It would give him enough strength to use his Angel power to stop the arrow. Unfortunately, the only way to activate a False Mutation was to increase its mastery. And to increase its mastery, he needed to win a battle using only his mutation. Haha! It''s not over yet! Atlan rejoiced. He looked down at his Soul System and towards his Photosynthesis mutation. It was symbolized by a leaf with its stomata open wide. When I killed the boar, the only thing I used was my Photosynthesis mutation. I wouldn''t have been able to walk towards it if I hadn''t healed my body with SoulTime. Technically, he won a fight against the boar without using any of his LifeSkills, only his mutation. He hoped that it was enough grounds to consider it as a proper victory. He concentrated and commanded the blue wisps of experience to revolve around the giant leaf. At first, the mutation rejected any kind of advances by the blue wisps. But Atlan already knew the secret of how to put experience into his mutation. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was a memory he would never forget. He closed his eyes and remembered that moment with Lizzie, where her lips locked onto his. The memory was enough to increase Atlan''s temperature by a large margin. It was enough to boil the sweat off his skin. And due to the heat of that moment, the blue wisps of experience suddenly melted into a liquid paste. This liquid then splashed itself towards the photosynthesis mutation. This time, the leaf fully accepted the experience, soaking all the essences of the blue wisps and leaving nothing behind. ¡ª (7-star) Photosynthesis ¡ª¡ª¡ª 5% mastery ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings ¡ª¡ª¡ª 5% mastery All of this happened within fractions of a second. Everything that happened in the Soul System was a single firing of a neuron in Atlan''s brain, barely taking up any time. And because of that, Atlan felt a newfound strength in his body. It felt cool. It felt¡­green. Just like how his body was enveloped in Angel power when he used the False Mutation of his Wings, this time, his whole body was enveloped by the energy of nature. If one looked closely, his whole body was lined with a green light. He felt his body getting healed with each fraction of a second that passed. His normal mutation yielded him a year of SoulTime with each second. The False Mutation, on the other hand, only yielded a month of SoulTime. But that was enough. He used all the sands of time the False Mutation gathered passively, directly into his back, near his shoulder blades. Once it was constantly supplied with SoulTime, Atlan finally found the energy to use the False Mutation of his Angel Wings. One of the perks of the False Mutation was the fact that he could use multiple of them at the same time without any worries! TRKKKKK! Just as Atlan was about to envelop himself with Angel power, the arrow already arrived right in front of his chest, piercing through the chitinous armor like it was nothing. Immediately, a few of his ribs broke. But he didn''t care. He enveloped himself with Angel Power and grabbed the arrow with all his might. He tried to push it away, but it was too strong. It continued to destroy his armor, cracking it into nothing but smithereens. He changed his tactic. He pushed the arrow away from him instead, creating a fissured crack going from his chest towards his ribs. He used all the Angel power to push it until, finally, it scraped by his side and shot outwards and away from Atlan. The momentum of everything sent him flying until his back collided with a tree. He coughed up blood. He was injured, but he survived. Just then, when he thought everything was over, the arrow suddenly materialized right in front of him and pierced downwards. He tried to protect himself once again, but this time, it wasn''t headed for him. It was headed for the boar''s heart. Chapter 271 - 271: Return of the tank The Huntsman truly was an intelligent creature. First, it lulled Atlan into a false sense of security by making sure that the arrow wasn''t too fast for him to react to. This gave Atlan a chance to get used to its timing. Atlan should have found it weird from the very beginning. After all, the Huntsman was more than capable of producing an arrow that seemed as fast as light speed. But it didn''t. It only produced a speed fast enough to keep up with Atlan''s slow jog. Once he was used to the timing, the Huntsman quickly changed the arrow''s objective and targeted him instead. This was an unexpected development that forced Atlan to use all the wits he had in a fraction of a second and think up a solution to survive. Thankfully, he was able to find a way to deflect the full-powered arrow by the Huntsman. This made Atlan extremely wary of the arrow piercing through his heart. He became worried at the possibility of another full-powered arrow coming towards him when he least expected it. But once again, the Huntsman changed his tactics. He controlled the arrow to hunt the original objective in the first place: the boar''s heart. Atlan''s nerves were on thin ice. He readied his mind for another attack coming towards him. He already thought up a way to get out of the arrow''s way faster than he did before. But that was all moot. Once it targeted the boar''s heart, Atlan''s plans went out the window. The Huntsman''s full-powered arrow was too fast for Atlan to react to. He had to predict it. Unfortunately, he thought that the Huntsman would come after him first. He didn''t expect it to target the boar''s heart. He tried to move it out of harm''s way, but his arms were too slow. Is this the end? He watched as the arrow pierced through the air and was only moments away from piercing the boar''s heart in his hands. All that effort to get this piece of meat would turn out for nothing. Do I have to use my Angel Wings? His shoulder blades started to turn numb and prickly. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But just as he was about to manifest his Angel Wings, somebody suddenly appeared right next to Atlan. The person was so fast that Atlan couldn''t even react properly at first. He thought that it was an enemy. But then, he looked at the person''s attire. It was a green battle suit. And his face was someone he recognized. It was the main Tank of the group. He put himself between the arrow and Atlan, and used his shield LifeSkill. A brick wall manifested in front of him and prevented the arrow from going any further. It tried to pierce through the wall, but the Tank reinforced his original LifeSkill with more bricks behind it. "Do you think I''m a Tank for nothing?" he asked the arrow. In response, the arrow''s tip suddenly glowed in a mix of red, green, and blue as all kinds of elements diffused outwards. Electric energy tried to fry the brick walls into a char. Explosive energy reinforced the electric field by exploding cement lines, hoping that it would lead to the wall''s collapse. And if that wasn''t enough, wind energy contained all that power in one place. The arrow''s efforts were able to yield a large crack in the brick wall. But that was it. "Come back with your real body, then maybe you can stand a chance." The Tank swung his hand, and the wall followed his movements. The arrow was unable to fight against the Tank''s power and lost all the energy it was trying to build up. It bounced off the wall and arched backward, turning limp and slow. It no longer had any of the intimidating pressure and aura it had before. Once it landed on the ground, it dispersed into mere particles that disappeared in the air. It was finally over. The Huntsman lost. And it was all thanks to the main Tank that suddenly appeared at the perfect time. "Thanks!" said Atlan. The Tank rubbed his head, embarrassed. "No need to thank me. I only did what I should have done in the first place. I should have helped you." "By the way, how did you get here?" From what Atlan remembered, the Tank was blown away by the Canzers they were fighting and disappeared into the fog. "Once I came to my senses, I was deep into the fog. I tried to return to the team, but I found myself running in circles. Honestly, it was terrifying. I thought I would get lost in the Remedium forever. But nothing is more painful than the fact that I left my team to fend for themselves. I kept walking in hopes that I would stumble into the team, when all of a sudden, I sensed a fight nearby. And then, I saw you. You were lucky, Star Porter. We both are." "I guess so¡­" If it wasn''t for the Tank, the boar''s heart would have been pierced and Atlan would have lost the only thing that prevented the Huntsman from killing him. "What happened to the team? Where are they?" His face was full of worry. "I don''t know. I left them because I had a different job. Ninth stayed behind to protect the team and keep the Canzers at bay while I tried to deal with the root cause." The Tank winced. "Damn it¡­this wouldn''t have happened if I had just listened to you. I''m sorry." Atlan consoled the Tank''s sunken shoulders. "It''s fine. You can still go to them. Just follow the cobblestone road back, and you''ll end up back on the team. "Really?" The Tank was filled with hope. But before he turned around, he asked Atlan, "But what about you? Should I accompany you?" Atlan shook his head. "No need. I have to do this by myself." The Tank nodded and left to find the cobblestone road. Atlan looked at the boar''s heart in his hands and stored it in his toolbelt. "Great job, Star Porter. Now, the only thing we have to do is to find the White Canzer!" Chapter 272 - 272: Cottage in the woods Atlan slowed down his steps as he came across a strange structure in the middle of the dark forest. In all the time he had spent walking around the Remedium, he had never seen anything that resembled any human construction in the wild. Everything was filled with dead trees, shrubbery, and small streams. But now, he was gazing upon a small cottage house sitting in the middle of a bald part of the forest. It looked like one of those old-timey archaic houses where everything was made out of wood and thatches. There didn''t even seem to be any sign of electricity. It was lit up by a small torch by the side of the door, illuminating a small part of the dark forest. If it weren''t for its enlarged size, he would have thought that this was something made for humans. However, it was clear that this structure was not made for people like him. After all, its door was at least two times bigger than his height. "Is this it?" whispered Atlan. "Yes. The White Canzer lives here." "Should I just knock on the door," joked Atlan, but strangely enough, Carmine said, "Yes. You should just walk in the front door." Atlan couldn''t believe it. "Are you sure? This is a Specialist-level Canzer we''re talking about, right?" "The White Canzer''s power is completely drained while it is controlling all seven dwarves. Right now, it is as vulnerable as an egg. I wouldn''t have asked you to come here if I knew that it could still pose a huge threat to you. But if all things go well, all you have to do is walk over to the house, find the White Canzer, and put the construct in its mouth." The mission was simple, yet Atlan couldn''t help but think that it was more complicated than what Carmine made him think. After all, things never went as planned; there were always some kind of complications that would occur. "Should I create the construct right now?" "Yes. I''ll give you the code¡­" Atlan opened up the control center in his battle suit and listened to Carmine''s instructions. A few minutes later, the code was done and his whole battle suit glowed a blue light. He felt the inner mechanisms in the fabric vibrating as they defied physics and created something out of nothing. Soon enough, white particles floated out of his control center and landed on top of Atlan''s palms. These particles solidified into a very familiar shape, with a very vibrant and appetizing red color. "This is¡­" "This is the construct that will kill the White Canzer: the poisoned apple. Once you put it into the Canzer''s mouth, it will enter a deep sleep for an eternity. At that point, the puppets under its control will lose all their power and turn into nothing but dust." He didn''t understand how an apple could be the White Canzer''s weakness. He would have thought it would have some sort of relation to the Huntsman, after all, it almost died because of him. "How does the apple relate to the Canzer? I don''t understand." He was intensely curious about this subject because he wanted to learn how a Canzer gets its weaknesses. If he knew how, then he could guess or learn about other Canzers'' weaknesses by simply knowing their backstory. "It''s a long story for another time. Right now, you mustn''t waste any time and shove this construct in the White Canzer''s mouth. The faster we kill it, the better." Atlan nodded. He knew that this wasn''t the time to waste a few minutes listening to a tale. He walked over to the wooden door and saw no sign of a doorknob. Instead, there was simply a latch. He pushed it open, and surprisingly, the door opened quite easily. Once he saw the interior, he couldn''t help but step inside as he was overcome by his curiosity. This was no ordinary building, this was a house. It looked like a place where real people lived! There were messy clothes tossed around all over the floor. There were dirty pots on the sink, and each chair had its personalized touch, with the puppet''s names carved on the wood. Sleepy, Grumpy, Doc, Sneezy, Bashful, Dopey, and Happy. It was written in a language undecipherable by humans, yet Atlan could read them clearly. On the right was the living room where a long wooden couch facing the fireplace. The indents on the wood clearly showed the time the seven puppets spent on this place. And in front of the couch was a luxurious red throne. Clearly, this was where the White Canzer sat. "Why does it seem so¡­human?" "...Sapient Canzers have their own society. They are more like humans than what we would like to believe." Carmine didn''t specify any further. Atlan walked forward until he came across a hallway. On each side were seven rooms, presumably reserved for the White Canzer''s puppets. He ignored all the other rooms and focused on the one at the end of the hallway. It was decorated with what looked like a mimicry of the royal architecture of the kingdom. "The White Canzer was a princess, right?" "Yes, she was. But don''t mistake her for being naive. She is cunning." Atlan took a deep breath and walked forward. He took the red poisoned apple behind him and concealed it. If he was going to encounter the White Canzer here, then he wouldn''t want it to recognize its weakness. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "The lights are off. There''s no music playing. She is probably asleep. This is the best-case scenario for us. If you can sneak up on her, then it''s mission accomplished." "Can you tell me the layout of the room? I''ll run straight to the Canzer and shove this construct in its mouth before it could even wake up." "It''s just straight after the door." Atlan overloaded the False Mutation of his Angel Wings again and shoved the door open. He quickly jogged towards the large pink bed on the other side of the room and headed for the headboard. He pushed the poisoned apple forward. Chapter 273 - 273: Seeing the White Canzer But unfortunately, Alan hit nothing but a feather pillow. He looked down and saw no sign of the White Canzer sleeping on the bed. The White Canzer wasn''t here. He looked around the room as well and saw that White Canzer was previously in this room, but left for some reason. The comforter was a mess and all over the place as if someone had just slept there and never bothered to clean up after themselves. The torch lighting up the room was still burning brightly as well. "It''s not here. Where could it be?" "I''ve got a bad feeling about this¡­" Carmine was unnerved. The White Canzer was famous for always being in her bed and sleeping the rest of the day. It was a lazy Canzer. It relied on the beings it bewitched to do her work for her. "Where is it?" "Go to the other room, now!" Carmine''s urgent voice forced Atlan to move out of the room at his fastest speed. He didn''t even question him. Atlan jogged out of the White Canzer''s room and opened the door immediately next to it. However, he found nothing but a dark empty room. "It''s got to be somewhere in the other rooms. Find it now before it finishes its spell." Atlan barged into the next door, kicking it down. But unfortunately, it was also a dark empty room. Each of the doors he came across had carvings onto the very wood, giving the name of the puppets that owned that very room. The one closest to the White Canzer was Doc''s room, followed by Grumpy, then Sleepy, then Dopey, until finally, he came across a puppet''s name he hadn''t heard in a long time. "Which puppet did you say you guys killed in the beginning?" Atlan didn''t answer. He simply pushed the door open and saw a brightly lit room, with decorations that looked like a rainbow vomited on them. But despite the strange interior decoration, his focus wasn''t on that. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Instead, he was looking at the White Canzer right next to the window. This was the first time he laid eyes upon the monster that was able to tempt and bewitch other monsters to do her bidding. He was surprised that it looked quite similar to a woman. It had curves on its hips and bust as if it were a well-endowed human. Its body was slender, with barely any layering around its armor. Its chitinous skin was very smooth like paint. The first thing he noticed about the Canzer was that it was very white. The torch''s brightness perfectly reflected off its white chitin armor. One couldn''t help but stare at this creature, making Atlan understand how it could charm other Canzers. Just like how Carmine described her in the Huntsman''s backstory, the White Canzer wore a princess dress on her body. Unlike in the tale, her attire now was very neat and tidy, with no sign of tatteredness. Its face still had that signature Canzer look, with its white eyes and chitinous mouth. Judging from the human expression of shock, the White Canzer didn''t expect to see a human in its abode. But even so, it didn''t stop what it was doing. Its hands worked even faster than before. It held a huge needle on one hand and a yarn on the other. It seemed to be crocheting some kind of plush toy. "Stop it!" But Carmine''s warning proved far too late. Once the White Canzer sewed the last stitch on her toy, a huge gust of power suddenly erupted from it that almost made Atlan fall backward. He took a step back to stabilize himself. He raised his hand and blocked the air and pressure from disrupting his eyesight. The ''plush toy'' hovered in the air and glowed a red tint. As incredulous as it was, there was some kind of power hidden inside this toy that grew larger and larger, making the toy increase in size with each second that passed. Atlan could do nothing but watch. It was taking all of his effort to just keep his balance. The outwards force from the ''toy'' was trying to push him out. Slowly, he watched as the crocheted toy melted into something more solid¡­more chitinous. It started to grow limbs. It grew two legs and two arms. Not all of the yarn got converted into chitin. Some of them maintained their structure to become clothes that the toy creature wore. At its birth, it already had a giant conical hat, a long-sleeved shirt, and trousers. This attire was very familiar to Atlan and Carmine. It was something that they saw six different versions of just a few hours earlier. It was one of the puppets! As for which one of them it was, Atlan had no doubt. As the puppet finished its transformation into a Canzer-like monster, it finally grew its face. It had soulless eyes and most importantly, it grew its signature wide-mouthed smile. This was Happy! It was the puppet that Ninth killed from their first encounter. "Damn! Damn! Damn! That Huntsman messed us up! I thought we''d arrive just in time before it finished its cloning. But because we were sidetracked by that Canzer, we ended up late. Damn!" Carmine couldn''t believe their luck. If they had just arrived here a few minutes earlier, then they could have killed the White Canzer within a few seconds. After all, even if it was rated at a Specialist-level Canzer, it was completely weak individually. It was only strong because of its puppets. And since Ninth and the others were keeping the other puppets at bay, they were supposed to have an easy mission killing their leader. Unfortunately, the White Canzer just finished recreating the Happy puppet. ''I''m so happy! I''m so happy I''m back!'' The Happy Canzer jumped up and down in its glee. It didn''t even look at Atlan and simply celebrated this momentous occasion with the White Canzer. ''I''m glad you''re happy, Aitch!'' said the White Canzer, stroking the puppet''s head. ''Now, would you be dear and kill that human for me?'' Chapter 274 - 274: Happy virus ''Well, sure! I''m happy to do that for you!'' Atlan immediately started backing out even before he heard their conversation. "I don''t know what they''re talking about, but I''m pretty sure they want to kill you." "Thanks for the reminder." Atlan immediately darted out of the cottage, kicking past strewn dirty clothes on the floor. He even pulled the chairs out of the table and pulled them behind him in the hopes that it would prevent the Happy puppet from chasing him. "What''s our next plan?" "Now that the White Canzer has the Happy puppet by its side, we no longer have the advantage. We have to go and lure the White Canzer back to Ninth and the team." "After all this, we''re just going back to where we came from?" Atlan didn''t go through all that trouble with the Huntsman just so that he''d end up going back for help. He embarked on this mission so that he''d finally contribute to the fight instead of being in Ninth''s protection all the time. "Unless you have a way to defeat that Happy puppet, then I don''t have any way for us to deal with that White Canzer. And if you show any kind of threat towards her, you can be sure that the Happy puppet won''t be ''happy'' anymore and start on its murderous rampage to catch you." "Do you know its weaknesses? Is it afraid of a pig''s heart this time?" "Its weakness is a swift punch in the head. That''s it. You just need to be stronger than the puppet. Can you do that to a Specialist-level puppet?" Atlan stayed silent. Even though he couldn''t fight the puppet with his powers, he thought could still use his wits and intellect to deal with them. Unfortunately, this wasn''t one of those cases. ''Where are you going? I''m going to make you happy!'' The White Canzer burst out of the cottage door with a huge smile on its face. Behind it was the White Canzer stroking its head like a mother does to her child. It opened its mouth and flashed its smile toward Atlan, creating a crescent beam. He dove forward, barely dodging the attack. He was thankful that he got all the practice from the Huntsman''s lightning-speed arrows. In comparison to that, this beam was as slow as a snail. BOING! The beam hit one of the trees and infected it with the joy virus. It grew a wide smile on its trunk and pulled its roots out of the ground. It swung one of its branches towards him. Atlan used his hand to deflect it away. Surprisingly enough, the tree''s branch broke off its main body once it collided with Atlan''s arms. Now that he was confident with overloading his False Mutation, Atlan could control his battle suit a lot easier, which meant that his jog was a lot faster than before, and he could finally use its tremendous weight to his advantage. Atlan didn''t linger and sidestepped away from the infected tree and continued running for his life. ''Don''t let him run away, Aitch! He''s here to kill me." The happy puppet flashed a very uncharacteristic frown. ''I don''t like that. That does not make anyone happy! GRARGH!'' Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It roared to the skies, sending a large shockwave around the whole dark forest. Atlan felt the ground tremble underneath him, but he didn''t mind it. He focused solely on getting as far away from the two monsters as possible. But as he lightly skipped past a muddy puddle, the soil suddenly grew a smile on its face and swallowed his foot whole. He almost tripped. Thankfully, his SSS class Physique allowed him to keep his balance. "You want the full weight of my battle suit? Then eat it!" Atlan released his False Mutation for a second, letting his battle suit return to its normal weight of thousands of tons. The animated soil choked on his battle suit, destroying its mouth entirely. Once it was dead, it melted out and revealed a small crater beneath his feet. Now that he was free, he continued to run away. Unfortunately, that one distraction allowed the Happy puppet and the White Canzer to catch up to him. They were already behind him, just mere meters away from catching him with their chitinous hands. ''I''m not happy! Make me happy!'' The whole dark forest trembled as everything around Atlan started to shake. He watched as the trees grew wretched smiles on their trunks, the shrubberies on the ground grew happy eyes that glared at him, and even the large boulders combined like a magnet to create a golem blocking him from advancing any further. The golem, standing 40 feet tall and 10 feet wide, looked down at Atlan with a smile on its face. Just one small step from this creature and Atlan would be buried in the soil. He used a combination of his Physique LifeSkill and the battle suit''s weight to punch the large golem''s feet. Thankfully, the stone shattered upon impact, creating an imbalance in the creature. Atlan used this time to try and escape. Unfortunately, the golem soon used the other pieces of stone on the ground to repair itself. He immediately ducked out of the way as thousands of tiny pebbles shot from the ground and toward the golem. The only reason he avoided that was because he heard an incessant high-pitched voice from each of those pebbles wanting to be ''happy''. Atlan kicked the ground and tried to run, but he ended up face-to-face with ten more animated trees. Each one had their spiky crown aimed from above and ready to tear him into pieces. And to make matters worse, their roots slivered from underground and wrapped themselves around his foot, giving him no way to escape. The roots made their way up and wrapped his whole body, preventing him from even moving a single inch. "Uh¡­Carmine? Any help here?" "...." Carmine and his team of Operators back at the Emergency Meeting room were too busy shouting at each other. They couldn''t think of any way to try and save the Star Porter from certain doom. Chapter 275 - 275: False attraction The White Canzer and the Happy Puppet approached Atlan once he was caught in their trap. ''Good job, my dear Aitch! I''m very happy that you have not disappointed me. You made me very happy.'' The puppet jumped up and down with elation. Its cheeks and its whole face turned red as the White Canzer rubbed its head. It was clear that the White Canzer completely controlled the puppet. Judging by how extremely happy with her compliments, it was clear that it would do absolutely anything for the White Canzer as long as she said it. ''Hehe! I''m happy you''re happy! Should I kill this human now?'' The puppet''s face looked like he was joking, but Atlan knew that it was completely serious. If it wanted to, then it could kill him in the blink of an eye. ''Not yet. I want to observe our little human first. It''s been so long since I''ve had a live human right in front of me to see.'' Thankfully, the White Canzer didn''t have the intention to kill him¡­for now. The sole reason as to why he was spared was because he was an extremely weak person. He didn''t exude a strength that threatened both of them. After all, he was only a Student Savior. And the White Canzer knew that Atlan could not harm them even if he tried to. That''s why he was spared. If he was as strong as Ninth, there was no way that they would let go of this chance. They would kill him the moment they got the chance. ''Maybe, this human will appreciate my beauty just like how others did. It would not be bad to have a human as a puppet.'' ''I''m happy¡­?'' ''Oh, Aitch. Don''t worry, you''ll always be my favorite, no matter what. Just keep it a secret between us, okay?'' ''I''m happy!'' Atlan saw this exchange and immediately knew that Carmine''s evaluation of this Canzer was accurate. She was exactly as he depicted her in the backstory of the Huntsman, which could pretty much confirm that it was true. She''s narcissistic, Atlan thought to himself. I need to take advantage of that. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to overpower the White Canzer with the Happy puppet guarding her like a dog. So, he had to think of another way to survive in this situation. He had to be smart. "Let go of me, you stupid fools." Atlan said those hostile words with the exact opposite expression. If anyone looked at him and didn''t hear his words, they would have thought that he begged for their mercy. And that was exactly what the White Canzer and the puppet thought. They didn''t understand human language, but they were intelligent enough to pick up the clues based on his expression. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They thought that he was begging for his life, not knowing he was insulting them right to their face. ''Look at this pathetic human. I think he''s begging for his life.'' ''Good! I''m happy he knows how beautiful you are!'' The White Canzer approached Atlan without a care in the world. It didn''t even consider him as a threat. And as long as the Happy puppet was by her side, she didn''t have to worry about anything¡ªincluding a measly little human. She raised her hand and seductively ran her chitinous finger down his cheeks. "Get your hands off me, you monster." Of course, Atlan''s words might have been one of repulsion, but his expression was completely different. He looked like he was enamored by her beauty. He made sure to never take his eyes off her skin, making the illusion that he liked her most confident body part. ''Look at this guy. Charming him is easier than I thought.'' ''Of course! No one could ever resist your beauty! I''m so happy with that!'' Atlan even made sure to raise his heartbeat multiple times. He made his body temperature rise, making him sweat. And he even dilated his eyes whenever he looked toward her. This gave all the telltale signs that he was enamored by her. But of course, it was all a lie brought about by his SSS class Physique LifeSkill, which allowed him perfect control of his own body. ''Ha! Pathetic human. You will never be able to touch my beauty, for you are a disgusting creature. But you can stare at me all you want. You can do my bidding all you want.'' The White Canzer walked away from Atlan, with her hips swinging wide like a well-endowed woman. Atlan looked like he would go crazy when he saw that. If it weren''t for his restraints, he looked like he would have chased after the White Canzer. Of course, he did all of that so they would think that he was bewitched by her. ''Look at how animalistic these humans are¡­but who can blame them, for my beauty surpasses any kind of boundary.'' ''Yes! Yes! I''m happy to say that it does!'' Atlan tried to get out of the restraints. "When I get out of these restraints, you''re dead." Of course, his expression looked like he longed for the White Canzer''s touch again. He looked like he was intoxicated. It was as if he couldn''t live with himself anymore if he wasn''t near the White Canzer''s beautiful white chitin. The more the White Canzer saw that, the more her ego was stroked. She was elated. ''You want to get to me so badly? Maybe I''ll allow it.'' ''Do you want me to release his restraints?...I''m happy to¡­.'' The White Canzer smiled and nodded her head. The Happy puppet then released his control on the roots that bound Atlan to the ground. Slowly, the roots retracted back to the ground, releasing Atlan from their grip. He fell to the ground. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were free from anything that bound him. His plan worked! Because he fed the White Canzer''s ego, he lured them into thinking that they could trust him. Atlan slowly put his hands on the toolbelt. He was going to take something out. Chapter 276 - 276: Ninth’s situation As soon as Atlan moved without the White Canzer''s approval, the Happy puppet moved with a swift punishment. A single happy slap sent his whole body flying through the air and collided with multiple dead trees before he ended up in a puddle, bloodied and wet. It was so fast that he wasn''t even able to react until he was already flying and injured. ''I''m very happy that I punished your insolence, human!'' ''Good job, dear. It seems that he needs a little bit more of a punishment before he can serve me as a loyal slave.'' Atlan coughed up blood. He lost about a hundred years of SoulTime from that small mistake. He thought he tricked the White Canzer into trusting him, but it seemed that he underestimated its intelligence. Even if Atlan didn''t mean any harmful intent as he reached for something in his toolbelt, the Happy puppet would have still punished him regardless. He needed to gain the White Canzer''s respect and trust before he was able to execute his plan. "Atlan, this is a precarious situation. Don''t bring out the poisoned apple under any circumstances. The White Canzer will immediately recognize you as a threat and order your execution. For now, lay low and survive." S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Carmine''s voice traveled directly to his ears and went unheard by the monsters. He gave Atlan very sound advice, which Atlan had no intention of disobeying. After all, he already learned a hard lesson from that. "Just wait, you monsters. You will get your comeuppance." Atlan bowed his head and pretended to apologize to the White Canzer. Thankfully, they were blissfully unaware of Atlan''s plans and still treated him as nothing more than a bug that could be easily squished at any time. He then slowly walked over towards them, making sure that he kept his hands in the air and only looked down at the ground. He made himself seem as harmless as possible as he approached. ''Hmph¡­that''s good. At least you know your place,'' the White Canzer uttered. ''I''m happy that the Human is learning from his mistakes!'' ''Have you heard from your other brothers? What is taking them so long?'' The Happy puppet scratched its head in confusion. ''I don''t remember¡­I''m just happy I''m with you!'' ''sk. I forgot you all lose your memories with each death.'' Then, the White Canzer flashed a wicked smile on its face directed at Atlan. It was even more wicked than the Happy Canzer''s weird smile. ''Kid. Do you want to see what''s happening with the other humans?'' Atlan didn''t say anything because he wasn''t supposed to understand her. The White Canzer took his silence as an agreement and chanted a spell under her breath. The power flowing from her whole body colored her white chitin into a tone of darkish green. Suddenly, a giant needle and yarn appeared in her hands, the same one that she used to recreate the Happy puppet. She started to sew in the air with the magical yarn, creating a giant 2D rectangular screen that floated right in front of them. Slowly, as it got filled with yarn, a picture started to emerge. Judging from the dark dead trees and the brown wet soil, it was easy to guess that the picture depicted the dark forest Remedium. Surprisingly, the image moved to show a different scene from somewhere inside the Remedium. There were six creatures on the screen, each one had the same bulbous body shape and a long conical hat. These were the six other puppets that the White Canzer created. "This¡­.this is a live video feed of what''s happening back at Ninth''s position!" Carmine couldn''t hide his surprise. This wasn''t a known ability of the White Canzer, meaning that it had only evolved this ability recently. And even though the image was made entirely out of yarn, the video quality was very high. He could see the individual hairs on the Grumpy puppet''s white beard. ''I''m happy to see my brothers!'' shouted the Happy puppet as it jumped up and down with its legs alternatively. ''What are they doing? Who''s going to cook my dinner for me if they''re not here yet?'' But soon, the White Canzer''s nonchalant expression turned serious. It wasn''t obvious from the video at first, but once she focused on it, she could see that the six puppets were looking up in fear of something. Not only that, they huddled themselves in a tight-knit, as if they were afraid of getting separated. The White Canzer raised her hand and pinched outwards. The video then zoomed, showing the puppet''s skin, which was full of cuts and injuries. ''WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" the White Canzer screamed. Even the Happy puppet stopped jumping up and down. Its joyous crescent smile soon turned upside down as it saw the horrible state his brothers were in. ''Who dares to dirty my things?!'' The White Canzer changed the video''s perspective to show the creature opposite the puppets. And what she saw made her afraid, even when she was far away from the actual threat. In the video, Atlan saw Ninth standing tall amidst a land full of weapons sticking out of the ground. It was no longer an environment of the dark forest with dead trees, it was now a world filled with abandoned weapons such as polearms, swords, longswords, etc. And instead of the black skies of the Remedium with an even blacker sun, the skies had turned a viscous red. Just from looking at her in the video, Atlan couldn''t help but avert his eyes. It was as if he would get sliced in half if he dared to look at her for so long. He could only imagine what kind of pressure and threat the puppets were experiencing in real time. It was as if Ninth was in a world of her own that even the Remedium could not influence. Then, in a fit of rage and desperation, the Grumpy puppet summoned a thousand arms from the ground that tried to swarm Ninth''s world of swords. The puppet was like an asura. Yet despite that, no matter how many tried to enter her world, no one was able to enter. They were all sliced into pieces without NInth even moving her body a single inch. "You''re lucky, Star Porter. You''re witnessing the power of a domain for the first time." Chapter 277 - 277: Emotional puppet From what Atlan witnessed before he left, Ninth was on the brink of total collapse. She had trouble dealing with just one of the puppets, so it wasn''t a hard leap to think that she wouldn''t stand a chance against the combined might of the six puppets. That was what he thought. But he thought wrong. In the end, Ninth proved herself to be someone who should not be underestimated. She reached the Specialist realm in such a short time for a reason. The Elder Heads, with all their wisdom of thousands of years of experience, deemed Ninth and her team capable enough to deal with the problems of this mission. They knew that Ninth was powerful enough to defeat any kind of Canzer that came her way. Atlan shouldn''t have doubted that. But for some reason, he was still thinking about her strength as something similar to his. But how could he have compared himself to Ninth? It was like he was a two-dimensional creature trying to comprehend a three-dimensional creature. It simply wasn''t possible because the three-dimensional creature was living in an entirely different reality. The difference between a Student and a Specialist was similar to that. The power they had was something that Atlan couldn''t even comprehend. If he could, he wouldn''t have doubted that Ninth would have been able to single-handedly deal with six puppets at the same time with barely any effort. "This is a domain¡­" He didn''t even know what the ''domain'' concept entailed, but judging from what he saw, it was something like a world that was completely dominated by the Savior. Even the reality-bending powers of the Remedium could not sully the purity of Ninth''s domain. It remained as a world full of swords with a red sky. ''This is an outrage! Why haven''t they killed that ugly human?!'' This is stressing me out!'' The White Canzer couldn''t hold in her anger and exploded into fury, letting go of the dainty and elegant posture that she cultivated. She looked nothing like a princess, and more like an ogre. ''What are you doing Aitch?! Console me!'' ordered the White Canzer to her puppet. ''I''m not happy¡­I''m not happy¡­.my brothers¡­'' But instead of listening to her words, the Happy puppet could not let his eyes wander off the screen. He was deeply entangled with his brothers, and he could feel the pain and suffering they were feeling just from seeing the situation on a screen. Their bond was beyond that of blood. ''The only way I''ll be happy is if I go back and save my brothers¡­'' The White Canzer raised her hand and smacked the Happy puppet''s head, making its brown hat bent and dented. ''Stupid puppet! What would happen to me if you go away? You''re my only protection. You will stay here and become my body bag.'' Only then did the Happy puppet stop its intention to move outwards. It was only moments away from darting into a run and disappearing into the fog. If it did, then Atlan would finally have a chance to shove the poisoned apple into the White Canzer''s mouth. Unfortunately, it seemed that the White Canzer''s grasp on its puppet was strong enough to make it forget about its instinct to care for its other brothers. This may have been an unfortunate situation, but Atlan saw a weakness. He saw a sliver of an opportunity. The Happy puppet was not entirely loyal to the White Canzer. It was also loyal to its other brothers, much to the dismay of the narcissistic princess. If he was able to make the Happy puppet leave the White Canzer alone to help his brothers, then it was mission accomplished. The only problem was how he would do it. Atlan walked over to the floating screen made up of strings and yarns. This was an offense that should have made the White Canzer order his execution, but the situation was too complicated. Atlan took advantage of that. ''What are you doing, human?! Get back here. Aitch, do something!'' But the usually obedient Happy puppet hesitated for a moment. It used to obey her words the moment she uttered them, but it was too preoccupied with his brothers on the screen to even care about the weak human''s movements. Once Ninth appeared on the screen, Atlan did his best to seem as if he was mad at her. He flailed his hand up and down, he stomped his foot off the ground, and he shouted all kinds of obscenities towards her. Even though the monsters couldn''t understand him, his tone and voice were clearly hostile. ''Seeing him mad at that wretched human on the screen makes me¡­happy.'' The Happy puppet was too emotional to understand that this was merely a ploy. The White Canzer, on the other hand, found something suspicious. After all, there was no reason for the humans to hate each other, especially since they were from the same group. ''Don''t believe him, Aitch. He''s trying to break us apart! You don''t want that, do you?'' The Happy puppet looked back at her, and then back at her brothers on the screen. It showed an intense internal conflict. ''I don''t want that¡­but my brothers¡­I''m not happy anymore!'' Atlan knew that he only needed a little more push before the Happy puppet conceded. As soon as Ninth appeared on the screen again, he pointed at his toolbelt, and then back at the Ninth. He made sure that the Happy puppet could associate the two of those together. He wanted it to think that Atlan had something in his toolbelt that was connected to Ninth. He wanted it to think that Atlan had the key to her demise. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Once the video showed the six puppets using all their powers to try and pierce through Ninth''s domain, Atlan showed excitement and happiness. He also showed a sad expression when they failed in their attack. He winced in pain once they got injured more and more from the thousands of swords littered all over Ninth''s domain. "Kugh! If only those puppets had this thing in my toolbelt, then they would have won!" Chapter 278 - 278: Ripped toolbelt Of course, they couldn''t understand him. And the White Canzer could see through his lies as if it was made out of glass. He stood no chance of manipulating the queen of lies. ''What are you spouting, human?! Don''t mind him, Aitch. It''s better if you kill him right now.'' Unfortunately for her, the Happy puppet did not seem like a real puppet. It had its own emotions and desires that even its creator could not get rid of. The only reason why it hadn''t run away at this point was because it still cared about the White Canzer. Her control over him was basically fighting the Happy puppet''s entire consciousness as she tried to make him stay. ''It was a mistake to conjure this screen. I banish you!'' With a sway of her hand, the large screen floating in the air suddenly untangled itself, turning into mere frayed strings and yarns. Soon after they landed on the ground, they disintegrated into mere particles that disappeared into the air. The White Canzer thought that the Happy puppet would give up trying to save his brothers if he didn''t see them. But she miscalculated. It turned out that her decision to cut off the live feed of its six brothers turned the Happy puppet even more anxious. ''I have to go¡­I have to go¡­it''s the only way I''ll be happy! I have to go.'' The Happy puppet started to move on its own. The White Canzer could no longer fight for control over her own puppet, and it moved away despite how hard she tried to make it stay. ''Damn it! Before you go, then restrain this human so that he does not get anywhere near me.'' The Happy puppet did not argue any longer and flashed a smile beam toward one dead tree. It quickly turned into an animated creature that used its roots to wrap around Atlan''s body and prevent him from moving a single inch. Atlan couldn''t move. Despite that, the White Canzer still didn''t feel safe being alone with the human. Even though Atlan was as weak as a twig, she would still be powerless against his advances. Without her puppets, she was as weak as a Student-level Canzer. ''Don''t go, okay?'' The White Canzer wrapped her hands around the Happy puppet. ''There is no use going there. If your brothers cannot fight against that wretched human, then you also stand no chance against her. Wouldn''t it be better if you stayed here and planned our revenge? As they say, it is a dish best-served cold. So what if they kill your brothers now? I can revive them all into what they were before as good as new. It was as if they weren''t damaged in the first place. And once we''re all reunited in our little cottage, we can hunt down the other humans and exact our revenge. We''ll use this little one for bait. They''ll surely want to rescue him. And when they do, we''ll be lying in wait.'' The White Canzer''s words were very seductive and made the Happy puppet stop in its tracks. It was tempted to believe her words. It was the safest and best tactic during these kinds of situations. She smiled, thinking that the Happy puppet finally listened to reason. However, she suddenly felt him pushing her hands away. ''Why?! Why aren''t you staying?!'' The White Canzer made one mistake. It treated the other Canzers as mere puppets. She didn''t consider their feelings, and what they would feel about their brothers dying. Even though the Happy puppet knew that its brothers would simply be revived at a later date, it didn''t like the idea that they would still be suffering under the hands of that monstrous human. It felt the pain that its brothers felt. Each injury, each cut, each dislocation, was felt by the Happy puppet, not through supernatural means, but through empathy. The White Canzer never felt pain in its whole life. It always used the puppets to do her deeds, therefore, she never knew how hard it was to lose a limb, how hard it was to bleed to death, and most of all, how hard it was to watch helplessly as their brothers died in front of a screen. The White Canzer never even treated the puppets as real beings. They were just the same as their namesake; they were puppets¡ªthings to be used and discarded once they were no longer useful. She could just make them again if they died. ''I''m happy if I die with my brothers.'' The Happy puppet walked forward without looking back at his creator. This left the White Canzer annoyed and furious. She couldn''t understand why her puppets disobeyed her orders, even though she was the one who conjured them in reality. She was their creator! How dare they disobey?! But as it turned out, this wasn''t the last time she would get surprised by the puppet''s actions. Shortly after leaving her, the Happy puppet walked over to Atlan and looked him down. ''This human seems to hate that wretched girl. And whatever he has¡­will kill her¡­'' It used its stubby hands to reach down towards Atlan''s toolbelt, ripping it out of his very battle suit. Surprisingly, it knew how to open the zipper. Meanwhile, Carmine''s voice reached Atlan''s ears and gave him a warning. "Are you sure you know what you''re doing, Atlan? Once the puppet finds that poisoned apple in your possession, it will turn into an overprotective monster that will kill you at a moment''s notice. No matter how emotional it is right now, it will prioritize the White Canzer if it is in true danger. You should have kept it a secret for now and let the puppet leave you two alone." If Atlan hadn''t drawn attention to the battle suit, then the Happy puppet wouldn''t have had the idea to take his toolbelt. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Happy puppet shook down his toolbelt until a single object dropped out of the bag. Atlan smiled. "Don''t worry, Carmine. I know what I''m doing. I didn''t hide the poisoned apple in my toolbelt." Everyone looked down at the object on the ground. It wasn''t the poisoned apple. Instead, it was the jewel box containing the boar''s heart. Chapter 279 - 279: Familiar box The Happy puppet picked up the jewel box and observed it with its eyes. From what it could see, there was nothing too special about it. There was only a very pungent and bloody smell coming out of the box. The White Canzer, on the other hand, looked at the jewel box and felt as if it were familiar. She felt like she had seen that particular box before, but she couldn''t remember it. This was a testament to her selfishness. Even though the Huntsman did her a favor and released her from being hunted, she didn''t even remember him at all. He was simply just a blimp in her memory, nothing more than a little pebble on the road. It was a fact that she didn''t appreciate the Huntsman''s kindness enough. If she did, then she would have remembered that he used that jewel box as a decoy for her heart. The Huntsman was haunted by her for the rest of his life, yet she didn''t even register in her memory. It was unfortunate. If she had simply cared enough to remember the Huntsman''s weakness, then it would have known Atlan''s plan and stopped him before things escalated too late. Meanwhile, Atlan couldn''t help but smile as he saw the jewel box in the Happy puppet''s stubby hands. It didn''t know how precious that box was. "GASP! You are insane, Atlan. Are you doing what I think you''re doing?!" Carmine couldn''t hide his surprise. He immediately knew Atlan''s plan the moment the boar''s heart appeared on the Remedium. It was an insane idea, one that could even backfire on him entirely. However, if it worked as he had intended, then he could kill two birds with one stone and succeed where no one else had ever succeeded before. "HAHAHAHA!" Atlan''s laughter echoed through the woods, catching the attention of the Happy puppet and the White Canzer. "You stupid puppet! I was just kidding! There''s no way I have something that would kill someone like Ninth! You fell for it!" His words were full of mockery and derision. And even though they couldn''t understand him, they could see the ridicule in his eyes. It was apparent that Atlan was simply making fun of the Happy puppet. The puppet looked at the jewel box in its hands. It understood that this box was nothing more than an ordinary box. Atlan decided to add salt to injury. "That''s right, stupid puppet. There''s no way that I''ll let you harm Ninth even if I had something that could injure a Specialist Savior like her!" It looked at Atlan and knew that it was being ridiculed. ''I''m not¡­.I''m not happy with this¡­this human¡­tricked me¡­how¡­how will I help my brothers now?!'' The Happy puppet held its head with both hands. It was experiencing an emotional breakdown due to the conflicting circumstances it endured. ''GRAGGHH!'' It screamed at the top of its lungs, bringing out its frustration into the world. The whole dark forest trembled upon his fury. The animated dead trees that it created no longer had wicked smiles on their faces. They copied their creator and turned their smile upside down. They no longer jumped up and down with glee, they now jumped because they were having a temper tantrum. They unleashed their fury onto the world, striking the ground and each other in a frenzy. ''I hate¡­I HATE EVERYONE! I WILL DEPRIVE ANYONE OF HAPPINESS!'' Usually, it would have been the White Canzer''s responsibility to reign down her own puppets. It was not good for the Happy puppet to express anything other than the emotion that they were made for. Happy should stay happy. That was because she would lose control over her puppets if they no longer expressed the same emotion as their name. In any other circumstance, she would have tried to console the puppet or killed it entirely before it could turn against her. But the White Canzer was still preoccupied with the jewel box. It was too familiar. It felt like it was something she should remember. But no matter how much she tried to dig up her memories, she could not¡ªfor the life of her¡ªremember any instance where she saw that box. Her curiosity about the box led her to neglect her own puppet. As a result, it ended up becoming angry at the world. ''I will beat your face so badly, you will never be able to smile, human! And after that, I will do the same to that wretched woman that dared to hurt my brothers!'' The Happy puppet approached Atlan with fury exploding in its eyes. It wouldn''t use its animated creatures to kill him. That would deprive it of the satisfaction of killing Atlan itself. "Your plan is not working! Think of something else!" Carmine whispered from his battle suit. "Not yet¡­" he replied softly. The Happy puppet looked down at Atlan and couldn''t wait to bash his face down to the ground. But before that, it raised the jewel box in its hands high up in the air and threw it down to the ground at the maximum force that a Specialist-level puppet could muster. ''You will become like this box!'' the puppet screamed. The Happy puppet wanted Atlan to witness how his own body would shatter under its strength. However, instead of seeing fear and trepidation in the human''s eyes, the puppet only saw relief and excitement. It was as if this was all part of his plan from the very beginning. Atlan looked down at the jewel box and saw splintered wood and metal all over the small crater where it crashed. And in the middle of all that mess was a bloody mush of meat that was no longer recognizable from what it was before. Despite that, the appearance of that bloody mess sent a chill down the White Canzer''s spine. It finally recognized where it had seen that jewel box before. It looked at the Happy puppet in horror. ''Stupid puppet! What have you done?'' Then, it looked at the human and saw a sly smile plastered on his face. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You have your backup, I have mine. Let''s welcome the Huntsman together, shall we?" Chapter 280 - 280: Hateful reunion The White Canzer finally remembered. It was all back at the lowest point in her life, where she was cast out of the castle and the kingdom forever. She fled to the dark forest to save her life. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There, she encountered the Huntsman. Despite him revealing that he was there to hunt her, she was able to seduce her way out of death. She convinced him to spare her life and let her live away from the kingdom. The Huntsman, honoring his words, gave a boar''s heart to the Queen instead of her own. The White Canzer didn''t remember this part of her life because she didn''t want to. All her plans, all her preparation, and all her sacrifices went down the drain all because the Queen refused to die to her tricks. She had already killed the King and his daughter. She only needed the Queen to die for her to take control of the kingdom and make it her own. One step away¡ªshe was just one step away from becoming the ultimate ruler of the kingdom. But the Queen, due to her insane luck, was able to survive the poisoned apple that she gave her. It was a pity that she hadn''t prepared for such an outcome. Because of that, the Queen was able to report her to the proper authorities and was convicted of the murder of the royal family. She had to get down on her knees, dirtying her white chitin, and apologize to the Queen and the whole court for her crimes. She did her best to appeal to the people and let them know that she only killed the King and the Princess for a very valid reason. She was so close to manipulating the people to turn against the Queen and let them instead believe that she was the one who killed the King and the Princess. But the Queen was somehow able to dispel her charm. She convinced the judge, jury, and executioner that the only one responsible for the death of the royal family was her. She was deeply humiliated by that wicked Queen. She thought she''d get spared if she apologized, but they still sentenced her to death. She left the castle immediately and fled for her life. And she eventually found a home in the dark woods. She was able to create the puppets that served her now. She thought she''d never get betrayed ever again. But she was proved wrong. Because of the Happy puppet''s rage, the boar''s heart inside the jewel box was broken beyond repair. It was just blood and meat at this point. The White Canzer immediately noticed a fog creeping up on the whole forest. It was enveloped by a power that was vaguely familiar to her. As a Specialist Canzer, she immediately sensed that there was another being that was slowly approaching their location. It wasn''t hard to guess who it was. Meanwhile, Atlan heaved a sigh of relief once he felt the familiar oppressing feeling of the Huntsman. He didn''t think he would want to feel the pressure of a Specialist Canzer weighing down on him, but here he was. "I must say, Atlan. This plan is bold and insane. By destroying the boar''s heart, you will no longer be invisible to the Huntsman. It will hunt you down¡ªin fact, it''s already here." "Yes. But I am not alone here, am I? I am just a lowly human who poses absolutely no threat against the Huntsman. Meanwhile, the White Canzer is the subject of the Huntsman''s grief and regret. If given a choice on who the Huntsman would kill, who do you think it would go for?" Atlan''s plan was simple. He would summon the Huntsman and let him meet the White Canzer. By doing so, he would be pitting those two monsters against each other in a battle for survival. The best-case scenario would be that they would both kill each other in this fight. But of course, there was no guarantee that the Huntsman would leave him alone. It could still kill him while fighting the White Canzer using very little effort. That was why Carmine called it a bold and insane idea. ''Huh? What''s happening?'' The happy puppet looked around and couldn''t understand what was going on. ''Aitch! Something''s coming to kill me. Protect me now!'' WHIZZ! A single arrow flew from beyond the fog and aimed down towards the White Canzer''s heart at light speed. It was too fast for Atlan to even react, but somehow, the Happy puppet was able to move and protect its creator by conjuring more animated trees. The arrow pierced through the trees before being stopped just ten trees short of reaching the White Canzer. ''You''re still bewitching creatures for your own gains, I see. Nothing has changed all these years, huh?'' The Huntsman''s voice echoed through the fog from all directions, making it seem as if his presence was all around. It obscured his true location. ''Huntsman¡­it''s¡­it''s been a while! How have you been?'' The White Canzer did her best to seem casual, but she couldn''t hide the nervousness in her voice. ''I''m still me. I still want to kill you.'' the Huntsman replied. ''Haha¡­how could you kill a little old me? There must be some kind of mistake, right? Didn''t I tell you that I am a product of injustice? That wicked Queen must have tricked your brain into thinking that I deserve death!'' The White Canzer did what it did best. It tried to manipulate the Huntsman into sparing her life. ''Your words cannot trick me, witch!'' Unfortunately, the Huntsman was already wise to her lies. ''Why don''t you come here and listen to my words carefully?'' Her bewitching words would work best if the Huntsman was looking directly at her, so she tried to make him reveal himself. ''I will only approach you once your heart is pierced with my arrow.'' Then, the Huntsman directed his words to Atlan. "I must thank you, human. You have given me a chance to relieve my grudge. For that, I will spare your life." Chapter 281 - 281: Switch places ''Why?! He doesn''t even understand you! Why are you targeting a fellow being like me? Aren''t we the mortal enemies of humanity? Shouldn''t we bring our hands together and kill all the humans that invade our land?'' The White Canzer''s pleading fell on deaf ears. No matter how much she begged the Huntsman, it heartlessly shot countless arrows from beyond the fog that targeted her heart at pinpoint accuracy. The only reason she was still alive was because the Happy Puppet was capable enough to defend against the attacks. However, one of the arrows was able to shoot past the Happy Puppet''s defense and was able to scrape past the White Canzer''s shoulders. ''Ahh!'' she screamed as violet blood dripped down her arm. This was the first time she''d seen herself bleed. ''My chitin! My beautiful chitin! Look at how you''ve ruined my chitin. Why must you be so cruel, oh Huntsman!'' The White Canzer was a fragile creature. For all the cruelty and crimes it inflicted upon other people, the moment it got a small little cut on its chitin, it considered this as a crime against the universe itself. ''What is happening?! I can''t¡­I can''t feel happiness!'' It was hard-encoded into the Happy puppet''s main consciousness that it should always prioritize its creator''s life and health. However, it had already gained its own emotions and desires¡ªthe desire to save its brothers from certain doom. But the moment the White Canzer got injured, its original coding took control back of its emotions and created a major conflict in its consciousness. It was a moment of fragility that the Huntsman exploited for his gain. He shot arrows consecutively, targeting the gaps where the Happy puppet could not protect the White Canzer. And no matter how much the puppet flashed its infective smile, it could not turn the arrows into its animated creature. The crescent beam simply bounced off the arrow and dissipated in the air. The Huntsman was completely stronger than the Happy Puppet by a long shot. There was no way that a single puppet could take control of his arrows so easily, especially since the Huntsman wasn''t holding out its strength; it was going to kill the White Canzer even if it had to kill a thousand puppets in the meantime. ''You are a wretched liar. I regret the very day I met you.'' The White Canzer looked around the fog in the hopes that it could see the Huntsman. Unfortunately, everything was shrouded in a fog. ''Come on. I''m not so bad as to warrant death, right? You''ve been brainwashed by the Queen.'' ''Lies, lies, lies!'' screamed the Huntsman. ''I don''t know how you did it, but you were somehow able to trick me once upon a time. But it won''t happen ever again. Your lies are nothing but garbage that I must take out.'' The Huntsman fired another arrow. This one was empowered with some dark power, evidenced by the black light that surrounded the tip. It was able to slip past space itself and arrive at a different location altogether. When it pierced back into reality, it was already just a few meters away from the White Canzer. Just as it was about to pierce its left chest, directly aimed at her heart, the White Canzer''s body shimmered and suddenly disappeared from everyone''s sight. After just a fraction of a second, the Happy puppet appeared from where she left. The arrow could not adjust its trajectory because of its momentum and it pierced through the Happy puppet''s shoulder. The power of space tore through its body, consuming everything in its path like a black hole. The puppet had to pluck the arrow out of its body before it consumed its whole arm. ''Damn it! Huntsman, stop this now!'' Meanwhile, Atlan heard a whisper from his battle suit. "Atlan. The White Canzer''s trump card is that she can switch places with her puppet three times. Since it already used this ability once, it can only use it two more times before it goes on cooldown. That is your chance. If you see an opportunity, you can ambush the White Canzer and put the poisoned apple in its mouth." It was a good plan, but Atlan refused. "No. If I do that, the Huntsman will kill me." "There''s no guarantee that it wouldn''t kill you if you don''t!" Carmine couldn''t understand the Canzers'' words, so he didn''t understand that the Huntsman was out for revenge. If Atlan moved and killed the White Canzer before the Huntsman could do it, then it might get angry at Atlan for stealing his kill. Also, he heard from the Huntsman himself that he was spared. The Huntsman wouldn''t have lied because it didn''t know that Atlan could even understand its words. There was no point in lying. So, all Atlan had to do was sit on the sidelines and wait until the Huntsman killed the White Canzer. "I''m just saying. If you see an opportunity, take it. It''s better to get ahead of these Canzers rather than catch up to them." WHIZZ! Another arrow whizzed past the White Canzer, and this time, it had a brown-colored tip. The White Canzer suddenly felt a constricting feeling in its feet. It looked down and saw the ground swallowing her chitinous toes like quicksand. She couldn''t move. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The brown-tipped arrow was filled with the energy of the Earth and was able to bind its target in one single location. Unless the White Canzer could destroy the stone with her hands, she could not get away from the arrow that aimed straight down her chest. She immediately used her ability again and switched places with the Happy puppet. But when she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a volley of thunderous arrows numbering in the hundreds that targeted her whole body. It was a trap! She gritted her teeth and used her ability again, switching places with her puppet one last time. She teleported back to her original location, with the brown-tipped arrow piercing through her leg. Meanwhile, hundreds of thunderous arrows pierce through the Happy puppet''s body, turning its chitinous body into mere burnt ashes and flesh. Chapter 282 - 282: Pierce through the heart ''NO!!!'' screamed the White Canzer as it felt its connection to the Happy puppet disappear into nothingness. It wasn''t out of sadness for the puppet, but because without it, she would have no one else to protect her. The Happy puppet''s entire body was blackened and charred, from the hundreds of thousands of volts given by the hundred thunderous arrows. It had no chance against the Huntsman''s fury. But surprisingly, it wasn''t dead yet. It opened its mouth in defiance against death. ''Br¨Cbrothers¡­'' It looked towards the White Canzer, its creator. ''Please¡­save my brothers¡­'' In the last seconds of its life, it didn''t bother to ask for help from the White Canzer. Instead, it asked for help for its six brothers. The White Canzer kneeled next to the puppet. She raised his hand towards its face. The puppet thought he was getting caressed in its last moments of life. But instead, the White Canzer raised her hand and bashed his head into the ground. Even with her feeble strength, she was able to collapse the puppet''s face into mere soot and ash. ''You useless bastard! Instead of worrying about me, you worry about other puppets! Idiots! You should always prioritize my safety, my life! Shameless freeloaders! How dare you command me to do something?!" The White Canzer unleashed her anger on the Happy puppet''s corpse. Atlan felt the tree roots binding his body start to come loose. Now that the Happy puppet was dead, the animated trees that used their roots to immobilize him turned back into dead trees. The evil smile on their faces disappeared as if they never existed in the first place. But even though he was free from his constraints, Atlan had no intention of moving. He wanted to seem like a harmless fly on the wall. He didn''t want to intervene in the fight between two Specialist-level Canzers. ''Count your seconds, witch.'' The Huntsman''s triumphant voice echoed through the fog and reached the White Canzer''s ears. ''Coward! If you want to kill me, then come here and do it yourself! Using those arrows is only for the spineless'' Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Despite her taunts, the Huntsman was far too cautious to fall into her traps. As long as she was alive, she could use her magical temptation to change his mind just like how she changed his mind back then. The Huntsman gritted its teeth every time it remembered that time. It was the subject of his nightmares. Ever since he betrayed his morals to save the White Canzer, he had been dreaming of killing the White Canzer with his own hands. And the moment was so close at hand that he was getting antsy. It took out a single arrow from his quiver and looked at its tip. Engraved in the very metal itself was ''W.C.'', the White Canzer''s initials. The thing about this arrow was that it wasn''t even laced with any special powers. It was only a simple arrow made out of steel and wood. It symbolized the Huntsman''s disdain for the White Canzer, refusing to use its good arrows to kill her because she did not deserve it. Once this arrow pierced her heart, his regret would be destroyed. He notched it in his arrow and stretched the string with perfect calm. Even without looking at the White Canzer from afar, his arrow would always fly straight toward its destination. Meanwhile, the White Canzer got on her knees and begged the fog in front of her. ''Please, dear Huntsman. Please spare my life. We can run away together into a whole new world where we can be together forever! It will be a new start for both of us! I won''t even revive those useless puppets anymore because I''ll have you to protect me! It''s the perfect set-up! You protect me, and I give you all my beauty admire¡ª" TWANG! The arrow flew through the fog and reached the White Canzer at fast speed. Before she knew it, an arrow pierced through her left chest. It easily punctured her white chitin because it was as thin as paper. She had absolutely no defenses. Even a dull arrow fired by hand would have still pierced through her chitin. The arrow continued to pierce through to the other side, taking the White Canzer''s heart with it before landing on the ground. Her heart leaked out violet blood and pumped a few more times before it turned lifeless. A hole was left in the White Canzer''s chest. She fell backwards, with her violet blood pooling underneath her corpse. She''s dead, Atlan thought. Despite the odds, his gambit on summoning the Huntsman worked perfectly as he intended. The Huntsman killed the White Canzer for him. He was about to walk forward and observe the White Canzer''s corpse, when all of a sudden, he felt an oppressing force come behind him. It was the kind of force that could choke the life out of a Student-level Savior like him. He stopped in his tracks. He didn''t even dare to look up and behind him because he knew that the Huntsman finally showed himself. Atlan, with his head down, saw the Huntsman''s boots walking past him. He held his breath, with his Angel Wings ready to spurt any time possible. But thankfully, the Huntsman ignored him and headed straight for the White Canzer. Atlan couldn''t fight his curiosity and he looked up at the Huntsman. The Canzer was 10 feet tall, with a very thin stature. His whole body was made out of a black chitin, which looked like it was impossible to see in the darkness. He wore a typical huntsman''s attire, which was made out of thin clothes and leather armor. It was perfect for stealth and mobility. Atlan couldn''t see his face, so its most distinctive feature was its hat with a single red feather attached on the rim. The Huntsman stopped just a few meters away from the White Canzer''s corpse. He looked at the arrow beyond and confirmed that it pierced through the heart and ripped it out of her body. ''It''s over¡­'' he said. Chapter 283 - 283: What could have been The White Canzer''s body lay face up. Even though it was dead, the Huntsman couldn''t help but admit to himself that her beauty was something that was out of this world. Now that she wasn''t spewing out lies and just laid still, she looked as beautiful as ever. She even looked like a princess that was worthy of being saved. He couldn''t help but pity her. If she wasn''t so wicked, the Huntsman could have even imagined a future in which he spent forever with her. He kneeled and appreciated her beauty even more. Her white chitin stained with blood was tragic to see, but this was the only way he could get rid of the knot in his heart. He raised his hand and slowly caressed her cheeks. It was a moment of weakness that he was willing to put himself in. Atlan watched this scene with confusion written on his face. The White Canzer''s heart was ripped out of its chest, meaning that by all accounts, the Canzer should be dead. However, Altan did not reap anything from her death. Even if he hadn''t contributed to the fight, he could still reap the death of a Canzer as long as they were in his vicinity. He was definitely close enough to reap it. So, he wondered why he hadn''t received any rewards yet. Then, it hit him. He felt goosebumps all over his skin. What if the White Canzer isn''t dead? Just as the Huntsman was about to retract his hand, the White Canzer''s eyelids opened up to show a hateful expression directed at him. The Huntsman was so shocked that he couldn''t think properly. He was frozen in time staring at the White Canzer''s moving body. She caught his hand and refused to let him go. The Huntsman, feeling his spine tingling from the danger he put himself in, tried to pull away from her. But it was already too late. The White Canzer''s grip prevented him from moving away fast enough. SHKKK! The Huntsman felt a piercing pain in his chest. It was the kind of pain that he was all too familiar with. He looked down, with blood leaking out of his mouth, and saw an arrow penetrating through his black chitin and directly piercing his heart. He looked back up at the White Canzer with disbelief in his eyes. The Huntsman soon felt a cold feeling enveloping his body. He felt numb in all his extremities as if he was losing control of his own body. And to confirm the kill, the White Canzer twisted the arrow and further damaged the Huntsman''s heart. He was dying. But perhaps the physical pain he was feeling was nothing compared to the emotional heartbreak in his mind. There was a reason he never showed his face to his targets. That was because his physical strength was nothing compared to the other Specialist-level Canzers. If he wasn''t wielding his bows and firing his arrows from a long range, then he was as feeble as¡­the White Canzer. That was how she was able to stab a loose arrow from the ground to his chest. This would have never happened if he kept his distance. But he didn''t. For all his talk about never falling for the White Canzer''s tricks, the Huntsman, in the end, fell for one of her tricks. His desire to witness her beauty one last time led him to his demise. In truth, the Huntsman was absolutely enamored by the White Canzer the moment he saw her in the dark forest. That was the reason why he fell for her tricks and how he allowed her to live despite her crimes. He thought he would be able to suppress those feelings and kill her without a problem. And he did¡ªfor a brief moment when he thought she died. But when he thought everything was done and he couldn''t be tricked by her again, he let his desire control his actions. He broke his safety procedures because he wanted to see her beauty one last time. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As it turned out, the White Canzer wasn''t dead. She was only pretending to be. The Huntsman should have expected this from the queen of lies. But his infatuation towards her led him to forget this fact. ''I''m sorry, Huntsman. We could have been a good duo.'' She pushed the arrow deeper into his chest, throwing his body to the ground. ''No one knows about this, but I have two hearts. The left one is fake, and the right one is my real one. I never thought I would have to use this, but I''m glad that it saved my life.'' The Huntsman looked up at her, his chitinous mouth quivering as if he wanted to say something but was too weak to utter even a single sound. ''If you had just agreed to be my puppet, then none of this would have happened! Why did you have to be so stubborn?'' Despite her cruel words, the Huntsman, in his last moments, couldn''t help but admire her beauty. ''Well, there are plenty of other Canzers in the Remedium.'' With heartless conviction, the White Canzer continuously stabbed the Huntsman''s chest with his own arrows. She didn''t stop even as the Huntsman took his last breath. She wanted to confirm her kill and make sure that he, too, didn''t have a false heart in his body. After a few minutes, the White Canzer''s body was stained with violet blood. She no longer looked like a princess lost in the woods, but a savage animal with blood on its hands. Atlan, witnessing everything unfold, was speechless. Even Carmine and the rest of the Operators back in the Emergency Meeting room couldn''t utter a single word. The room turned eerily silent. [You have assisted in the death of a complex creature: Huntsman Canzer] [Due to your Trait, you have multiplied your rewards by 10] The notification in his Soul System all but confirmed the death of the Huntsman. But he didn''t have the luxury of looking at his new rewards. The White Canzer, after finishing off the Huntsman, turned to look at Atlan with a creepy smile on its face. ''You''re next.'' Chapter 284 - 284: Intern LifeSkill "Damn¡­I should have expected this. The Huntsman is always fated to lose against the White Canzer. This is bad news." Carmine''s concerned voice traveled through Atlan''s battle suit. "Why is that? Isn''t it better now that the White Canzer is all alone?" "It would have been. But the situation has changed for the worse. Since the White Canzer killed the Huntsman herself, she has regained all the strength she needs to fight you. It''s still not at the level of a normal Specialist Canzer, but it is enough to deal with a Student Savior like you¡ªespecially since you''re only a porter. You have to run now before the White Canzer consolidates her strength." Carmine''s solution was for Atlan to run back to NInth and the team. At least then, she would have a chance to deal with the White Canzer. But instead of running away, Atlan stood in place. He didn''t want to run away yet. That was because the White Canzer wasn''t the only one who benefitted from the Huntsman''s death. He didn''t know how, but according to the reaping notification, he assisted in the death of the Huntsman, meaning that the rewards he would get would be even better than normal. He felt like the powers he would receive from the Huntsman would be enough to even the playing field against the White Canzer. [You have received 300,000 experience] [You have received 130x (1-star) Huntsman mutation] [You have received an A class Intern Sniper LifeSkill: Fog of War] [you have received 130x LifeSkill fragments] Atlan couldn''t believe his eyes. He had hit the jackpot of all jackpots! He expected hundreds of thousands of experiences. He even expected hundreds of 1-star mutations in his rewards. But he never could have expected that he would get an Intern-level LifeSkill from the death of the Huntsman! He would have considered himself extremely lucky if he got a Pre-Intern Realm LifeSkill. But somehow, he was able to get a LifeSkill above that realm! To give perspective, the Intern-realm LifeSkill was only one realm away from the Specialist-realm! That was insane! Atlan would have never thought he would obtain this much power just from helping in the death of the Huntsman. The funny part about this was that Atlan didn''t even do much to contribute. All he did was stand in place and let things unfold in front of him. But he wasn''t going to complain. After all, he got another powerful LifeSkill in his Soul System. "Hello?! Atlan, is the video frozen? Why aren''t you running away?!" From Carmine''s perspective, Atlan just stood still while watching the White Canzer absorb all the powers of the Huntsman. The White Canzer threw away all the pretense that she was a ''princess'' and started to devour the Huntsman''s body as if he were a delicious boar. The more she devoured his chitin and his insides, the more her aura and pressure increased. It was enough to send shockwaves all over the Remedium, conjuring dark clouds in the skies and summoning a strong breeze that bent the dead trees all around. Meanwhile, while all of those ominous things were happening, Atlan didn''t move. It was as if he was frozen in fear. Carmine thought Atlan was petrified and scared stiff. If only he could see the smile on Atlan''s face as he looked blankly at the air, then he wouldn''t have thought that. "Atlan? Atlan? What are you doing?" After a few seconds, Atlan finally came to his senses. "What''s wrong?" "....Are you serious?! The White Canzer is undergoing a major transformation, and your question is ''What''s wrong?'' Everything is going wrong! You have to run away before the White Canzer can come towards you!" The increasing physical pressure on the White Canzer should have been enough cause for concern. But for Atlan, who felt tremendous amounts of power circulating in his veins after receiving his new LifeSkill, felt like even the White Canzer couldn''t stand a chance against him. "Can you estimate the strength of the White Canzer right now?" "It''s definitely a lot stronger than you!" "Just give me an estimate. Is it at the level where only a Specialist Savior can defeat her?" "....No¡­the White Canzer''s strength is concentrated on her puppets. She doesn''t have any physical strength to boast¡ªat least, that was before she consumed the Huntsman. Now, I estimate that it''s in the mid to high Intern level. So, believe me when I say that you should run away right now." But how could Atlan run away from the White Canzer when he just learned that it only had the strength of an Intern? Now that he had his new LifeSkill, he wasn''t completely hopeless against her. He had a feasible way of defeating her! "I can fight her. I know her weakness. I just have to put the poisoned apple in her mouth, right?" "As much as I commend you for your bravery, this is not the time for a martyr. You don''t stand a chance against the White Canzer in this state." And just as Carmine said that, the White Canzer finally stood up after devouring the Huntsman''s entire body. She didn''t even leave his clothes and his equipment alone. Everything was eaten. ''Ah¡­how wonderful. It''s a good thing that nobody saw me in such a horrible state. It''s unbecoming of a princess like me to eat so barbarically. I just need to kill this human and all evidence of my moment of vulnerability is gone.'' She raised her hand and conjured the giant yarn ball and needle. Using her magic, the needle and yarn floated in the air and sewed together a very familiar figurine. It had black skin, with leather armor, thin clothes, and a feathered hat on its head. After the body was done, the needle sewed together a new set of arrows that sat neatly on a quiver on the figurine''s back. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Finally, a bow was sewn on its right hand. TINGGG After a few seconds, the figurine made up of yarn was enveloped in a golden light. Once the light died down, all that was left was a miniature, much stockier, and chubbier version of the Huntsman. This Huntsman puppet wasted no time and shot its bow toward Atlan. Chapter 285 - 285: Fog of War The puppet''s arrow was nowhere near as fast as the original Huntsman, but it was still fast enough to be a threat to Atlan. He quickly tried to move to the side but found that his movements could not catch up to the arrow. It hit his chest with a powerful pushing force, making his entire body fly out into the dark forest. "Atlan, are you okay?" Carmine gritted his teeth and watched as Atlan''s entire body got blasted by the arrow. "I don''t understand how it''s able to move your body so far out! Your battle suit is supposed to weigh thousands of tons!" Meanwhile, the White Canzer didn''t even look at Atlan and simply took to making herself beautiful once again. She conjured a blanket out of the magical yarn and needle, and used it to wipe the violet blood off her chitinous skin. After a few seconds, she was as good as new. There was not a speck of blood on her white chitin. ''I''m going to have to teach those puppets a lesson once they get back. Today was a close one. If they had simply just died sooner, then I could have summoned all of them back and I wouldn''t have to dirty my hands.'' Then, she turned to the puppet. ''Huntsman, who''s the fairest one of them all?'' The Huntsman puppet, after firing the arrow towards Atlan, simply looked back at the White Canzer and kneeled towards her. ''You are, my princess. No one is more beautiful than you.'' She smiled. ''That''s good. You''re much better than you were before. Now, would you be a dear and finish off that human so that I can go back to my cottage?'' The Huntsman notched another arrow in its bow. But when it looked forward, it couldn''t see any sign of the human. Atlan seemed to have disappeared deep into the fog, nowhere to be seen. ''I¡­can''t see¡­,'' uttered the Huntsman puppet in disbelief. It shouldn''t have to be mentioned that the original Huntsman had complete control over the fog in the Remedium. It could see everything around it in crystal clear clarity, with nothing being able to hide in its sights. The puppet shouldn''t be any different. It retained all the powers of the Huntsman, albeit a bit less toned down. But its mastery over the fog shouldn''t have been affected. But when it looked around the fog of the dark forest, the puppet realized that it couldn''t see anything beyond a few meters. ''How¡­how is this possible¡­.'' The White Canzer frowned. ''What''s wrong?'' ''I can''t control the fog¡­which means¡­this is not mine¡­'' The White Canzer almost laughed at the absurdity. ''What do you mean? This is one of your powers. How could it not be yours?'' ''.....'' ''Don''t tell me¡­do you think that the human can summon a fog like you?'' The Huntsman puppet nodded. ''Affirmative.'' Meanwhile, the live video feed projected back to the real world at the Emergency Meeting room was acting weird. They could see nothing but a gray smoke very similar to the fog of the Remedium. However, this fog obscured everything from the video. They couldn''t see anything. Usually, they would have been able to see at least one meter into the fog. They would even see Atlan''s hands and legs move from their perspective. But this time, they couldn''t see anything. The worst part about it was that they couldn''t even hear anything from the video. It was mute. Carmine and the rest of the Operators were having a meltdown trying to figure out why this happened and how they could correct it. They inspected the hardware and software of the battle suit, but they couldn''t see any problem at all. It should be working properly. But it clearly wasn''t. Even the Elder Heads watching at the side couldn''t help but try to give out solutions to the Operators, but it was to no avail. Carmine shouted towards the mic. "Atlan! Atlan, are there? Can you hear my words?" Yes. I can hear you loud and clear. Sorry, but I don''t want to show you my powers just yet, Atlan thought to himself. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What Carmine didn''t know was that the battle suit worked properly. There was no malfunction in the video feed. The fact that they couldn''t see anything was because Atlan intended it so. He looked at his new Intern-realm LifeSkill in his Soul System. ¡ªSniper: (A) Fog of War ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Intern realm [This LifeSkill allows the user to create a fog that obscures everything in a 50-meter radius. No visual or audio cues would leak out from the user''s position, allowing them to remain in stealth.] According to the description, this Sniper LifeSkill would give Atlan the advantage of surprise. From the moment he obtained this new LifeSkill, a description popped up and gave detailed information as to what his new powers entailed. He was immediately interested and wanted to try it out immediately. Back when the arrow hit his chest, he let himself be flown outwards so that he could create proper distance between him and the Canzers. Only then was he able to experiment on his new LifeSkill. The moment he activated it, he felt tremendous amounts of power flow through his veins. But this didn''t last long. It quickly dispersed out of his bloodstream and seeped out of his skin. This new power turned into a gray fog that leaked out of him, slowly spreading out in a 50-meter radius. The best part about this was the fact that he could still see everything with crystal clear clarity. He could see grid lines everywhere and these lines distorted into an object and showed their location. Judging from the fact that the Huntsman puppet couldn''t target him a second time, meant that the Canzers couldn''t see him. And judging from the fact that Carmine was panicking about not being able to see anything, he knew that the video also couldn''t see anything. "I can hear you," Atlan replied to Carmine to test if they could hear him. "Hello? Hello? Damn! We lost connection!" Atlan smiled. Finally, he could use his real strength. Chapter 286 - 286: Dive bombing ''What''s happening? Why can''t I see anything?'' The White Canzer went from being easygoing to nervous in just a fraction of a second. The fact that she couldn''t see the Huntsman puppet anywhere was enough to make her panic. If she couldn''t feel his presence with the intangible connection she had with the puppet, then she would have immediately started running. ''Stay still, princess. I will hunt whatever''s creating this fog.'' She started getting angry. ''Isn''t this your specialty? How is someone able to overpower your fog?'' ''I don''t know¡­I¡­can''t¡­.I don''t¡­.'' The puppet, after all, was only a puppet. It wasn''t the real deal. It knew that it should be able to overpower the fog, but its powers were severely limited compared to what it was before. ''Useless! Why are all my puppets useless?! This is an outrage¡ª'' The White Canzer was about to say something else, when all of a sudden, they felt a strange force emanating from the fog. It was the kind of aura that was enough to make her white chitin vibrate in fear. Even the Huntsman puppet couldn''t help but cower once it felt this power. After all, it was the power of their mortal enemies: the Angels. The White Canzer would have never thought it would encounter another Angel again after their extinction, but somehow, something can exude the same powers as them. The Angel Power was thin and weak compared to what real Angels had, but it was still Angel power nonetheless. No matter if they were a Student-level Canzer or a Specialist-level Canzer, all of them had a weakness against them. It was a threat that they could not disregard no matter how weak it was. ''What is this¡­there''s no way¡­'' ''....'' The entire Remedium was eerily silent. The White Canzer and the Huntsman puppet stayed still and looked around them. They felt as if someone was looking at them from beyond the fog, like a tiger stalking a deer. As it turned out, that was true. Atlan, after suppressing his powers for the entire mission, finally brought out the Angel Wings behind him. It was as if the burden on his shoulders was gone. All the weight of the battle suit was gone the moment that his Angel Wings manifested in reality. The Canzer essences hidden inside it were scared stiff and hid themselves under the fibers. With one beat of his wings, he hovered a few inches away from the ground. No longer was he burdened by slowness. It finally felt like he could bring out his true powers to the Remedium. He looked forward and looked at the nervous expression on the White Canzer and the puppet. Both of them were wary of whatever was coming. Instead of diving down towards them, Atlan first took a few paces back. He wanted to gather momentum and strike the White Canzer at his fastest speed possible. Because his mutation had a 5% mastery now, his fastest speed had a significant boost. At his top speed, he felt like he could finally contest with the Huntsman''s arrows. Once he retreated far enough, he touched down on the ground and assumed a running position. Then, he burst out into a sprint, powered by the Angel Wings behind him. He started to gather speed and momentum until his legs were off the ground. He was flying like a bullet toward the White Canzer, with the poisoned apple in his hands. As long as he could put the construct in its mouth, then it was his victory. As he reached his fastest speed, he finally came towards the White Canzer with his hand outstretched towards her head. Her face was full of shock, with her mouth wide open. It was the perfect opportunity. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. WHIZZ! Unfortunately, the Huntsman puppet was able to fire an arrow the moment he dove down towards the White Canzer. And as expected of the Huntsman, the arrow was perfectly directed at the apple in his hands. With his opportunity lost, Atlan sped past the White Canzer and disappeared into the fog, nowhere to be seen. The Huntsman puppet tried to fire another arrow, but he was already long gone. The arrow struck nothing but air. Atlan didn''t waste more time and turned around for another dive towards the two Canzers. This time, he targeted the puppet. As long as he could get rid of her bodyguard, she would become easy pickings. However, the Huntsman puppet was very guarded. It was a hunter, which meant it knew everything there was to know about hunting, and being hunted. As soon as he felt the Angel power approach their location, the puppet fired an explosive arrow at Atlan''s location, forcing him to veer off course. Atlan turned around again and dove towards the Huntsman. This time, it fired ten explosive arrows in quick succession that targeted a large space, making sure that Atlan wouldn''t escape. Atlan was forced to stop in mid-air. Tsk. A Specialist-puppet is still too much for me to deal with. I have to get creative. He wouldn''t be able to get to the White Canzer unless he killed the Huntsman puppet. But unfortunately, the Huntsman was far too good at defense, and Atlan simply didn''t have enough offensive ways to deal with him. ''What are you doing, stupid puppet? Kill it already!'' ''Sorry, princess. I don''t know where it is.'' ''Why are these things happening to me?! I''m the most beautiful creature in all the kingdoms. I don''t deserve this!'' As soon as she said that, it was as if a lightbulb appeared above Atlan''s head. He smiled. He finally found a way to defeat the two monsters. He backed up once again and readied himself for another dive towards the two. The Huntsman, sensing the Angel power approaching, readied another set of arrows in its bow. This time, it wasn''t going to let him escape. But just as the Huntsman was about to let go of his arrows, he suddenly heard something that broke his concentration. ''You broke your code for someone who doesn''t even appreciate you.'' Chapter 287 - 287: Beauty provoked ''Who¡ª'' Those words weren''t uttered by the Huntsman puppet or the White Canzer. It was a kind of voice that they weren''t familiar with. They hadn''t heard it ever before in their lives as Canzers. It was a language of their species. They could understand the words perfectly. Yet, somehow, there was something wrong with how it was said. There was something uncanny about it that the puppet could not fully understand. The Huntsman puppet tried to locate where the voice came from and realized that it came from where the Angel power was coming from. And as it got closer, the Huntsman finally got a closer look. All this time, the source of that Angel power never showed itself. It was just a white blur in their eyes, which was further shrouded by the gray fog that encompassed everything. But now, the Huntsman could see it as clear as day. It was the human who was the source of the Angel power. He had majestic and pure white wings behind him, which emanated Angel Power that could not be replicated. It was the real deal. ''The human?! How?!'' And if that wasn''t enough to shock him, the Huntsman looked at Atlan''s mouth and realized that he was the one who was speaking their language. Not only that, Atlan''s words pierced right through the Huntsman puppet''s repressed memories. ''You broke your code for someone who doesn''t even appreciate you.'' The original Huntsman died exactly that way. He broke his code for the White Canzer, who didn''t appreciate it. And in the end, he died and became her puppet. And even if the puppet was merely a replication of the Huntsman, there was still a part of his memories that stuck to the puppet. Every one of those surprises opened a moment of vulnerability to the puppet. It shocked the Huntsman puppet so much that his normally steady hands shook for a fraction of a second. It was enough to change the trajectory of his arrow and miss Atlan''s head by a large margin. Even the most concentrated Canzer would have been distracted by such revelation. Not only did the human somehow wield the extinct Angel Power, but he was also able to speak their language with perfect accuracy. This broke several rules that shouldn''t ever be broken. Angels were supposed to be extinct, and humans weren''t supposed to speak like them. Those were hard rules that governed the world. And somehow, this human broke both of them. The Huntsman puppet couldn''t even begin to comprehend how Atlan was able to do it. And he didn''t have the time to. Before he knew it, Atlan already dove past him and targeted the White Canzer behind him. As Atlan reached the White Canzer, he saw that it was already in a defensive position. It was already surprising that the weak human had the power of an angel as well as being able to speak their language. But after a fraction of a second, it already adjusted to this surprising fact. But Atlan wasn''t worried. After all, he knew just what to say to make the White Canzer show a weakness. He commanded his LifeSkill and parted the gray fog that obscured him from the White Canzer''s vision. It was important that she could see his expression. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She was surprised at his appearance, but it wasn''t enough to create a weakness in her like the Huntsman puppet. The element of surprise was already gone. Atlan opened his mouth and said, ''You are nowhere near as beautiful as the Queen.'' As soon as the Queen was mentioned in front of the White Canzer, it was as if Atlan pushed a button that immediately angered the ''princess''. Atlan heard time and time again how the White Canzer prided herself as the most beautiful being in all the lands. It was narcissistic to the point that it cared about nothing but her beauty. She was obsessed with it. And the fact that Atlan said that the Queen, of all people, was more beautiful than her, shattered the pride of the White Canzer. She wouldn''t have been that angry if Atlan mentioned some other Canzer''s name. But, no. He mentioned the Queen, specifically. The Queen was the person who stood in the way of the White Canzer and prevented her from achieving her ultimate dream¡ªruling the kingdom. Therefore, the White Canzer''s hatred for her was nothing less than a lifelong grudge that cannot be resolved through language. The Queen was a sore spot for the White Canzer. Insinuating that the Queen, her mortal enemy, was much more beautiful than her, was enough to make the White Canzer forget all her pretenses and erupt into a fury. ''HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT THAT WICKED WOMAN IS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ME¡ª'' Before she could go on a tirade, Atlan simply pushed the poisoned apple right to her mouth. She shut up the moment she felt the apple in her mouth. She stumbled backward, landing on her back. When she looked down and saw the shiny red apple in her mouth, she finally realized her mistake. How could she not realize the poisoned apple? After all, she was the one who first used it to try and kill the Queen. And now, ironically, it was being used to kill her. The worst part for her was that she already tasted the apple''s skin, meaning the poison was already taking effect. She felt numbness in her mouth, spreading to the rest of her head and flowing down to her body. The only thing still moving was her mind. She looked at the human with Angel wings with disbelief. She couldn''t believe that she was outplayed by such a weak being. ''He¡­help me¡­'' it begged. If she had just shut up and remained unfazed by Atlan''s provocation, she wouldn''t have been put into such a situation. Slowly, the apple rotted in her mouth and got absorbed into her body. It wasn''t long before the call of the night spoke to her and lured her into an eternal sleep. She laid down, with her back on the ground. No matter how much she tried to fight her heavy eyelids, she could not get rid of the poison. Suddenly, a glass tomb materialized around her and encased her whole body. Finally, she closed her eyes, putting her into an eternal slumber. Chapter 288 - 288: Lucky bumping Atlan landed in front of the glass tomb of the White Canzer. Finally, despite the odds stacked against him, he was able to defeat a Specialist-level Canzer all by himself. He didn''t need the strength of Ninth or the protection of a Tank. All he had was his wits and special tricks to aid him; that was enough. TWANG! The arrow flew through the air at lightspeed and reached Atlan''s back at record time. He didn''t even react. He didn''t have to. Before it could pierce through his chitin armor, the arrow''s normal sturdy texture suddenly turned into woven yarns that suddenly exploded and frayed. It hit Atlan''s chest with nothing but a whimper. It bounced off the chitin and landed on the ground before turning into particles that dissipated into the air. Atlan looked back and saw the Huntsman puppet with its bow pointed straight at him. The Huntsman desperately tried to take out another arrow from his quiver, but they all turned into soft yarns that quickly turned limp and useless. Without the White Canzer''s power keeping the puppets alive, the Huntsman''s second life was close to an end. Slowly, the ends of his toes and fingers turned into yarns. It spread towards his whole body before slowly unraveling. Instead of fighting for its life, the Huntsman seemed to have accepted his fate. He spread his arms open and accepted the loss of his own life. But before he completely disappeared from his life, he looked at Atlan. ''I know you can understand me now¡­and I just want to say¡­thank you¡­'' In his very last moments, the original Huntsman''s memories returned to the puppet. Despite dying because of him, the Huntsman felt nothing but gratitude towards the strange human with strange powers. If it wasn''t for him, he would have been trapped under the White Canzer''s spell, unable to live a life that was truly his. He would have to spend an eternity becoming nothing but her own plaything. He would have to go on without a consciousness of his own. He smiled as his head slowly unraveled into strings and yarns before disappearing in the air. Atlan could no longer feel any power from the Huntsman or the White Canzer. Once everything was over, he took a deep breath. The adrenaline from the fight still hadn''t worn off, but all he wanted to do now was to lay down and take a small break. Throughout the whole fight, Atlan had been on the edge. After all, he was fighting monsters several realms above his own level, all while he couldn''t use any of his powers out in the open. In hindsight, it was very fortunate for him that the White Canzer killed the Huntsman. If it weren''t for his death, then Atlan wouldn''t have gained the ''Fog of War'' LifeSkill that was extremely useful in these situations. If it wasn''t for that power, he wouldn''t be able to show off his mutation without Carmine and the rest of them finding out about it. It also allowed him to have the element of surprise against the White Canzer and the Huntsman puppet. If it weren''t for that, he didn''t think he could have won against them. Once everything was over, Atlan released his grip on the ''Fog of War'' LifeSkill. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Slowly, the fog dispersed into the wind, leaving Atlan all alone in the dark forest Remedium. "It''s coming back! We''re finally getting a signal. I hope nothing bad happened to our Star Porter!" Once the fog cleared, Carmine and the rest of the spectators could finally see and hear everything inside the Remedium. They half expected to see Atlan being consumed by the White Canzer, but thankfully, that wasn''t what they saw. Instead, they only saw an empty forest. "What happened?! Where''s the White Canzer? Where''s her puppet?" Carmine was full of questions. From what they last saw, Atlan was on the brink of being hunted by the Specialist-level monsters. And the worst part about it was that he didn''t even run when they told him to. Just then, Carmine spotted something on the corner of the video feed. It seemed to be a glass tomb with the White Canzer sleeping peacefully inside. Carmine gasped loudly, getting the attention of the other Operators in the room. Once Carmine zoomed in on the image, everyone finally saw the reason for his surprise. Everyone''s jaws collectively dropped. Somehow, the White Canzer was vanquished! "How¡­how is this possible¡­" "The White Canzer is done¡­it''s entombed¡­" "I can''t believe it¡­but how?!" Then, the answer arrived in their thoughts. The only way this outcome could be achieved was if someone put the poisoned apple construct in the White Canzer''s mouth. There was no way that the White Canzer voluntarily consumed this dangerous material, which meant only one thing: Atlan was the one who did it. That implication was perhaps even more incredulous. A Student-level Savior was somehow able to defeat a Specialist-level Canzer all by himself. And not only that, he was also a Porter¡ªa job that was famous for having no fighting ability. "Atlan¡­Star Porter¡­did you do this?" "Yes. I got lucky and found the right timing." He couldn''t lie about it. After all, the glass coffin was right there for them to see. Of course, he wasn''t going to tell them the truth on how he did it. "...Ho¡­how¡­can you help me understand how a Student-level Porter like you is able to fight against a Specialist-level puppet and reach the White Canzer in one piece? I truly cannot understand." "I got lucky. As it turned out, the fog didn''t obscure the view only for us. The White Canzer and the Huntsman puppet was also affected by it too. And luckily, as I stumbled my way through the fog, I bumped into the White Canzer right in front of me. We had a small fight, but I was able to win the tussle and put the poisoned apple in her mouth." "..." Carmine and the rest of the people listening to Atlan''s story couldn''t help but be awestruck at his luck. He must have been blessed by the goddess of luck herself for him to be this fortunate. Even with how unbelievable his story was, they had no choice but to believe it. The alternative would be that Atlan fought them off by himself, and that was simply impossible. So, they just accepted that Atlan was simply lucky. Chapter 289 - 289: Masteries increased Somehow, he was able to triumph against a Specialist-level Canzer using only his wits and his mutations. Can I upgrade my mastery? After all, he won a battle using only his Angel Wings and nothing more. It should be enough of a victory for him to increase his mastery. He looked down at his Soul System and focused on the white Angel Wings floating in the darkness of the space. He commanded a few lines of blue wisps in the collection of experience in his Soul System and moved them over to the Angel Wings. The blue wisps revolved around the Angel Wings. And as he concentrated, his internal body heat allowed the blue wisps to melt into a liquid. And once it had turned into this state, the Angel Wing mutation was able to absorb them into its very DNA. ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings ¡ª¡ª¡ª 15% mastery He was surprised that he could upgrade it to 15% mastery so fast. He had a 10% increase in mastery with this one session. He thought the limit would only be up to 10%. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Is it because I fought against the Huntsman and the White Canzer together? With this huge increase in mastery, Atlan felt his whole body be filled with Angel power. It allowed him to counteract the weight of the battle suit even better, allowing him more speed and control over his body movements. He felt like he could even run and jump now! This greatly improved his quality of life in the Remedium. Now that he could run at a relatively fast pace, he didn''t have to worry about being unable to escape from a dangerous Canzer again. It took about ten thousand experience to upgrade his mastery, which was a lot for other people, but a paltry amount for someone like Atlan. After all, he wasn''t in dire need of them any time soon. He had so much experience in his Soul System than what he knew to do with. Wait a minute¡­I didn''t just use my Angel Wings¡­I also used another mutation. He looked at the Polyglot mutation in his Soul System. Because of this mutation, he was able to speak and communicate with the Huntsman puppet and the White Canzer, which gave them so much shock that he was able to grab ahold of their weakness and finish them off in one go. If he didn''t have that ability, he wouldn''t have even been able to approach the White Canzer without being inundated with arrows by the puppet. The Sapient Canzer Polyglot mutation was crucial in his triumph against those monsters. It was only natural to think that he could also start its mastery. He concentrated hard and commanded another group of blue wisps to surround this mutation. With the help of his intimate memory with Lizzie, he was able to easily turn his blue wisps into their liquid form, which was quickly absorbed by the mutation. Atlan felt a surge of power surrounding his head. Unsurprisingly, it was concentrated near his mouth¡ªspecifically, his tongue. ¡ª (7-star) Sapient Canzer Polyglot ¡ª¡ª¡ª 10% mastery Now that he had mastery over this mutation, he could finally use it without manifesting it in reality. He could use its False Mutation. As for now, he didn''t know how to use this power yet. After all, he would need to have a Canzer right in front of him for him to test out this new power. For now, he didn''t want that to happen. After finishing his business, Atlan took a deep breath and waited. A minute passed. And yet, nothing happened. He looked down at the entombed White Canzer in the glass coffin. She didn''t look like she died, it looked like she simply fell asleep. "Are you sure it''s over?" he asked Carmine. "Yes. Now that the poisoned apple got into the White Canzer''s system, it will forever be in a frozen state, never to wake up in this lifetime. The glass tomb is evidence of that. As for the other six puppets back at Ninth and the rest of the team, they probably dissipated into nothingness just like how the Huntsman puppet died¡ªif Ninth hadn''t killed them yet at that point." "....." Despite Carmine''s assured voice, Atlan couldn''t help but be wary of the situation. After all, it had already been a couple of minutes after the White Canzer ''died'' and yet, Atlan still saw no notification from his system. Why am I not reaping the White Canzer? Is it because it''s not dead, just asleep? This revelation put a dent in Atlan''s good mood. He thought he''d be able to get another good burst of rewards after personally killing a Specialist-level Canzer, but it seemed that it was too good to be true. He didn''t kill the White Canzer, he only immobilized her forever. "It''s not dead yet, is it?" he asked Carmine. "Technically, no. It is only taking a deep sleep for an eternity. But by all accounts, you can consider the Canzer as good as dead. It no longer poses a threat to you, and the mission." "Can''t I kill it right now? It''s defenseless." "...That''s not a good idea." "Why?" Atlan was confused. This seemed like the very best opportunity to get rid of a dangerous Specialist Canzer with very minimal risk. After all, the White Canzer couldn''t do anything to him now. "...I didn''t want to tell you this, but there is a VERY VERY VERY small chance that something could happen and the White Canzer could wake up again. The chances are minuscule, but it''s possible nonetheless. If you tried to kill the White Canzer now, that probability would shoot up to a hundred percent. The White Canzer will wake up. So, it''s better to leave it alone entombed in the glass coffin for now." Atlan couldn''t believe it. "Such a thing is possible?!" "Yes." After a second, he calmed himself down. "The chances for it are very small, right?" But just as he said that, the whole Remedium trembled. A dark shadow was suddenly cast from above Atlan, forcing him to look up. Up in the dark skies, he saw another creature clad in steel armor, riding a chitinous horse while floating in the skies. "....I take it all back. Atlan, you may be the unluckiest person alive." Chapter 290 - 290: The Prince "I can''t believe this! The chances of encountering the Huntsman are already slim to none! Meanwhile, the chances of encountering the Prince are even smaller than that. But the chances of encountering both in a single mission are nothing less than impossible! I can''t believe this is happening to you!" Carmine and the rest of the Operators back in the real world were experiencing a mental breakdown once they saw the image of the Prince in the video feed. It was one thing if this happened during a normal mission, but it was a complete disaster since this extremely unfortunate thing happened to Atlan, a Student-level Porter. They didn''t know how they were going to teach him how to defeat the Prince before he touched down on the ground. After all, even Ninth herself would have trouble doing this, much more a novice like Atlan. "What is that?..." Atlan looked up at the new monster in the skies. Even though it was still high up in the air, he could still feel the immense pressure and aura that it was emanating from the ground. If the Huntsman''s powers were akin to a wild beast hiding in the bushes, then this new monster''s powers were like a lion proudly roaring at the jungle and proclaiming his majesty through the whole kingdom. This was another Specialist-level Canzer. "That is the Prince¡­" Carmine tried to keep his voice calm, but his nervousness leaked out into his intonation. It was clear that even Carmine didn''t feel confident about Atlan surviving this encounter. "Who''s the prince?" "The Prince is, as you guessed, a prince. He is the original co-conspirator of the White Canzer." Atlan was surprised. "He helped the White Canzer kill the King and the Princess? Why?" "Yes. The Prince was the one who helped the White Canzer infiltrate the royal chambers by distracting the security guards. As a Knight of the royal order, he was able to procure an excuse and leave no security during the night of the crime. As for why he would do this, the reason was simple. He was infatuated with the White Canzer. She promised him her hand in marriage, as well as becoming the new King after the White Canzer took control of the royal kingdom." Atlan looked up at the Prince. There was no wonder why he wore full metal armor and was riding a royal steed. "Why is it here?" "He has come for the White Canzer." Just as Carmine said that, Atlan saw the Prince suddenly disappear from his view. It was so fast that Atlan couldn''t even see a blur in his vision. One second he was there, and the next he was gone. Atlan was reminded once again. This was the full strength of a Specialist-level Canzer. The Prince was nothing like the Huntsman and the White Canzer. Those two Canzers were very strong on their own powers, like hunting and conjuring puppets out of nowhere. But even then, those two Canzers were physically weak. Their strength was not indicative of what a Specialist-level Canzer usually had. And now, Atlan experienced it himself. If the Prince charged at Atlan, there was no way he could dodge. The assault would have happened even before Atlan could register it in his brain. That was the true difference between a Student and a Specialist. All the pride in his strength after defeating the White Canzer all by himself went out the window. He felt like an ant again. He felt a burst of air hit his face. When he looked down, the Prince was already right in front of him. He had already dismounted his chitinous horse and stood on his own two feet. He was only a few meters away from Atlan. If Atlan couldn''t see his chitinous skin peeking out from his armor, then Atlan would have thought he was looking at a human knight. But Atlan knew that the Prince had all the power to destroy a Student Savior like him with just one move. Fortunately, the Canzer didn''t look at Atlan. It looked like he didn''t even register in the monster''s mind. It only looked at the White Canzer in the glass coffin. The Prince''s face was obscured by his helmet, but Atlan could see a tinge of sadness and grief in the Canzer''s eyes the moment it looked at the White Canzer sleeping peacefully. ''Of forgive me, my Princess, for I was too late. If only I could sacrifice myself and take the time back to when you were awake, then I would gladly do so. I blame my ears for not hearing your call for help even before you uttered them.'' The Prince kneeled and caressed the glass coffin. Meanwhile, Atlan held his breath as he looked at the Prince. He was only a few moments away from activating his Angel Wings and running away as fast as possible if he saw any sign of the Prince being hostile. "...what should I do¡­" whispered Atlan to his battle suit. "...I don''t think you can do anything¡­" Carmine''s words were not the least bit comforting. Then, the Prince suddenly stood up and opened the glass coffin with his own hands. "...should I stop him?..." "...I don''t think you should try¡­I think you should run away now and seek protection with your team. You still have time." The Prince looked over at the beauty of the White Canzer and couldn''t help but be emotional. It regretted that it could not protect the White Canzer despite its promise to her. Surprisingly, Atlan saw drops of tears flow from the Prince''s eyes towards the White Canzer''s peaceful sleep. They magically got absorbed by her white chitin. ''Let me kiss you one more time,'' the Prince said. It took off its helmet, showing its chitinous face which was very similar to that of the White Canzer. It puckered its mouth and moved its head towards her lips. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan knew something bad was about to happen and immediately tried to dive toward the Prince in an attempt to separate the two. But an invisible force prevented him from moving any closer. He had to watch as the Prince kissed the White Canzer in her sleep. Suddenly, a huge force emanated from the two that sent Atlan flying outwards into the dark forest. Chapter 291 - 291: True love’s kiss Atlan skidded on the muddy ground about 30 meters away from the Prince and the White Canzer''s glass coffin. The shockwave was too strong for Atlan to overcome. He failed to prevent the Prince from kissing the White Canzer. Once the wind died down from the blast, Atlan looked in front of him. The Prince, after kissing the White Canzer, simply kneeled right next to her coffin and sobbed quietly. He was in grief. "What happens now?" "...Unfortunately¡­" Carmine didn''t have to continue his words. Atlan saw the result of that kiss with his very own eyes. The very peaceful sleep of the White Canzer was suddenly interrupted as one of her chitinous fingers twitched. This small movement was not by Atlan. "There''s no way, right?" The White Canzer, who was supposed to have been vanquished by Atlan by putting the poisoned apple in her mouth, suddenly opened her eyes and sat up on her glass coffin And as incredulous as it sounded, the White Canzer looked even more whiter than before. It was as if that brief sleep only gave her nothing but a beauty regimen rather than a punishment. "Yes¡­the only way for the White Canzer to awaken from her eternal slumber is through a kiss from the Prince. I never told you this because I didn''t think I needed to. I shouldn''t have underestimated your bad luck." Carmine thought that using the poisoned apple would have been enough to deal with the White Canzer. Unfortunately, he was wrong. If he knew this would happen, he wouldn''t have made Atlan go off on his own and away from Ninth and the team. ''Hrnggg!'' The White Canzer stretched her arms as if she had just awakened from a very good sleep. The Prince, seeing this miracle unfold in front of his very eyes, erupted in a joyful shout. ''My princess! You''re alive! I knew it. Only a true love''s kiss could overcome death''s grip!'' The Prince hugged the White Canzer wholeheartedly, but he didn''t see that the White Canzer hated being touched. After he let her go and looked her in the eyes, the White Canzer changed her expression into one of loving jubilance. ''Yes. You have saved me, my prince, my love. If it weren''t for you, then I don''t think I would have survived. You have done the world a great service, after all, you have saved them from being deprived of my beauty!'' The Prince took the White Canzer''s hands and kissed them. ''Anything for you, my love.'' The White Canzer smiled. ''Well, then¡­I suggest you kill the human that tried to take me away from you.'' She looked at Atlan and flashed a devious smile. She wasn''t mad that he tried to kill her. No, she was more mad about the fact that Atlan said that the Queen was much more beautiful than her. For the White Canzer, saying those words were even more of a crime than murder. The Prince didn''t even look at Atlan''s direction. From his perspective, the human wasn''t even a problem. ''Why should we waste our time with the human? We should immediately leave and start a kingdom of our own!'' The White Canzer gritted her teeth. She liked the fact that the Prince was infatuated with her, but sometimes, it was too much. His love was overbearing to the point that he wouldn''t completely acquiesce to her words. ''Please? I don''t want to feel fear and paranoia in our paradise. If he is left alive, then I will always keep a watch over my shoulder. I won''t be able to eat, I won''t be able to sleep, and most of all, I won''t be able to make love to you.'' The Prince sighed. He didn''t want to waste any more time on a worthless human, but her words were too persuasive. ''Fine, my princess. I won''t be long.'' Atlan, fearing the worst, immediately activated the ''Fog of War'' LifeSkill and shrouded himself in the gray smoke. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Prince felt himself being surrounded by the smoke, preventing him from seeing the White Canzer even though they were only a few feet away from each other. ''How dare you try to separate me from my princess?!'' The Prince stomped the ground, and Atlan swore that he heard a lion''s roar accompany his move. Suddenly, the gray smoke that tried to confuse the Prince was immediately dispersed. It allowed him to finally see the White Canzer again. Her beauty made him completely distracted, even forgetting the fact that he was facing Atlan. Seeing a chance, Atlan briefly let go of the Fog of War LifeSkill and used his Sniper LifeSkill: Apocalyptic Hellfire. One of the arrows left over from the Huntsman fight was left lying on the ground. He immediately picked it up and used it as his ammo. Picking up his slingshot hanging from his waist, he created a makeshift bow. Although the power and accuracy were not comparable to a bow, it didn''t matter. As long as Atlan could use it as ammo, then his Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill could be used. Immediately, bluish-green fire surrounded the arrow notched on the slingshot. He stretched the rubber band to its maximum length and aimed it at the Prince at the other end of the dispersing fog. Since he could only use one LifeSkill at one time, he had to get this shot off before the Fog of War dispersed. TWANG! The arrow flew forward, but it was not traveling in a straight line. It tumbled and twisted in random ways due to the incompatibility of the arrow with the slingshot. But thankfully, the arrow didn''t matter. It was simply a vessel for the Apocalyptic Hellfire. A bluish-green line of fire appeared and headed straight for the Prince''s chest. The Specialist Canzer saw the attack but chose not to dodge the arrow. BOOM! The Apocalyptic Hellfire exploded, creating a wall of fire that erupted on the Prince''s entire body. But after a few seconds, the fire died down. The Prince stood tall with nothing but a small dark spot in his chest where the arrow landed. And just as it was about to scoff at Atlan''s attack, it suddenly felt a threatening aura come out of the fog. Above the Prince''s head, a golden cloud appeared, with the power of the Angels rumbling inside. Chapter 292 - 292: Prince’s weakness Atlan knew that his Apocalyptic Hellfire would do nothing to the Specialist-level Canzer. Even if it was rated in the SSS class, it could not bridge the gap between their strength. That meant that all of his LifeSkills would bring about the same paltry effect, except for one. There was one LifeSkill in his Soul System that would make even the strongest Canzers consider him as a threat, and that was his SSS class Mage: Cherubic Retribution. Even though it was only in the Student realm for now, the Angel power hidden inside this power was nothing to scoff at. If Atlan used it properly, he could probably injure the Prince for a good amount of damage. The problem with this LifeSkill was that it needed a long time to activate, and he needed his target to stay still for a few seconds. So, to fulfill the activation of this LifeSkill, he lulled the Prince into a false sense of security by attacking him with the Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill. The Prince accurately judged that the arrow would do nothing against its tough chitin and stayed still. That gave Atlan enough time to focus on the Prince and activate the LifeSkill. As soon as he did, a golden cloud made out of Angel Power manifested above the Prince''s head. It was instantaneous and caught even the Prince off guard. At first, the Prince did not feel the need to move away from the cloud. It was as weak as the arrow Atlan threw at him a few moments ago. But then, it felt a different kind of power inside the cloud. It was subtle and weak, but the Prince was sure that there was a trace of Angel Power hidden inside it that was ready to strike him at any time. CRACKLE! A golden lightning struck down on the Prince. Surprisingly, it was able to bypass its full steel armor and affect its inner chitin, creating microscopic cracks that injured the Prince. ''Gagh!'' It immediately moved away from the cloud, afraid that a second lightning would strike him again. From Atlan''s perspective, the Prince arrived ten meters away from his original position in an instant. His chitin sizzled. The Prince looked down and saw an incredulous sight. He was injured! The human, who it deemed to be the weakest being it had ever seen in its life, actually hid something so powerful. It made him reevaluate Atlan''s threat level. The presence of Angel power gave the Prince a good fright. Even though it couldn''t see any sign of the Angel anywhere, just the prospect of one surviving its extinction and protecting this one human made the Prince reconsider his decision to kill Atlan. What if the Angel was hiding and was only waiting for the right moment to strike? The Prince couldn''t help but wonder. Meanwhile, Atlan gritted his teeth as he looked at the Prince in the distance. He could see the cracks in its chitin start to heal and mend together. It would only take a few more moments until he was fully healed. I can''t fight this guy head-on. I can''t use the Cherubic Retribution so soon. It''s already wary of it. "Carmine, do you have any information on this guy? What''s his weakness?" "...." Atlan forgot that Carmine couldn''t see or hear anything while his Fog of War was activated. Thankfully, since he used his other LifeSkills, the fog soon dissipated and allowed Carmine to take a look at the situation. "Thank the gods we''re back! Sorry, Atlan. We still can''t figure out why the video feed keeps getting interrupted." "It''s fine. It''s not your fault. I just need to know if the Prince has any kind of weakness that I can exploit." "Yes. The Prince''s weakness is the White Canzer itself. It loves her so much that it can''t think about anything else. If you''re able to take advantage of that vulnerability, you can turn the tides around. The usual way to do this is to pit the Huntsman and the Prince against each other. His jealousy will lead him to fight the Huntsman, which will lead to his demise. But since the Huntsman is dead, you''ll have to find another way." Atlan thought for a second. Judging from what he heard and witnessed with the Prince, he could surmise that the Canzer was quite jealous and overprotective of the White Canzer. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He had to find a way to exploit that. ''Princess, oh there you are! I can''t be without you for even a second!'' The Prince immediately ran towards the White Canzer and embraced her ever so tightly. Just then, Atlan suddenly had an idea. He immediately activated his Fog of War LifeSkill, spreading gray smoke from out of his body and into the dark woods. Soon, the White Canzer and the Prince were once again separated by the fog. It was so thick that it was able to disorient the both of them and they unknowingly stumbled away from each other. ''Princess? Where are you?'' The Prince raised his armored leg, ready to stomp down and get rid of the fog separating him and his princess. But then, a soft familiar voice rang out in the fog. ''I''m here, prince. Don''t destroy the fog. Didn''t I tell you that the fog is made by the Huntsman? Are you so bad that you can''t compete against him? A true knight would fight even with the disadvantage of the fog, right? Why don''t you prove that you are worthy.'' The Prince heard the White Canzer''s voice and stopped in his tracks. ''I will do as you say, princess.'' Meanwhile, Atlan smiled as he mouthed a silent response. ''That''s good.'' His silent voice transmitted directly over to the Prince''s head and made it seem like it was the White Canzer''s voice. This was the False Mutation of his Sapient Canzer Polyglot mutation. It allowed him to speak to Canzers without actually speaking to them. He could telepathically communicate with them, and give them the illusion that it was someone familiar talking to them. Chapter 293 - 293: Queen of manipulation ''My anger burns at the mere mention of that bastard Huntsman. And the fact that his presence is here with us makes me want to destroy everything inside this dark forest into smithereens. But if what you desire is for me to triumph against the human despite the fog, then that is what I shall do. I shall prove to you and everything else in this world that no one is more suitable to be your lover than me.'' The Prince never would have thought that he was talking to none other than Atlan. He knew that the Prince''s weakness was his infatuation with the White Canzer, so he used that to his advantage. The Prince was so enamored with the White Canzer that it blindly believed her words. After all, he would have never thought that a mere human would be able to speak their language, much more speak like the White Canzer. ''You''ll do anything for me, right?'' ''Yes, princess. Just say the word,'' replied the Prince. Atlan smiled as he looked beyond the fog. ''Then kill yourself. That is the only way we''ll be together. Our soul shall be bonded beyond death so that none could tear us apart.'' This was a risky move. He didn''t know if the Prince was smart enough to notice that something weird was happening with the White Canzer. If it sensed something wrong, then it could immediately attack him for impersonating the White Canzer. He was sure that the Prince wouldn''t spare him because of that crime. Despite the risks, Atlan still decided that it was worth it. He couldn''t fight the Prince even if he wanted to. He was truly too weak to fight against a Specialist-level Canzer with no discernible physical weaknesses that he could exploit. ''....'' Atlan gulped. The Prince''s pause was not a good sign. But thankfully, it said, ''Anything for you, my love. I shall meet you on the other side of death.'' The Prince raised both his hands and started to choke himself to death. There was no hesitation with his movements as if he didn''t care about life or death. He only cared about fulfilling the White Canzer''s words. Its full body metal armor around its neck started to bend and crackle from his powers. Atlan couldn''t kill the Prince himself, but he could trick it to kill itself. And it seemed to have worked. Meanwhile, the White Canzer looked around the fog and couldn''t hear or see any sign of the Prince anywhere. After a few seconds, she started to sense something weird. Usually, the Prince couldn''t stand being away from her for even a second. Yet, even with its immense power, the Prince had not destroyed the fog that obscured their vision of each other. The Prince should have returned to her side already, presenting the human''s head as a prize. Yet that did not happen. There was only silence among the fog. Then, she started to wonder. The human may have seemed weak enough to be trampled with one foot, but he seemed to be blessed with strange powers¡ªespecially that of the supposed extinct Angels. Not only that, the human was somehow able to speak their language. That was perhaps the most surprising part of the human. She didn''t warn the Prince about it because she believed that even with the element of surprise, the human couldn''t even give one scratch on his full metal armor. But what if somehow, the human was able to trick the Prince? The White Canzer, famous for being the Queen of Lies, also had another title: She was also called the Queen of Manipulation. She had the uncanny ability to manipulate everyone to do her bidding. She manipulated the Huntsman into sparing her, she manipulated the Prince into showing his loyalty to her, and she manipulated the seven puppets to die for her. Therefore, she had a keen sense regarding manipulation. Somehow, she was able to sense that the Prince was being tricked by the human! She felt her grasp on the Prince loosen as if someone else had gotten his reigns. She couldn''t let that happen. No one else was allowed to manipulate the Prince other than her. She immediately braved the fog, hoping to find the Prince and retake control of his psyche. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at the Prince and saw that it was slowly losing its color from asphyxiation. He just needed a few more minutes before the Prince killed himself. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He just had to make sure that the White Canzer didn''t get in his way. But when he looked around, he suddenly saw that the White Canzer was gone from her original spot. Instead, she had suddenly appeared right in front of him. ''Human! You will pay for this!'' the White Canzer screamed. Atlan stepped back, hoping to lead her further away from the Prince. "Carmine, how am I supposed to deal with her? Can I use the poisoned apple again?" "Unfortunately, no. The only way you can kill her is to kill her." "That''s easy, right? With no puppet by her side, she is as weak as a Student-level Canzer." "Yes¡­but only in the real world. Listen closely, Atlan. You''ll be transported to her dream world, and you''ll have to find her weakness. It''s something she treasures deeply and keeps to herself all the time¡ª" "What do you mean¡ª" Atlan didn''t know what happened, but when he looked around him, he could no longer see the fog surrounding the dark forest. He wasn''t even in the dark forest anymore. He looked to be transported into a world where the roads were inlaid with pink glitters, with blades of grass replaced by pink ribbons, and rabbits were jumping around everywhere. "Where am I?" Atlan looked down and hoped to get some insight from Carmine, but he was surprised to see that his bulky battle suit was gone! He wore his original battle suit, the one that didn''t have chitin armor and didn''t weigh thousands of tons. Then, he remembered Carmine''s words. "Am I in the White Canzer''s dream?" Chapter 294 - 294: Dreamscape Atlan didn''t know how, but the White Canzer was somehow able to pull him into her dream spell. She must have activated it as soon as she laid his eyes on him. Everything in this world was pretty on the outside. It looked like something that a narcissistic princess like the White Canzer would want in a dream. Everything was colored in pink and glitter. There wasn''t any part of this dream world that didn''t conform to the White Canzer''s insane beauty standards¡ªexcept for Atlan. His black battle suit made him stand out. "Who are you?" The White Canzer floated down from the cotton candy clouds and faced Atlan with a very elegant dress. But that wasn''t the strangest thing about her. The White Canzer''s skin was white as snow and as smooth as silk. But it wasn''t made out of chitin. It was more human! And her face wasn''t monstrous. It conformed to the beauty standards that would make even the most beautiful woman in the world green with envy. If Atlan didn''t know any better, then he would have thought that the White Canzer was a normal woman. "You''re the White Canzer¡­how?" She looked at her skin and smiled. "Do you like it? You are a guest here in my dream world. It is only natural for me to accommodate you by turning myself into something that you would appreciate." The White Canzer moved closer to Atlan, hoping that her human beauty would bring his guard down. But Atlan wasn''t tricked. He backed away from her with cautious eyes. "You''re not human. You''re a monster." She scoffed at his hypocrisy. " I''m a monster? How about you? Not only do you have the power of the Angels and their wings, but you can also talk and speak like us! I can only act like a human here in the dream world, but you can act like a Canzer even in the real world. So tell me, who''s more of a monster between us? S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And don''t think I haven''t noticed the fact that the fog mysteriously works in your favor. It''s as if you can command it as well as the Huntsman." Atlan didn''t answer. He kept his guard up while thinking of a way to kill her and get out of the dream spell as soon as possible. He didn''t know if time was passing in the real world. If so, then his body was in a very vulnerable position with no defense. "Get me out of here." "Why the rush? The party hasn''t started yet." The White Canzer then raised her hands, and the whole dream world trembled. Atlan suddenly felt different kinds of powers emerge from out of nowhere and converge on his location. Unfortunately, these powers weren''t entirely unfamiliar. He felt these before. Suddenly, the surrounding pink ground exploded from underground as seven distinct creatures tunneled out. "That''s¡­" "Yes! Welcome, my puppets! After a long time, we have finally reunited!" The seven puppets showed themselves to Atlan. And just like the White Canzer, they no longer had chitinous bodies. Instead, they had human skins and faces. Coupled with their clothes, anyone would have mistaken them for a human. These seven puppets had a short and stocky nature. If they were suddenly plopped down in the Masamune district, then they wouldn''t feel like an outsider at all. They would fit right in. That was because the puppets were dwarves in this dream world. "I''m happy! I''m happy!" said Happy. "Zzzzzz. POP! Huh?...zzzzzz," said Sleepy. "Hey¡­hey guys¡­nice¡­.nice to see you again¡­." Bashful hid himself amongst the group. "Hehehe¡­anyone wants a hit?" Dopey smoked on his pipe. "HACHOO!" Sneezy sneezed. "Urgh! Will everyone shut up? My ear hurts." Grumpy, as usual, was grumpy. "Everyone, listen up. Our princess summoned us for a reason, so let''s do our job, shall we?" Doc reigned in the rest of the puppets. Atlan looked at the seven puppets and couldn''t help but feel overwhelmed. He wasn''t like Ninth, who had the power of a domain to help her fight against six puppets at the same time. And the worst part about it was that he didn''t have any chitinous armor protecting him. "How is this possible?" He thought that once the White Canzer consumed the poisoned apple, she couldn''t summon the puppets again. "This is my dream world! Of course, I can summon my puppets with me. It''s the only place where I can summon them for now." This was the very reason why the White Canzer dragged Atlan to her dream world. It was the only place where she could kill him. "Puppets! You know what to do. Kill him!" The seven puppets, each one billowing with different kinds of powers, set their sights on Atlan. Just by their sheer numbers, Atlan had no chance of ever dodging the attacks. Happy created a smile beam that would force Atlan to literally laugh to death. Sleepy manifested the letters ''ZZZZ'' which would put him into an eternal sleep. Each of their attacks had attributes that matched their names. But just as the attacks were about to hit, Atlan suddenly disappeared from their view. Not only that, his disappearance was accommodated with a very strong presence that threatened the puppets. Atlan appeared in the air above the puppets. He had his Angel Wings behind him. He pointed his palm down at the puppets and muttered something under his breath. Suddenly, a black web sprouted out and enveloped the group. The webs stuck to the puppet''s skin and refused to let go. Then, BOOM! The black webs exploded, resulting in 2nd-degree burns and charred skin to the seven puppets. And that wasn''t all. Atlan took out a pink rock he found on the ground. With one giant swing, he threw the rock down to the group, creating a bluish-green line of fire that instantaneously arrived in the air. The puppets couldn''t even utter a single cry as a huge wall of bluish-green fire exploded from where the rock landed. In just two seconds, Atlan activated two of his LifeSkills. Now that he was in the dream world, he was free to use his LifeSkills any time he wanted. Chapter 295 - 295: Ugly cold "What¡ªwhat is this?!" The White Canzer couldn''t help but exclaim once she saw the human manifest two different kinds of powers in quick succession. It was common knowledge that humans only had one or two powers in their arsenal. They weren''t like Canzers who had multiple powers. Not only that, the human''s powers were somehow able to damage her puppets even in this dreamscape. Each of the puppets suffered severe burns from the explosions. Atlan''s exploding chitinous webs and his Apocalyptic Hellfire were enough to create intense damage to the dwarfs. "I knew it¡­these puppets don''t have the same power they had in the real world." The White Canzer gritted her teeth. She had hoped that Atlan would get overwhelmed by the appearance of the dwarves and that he would panic and flee for his life. He shouldn''t have known that the puppet''s powers were extremely limited in this dreamscape. But somehow, he was able to sense it. It was all thanks to his Thermal Vision LifeSkill. He immediately noticed that their internal body heat was nothing compared to the ones he saw in the real world. If he were to compare it, then the dwarves were like Student-level Canzers compared to the puppets, who were in the Specialist realm. Therefore, these monsters were of no trouble for Atlan. Now that he could use all of his LifeSkills, there was no way that the dwarves could overpower him. They finally succumbed to their burns and fell to the ground. They couldn''t take the burns and damage that Atlan''s LifeSkill inflicted upon them. "Tch! Don''t think that''s the end of my wrath! This is my dream, and I can control it anyway I want!" She conjured up multiple copies of the dwarves. Each seven personalities had five different clones, each one having the same power as the last one. Even though these dwarves were weak physically, their numbers were endless. The White Canzer could manifest as many of them in her dream as possible. She was going to tire Atlan out. The hundreds of dwarves crowded him on all sides. Each of them vomited out their different powers, even inflicting them upon each other. But they didn''t care. They were going to respawn into more clones either way. Atlan''s Angel Wings flapped, allowing him to escape into the air. The dwarves tried to catch up to him, but his speed was far too fast for them to even grasp his clothes. "Let''s see if you can escape a thousand, a hundred thousand, and even a million of my dwarves!" The White Canzer continued to create dwarf after dwarf, quickly multiplying their numbers into the millions. It got so bad that the entire dreamscape was entirely replaced by a sea of dwarves squished upon each other. They had no other thought other than to catch the human up in the air. Even as they suffocated from the overpopulation, they did not mind and continued to claw their way upwards, creating a tall mound that tried to reach up to the lone human. Even if he used his Apocalyptic Hellfire a thousand times, he didn''t think he could get rid of the dwarves below him. There''s no other choice. I''ll have to use my trump card. He reached down deep into his Soul System and activated his Berserker LifeSkill: Bloodline Transformation. Slowly, his whole body started to rot. His skin, which was already pale, turned even paler until black spots started to spread out into his body. Slowly, decay consumed his entire being. But instead of killing him, this decay only served to make him stronger. His body became even sturdier, surpassing even that of his SSS class Physique. His head turned into nothing but a skull, with bits of skin still hanging on his cheeks. His eyes were replaced with nothing but a small red ember, floating into the deep, dark crevice on his skull. The White Canzer couldn''t help but shudder at his appearance. Even though he had no eyes, she could feel his gaze pierce right towards her with malice. Atlan had now become the very opposite of what the White Canzer desired. She wanted beauty in everything, especially herself. She never cared for ugly things as long as she, herself, was beautiful. But somehow, seeing the hideous, decayed face of Atlan made her feel as if the ugliness was spreading towards her. She felt that if she stared at his skull any longer, then her whole face would also decay like him. This was her worst nightmare. "Kyaaa!!!!" She screamed and covered her eyes. She didn''t even care about what happened to her dwarves. Atlan, with his bloodline transformation, emitted a very cold presence. His whole skeleton body went up in smoke, not because of a fire, but because of how cold his body was. This cold started to spread until even the dwarves could feel their blood freeze and crack. The top of the mound that tried so desperately to try and reach for Atlan immediately turned into a frozen block of ice. This continued to spread downwards, until the sea of dwarves turned into nothing more than a frozen block of ice, with the horrified expressions of the dwarves forever entombed on the glacier. The White Canzer, frozen in fear, wasn''t in the right mental state to create more clones of the dwarves. This was a moment of weakness that Atlan didn''t let go. He let go of his transformation and activated his other LifeSkill. He waited for a few seconds as he focused on his target. Thankfully, the White Canzer stood in place and didn''t move a single inch. She was too frightened at Atlan''s transformation and didn''t want to see his face, even if it meant that she would never open her eyes ever again. Finally, Atlan found the ability to activate his LifeSkill: Cherubic Retribution. A golden cloud appeared above the White Canzer. She wasn''t like the Prince who had tremendous amounts of defense. She was feeble. Atlan reckoned that even this Student-level LifeSkill could kill her in one shot, if not critically injure her. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 296 - 296: Important dress The cloud rumbled and sent out a golden lightning that slithered through the air. The presence of this threatening Angel power made the White Canzer break out of her stupor. Her eyes glimmered into one of fear as she immediately used her powers in the dream world to try and get out of this lightning. Even though she could control everything in this dreamscape, she could not turn back time. The lightning was far too fast for her to move away from. Atlan knew that the moment he was able to target the White Canzer, she had no way of dodging his attack. But as he watched everything unfold from afar, he suddenly saw something incredulous. The White Canzer glowed into a pink light as she used her powers. Suddenly, her pink dress disappeared from her own body and reappeared a hundred meters away from her original location. Atlan thought that this was a trick. He thought that she would somehow be able to move away from the lightning through her powers in the dreamscape. But that did not happen. The golden lightning pierced through the White Canzer''s body just as Atlan planned. Her white skin sizzled before turning into mere particles that disappeared into the air. Just like that, the White Canzer died¡ªat least, for a moment. "...haha¡­hahahaha¡­I can revive for as long as I want in this dream¡­you cannot kill me, while I can kill you." The White Canzer reappeared back from where she disappeared. But instead of feeling despair like the White Canzer wanted him to, Atlan only felt confusion. The White Canzer''s actions were completely illogical. When the golden lightning from his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill was about to hit the White Canzer, he thought that she would try to get out of harm''s way. But she didn''t do that. Inexplicably, she only sent out of her pink dress away from her and let her own body get blasted into smithereens. It was as if the dress was even more important than her own body. Atlan looked at the newly reincarnated White Canzer and observed that she was not wearing her pink dress. He looked to the side and saw the original clothing still a hundred meters away from her. Is there something special about that dress? That was the only conclusion he could come up with. After all, the White Canzer wouldn''t have done all that effort if it knew that it could have revived itself just a few seconds later. This only meant that the dress was not something that she could replicate or clone. He kept his eyes on the dress sprawled on the ice. He focused on it, trying to see if there was something special hidden within it. But since he was too far away, he couldn''t see anything special. He had to get closer and have it in his hands. Unfortunately, the White Canzer noticed his burning gaze on her dress. She noticed it almost immediately because she was keeping an eye on the dress as well. She thought that Atlan wouldn''t notice it, but she seemed to have underestimated his intellect. The two of them made eye contact. And without waiting for another second, the White Canzer immediately ran towards the dress hoping that she would be able to get it before he did. She didn''t want anyone to get a hold of that. She made use of her control of the dreamscape and created a portal that directly led to the dress. She stepped foot on the portal and was just one step away from the dress. All she had to do now was to bend down and take the dress into her hands. But before she could, she suddenly felt something restrict her whole body. There was some kind of black web that trapped her in place. Even worse was the fact that there were thorns and spikes all over the webbing, giving her cuts all over her blemish-free skin. Just as she was about to get out of the web, it suddenly exploded into a fire. This fire spread outwards, melting a bit of the glacier below them, and most importantly, it spread towards the dress and incinerated it into mere ashes. The White Canzer had burns all over her skin, turning her beautiful body into something hideous. But she didn''t care. The dress was far too important. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Underneath the ashes of the dress, there was something that shimmered below. It was as small and could perfectly fit into the White Canzer''s hands as if it was made specifically for her. The White Canzer tried to reach for the object but was horrified to see Atlan''s hands get to the object first. Atlan wiped the ashes off the object. And as soon as he did, he saw his appearance reflected off the object. Surprisingly, this strange object was a hand mirror. It was something that a narcissistic, egoistic, and shallow being like the White Canzer would usually carry. "Give that to me!" she said in a hurry. But once she realized her angry tone, she quickly changed it into one of seduction. "Hey, if you return that to me, I can do anything you want. As long as you give that back, we will no longer attack you. You know that I can make the Prince do anything, right? I can ask him to spare you and your team''s life!" Atlan looked at the hand mirror in his hands. It was made out of wood, with intricate golden lining and royal embellishments. Even though it looked precious, it was not too important for the White Canzer to act like this. There was something with the hand mirror. He was sure of it. "Just give me the mirror and I''ll make sure that no other Canzer will target you. Just give me that!" Just then, Carmine''s words came crashing back to Atlan''s mind. Just before he was transported to the dreamscape, Carmine told him something. "...you''ll have to find her weakness. It''s something she treasures deeply and keeps to herself all the time¡ª" Atlan held the mirror in his hands. Is this the White Canzer''s weakness? Chapter 297 - 297: Mirror, mirror "Give that back to me!" screamed the White Canzer, becoming increasingly even more feral. No matter how much she tried to control her face to seem attractive to Atlan, she could not hide the panic in her eyebrows. Atlan held the mirror in his hands. No matter how much he looked at it, he could not see any sign of magical powers inside it. Even when he used his Thermal Vision, there seemed to be nothing special with this mirror; it was an ordinary object. "What is this?" he asked the White Canzer. "It''s¡ªit''s nothing! I just need the mirror so that I can look at myself all the time!" she said. But Atlan wasn''t convinced. Throughout all this time, even when the White Canzer was obsessing with her looks, she never once took out her hand mirror from her dress and looked at herself. Not only that, she would rather experience death from his Cherubic Retribution rather than let this hand mirror get affected by it. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He was sure that this mirror was the White Canzer''s weakness. He just wasn''t sure what to do with it. "This is your weakness, isn''t it?" Atlan asked directly. The White Canzer tried to hide her grasp, but her surprised expression betrayed her true emotions. It was clear as day that the mirror truly was her weakness. "Please give it back. I''ll do anything you want, just return it to me," she pleaded, but Atlan liked the fact that he held her fate in his hands. "What is your weakness? If you tell me the truth, then I will return it to you and we can part ways forever." The White Canzer looked Atlan in the eyes, trying to judge if his words were true. But all she could see was a stone-cold face that showed no indication of his true thoughts. She knew that Atlan was not the type of human that she could seduce. Even though her body was now that of a human, Atlan showed no sign of being attracted to her. This meant that she could not manipulate him like she did the others. Atlan could see the conflict in the White Canzer''s eyes. She was trying to decide if she should tell the truth, or obfuscate it. "Okay! Okay! I''ll tell the truth. That mirror is deeply precious to me. It is the only object that ties me to my true lineage. You do not know this, but I was a bastard princess. My mother was not the original Queen and was born as a pauper, which meant that I was not a pureblooded royal. The rest of the court hated me because of me, even the King and my step-sister. They tormented me and made my life a living hell. They even killed my mother in front of my arms! My mother gave me that mirror as she died in my hands. She told me to rule the kingdom with my beauty. And to do that, she cast a spell on me. I must face a mirror and recite the words: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? As long as I say those words, then my transcending beauty will never fade. This will allow me to conquer the cruel kingdom and turn it into something beautiful. I will get rid of everything corrupt, cruel, and discriminatory!" Atlan listened to the White Canzer''s words. He took everything she said with a grain of salt. After all, she didn''t have a great track record about telling the truth. "So, according to your story, this mirror isn''t anything special. As long as you face a mirror and recite those words, you can keep your beauty?'' The White Canzer nodded profusely. She moved closer to Atlan and kneeled in front of him. "That is the truth, sir human. The reason why I want that mirror returned to me is because it is a reminder of my past. You''re not so cruel as to deprive me of that, are you?" Atlan looked at the mirror in his hands. Just like she said, it didn''t have anything special hidden inside it, no matter how much he inspected it. And if the White Canzer was telling the truth, then Atlan was inclined to return the mirror to her. But of course, Atlan didn''t believe her lies for a single second. Wait a minute¡­this is not the first time I held a Canzer''s weakness, have I? Atlan thought back to the time when he held the boar''s heart in his hands. That object was nothing special too, yet it was able to prevent the Huntsman from chasing after Atlan. Could this be the same thing? If the two of them were the same thing, then that only meant one thing. The White Canzer was also running away from someone. And that mirror prevented them from hunting her down. Atlan finally made a decision. "You should have just told me the truth. I would have stuck to my word." He raised the mirror in the air and chucked it down to the ground. The White Canzer''s world seemed to have broken down into pieces as soon as the mirror shattered into the ice. She couldn''t believe it. "Wh¡­what¡­WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" she shrieked at Atlan. "Do you know what you''ve unleashed into the world?! I''m dead¡­You''re dead¡­we''re all dead, you hear me?" She started pacing back and forth, biting her nails at the inevitable that was about to happen. She slapped her head multiple times, creating cuts on her cheeks. But even that wasn''t enough. She kneeled on the ground and knocked her head on the ice until blood poured out into a pool below her. "Get me out of this dream!" she screamed. CRASH! Finally, the whole world cracked and shattered into a million pieces. Atlan saw the whole dreamscape disappear, finally showing the real world around him. He looked forward and saw the White Canzer, who was back to her chitinous body, jump into the arms of the Prince. ''What''s wrong?'' he asked. ''She''s coming!'' Chapter 298 - 298: Pursued The mere mention of ''her'' sent a shiver down the Prince''s spine. Even he, a Specialist-level Canzer who was no slouch when it came to strength, felt fear from the prospect of ''her'' coming towards them. Atlan slowly came to his senses as he came back to the real world. He immediately felt the immense weight of his battle suit weighing him down again. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Atlan, are you back?!" Carmine''s worried voice transmitted through the speaker. "Yeah. I''m back. What happened?" "You were just standing still. That''s what happens when you enter the dreamscape of the White Canzer. How did you get out?" Atlan would have liked more to discuss how he outsmarted the White Canzer, but he was immediately alerted by the two Canzer''s worrying conversation. "Carmine. In the dream, I saw a hand mirror. Is that the White Canzer''s weakness?" "Yes! I''m very surprised you were able to figure it out. For some reason, the White Canzer is very sensitive with her hand mirror. We found out that you can use it as blackmail and be able to escape from her grasp in exchange for the mirror." "I broke it." Carmine went silent. Even through all the research they did about the White Canzer, no one was able to obtain the mirror in their hands. Other missions regarding the White Canzer would always end up with the Saviors targeting the hand mirror, which was enough of a deterrent for them to escape her grasp. No one was able to get a hold of that mirror, so no one knew why it was so important to the White Canzer. "You¡­you broke it?!" "Yes. Don''t worry, I know what I''m doing." Carmine wasn''t that confident with Atlan''s words. Even as a qualified Specialist Operator who was the most knowledgeable about Canzers, didn''t know what would happen once the mirror broke. "How would you know?" He figured it out through the small pieces of facts that he heard throughout the fight. Since he could hear the White Canzer''s conversations, he was able to supplement his knowledge about her history and background. "According to the story you told me about the White Canzer, she is someone that is on the run, right?" "Yes. She has been exiled by her kingdom for treason." "I''m assuming that the kingdom is something of a powerhouse, with all kinds of resources and powerful knights in reserve. If so, then why haven''t they found the White Canzer yet? She has committed the worst crime possible in their kingdom. They should have been searching for her relentlessly. Even this dark forest would be no match for thousands of Canzers looking for her. But somehow, she was able to make a home in this place. I don''t think it''s because of luck that she''s able to stay under their radar for a long time." Carmine listened to Atlan''s words and couldn''t help but agree to his words. He was smart enough to figure out what he was going to say next. "You''re telling me that there''s something that prevents the kingdom from looking for her?" Atlan nodded. "Yes. And I think that something is the hand mirror!" Carmine''s mind was blown wide open with this revelation. Even though he was proud of himself for always being the one who knew the most about Canzers, he had overlooked this fact. If Atlan hadn''t pointed out the glaring connections, then he wouldn''t have noticed it at all. "My gosh¡­you''re right! Just like how the boar heart prevents the Huntsman from pursuing you, the hand mirror prevents the kingdom from pursuing the White Canzer!" That is exactly what Atlan thought. And by destroying the mirror, the White Canzer''s location would be immediately noticed by her pursuers. Judging from her and the Prince''s reaction, Atlan''s prediction was completely correct. He used the same tactic he used when he first met the White Canzer. He pitted two monsters and let them destroy each other. "That''s good! That''s really good!" Carmine couldn''t help but praise the Star Porter''s ingenuity and quick thinking. He and his team were racking their brains trying to figure out a way for Atlan to escape the Prince''s assault, but they weren''t able to find a way even with all their brains working together. They didn''t expect that Atlan would be the one to figure out the solution all by himself. It was evident from the Canzers'' panicked expression that they didn''t have the time nor luxury to worry about killing a puny human while they were being hunted themselves. ''Let''s leave, now!'' screamed the White Canzer. But despite how much she tried to pull on the Prince, he wouldn''t budge. ''Why? I think it''s time for us to face her and kill her once and for all. If we succeed, there will be no one else that will stand in the way of us taking over the kingdom.'' The Prince saw an opportunity, while the White Canzer only saw doom. Clearly, he didn''t know how much of a monstrous being their pursuer was. If he did, then he wouldn''t even dare to imagine them trying to fight her. ''Fine! You will stay here and fight her, while I run away.'' The White Canzer decided to sacrifice the Prince for her safety. But just as she was about to run away, she suddenly heard a cold voice ring out through the dark forest. ''Found you.'' Out of the dark forest, a single creature came walking on two legs. This monster was clad in all black, the complete opposite of the White Canzer. She wore a robe around her shoulders, making her look majestic. It made her seem like the ruler of the entire dark forest. On top of her head was a golden crown that exuded authority. If Atlan didn''t have Angel power coating his entire body because of the False Mutation, then he would have been forced to kneel due to the mere fact of the crown''s existence. The White Canzer and the Prince, however, were not able to fight against the urge. They were forced down to kneel and wait in agony as she approached them. Once it reached its destination, the White Canzer greeted the familiar character. ''Stepmother¡­'' But her words provoked a stronger pressure that forced her head to bang onto the floor. ''I am the Queen, and you will address me as such.'' Chapter 299 - 299: Black hole The White Canzer paled even whiter under the Queen''s pressure. The Prince tried his hardest to defend against it, but even he was helpless under her wrath. ''It''s been a long time¡­I spent an eternity trying to search for you. When the Huntsman failed, I thought I would never get my revenge in this lifetime. And I was okay with that. I was fine with it. But why did you have to show your face to me again? Did you think I wouldn''t chase you anymore? You should have taken good care of that mirror and spent your eternity in hiding.'' The Queen spoke with an almost tired voice. Spending an eternity trying to chase the White Canzer seemed to put a major toll on her. It even looked as if she was disappointed in the White Canzer because of how careless she was. ''I didn''t¡­I didn''t want to! Say, you wouldn''t happen to still be mad about our small spat, right? Surely you must have forgiven me after all this time¡­'' As expected of the White Canzer, she tried to manipulate her way out of a dangerous situation. Unfortunately for her, the Queen was in no mood to deal with her shenanigans. The Queen slapped the White Canzer, sending her flying through the dark forest. The Prince tried to fight back, but he was also sent flying away towards the White Canzer. They both crashed into the same spot, with the Prince crushing his ''princess'' under his weight. ''Get off me!'' ''Sorry, my love.'' And if she had any thoughts of using this opportunity to run away, the Queen immediately used her strange dark powers to pull the two star-crossed ''lovers'' back towards her. These two Specialist-level Canzers stood no chance against her powers. They were being dragged around like a ragdoll. Atlan watched on with amazement and fear. He never expected the Queen to be this strong. He thought that all of them would be at the same level, meaning that if they fought, it could end up in a three-way tie where they all killed each other. He thought she''d be as strong as the Huntsman, but his estimation of the Queen was wrong. She was more than strong enough to kill the White Canzer and the Prince with ease. She could even kill Atlan with just a flick of a finger if she wanted to. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan wondered what kind of monster he unleashed into the Remedium. "Atlan, just stay still. Let the Queen deal with those two, while you try to escape. Ninth and the others are probably already on their way towards you." Although he was wary of the Queen, he didn''t think she harbored any ill will towards him. After all, he was the one who led her towards the White Canzer. If anything, she should be grateful to Atlan for giving her a chance to settle her grudge. "Come on¡­you can sneak out right now." To Carmine''s dismay, Atlan had no intention of running away. "Why aren''t you running away?!?! This is the chance you''ve been waiting for, right? It''s the sole reason why you summoned her!" "I want to witness this fight." "You what?!?!?!" Carmine had no idea that Atlan had ambitions towards this fight. He didn''t go through all that trouble with the White Canzer and the Prince just for him to get no rewards. He will use the Queen to kill the White Canzer and the Prince, allowing him to reap their deaths in the process. If he left now, he wouldn''t be able to get those benefits. Although it was risky, it was worth it. After all, these were Specialist-level Canzers. He had already seen what kind of power they could give him. Meanwhile, the White Canzer knew that this was her last stand. She immediately used up all the excess powers in her body and summoned a giant needle and a ball of yarn. The needle moved with lightspeed as it stitched body after body, not stopping until it completed seven figures that were similar but distinct from each other. These were the seven deadly puppets. The White Canzer didn''t want to summon them before because it took a toll on her, but the Queen''s threat was not something she could underestimate. Each of these puppets had the strengths of a Specialist-level Canzer. They were the White Canzer''s full strength. With all of their combined powers, they could easily deal with most Canzers like the Huntsman. The Prince decided to use his full power as well. His horse rose through the dead trees and arrived just behind him. He mounted the horse, and their combined powers created a powerful aura that was enough to melt the trees around them. His full metal armor turned even sturdier, making the Prince feel as if nothing could penetrate his defense. The seven puppets and the Prince attacked the lone Queen. The puppets beamed their magic towards her. As it traveled through the air, they bent reality to their attributes, giving inanimate objects their own personalities. The Queen simply waved her hand, creating a dark portal in front of her. This opening was like a black hole, sucking in everything that it touched. Once the puppets'' magic reached the ball, they were absorbed into the black hole and disappeared forever. The White Canzer paled once she saw this. Meanwhile, The Prince paid no heed to this. He raised his courageous spirit to the point that it became a tangible aura. It spiked up to a point, creating a giant halberd in his hands. And with this halberd, the Prince charged towards the Queen. The weapon hit the black hole, creating sparks. This gave the Prince hope. But once the halberd started to disperse into mere particles and absorbed into the portal, the Prince finally realized the difference in strength between them. He quickly changed his route at the last second and abandoned his horse. Its fate was a gruesome one, as it got spaghettified once it reached the black hole. The Queen took their strongest attack with nothing but a single spell. ''Is this all you got?'' Chapter 300 - 300: Dragon The black hole in the Queen''s hands started to rumble as if it was about to explode. All the energy it absorbed from the attacks turned it into a time bomb that was just moments away from releasing all its energy. The Queen flicked her finger towards the White Canzer, sending the trembling black hole towards her way. The seven puppets immediately pooled all their strength to try and destroy the black hole before it reached their creator. But as soon as they got close to the black hole, they helplessly got absorbed into it with no chance of getting out. They served to further create instability towards the black hole, turning it even more dangerous. As it reached the White Canzer, she fell into a fetal position. BOOM! A surge of black energy exploded outwards and destroyed everything in its path. It created a large shockwave that peeled the dark trees off the ground in a 100-mile radius! Atlan wasn''t spared from the explosion. Thankfully, he was far enough away to be affected by the black energy. He only had to fight against the shockwave that knocked him off his feet and almost burst his eardrums. The Queen''s power was evident. Atlan finally realized why the White Canzer spent so long trying to run away from her. "Are you okay?!" Carmine asked in a panic. Atlan skidded on the ground and finally stopped after crashing into a dead tree. He looked around and was horrified to see nothing but a large crater just a few feet away from him. Just a single spell created such destruction. But even then, the White Canzer was somehow still able to survive. Before the black hole exploded, the Prince used the last of his powers to rescue her from certain doom and teleported her away into safety. ''Are you okay, my love?'' The Prince was badly injured, with his lower body completely burned to a crisp. But even with his horrible state, the Prince couldn''t help but worry about the White Canzer. Despite his noble sacrifice, the ''princess'' didn''t seem to notice it. She had a horrified expression as she looked at the Queen, who was slowly walking in their direction. ''Prince! Do something! Kill the wicked Queen!'' She didn''t even notice that the Prince could no longer walk with his legs. And even if she did, she wouldn''t care. She only wanted him to sacrifice his life for her. The Queen walked towards the shivering White Canzer. ''Why?'' the Queen asked. The White Canzer thought she''d be killed at that moment. She didn''t expect to hear those words come out of the Queen''s mouth. ''What?'' The Queen stared daggers at the White Canzer. ''Why did you kill my husband and my child?'' The whole reason why the Queen started this witch hunt was because the White Canzer had the King and the Princess''s death on her hands. ''What?'' The White Canzer still couldn''t understand the Queen''s questions. ''They loved you. If you wanted the throne, then they would have given it to you.'' All this time, Atlan thought that the White Canzer killed the royal family because they denied her the throne. But as it turned out, that wasn''t true. According to the Queen, the King would have offered her the throne had she just asked for it. ''....'' The White Canzer didn''t answer and kept her head down. Her silence angered the Queen even further. She flicked her hand upwards, and an invisible force pushed the White Canzer''s head upwards and forced her to make eye contact with her. ''Why?!'' the Queen demanded an answer. ''Because I am the fairest one of them all! I shouldn''t have to ask for the throne, they should have just given it to me! My beauty should have been enough to rule the entire kingdom! He should have known that, that''s why I killed him!'' The Queen gritted her teeth. Knowing that her husband died because of such a petty reason almost made her burst out in anger and kill the White Canzer right then and there. But she didn''t deserve such an easy escape. ''My daughter¡­your sister¡­why did you kill her?'' ''Hpmh! Because she''s a female!'' The Queen shivered. ''That''s it?'' ''Is there any better reason? She threatened to destroy my monopoly on beauty! She had to go. If she continued to live, people would always compare me to her. Nothing should get in the way of my kingdom.'' The Queen waited for an eternity to find those answers. She spent all this time obsessing over finding the White Canzer for this very reason. But now that she had her answers, she felt as empty as ever. There was nothing resolved in her heart. She despaired like she did before, probably even more. ''You¡­you don''t regret your actions¡­'' The White Canzer laughed. ''I would do it again if I could!'' The Queen thought that there was a small sliver of chance that she could forgive the White Canzer. Maybe if she had repented of her actions, then they could have forgotten this ever happened and returned to the kingdom. The Queen laughed at herself for thinking such stupid thoughts. She should have known that the White Canzer would never change. ''I''ve heard enough of you,'' S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. the Queen said. Her body started to morph, becoming multiple times larger than her original size. Her head elongated, creating a strong jaw that housed sharp teeth on all sides. Her legs grew thicker stumps, allowing her greater balance as she became a giant. She grew a massive tail on her back, with spikes growing out into a line. And finally, she grew a pair of red wings, complimenting the dark maroon scales on her chitinous body. RAAAOOOOOO She growled, with fire billowing out of her mouth. This was the Queen''s final form, a majestic fire dragon. The White Canzer couldn''t help but shiver when looking up at the gigantic body of the dragon. Then, she started laughing. ''Ha¡­haha¡­hahahahaha!'' The dragon bent down her neck and swallowed the White Canzer whole, crunching her body on her maws. The Prince pushed his body upwards and tried to save her, but he too ended up getting devoured by the Queen. Chapter 301 - 301: Dragon’s mercy The big dragon swallowed the two Specialist-level Canzers whole. It gulped, and a fiery breath came out of it. Just like that, it was over. The White Canzer and the Prince were consumed by the Queen in just under a few minutes. Atlan watched on with horror and amusement. The White Canzer and the Prince were creatures that were so strong that Atlan couldn''t even fathom their true strength. Yet, the Queen killed them with no trouble whatsoever. The Queen''s strength was completely incomprehensible. Meanwhile, the dragon felt complicated emotions once it extinguished its grudge. Even though she hated the White Canzer, she couldn''t help but feel saddened with her death. After all, once upon a time, she was also her daughter. It was just a shame that she turned out like this. After a moment of silence, it looked towards the lone human in the dark forest. They both locked eyes. "It sees you! You have to leave now!" Carmine warned Atlan. But before Atlan could do anything, the dragon spoke to him. ''I know you can hear me.'' Her words sent a shock to Atlan''s mind. He would have never thought that she would find out about his secret by just simply looking at him. It made him feel as if she could see through every part of his body/ It made him feel vulnerable, especially since the Queen was a powerful being capable of killing him with just one fiery breath. He immediately used the Fog of War LifeSkill, creating a gray smoke that shrouded his whole body in mystery. He knew that this kind of party trick wasn''t enough to hide from a terrifying creature like the Queen, but it at least gave him some sort of defense against her eyes¡ªeven though it was as thin as paper. ''How did you know?'' Atlan asked the Queen. Since the Fog of War obscured both audio and visual reverberations everywhere, Carmine couldn''t see or hear anything in the video feed. Their team ripped the hair out of their heads in frustration, thinking that another error appeared on the battle suit. The Queen simply breathed out of her dragon nose, and the Fog of War was parted away, revealing her large figure to Atlan. She looked down at him and saw his serious face. ''You do not have to worry about your life, human. It is all thanks to you that I was able to have closure in the deaths of my family. If you hadn''t destroyed that mirror, I wouldn''t have been able to locate her for my whole life. It is because of this that you are still alive.'' Atlan was inwardly relieved. If the Queen wanted him dead, he''d be dead within a fraction of a second. ''I was able to find out about your peculiar power because I saw the White Canzer''s memories.'' The Queen cast a spell on the White Canzer the moment she consumed her, allowing her to peer through the princess'' memories with ease. She was able to see the White Canzer''s life play out from life to death within a single second. The Queen thought she''d be able to find a sensible reason why she did all those horrible things, but she found nothing but hate and jealousy. In the end, she was able to console herself that the White Canzer would have never changed even if she was given a second chance. She saw the White Canzer''s fight with Atlan, and how he outsmarted her and took control of the hand mirror. The Queen had seen a lot of things in her lifetime, but this was the first time she had ever seen such a peculiar human. Atlan could listen and talk using the language of Canzers. This was a mind-blowing fact that would send a world-changing shockwave in the Canzer''s society. Of course, she wouldn''t share this fact with anyone else. After all, information was power. Why would she help her enemies? But his talking ability wasn''t why the Queen was so interested in him. He could wield the power of the supposedly extinct Angels. The Queen was not an ordinary Canzer. As a leader of a society, she was privy to a lot of secret knowledge that most Canzers didn''t know. In terms of human equivalents, she would be like the Elder Heads of Genesis City. Because of her standing as a royal ruler, she knew more about the Angels and their extinction. In her extensive knowledge, she knew that there wasn''t supposed to be anyone who was able to wield their power. It was supposed to be impossible. Yet, somehow, there was one human who appeared here with their power. Not only that, he also had their Wings, of all mutations. Because of this, the Queen decided to spare his life. He was far too anomalous to be killed so easily. She could see that Atlan was a carrier of chaos and that he would bring about change to the human world with just his presence. The Queen was eager to see that change. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''What do you want with me?'' Atlan asked her. ''I know you have secrets¡ªsecrets that you wouldn''t want to share with anyone else.'' ''Are you forcing me to tell you my secrets?'' The dragon laughed, with fire coming out of her maws. ''No, that would be far too boring. It''s the opposite. I want you to keep your secret and don''t let the other Canzers know about your ability. I want you to become stronger¡ªstrong enough to fight against beings that are on my level.'' Atlan stayed silent. He didn''t know why she wanted him to keep his secret, but he knew that she was plotting something. ''Why? Don''t you want to warn your kind that I have the power to destroy them?'' If Atlan powered his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill to the Specialist level, then no Canzer would stand a chance against him. That was no exaggeration. ''I have enemies, lots of them. And I would gain nothing by warning them about you. No, I want you to surprise them with your powers till they drop dead. So, human, I want you to live and get stronger.'' Chapter 302 - 302: Bold request to a dragon The Queen wanted to use Atlan to deal with her enemies. If he became a lot stronger, then he could be the one to kill off her enemies for her. By letting him live and grow up, then the Queen was basically investing in him. It would be a win-win situation for both of them. Atlan would be ridding the world of powerful Canzers, and the Queen would be getting rid of her enemies. Atlan had no choice but to accept her words. After all, the alternative would lead to his death¡ªliterally. ''So begone, human. I will not tell a soul about your powers.'' The Queen turned around and spread her wings wide. With nothing else to do, she wanted to return to her kingdom and spread the good news to her people. They would surely want a banquet now that the King and the Princess had been avenged of their deaths. But just as she was about to take off, Atlan spoke out to her. ''Wait!'' The Queen looked back at Atlan, confused as to why he called out to her. If Carmine could hear this, then he would have gone crazy. After all, Atlan would finally be safe once the dangerous dragon left him alone. Yet, he called out to her and stopped her in her tracks. It was as if Atlan wanted a death wish. ''What is it human? Do you prefer to be eaten?'' Atlan shook his head. Despite his dangerous antics, he wanted to live more than anyone. ''You said that you want me to live, right? You need me to get stronger so that I can someday kill your enemies.'' The Queen looked down at Atlan, wondering where he was going with this. ''Yes. That is right.'' ''Then, why don''t you help me live?'' The dragon slapped her tail on the ground as she sat down on the ground. She didn''t know what Atlan was going to say, but she knew that he was about to say something interesting. ''In what capacity?'' ''Our mission is not yet over. We are to advance further up to the church and we are sure that there would be more Canzers hindering us on the way.'' According to Carmine and the Operators, there would be at least two or three more Specialist-level Canzers waiting to ambush them from afar. Just dealing with the puppet of the White Canzer gave Atlan too much hardship. He couldn''t imagine fighting more monsters of the same caliber as the White Canzer, the Huntsman, or the Prince. ''Yes. I have heard about this. From what I heard, an Ifrit clone was able to infiltrate a God''s heart.'' Atlan took a deep breath as he got to the meat of his request. ''As a Queen, I''m sure you have some authority over the other Canzers. I''m hoping that you can command them to step down and allow us safe passage to the Church.'' In response, the Queen laughed. ''Hahaha! You want me, a Canzer, to help you, humans?'' It was a very bold request, something that would have warranted his execution. After all, she was a Canzer and he was a human. By virtue of their species, Atlan shouldn''t be asking a Canzer to hinder another Canzer from killing them. It was treason. Yet Atlan bet that the Queen was not the sort of creature that had blind loyalty to her species. The fact that she had enemies meant that she wasn''t opposed to the thought of a Canzer being killed by a human. ''I want you to help me.'' Seeing his serious expression, the Queen finally stopped laughing and considered his request. ''No.'' But despite her refusal, Atlan didn''t back down. ''I thought you wanted me to survive and get stronger? You need to guarantee my safety in this Remedium for me to fulfill your request.'' The dragon shook her head. ''Do you know the kind of request you''re asking me? I would have to wage war against a country just for the sake of your mission.'' The ones who were assigned to hinder Atlan''s mission were from a faction of Canzers who were completely at odds against the Queen and her kingdom. Just a small hostile gesture would send a signal for both sides to start an all-out war, much more if the Queen did as Atlan asked. Seeing as the Queen remained unconvinced, Atlan knew that he needed to give her more of an incentive to protect him. Atlan looked inside his Soul System and manifested a giant hand. He then commanded this hand to grasp a LifeSkill planet in the darkness of space. Once this LifeSkill activated, Atlan felt a surge of power coursing through his veins. He raised his hand and imagined an object. And in the next second, the power in his body flowed out of his hands and poured into the imaginary object in his mind. Slowly, the object manifested in real life. It was a giant needle. As soon as the Queen saw this, she couldn''t hide her shock. After all, this wasn''t the first time that she saw this needle¡ªthis power. Somehow, Atlan manifested the same power as the deceased White Canzer. The giant needle was proof of that. This was what the White Canzer used to conjure her puppets, the Queen was sure of it. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She couldn''t understand how Atlan, a human, was able to have the same power as the White Canzer. It wasn''t a coincidence. This human obtained this power only after the White Canzer died. ''You¡­how¡­?'' For the first time in her life, the Queen was stumped for words. She couldn''t come up with a reasonable explanation as to how a human was able to replicate a Canzer''s powers. Atlan looked at his newly acquired LifeSkill. ¡ªConjurer: (A) Spinster ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 130x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª This LifeSkill allows the user to create creatures purely from imagination. The user is also able to imbue these puppets with LifeSkill powers. This was just one of the rewards he obtained from the death of the White Canzer and the Prince. Chapter 303 - 303: Pay me a visit The Queen thought that this was too much of a coincidence. Somehow, Atlan obtained the White Canzer''s powers soon after she died. That was an impossibility that the Queen could have never predicted. Even she, a being of immense power, could not simply steal away a Specialist-level Canzer''s power so easily. Even when she devoured the White Canzer herself, she still wouldn''t be able to take her power for herself. ''That¡­is the White Canzer''s power.'' Atlan nodded. ''That''s right.'' ''Why did you show that to me?'' asked the Queen. Atlan moved the needle, showing a novice proficiency in the LifeSkill. ''I am showing you one of my secrets. I''m sure you can guess that this power is derived from the White Canzer. I can''t tell you the details, but I can tell you that I become more powerful through the deaths of Canzers.'' Atlan told her only half the truth. By doing so, he hoped that she would reconsider her decision. ''That is certainly something interesting¡­'' The Queen was no idiot. She knew that Atlan''s secret revolved around death. She didn''t know the exact details of how Atlan could copy the powers of dead Canzers, but she knew that this power was nothing simple; it was probably the power of a major God. She knew all the Gods in this world, but she could not remember any kind of God that had the ability Atlan had. This only meant one thing: Atlan was the champion of an ancient deity that was on its way to clawing its way back to the world. If that was true, then the Queen was intrigued. If she could ally herself with Atlan and the God that championed him, then she could fulfill her goals and kill her enemies so much easier. No longer would she have to wait for eons for her revenge, she would just have to wait until Atlan got stronger. The mere prospect of currying favor with this ''ancient'' God made the Queen shiver in excitement. ''Now that I have shown you one of my secrets, you now know my potential. Helping me will be well worth the consequences of your actions.'' The Queen reigned in her excitement and pondered for a second. After all, she was not a being without responsibilities. She was the Queen of a kingdom, with millions of Canzers who depended on her to survive. By helping Atlan, she could be dooming the lives of thousands of her citizens. She wondered if Atlan was worth it. And after a few moments, the decision she came to was yes. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Hahaha¡­human, you are certainly a very interesting being. Your powers are not something that I have ever seen before or will ever see again. It would be remiss of me to sever this connection with you.'' Atlan looked up at her with eager eyes. ''So you''ll help me?'' The dragon laughed. ''Yes. But I will do far more than what you have asked me to do. Instead of preventing the other Canzers from finding you, I will do something better. I will help you kill them.'' ''WHAT?!'' Atlan screamed. He was half-expecting the Queen to refuse his request. After all, if she helped him, then she would be turning her back against her entire race. But unexpectedly, the Queen decided to go against the other Canzers and help Atlan fight against the other Canzers. Not only that, she would help him kill the other Canzers! ''I only wanted safe passage to the Church,'' Atlan said, confused. The dragon laughed. ''I am offering you more than safe passage,'' she replied. ''I never asked you for help in killing the other Canzers.'' Atlan wasn''t immediately grateful for the Queen''s help because he questioned her motives. This was far too good to be true. He wondered if she would betray and turn against him at the last moment. ''I know you didn''t ask for this, but by giving you safe passage, I am committing a betrayal to those Canzers. They certainly wouldn''t stand still and attack my kingdom because of my actions. If my help ends up in an all-out war anyway, then it would be better to take them out now rather than later. At least now, they wouldn''t expect it.'' The Queen was not the kind of Canzer who liked waiting. She would rather act decisively and cut off the problem in the bud. She learned that the hard way when she put off the execution of the White Canzer and she ended up escaping because of it. Even though Atlan didn''t completely trust the Queen, it would be a tremendous help in their mission if she helped kill the other Canzers. It would lessen the risk, especially since they spent so much SoulTime just through fighting the White Canzer. Atlan saw first-hand how she dealt with two Specialist-level Canzers with barely a crunch. He bet that she could tear through the other Canzers like paper. And once he thought about it more, if the Queen killed the other Canzers for them, then Atlan would benefit from it greatly. Atlan simply had to lead the way and the Queen would kill the Canzer for him. He would then reap the Specialist-level Canzers and get all the rewards from it! The prospect of reaping the deaths of three or more Specialist-level Canzers without the risk of fighting them sent a tremor of excitement through Atlan''s body. And since Atlan revealed to her that he gets stronger with the death of Canzers, she would shorten the time of Atlan getting strong enough to help her kill her enemies. ''What do you want in return?'' Atlan was not stupid. He knew that by helping him, the Queen would be sacrificing a lot of her resources in the aftermath. He was sure that she was not doing this out of the goodness of her heart; she wanted something in return other than the promise of his help in the future. ''Right to the point. I like that, human. My request is simple. I want you to visit my kingdom.'' Chapter 304 - 304: Future ally ''You want me to visit your kingdom?'' ''Yes.'' ''You want me to go to the world of Canzers, and head towards your kingdom, where it''s also filled with Canzers¡­.you want me to go to that kingdom?'' Atlan was dumbstruck by her request. It was nonsensical. He thought that she would ask him something along the line of killing a few weak Canzers she found annoying, or maybe even make him spy on the humans for her. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He expected her to make him do something hard, but he never expected her to invite him to her home. After all, where was her castle located? It wasn''t on the other side of the world. It wasn''t underground. And it wasn''t even out into the stars. The Queen and the rest of the Canzers lived in a very different dimension than the universe that Atlan was currently living in. He knew nothing about their world. Just a few days ago, he never even knew that Canzers had their own society, much less a world of their own. If he visited the Queen''s kingdom, he would be infiltrating the very home of humanity''s sworn enemies. He would be surrounded by Canzers of all kinds, and they would no doubt be angry that a human infiltrated their world. Atlan didn''t even know if it was possible to enter the Canzer''s world. And even if it was, he wouldn''t want to put himself in danger by putting himself in the thick of millions of Canzers. ''No way,'' Atlan refused. ''I don''t even know how to go to your world, and I don''t want to know.'' The dragon anticipated his refusal, but she didn''t get discouraged. ''You underestimate yourself. The power you hold in those wings of yours is a lot stronger than you think. It can take you anywhere and everywhere, you just need to unlock its true potential.'' The Queen knew more about Angels than Atlan did, so she knew how powerful they were. In her perspective, Atlan was using his Wings with a very modicum amount of proficiency. If he improved it more, then he could become one of those monsters that could travel through the world and dimensions within the blink of an eye. ''That''s not the problem. I don''t exactly want to go to a place full of dangerous Canzers. Even if you can guarantee me safety in your kingdom, who''s to say that the other kingdoms won''t try to assassinate me the moment I step into your world?'' The Queen moved her towering dragon body closer to Atlan, making him step back. ''I am not asking you to go to my world while you''re so weak. Once you have advanced to a level where you''re confident enough to protect yourself, then you can hop on into my kingdom.'' ''What if I don''t want to go to your world?'' The Queen laughed once again as if she knew more than she was letting on. ''In the future, I''m guessing that you will have to.'' Atlan couldn''t decipher her words. He found no reason he would ever want to go to the Canzer''s home world now or in the future. ''What do you mean?'' ''Your power will send shockwaves both in the human and the Canzer world. There will be a few who will rejoice at your power, while most will rally against you. Despite how powerful you can become, you cannot do it alone. You will need allies, whether they are humans like you or Canzers like me.'' The Queen was basically saying that Atlan would have a lot of enemies he couldn''t face alone. And the help of humans wasn''t going to be enough. He''d need even the strength of Canzers like the Queen. Atlan wasn''t shortsighted. He knew that there was a sliver of truth in the Queen''s words. Once the world found out that he obtained the powers of the God of Death, then they would soon realize that he was the one who set off the apocalypse. They would reset him, for he was the one who deprived them of their eternal life. Atlan didn''t have to be a prophet to know that there would be a lot of humans who would want to go after his head. Once he thought about this fact, the Queen''s words sounded truer than ever. Who else better to fight against the humans who want him dead, than Canzers like the Queen? As the famous adage says, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. By allying himself with a strong being like the Queen, then he would guarantee himself more protection in the future. There could even be a scenario in the future where there was nowhere safe for him in this world. The whole of humanity could turn on him, and he would have nowhere else to go but the Canzers'' world. He looked up at the giant dragon in front of him. ''I don''t have to go to your kingdom right now, do I?'' ''No. I can''t force you to go visit my kingdom if you don''t want to. So, are you accepting my offer?'' And just as he was about to accept her offer, the Queen softened up the deal even further. ''And to give you more incentive, I will be presenting to you death row inmates you can kill yourself. These are very strong Canzers that are stronger than the Huntsman, the White Canzer, or the Prince.'' Her words truly sparked a desire in Atlan''s heart. The prospect of reaping a Specialist-level Canzer was enough of an incentive to make Atlan look forward to his visit to the Canzers'' world. ''Alright. We have a deal.'' The Dragon flashed a smile with his acceptance. Her body started to morph and become smaller and smaller, turning back to her original form. Once Atlan got a good look at her, he realized that she looked a lot like the White Canzer, except for the fact that she had black chitin and wore a more mature air around her. But as it turned out, she wasn''t done morphing her body. Her chitin disappeared, leaving only a beautiful olive-colored skin. Her face held more emotion that gave her complexity. She had become human. She took advantage of Atlan''s surprise and leaned to kiss him on the cheek. ''This is a symbol of our agreement,'' she said, leaving a lipstick kiss mark on the side of his face. Chapter 305 - 305: Rewards from Specialist Canzers Before he could even register what happened, the Queen disappeared as fast as she entered. Atlan looked around and saw the sprawling concrete jungle of the old Genesis City around him. He was back in the normal Remedium, with the negative-color mirror image of the Cityscape. There weren''t any signs of the dark forest around him anymore. He was standing back on asphalt ground. It was as if everything he experienced was a mere dream. The only reason he believed that it wasn''t was the dirt and signs of damage in his battle suit. Those cracks weren''t imagined. It was born from his clash against Specialist-level Canzers far above his level. Yet somehow, he came out alive against all odds. Not only that, he was able to hold his ground and outsmart these Canzers. He looked down at his Soul System and remembered his rewards from the death of the White Canzer and the Prince. [You have assisted in the deaths of complex creatures: Sapient Canzers.] [Due to your trait, all your rewards have been multiplied by 10] [You have reaped the death of the White Canzer] [You have gained 140x (7-star) White Canzer genus] [You have gained a 7-star mutation Allure] ¡ª (7-star) Allure ¡ª¡ª Upon activation, the user will become extremely attractive to those around him, allowing him to easily influence them. This mutation works better if done one-on-one. [You have gained an A-class Conjurer LifeSkill: Spinster] S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [You have gained 130x F-class fragments] ¡ªConjurer: (A) Spinster ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 130x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª This LifeSkill allows the user to create creatures purely from imagination. The user is also able to imbue these puppets with LifeSkill powers. The user temporarily loses access to the LifeSkill whenever it is imbued to the puppets. Subsequently, the LifeSkill the puppets wield will match the realm of the Spinster LifeSkill. [You have reaped the death of the Prince] [You have gained 150x (6-star) Prince genus] [You have gained the 6-star mutation Thornmail] ¡ª (6-star) Thornmail ¡ª¡ª Upon activation, any damage coming to the user will be reflected to the aggressor. The effects of the reflection will grow depending on how brave the user is. [You have gained a B-class Knight LifeSkill: Protection Lion] [You have gained 130x F-class fragments] ¡ªKnight: (B) Protection Lion ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 130x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª This LifeSkill allows the user to create a shield around themselves that protects them from all damage. The shield grows stronger depending on the injustice caused by the enemy towards the user. All the danger and injuries he sustained from the fight against the White Canzer now became worth it. Not only did he gain new powerful mutations, but he also got two new LifeSkills that were both in the Intern realm! He now had three LifeSkills in the Intern realm, each of which could be of tremendous help to him in this mission. First of all, his Fog of War LifeSkill allowed him complete privacy. He no longer had to worry about Carmine and the rest of his team finding out that he had special powers they couldn''t even dream of. That, alone, gave him enough security to know that he could use his full powers whenever the situation demanded it. Next, his two new LifeSkill powers were both capable of attack and defense. The Spinster LifeSkill allowed him to create puppets that could wield his LifeSkills. For example, he could create a Huntsman puppet with the Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill. Sure, he would temporarily lose his ability to use this LifeSkill, but it didn''t matter because Atlan could only use one LifeSkill at a time anyway. And the best part about this was that the puppets were at the Intern level. This meant that the LifeSkill that he imbued onto them would also temporarily become Intern level! This felt like a cheat with how good it was. Next, the LifeSkill he got from the death of the Prince helped him get better defenses overall. Although the LifeSkill was basic compared to the Spinster LifeSkill, this only meant that the defense he wielded became stronger to balance it out. Even though those three LifeSkills were only at the Intern level, it was more than enough for him to keep himself safe on this mission. He now had more confidence in finding and fighting against Specialist-level Canzers. It made up for his weaknesses perfectly. He needed privacy to use his full strength, he needed offense to fight the Canzers, and he needed defense to protect himself. It was the trifecta. He didn''t even have to mention the mutations! The Allure mutation completely matched the White Canzer''s tendency to seduce everyone. He didn''t know how this mutation worked, but he guessed that it would make him look more attractive to the eyes of everyone around him. He didn''t really feel that this mutation was useful, but he didn''t deny that it could someday become one. Next, his Thornmail mutation also increased his defense and offense at the same time. Although it took a lot out of him after fighting the Huntsman, the White Canzer, and the Prince, in the end, it all turned out worth it. Though I admit, the best reward I got from this fight wasn''t the LifeSkill and the mutations¡­it was the Queen. With the Queen''s help, he no longer had to worry about the other Canzers waiting for him on the way to the Church. She would be the one to deal with them when the time came. Although it was hard to believe, Atlan had a gut feeling that the Queen was genuine. After all, she was a very powerful dragon. If she wanted to kill him, she could have done so very easily. She wouldn''t need to deceive him. All he had to do now was to go forward and watch as the Canzers lying in wait died at the Queen''s hands. And who would be there to reap their deaths and their rewards? It was Atlan. Atlan smiled to himself. Things were finally looking forward for him. Chapter 306 - 306: Two-way portal "Oh my god! We''re finally back. What happened?!" Carmine''s urgent voice echoed through the empty streets before turning silent. Once he saw the normal Remedium through the video feed, he couldn''t be more surprised. "Where''s the dragon?!" "I think she''s gone," answered Atlan. "Do you know what happened? Our video feed became obstructed again and all we could see was a gray smoke and all we could hear was silence." Atlan was very glad that his Fog of War LifeSkill worked as he wanted. "I don''t know. When I came to, I was already back here in the normal Remedium. I don''t see any sign of the dragon anywhere, and frankly, I''m more than glad it''s gone." Carmine and the rest of the Operators in the meeting didn''t question the Queen''s disappearance any further. Although they didn''t know a lot about her, they knew that she wasn''t a woman who held a deep grudge against humans. It was very possible that it saw Atlan as a non-threat and decided to spare his life. "By the way, can you tell me more about that dragon?" "She''s the Queen of the Enchanted Kingdom. She''s one of the strongest Canzers out there, only below that of Gods." "The Dragon was that strong?!" Atlan knew the Queen was strong, but he didn''t know she was being compared to Gods. "Yes. That''s why I was adamant for you to run away as soon as she appeared. Though, I don''t think that would have mattered if she truly wanted you dead." After a few seconds, Atlan wanted to know more about the kingdom of Canzers, specifically, their world. "Can you tell me more about the Queen''s kingdom? How does their society work?" "It works just like how our society works. There are leaders, there are workers, and there are citizens. There are warriors among them, and there are non-warriors as well. But that doesn''t mean they don''t pose a threat. Just like our world, theirs is divided into territories. They are usually ruled by a sovereign, like the Queen. But unlike our world, theirs is more vicious. They want something, they get it through bloodshed. They fight each other for land, food, and even missions to hunt for humans. Some territories are easier to hunt, you see, so those territories are very wanted in their community." Atlan waited for a few seconds before asking the most important question. "Do you think humans can enter their world?" S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And in response, he got a resounding, "No." "It''s not possible?" "I didn''t say that. I just said we will never enter their world because we don''t want to." "Why not?" he asked him. Atlan thought that a scientist like Carmine would want to be curious to enter another dimension. "Don''t you want to see what''s on the other side?" "Word of advice, don''t talk about this with anyone else. It''s taboo." "Why?" Carmine took a deep breath. "You are not the first person to ask that question. There are plenty of other innovators who have gone and tried to cross over to the other side." "And what happened to them? Did they find out that it wasn''t possible?" "We may never know. Once other people found out what they were trying to do, they were immediately stopped and reprimanded. Even if their research yielded good results¡ªand I''m not saying it did¡ªnobody wants them to succeed." "That''s¡­" "That is for the good of all humanity." "....." Atlan was silent. "What do you think will happen once we find a way to the other side? Do you think we will find a way to finally extinguish the Canzers'' very existence by exterminating their home world? That''s all and good if that''s the only thing that will happen. It may very be possible that the Canzers exterminate us first. After all, by creating a portal to their world, we are also allowing them to cross over to our world, and that is dangerous beyond belief. The destruction and chaos caused by these Canzers are already too much even though most of their damage is only in the Remedium. Imagine what they could do in the real world." Atlan was silenced by Carmine''s words. Humanity didn''t want to find a way to go to the Canzer''s world because they would only give the Canzers a chance to go into the real world. He understood why that research was stopped even before it yielded any results. He then remembered the Queen''s words. Was she planning on infiltrating the real world by using Atlan''s powers? No, if she wanted my powers for herself, then she could have just kept him captive and found a way to get his powers for herself. "Atlan!" Atlan''s somberness was interrupted by the familiar shout of Ninth and the rest of the Specialist Savior group. Ninth came running towards him, giving him a big hug and looking at him up and down. Even though his armor was chipped in a lot of places, she could see that he didn''t have any severe injuries. "It''s good you''re okay. Lizzie would kill me if anything happened to you," she said, joking. "Star Porter! What happened?" "With the dark forest gone, does that mean the White Canzer is dealt with?" The rest of the team wondered why they were all suddenly transported back into the normal Remedium. Atlan nodded. Although the truth was more complicated than that, he didn''t want to explain it to them. "No way! I can''t believe it. How did you put the poisoned apple into the White Canzer?" "Did you sneak into its cottage while it was sleeping?" Atlan was about to say something when the radio in his battle suit crackled. "He did more than that." "Carmine! Can you tell us more about what happened? The Puppets disappeared, but we didn''t immediately get transported out of the dark forest. Did something else happen?" As expected of Ninth, she was astute enough to notice something amiss. "Well, you''ll have to make camp for now because that is a long story. First, let me tell you about how Atlan escaped the Huntsman." "The Huntsman?!" "That bow and arrow guy?! Our star porter managed to escape him?!" Carmine began his retelling of Atlan''s recent escapades. Chapter 307 - 307: Rest day Ninth and her team were gobsmacked once they learned what the novice Savior went through to defeat the White Canzer. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. First of all, he got unlucky and encountered the Huntsman, a very strong Specialist Canzer that would have made other Saviors abandon the mission entirely. Somehow, he was able to procure the boar''s heart, which he did all by himself, and with the Huntsman''s arrows hunting him at the same time. Then, he finally encountered the White Canzer, who was supposed to be an easy target since she was alone. Yet, the Star Porter was forced to tangle with the Happy puppet, which gave Ninth and the rest of the team a hard time all by itself. And in a moment of crisis, something which Carmine didn''t even think of, Atlan destroyed the boar''s heart and lured the Huntsman towards the White Canzer. Putting together two Canzers against one single Student-level Savior was normally a bad idea, but this time, it was an extremely ingenious one. Atlan smartly put the two Canzers together, causing them to fight each other instead. Although it led to the Huntsman''s death, the Happy puppet was far too preoccupied to deal with Atlan, leaving the White Canzer all alone. This allowed Atlan to finally put the poisoned apple in its mouth and put it to an eternal sleep. This was the point where the rest of the six puppets were destroyed into smithereens due to the White Canzer''s incapacitation. Ninth and her team rightly deduced that Atlan succeeded in his mission, but strangely, the dark forest hadn''t disappeared yet. In another surprising twist of events, a new Canzer emerged from the woods. The Prince, who also had a very low chance of appearing, descended from the skies and revived the White Canzer with a kiss. Now, the Star Porter faced two Specialist-level Canzers all by himself, without any help or trump cards in his hands. Carmine suggested he run away, though it would have done no good since he was dealing with a Specialist-level Canzer. Overcoming all odds, Atlan somehow got the White Canzer to pull him into her dream. There, Carmine and the rest of the team didn''t know the exact details of what happened, but Atlan was surprisingly able to find out the White Canzer''s weakness, the hand mirror. This was very surprising because Carmine wasn''t able to warn or tell Atlan about the mirror. Somehow, he figured it out all by himself, something that not even the most experienced Specialist Saviors could do. Atlan destroyed the mirror and summoned the Queen, who subsequently killed the White Canzer and the Prince in just a few seconds. They didn''t know if it was luck or his bravery that led him to have the Queen spare his life, but she did. All of this happened because of the Star Porter''s luck, skill, smarts, and bravery. The fact that Atlan encountered four Specialist-level Canzers, survived, and triumphed against all of them against all odds, was a feat that had never been done before, or will ever be done again. If they still doubted Atlan''s ability, then there''s no way that they would doubt his ability now. Atlan had accomplished something that was far above his level and experience. They couldn''t imagine going through what Atlan experienced all while having the strength of a Student-level Savior. "....I''m gonna be honest, Star Porter, you''re a little bit scary." "Remind me to not bet against you." "I don''t know what the other Saviors will say when we tell this story. They probably won''t believe it. And to be honest, I probably wouldn''t believe it if I didn''t experience it myself." Ninth walked over to Atlan and grabbed his shoulder. "You''ve proven yourself, Atlan. Your skills are what we need to finish this mission. I hope that you harness that power and let us finish this mission next time." Ninth''s words sent confusion towards Atlan''s face. "Next time? What do you mean?" The rest of the team looked back at Atlan as if he was the one not making sense. "We''re going to go back, Atlan," Ninth said. "What do you mean? The Ifrit clone is still out there threatening to destroy the whole City!" The rest of the team massaged their bodies still lingering from injuries. "Is it because you''re all injured?" he asked. It was true that Ninth and the rest of the team expended a lot of energy, strength, and SoulTime fighting against the puppets. They looked like they weren''t in the prime position to fight against three more Canzers. "Although we''re indeed injured, we can take care of ourselves. Specialist Saviors like us can take a lot of beating before we''re done." "Then why?" Ninth and the team looked at each other as if they didn''t want to be the ones to say it. "Fine, I''ll say it," said Carmine over the radio. "We, and the rest of the team here at HeadQuarters, think that the team should go back and recuperate your strength¡ªespecially you." "Me?" "Yes. Although you have done a tremendous job defeating the White Canzer, it must have taken a lot of toll on you." Atlan couldn''t believe it. Although he was physically tired, it wasn''t anything that couldn''t be solved by a long sleep here in the Remedium. Any SoulTime he lost during the fight had already been recuperated using his Photosynthesis mutation, which was still going on to this minute, giving him years of SoulTime. "You must feel nervous encountering more Specialist Canzers. We must remedy that." The problem was that Atlan wasn''t worried about encountering more Canzers, he was actually excited! With the help of the Queen, there was nothing to worry about. By pulling him out now, they would be denying him the chance to get more powerful LifeSkills from Specialist level Canzers. "If that''s what you''re worried about, then you have nothing to be worried about! I''m fine and raring to go!" None of them expected Atlan to be this excited. Now, Carmine was worried that there was truly something wrong with the Star Porter. Chapter 308 - 308: Allure "Are you sure about this Atlan? You''ve gone through something extreme, something that would have taken a lot of experienced Saviors out of the mission for at least a few weeks." Ninth was worried that Atlan was only acting strong out of responsibility. After all, he was the only one capable of doing this mission. And if he backed out now, then it was possible that no one could solve this mission at all. Atlan nodded. "I''m not being overconfident, I''m thinking about this logically. Even though I feel tired, it''s not as if I couldn''t continue the mission as is. I don''t need to return to the real world. It would only delay our mission and possibly cause us to fail entirely." If Atlan went back out into the real world, he didn''t know if his agreement with the Queen would still be active. But if they continued their mission right now, it was basically guaranteed that they would reach the church. "Carmine," Ninth addressed the video camera in Atlan''s battle suit. "What is your professional opinion? After all, you''re the one who saw the whole thing unfold with your own eyes. Do you think Star Porter can continue?" The Specialist Operators back at the Emergency Meeting room deliberated on Ninth''s question. As professionals, they think that it wasn''t wise to put the inexperienced Student-level Porter back to encounter another Specialist-level Canzer so soon after just barely surviving one. However, there was something in their gut that told them that the Star Porter was a lot more resilient than they were giving him credit for. In the end, the decision came to the five Elder Heads. They consulted each other until they finally decided to continue the mission as Atlan advised. "If the Star Porter wants to continue, then we continue." Ninth nodded to herself. "We''ll camp here and take a full day of rest. After that, we''ll continue on our way towards the Church. Take this time to prepare yourselves physically and mentally for this challenge." With their leader''s order, the group started to make preparations for the camp. As usual, they lay down in a circle, with the first one to stay awake being Ninth. The group collectively decided to let Atlan take a full rest and not wake him for his shift. They wanted the Star Porter to revitalize himself after everything he''d been through. After all, the rest of the group felt completely useless compared to the novice Porter. They barely helped Ninth fight against the puppets, and even when they did, they were relegated to the sidelines. Meanwhile, Atlan fought against three different Specialist-level Canzers and somehow triumphed against all odds. He deserved to rest. The night fell and the day came again. Atlan opened his eyes after a good night''s sleep, seeing the rest of the team sharpening their weapons and polishing their armor. They all had their game faces on as if they wanted to redeem their lackluster performance earlier. Unbeknownst to Atlan, the team barely took a rest at all. They were far too motivated to simply sleep the night. Hearing about the Star Porter''s brave actions led them to see how inadequate their services had been in this mission. So, they started to work on getting better. How could they call themselves seniors if they were getting outshined by their junior? They spent the whole rest day working out and improving their teamwork. Meanwhile, Atlan was by himself trying to experiment with his new powers. First of all, he used his Allure mutation to persuade Ninth to let him wander out into the Remedium all by himself. Normally, there was no way that Ninth would ever let Atlan go out alone by himself without his bodyguard. But once Atlan used his Allure mutation¡­ "I would normally say no, but I feel as if you can take care of yourself." Once Ninth looked at Atlan, it was as if there was something about his face that made him seem more¡­trustworthy. It was this intangible trait of his appearance that made her a lot more susceptible to accepting his words even though it was unreasonable. The bodyguard immediately protested. But once Atlan used his Allure mutation on him, he seemed a lot more compliant as well. "Well, as long as you return by sunset, it''s okay I guess¡­" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Next, he addressed Carmine. "Can I take off my battle suit temporarily?" Atlan wanted to know if his Allure mutation worked even if the person was far away from him and couldn''t see his face. "What?! Are you kidding me? You want to go out alone without your battle suit? Do you have a death wish?" The answer to his question was a resounding no. His Allure mutation didn''t work if the target couldn''t see his face. So, Atlan simply bent down and showed his face to the camera in his chest. "Can I? Now that the White Canzer is gone, there''s no other Canzer near here, right?" "...you''re right. I guess you do need a break from carrying all that heavy weight on your shoulders." Surprisingly, his Allure worked even through video. The only important part of it was that the target needed to see his face. That was all the evidence he needed to know that his mutation was a lot more overpowered than he thought. If he could manipulate Specialist-level Saviors like Ninth and the others, then this mutation would be a tremendous help in navigating the apocalyptic society. With everyone''s permission, Atlan got out of the special battle suit and got out into the Remedium alone. He went inside a large gymnasium hall near the camp. This was where he would experiment with his new LifeSkills. And for better privacy, he activated his Fog of War LifeSkill. Once he was completely alone, he first activated his Protection Lion LifeSkill. Suddenly, a golden glow expanded outwards from his heart and created a protective bubble around his body. And with a sword he borrowed from Ninth, he stabbed himself with it. Chapter 309 - 309: Own puppet TWING! The bubble shone even further as the sword clashed against its golden luster. There was no sign of the sword ever scratching the bubble, even when Atlan used his full strength. Even though his strength wasn''t equal to that of Ninth, her sword was still a step above others. Its sharpness could have cut through the chitinous armor in his special battle suit. It''s good enough, Atlan thought to himself. He couldn''t really test this LifeSkill to the limit because he didn''t have an enemy to try and hit him with. Therefore, he decided to test his other LifeSkill he got from the White Canzer. He looked down deep into his Soul System and saw the giant planet made out of yarn. He manifested a giant hand that was able to grasp it in his palms. And as soon as it did, Atlan felt the power coursing through his veins. This LifeSkill was at the Intern realm, just one realm below the Specialist level. It was the kind of power that Atlan had never even touched or dreamed of. The strength was almost enough to intoxicate him into fully unleashing his whole power outwards. But thanks to his self-control, he was able to reign himself in. If he lost control and let himself get swallowed by the LifeSkill, then the power could end up backfiring on him. Once he got better control, a giant needle and a giant ball of yarn manifested above Atlan''s head. It floated in the air, waiting for his command. How do I create a puppet? He looked at his Soul System and saw the description of the LifeSkill. ¡ªConjurer: (A) Spinster ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 130x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ªThis LifeSkill allows the user to create creatures purely from imagination. The user is also able to imbue these puppets with LifeSkill powers. The user temporarily loses access to the LifeSkill whenever it is imbued to the puppets. Subsequently, the LifeSkill the puppets wield will match the realm of the Spinster LifeSkill. As long as I can imagine it, I can create it? Atlan closed his eyes and concentrated on his imagination. He thought of a creature that exuded strength, mystery, and coldness. He experienced this creature''s strength first-hand and almost died by its hands. He imagined its full body the way he saw it in real life. And subconsciously, the image suddenly started to unravel into a yarn. The strings flowed out of his mind and into reality, making the needle and the yarn move by itself. Atlan learned that he had to concentrate for the whole duration of the conjuration or else the puppet would fizzle out. It took him about three minutes to finally create the puppet in his mind. Once he was done, he heard a thud in front of him. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see a human man looking at him with eyes that looked sentient. This man had tanned skin, wearing light leather armor and pants that looked to be easy to move in. He wore a circular hat, with a single feather glued to the side. On his back was a quiver full of arrows, and on his hand was a wooden bow that exuded power. The man looked at him and kneeled as if waiting for his orders. "The Huntsman¡­" Atlan muttered to himself. For his first puppet, Atlan imagined the Huntsman. This creature was the Canzer that he knew most about since he fought against this Canzer personally. He didn''t want to create the White Canzer because she wasn''t strong physically. She was only strong for her ability to create puppets. And since Atlan could already create puppets, then there was no need for her. He could have also tried to create the Prince, but Atlan didn''t get to see much of the Canzer''s abilities. He was afraid that his conjuration of the Prince''s puppet would fail because he couldn''t imagine the essence of the puppet hard enough. The same went with the Queen. Although she was the strongest Canzer he had ever encountered, he didn''t know much about her. She was shrouded in mystery. Truth be told, he was also afraid that she would sense that he tried to copy her likeness in his puppet and become angry at him as a result. So, Atlan decided that the Huntsman would be the first puppet he created. When he looked at the Huntsman right in front of him, he was confused as to why he looked so different. First of all, the puppet was human! He thought that the puppet he created would have the same chitinous armor as the Huntsman. Is it because it''s my puppet? Did it copy my likeness? On first thought, he considered this as a reduction. Without the Specialist Canzer''s chitinous armor, this puppet didn''t have the same physical strength and defense as the original. It only had the same skin as Atlan, which meant that it was very vulnerable. But on second thought, this was a blessing in disguise. If the puppet still had the same likeness as a Canzer, then it would immediately garner the hostility of other humans. Atlan could only imagine if he tried to summon a puppet in the middle of the street. It would start a panic and a riot, thinking that somehow, Canzers were able to infiltrate the real world. But since it looked human, no one would question it if the puppet followed Atlan''s every movement. "Can you speak?" he asked the Huntsman. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The puppet looked up at him and opened its mouth. It tried to copy Atlan''s mouth movements, but no understandable words came out of it, only grunts and noises. Looks like it''s not advanced enough to be sapient. I guess I''m not as good as the White Canzer yet. Her puppets had their own consciousness and acted like a real creature. Atlan guessed that he had to improve the LifeSkill first if he needed to create a much more complex puppet. But that would have to be reserved for the future. Chapter 310 - 310: Overpowered puppet Atlan had an intangible connection with the puppet. He knew its location even when he couldn''t see it, he knew what it was doing, and somehow, he could command it through just his thoughts. TWANG! The puppet let go of an arrow and it pierced through the fog outwards. Atlan was so surprised at its speed and strength that he almost thought that the Huntsman somehow revived and was now targeting him again. In hindsight, he shouldn''t have been surprised. According to the LifeSkill description, any puppet he created would have the same level as his Spinster LifeSkill. And since his Spinster LifeSkill was at the Intern level, this meant that any puppet he created would also be at the Intern level. TWANG! TWANG! TWANG! He commanded the puppet to shoot more arrows, and sure enough, all of them had the same piercing power as an Intern-level Savior. Even though it was written in the LifeSkill itself, Atlan still couldn''t believe it. With an Intern-level puppet by his side, Atan was more than confident in fighting against other Specialist-level Canzers. Even though there was still a large disparity, he didn''t have to fear for his life anymore. The puppet''s aim was accurate as well. As long as he commanded the puppet to hit a target, the arrow would fly toward the target with little to no deviance. Since I experienced the Huntsman''s terrifying aim firsthand, I was able to impart that ability to my puppet as well. I doubt the puppet would have the same aim as the original one if I hadn''t faced it myself. When he imagined the Huntsman, he converged everything he knew about the Huntsman into the image in his mind. He even imagined the Huntsman''s backstory and his grudge against the White Canzer when creating the image. Everything resulted in a very accurate replica of the real Huntsman. "Now, for the most important part¡­" Now that he proved the puppet''s strength, it was time to try out the other feature of his Spinster LifeSkill. According to the description, he was entitled to imbue the puppet with his LifeSkill. He had to make sure. After all, this feature sounded too good to be true. He looked down deep inside his Soul System and focused on his Spinster LifeSkill. He dived deep into the planet, going through its atmosphere. Once he crash-landed on the surface of the planet, he was suddenly faced with an altar in the middle of the ground made out of yarns. There was a single statue on the front, with a striking resemblance to the Huntsman puppet. Opposite the puppet was the altar depicting a Solar System revolving around a giant sun. He walked closer and realized that the planets in the Solar System were not mere planets, they were his LifeSkills. Each of them had patterns that had the same attributes as his LifeSkills. There were nine total planets, which confused him. After all, he had 11 LifeSkills. Since he was already at the Spinster LifeSkill planet, he understood why it wasn''t in the selection. But strangely enough, his Grim Reaper Physique wasn''t included in the solar system. Does that mean I can''t give my Physique to my puppets? The fact that the LifeSkill had the mysterious ''God'' job was probably the reason why he couldn''t imbue it to his other puppets. Atlan didn''t care much about it because he wasn''t planning on lending his Physique LifeSkill anyway. He had other plans for his Huntsman puppet. He had eyes on one of his LifeSkills. And strangely enough, this planet was glowing, as if it was begging to get imbued into the puppet. He picked up the miniature planet in his hands and observed it. The whole planet was colored in a bluish-green fire as if it were a sun instead of a planet. This was his Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill. This was the perfect power to lend to the Huntsman puppet. With its perfect aim, this LifeSkill would be a deadly weapon in its hands. He walked over to the marble statue with the LifeSkill planet in his hands. He looked at an indentation in the statue''s chest and found that the LifeSkill planet fit perfectly in the indentation. This also confirmed that he could only give one LifeSkill to a puppet since there was only one indentation for the planet. He gently pushed the planet onto the statue''s chest and it magically flew out of his hands and perfectly fit itself inside the indentation. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Once it did, the whole statue glowed in a golden light that sent a powerful shockwave that pushed Atlan''s consciousness out of the planet and out of his Soul System. He opened his eyes. The Huntsman puppet looked at its hands as if it was still reeling from the power Atlan gave it. And if one looked closely, they would see a bluish-green fire billowing in the puppet''s eyes. "Show me the power of my LifeSkill," Atlan commanded the puppet. And as he did, the puppet immediately took out an arrow from his quiver and readied it to his bow. It seemed the puppet was far more excited than Atlan about trying out his new power. TWANG! A bluish-green line of fire appeared the moment the puppet let go of the arrow. The projectile almost seemed instantaneous as it immediately landed out into one of the skyscrapers in the distance. BOOM! The explosion sent out a large bluish-green fire that spread outwards and into the sky. The skyscraper turned into molten metal and glass. The explosion shook its very foundation and forced it to tilt and fall to the ground. The skyscraper would have crashed onto the streets if the lingering bluish fire hadn''t consumed its very composition and turned it into ashes. Atlan looked at the wisps of fire falling slowly from the dark skies. "I was too excited¡­" He forgot that since he imbued his LifeSkill into an Intern-level puppet, that meant that his Apocalyptic Hellfire was also turned into an Intern-level LifeSkill. Chapter 311 - 311: Bayou Atlan had to go back to the group as soon as possible before they went and fetched him. With an explosion like that, they would no doubt imagine that he was getting attacked by a rogue Canzer. When he was back, he was met with relieved expressions. "Oh thank the Gods! We heard an explosion out there and thought something happened to you." "I checked it out and it turned out the whole building was burning!" said the Scout. Ninth walked over to Atlan. "It''s best if you don''t stray away from us from now on. Put on your suit and take a rest. We''ll be setting off tomorrow." Thankfully, nobody questioned too much about where the explosion came from. They simply put it off as some mysterious phenomenon from the Remedium. It helped that Atlan used his Allure mutation to make sure that they didn''t ask too many questions. Atlan and the others spent the rest of the day recuperating, either from their injuries or their training. After all, tomorrow, they would have to fight another Specialist-level Canzer on the way to the church. He didn''t prepare all that much. He was the only one who knew that they didn''t have to do anything at all. The Queen would be the one to kill the Canzers for them. When night fell, they all took camp and took shifts. Atlan volunteered to be the first one to stay awake. The next morning, everyone was up and ready before the sun came up. Surprisingly, their expressions were light, and the group was making some jokes here and there. He thought they''d get nervous and all, but as expected of professional Saviors, they knew that being too serious would only detract from their performances. "Ready?" asked Ninth to the group. She didn''t have to hear their answers to know that they were more than ready. She could see just from the look on their faces that they were ready to beat some Canzer''s behind. They set off to the road, with the Church on the horizon. From Atlan''s perspective, it would only take a couple of minutes of walking to reach the Church. But he knew that there would be some Canzers waiting to stop them in their tracks. Everyone was in their position, walking through the streets, when all of a sudden, the reality they saw before their eyes changed in a matter of seconds. The concrete and steel jungle that was Genesis City was transformed into a swamp bayou, with low-hanging trees by the side and a mucky stream flowing down towards the horizon. Thankfully, the streets had somehow transformed into a raft that saved them from dipping their toes into the strange, viscous, swampy water on the stream. CROAK! The growl resounded out through the whole bayou. Just the environment itself was dangerous enough. After all, it was the home of alligators and dangerous 30-foot pythons. And that was only normal animals, not Canzers. "Where are we?" asked Atlan. His special battle suit crackled as Carmine brought out a response. "Looks like we''re in another reality-bending Remedium. This only means that the Canzer could be a monster from the bayou, namely alligators, owls, snakes, and such." Atlan prepared himself, until another resounding growl echoed through the bayou. CROAK! The whole Remedium shook, followed by a large splash in the creek. The commotion sent a large wave through the stream and reached their raft, putting it high up in the air and bringing it down with another large splash, sending water flying through toward them. Thanks to their Tank''s timely action, no water was able to penetrate through their formation. And because of their training yesterday, no one got disoriented from the wave. Once everything in the creek settled, everyone turned their eyes toward a large creature out in the distance. Its eyes glowed red deep in the darkness. "It''s here," whispered Ninth. Everyone held their weapons tighter, ready for another fight. This time, they were going to go all out from the very beginning. The last time, they had to rely on Ninth''s domain ability to fight the six puppets because the rest of the group was incapacitated. Now, they were going to defeat this monster only using their teamwork. "Atlan, we''ll have to rely on you to create the construct," said Ninth. They weren''t going to take any chances. They would weaken the Canzer from the very beginning and kill it before it could use all of its strength. "Carmine, any idea what kind of Canzer this is?" Atlan pointed the camera on his battle suit towards the large creature in the distance. Now that they were close enough, everyone was finally able to see its full appearance. The creature had a wide and stout body, with warts all along its dirty green skin. Its eyes bulged out from its head, with its vision aimed towards the humans coming towards it. It sat on all four limbs, with its hind legs much stockier and thicker than its front legs. The Canzer had a wide mouth that remained closed as if waiting to devour its next victim. The Mage fired off a warning shot toward the creature, sending a ball of violet hands clumped together. But before it even got close to the Canzer, it opened its large mouth and suddenly, a red blur shot out from its throat and caught the spell. It then swallowed it whole. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What is it?" asked Atlan. He could only see a blur, so he wasn''t sure what it was. But he had a guess. "It''s a frog," said Carmine. "With a tongue that fast, there''s no mistaking it that it''s another Specialist-level Canzer." Atlan was relieved. He thought they''d have to fight against a monstrous alligator or a gigantic snake. But thankfully, they were only fighting against a frog. "This is bad¡­it''s another one of those¡­damn it, Atlan! How are you so unlucky?!" Carmine couldn''t believe Atlan''s unlucky streak. He encountered another Canzer that was supposed to have a very low chance of appearing. Chapter 312 - 312: Frog Prince "This is the Frog Prince, a Specialist-level Canzer with the appearance of a giant frog," Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. said Carmine from the battle suit. "How do we defeat it?" asked Ninth to the side. "Since this Canzer is a Destruction-type Canzer, it means that it will keep regenerating its wounds until a construct is made," Carmine answered. "So, all we have to do is to beat it to the ground until Atlan can make the construct with his battle suit?" "It''s not that simple. First of all, a construct is no problem. All we need is a magical syringe placed exactly in the Frog''s upper lip, which will create a time limit on the Canzer''s lifespan. But the problem lies in the fact that it''s a transformation type Canzer." Atlan listened to their conversation, but his mind wasn''t on its contents. He couldn''t help but look all around the bayou in search of a specific monster in the lurks. He was trying to see if the Queen was anywhere near this place. From their agreement, she would be the one to kill the Canzer for him, and all Atlan had to do was to reap its rewards. "Did you get all that, Atlan?" Carmine''s question snapped him out of his stupor. "All I have to do is create the construct, right?" "Yes. Thankfully, you don''t have to do anything during this fight. Ninth, you must take care not to fight the Canzer too hard, alright?" Atlan didn''t understand why Carmine was trying to limit Ninth''s strength when fighting the frog Canzer. "Why would she do that?" "Atlan, weren''t you listening? The Frog Prince Canzer is a transformation-type monster, which means that it can change into a much stronger form that will be triggered by a special event." "And that special event is?" "When the Frog Prince is turned upside down. Ninth and the team could attack the Canzer all they want, but they absolutely can''t push the frog upside down or else it will transform into something much more monstrous." This Canzer reminded Atlan of the Queen. She could also transform into a gigantic dragon that could swallow two Specialist-level Canzers with ease. If the frog''s transformation was just a fraction of how strong the dragon was, then they absolutely cannot let the Canzer transform. Ninth and the team started their assault on the Canzer with furious energy. The Mage and the Sniper fired their attacks on the Frog Prince from afar, burning its slimy skin. Their power was enough to penetrate through the warts and induce damage to its inner flesh. The frog croaked in pain, which the rest of the team took advantage of. They fired LifeSkill after LifeSkill, not even letting Ninth get the spotlight. Their training proved to be sufficient, as they let their true Specialist-level strength and teamwork suppress the Canzer to the ground. Ninth smiled as she saw the fire in her team''s eyes. Ever since everyone heard about the hardships and the immense odds the Star Porter had to overcome by himself, they felt their pride as Seniors get crushed. They couldn''t let themselves get bested by a novice, could they? Because of that, they treated the Frog Prince not as a Canzer, but as a whetstone that could sharpen their skills to greater heights. Meanwhile, Atlan stood alone on the raft by himself. He followed Carmine''s every instruction and inputted the code with thousands of letters toward the control center in his battle suit. After a few minutes, the construct was finally done, with his battle suit glowing a golden light. He raised his hand, gathering golden particles at the top of his palm. Slowly but surely, an oversized syringe materialized and fell into his hands. It was about the size of his torso, with a diameter larger than his head. It was a befitting syringe for the giant frog in front of them. "Give this syringe to Ninth, and she will be the one to suck out a vial of blood from the Canzer." Just in time, Ninth removed herself from the front lines and flew back to the raft. She asked for the syringe, and Atlan obliged. But just as he was about to give it to her, a roar echoed throughout the bayou swamp and sent out reverberations that shook the whole Remedium. The shaking made the creatures in the bayou cry out in fear: the birds flew away from the trees, alligators took shelter in the water, and the Frog Prince croaked out in an attempt to scare the intruder away. But it was no use. No matter how much the Frog Prince tried to scare away the approaching monster, it was not scared away. Ninth and the rest of the team were caught off guard. They immediately stopped attacking the Canzer and went back towards the raft, creating a defensive formation. "What was that?" "No way, right?" "Carmine, tell me that''s not what I think it is," Ninth asked Atlan''s battle suit. "...I''m afraid it is. I forgot to warn all of you that although Atlan is incredibly lucky, he is also equally as unlucky. It seems that another Canzer has come and intruded on your fight¡­" Although this wasn''t the first time they encountered an anomaly, Ninth, and the others couldn''t believe how unlucky the Star Porter was. A few seconds after that piercing roar, a large winged creature appeared from the skies and lunged down to the bayou. Ninth took control of the situation and summoned her gigantic swordmaiden. She swung her sword, anticipating the creature''s attack. The rest of the team had serious looks on her faces. Facing two Specialist-level creatures was no easy task. "Oh my Gods¡­it has come for revenge!" Carmine and the rest of the Operators recognized the monster that intruded on the fight. They were disheartened to find out that the monstrous Queen had come to finish the humans once and for all. Everyone waited for the inevitable hard fight. Everyone was anxious, except for one person. Atlan had a smile on his face, excited at what new LifeSkills he was going to get from the death of the Frog Prince. Chapter 313 - 313: Dragon v Frog ''$(*@&$)*@'' The Frog Prince croaked at the dragon in the air, indignant at the fact that it intruded on its territory. ''What are you doing here, Enchanted Queen? This is not your territory! The Queen laughed at his words. ''It still is. You turned coats and sided with the enemy, but this swamp bayou is still mine.'' It turned out that the Frog Prince was once a citizen of the Queen''s kingdom. Perhaps, the reason why the Queen accepted Atlan''s proposition was because it gave her a reason or excuse to teach traitors like the Frog Prince a lesson. The Frog Prince, in response, bloated its stomach, making himself look much bigger, and therefore much more intimidating. '' Leave now or this will be regarded as a declaration of war. You do not want to fight against our army.'' This was the first time Atlan saw an indication of two different factions of Canzers fighting against each other. Atlan could only shiver at the thought of millions of Canzers fighting against each other in an all-out war. But it seemed that the Queen wasn''t afraid at all. She continued to invade the Frog Prince''s territory as if it were her own. She dove down towards the Frog, but in the periphery of her eyes, she saw a giant sword coming towards her wings. The Queen snorted. She found it insulting that the humans thought they could fight her with their paltry numbers. If it weren''t for Atlan, then she would have destroyed them just because they were interfering with her fight with the Frog Prince. With one swing of her wing, she blasted the sword away, sending the giant Swordmaiden apparition tumbling backward. Ninth and the rest of the team were surprised at the dragon''s strength. The fact that it could repel the Swordmaiden''s sword so easily meant that this was not an opponent they could defeat without the use of their domains. "Brace yourselves. This dragon is on a whole other level¡­" "We can''t defeat both at the same time. We should split up." "We can''t split up. We''ll be lowering our overall strength and we won''t be able to fight them." "Then how are we going to defeat both?!" Ninth raised her hand and stopped her team from arguing. She then looked at Atlan''s battle suit and asked for help. "Carmine, any ideas on how we can disable the dragon so that we can kill the frog?" The other side didn''t answer for a few seconds. The team of Specialist Operators in the Emergency Meeting room were debating and brainstorming ideas on how to deal with the current problem. It was one thing if they were just fighting against two different Canzers at the same time. That was easy. The problem lay in the fact that they were fighting the Enchanted Queen. Of all the Canzers that had to interfere, it was extremely unlucky for it to be the Queen. It was already hard dealing with her if she was alone. "It''s complicated. There are contradicting sources about the Enchanted Queen''s weakness. Some say that a lightning strike from the heavens will paralyze her, but according to some books, that will only make her stronger. Some say that a boulder will crush her into immobility, but some say that it will only anger her into a furious rage." Carmine and the others couldn''t decide which story was true. "What should we do?" the team asked Ninth. She was ultimately the one to decide which one to go for. Should they strike lightning at the dragon, or should they bury it in a large boulder? Ninth knew that it was a hard decision, something that could not be made with little deliberation. But she was a leader. She had to choose before the Dragon killed them. "We should go with¡ª" But before she decided, Atlan suddenly walked up and put his hand up towards her. "We shouldn''t do anything," he said. "The dragon will kill us all if we don''t kill it first." Atlan shook his head. "Will it? When I first met the dragon, it could have killed me. But it didn''t. It let me go. I don''t think this dragon has any bad intentions towards us." His words made the whole group silent. It was inconceivable to them that a Canzer would harbor no hostility towards a group of humans who had the deaths of thousands of Canzers in their hands. "We can''t do anything. Those Canzers will not wait for us to deliberate whether the dragon will kill us or not¡ª" But before Ninth could finish, Atlan pointed towards the horizon. Everyone''s eyes were led toward the Dragon and the Frog. The Dragon swooped from the air and tackled the Frog, sending it flying through the bayou. It took no effort from the dragon to send the gigantic Frog Prince tumbling through the air and landing on the creek. The crash sent swamp water flying out and created a mini tsunami that rocked the raft that carried the whole team. After a few seconds, everything settled down. The Dragon was still high up in the air. Meanwhile, the Frog Prince was on its back, with its limbs showing no sign of movement. "Did¡­did the Dragon just kill the Frog?" "A Canzer attacking another Canzer?! I''ve never seen that before¡­" "Are the two of them fighting against each other? This is great for us!" sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The team celebrated the fact that the two Canzers seemed to be on completely opposite sides. But the only ones who stayed quiet were Ninth, Atlan, and Carmine. "This is not good," said Ninth. "...I don''t know if it was on purpose, but the dragon made things harder for us." Before the team could question why Ninth wasn''t celebrating with them, they all suddenly heard a groan from the giant Frog. CROAK! The Frog Prince''s body started convulsing as if the ligaments in its body were changing and transforming into something different. The Frog Prince was undergoing his transformation! Meanwhile, the Dragon looked over to Atlan and gave him an imperceptible smile. ''The stronger the opponent, the stronger you will get, right?'' Chapter 314 - 314: Frog vanquished The Frog Prince''s slimy body started to glow violet. Its thin front legs started to beef up as if muscles started growing from under the skin. Its hind legs, which were usually bent, started to unravel, making the Frog stand up as if it were bipedal. Its bulbous eyes started to swell, until finally, it popped out of its socket and hung in the air. Its large stomach swelled even further, turning into a full sphere. This new transformation somehow turned the Frog Prince into a monstrous ball with human-like arms and legs that bounced up and down through the swampy bayou. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The pressure and aura it exuded were far stronger than its original figure, almost tripling in value. It was no wonder why Carmine and the others warned the group about the Frog Prince''s transformation. It was unfortunate that the Dragon inadvertently triggered it, either on purpose or not. Atlan inwardly shook his head. Somehow, the Queen got the idea that Atlan got stronger through the deaths of stronger Canzers. Judging from the smile on her face, she knew exactly what she did when she turned the Frog upside down and allowed it to transform into the monster it was now. In truth, Atlan gained the rewards from the Canzer regardless if they transformed or not. But Atlan didn''t know if the LifeSkill he gets from reaping the Frog Prince''s death was influenced by their current strength. So for now, Atlan didn''t know if the Queen did him a favor or not. "This is the worst situation possible. Ninth, I think it''s time for you to make a tactical retreat." Ninth looked at the two gigantic monsters in front of them and felt a shiver down her spine. The Dragon specifically, looked like an opponent that she could not take lightly. "I agree. We need to get out for now and hope that only one of them follows us." The rest of the team had no reason to refuse NInth''s order¡ªexcept for one. Atlan didn''t want to miss the reaping of the Frog Prince''s death. So, he knew that he had to stall for time. "I think we can defeat both of them." In response, Carmine shouted back, "Are you crazy?!" "I told you. I don''t think the Dragon is our enemy." Atlan didn''t have to say more. The Queen swooped down towards the Frog Prince and used her wings to slice down its slimy skin. The Frog Prince prided himself in his ability to reflect physical attacks from his body using the slime in his skin. No other Canzer could pierce through his skin because of it. But the Queen was no ordinary Canzer. She was a cut above all of them. A large cut appeared on the Frog Prince''s torso, with violet blood spurting out into the bayou. The Frog flailed its arms in retaliation against the Dragon, but she was long gone before the Frog could even react to her attack. ''Stop this!'' screamed the Frog Prince. ''Are you really planning on waging war against our kingdom?'' The Queen laughed. ''Funny. You used to say that to our enemies. Now, you use it for them.'' ''You know why I left. Your kingdom was on its downfall. The once mighty Enchanted Kingdom was gone the moment your King died. You can''t expect us to stay in your kingdom and rot with it, right?'' In response, the Queen pulled her head back, gurgling fire in her throat. The Frog Prince, anticipating her attack, bounced out and away from her line of sight, sending a huge tsunami-like wave coursing through the bayou. With the Prince''s special transformation, his body turned full of air, allowing him to bounce randomly. He rebounded up and down in the air until finally, the Prince released all that energy and bounced towards the Dragon in the air. It was a surprise attack. One that would have caught most Canzers off guard. But the Queen was no ordinary Canzer. The moment he was close enough to her, she darted her head to his face and blew a fiery breath in his direction. GRAHHHH! The Prince tried to bounce in mid-air, but the fiery breath turned half of his body into fried meat. ''They won''t stand for this! You will pay!'' screamed the Frog Prince. His burned skin started to slowly heal as a strange liquid filled his skin. ''That may be so. But you won''t be alive to see it.'' The Queen swooped down once again, this time, using her sharp claws to slice the Frog Prince''s throat in one go. With her speed, the Frog Prince had no chance. Violet blood spurted out of his throat. He tried to plug the cut using his arms, but the flow of blood was too much. In the Frog Prince''s eyes was disbelief. It was only now that he realized that the Queen was serious about asking for his death. He thought she was only doing this to teach him a lesson. She truly was trying to kill him. But the Frog Prince couldn''t understand. She knew exactly what would happen once she interfered with another kingdom''s territory, especially with the humans involved. How could he have known that the Queen was only killing him so that Atlan could become stronger? In a last-ditch effort, the Frog Prince used his full power and summoned tadpoles out of nowhere. These tadpoles were the size of humans, but as they traveled from the ground toward the air, they quickly grew in size to the point that they turned into giant frogs themselves! These frogs turned more and more bloated until, BOOM! , they exploded into an acidic mist cloud that disintegrated everything in their path. This melted the whole swampy bayou, turning the trees and the ground into a disgusting goo. Normally, this was a trump card for the Frog Prince because it would kill everything in sight indiscriminately. But in his defense, the Queen forced him to do it. ''If you hadn''t tried to kill me, I wouldn''t have killed you. If you had just stayed in our kingdom, you could have ruled it for the rest of your life! But no! You just had to¡ª'' The Frog Prince wasn''t finished venting when all of a sudden, a dark shadow overcame his figure. Before he could even understand what it was, the Queen chomped down on his head and swallowed it whole. Chapter 315 - 315: Easiest reap Ninth and the rest of the team were gobsmacked. They couldn''t close their jaws from the shock of seeing the Dragon Canzer eat the Frog''s head whole and chomp it to bits. It was surreal. It felt like they were seeing something impossible, something taboo. Those two monsters may be completely different kinds of creatures, but they were still Canzerse nonetheless. It was like seeing a human bite another human''s hand whole. "What¡­" "Did that dragon just cannibalize its own kind?" Ninth didn''t even know what to do. She didn''t know if she should interfere or let nature take its course. This would have been the perfect opportunity for them to attack the dragon. Now that it was alone and busy digesting the head of the Frog, Ninth and the team had the chance to attack her at her most vulnerable position. On the other hand, they could just let the Dragon do what it was going to do. Since it never showed any hostility over them in the first place, there was a huge chance that the Dragon would simply leave after killing the Frog Canzer. "Carmine, have you ever heard something like this happening before?" Ninth asked the camera in the battle suit. "...this is highly unusual. From what our sources indicate, the Enchanted Queen is a royal leader of the Enchanted kingdom. Meanwhile, the Frog Prince is a general of a rival kingdom. From our estimation, this shouldn''t have happened. The Enchanted Queen shouldn''t have been in this place at all! The fact that she killed a general from a rival kingdom means that she is waging war against them, breaking the thousand-year peace treaty between the two kingdoms. This is highly unusual and game-changing! I believe that what we witnessed right now will have huge repercussions in the Canzer community." Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators knew more about the circumstances surrounding the Canzer society. That''s why it came as such a shock that they saw a pivotal moment in their history. The Dragon could cause an all-out war between the Canzers! Although it may sound good for humans to see that the Canzers were going to have a war, they knew that it would also have bad consequences. The rates of Canzer appearances would increase substantially. A war needed a lot of resources, and Canzers could only get those resources by infiltrating the Remediums and stealing from the God. The missions were bad now, but with the advent of the war, it would only become much worse. The Dragon roared to the skies after swallowing the Frog Prince''s head. She let out all the frustrations she had about the traitors of her kingdom and finally let them go. She had stayed far too passive this whole time. Now was the opportunity to finally get what she wanted. ''I hope you get stronger with this, human. We will see each other again very soon. Now that I''ve got a taste of those traitors, I''m craving for more.'' She spread her wings wide and took off into the black skies of the swampy bayou. In just a matter of seconds, she disappeared into the horizon, leaving the humans utterly confused and speechless. Soon after, the swampy bayou started to melt, as if it had only been an illusion this whole time. The large trees submerged in the water turned into large skyscrapers. The slow-moving river that carried the raft turned solid and became the asphalt road of Genesis City. A few seconds later, they were finally back into the streets leading towards the Church. The fact that the swampy bayou disappeared meant that the fight was truly over. But though a minute had passed, the whole team was still silent and reeling from what they just witnessed. They couldn''t believe it. Atlan was surprised too, not because of confusion, but because of joy. [You have assisted in the death of a complex creature: The Frog Prince] [Due to your Trait, your rewards have been multiplied by 10] [You have gained the (B-class) Assassin LifeSkill: Devour Assimilation] [You have gained 90x F class fragments] ¡ªArmy Chef: (B) Devour Assimilation ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Pre-Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 90x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª This LifeSkill allows the user to temporarily assimilate a creature''s physical and magical powers by devouring part of their body. The bigger the body part consumed, the stronger the power given to the user. [You have gained 50x (5-star) genus: Frog Prince] [You have gained the (5-star) mutation: Slimy Skin] ¡ª (5-star) Slimy Skin ¡ª¡ª Upon activation, the user''s skin will produce a slime that will decrease the SoulTime incurred by the injury by 50%. Atlan looked at his new set of powers and couldn''t help but break out a smile. He obtained a new Pre-Intern LifeSkill and a 5-star mutation without even doing anything¡ªliterally. The Queen stuck by her words and killed the Canzers for him. He was slightly worried that the Queen would go back on their promise, but it turned out that even Canzers like her could be more honorable than some humans. His new LifeSkill was incredibly interesting too. Although it necessitated him eating a part of a Canzer''s body, the fact that he could consume their flesh and assimilate their powers was a huge boon in strength. After all, he didn''t have to do it himself. He could simply give it out to a puppet, creating another powerful ally by his side. He was also surprised that the system considered him to have assisted in the Frog Prince''s death, which led to him getting more rewards. Is it because the Frog Prince wouldn''t have died if I hadn''t asked the Queen to kill him? S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Although it was weird, Atlan didn''t complain. After all, he got more rewards that way. While Atlan was inwardly celebrating his rewards, the rest of the team were incredibly confused as to what they were going to do next. "...This is strange¡­" "I agree. But let''s look at it from the bright side. We can go forward and get a little bit closer to the Church," Ninth said to her team. No matter how strange the situation was, they shouldn''t forget their true goal. They were just a couple more hundred meters away from the Church. Chapter 316 - 316: Beast’s castle The group walked forward through the streets. They were incredibly wary of their surroundings, waiting for the inevitable moment when the scenery changed and transported them to a different location. It would be a lie to say that the group wasn''t unnerved by the previous Canzer they encountered. But they moved on and continued walking forward. As they were walking, Atlan was suddenly surprised by the appearance of a few words in his vision. [You have successfully advanced your SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill to the 4th stage of the Student Realm] Now that he had an abundance of LifeSkills far above the Student realm, advancing these LifeSkills seemed futile. Even though these were SSS class LifeSkills, it was far too weak compared to the LifeSkills he gained from reaping the deaths of Specialist-level Canzers. Since he could imbue his LifeSkills to a puppet and immediately up their power into the Intern-realm, he had no use in upgrading his LifeSkills anymore. He only needed to find more Specialist-level Canzers and farm them for LifeSkills! This made him extremely excited to encounter another Canzer soon. He even hoped that they get stopped by Canzers at least five more times before they reached the church. If his previous self heard him say those words, then he would smack himself on the head. After all, he was only a Student-level Savior. Asking for more encounters with a dangerous Specialist-level Canzer was suicide, plain and simple. But since he had the help of a certain dragon hiding somewhere out there, he had absolute confidence in surviving those encounters. He wanted to maximize the little time he had left with the Queen''s help. According to their agreement, the Queen was only liable to help him before they reached the Church. Once they did, then the Queen was no longer responsible for his safety. He wished that he asked more from her. No, I shouldn''t rely on the Queen. Even if she''s very helpful right now, she''s still a Canzer. Once he got more Intern-realm LifeSkills, he was more than confident in surviving an encounter with a Specialist-level Canzer by himself. With that said, why aren''t there any Canzers appearing right now?! Just as he thought that, the whole Remedium turned dark, with the skyscrapers morphing and churching until they became high-ceiling walls. Suddenly, they were all enclosed into a very large room lit by candlelight. There was a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, also lit by candles swaying in the wind. TIK TOK TIK TOK The sound of a clock ticking resounded through the halls even though they couldn''t see any sign of that machine anywhere. From what they could see, they were inside a large castle that was meant for creatures larger than a human. "Where are we?" "This looks fancy¡­if it weren''t a Canzer''s lair, I would consider this my dream home." "Speaking of Canzer, where is it?" They all turned their heads to the front. There was a large spiraling staircase leading up to the second floor. But everything up there was shrouded in darkness. They couldn''t see anything. But they had a strange feeling as if those up above could see down towards them very clearly. "Do you guys hear that? A ticking clock¡­a large chandelier on the ceiling¡­the clinging sound of tableware¡­there''s no doubt about it." "Where are we?" asked Atlan. "You are in the caste of the Beast." "The Beast? He sounds¡­beastly." Just as he said that, the whole castle shook with the footsteps of a creature above the staircase. Everyone turned their attention to the Beast. DUG! DUG! DUG! ''My, my, who do we have here? Visitors?'' The Beast walked down the steps with grace unlike that of his appearance. His large head was similar to that of a Bison, with horns arching upwards. His gorilla eyebrows narrowed upon seeing the humans. But instead of feeling hostility, the Beast welcomed them to his humble abode instead. He bent his body and performed a bow. His royal attire, complete with a royal blue tailcoat and a high-collar shirt underneath it, the Beast''s appearance made him look like a royal prince of those olden times. His vest and pants were inundated with gold trim and ornate designs, completing the regal theme. But despite his royal gestures, Atlan and the rest of the humans couldn''t help but treat him as nothing more than his name¡ªa Beast. His arms and body were that of a bear, completely towering over all the humans. He looked like he was on the verge of swatting them to the wall with his enormous hands. And as the Beast smiled, he showed the teeth and mane like that of a lion, and the tusks of a wild boar. All of the Canzer''s characteristics were an amalgamation of all the animals that once hunted humans back in the ancient days. "This is the Beast. It''s another Destruction-type Canzer famed for its physical prowess. Ninth, I suggest that you use both of your tanks to protect the team because one will not suffice." Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "How about its weakness? What kind of construct will we need?" "This one is fairly easy. We must simply build a rose encased in a glass container, which must be soaked in the Beast''s blood. Only then would the petals start falling from the rose, signaling the Beast''s limited time. The problem now is to survive long enough for that to happen. But if all things go as expected, I believe that all of you are capable of defeating this Canzed." Ninth looked at Atlan and realized that he hadn''t been paying attention this whole time. "Did you hear that, Atlan? We need you to create the construct." But Atlan seemed distracted. It was as if he didn''t care about creating the construct and fighting the Beast. And why would he? There was no need to burden himself with creating the construct when there was no need to do it. They just had to wait for the Queen to show up and kill the Beast for them. Chapter 317 - 317: Beast’s companion ''Please, there is no need for violence,'' the Beast said, spreading his arms in a non-hostile way. Unfortunately, everything that the Beast did, no matter how harmless they seemed, looked like it was a violent reaction because of his large beastly stature. Ninth and the others stopped talking and immediately moved to their defensive positions. Ninth and the rest of the team used their LifeSkills to attack the Beast before he could get close to them. The Sniper fired his shot, the Mage conjured an offensive spell, the Scout attacked from behind, and Ninth swung her one-handed sword toward the Beast in coordination with her team. But in response, the Beast simply swatted their attacks with nonchalance. His thick fur allowed him to take virtually no damage from the Mage''s spell and the Sniper''s bullet. They tried to dig through the Beast''s skin, but they ended up dissipating in the air. The only one who was able to draw blood to the Beast was Ninth. Her sword cut through the Canzer''s bear arms, creating a small cut near his wrist. But her sword, unfortunately, didn''t go far. The Beast simply swatted Ninth and her sword away with his large arm. Ninth flew backward until her back landed on the wall, shaking the paintings above. ''I mean no harm, humans.'' Despite being attacked, the Beast showed no sign of retaliating against the humans. It insisted on peace, strangely enough. But no matter how much it tried to say something to Ninth and the others, they could not understand the Beast''s strange aversion to fighting. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After all, the fact that the Beast approached them should only mean one thing: it wanted to kill them. Ninth and the others were not wrong in attacking the Beast first. Even if they somehow understood by its actions that the Beast didn''t want to attack them, Ninth would have still attacked him nonetheless. After all, Canzers were sly creatures; she didn''t know if it was simply feigning non-violence to draw them in and take them off guard. Atlan was the only one who understood the Beast''s words. Similarly, he couldn''t trust the Canzer''s words. What is it trying to do? As if it wanted to answer Atlan''s inner thoughts, the Beast said, ''I want to help you, humans.'' Atlan almost reacted to the Beast''s words. He simply couldn''t understand why. There had to be a reason why the Beast wanted to help them. It was unfortunate that Atlan couldn''t talk to the Beast directly to ask him. "Carmine, care to tell us why this Canzer is acting so weird? It''s not trying to kill us." Ninth walked back near to Atlan. When she was thrown to the wall, she didn''t feel the intensity and strength she expected from the Beast''s arms. It was as if the Beast was trying not to hurt her, only repel her away. This was extremely weird. After all, the Beast was famed for his strength. He shouldn''t be this weak. "...We don''t know¡­We can see the Beast in his whole attire, so we are sure that this is not a variant of the Beast. So, this Beast should be the maniacal, monstrous Canzer that would want to kill humans the moment it sets its eyes on you." Ninth looked at the Beast and noticed that it had been moving its mouth and gesturing for a while now. It was as if it was trying to communicate with them. "Are you seeing what I''m seeing?" she asked Carmine and Atlan. "Yes. It seems that the Canzer wants to convey something to us." Unfortunately, no matter how much the Beast used his arms to communicate with the humans, it was impossible for the two to understand each other. Both of them might be intelligent in their own right, but they had completely different cultures and ways of thinking. One thing for humans may mean another thing for Canzers. ''I understand that for all of you to trust me, I need to trust you first.'' The Beast turned around and faced the spiraling staircase leading to the second floor. It was still shrouded in darkness, but the Beast seemed to be able to see through it. ''My love, please come down.'' The Beast''s gesture was universal. Ninth and the rest of the team immediately knew that the Beast was talking to someone else on the second floor! This made the team extremely nervous. Having another unexpected Canzer appearing in this cramped room was bad news. Dealing with the Beast was already bad enough, but if it had another helper about to come about, then they would lose their advantage in numbers. "Carmine! You didn''t tell us there''s another Canzer in the Beast''s palace!" "There wasn''t supposed to!" Carmine''s hectic voice leaked out of the battle suit. It was clear that this was not part of the plan. "The Beast is supposed to be alone! The Canzer was famous for his aversion to other Canzers, meaning that he would rather die than ask help from some other Canzers. This is highly unusual!" Since the Beast wasn''t supposed to have a helper, Carmine and the others couldn''t prepare for its arrival. At least with other Canzers, they could prepare a plan of attack and create a construct to deal with both of them. But with the unknown helper, Carmine could do nothing else but watch. STEP¡­STEP¡­STEP The sound of elegant footsteps rang out from the staircase. Even though it was subtle, it took away everyone''s attention. Ninth raised her sword, preferring to act now before it could act against her. She imbued herself with power, summoning the apparition of the swordmaiden above her body. Although this apparition was smaller than normal because of the ceiling, it was not lacking in power. The swordmaiden reached forward and swung towards the creature going down the steps. But just as she was about to slice down, a voice rang out from the creature. "Please, there''s no need for that." Ninth stopped in her tracks, her jaws slacked. Instead of seeing a monstrous Canzer going down the steps, they saw an elegant human woman smile and greet them from the stairs. Chapter 318 - 318: Beauty The appearance of a human woman sent the whole team into disarray. Even Carmine and the rest of the Operators back in the Emergency Meeting room couldn''t believe what they were seeing. At first, everyone thought that it was a Canzer that only looked eerily similar to human biology. After all, appearances could be deceiving. But when they heard her voice talking in a human language, they couldn''t deny the truth any longer. She was a human. This woman had auburn brown hair tied in a ponytail. She looked young, but that was not an indication of her age. After all, Lizzie looked young despite her age being a hundred years old. Her attire was very similar to the Beast''s princely uniform. One could even say they matched well with each other as if they were a couple. But how could that be? She was a human, while the Beast was a Canzer. Everyone froze. They tried hard to process what was happening in front of their very eyes, but they could not reconcile the truth with what they were seeing. But as expected of Ninth, she was the first one to move. Ninth rushed towards the top of the stairs, bypassing the Beast in his entirety. Before everyone could even try to stop her, Ninth arrived just one step away from the human woman. Once the two women met face to face, Ninth held out her hand and offered it to her. "We''ll protect you. Come with us," she said. The only reasonable explanation that Ninth could come up with was that the woman was taken hostage by the Beast. And so, Ninth quickly moved and offered her help so that she could finally break away from the confines of the Beast''s palace. Ninth''s team quickly offered support once they realized what she was doing. They surrounded the Beast, making sure that he wouldn''t be able to stop Ninth from rescuing the poor woman. But strangely enough, the Beast didn''t move a single inch. And even more strange was the fact that the woman atop the stairs didn''t take Ninth''s hand. She only looked at it and shook her head. "Make no mistake, I am, and always will be, here of my own accord. The Beast has not taken me hostage." This confused Ninth so much that she couldn''t help but stare at the woman. She was trying to see any sign of coercion on her face, a subtle sign that gave away the fact that the Beast was forcing her to say these words. But she didn''t see anything. The woman was telling the truth. It didn''t take Ninth a lot of time to realize this. And once she did, she quickly retreated away from the stairs and regrouped with her team. She looked at the woman with more wariness. "!$)%*!$*%#!)$%#" The Beast roared at Ninth, talking to her about something. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Oh, please. They meant no harm," the Woman said to the Beast. Then, she looked to Ninth and translated what the Beast said to her. "He said that the only reason he didn''t break your bones while you approached me was because you didn''t carry your weapon. Sorry, he''s quite overprotective of me." Ninth and the rest of the normal humans looked at the Beast and the Woman''s interaction with strange expressions. It turned out that the Woman could understand the Beast''s words! This was a revelation that sent a shockwave to the Operators back to the real world. "What''s happening, Carmine? Is this a trick from the Canzers?" But the Operators couldn''t answer Ninth''s question immediately. After all, they were too busy being surprised upon learning of the fact that a human was able to understand a Canzer''s language. "This¡­this¡­she can speak Canzer¡­." Ninth got a little bit frustrated with Carmine''s answer. "Focus, Carmine. Tell me what we''re supposed to do next. Should we kill that impostor?" "No! No! That is not an impostor. That is a human woman!" "Are you sure? Then how is she able to understand a Canzer''s language?" "Yes. She can speak human!" Atlan couldn''t hide his surprise as well. The Woman''s translation of the Beast''s words was exactly what he heard as well. This meant that the Woman could truly understand the Canzer''s language as he did. He thought he was the only one who had that ability. While Carmine and Ninth were arguing, the Woman walked down the steps of the winding staircase and took her place next to the Beast. She looked like a dwarf compared to the Beast. But despite the staggering height and stature difference between the two, the Beast and the Woman were very close and had a strange aura around them. It was as if they were very close¡­ very close. "Yes, I am human, and you can call me Beauty." Ninth walked to the front of the line and faced ''Beauty''. "If you''re truly human, then why are you there? Why are you¡­holding hands with a Canzer?" The Beauty and the Beast held hands with love and care. It was as if they were a couple that could not be separated even by fate itself. Their eyes looked at each other with such love that it was almost comical. "There''s nothing wrong with love," Beauty said. "As long as our souls intertwine, then there is no difference between human and Canzer. We are bonded by something so much more than the physical." ")($*@&$(*&@(*$" "Hehe¡­yes, they can''t understand our love, and we don''t need to explain it to them." ¡ª Back at the Emergency Meeting room, the team of Specialist Operators was still busy looking at their books and sources to try and see if there was an explanation for the ''Beauty''. But no matter how much they consulted the records, they couldn''t find a precedent for this type of situation. This was the first documented case of a human and a Canzer having a¡­relationship. This was also the first time anyone ever saw a human understanding a Canzer''s language. Chapter 319 - 319: Reason for talk "Who the hell is she?!" "Are we even sure she''s human?" "Focus, team! We need to find out if this woman affects the weakness of the Beast!" S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The team of Specialist-level Operators were in a shouting match together. They were heaving half-hearted solutions, while the rest of them were swatting them down harshly. And this argument would never end for as long as they hadn''t figured out who the woman who called herself ''Beauty'' was. Thankfully, the Operators weren''t the only ones who were in the Emergency Meeting room. The Elder Heads silently watched the live video feed with intense eyes. Then, as the video focused on the face of the woman next to the Beast, the woman with her hair in a ponytail suddenly had a flash of familiarity wash over her head. She had found that face familiar, but she couldn''t put a pin on it. This was highly unusual because the Elder Heads prided themselves in having sharp minds and intact memories despite their age. Only now, when the camera focused on the woman''s face, did the Elder Head realize why she seemed so familiar. "I know who she is¡­" Her words caused a silence in the room. Carmine, the team of Specialist Operators, and the rest of the Elder Heads put their attention towards her. "You know her, your honor?" Carmine asked. The old woman nodded her head, surprising everyone. "Back when I was in my youth, I was sent outside Genesis City and made to work in a different territory. The name of that territory didn''t matter, but I performed missions and lived a different life in that City. During my tenure there, we encountered an incident. A Specialist-level Savior was suddenly caught up in a vortex in the Remedium. They tried to search for her after the mission, but it was to no avail. Everyone thought she''d be lost forever¡­" "But we looked through the missing person list in the entire world. We didn''t see a match with her facial features," Carmine said. In truth, that was the first thing the Operators did. After all, a Savior being lost and trapped in the Remedium was the first explanation that popped up in their mind. So, they consulted the global list of missing persons in the Remedium. And no matter how much they looked for her, they couldn''t find her face in the registry. The old woman nodded. "Yes, but that list only consists of territories that are currently still alive today." "You mean¡­" "Yes. The territory where this woman once lived no longer exists in this world." The old woman lived for far too long, and she witnessed the birth and death of many territories on the entire planet. "Your honor, do you have her name?" "Yes. Her name is¡­" ¡ª Back at the Beast''s castle, the team faced the Beauty and the Beast with wariness in their eyes. "If you are human, then why are you with that Beast?" asked Ninth. In response, the Beauty simply chuckled. "He is more human than most humans." "So what does this mean? Are you with the Canzers? Are you an enemy of humanity?" Ninth asked her straightforwardly. Siding with Canzers was nothing more than treason against humanity. If she prioritized a Canzer before a human''s safety, then Ninth had a responsibility to dispose of her right here and now. "I am not an ally of the Canzers. I am on his side only." "It''s the same nonetheless. You and your Beast hindered us from reaching our goal." Beauty shook her head. "We didn''t hinder you, woman. We simply wanted to talk. If you had let go of your prejudice against Canzers, then you would have noticed that He didn''t want to fight you." "Then what do you want?'' "We simply want to talk," Beauty said. "$(*@(*$&(#*$(#($" the Beast supplemented her words. "Yes, I already told them that we are not their enemy." Ninth looked at the two with disgust. Seeing Beauty interact with the Beast as if they were not enemies made her want to puke. "You''re a Canzer! How else can you understand the Beast''s words?" Atlan listened closely to Beauty''s response. He wanted to know if it was also a mutation that allowed her to listen and speak to Canzers. "If I was a Canzer, then I wouldn''t be able to speak the human language. Or are you saying that Canzers are much more intelligent than humans and that they are the first ones to break that barrier? This is not a mutation nor a LifeSkill. I learned how to speak Canzer because of love. It breaks all boundaries." Ninth gritted her teeth. "Then what do you want? Tell me now before I kill both of you with my sword." The Beauty and the Beast both looked at each other. "$#)(*&@)(*@#" "We want to help you." Beauty translated the Beast''s words. "It is to our understanding that you have been encountering difficult Canzers in your journey to the Church." Ninth didn''t like the fact that someone like Beauty knew about their plans. It was one thing for Canzers to know, and it was another thing for a human to know. After all, she could know their plans purely because of her heritage. "That White Canzer. Is that your comrades?" asked Ninth. When Beauty translated the Ninth''s words to the Beast, the monstrous Canzer laughed with his belly. It caused a slight tremor in the castle. "No, we hate them," answered Beauty. "As I told you, we only side with ourselves. We do not like other Canzers. In fact, we would like to help you kill other Canzers." Ninth and the others were immediately suspicious of their offer. They thought it was a trap. After all, it was too good to be true. And there would be no reason why they would want to help humans. Atlan wasn''t just suspicious, he also felt a sense of deja vu. The Queen offered the same thing to him! Then, Beauty revealed the real reason why they wanted to help the humans. "We want the Dragon dead. If you help us, then we''ll make things a lot easier for you." Chapter 320 - 320: Consider a truce It turned out that the Beauty and the Beast wanted the Queen dead! That was the reason it wanted to cooperate with the humans. "What?" Even Ninth was confused. "We know that you have encountered the Dragon one or two times already on this mission. As you might have guessed, that Dragon is not supposed to be here. It is a very dangerous Canzer that has no boundaries, no code, and no rules. It will kill both humans and Canzers indiscriminately. We simply want to teach it its place. By helping us kill the Dragon, you will have the entire Canzer race in debt to your group. Every Canzer will be so grateful for your help that they will no longer block your way towards the Church. They will let you dispatch the Ifrit in your God''s heart and we can all go home." Ninth went silent. Even though she wanted to refuse Beauty''s words as soon as she said it, she knew that this was an opportunity that wouldn''t come again. The Dragon was a dangerous Canzer. There was no doubt about it. And Ninth was only about 50% sure that they would be able to defeat it one-on-one. But if the Dragon barged into their fight again, Ninth couldn''t be sure that it wouldn''t team up with the Canzer. At that point, Ninth was sure that they would have to retreat to the real world because there was no way they were going to defeat the Dragon. If what the Beauty said was true, then the only way they were going to defeat the Dragon was if they teamed up with the Beauty and the Beast. Even though she didn''t trust the couple, the enemy of her enemy was her friend. Therefore, she was seriously contemplating whether she was going to accept the Beast''s proposition. Meanwhile, Atlan immediately knew that Beauty and the Beast were telling a bunch of lies. Since they wanted the Queen dead, then they must be part of the opposing kingdom that the Queen wanted to go to war with. There was also a large chance that they would backstab Ninth and kill both the Queen and the humans in one fell swoop. And even if they were telling the truth and harbored no ill will against Ninth and the team, Atlan didn''t want them to succeed. The reason for that was plain and simple: he wanted to reap more Specialist-level Canzers. If Beauty and Beast succeeded in killing the Queen, then they would instruct the other Canzers to let them walk to the Church without any hassle. Atlan didn''t want that. He wanted to encounter as many Canzers as possible and have the Queen kill them easily. That way, he could farm as many Intern-level LifeSkills as possible! But when he looked at Ninth, he saw that she was on the verge of accepting their proposition. He couldn''t let that happen. "They''re not telling the truth," he whispered to her. Ninth looked back at him. "Listen, I don''t trust them either. But this could be the only chance we have of killing the Dragon." "Do we have to? The Dragon didn''t show any sign of hostility against us. And it even killed the Canzer for us! Maybe it''s on our side." Ninth shook her head. "That is a Canzer you''re talking about. They don''t do things for our benefit. Who''s to say that it wouldn''t attack us later when we are at our most vulnerable?" "What if they are also planning that?" "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Trust me, I won''t let my eyes off the couple. But we need their strength to kill the Dragon." Atlan could see from Ninth''s expression that there was no way he was going to convince her. She was still stuck in her thinking that Canzers were an enemy of humanity. That was probably because she was brought up that way. Meanwhile, Atlan was able to converse and hear Canzers with his mutation. That allowed him to realize that Canzers had their own emotions, grudges, and desires the same way that a human did. There was practically no difference between the two, except for their appearance. That was why Atlan easily believed that the Queen meant them no harm. Ninth was set on her ways. Atlan had to find a way to stop them from reaching an agreement. He looked down at his battle suit and asked Carmine. "Hey, did you¡ª" "We know who she is!" Atlan listened to Carmine''s words carefully. ¡ª Meanwhile, Ninth and the rest of her team walked forward. If they were going to work together, then they needed to trust each other. "We''re happy that you''ve accepted our proposal. That Dragon is a menace that is dangerous to both humans and Canzers." "$(@*@#*$@#%" The rest of Ninth''s team took a step back when the Beast spoke out loud. They still weren''t used to having a Canzer be so close to them without a fight breaking out. "I haven''t accepted. I''m still considering the risks." Beauty nodded, understanding her hesitance. "That is fine. You have taken the first step. You are still wary of us, and that is understandable. To assure you, then we are willing to make some concessions. We will be the first one to attack the Dragon, while you all stay in the backline and wait for the opportune moment to kill it. Surely that is enough for you to trust us. We literally have our backs faced towards you." Ninth found the concession agreeable. If the Beast was the one to attack the Dragon, then they could make sure that there was no shady business going on. And if the Beast and the Dragon fought to the death, then it would only benefit them. Ninth could use that opportunity to deal with both Canzers once and for all. Seeing as Ninth had an agreeable expression on her face, Beauty held out her hand for Ninth to accept. Ninth took a second to reconsider and finally held out her hand. They were about to shake hands, when all of a sudden, Atlan spoke out from the back. "Wait a minute." S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 321 - 321: Belle Atlan''s words interrupted the good mood that was about to overcome Beauty. She thought she would convince Ninth about her proposal, but a little boy suddenly interrupted their meeting. "Does he speak for your team?" Beauty asked Ninth. She was insinuating that Atlan was a nobody. After all, it looked like he was the only one that was against their cooperation. And since his words don''t matter, then they should continue their agreement. Ninth picked up on this subtle fact. Even though she didn''t like Atlan interrupting their moment, she wasn''t going to let the disrespect against him pass by without saying anything. "His word is as valuable as mine," Ninth proclaimed. "If he wants to say something, then let him say it in peace. We''re not in a hurry here, are we? Or do you have a reason why you are hurrying to seal the deal on our agreement?" Beauty immediately flashed a smile, making sure that there was no tension between her and Ninth. "No, no, no! We''re not in too much of a hurry. It''s just that the faster we finalize the teamwork between us, the faster we can deal with the Dragon problem. What is it, little boy, do you have some questions?" Atlan walked up to them and stood beside Ninth. He showed no sign of fear as he got closer to the Beast, whose animalistic scent was very overpowering. This surprised Ninth, Beauty, and the Beast. Beauty seemed to be knowledgeable about the way things worked in Savior circles and correctly deduced the fact that Atlan was a porter. So, she thought that he was only a weak-willed person who would cower under the Beast''s terrifying aura. But surprisingly, he held his own. How could He cower under the Beast? Even though it looked monstrous, it was nowhere near as powerful as the Dragon. She was a realm above every other Cancer he met, including the Beast. Once he held his ground, Atlan addressed the Beauty with an inquisitive expression. "How can we trust your words if we don''t even know who you are? Care to tell us how you came into this Remedium and into the Beast''s care?" Beauty seemed to be prepared for this question and answered it perfectly, as if reading from a script. "There''s nothing special about it. I was once a citizen of a territory back in the real world¡ªa Savior like you, actually. And like all Saviors, I was assigned to a mission in the Remedium. As you all know, the Remedium could be quite dangerous and chaotic if it wanted to, and unfortunately, I was a victim of that danger. Me and my team, due to an anomaly, were forced into a vortex and we all ended up in the Beast''s vortex. We weren''t supposed to encounter the Beast at all, so we were caught unprepared. Due to some quick thinking, some of my teammates were able to create a portal that led us back to the real world. Unfortunately, that portal ended up being unstable. Most of our team were already able to escape out into the portal, but there were still two of us trapped. I saw that the portal was quickly closing and I realized that only one of us would get out alive. I pushed my teammates to the portal and saved them. But in the process, I doomed myself to stay in the Remedium forever. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I thought that the Beast would tear me into pieces, and play with my body however it wanted. But things weren''t anything like I expected. The Beast, who I thought was an animalistic monster who was only out for blood, turned out to be a noble being who wanted nothing more than company in his castle. He treated me well, fed me, and we turned to each other when we were lonely. Slowly, I turned from an apprehensive captive to a friend. And as we spent more and more time together, I realized that I had turned to love the Beast. I know, crazy, right? Who would have ever thought that I would fall in love with a Canzer? But I did. And in my heart, I knew that he loved me too. That is our story, and how we became who we are today. And I don''t regret a single thing." Beauty''s monologue painted a pretty picture of her fated meeting with the Beast. Anyone would feel at least a little bit of sympathy for the couple after hearing their story. In her story, the Beast was a misunderstood loner, and she was a prejudiced human. In the end, they both learned that they were perfect for each other. This tale would have been good to see in the theater. But it wasn''t anything realistic. Atlan simply couldn''t believe their story. "Are you sure that''s what happened?" asked Atlan. Beauty looked back at him, her eye twitching imperceptibly. "Yes. That is what happened." Atlan nodded. "Hmmm¡­is that so? Because from what I heard, the story is very different?" Beauty eyed him with hostility. "What are you talking about?" Even Ninth shot him a look asking him what he was doing. "Well, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a woman who was living happily with her friends, and family. Then one day, she was called in to work abroad with her team. But something went wrong during this trip. They were trapped in a desolate place without any hope. The colleagues, who she treated as her friends and family, did something unthinkable. To save themselves, they threw this woman out into the streets! Can you guess who this woman is?" Beauty had her head down, with her fist balled up with anger. Her nails dug deep into her palms. "...stop¡­" she whispered. "Her name is¡­Belle." And with the mention of her true name, Beauty erupted into an explosive fury. She immediately rushed towards Atlan and tried to strangle his neck. But thanks to the quick reaction from Atlan, he was able to escape from her clutches in time. Chapter 322 - 322: Animated kitchen objects "YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU UTTER THAT NAME!" Belle screamed, still trying to strangle Atlan. But the Beast stopped her before she could get any closer to Atlan. Ninth looked back at Atlan. "I was simply telling the truth," Atlan shrugged his shoulders. "Carmine told me the real story about Belle. She was part of a research party about the Beast, but when they were trapped in the castle with no way out, her team threw her out to save themselves. Her team made it out alive, and Belle was never found again, until now. Everyone thought she would be forever lost in the Remedium, but now, who would have thought that she took control of the Beast for her own sake?" Ninth looked back at Ninth. "So she was lying. There''s still no reason for me to refuse her request. We need to deal with the Dragon, and we can only do that with their help." Atlan pointed at the camera in his battle suit, signaling for Carmine to explain. "Belle used to be a Specialist-level Savior with a terrifying ability. She has a LifeSkill called Contract Lock. If you break a contract with her, then she could have weakened you and your team into an almost catatonic state. It doesn''t matter if you or she break it, the moment the contract is broken, you are given a large debuff, lessening your offense and defense by a staggering 90 percent!" Atlan looked at Belle. "She would have used that opportunity to backstab us." Belle''s ability was incredibly strong, especially if no one knew about her ability beforehand. Ninth was almost tricked by her. And she couldn''t be blamed for that. After all, she couldn''t have known that she had that kind of ability. She was blindsided. Even so, the fact that she almost put her entire team into a dangerous position made Ninth extremely mad at herself. She couldn''t believe how stupid she was. She usually wasn''t this hasty. In truth, she was incredibly afraid of the Dragon. From the moment it appeared, she realized that there was a Canzer that she couldn''t defeat with her sword. And it scared her to think that the Dragon could simply appear out of nowhere and kill the entire team. And she would be helpless. So, when Belle or Beauty proposed a joint expedition to kill the Dragon, she immediately jumped at the chance. After all, she knew that she could defeat both Belle and the Beast with ease if they did decide to betray them. From her perspective, she was the one using Beauty and the Beast. But as it turned out, she was the one getting used. "Tsk! You are all gonna pay for this! Beast, kill them all!" Beauty pointed at them. And as if its leash was broken, the Beast roared out to the castle and broke out of his princely attire. What was left was his hairy body like that of a bear. For its first victim, the Beast lunged at Ninth. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But it was extremely surprised to see that its paws were stopped by Ninth''s one-handed sword. She wasn''t even looking at the Beast. She had her head down in shame. "You''ll pay for this¡­" Ninth muttered. She raised her sword, pushing the Beast back despite its tremendous strength. She immediately rushed toward Belle and thrust her sword into her heart. But suddenly, a floating candelabra stopped the sword in its tracks. And before Ninth could react, a giant mantle clock suddenly fell from the ceiling and threatened to crush her into the ground. These animated objects held surprising strength, pinning Ninth and preventing her from pursuing Belle. The rest of her team tried to support her, but they were all swarmed by living kitchen utensils that had a mind of their own. Forks, spoons, and knives floated in the air and attacked everyone indiscriminately. In the meanwhile, Belle sneaked to the back and slowly made her way towards Atlan. Ninth was busy fighting the Beast, and the rest of the team was also busy fighting for their lives. Atlan was all alone with no help around him. "...you¡­it''s all because of you!" she whispered to herself. Even though her specialty wasn''t in offense, she was still a bona fide Specialist-level Savior. She could deal with a weak little boy like him in her sleep. A floating book followed close to Belle. This contained all her contracts, including her contract with the Beast and the animated objects in the castle. She summoned a teacup, which was filled with deadly acid that could melt bones in a fraction of a second. She was about to pour this acid to Atlan, when all of a sudden, the whole castle was filled with gray smoke. This smoke obscured everything, not even letting her see or sense the Beast anywhere. "The Enchanted Queen?...no¡­this is different¡­this looks like¡­the Huntsman! But that''s impossible¡­" She tried to run as far away from the smoke as possible, but it looked like she was trapped in an endless space. No matter where she ran, there was nothing but gray smoke everywhere. "Do you know?" Suddenly, Atlan''s voice echoed through the gray smoke, surprising Belle. She quickly turned around and saw him standing with his hands crossed in his chest. "I''m going to tear you apart, little boy! You''re going to wish you were dead!" But in response to her threat, Atlan simply repeated his question. "Do you know?" Belle finally had enough. "Know what?!" "Do you know that the Angles died and humans can finally die?" Belle scoffed at his words. "And even if that''s true, do you think you can kill me? You? With your paltry strength? Talk to me again in a thousand years. Oh wait, you''re not going to live that long." Atlan shook his head. "Maybe I can''t defeat you. But he can." Atlan pointed toward Belle''s side. She quickly turned around and saw a silhouette slowly appear through the dark fog. For a moment, she thought she saw the Huntsman. Then, a green line of fire appeared and created a bluish-green fire explosion toward Beauty. Chapter 323 - 323: Buying time QThe bluish-green fire created a large explosion, but it barely did anything to disperse the gray fog surrounding Beauty. "Haaa..haaa¡­" The previous dignified look of Belle was nowhere to be seen. Her dress was mostly burned and tattered, with her skin showing signs of third-degree burns that wouldn''t heal no matter how much SoulTime she put into it. She patted the rest of the green fire that consumed her body, but it persisted as if it didn''t follow the rules of physics. "Where¡­? How?!" She couldn''t understand where that fire came from. The last thing she saw was a silhouette in the fog, but it didn''t look like anyone from their team at all. It looked like a man wearing a feathered hat that carried a bow and arrow. That didn''t make sense. How could a person suddenly appear out of nowhere? And where did this pesky fog come from? It seemed to separate her from the Beast into an entirely different dimension. She couldn''t see, hear, or feel anything aside from herself. "This is simply self-defense." Atlan''s voice once again echoed in the fog. She quickly turned around and saw him casually standing in the middle of the fog. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was then that she realized that, as impossible as it may have sounded, this little boy was the source of all this strangeness she experienced. "How are you doing this? Let me out of here!" she demanded. But Atlan had no intention of ever letting her out. If she did, then she would most certainly use the Beast to attack him first and foremost. Right now, Atlan had the advantage. He would be an idiot to get rid of that. "Tell me the truth, how are you able to speak to the Beast?" Belle looked at Atlan confused. She didn''t know why he was asking that. But, she decided to tell the truth. She would use this chance to gain a little bit of time so that she could figure out how to get out of this mysterious fog. "It''s because of my LifeSkill. I assume you already know about it since you know my name. I simply entered a contract with the Beast, giving me complete control over his mind and actions. Because of that, I was able to ''speak'' to him and converse with that Canzer." Atlan was a little bit disappointed. He thought that he had finally found someone who could speak Canzer like him. Why was he disappointed that he was the only one who could speak and understand Canzers? It was because if other people could speak Canzer, then he wouldn''t have to hide this ability from humanity anymore. He could freely use his mutation and simply make the excuse that he learned how to do it like Belle. Unfortunately, Belle only learned how to speak to the Beast because of her LifeSkill. She couldn''t speak and understand any other Canzer because of that. "Tell me, how did you create this fog?" "..." "Oh come on. I answered your question, it''s only fair that you answer mine." Atlan acquiesced and told her the truth. "It''s my ability." She looked around and was very surprised. "A porter that has another ability besides carrying luggage? I''m very surprised." "Now, it''s my turn to ask the question. How long have you been here?" "Seriously, you''re going to waste your question on that?" "Fine. Have you met any other Canzers here?" Belle smiled. "Yes. I couldn''t understand them, of course, but since I could read the Beast''s mind, I could guess what they were saying." "Why do you want to kill the Dragon?" "Uh uh uh," Belle waved her finger. "It''s my turn to ask the question. Who was that archer? He''s not from your team, I''m sure of that." "He''s an ally," Atlan answered plainly. In the confines of the fog, he didn''t have to worry about his secrets leaking out to the others. If his battle suit couldn''t even transmit video and audio, then Ninth and the others surely wouldn''t be able to hear their conversation. "Interesting¡­" "Now, why do you want to kill the Dragon?" Belle shrugged. "I don''t want to, but the Beast does. From my understanding, it''s some kind of political war between two territories." Atlan nodded to himself. Belle''s answer was directly in line with what Atlan was thinking. The only reason why the Beast would want to kill the Dragon was because she was invading their territory. "So, he''s not really alone, is he?" Belle chuckled to herself. "You''re not supposed to ask a question, but I''ll let it pass. You''re very astute." "If you''re allowing that, then let me ask a final question." Belle performed a very noble bow towards Atlan, signaling her permission to let him ask his question. "Why would you want to stay here? You could have come back home with us." Belle bit her lips for a fraction of a second, but quickly changed her expression soon after. "You already know my story. Those bastards betrayed me and left me here to rot. I have nothing left back in that world. But here, I have everything. I have my own castle, and I have my own very loyal Beast. Why would I want to get back?" Belle took a deep breath and recentered herself. She faced Atlan the way she presented herself when they first met. "Now is the time for revenge. I have wasted time long enough." SNAP Suddenly, a large silhouette appeared behind Belle and knelt beside her. Surprisingly, it was the Beast! "Did you forget?" she asked Atlan. "I have complete control over the Beast. I can command him even if I can''t see or hear him. I only asked those questions because I wanted to buy enough time for him to get here. Now, it''s your time to die." Belle pointed to Atlan, and the Beast immediately started walking towards him with its terrifying monstrous body. But instead of cowering in fear, Atlan smiled, confusing both Beauty and the Beast. He looked at Belle and said, "You''re not the only one buying time." A larger-than-life silhouette, with huge wings and a fiery breath, appeared behind Atlan. Chapter 324 - 324: Puppy Belle''s body started involuntarily shaking once she felt the terrifying pressure emitted by that large winged creature. Even if she hadn''t personally seen the Dragon before, she was more than sure that this creature was exactly that monstrous being. Even the Beast, who prided himself in towering over any other Canzer, couldn''t help but take a step back as he looked up at the majestic body of the Dragon. Both of them were caught entirely unprepared at the appearance of the Dragon. They would have never thought that the Dragon would appear so soon. This wasn''t supposed to happen. After all, they were in the midst of the Beast''s castle. It was supposed to be a private sanctuary that even the Dragon could not locate. But somehow, it was able to locate this place amid the different dimensions. "H..how¡­" Belle muttered to herself. Even though Atlan admitted it himself, she simply couldn''t believe it. Belle thought that she was the one buying time for her Beast to come, but as it turned out, Atlan was buying time for the Queen to appear too! Back when the fighting hadn''t even started yet, Atlan suddenly heard a voice echo in his mind. Buy some time for me. I''ll arrive soon. He immediately recognized the voice to be the Queen''s! Somehow, she was able to communicate with him even though they were separated by large distances. He didn''t question her words and immediately tried to buy some time for her to arrive. Thankfully, she arrived just in time before Belle could command the Beast to attack him. He looked up and talked to the Queen. ''How did you find me?'' The Dragon flashed a smile accompanied by a fiery breath. ''I imprinted my mark on your face when I kissed your cheeks. Without that, I would have never been able to locate this place.'' Belle almost had her eyes out of her sockets as she looked at Atlan and the Dragon with shock. "You¡­you¡­!!!" she pointed at Atlan. "You can talk to the Dragon? You can speak Canzer?!?!" She witnessed firsthand how Atlan''s voice suddenly transformed into something monstrous, something that only Canzers could produce with their special biology. Humans couldn''t speak those words, but somehow, Atlan was able to speak fluently enough to converse with the Dragon. But that wasn''t even the most surprising part. Atlan talked to the Dragon as if they were more than acquaintances! They regarded each other as if they were friends who were separated after a long time. It was then that she finally realized. Atlan was the one who summoned the Dragon here. She finally realized why he was acting so haughty despite his weak strength. All this time, he acted as if he wasn''t afraid of the Beast or the Beauty. It was only now that Belle realized why. It was because he had a much greater monster as his ally. "You! Who are you? WHAT are you?!" Belle shivered. Atlan was a porter who had a different LifeSkill than his Physique one. He was someone who could summon allies from out of nowhere. She wasn''t sure if he was even human. "If you had just returned with us, then this wouldn''t happen. Instead, you planned to kill us and the Dragon." Belle gritted her teeth. "Not if I kill you all first! Beast, go and deal with that Dragon. I''ll deal with that pesky¡­boy!" Beast roared to the top of his lungs, showing off his muscles and his furry torso to the Dragon as a form of intimidation. But instead of bringing fear, it only brought amusement to the Queen''s face. ''You''re a lost little puppy, aren''t you? Are you so desperate for a master that you let a human control you?'' ''Grahh! Evil Queen! BARK BARK BARK'' The Queen pitied the little puppy. ¡ª Meanwhile, Belle decided that she needed to let out all her power to survive. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Her book of contracts started glowing as it floated in front of her. She commanded all of her contracts to return to her side and stop fighting the other humans. They didn''t need to fight them anymore. She correctly guessed that Atlan wouldn''t let go of the fog because it would allow the other humans to see him cooperating with the Dragon. "Let''s see you fight against a bone fide Specialist-level Savior like me!" Animated kitchen utensils and household objects suddenly started appearing all over the fog. These objects floated with their own kind of personalities, as if they were truly alive. With Belle''s power, she was able to turn these ordinary objects into weapons that were on the same level as her. "If you think you can shatter these cups easily, then you can think again." Atlan eyed the floating objects around him with serious eyes. After all, these objects were able to keep Ninth''s team in check, preventing them from helping Ninth deal with the Beast. "If you can summon your friends, then you give me no choice but to summon mine." He commanded the Huntsman puppet to protect him. It shot down the teacups and forks that tried to pierce his heart. Atlan concentrated hard, reaching deep into his Soul System and creating a giant hand that grasped his Spinster LifeSkill. And as he concentrated, a giant needle and a giant ball of yarn suddenly appeared right beside him. The needle and the yarn started sewing themselves, creating an object at breakneck speeds. It followed Atlan''s imagination to the tee. It wasn''t long before there were two more puppets beside him, one male and one female. The human woman had fair white skin, a beautiful rounded face, and a short bob haircut. She wore a cute blue and red dress that completed her attire. The human man wore full metal armor, with his helmet in his hands. He had a sharp chiseled face, with long flowy blonde hair that swayed in the wind. They were the White Canzer and the Prince. But with Atlan''s Spinster LifeSkill, he was able to make them into human puppets that had the same strength as Intern-realm Saviors! Chapter 325 - 325: Humanoids The appearance of these two new humanoids greatly surprised Belle. From all accounts, the man and woman looked like they were human. Their physiology, their inner organs, and even the energy they were leaking were markers for something that was human. However, there was something wrong with these two. Their eyes were completely lifeless as if they were mere puppets. If Belle hadn''t seen these two humans get created from thread and yarn, then she would have thought that they were actually human. "How are you doing these?!" She thought Atlan would be an easy target. After all, he was only in the Student-realm, while she was in the Specialist-realm. Even if he had strange powers, he couldn''t possibly defeat her. But then, somehow, he was able to ''make'' three humans who had the power of an Intern-realm Savior. This was beyond comprehension. Had she left human society so long that this kind of thing was normal, or was Atlan truly the strangest one out of all humans? She didn''t know. "Doesn''t matter. I''ll kill you!" She commanded the teapots and forks to encircle the three humanoids. And while they were busy fighting the animated objects, she quickly dashed toward Atlan with her fist balled up into a punch. She hoped that if she attacked Atlan, his ''spell'' would get interrupted and those three humanoids would disappear from existence. But before she could even get close, a black web exploded from behind her and covered her whole body. She was far too late and couldn''t react properly to the surprise attack. She fell to the ground, with the weight of the black webs forcing her to keep her head down at all times. "Kugh!" No matter how hard she tried to struggle her way out of the webs, there were miniature spikes throughout the webs that cut her skin through every little movement she made. And as she struggled even harder, the spikes dove deeper and deeper into her skin. If it weren''t for her physical defense as a Specialist-level Savior, then she would forever lay in the web slowly bleeding to death. Her book of contracts floated above her. And as she muttered out a spell, the book glowed bright red until a pair of scissors manifested in the air. The scissors made quick work of the black web, allowing her to finally get out of its bind. But before she could celebrate this little victory, the black web exploded into a furious fire, consuming her and her book. "Gah!" A bucket of water appeared above Belle''s head and doused her with cold water, putting out the fire that consumed her. But the damage was done. Most of her clothes were gone, and her skin was inundated with third-degree burns. TSHH! She looked behind her and saw the humanoid woman suddenly glow as black webs suddenly spurted out of her palms. She already learned a hard lesson from those webs, so she quickly dodged out of the way. "This is impossible!" she shouted. "How do these humanoids have LifeSkill powers? It''s impossible!" She thought that the three humans only had the same physical prowess as Intern-realm Saviors. But how could she have known that they also had LifeSkill powers?! It was as if they were truly human. "Beauty, meet White Beauty. She''s my puppet, and yes, they all have their own LifeSkills." Atlan imbued the White Beauty with his SR-rated LifeSkill: Bane of Infections: Exploding Chitinous Webs. And before Belle could complain about how unfair this was, the humanoid wearing a full plate of armor suddenly started shaking. The skin hidden underneath his metal armor suddenly started to rot, with his body becoming nothing more than bone. His head, which was handsome for a human, slowly turned into a skull, with bits of skin still stuck on its cheek. The temperature plummeted down, and Belle could feel her breath turning into mist. Looking at the empty eye sockets of the skull made her shiver. Even though she spent many years in the presence of the Beast and other Canzers in this Remedium, never had she felt more fear for her life than the skull that wore metal armor. Somehow, she felt like she was looking at her future. "This is the Prince," Atlan introduced him. He gave his Bloodline Transformation to the Prince. Strangely enough, his transformation still followed Atlan''s bloodline, making him the same skeleton figure that harbored coldness unlike any other. The Prince emitted a kind of cold that even solid objects could not withstand, the teacups, vases, and plates that were attacking the Prince all started to crack and shatter under the intense cold that the Prince emitted passively. And lastly, the Huntsman finally greeted Belle. But he didn''t greet her with words, he greeted her with an arrow notched directly towards her forehead. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "And this is the Huntsman." Belle crawled away from the humanoids that slowly walked towards her. Even though she was a Specialist-level Savior, she found that she had no chance against these three humanoids. "What¡­what are they?!" "They''re my allies," Atlan answered plainly. But even with his explanation, she still couldn''t understand how he was able to control these monstrous humanoids. In her experience, she had never met anyone with this kind of ability. It was fearsome. After all, with this ability, Atlan could finish a mission all by himself. He had his team who could kill the Canzer while he did nothing by the sidelines. In the end, he would hog all the experiences netted from the completion of the mission. It was insane. "Why aren''t you killing me?" she asked Atlan. And his answer sent shivers down her spine. "I''m still observing you. The more I know about you, the better the puppet I could make from your likeness." The thought of becoming like those lifeless humanoids made her fear for her life. "You''ll never take away my soul!" she screamed. "Beast! Kill him before you kill that Dragon!" And with her words, the silhouette of the Beast suddenly appeared behind Atlan. Chapter 326 - 326: Star crossed A tinge of hope flashed through Belle''s eyes. With the Beast''s help, she could finally kill Atlan. Even the three humanoids by his side couldn''t fight against a bona fide Specialist-level Canzer. Unlike her, the Beast was made for fighting. "Go on! Kill him!" she screamed to the Beast. But the Beast just stood still. It didn''t move. It was at this point that she found that something was weird. The Beast who usually followed her every word didn''t respond this time. When she consulted her book of contracts, her face suddenly fell into a hopeless despair. The Beast''s silhouette suddenly fell forward right next to Atlan. The usually mighty and arrogant Beast was nowhere to be seen. Instead, what remained of him was his lifeless body filled with cuts, bruises, and burns. But perhaps what truly killed him was the fact that only his head was gone. There was a clear bite mark on his shoulders, indicating where the Dragon decapitated the Beast. Belle couldn''t close her jaw. Her most trusted follower was dead. The loyal Beast was nothing more than a carcass! The Dragon finally showed herself through the grey fog. Belle thought that the Beast would be able to fight the Dragon, but the truth was far less than she expected. Despite how strong the Beast was compared to other Canzers, he simply couldn''t compare against a royal like the Queen. She was on a whole other level. Judging from her pristine scales, the Beast was not able to put up a fight against her. It was a one-sided massacre. In fact, the Dragon treated the Beast like a plaything. She could have killed him in one second, but she chose not to. She wanted to see what Atlan would do against Belle. And what she was truly surprised her. Even though she was human now, the Queen would never forget that demeanor. The humanoid that Atlan called the ''White Beauty'', was none other than the White Canzer that she once hated. And not only that, there was also the Prince and the Huntsman. They were both human now, but they still retained some of their honorable characteristics when they were Canzers. Somehow, Atlan was able to recreate them into a humanoid body. But that wasn''t the most surprising part. The most surprising part was how Atlan created them. He manifested a giant needle and a giant ball of yarn. And with those tools, he knitted himself three puppets with power much greater than even himself. This power was very familiar to the Queen. Somehow, Atlan, a human, was able to replicate a Canzer''s powers! She thought this was impossible, but somehow, he was able to do it. She immediately guessed correctly that he obtained this power because of the White Canzer''s death. She wasn''t an idiot, so she was able to put the two and two together quickly. This information greatly surprised the Queen. The fact that Atlan had powers that even she couldn''t fathom was a great merit for her. Becoming his ally and getting his trust made up for the fact that she had to wage war against another kingdom in their world. Even if she had to anger every other kingdom in their world, it wouldn''t matter in the end if Atlan became her ally. His potential was simply that great. ''You surprised me, human.'' Atlan shrugged. ''You surprised me too. Who would have thought your kiss also came with a signal?'' The Queen laughed. ''Do not worry. It won''t work in the overworld. It will only work here. So as long as you''re here, you can rest assured that you will be safe.'' Atlan looked up at the Dragon. Her words made it seem like their cooperation would extend even further this current mission. ''Now, will you kill her or shall I swallow her up?'' The Dragon flashed her sharp teeth at Belle, scaring the poor woman. "AHHH!" she screamed and covered her eyes. "Beast! Beast! Help me!" It seemed that seeing the Beast dead on the floor was the final push needed to truly break Belle. No matter how much she said to others and herself that the Beast was nothing more than a tool, in her heart, it seemed that Belle truly treated the Beast as her companion. After all, they spent many years together, alone in the castle. The Beast depended on Belle to accompany him, and Belle depended on the Beast to protect him. It was the perfect situation for both of them. Belle wept. Everything was going wrong. The Beast was dead, and she was going to follow him soon enough. She forced herself to walk forward, with her body stumbling through the even floor. She ignored Atlan and his three humanoids. Even if they were to kill her right now, she didn''t care. She walked until finally, she was right next to the headless Beast. She knelt and caressed his fur. The Beast was cold to the touch. Even if she could get out of this situation, which was close to impossible, then where would she go? She couldn''t return to human society and she had nowhere else to be with her in the Remedium. The Beast was dead. "I''ll come follow you soon enough," Belle whispered to the headless corpse of the Beast. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Her book of contracts appeared above her, glowing red for the final time. A single knife manifested just a few inches away from her chest. And with tears flowing down her cheeks, she slowly pushed the knife toward her chest. If she was going to die, then she was going to die by her own hands. The knife slowly plunged itself into her chest, accurately piercing through her vital points. This death was painful, but not more painful than losing the Beast. She slowly laid down next to the Beast, with her blood slowly spilling to the ground and creating a puddle. And the Beast''s violet blood mixed with her blood, finally joining the two star-crossed lovers after death. Chapter 327 - 327: Contract between dragon and death [You have witnessed the death of a complex creature: The Beast] [Due to your trait, your rewards have been multiplied by 10] [You have gained 300,000 experience] [You have gained 90x (6-star) Beast Genus] [You have gained the 6-star mutation: Thick Fur] ¡ª (6-star) Thick Fur ¡ª¡ª Upon activation, the user gains strong, thick fur that can be shed multiple times. [You have gained the B-class LifeSkill Beastly Thrash] ¡ªPet Master: (B) Beastly Thrash ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Pre-Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 90x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª This LifeSkill allows the user to give his contracted pet, humanoid, or summon a 200% boost in physical prowess for 3 minutes. [You have assisted in the death of a complex creature: Human] [Due to your trait, your rewards have been multiplied by 10] [You have gained 600,000 experience] [You have gained the A-class LifeSkill: Book of Contracts] ¡ªSummoner: (A) Book of Contracts ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 140x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª This LifeSkill allows the user to create a binding contract with another party. Once the contract is broken by the other party, the user will have complete control over them. Atlan looked over all the rewards he gained from this fight and couldn''t help but break out with a smile. It was another fruitful harvest in the Remedium, adding two great LifeSkills to his repertoire. The one he got from Belle, the Book of Contracts, was very interesting indeed. The description was very vague. It said that he would have ''complete control'' over those who break a binding contract with him. It sounded scary, at least for those who would want to be in a contract with him. ''Got something good?'' The Queen''s voice echoed behind him. And when he turned around, he didn''t see a giant scary dragon. Instead, he saw a thin chitinous body that greatly resembled the White Canzer''s physiology. The only difference between them was the obvious maturity on her face as well as the dark complexion on her chitin. Despite that, he could guess that most Canzers would consider her as beautiful. ''Your face is very obvious. You must have gotten something good from the death of that Beast.'' She already witnessed him making humanoid puppets like the White Canzer, so he knew that there would be no use in lying to her. She was smart enough to figure out that he obtained the powers of the Beast because he witnessed its death. ''Yes. I got something useful.'' The Queen nodded her head, satisfied with his answer. One of the reasons why she was doing this in the first place was to help him get stronger. The faster he became a strong Savior, the faster he would help her with her problems. Atlan looked at the Queen in her white eyes. ''Do you mind if we make a contract?'' The Queen was silent for a moment and then let out a chuckle. ''It seems that you don''t only get powers from the deaths of Canzers, but also humans.'' Atlan didn''t deny it. The Queen was not someone that he could fool. She already saw Belle with her book of contracts, so it was not a coincidence that Atlan suddenly wanted to form a contract with her. ''I''ll assume that if we do make our agreement into a contract, something incredibly bad will happen to me if I break it, am I right?'' Atlan nodded his head. ''Yes.'' The Queen, instead of getting angry, only gave out a smile. ''I appreciate your candor. If you had lied, I would have killed you right then and there. I don''t need a liar as my ally.'' Once Atlan saw how easily the Queen dismantled the Beast, there was no way he was going to get on her bad side. He couldn''t even imagine how strong she was to simply just kill a Specialist-level Canzer with barely a scratch on her body. ''Yes. I will make a contract with you.'' Atlan was surprised. It was only logical for the Queen to reject his request. After all, he already told her that something incredibly bad would happen to her if she broke the contract. It would be an incredibly foolish move for someone like her to simply give away her freedom to someone like Atlan¡ªa human. ''Surprised? You shouldn''t be. Nothing bad will happen to me if I don''t break the contract, right? I have no intention of doing so anyway.'' A verbal agreement between the two of them might be good in the short run, but it wouldn''t be sustainable in the long run. Just like now, Atlan and the Queen were still keeping secrets from each other. They weren''t telling the truth because their agreement only hinged on the fact that they had a verbal promise to each other. That simply wasn''t secure enough. But if they were to go through with their agreement with a contract, then their allyship would become a lot more secure. Atlan could be sure that the Queen wouldn''t betray him, and the Queen would be sure that Atlan would keep his word and help her in the future. He could also make sure that she wouldn''t spill his secrets to any other party. It was the best-case scenario for both of them. ''I won''t betray you too,'' Atlan promised. Then, he reached down deep into his Soul System and activated his newly formed planet. As he did, a brown leather book suddenly materialized right in front of him. Compared to Belle whose book of contracts was full of writing, Atlan''s book was full of empty pages. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The words in his mind started to imprint onto the very first page. The Queen witnessed all this and couldn''t help but be amazed at Atlan''s strange powers. His ability to take the powers of the dead was something that even she envied. It was an overpowered ability that could someday topple the whole world order. And it was exactly this reason why she allied herself with Atlan. She hoped to topple the current world. As the contract finished writing, the two parties looked over the fine details one last time. Then, they signed it by letting their fingers bleed onto the page. Chapter 328 - 328: Soldier’s death The gray fog soon lifted, finally giving Ninth and the rest of her team a vision of their surroundings. They were completely clueless about what happened throughout the whole ordeal. One second, they were fighting floating teacups, forks, and knives, and the next second, they were enveloped in a gray fog where they couldn''t see or hear anything besides their thoughts. It was a scary experience for most of them. They thought that the Beast would somehow find them amid the fog and kill them one by one. As the seconds passed, still, nothing happened. But instead of feeling a sense of relief, they instead felt even more paranoid. After all, what if they were suddenly swept up into an anomaly and got sucked into an abyss? What if they became like Belle, who was stuck in the Remedium for thousands of years? Ninth was the only one who kept her calm. When the fog first came, she was fighting the Beast. And even as the grey smoke fully descended, the Beast and her never stopped dueling for supremacy. But as the fight was heating up, the Beast suddenly backed away from her and disappeared. This was uncharacteristic for the Beast. After all, he was renowned for being a fight junkie, always wanting to clash fists with anyone and everyone he met. And if the Beast backed away for a surprise attack, that would be even weirder. The Beast disdained that kind of fighting style. With the Beast gone, Ninth kept making her way through the fog, hoping that she would hopefully stumble into one of her teammates. She especially wanted to find Atlan. After all, he was the one who had full communications with Carmine. He was the only one who could figure out how to get out of this fog. But as she walked, she suddenly felt a subtle change in the air. It became¡­heavier. Her heart started palpitating, almost beating out her chest. When she fought the Beast, her heartbeat barely raised above her normal range. Even when she fought the six puppets of the White Canzer, she barely even felt nervous at all. But this was different. This subtle feeling of dread overcame all her training and made her feel scared. There was only one creature who could make her feel this way. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She was sure. Even if she couldn''t see or hear it, she knew. She knew that the Dragon was here. That realization hit her like a high-speed truck. She slowly backed away. As the leader of the group, it was her responsibility to keep her teammates safe. The Dragon could be killing one of her teammates right now. It could be killing one of her friends. Yet, she kept backing away. No matter how much she tried to fight it, the fear of the Dragon overcame any of her affection for other people. As she backed away, she suddenly tripped on her own leg. She was going to fall to the ground, but then, someone caught her just in time. Ninth looked back and saw Atlan supporting her. He pushed her up and let her stand on her own. Slowly, the fog dispersed into the air and she could finally see her surroundings. "Atlan¡­" she muttered. "The Dragon!" She quickly looked around, and they were still at the Beast''s castle. But instead of seeing the high ceiling of the room, she only saw a large opening as if the roof had been completely torn off. She looked around and saw her teammates sprawled around the room. They were confused, but they were safe. They didn''t look injured at all. "What happened?" "I couldn''t see through the fog! It was endless¡­" "Ninth! Did you kill the Beast?" All of them converged onto Ninth and Atlan''s positions. And when they looked around the room, they suddenly saw the gruesome corpse of the decapitated Beast and the dead Belle right next to him. They all drew a cold breath. "I didn''t kill him¡­" Ninth''s words drew confusion to her team. The last time they saw her, she was fighting the Beast all on her own. If there was someone who could kill the Beast, then it would only be her. "Wait! Look at its neck. The head didn''t look like a clean slice¡­it looks like it got bitten off¡­" the Scout reported. Ninth''s weapon was a sword, so if she was the one who cut the Beast''s head, then it would be a clean cut. "Ninth didn''t kill him. Another Canzer did." Once the camera reconnected, Carmine and the rest of them back in the real world finally got a glance at what happened in the castle. "Another Canzer? We didn''t see anything like that," the Scout said. "I haven''t even finished giving Atlan the code for the construct. It wouldn''t have died from a human''s attacks. So, the only conclusion would be that another Canzer killed the Beast. A Canzer doesn''t need a construct to kill another Canzer." Atlan and Ninth were the only people in the room who knew that the Dragon was here in the castle. Atlan''s reason for keeping it a secret was obvious. But for some reason, Ninth couldn''t bring herself to tell the team that she felt the Dragon''s presence. If she did, then she would have to confess that the Dragon scared her so much she backed away. "What the hell happened here? The Beast is dead, and so is Belle. What should we do? Do we bring her back to the real world?" The protocol for these kinds of situations was exactly as the Scout said. Anyone who was found missing in the Remedium would be returned to their territory. But Belle was a different story. She committed a sin worthy of being cast out into the Unclaimed Lands. "We should let her rest here," said Atlan. She would die without the protection of the Gods anyway. So, it was much better to let her final resting place be in the Remedium. That way, she could still be considered as a soldier who fell into active duty. Chapter 329 - 329: Very convincing After a while, the castle walls, paintings, and winding staircase all turned into particles that dissipated in the air. They were back in the mirror world of Genesis City in the Remedium. But even though the Church was just a few streets away from them, they didn''t feel as if they were closer to their goal at all. They encountered a Canzer, the Beast, and fully expected to battle the monstrous being to the death. That was what they trained for, that was what they expected. Yet the truth was much stranger than fiction. Instead of fighting tooth and nail to kill the Canzer, instead, they were stuck in a gray fog and wandered around doing nothing. In the end, the Beast was dead, with them none the wiser of what happened. They couldn''t understand the situation. Should they be thankful or should they be much more wary of the fact that there was a strange stalker in their midst that killed all the Canzers before they could kill them? They had no idea if this secret ''benefactor'', if they could even call it that, would soon betray and kill them when they least expected it. After all, if it could kill the Beast without so much as evidence of a fight, then this strange creature would surely be able to wreak havoc on their team with ease. While everyone was feeling anxious about the situation, Atlan couldn''t be more secure. Not only did he gain multiple Intern-level skills in his repertoire, but he also gained a physical contract with the Queen herself. This contract was binding. He could finally be sure that the Queen would stay true to her words and help him traverse this Remedium with ease, all while giving him more Canzer deaths to reap. "Ninth, what should we do?" Everyone looked at their leader. She was their hope, their pillar amid all this uncertainty. If she said to them to keep going, then they would do so without a doubt in their mind. But if she wanted to retreat, then they wouldn''t have any hesitation in abandoning the mission. "You have to keep going. The Church is just a few streets away." But Ninth couldn''t simply agree. Carmine couldn''t understand, not unless he experienced the dread she felt when facing against the Dragon. Somehow, she had a feeling in her gut that this wouldn''t be the last time that the Dragon would show its face. It would come again. And if there came a point where she had to fight it, Ninth wasn''t confident at all in escaping the monster, much less fighting it. Because of her wavering confidence, Ninth lost even before the battle started. And she knew this, which was why she was so hesitant to continue this mission. "We have to continue," said Atlan. He was the only one brimming with confidence, probably because he was the only one who knew the truth about the Dragon. "Atlan, it''s not that simple. We are experiencing anomalies at an increased rate! I mean, half the time, Carmine couldn''t even communicate with you or us because of that fog, right?" "I''m not confident in facing those anomalies without Carmine''s help. What if that fog appears right when we encounter a new Canzer? We won''t be able to know about its weakness. You won''t be able to create the construct!" Atlan went silent. Although he could understand their hesitance, he simply didn''t want to let go of this opportunity. He wanted to encounter more Canzers and reap more LifeSkills. It was selfish, but it was for the good of everyone in the long run. The faster they reach the church, the safer the whole City will be. He suddenly had an idea and walked in front of the team. Then, he turned around and faced the whole lot of them. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Come on, guys! The Church is so close. So what if we encounter more anomalies? Is that so bad? Didn''t we benefit greatly from what happened with the Beast and the Frog? Yes, those two Canzers died because of strange circumstances, but in the end, it helped us get closer to the Church with barely any injuries on our bodies. Isn''t that great? You didn''t have to shed any of your SoulTime fighting against two Specialist-level Canzers. Think about it. If there weren''t any anomalies, then we would have been dead exhausted from fighting two Specialist-level Canzers in such a short amount of time. We might have even lost a comrade or two. So, I ask again. Is the anomaly that bad?" Atlan went into a long monologue trying to convince Ninth and the rest of the team to continue. Normally, words wouldn''t have been enough to convince them to continue onwards with the mission. But for some reason, they couldn''t help but be more receptive to Atlan''s words. Not because of his eloquent speech, but because his face seemed to light up in their eyes. Atlan seemed more attractive. His face didn''t change, but somehow, he was so much more pleasing to look at. It made a lot of them relax just by looking at his face. And because of this strange attractive quality, they couldn''t help but agree with Atlan''s words. "Hmm¡­he''s right." "What were we so afraid of? That anomaly was actually helping us." "So long as it doesn''t attack us, we don''t need to deal with it. We just need to reach the church in one piece." Slowly, everyone agreed with Atlan''s suggestion. And it was all thanks to Atlan''s mutation: Allure. It was a 7-star mutation that allowed him to easily influence everyone that looked at his face. It seemed to work wonders this time around because everyone was raring to go and continue the mission despite feeling anxious just a minute ago. The only holdout was Ninth. Atlan''s Allure mutation wasn''t enough to get rid of her fear of the Dragon. Atlan looked at the camera. "Carmine, isn''t it possible that the Canzers are having a falling out against each other? That''s why they are killing each other?" "...you''re right. It seems that a war is brewing in their world. Which means that this is the perfect opportunity for us to strike. Ninth, what do you think?" Carmine''s words seemed to finally do the trick as Ninth picked up her sword and gripped it tightly. "Let''s finish this." Chapter 330 - 330: Final street After encountering Beauty and the Beast, the group needed a break. They took camp in one of the buildings near the street. But even though it was called a ''break'' most of them kept on training their bodies and minds. They sharpened their weapons and skills, making sure that they were more than prepared if another anomaly happened in their next encounter. Some of them even consulted Carmine about what to do when that gray smoke appeared. "I''m sorry. My team and I are working on deciphering why we keep on having a disconnection in the video and audio feed, but we always come up short. So if that gray fog appears again, just make sure that you all stay together. The closer you are, the higher the chance that you won''t lose each other in the smoke." Because of that, the team had to work on their positioning and formations to accommodate the small spacing between them. The only ones not there were Ninth and Atlan. Atlan, of course, took off by himself and practiced his new LifeSkills. He practiced creating the three humanoid puppets as fast as possible, slicing down the process to just three seconds per puppet. Meanwhile, Ninth spent the entire break barely even touching her weapon. Instead, she took a seat on the roof and meditated by herself. She tried to get rid of the demon in her heart: her fear of the Dragon. She visualized facing the Dragon alone, but before she could even move, the Dragon would always reach down and decapitate her in one fell swoop. She would open her eyes, with her body breaking out in a cold sweat. But she didn''t give up. She kept meditating and trying to fight the Dragon no matter how afraid she was. And so, the day came to a close and everyone gathered at the camp, exhausted. Even though only one of them had to be awake, most of them had trouble falling asleep. The thought of waking up to the mysterious gray fog scared them so much they almost didn''t want to sleep. Atlan was the only one who thoroughly enjoyed his break. He knew that no Canzer would dare attack them in this place. And even if someone did, then they would be welcomed into the death list of the Queen and promptly be eaten in her Dragon belly. The next morning came and everyone was up early. They cleaned up by themselves and embarked towards the Church. Their speed was a lot faster than before. They hoped that they wouldn''t encounter a Canzer. They hoped they would reach the Church with barely any trouble at all because their goal was so close. They just had to cross a few streets and they were finally there. The Church was only five streets away from them. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Their steps were hurried but full of wary as they stepped towards the first street. And luckily, they didn''t encounter any Canzer trying to stop them. Then, they went onto the second street, with only three to go. Luckily, that place was uneventful too. They were now starting to think that their luck finally turned around. Maybe the Canzers finally had enough of fighting them and simply gave way for them to reach the Church with no trouble at all. As they crossed the third street, they fully expected the scenery of skyscrapers and buildings to make way for another fantasy setting that homed a Specialist-level Canzer. But strangely enough, they passed through the third street peacefully too. It was then that they thought something was weird. It was too quiet. It was as if they were at the eye of a storm, with trouble following the temporary peace they had. Now, they crossed the fourth street, and still, no Canzer had dared to make themselves known to the group. They were only one street away from the Church, yet the Canzers showed no sign of even existing anywhere near them. "Should we go back?" As much as Ninth wanted to agree to those words, there was no reason for them to go back. After all, there was no sign of a Canzer anywhere. They were only scared right now because of the expectation of something bad happening when they least expected it. But nothing happened. It would be idiotic to retreat when they were only a street away from their goal. They could see the Church in all its entirety. The double front doors were slightly ajar, showing a glimpse of the dark interior inside. They could simply just run towards the steps of the Church and they would finally finish their mission. But as they crossed the final street, their surroundings started to melt into a different scenery. "No¡­" It was as if they were trapped in the desert and the oasis that they saw from afar was simply an illusion. They thought they could reach the Church, but the Canzer showed itself at the very last second. The buildings and skyscrapers that they were so familiar with were replaced by healthy trees inside a forest. They looked around and saw that the place was teeming with life. Birds were singing atop trees, squirrels were squirming on the branches, and the grass was swaying with the wind. "Guys, look!" And ways out in front of them was a large castle, colored with a royal blue that shimmered even in the light. This castle looked¡­magical. CRACK The silence was suddenly broken by the sound of a twig breaking in two. Everyone turned around and quickly brandished their weapons at the intruder. When they finally caught sight of the intruder, they confirmed that it was a Canzer. It had a chitinous body, with white eyes, and a physiology that was eerily similar to the White Canzer. Despite wearing human-like clothes like that of a beggar, it definitely had the face of a Cazner. They prepared their LifeSkills, ready to bombard this Canzer before it could even attack them. But strangely, the Canzer tripped backward and cowered under her hands. "$#)(*#)&" ''Don''t kill me! Uwaaaa!'' Even though they couldn''t understand Canzers, they knew that the Canzer was¡­crying! Chapter 331 - 331: Opposite of fight The group didn''t know what to do. They had a protocol for whenever a Canzer attacked them with unrelenting force, they had a protocol for whenever a Canzer hid itself in the surroundings, and they even had a protocol for when Canzers showed unpredictability that was not part of their plan. But this was the first time they encountered such a helpless little beast. The Canzer didn''t have monstrous qualities like the Beast, it didn''t have the sly aura that the White Canzer had, and it didn''t even show any sign of power in its body at all! The Canzer was as small as humans and even weaker than some adolescents. Everyone looked over at Ninth, waiting for her instructions. However, Ninth herself was clueless too. She didn''t know what to do. Usually, she would quickly decide to kill this creature no matter how harmless it may have looked. She would have killed it for the mere fact that it was a Canzer, and nothing else. But for some reason, she hesitated. It was as if she was afraid that by killing this Canzer, she would somehow summon the Dragon again and force a confrontation between them. That was her current greatest fear. So, she looked towards Atlan''s battle suit and consulted the experts in Canzers. "What do you think, Carmine?" The Specialist Operator was silent for a second before he asked Atlan to walk over closer to the helpless little Canzer. "You want Atlan to get closer, isn''t that dangerous?" the bodyguard asked. "Ninth will look over and move the moment it shows any sign of movement. But Atlan needs to get closer. I need to see its face to confirm this suspicion of mine." Since they were ordered by the overseeing Specialist Operator, they had no choice but to follow Carmine''s words. Atlan walked over to the Canzer without a speck of fear in his face. After encountering multiple Specialist-level Canzers, he somehow got a feeling for their presence. He knew immediately if there was a dangerous Canzer nearby. And the cowering Canzer in front of him showed no sign of being monstrous at all. It was even weaker than some Student-level Canzers he defeated back then. He had no reason to fear the Canzer. And as he approached the Canzer, it looked like it was the one fearing him instead! ''Please, don''t come near me! I''m a civilian?'' Civilian? Atlan thought to himself. But since this was not the time to ask questions, he kept his thoughts quiet. He let Carmine observe the Canzer through the camera in his battle suit. "It''s as I thought," Carmine said through the speaker. "What is it?" Ninth walked over closer to Atlan, scaring the poor little Canzer into retreating further away from the humans. "Don''t come any closer, Ninth and the rest of you. You''re scaring her." "Her?" Ninth asked. "Why do you care if she''s scared? She''s a Canzer. She should be scared." Ninth was flabbergasted with Carmine''s words. It was as if he treated the Canzer as something more than a monster. He treated it as if it was a human. She walked closer to the Canzer, scaring her further away. "Stop what you''re doing! Your power as Specialist Saviors is overwhelming the Canzers. You''ll kill it with your aura at this point." Ninth gritted her teeth. "And so what?! Canzers should be killed!" She usually wouldn''t explode by something so trivial, but the thing with the Dragon changed her outlook on Canzers. She wanted to get rid of all of them. Her fear of the Dragon was manifesting as an extreme hatred for all Canzers. If she couldn''t kill the Dragon, then she would make sure that she killed every other Canzer she came across. The fact that Carmine was trying to protect the Canzer as if she was the evil one in this scenario irritated her to no end. "Ninth, please back down. Don''t worry, I got this." It was only with Atlan''s words and his extremely alluring face due to his mutation did Ninth finally retreat away from the scared Canzer. If it weren''t for him, she would have drawn her sword and sliced the Canzer in two by now. Once it was just him and the Canzer, it finally stopped whimpering and looked him in the eyes. Even though Canzer eyes only had whites and no irises, he could feel as if the Canzer was observing his face. "This is good. Since you''re not as powerful as Ninth and the rest of the Specialist Saviors, she is not scared of you. We can use this to our advantage." "Mind telling me what''s going on?" "Do you remember what I told you about Canzers and their weaknesses?" Atlan learned a lot about Canzers from this mission alone. He was able to see firsthand how a Canzer''s history and background greatly influenced their weaknesses. The Huntsman was weak against a boar''s heart because it was a symbol of him breaking his code. The White Canzer was weak against the poisoned apple because it was the only failure in her plan and led to her being on the run her whole life. It didn''t matter if it was a regular object with no powers or magic inside it, as long as it conformed to the Canzer''s story, then it would work against them. "Most weaknesses of Canzers are objects with historic significance. But there are a few exceptions." "What do you mean? Does this Canzer have a weird weakness? Is it something I can''t make with my battle suit?" Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "No. It isn''t anything like that.'' "Then what is it?" "...this Canzer doesn''t have any weakness." Atlan couldn''t believe it. He almost took a step back away from the Canzer in fear. After all, a Canzer with no weaknesses meant that it couldn''t ever be killed by human hands. If that was true, then this Canzer might even be more terrifying than most Specialist-level Canzers! "That can''t be possible! So what do we do if it tries to fight us? Do we just run away, or do we fight till we die or exhaustion?" "Just listen to me. You don''t have to worry about fighting it. You''ll have to do the opposite." "What?!" "You''ll have to protect it. This Canzer is the weakness of a very monstrous Canzer." Chapter 332 - 332: Convince to protect Atlan was utterly confused with what Carmine implied. "This¡­this Canzer is the weakness of another Canzer?" "That''s right." Atlan took a second to fully digest the information he just learned. He always thought that weaknesses were simple objects. They were things that he could easily create with his battle suit. It was what made missions possible in the first place. Operator Saviors can prepare for a Canzer''s weakness by creating a construct, and then Vanguard Saviors enter the Remedium and fight the Canzer using that construct that contained their weakness. This meant that humans could always triumph against Canzers. As long as they could continue to produce constructs to kill those Canzers, then they could continue protecting God''s territory. But this information completely upended that balance. If Canzers could become the weaknesses of other Canzers, then that meant humans couldn''t guarantee that they would win against those Canzers. If they can''t create constructs to fight the Canzer because their weakness was another Canzer, then it would complicate missions to such a higher degree than it currently is. "I know it''s a lot to process, but you have to focus on your situation now. You need to make sure that this Canzer doesn''t leave your sight. You need to make sure that it is safe from harm." Atlan was silent for a second. "Why do we even care if it''s the weakness of another Canzer?" "Do you see that castle in the distance?" Even in the dense forest around him, the royal blue and glittering castle was still prominent in the skyline. It towered over every tree, showing its complete dominance in this territory. "That castle houses one of the most dangerous Canzers known to man. If it tries to attack you and your team, you can be sure that you will all be wiped out within a second. Thankfully, the chances of that happening are extremely small. But given your insane unluckiness, it''s better not to take that chance. That''s why you need to keep careful track of this Canzer. This could be your only chance of survival." Atlan''s expression turned grim when he heard that. If he were to equate the monstrous creature that resided in the castle with the Enchanted Queen, then it was truly a terrifying thought. They had no chance of fighting someone who could be on the same level as the Queen. "I''ll keep an eye on Ninth. I think she might try to kill the Canzer on her own." "You don''t need to worry about Ninth. This Canzer doesn''t have a weakness, so it cannot be killed by human hands. You have to worry about other Canzers. They can kill each other without weaknesses." Atlan was no longer the clueless kid he was before. He knew that Canzers were advanced enough to have their own societies and culture. They were extremely similar to humans, which meant that they also had the capacity to commit crimes for their own gain. If he was the creature in the castle, then he would spend every waking hour trying to find his own weakness and making sure that it was gone for good. He would do anything and everything to make sure humans couldn''t get their hands on his weakness. And since this creature in the castle could be equal to the Enchanted Queen, it could mean that it had the same influence and power as her, meaning tons of soldiers scouring the whole kingdom day in and day out. "So, I have to protect this Canzer?" "Yes. Did you hear that, Ninth and the rest of you?" The other Specialist Saviors were briefed on the situation. They also expressed the same surprise as Atlan, but once they were told about the potential danger they could be in, they quickly decided to pour their whole attention into keeping the Canzer safe. Ninth was the only one who stayed silent. Tolerating the Canzer was one thing, but keeping it safe? That was over the line. But since she had no other choice, she decided to simply ignore the Canzer''s existence. If other Canzers were to come and try to kill it, then she would simply do her job and kill those Canzers. Not because she wanted to protect the Canzer, but because she wanted to kill her kind. "I''ll kill anyone who comes in my way, but I will not protect a Canzer." Atlan nodded. That was more than enough. And since the weakness Canzer had no weakness, then he could be sure that it wouldn''t die by human hands. "Star Porter. You are the only one who can approach the Canzer without scaring it away, so you have the hardest job out of all of them." "What do I have to do?" "This is a Canzer. It will not follow you around just because you didn''t try to kill it. In all likelihood, it would probably try to run away if it finds a chance. No matter how hard you try to make yourself seem harmless, it will not trust a human. But that is your job. You have to earn its trust and find a way to convince the Canzer that you''re here to protect it. You have to convince the Canzer to stay by your side. Of course, you can see the problem with that. Even if you try sign language, the Canzer will not understand your intentions because of the different cultures between humans and Canzers. But no matter how impossible it is, you have to do it. You can''t give up." Atlan opened his mouth and said, "My name is Atlan. Take my hand. I won''t hurt you." Carmine wanted to applaud the Star Porter for his attempt, but it was futile in the end. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I appreciate the effort, Atlan. But Canzers can''t understand the human language. You''ll need to spend hours and hours earning the Canzer''s trust through actions¡ª" Carmine''s words were caught in his tongue when he suddenly saw the Canzer take Atlan''s hand. Chapter 333 - 333: Trusted because of need As hard as it was to believe, what they were seeing was as real as day. Atlan was shaking hands with a Canzer! Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators back in the Emergency meeting room practically had their jaws on the ground as they saw it happening live on the screen. They thought it would take hours if not days before any of them could approach the Canzer without it scurrying off in the distance. They practically expected it to take at least three days before Atlan could earn the Canzer''s trust. But who would have thought that Atlan would be able to earn the Canzer''s trust in just a few seconds? Even though it was shy and still a bit apprehensive of Atlan, it was still shaking hands with him as if it understood that he was not the enemy. They thought this was impossible. It was practically hard-wired in humans and Canzers that they were eternal enemies. Earning the trust of each other shouldn''t be this easy. "How did¡­how did you do it?" From Carmine and everyone''s perspective, Atlan simply spoke a few words to the Canzer, and it seemed to have understood his words within a few seconds. The problem here was that he was speaking human language! The Canzer shouldn''t be able to understand Atlan''s words, much less trust it. What no one knew was that Atlan had a mutation that allowed him to listen and speak to Canzers. His normal mutation would change his modular voice box into something unhuman, and allow him to create the sounds specific only to the Canzer language. And with the in-built knowledge in his mind, he was able to communicate like a Canzer. However, if he used this mutation, then Carmine and the rest of his team would immediately know that he was speaking Canzer. They would hear the strange voice in his voice and immediately know that it was the same language that Canzers used. To solve this problem, Atlan only used the False Mutation of his 7-star Sapient Canzer Polyglot mutation. ¡ª (7-star) Sapient Canzer Polyglot ¡ª¡ª¡ª 10% mastery It allowed him to communicate with Canzers, but while only using the human language. He would be speaking normally as if he were speaking with a human, but the Canzer would somehow understand his words through intonation, gut feeling, and other such factors. Of course, since it was a False Mutation, the translation ability was less than if he would fully activate his mutation. But for this circumstance, it was the best he could do. When Atlan introduced himself, the Canzer heard the harmlessness in his voice and immediately knew that he meant no harm to her. In normal circumstances, this wouldn''t have been enough to convince the Canzer. After all, they were not only strangers but of a different species entirely. However, Atlan figured out that his Allure mutation worked on Canzers as well! He didn''t know how it worked, but somehow, his appearance made the Canzer trust his words very easily. Atlan imagined that in the Canzer''s mind, Atlan''s skin was replaced by chitin, making him seem like a Canzer that she could trust. Because of that, she took his hand and trusted his words without a second of doubt. "She''s probably smarter than we thought," Atlan explained to Carmine. "Hmm¡­you''re right. If she could understand your words through actions, then this particular Canzer might be smarter than most. It would make sense, actually. After all, it doesn''t have any physical capabilities it can use to protect itself. It must have evolved to have superior intellect." S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Thankfully, Carmine seemed to have bought Atlan''s excuse. "Good job, Atlan. Now, you just need to convince her to stay close to you when you all start walking. She can''t be on the outskirts of your formation. She has to be smack dab in the middle, just like a porter." "Tsk. Can''t we just bury her in the dirt and make sure that no other Canzer finds her?" asked Nine. She couldn''t bear to think that the Canzer would be positioned behind her. It gave her the creeps. She didn''t know if the Canzer would backstab her in the middle of a fight. "You can''t stay in one place; it will send a signal to the creature in the castle. You must continue walking through the forest undetected. Just treat the Canzer as if she is a construct. Our Star Porter will be the one tasked to make sure that she follows the team, while Ninth and the rest of you will be the ones in charge of killing any Canzer that tries to kill the construct." Ninth closed her eyes and meditated for a second. She tried hard to forget that the Canzer existed and treated her as nothing more than an object. If she was an object, then she would be a lot more lenient in letting her inside the formation. Atlan looked over to the Canzer and asked her to stay close to him. He explained that they were trying to protect her from those who tried to kill her. "It''s for your own good. I''m sure that you''ve encountered some bad Canzers that tried to kill you." The Canzer nodded her head and slowly put her head down as she remembered the terrible time she spent on the run from those beasts. Compared to those Canzers, she would much rather be with the humans who didn''t try to kill her. ''I¡­I¡­I don''t want to get caught by those guys¡­'' Atlan pretended not to understand her words, but on the inside, he was pitying the small little Canzer. Of course, he also spent a couple of minutes trying to make it seem as if the Canzer didn''t understand his words instantly. It would be a bit suspicious if he talked to her with the same fluidity as his conversation with other humans. Once a few minutes passed, he asked the Canzer to stand close to him in their formation. She was a bit hesitant to be in the middle of the humans, but she eventually relented. CAW! CAW! Chapter 334 - 334: Caw! Caw! They continued onwards through the forest for minutes on end. It was as if they were walking aimlessly through the trees without a goal in sight. They were getting further and further away from the castle, which was good because it meant that they were far away from the monstrous creature that resided in it, but it felt as if they were just lost in the woods. This annoyed Ninth greatly. She wanted to get rid of the Canzer in the formation from the moment she arrived, yet it felt as if they were stuck with her for the rest of the mission. "Carmine! Are you sure we''re going the right way?" According to Carmine, they had to find this one specific cottage hidden somewhere in the forest. He didn''t say why they had to find it, but he said that it was of the utmost importance that they find the cottage before the creature in the cottage finds them. "Forgive me, but this situation has only ever been recorded once in the entirety of the entire world. No one has ever encountered this situation since after the treaty." That was a very long time. This type of situation, this type of Canzer, this type of Remedium, had only ever appeared when the Gods first descended into the world! "I''m following outdated instructions, but we have no other source to help us, so we make do with what we got." Carmine and his team were working in overdrive scanning through the old scrolls and books in the archive, trying to find a clue to where the cottage was, but it was to no avail. They just had to take it by chance. Meanwhile, Atlan was busy talking with the Canzer to try and find more information about her. He specifically wanted to know why she was the weakness of the creature in the castle. ''I¡­I''m just a peasant. I don''t know anything about the royals, sir¡­" According to her, she knew nothing about the castle and the creature residing in it. But of course, Atlan didn''t believe that it a single bit. She didn''t look like she was the type to lie, but that didn''t mean that she was unrelated to the castle. It was more than possible that she was entwined with the castle and the creature more than what she thought. "Tell me about your upbringing." ''Sir?...I¡­I sometimes go out and find berries ... more than that, I just help my mothers with housework¡­'' It sounded as if this Canzer had a very boring and uneventful life. And unless he knew more about her circumstances, then he wouldn''t know if she was telling the truth or not. He decided to be silent for a while and let her keep her secrets for now. It wasn''t good to try and pry it off her forcefully. It would only damage the trust that he built up with her. But fortunately, it seemed that the Canzer was more than ready to tell more about her story. She looked up at Atlan. She felt as if he was trustworthy enough for her to rely on. ''Human. Please help me!'' Atlan was a bit surprised. He tilted his head to exhibit his confusion. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What is it?" ''I¡­I was out to gather berries one day¡­and then¡­and then¡­when I got back, they were gone! They were gone! My mothers!'' Atlan was extremely curious about her story, but he couldn''t simply act as if he understood her words. From other people''s perspective, the Canzer seemed like it was crying and screaming out for some unknown reason. "Quiet down, monster!" Ninth hushed her. "Atlan, make her stop. If she gets any louder, they''ll be able to locate us in just a few seconds!" He immediately faced the Canzer and took her hands to comfort her. "It''s okay. I will help you. Whatever it is that you''re worrying about, I''ll help you solve it." His words seemed to have worked perfectly. He was able to make it seem as if he didn''t understand the Canzer''s words, but also assured her that he would be able to help her find her missing mothers. "You can keep telling your story, but keep it quiet," he said. The Canzer nodded her head and wiped the tears from her chitinous cheeks. ''Our house¡­when I got back, it was suddenly destroyed, burned to the ground¡­then¡­then¡­I saw those monsters¡­they were the ones who took my mothers!'' Atlan guessed that it was at that point that the Canzer tried to run for her life. Seeing her house burned up and her mothers gone must have shocked her to her core. Ever since then, she must have always been on the run from those monsters that she was talking about. He pitied her. According to Carmine, this Canzer didn''t have any fighting or defensive capabilities to protect herself. It was even a miracle that she survived this long without even a shred of strength in her body. She could hardly even be called a Canzer. ''Those crows¡­they''re monsters¡­those crows¡­'' The Canzer seemed truly traumatized from that experience. But just then, Atlan stopped in his tracks. Listening to the Canzer''s rumblings suddenly made him realize something. Back when they were just starting to walk towards this ''cottage'', they heard the sounds of crows in the air. No one batted an eye because it wasn''t strange to have wild animals in this Remedium. He briefly used his Thermal Vision and looked up at the trees. And there, hidden among the leaves, were crows looking down at them with intensity. Something was wrong. These crows seemed to have followed them from the very beginning. And when he looked at their thermal signatures, they showed a deep coldness to their body. This meant that they weren''t normal animals. They were Canzers! She said that those crows were the ones that destroyed her home. This wasn''t a coincidence. "Stay calm and listen to my words, everyone." Ninth and the whole team acted as if they heard nothing, but they listened to Atlan''s words intently. "Those crows have been following us for a long time. I think they''re Canzers." Chapter 335 - 335: Desiring a domain "Kill the crows!" Carmine urgently ordered. Ninth didn''t wait any longer and disappeared from her position. She seemed to have teleported right atop the tallest tree in the vicinity. And below her were tens of crows who were caught off guard by her swift movements. They all looked up and displayed fear that no normal crow could have ever expressed. She raised her sword and performed a single swing, destroying tens of trees in a circle around her. And even though her stance only had one swing, each leaf that the trees shed was sliced into two. The crows who reacted too slowly to the appearance of Ninth were helpless as they were dismantled from their head to their tail without even a single cry. Some reacted fast, especially since they were a lot further away from Ninth. They spread their wings and flew all over the place, screaming Caw! Caw! as they tried to warn the others of the incoming threat. Judging from their reaction, these crow Canzers were merely for spying. They had no fighting capabilities. So, they weren''t exactly too much of a threat to the group. It wasn''t worth it to spend so much time chasing each crow to their deaths. However, Ninth was extremely frustrated from the very beginning. She wanted to dirty her hands with violet Canzer blood. If she couldn''t kill the Canzer that they were protecting, then she sure as hell was going to kill the other Canzers she laid eyes upon. "Don''t let them escape!" she told the team. Even though they were starting to lower their weapons thinking that the fight was over, they immediately raised their weapons and threw out LifeSkill after LifeSkill trying to deter the crows from leaving too far away. Suddenly, the whole Remedium started to shake. Atlan was alarmed, thinking that another Canzer had found their location. But when he looked up, he noticed that the reverberations were coming from none other than Ninth. This wasn''t her normal LifeSkill; this was something else. "She''s going all out¡­" Carmine uttered. The medieval world that they were trapped in suddenly disappeared in a blink of an eye. The trees, the castle, everything was dissolved as if everything was a mere illusion. Then, Atlan felt as if his entire body was being crushed into a single point. The pressure wasn''t too strong, but it was enough to be noticeable. He looked around and noticed that they were in a desert world, filled with nothing but sand and swords. All around the mounds and dunes of this desert, there were all kinds of weapons, rusted and new alike, staked to the ground as if someone put it there. He looked at the sword nearest to him and noticed that despite its state being corroded away by rust, it still emitted a kind of danger that he knew better than to tangle with. It felt like he could cut himself if he got too close. Even just looking at the swords made his eyes feel like it was going to be pricked by a needle. In the middle of everything was Ninth. She floated atop the world of swords and acted as if she were the master of this territory. "Is this¡­is this her domain?" Atlan asked. "Yes. I don''t know why she used this Domain on such weak opponents, but it''s fine. We needed to get rid of those crows for good." The Crow Canzers who tried to fly back to safety found themselves in a completely different dimension. No matter how far they tried to get away from the humans, they only ended up circling back to their original place. "By decree of my swords, anyone who tries to leave will taste nothing but rust." Of course, the crows didn''t understand Ninth''s warning. And even if they could, they wouldn''t stop trying to leave this place. Unfortunately for them, this was Ninth''s domain. She was God in this place. Anything she said must be followed to the tee or retribution will come to them. There were about eight crows scattered about in the air. They all went in different directions, thinking that eventually, one of them would find a secret exit out of this strange world. But as soon as they flapped their wings and advanced further away from Ninth, the swords lying dormant in the sand suddenly rumbled. And suddenly, the black crows that were flying in the air turned into nothing but violet mist. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They disintegrated. They didn''t even know what hit them. "This¡­this is the power of a domain¡­" Seeing it firsthand was a truly different experience. He barely even understood what happened because even with his enhanced senses, he only saw a blur. The stagnant weapons in the sand suddenly disappeared from their positions and reappeared in the air, already pierced through the bodies of the crows. There were thousands upon thousands of weapons, and they all converged into the tiny bodies of the Crow Canzers. It was no wonder that they turned into nothing but a mist of violet blood. Everything took place within a fraction of a second. The strangest part about this was that Ninth didn''t move a single bit in the process. She didn''t control the swords, she didn''t cast any spell, and she didn''t use her LifeSkills. It was as if the swords themselves moved with their own will. "In this domain, everything follows Ninth''s command. There is nothing she can''t do in this domain." But even Carmine''s explanation wasn''t enough for Atlan to understand how it happened. He wanted to know how a domain worked and most importantly, he wanted to know how to summon a domain. Even though only Specialist-level Saviors could summon a domain and he was only a Student-level Savior, Atlan desired to have his own domain. Wait a minute¡­I''m not a Student-level Savior anymore. I have multiple LifeSkills in the Intern realm, which means I''m an Intern-level Savior. If I could get a Specialist LifeSkill, then can I get my own domain? Chapter 336 - 336: Confused hate Just the thought of having his own domain made Atlan extremely expectant of the next encounter with a Specialist-level Canzer. However, the reality of the situation made him sober up his excited mind. Throughout all this while, Atlan had been reaping the deaths of multiple Specialist-level Canzers. But even though he must have reaped more than four of them already, he hadn''t gotten any Specialist-level LifeSkills at all. If it was only a matter of probability, then Atlan should have gotten at least one, given how many Specialist-level Canzers he already reaped. But if he were to think about it clearly, it seemed that his participation in the death of the Specialist-level Canzers influenced the rewards he obtained from them. If he simply reaped the death of the Specialist Canzer and made no effort in trying to kill the Canzer, then he would only get a Pre-Intern level LifeSkill. When he reaped the deaths of the Frog Canzer and the Beast Canzer, he only got Pre-Intern LifeSkills. That must have been because he didn''t contribute much to their deaths. The Queen did most if not all of the hard work. Meanwhile, Atlan gained Intern-level LifeSkills from the deaths of the White Canzer and the Huntsman. During those fights, he contributed heavily to their deaths. First, he was able to find the weakness of the Huntsman and use it against him. The same goes with the White Canzer. He was also able to put the poisoned apple in the White Canzer''s mouth, putting it to sleep. If he followed that logic, then Atlan could only conclude that he would get a Specialist-level LifeSkill if he was the one who contributed heavily to the death of a Specialist-level Canzer. If he killed one by himself, then Atlan had no doubt that he would get a Specialist-level LifeSkill as a reward. That''s a shame. If the Prince hadn''t appeared and revived the White Canzer, I could have possibly gained a Specialist-level LifeSkill because I was the one who put the poisoned apple in her mouth¡­ But when he thought about it more, he didn''t technically ''kill'' the White Canzer when he did that. He only put her to sleep, so he wouldn''t have been able to reap her soul. After all, killing a Specialist-level Canzer was no easy task. Even Ninth needed the support of five more Specialist-level Saviors for her to kill a Canzer. If Atlan wanted to kill a Specialist-level Canzer by himself, then he would have to be a lot stronger than Ninth. And when he thought about the power of her domain, he felt that he wouldn''t be able to surpass her in a hundred more years. She was that powerful. But even with how impossible the task of solo-killing a Specialist Canzer by himself was, Atlan didn''t give up any hope. If he found a chance, he would undoubtedly risk everything and take it. The risk was very high, but so were the rewards. If he were to solo kill just one of them, then he would gain a Specialist-level LifeSkill he could use to kill more Specialist Canzers. "Atlan! The Canzer!" Carmine''s reminder pulled him back to reality. He was so enamored with Ninth''s domain that he forgot that he was protecting someone. The Canzer was on the ground, hugging her knees and burying her head on her chest. The hostility that the weapons buried on the sand was enough to manifest a few cuts on her chitin. Even though she was nowhere near the swords, she was still injured just from being within its vicinity. Ninth''s clear disdain for Canzers was in clear display. Even if she didn''t order her domain to harass the Canzer, her subconscious was enough to influence it to this point. Atlan kneeled next to her and touched her arm. "You''re okay. I''m here." The Canzer felt relief all over her body. The pressure disappeared as if Atlan was covering her in a protective bubble. "Thank¡­thank you¡­" Atlan nodded his head. He stayed near her to make sure that she wouldn''t suffer in the domain for as long as it was active. After a few seconds, the world of swords and sands melted into the background, returning them to the forest Remedium. With the crows gone, everything turned silent once again. Everyone took a peek at Ninth, trying to judge what she was thinking. It was only now that everyone noticed that something was wrong with her. Usually, she was careful. She wouldn''t waste her energy using her domain on such weak opponents. But even after killing the crows with her domain, Ninth didn''t feel satisfied. She looked like she was irritated. "Do you think we should take a rest?" the Scout approached Ninth. He was worried about their leader. In response, Ninth shook her head. "No. We were already seen by those crows. If we stay here any longer, we''ll get pursued by the one that summoned those crows." S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "She is right. You have to keep moving." The Scout understood the situation, but he couldn''t help but feel as if Ninth needed a break. "Well, if you need something or you want someone to talk to, then you can come to any of us. We''re friends, right?" Ninth had her head turned away, but she nodded her head. "Let''s go," she said. But before she could take a step, she suddenly turned around and glared at the Canzer that was behind her. Atlan didn''t know why, but the Canzer walked forward and tried to get Ninth''s attention. "What?" Ninth asked, with her voice louder than normal. It made the Canzer flinch. "$(*@)(*$#(*%&)@*(" "I can''t understand you!" she screamed. The Canzer was already shivering from the passive aura of a Specialist Savior like Ninth. Being screamed at like this almost made the Canzer faint on the spot. But the Canzer persisted. She faced Ninth despite her chitinous knees shaking. "$*)@#*)(*$)%" Just when Ninth was about to scream at her again, Atlan intervened. "She''s saying thank you." Ninth''s expression turned from anger to a solemn one, and then anger again in a few seconds. She was angry at the fact that she was getting confused about her feelings for Canzers. It shouldn''t have thanked someone who hated them. Chapter 337 - 337: Bonding As they continued to walk through the forest, Ninth actively ignored the Canzer. She was avoiding even looking back at her direction. She just kept her head forward and continued to walk through the endless forest. Carmine recommended they take some detours to try and confuse their pursuers, which made their journey a lot longer. It came to a point where they had to make camp to sleep for the night. "We don''t need shifts. I can keep watch all by myself. I''ll make sure that no Canzer ambushes us in the middle of the night," Ninth said. Even though she wasn''t looking at the Canzer''s direction, the implication was clear. Ninth was insinuating that the Canzer could betray them in the middle of the night and kill them in their sleep. The Canzer understood Ninth''s words, just from her hostility alone. She knew that Ninth hated her and Canzers to her core. But she didn''t care. She thought that her own kind were monsters too, so she didn''t blame this mistreatment from Ninth. "It''s fine. I''ll protect you," Atlan said to the Canzer. She nodded and flashed a meek smile towards him as a gesture of thanks. Since they didn''t do much today, most people on the team had trouble falling asleep. They had to exercise and exhaust themselves from practice first before they finally slept in their makeshift beds made out of leaves. Atlan didn''t feel tired too, so he simply just laid in bed right next to the Canzer. Then, he felt a poke in his shoulders. He turned around and saw the Canzer looking at him. "What is it?" ''How do I understand you?'' "I don''t know," Atlan replied. ''How can you understand me?'' "...I don''t know," Atlan replied again. Then, the Canzer laughed, surprising Atlan. "Why are you laughing?" ''I''m sorry, you remind me of one of my mothers. Whenever I asked her about something, she would always say that she didn''t know.'' Atlan didn''t know if that was a compliment or not. Either way, it was good that the Canzer was feeling comfortable enough to laugh even in this situation. If he could build a better rapport with the Canzer, there would be a smaller chance that she would suddenly run away from the group. They needed her in order to defeat the monster in the castle. "...interesting¡­this is the first documented case of a human and a Canzer having a conversation! Atlan, you are amazing at this." Back at the meeting room, Carmine and the other Specialist Operators couldn''t help but praise Atlan for his empathy that could even transcend species. Somehow, he could understand the emotions of the Canzer and build trust with them. "You''ll have to teach us your ways once you''re back in Genesis City," Carmine said. Atlan ignored Carmine''s words. There was no way he was going to tell them that he could speak and understand Canzers perfectly. It wasn''t a special technique, it was a mutation. "Tell me more about yourself. I''m curious about your home." ''Sniff¡­ we just lived in a quaint little cottage in the middle of the woods. We were far away from everyone else, so we were excluded from everyone else¡­my mothers didn''t want me to go out of the confines of our home, so I was stuck wandering in the forest without meeting anyone¡­'' Atlan listened to her story and from what he could surmise, it seemed as if her mothers were purposefully hiding the Canzer. Her mothers most likely knew that she was the key to the death of the creature in the castle. That was why they were adamant about keeping her in the confines of her home. She must have asked her mothers why she couldn''t go out into the town or in the castle, and all her mothers could tell her was that they didn''t know. However, something must have happened for things to go so wrong. If the Canzer was able to grow up for years and years on end without the creature in the castle finding her, then her mothers must have done a good job in hiding her. Therefore, something must have happened to break that balance. "You know, when I was back in my home, the Unclaimed Lands, I also wanted to go out and explore. However, people always warned me that there was nothing but death outside. Of course, as the kid I was, I thought differently. I thought I would see something more outside. So, I defied their words. I got out on my own. However, they were right. There was nothing but death outside my home. I almost died. But the people that warned me in the first place, got out too and saved me from death. They¡­they died¡­they died trying to save me. If I hadn''t defied their words, then they would have still been alive. And if they didn''t save me back then, then I wouldn''t be here at all." Atlan finally poured out the truth to the Canzer. The story he told her was true, and it was the reason why he proclaimed himself a pacifist. The world outside was already harsh enough. It would kill even good people indiscriminately. So, Atlan vowed that if possible, he wouldn''t be like that. He wouldn''t want to be the one to take the life of another human indiscriminately. ''Sob¡­sob¡­sob¡­'' Atlan looked to the side and saw tears streaming down the Canzer''s chitinous cheeks. His story seemed to have struck a chord with her. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''It was my fault!....I¡­I wandered too far off our home¡­and when I got back¡­our house burned down!....it was my fault¡­I shouldn''t have gone out!'' Atlan understood her pain well. After all, they experienced the same thing too. He moved closer to her in their bed and took her head to his chest. He pulled her close to him and allowed her to let out all her emotions. She was shivering and crying hard, but at least, someone was there with her. He was there to comfort her. Chapter 338 - 338: To the cottage Atlan hugged her tightly and let the time pass. The next morning, the Canzer finally stopped crying and wiped the tears from her chitinous cheeks. She looked up at Atlan''s face and realized that she was far too close to him. The Canzer''s cheeks seem to have reddened from embarrassment. She pushed herself away from him and made some distance between the two of them. This woke Atlan from his sleep. This was the first time that the Canzer was ever this close to anybody before. She hadn''t even interacted with other Canzers before, but now, she hugged a human, of all beings. But when she looked up at Atlan, she realized that his face wasn''t all that strange. It was quite¡­pleasing to look. She didn''t know how that was possible since she had only seen Canzers her whole life. Atlan had the kind of face that was easy to look at. If she could see his face all the time, then she wouldn''t mind it. Once she realized what she was thinking, her cheeks blushed even harder and quickly turned away from Atlan. It must be said that Atlan wasn''t using his Allure mutation at the moment. She wasn''t being influenced by some magic or power. "What''s your name?" he asked her. The Canzer turned her head back and looked at Atlan. After a few seconds, she replied. ''Tulip.'' Atlan looked at Tulip in the eyes. "Tulip, do you want to see your home?" His words surprised Tulip. She would have never expected to hear those words from Atlan. It wasn''t like she didn''t want to return to her home. It was that she didn''t think that it was possible. She thought she would have to spend the rest of her life on the run, never returning to her home ever again. But now, Atlan was giving her the chance. A human gave her this chance. This made her extremely emotional. ''Why¡­'' "Even though there were a lot of deaths back in the Unclaimed Lands, I also want to return to it someday. It was my home." According to Tulip''s story, when she returned to their home, their house was burned down. She didn''t see her mothers anywhere. This didn''t mean that they died. After all, there was nobody. It was possible that they also ran for their lives and returned to the house to look for Tulip. He looked down at the camera in his battle suit. "Carmine, you said that we have to find a cottage, right? Does this cottage have something to do with this Canzer?" "Yes, exactly! The records say that there is something in that house that we need to retrieve. The book says that it will eventually help us in fighting against the creature in the castle." Finally all the pieces came together. It turned out that the cottage they were trying so hard to find was Tulip''s home! It was good that Atlan found this out now. If he had asked this question to Tulip right when they met each other, Tuliip may feel apprehensive towards him. After all, it was a place that was sensitive for her. For all she knew, she was the one who led the other Canzers back to her home. She wouldn''t want to lead humans there too. But now, Atlan successfully built trust with Tulip. He even knew her name now. She also cried in his chest. It was safe to say that Tulip trusted Atlan. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And since she was finally able to admit to herself about what really happened, about how she was the one who created all this mess, she would be more willing to go back to her home. Instead of feeling trauma, it was now a form of healing. ''I want to go back. I need to go back.'' Tulip said, with determination flaring in her eyes. "Do you know where it is? Can you lead us there?" Tulip nodded her head. ''Yes. I remember now.'' Atlan stood up and walked over to Ninth. "Wake the others. We have to go right now. We know the way to the cottage." "How?" she asked. In response, Atlan turned around and said, "Tulip. She''s the one who''ll lead us there." Ninth looked over at the Canzer and realized that she had gained a name. Tulip. She looked at Atlan. "Building trust between you and the Canzer is good, but you must be careful. A Canzer is humanity''s enemy, don''t forget that. And I''ll never call her by a human name." Atlan couldn''t understand Ninth''s apprehension towards other Canzers, but he simply didn''t agree. After he could hear and understand Canzers, he found out that they were just like humans. They live, they die, and they survive just like them. And Tulip wasn''t like other Canzers. She was different. "If you open up your mind more, you''ll see that Canzers aren''t our enemy. Enemies are our enemies, Canzers and humans alike." Ninth walked away from Atlan and woke the team from their deep sleep. Once they were told of the situation, they quickly packed up and prepared for the journey ahead. They were getting tired of just walking through the forest with no destination to follow. "If you lead us to a trap, I will kill you," Ninth warned Tulip. But unlike before, where Tulip would simply cower under Ninth''s hostility, Tulip kept her head up and looked ahead. She bumped her fist on her chest, as if saying that they should trust her. And with Tulip leading the way, the group went ahead and continued on their journey. Unlike before, they weren''t wandering aimlessly. Tulip would observe the trees and show them markings that she and her mothers made to lead them back to her home. And the closer they got to her home, the more Tulip would get excited. She would see familiar trees in her direction and giddily walk up to it, stroking its bark. It was as if she never left at all. On the way, she showed Atlan the berries that she would pick for their food. Atlan was the only one who tried it, and surprisingly, it tasted like a real fruit. It turned out Canzers also ate the same food as humans. Chapter 339 - 339: The amulet After a few minutes of following closely to Tulip, she suddenly looked towards one direction and took off! This caught everyone off guard. Atlan immediately started chasing after her. Judging from her expression it seemed that she found her house. But he knew that there was a huge possibility that there were still enemies posted around the house. She was a helpless little creature and couldn''t defend herself against those monsters. It was his responsibility to protect her and keep her beside him. Meanwhile, Ninth and the others also pursued after Tulip, but Ninth''s motivation wasn''t as noble as Atlan''s. She simply didn''t want the Canzer to escape from their grasp, mostly because she thought that it was running away from them. As Atlan caught up to her, she saw Tulip standing still as she looked towards a burned wreckage in the middle of a clearing in the forest. He slowly walked beside her. This was her house, but it was now burned down to the ground, with nothing but coal and ashes remaining from its structure. Just from the wreckage alone, Atlan could see that the house was destroyed before being burned. They wouldn''t do that if they weren''t searching for something too. "I hope we''re not too late. We need to find that object first." He put his arm around Tulip as she sobbed quietly. Seeing her home destroyed like this must have been hard for her. Atlan could see that this house was once a quaint little place in the middle of the forest. It was probably a beautiful house. "They''re going forward. You don''t have to," he said to Tulip. It was understandable for her to simply stand back. It was hard to see the wreckage of the place she once called home. But surprisingly, Tulip wiped the tears from her cheeks and shook her head. ''No. I have to go forward. You said that you''re trying to find something, right? I''ll help you find it. I know this place better than the back of my hand.'' She walked alongside Atlan, with Ninth and the whole team just a little bit behind. After the Scout signaled to everyone that there wasn''t any sign of enemies nearby, everyone started to search through the remains of the burned house. They overturned burned pillars and roof tiles, trying to find this supposed item that could help them defeat the creature in the castle. "Do we even know what we''re looking for?" Ninth asked Carmine. "According to the books, it can''t be missed. This object is glowing and brimming with power." But no matter how much they searched the wreckage, they couldn''t find such an item. If it did exist, then they would have found such an auspicious item by now. The only thing they found were remnants of Tulip''s belongings. There were plates still piled up in the sink, the sofa she used to sit on was now nothing but a burned mark on the ground, and everything else turned into nothing but a charred object. "This is useless!" Ninth shouted. "I''m going out to keep a watch on our backs." The more she saw the normal living situation of Tulip, the more confused she became. From what she could see, Tulip had been living a quiet life devoid of any chaos and destruction that she usually associated with Canzers. If she continued to scour through Tulip''s burned belongings, Ninth would have started to pity the creature. That was a dangerous thought. She didn''t want to let her guard down to a Canzer. Meanwhile, Atlan suddenly saw a shining object in the middle of the wreckage. He immediately went towards it and tossed the burned logs and pillars that buried the object underneath. After blowing and polishing this object, Atlan found that this thing wasn''t as damaged as he thought. Once he brushed off the ashes and the charcoal bits from it, there was no sign of burning on its surface. Since this was the only object that survived the fire, Atlan thought that this was the object that they were looking for. However, once he realized that it wasn''t glowing, he felt disappointed. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "That''s not the object. Even from the camera, I can''t sense any sign of power from it. Do you?" Atlan used his SSS class Physique LifeSkill to the best of his abilities, testing to see if this object had any remnants of power. But unfortunately, there wasn''t any. "Are we too late?" he asked Carmine. "Possibly. But, there could also be a chance that the object wasn''t here in the first place. Maybe our enemies didn''t find anything in this place as well and decided to burn it down to see if there''s something hidden in the structure." Atlan was a little bit relieved when he heard that. Even though this object wasn''t the one they were looking for, Atlan was still curious as to how it survived the fire. He turned towards Tulip and presented the object to her, hoping that she would recognize it. Her eyes flashed with emotion as she looked at the object. She stroked it with her hand, a bitter smile appearing on her face. ''This was a present from my mothers. They gave it to me and always wanted me to wear it at all times. But when I went out¡­I forgot to bring it¡­'' Tulip took the object from Atlan''s hands. It was a strangely shaped metallic object. One side had flaps on the top, like an upright lettuce, while the other side was completely flat. Tulip took out a string from her dress and connected it with the object, creating an amulet. She held it in her hands and smiled. "Aren''t you going to put it on?" he asked her. She shook her head. ''I never really knew how to make friends because I''ve never met anyone besides my mothers. But, they did tell me that to make the friendship work, I need to give them something special.'' She looked up at Atlan. ''I want you to have this. It''s a symbol of thanks for all the things you did for me.'' Atlan was surprised. Tulip tiptoed and placed the amulet on his neck. Chapter 340 - 340: Spinning wheel Atlan didn''t know how to thank her. When he first met Tulip, he struck up a conversation with her, not because he wanted to, but because he needed to. Carmine told him that Tulip was an important weakness of the creature in the castle, so he needed to gain her trust. So, he talked to her and gained her trust. It was nothing more than a job. But now, she gave him something extremely special. For Atlan, the amulet was just a piece of accessory, but for Tulip, this amulet wasn''t just anything; it was the only surviving piece of object that wasn''t burned down in the wreckage. She could have kept this amulet to herself because it was the only thing that tied her back to the home that she once had. But because she considered Atlan as someone special, she gave him such a precious object. Just as he was about to say something to her, Ninth suddenly shouted towards the group. "Incoming!" she warned. This one word sent everyone into a fighting stance. Without another word, they quickly formed their formation. Atlan took Tulip''s hand and led her toward the middle of the formation, where they could all protect her. CAW! CAW! Crows flew up from the trees and encircled the group. Everyone looked up and waited for the inevitable attacks from the crows above. But even after a few seconds, they didn''t attack. They continued to circle in the air right above the humans. "They aren''t attackers. They''re scouts!" Carmine warned. Atlan realized it as well. It was as if those crows were trying to signal to someone far away where the humans were located. Ninth didn''t want to wait any longer and summoned the giant swordsmaiden behind her. Its ethereal form shimmered, showing her readiness to chop down any monster that came her way. RUMBLE RUMBLE The sound of something large rummaging through the forest echoed towards them. Everyone gripped their swords tighter, expecting to have a hard fight against a monster. TRAKKKK! The monster crashed through the last trees and finally showed its gigantic stature to Atlan and the whole team. But this ''monster'' wasn''t actually a monster! Instead, it seemed to be a giant spinning wheel made out of nothing but wood. This didn''t look like a Canzer, it looked like a giant device that people used to spin threads and yarns from fibers. But once this giant spinning wheel moved its ''legs'' the way an actual human leg walked, everyone figured out that this was indeed a Canzer! Slowly, its monstrous energy spread down towards Atlan and the others, finally giving confirmation that this was a Specialist-level Canzer that was on the level of The Beast. Ninth looked over at Atlan''s battle suit. "Carmine. What are we dealing with here?" "Good news. This Canzer is only a puppet, so it doesn''t have any regenerating or cloning capabilities. Bad news¡­I don''t know about its powers." Unfortunately, this Canzer seemed to be one of those extremely rare creatures that rarely ever appeared in missions. Since the creature on the castle was a rarely seen Canzer as well, then it made sense that its minions and puppets were also rarely seen by humans as well. Atlan and the others were basically the first humans to ever lay eyes on this creature in more than a thousand years! "How do you now know?!" complained Ninth. "We don''t have any scrolls or books that perfectly describe this Canzer. Even the old sources that we were parsing through only had a very rudimentary description of this Canzer. The only thing we know properly is that this is a puppet. As long as you whack it with your sword enough times, you can kill it." Ninth clicked her tongue. She didn''t like this situation one bit. She would rather fight 50 Beasts than fight this Spinning Wheel. When she fought The Beast, at least she knew about its weakness and tendencies. She knew which moves and what powers the Beast had. This allowed her to prepare for their fight and use her superior intellect to win the fight, or at least survive it. But with the Spinning Wheel monster, she knew nothing at all. She didn''t know its powers as well as its tendencies. She couldn''t properly time her dodge or her counters because she didn''t know its timing! If she dodged at the wrong time, it could completely turn the fight to the monster''s advantage. "Whatever. I''ll just slice it into pieces." Ninth commanded her sword maiden to slash the Spinning Wheel, but thread immediately spurted out of the wheel and created a tightly knit wall that successfully slowed her sword down enough for it to escape. "Slippery little bugger¡­" Ninth uttered. "But this is good. It seems to be a utility-type Canzer, so it doesn''t have much physical strength. As long as I can hit it with my sword, I can cleave it in half." Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But before she could do anything else, the Spinning Wheel took the initiative and spun its wheel a thousand times per second. Thread and yarn kept spurting out of its body, slowly engulfing the whole area into a dome. But that didn''t end there. The yarns continued to flow down towards Ninth and the others, slowly filling their vision with nothing but yarn and threads. Ninth used her sword to cut down these annoying threads, but more replaced them on the way down. Everyone threw their LifeSkills at the yarns, but it was useless. The threads may be easy to cut, they were replaced by a thousand more each time. Slowly, everyone got engulfed in the yarns, unable to see anything but themselves. Thankfully, these yarns didn''t seem to be doing any harm to them at all. After a few seconds, the threads finally stopped coming. Ninth swept her sword upwards, destroying the last remnants of the threads that obscured their vision. Once everyone had their bearings, they looked at Tulip. Thankfully, she was still alive. But then, they noticed something terrible. Atlan was gone! Chapter 341 - 341: Empty space Ninth and the rest of the Specialist-level Saviors were dumbstruck as they looked at the empty space near Tulip. The stabilizing presence of the Star Porter was gone. There wasn''t any trace of him anymore, as if he wasn''t even there to begin with. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" screamed Ninth as raised her sword and aimed it at Tulip. All the sympathy and changing emotions she felt for the Canzer vanished the moment Atlan disappeared. In her mind, the reason Atlan disappeared was because Tulip betrayed him. Tulip, faced with the full pressure of a Specialist Savior like Ninth, felt her legs turn to jelly. No matter how much she tried to resist and fight for herself, her body wasn''t listening to her, and ended up falling to the floor. She felt the cold steel of Ninth''s sword on her chitinous neck. Even though Ninth hadn''t put any pressure on it yet, violet blood spilled out of the small cut made by her one-handed sword. But even with the threat of decapitation, Tulip wasn''t looking at Ninth. It was as if she didn''t exist. Instead, Tulip looked to her side. She looked to the empty space where Atlan was supposed to be. He was gone. She didn''t know what happened. When the yarns and strings overwhelmed her senses and her sight, she couldn''t understand what was going on around her. But then, she felt Atlan''s warm touch. She turned around and saw that he held her tightly in his hands, making sure that she was okay. However, that didn''t last long. Suddenly, she heard the shimmer of water behind her. She didn''t know why, but she felt as if that ''thing'' was supposed to come after her. It was supposed to have grasped her and whisked her away from this place. But Atlan noticed it before her. He sacrificed himself and let himself be taken by that ''thing''. If Atlan hadn''t done that, she would have been the one missing right now. Tears fell on Tulip''s chitinous cheeks. She did it again. Because of her, someone who was special to her was forced into a situation of danger. First, it was her mothers, now it was Atlan. She pushed her neck voluntarily towards Ninth''s sword. "@$(*@%&()@$" Ninth couldn''t understand her words, but her intention was clear. She wanted to be killed. And to be truthful, Ninth was very tempted to do so. Even if she wasn''t going to permanently kill the Canzer, she could still revel in the thought of decapitating her. But the tears in Tulip''s eyes made her hesitate. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. When she looked down at the Canzer, it was as if she wasn''t looking at a monster. It was as if she was looking at a grieving woman. Her sword trembled. Her internal consciousness was fighting. Two sides of her fought: the first being the one that started to pity the Canzer, and the other being the rational hate she had for Canzers. In the end, the Scout walked right next to her and lowered her sword. "This is not the time for infighting. We have bigger problems to deal with." Ninth lowered her sword and looked up at the giant Spinning Wheel monster still rolling its yarn, preparing another attack. With Atlan gone, they no longer had a porter in their team, meaning they also lost contact with Carmine and his team of Specialist Operators. They would have to fight this monster all by themselves, without any support. She sneaked a look at Tulip. She was also burdened with protecting Tulip, who she still wasn''t sure that she wasn''t the one who betrayed Atlan. "Team, prepare to attack." ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Atlan slowly came to his senses. He opened his eyes and saw a mossy cobblestone flooring in front of him. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness ahead. The only source of light that illuminated the dark hallway was a single torch at the end of the pathway. He looked at himself. He wasn''t injured anywhere, and he also hadn''t lost any SoulTime. With no clue as to where he was, Atlan looked down at the camera in his battle suit. "Carmine, where am I?" But there was no response. "Can you hear me?" Silence. Even though the camera in his battle suit wasn''t damaged, it seemed that something in this place was blocking the signal from reaching the outside. Atlan would have to find his footing here by himself. I don''t know where I am, and I don''t know what I''ll do, but it''s still a good outcome. I can''t imagine what Tulip would do if she was the one in my position. When the Spinning Wheel obscured their vision, he immediately positioned himself near Tulip, making sure that she was safe. Thanks to his Thermal Vision LifeSkill, he was still somehow able to see through the large cloud of strings and yarns. Since this attack couldn''t hurt them, he immediately deciphered that this was only a diversion. Their true goal was Tulip. And just as he guessed, a dark ethereal hand suddenly shot through the space and headed directly for Tulip. Atlan wanted to attack this presence, but it was far too fast for him to activate his LifeSkill or create his humanoid puppets. It was going for Tulip at supersonic speeds, so Atlan decided to put himself in the way, making the ethereal hand touch him instead. And as it made contact with him, a violet portal suddenly appeared behind him and sucked him inside. And when he came to, he was inside this place shrouded in darkness. Atlan didn''t regret sacrificing himself for Tulip. He can protect himself. She can''t. And he needed her to defeat the monster in the castle. So, he set forth and walked towards the light in the distance. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Meanwhile, in the Emergency Meeting room, Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators were once again panicking. "What the hell happened?" "We lost signal!" "Did anyone see it?" One of the Specialist Operators nodded. "Yes. He was kidnapped." Carmine had a grave expression on his face. But then, he remembered something. Tulip gave Atlan an amulet. Although it didn''t seem like it was the object they were looking for, Carmine felt that it was something special. Maybe¡­ Chapter 342 - 342: Dungeon Atlan concentrated on his Soul System and activated his Spinster LifeSkill. ¡ªConjurer: (A) Spinster ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Intern realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 130x F class fragment ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ªThis LifeSkill allows the user to create creatures purely from imagination. The user is also able to imbue these puppets with LifeSkill powers. The user temporarily loses access to the LifeSkill whenever it is imbued to the puppets. Subsequently, the LifeSkill the puppets wield will match the realm of the Spinster LifeSkill. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Saved Puppets ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Huntsman ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª White Beauty ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Prince Since Carmine couldn''t see through the camera anyway, Atlan didn''t have to worry about his humanoid puppets getting seen. A huge needle and a giant ball of yarn manifested in the air above him. In the darkness, the two summoned objects started sewing in the air, creating three distinct puppets that each glowed with different powers. Once the sewing was complete, the puppets turned from being made out of strings to being made out of human skin, making them humanoid. The three puppets kneeled towards Atlan and awaited his instruction. "Protect me if anything happens," he ordered. The three humanoids nodded their heads and walked forward. One of them, the Huntsman, stayed behind Atlan and made sure that there weren''t any surprises that could endanger his master. Meanwhile, the Prince and the White Beauty continued forward and scanned their surroundings, searching for any hostile beings. Since they had the power of an Intern-level Savior, Atlan wasn''t too worried about the dangers he could face in this dungeon-like place. As they slowly reached the end of the hallway with the only torch in the room, he saw a single wooden door. Using his Thermal Vision, he didn''t see any sign of magic within it. The Prince walked forward and inspected the door. But then, he suddenly stepped into a piece of stone on the floor that immediately sunk deep into the ground. The sound of a gear mechanism sounded out through the walls and suddenly, hundreds of arrows flew from both walls and targeted the unsuspecting Prince humanoid. The puppet became riddled with arrows throughout his body. But even so, he didn''t even flinch a single bit. Once the arrows were done firing, he looked down and started to pick out all the arrows sticking out of his body. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The humanoid didn''t bleed, and all the cuts and holes in his skin were soon regenerated by strings that sewed itself back together. The Prince then opened the door and walked to the other side. After a few seconds, he walked back and signaled to Atlan that it was safe to pass through. Atlan walked forward to the next room. There, he saw that he was presented with three doors. Judging from the arrow trap from before, it looked like this place was trying to trick its inmates. Atlan did not doubt that beyond these doors, there were more traps laid out to try and kill him. Since there were three doors, Atlan ordered his three humanoid puppets to go through each one. They all opened the door obediently. And when they walked inside, the door suddenly closed behind them. And no matter how much they tried to budge it out, even using all their force, they couldn''t open it again. Seeing as there was no use, they continued forward through similar hallways. Meanwhile, Atlan stayed behind the three doors and waited patiently. After a few minutes, he suddenly felt his connection with one puppet disappear completely. The humanoid puppet died! And another few minutes after that, he felt another connection cut from his Soul System. Atlan summoned those two humanoid puppets who died and saw that it was the Prince and the Huntsman. This meant that the doors at the center and the right were complete dead ends and were only filled with deadly traps. This means that the right way is the left door. Even after all this time, Atlan didn''t feel his connection with the White Beauty disappear. This meant that she was safe and sound. After a lot of consideration, Atlan walked to the left door, with his other two puppets right in front of him. And just as he thought, this door only led to a normal hallway without any deadly traps ahead. After a few minutes, they finally reached the end of the normal hallway, with the White Beauty patiently waiting for them on the other side. At the end of the hallway was another room. This time, they weren''t alone. On the other side of the room was a large cage containing a monster with red eyes. It looked at Atlan and the puppets with vicious mockery, as if it had found another source of food for today. But no matter how much excitement it got to try and kill these humans, the monster was confined by the cage. It couldn''t get out. Atlan spotted another door right next to the cage. He commanded one of his puppets to go and try to open the door, and just as he thought, the doorknob couldn''t be rotated. There was also a keyhole under the knob, meaning that to pass through, they needed to find the key. Atlan had a feeling about where he could find the key. He used his Thermal Vision and looked at the creature in the cage. Now that he could see it clearly, it turned out that this monster was a giant rat, with huge canine teeth that could pierce through a human like a skewer. And with his Thermal Vision, he saw that there was a suspicious cold spot in the giant rat''s belly. When he squinted, he could see a key-shaped object inside it. Whoever trapped me here wants me to kill the rat. Atlan had no other choice. With a telepathic order to the Huntsman, the ranged puppet took out an arrow from his quiver and pointed his bow toward the rat in the cage. TWANG! A bluish green line of fire appeared in the air following the arrow''s trajectory. And as the arrow landed through the small gaps, it successfully hit the monster, creating a huge explosion of blue and green together. Chapter 343 - 343: Rat monster As the explosion died down, the metal cage that once housed the monster was completely blown to bits. There was nothing but small metal bits sticking out of the ground, with the tops of it completely melted. SQUEEE! Unfortunately, it seemed that the rat monster survived the explosion. Its thick fur allowed it to remain virtually unharmed, albeit a little bit balder than it used to be. This monster seemed to be another puppet made by the creature in the castle. After all, it was at the same level as a Specialist-level Canzer. Even though Atlan wasn''t a Specialist Savior as of yet, he didn''t worry too much. After all, he had three puppets just one realm below that, and he could resummon them any time that he wanted whenever they died. SQUEE! The rat monster smiled as it looked at its three prey. This room was pretty small compared to the rat, but that meant that there was no running away from it as well. Its whiskers squirmed before it suddenly charged towards the Huntsman. It immediately wanted revenge for that explosive arrow that burned most of its fur. But before it could even get close, a gray cloud suddenly appeared out of nowhere and slowly enveloped the room. The rat, who was once confident about killing the creatures that dared to invade its territory, was now looking warily at its surroundings. Somehow, it couldn''t see anything beyond itself. It couldn''t even smell the invaders anymore. And before it could get the lay of the land, another arrow shot through the smoke and hit the rat directly in the shoulders. Then, another explosion occurred, taking more of the rat''s fur as the Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill consumed it like a ravenous beast. The rat monster gritted its teeth and immediately rushed toward the direction where the arrow came from. But instead of seeing the Huntsman in its field of view, the rat was taken aback when it suddenly crashed into the wall face first, almost breaking one of its canine teeth. And before it could gather its senses, the Prince, with his full metal armor, raised his arm and punched the rat monster''s behind, further pushing it into the wall. The thick brick wall had a rat-face-shaped hole in the wall. The Prince displayed the full might of the LifeSkill: Beastly Thrash. It allowed him to achieve strength almost parallel to the original Beast. BRAGSHH! The rat monster wriggled itself out of the wall. And just as the Prince was about to leave, the rat''s tail suddenly wiggled towards his legs and caught it like a snake. The rat''s tail showed considerable constricting strength, disallowing the Prince to get away safely. The rat turned around and quickly lunged towards the Prince, intending to rip in half with its sharp canines. But a timely arrow from the Huntsman misdirected the rat''s head, only taking the Prince''s left hand. And while the rat was busy putting out the bluish-green fire around its face, the Prince got away safely to the fog, obscuring him. SQUEE! This annoyed the rat monster greatly. It knew that it could fight all four of them simultaneously, and it would win that fight every single time. However, they weren''t fighting it fairly. They were using underhanded tactics, doing hit-and-runs before it could even react. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was all thanks to Atlan and his clear overview of the entire battlefield. While his humanoid puppets attacked the rat monster, he stayed behind and used his Thermal Vision to see everything in the fog. He gave that information to his puppets telepathically, effectively giving them sight in the endless fog. He was like a commander. The Huntsman and the Prince continued the back-and-forth attacks on the rat monster. The Prince would attack and annoy the rat from behind, while the Huntsman would take shots whenever it was distracted. And since the rat was still a Specialist-level puppet, it was still able to do some damage to the Prince a couple of times. Thankfully, the Prince was able to regenerate his body parts easily and without any consequences. As long as Atlan was there, he could continue to repair them for as long as he wanted. After a while, the beastly and savage appearance of the rat monster was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was now cowering in the fog, with cuts and injuries all over its body. The more injured it got, the easier the puppets could attack it. In the end, its tiny little feet could no longer hold itself up anymore. It fell to the ground, but its eyes were still filled with fire. It wasn''t dead yet. Even though it looked like it was at its last leg, the rat monster still had enough energy for one last lunge. If the Prince appeared for another time, the rat would use that chance to deal with a deadly attack. Slowly, the fog made its way as a person walked towards the rat monster. But instead of seeing the Prince with his full metal armor, the rat monster laid eyes on a particularly small figure. It was the White Beauty. Somehow, her human beauty transcended multiple dimensions and made the rat monster ogle at her for a few seconds. Even though it was planning on attacking the moment someone appeared, the rat monster found itself staring at the White Beauty. She walked towards the rat monster without any fear in her eyes. She made eye contact with it and showed that she meant no harm. The rat monster continued to stare at her. Then, the White Beauty held out her hand, as if she wanted the rat monster to take it. Even though she didn''t speak, and the rat monster couldn''t understand language, the two of them seemed to have come to an understanding. The rat monster, with his body full of injuries, used the last of his energy and stood up for the White Beauty. Then, it bowed towards her, putting its head down on the ground. Suddenly, a book of contracts appeared floating beside the White Beauty. On the first page, the words of a contract appeared automatically. And once it was finished, the rat monster''s eyes turned from a fiendish red to a calmer green. Chapter 344 - 344: Royal court The rat monster was now a contracted beast of the White Beauty. Since he lent her the LifeSkill, she could now create contracts herself. The White Beauty felt a connection with the rat monster the way Atlan had a connection with her. And by proxy, Atlan also felt a connection with the rat monster. With a single command, the rat monster suddenly opened its mouth and regurgitated the key that was hiding in its stomach. It was slimy and wet, but it was still in good condition. The White Beauty petted the rat monster''s head and it reciprocated her actions by snuggling its head to her hand. With the Rat Monster becoming an ally, Atlan had another strong puppet in his employ. But since it was far too large to fit through the next door, the White Beauty commanded the rat monster to stay in her book of contracts for now. With a wave of her hand, the rat monster glowed a bright light and disappeared right before their very eyes. The White Beauty looked at her book of contracts and saw that an illustration of the rat monster appeared on the first page. With everything settled, the Prince picked up the slimy key and used it to open the door to the next part of the dungeon. After a little bit of scouting from the Prince and the Huntsman, Atlan was sure that the next room didn''t have any traps that would trigger the moment he walked through the door. With the White Beauty next to him, they walked through the door and caught up to the two puppets. Atlan looked around and realized that it was another tunnel. Unlike before, this tunnel had proper lighting, with torches attached to the curved wall every five meters. And strangely enough, there was a blinding light at the end of the tunnel, as if saying that the trials and tribulations he went through in the dungeon were finally over. But of course, Atlan became even more wary than before. He had a feeling that whatever was beyond that tunnel was the one who abducted him in the first place. He ordered his puppets to have their LifeSkills at the ready for whatever may come at the end of the tunnel. As for him, he also had his Fog of War LifeSkill locked and loaded. It was perhaps the only thing that could save him if things got too dangerous. As long as he had this LifeSkill, he had a chance to survive. But as they got closer and closer to the end of the tunnel, Atlan was starting to hear a cluster of noises. And as he got even closer, he realized that this noise wasn''t indicative of a dangerous beast. No, it was something much stranger. CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP Atlan heard the sound of clapping resounding out through the entire tunnel. This confused him entirely. He was ready for a monster to come for his throat. He was ready for arrows to launch at his face. But he wasn''t ready for this. He moved closer and closer, and the clapping got even louder. Once he was on the precipice of reaching the end of the tunnel, Atlan stopped. He activated his Thermal Vision and inspected what was waiting for him on the other side. And what he saw surprised him. He saw the heat signatures of about a thousand Canzers, all obediently sitting on the side as if they were merely spectators. Now, having thousands of Canzers waiting for him on the other side might sound incredibly dangerous, but judging from what he could see with his Thermal Vision, these Canzers were very weak¡ªweaker than even the Student level Canzers he faced back then. In short, the ''spectators'' were merely normal Canzers. They were probably in the same realm of strength as Tulip. And they were the ones that were clapping for him. As his vision swept through the room, he suddenly locked eyes with the creature in the front. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This Canzer was different. It didn''t exhibit any physical strength or aura the way the Beast did back then, but Atlan felt as if she was even more dangerous than that Canzer. The only Canzer that made him feel this way was the Enchanted Queen. She, too, seemed like a normal Canzer, but there was a hidden strength in their posture that could not be ignored. Not only that, this creature was sitting by itself at the far end of the room. It sat on its throne. Atlan was sure. This was the creature in the castle. There was no use in backing out now. If he did, then he was sure that she would lunge at him and attack him on sight. But since they ''welcomed'' him so warmly with a round of applause, it seemed as if the creature on the throne was telling him that they meant no harm, at least for now. Atlan walked forward, with the three puppets behind him. As he did, he finally entered the room, or throne room more accurately. The spectators on the side were what he expected Canzers to look like. They were thin, tall, and lanky, with their entire body covered in nothing but chitin. They were also wearing human clothes, giving the impression that they were an organized bunch. He continued to walk on the red carpet leading to the creature on the throne. As he made his way towards the foot of the throne, the clapping finally stopped. They were silent as if they were waiting for their ruler to speak. Atlan finally had a proper look at the creature. And it truly surprised him. That was because this Canzer looked eerily similar to the Enchanted Queen. They both had the same sleek, chitinous armor around their body. They had the same superior eyes that seemed to look down on everyone despite having no irises. The only difference between them was the color of their skin. The Enchanted Queen had black chitin, while this one had a striking red color. ''Welcome, travelers. How did you like my dungeon?'' Atlan didn''t respond, as if he didn''t understand it. ''Forget it. I already know you can understand me.'' Chapter 345 - 345: Citizenship offered Atlan was immediately alerted. He had never even met this mysterious creature in the castle, but somehow, it was able to figure out that he could talk and understand Canzers. That was one of his biggest secrets, and this monster knew it already before they even met. ''Who are you?'' Atlan asked in perfect Canzer language, surprising the court of Canzers watching on the sidelines. He heard them gasp and clap for him once again. ''People call me a lot of things. Humans used to call me the creature in the castle, my fellow citizens call me the Magical Queen, but my enemies call me the greatest fear they ever had.'' Even though there seemed to be a smile and a jovial expression on the Magical Queen''s face, her words made it seem like she was threatening Atlan to not go against her. ''You''re also a Queen?'' he asked her. ''Yes. I know you''ve already met my sister.'' Atlan couldn''t hide his surprise. There was a striking similarity between the Enchanted Queen and the Magical Queen in front of him, but he didn''t think they were actually sisters. He didn''t even know if that word meant the same thing as humans did. ''I never would have known,'' Atlan remarked, his face showing no sign of fear. But on the inside, he was panicking. If she knew about his connection with the Enchanted Queen, then she could also possibly know about their agreement. That would not bode well with other Canzers. "Yes, we are sisters, but not in the sense that we are both born from the same mother. In actuality, we are considered sisters because we are of the same species. It''s hard to explain to a human like you, but for us, that is considered enough connection to be in a sisterhood.'' Atlan was inwardly relieved. She mentioned nothing about her sister''s treason of allying herself with a human. ''Let''s get to the point,'' Atlan said, his voice with a hint of urgency. He didn''t want to spend more time inside this castle. ''Why am I here?'' The Queen didn''t seem to mind his rude manners and only saw it as something laughable. ''What are you talking about? You are the one who put yourself in harm''s way. We would have left you humans alone if only you''d stop protecting that little traitor of ours.'' If Atlan hadn''t put himself in between the ethereal hand and Tulip, then she would have been the one in this situation. ''Then why not let me go? You don''t need me right?'' S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Queen stood up from her throne and slowly walked down to Atlan. ''I''ve been watching you. Even if you think you''ve gotten rid of my little crow puppets, they''re always present in my kingdom. You had no chance of hiding from me. I saw how you protected the little twerp. You could speak to her and she understood you. That wouldn''t happen unless you knew how to speak Canzers, which was how I knew your little secret.'' If even Ninth couldn''t sense that they were being watched, then Atlan had no chance of knowing. It couldn''t be helped. This was the Magical Queen''s kingdom. She had complete control over this region. ''So? What do you want with me? Why make me go through all those trials?'' If she wanted to kill him, then she could have done so from the very beginning. She didn''t have to put him through that dungeon that posed absolutely no threat to him. And if she wanted to talk to him, then she could have just transported him directly to the throne room. There was no need for him to go through that dungeon. ''Ladies and gentlemen, do you see how smart this human is? He showed exceptional strength and magic powers, triumphing against even our greatest soldiers. Not only that, he has shown that he could speak and talk to us Canzers as if he were our own. Instead of answering Atlan, the Queen addressed the citizens watching from the sidelines. ''So, what say you, my dear citizens, do you concur?'' The citizens murmured amongst themselves, with little to no argument between them. Slowly, the citizens all raised their hands and nodded amongst themselves, showing their positive response to the Queen''s question. It was a unanimous decision, with no Canzer opposing the Queen''s proposal. Meanwhile, Atlan was left in the dark. He didn''t know what was happening. But somehow, he knew that they were all talking about him. He could see their judging looks, looking at him up and down with criticism. Then, the Queen finally walked down the steps of her throne. She was now seeing eye to eye with Atlan. ''That traitor trusts you, and only you. So, I come here as the Queen of the Magical kingdom, to ask you a favor.'' Atlan stayed silent. ''Convince her to surrender herself to me,'' the Queen said. ''If you do, then we will formally welcome you into our midst.'' Atlan was speechless. ''My citizens have spoken,'' the Queen said as she pointed at the Canzers on the sidelines. ''They have deemed you worthy enough for an exception. You will be allowed to live in our kingdom, where you will be treated as nothing less than a royal.'' The Queen walked closer to Atlan. ''As long as that woman presents herself to me voluntarily, then I will give you everything you want in this kingdom!'' This was the reason why Atlan was made to go through the dungeon. She wanted her citizens to see how strong and mighty he was. Not only that, she also showed them his ability to talk to Canzers fluently, making them accept him as one of their own easily. ''No.'' But of course, Atlan didn''t want to. He was a human, which meant that he wanted to live in a world with humans. If he was given a choice between living in the Unclaimed Lands where he could die any second, or living in this kingdom and being treated as a royal, then Atlan would still choose the human world without a second thought. But it seemed that the Queen didn''t like that response. ''No?'' Chapter 346 - 346: Transported yet again The Canzers on the sidelines stopped their murmuring and stared intently at Atlan. From their perspective, they were the ones being generous and Atlan slapped away their gift to him with absolutely no appreciation toward them. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan felt the entire throne room go cold. Even though the Queen already warned Atlan to not be her enemy, he was still stubborn enough to go against her. ''I have no intention of living here. And by doing so, I would be betraying my race.'' There was a large possibility of the Queen attacking him the moment he said those words, but Atlan didn''t care. He said what he said. ''Sigh¡­you think I''m the bad guy, right?'' the Queen said, a bit exasperated at the thought. ''You think that I am an evil queen who wants to kill an innocent being like that traitor¡­'' Atlan would have nodded, but that wasn''t appropriate in this situation. ''But you don''t know the whole story. I was betrayed when I was young by who I thought was my¡ª'' But before she could even start her story, Atlan put up his hands and stopped her from wasting her breath. ''Don''t bother,'' he said. ''I can''t believe a word you''ll say, and the simple reason for that is that I don''t like you. A superior being like you should never bully someone weaker than yourself. Tulip was just living her life without even hurting a single blade of grass, yet you and your little puppets destroyed her home mercilessly, without any provocation. I could never forgive someone who does that.'' Atlan let out all of his frustrations to the Queen. From his perspective, Tulip was just a pitiful creature who was caught up in a game against giants. She would have lived happily ever after in her little cottage with her mothers, but the Queen and her need to control everything made her want to destroy that peace. Whether he liked it or not, Atlan connected with Tulip. He stayed with her as she let out all her tears from the trauma she got from being chased around like prey. Right now, he wasn''t a Savior. He was Tulip''s friend protecting her. The Queen looked at Atlan, anger rising from her throat. But then, she noticed something Atlan said. ''You¡­you said Tulip¡­she¡­she gave you her name¡­'' Atlan thought that a fight would start after he berated the Queen like that, but for some reason, she lingered on the fact that he knew about her name. He didn''t think it was strange. Since he could speak Canzer, then it was only natural that he would eventually know about her name. But as it turned out, that little piece of fact was more important than Atlan realized. The Queen slowly looked up at Atlan, and her eyes changed from one of confusion to realization, and then to dread. It was as if whatever she understood was something terrible for herself. She thought that Atlan was a simple human who got caught up in this situation through nothing but a coincidence, but it seemed that there was something more devious at play here. It seemed fate had a hand in those two meeting. The Magical Queen had every intention of killing Atlan on this throne. If he agreed to convince Tulip to surrender herself, then the Queen would have gone back on her word and killed Atlan once he didn''t have any use for her anymore. And if he refused and tried to escape from this castle, then the Queen would have also killed him on the spot. But this realization changed everything. She could no longer think of Atlan as a mere pawn in a game of chess¡­no¡­he was something more. Her face changed into one of urgency. She didn''t think things would progress this far. She had to get to Tulip faster than she expected. Without any warning, the Queen raised her hand and summoned another ethereal black hand. And even though Atlan was prepared, he couldn''t dodge the Queen''s attack because it was far too fast. As it made contact with his skin, a black portal appeared behind him and sucked him into another location. With the Queen in the middle of her throne, she looked down and bit her lips. ''Get my army ready. We must find that girl now!'' Suddenly, the whole throne room shook as the giant double doors opened and revealed creatures of all kinds, ready to set out into the forest with just one word from their Queen. ''This is no time for caution. We must act now! This is our chance!'' The Queen walked over to the balcony of her kingdom. With the outside in open view, she looked at the scenery of her kingdom. It was beautiful, and everything she could was hers. She wanted to protect that. She needed to protect it. With one big breath, the Magical Queen stepped up to the railings and jumped off to the cliff below. Jagged rocks and strong water currents would have welcomed her descent if she had done nothing. But then, her body started to morph into something bigger, with scales impenetrable through normal means. Her legs and arms thickened, like that of an elephant''s limbs. Then, wings sprouted out of her back, spreading out and allowing her to fly through the air. ROAR! The Queen shouted, with a fiery breath coming out of her mouth. As expected of the Enchanted Queen''s sister, she could also transform into a mighty dragon that ruled the skies! ¡ª¡ª¡ª Atlan landed on his back, with the black portal closing in front of him. Even though he was transported to another unknown location, this was perhaps the best thing that could have happened during that situation. At least, it would have been better than him fighting the Magical Queen all alone. He stood up and took notice of where he was. Just like before, he seemed to have been transported into a dungeon. He looked around and noticed something weird. There were benches and a toilet in this room. And strangest of all, there was no door! I''m trapped here. Chapter 347 - 347: Three blobs of light This looked like a dungeon prison, with absolutely no way out. There wasn''t even a locked door he could try to lockpick or brute force his way out. There was only a circular wall that encased him, which was made out of the same bricks as the dungeon he had come to before. Atlan summoned his three humanoid puppets and commanded them to use all their strengths to try and break through the walls. The Huntsman notched an arrow in his bow and shot it into the small gaps between the bricks. With the additional power of the Apocalyptic Hellfire LifeSkill, the arrow exploded into a bluish-green fire the moment it landed. But as the dust settled, the bricks remained virtually untouched. Even though the bricks looked old and moldy, there seemed to have been a magical enchantment hidden inside its structure. If even an Intern-level LifeSkill wasn''t enough to even chip one of its bricks, then Atlan had no chance of ever brute forcing his way out of this prison. Of course, he didn''t stop his humanoid puppets from trying. They continued to throw all their powers and their LifeSkills to the walls, hoping that it would give out one way or another. Meanwhile, Atlan thought to himself. Why would the Magical Queen trap me here? Her main goal was to get her hands on Tulip. The reason she abducted him in the first place was to try and get him to help her by convincing Tulip to surrender herself of her own accord. But when the Queen realized that Atlan would never betray Tulip, she should have tried to kill him. After all, he was just another obstacle in the way of her goal. The best way to get rid of obstacles was to kill them. After all, she couldn''t be entirely sure that Atlan wouldn''t escape from this prison. Even if the chance was small, there was still a chance. But if she killed Atlan, then she could be sure that he wouldn''t be an obstacle anymore. Does she think that I''m not worth it to kill? No¡­I''m the only one Tulip trusts. She needs me to die. No matter how much he thought about it, it didn''t make sense. The Queen should have tried to kill him. Although it may seem strange that Atlan was worrying about why the Queen didn''t kill him instead of being grateful for his survival, Atlan was beginning to think that there was something suspicious going on. He felt like there were things that the Queen knew secretly. As Atlan continued to think to himself, three blobs of light floated behind him. These blobs of light seemed to move and float in unnatural ways as if they were sentient or something. And even though their luminescence in this dark prison should have alerted Atlan of their presence, there seemed to have been an alteration in reality to make Atlan unaware of what was going on behind him. [A human¡­] [Yes¡­a human¡­] [Why is he here?...did Malifecient imprison him as well?] Surprisingly, the three bobs of light were talking amongst themselves. And if one looked closely enough, those three blobs of light weren''t blobs of light at all! They were tiny floating human-like creatures that were slightly glowing white! Slowly, they floated over towards Atlan to observe his face a lot closer. And even though they were staring him in the face, he didn''t seem to notice them at all. It was as if they were invisible! They observed his face and his powers but didn''t find anything special about him. This was weird for the three tiny human-like creatures. For a creature to be put in this prison, it had to be of extreme importance. This was the place where the Magical Queen, whom they called Malificient, imprisoned her greatest enemy. After all, this was a place where no magic, not even fate, could intervene. A weak human like this should have been eaten or killed by the Queen. She wouldn''t have wasted her power in imprisoning him, with how harmless he looked. They even started to pity Atlan. Even though he seemed desperate in trying to get out of this prison, the three tiny human-like creatures knew that there wasn''t any chance he was going to get out of this place. After all, they already tried it themselves. It was to no avail. [This guy is wasting his time. There''s no way out of this place, no matter how much he tries.] [I pity him. Should we put him to sleep now to put him out of his misery?] [Ladies, please. Don''t underestimate him. Malificient put him here for a reason. Maybe, he knows the way out. It''ll be good for us as well. We need to get to Tulip as soon as possible¡­] ¡ª¡ª¡ª Atlan tried everything possible. He used his Thermal Vision to see if there was any hidden mechanism to allow him to escape, but there was nothing but bricks in this place. Force didn''t work as well. No matter how much they tried to damage the walls, they wouldn''t budge even in the slightest bit. But even when he faced this impossible situation, Atlan didn''t panic. After all, he still had one more trick up his sleeve. He looked down at his Soul System, specifically, his mutations. ¡ª (10-star) Dimensional Lightspeed Angel Wings S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª¡ª¡ª 15% mastery ¡ª¡ª¡ª The user gains 200% of their current speed and allows them to have complete maneuverability in the air. Upon activation of its second ability, the user can traverse different dimensions. The second ability of his Angel Wings allowed him to traverse different dimensions. When he tried this out in the normal world, he was able to go in and out of the Remedium without the use of a portal. Now, Atlan thought that he didn''t have to use this unless necessary. After all, if he used this ability, he could end up back in the real world and completely abandon his mission. But, there was also a chance that it could get him out of this situation. And since he was completely trapped here, he had no way else but to take that chance. Chapter 348 - 348: Good fairies Atlan closed his eyes and activated his Angel Wings mutation. Slowly, the area in between his shoulder blades started to feel numb and prickly. It didn''t take long before the wings sprouted out of nowhere, with its shining brilliance glowing even in the confines of the darkness of this prison. The sudden appearance of these Angel Wings completely caught the three blobs of light off guard. They were startled and immediately separated themselves from Atlan. When they felt the power of the Angels within him, they were afraid that he was also an Angel himself. And since Angels were the weakness of Canzers, those three tiny human-like creatures thought that they had gotten found out, and now, he was trying to kill them. But as the seconds passed, they realized that Atlan hadn''t actually sensed their presence yet. And when they looked at him more closely, they saw that the Angel power was only coming out of his wings, which meant that Atlan wasn''t an angel himself, he only had their powers! Even still, this completely overturned their expectations. They thought that Atlan was a normal human, but the presence of those angel wings completely changed him into a beast that they couldn''t treat lightly. They thought that Angels had gone extinct, but somehow, a human was able to get his hands on one of their most powerful weapons: their wings. It was an impossible situation, but somehow, they were looking at it in front of their eyes. Then, something changed. Those pure white wings suddenly started to shimmer with silver particles. [He''s¡­he''s trying to get out of this place!] [With those Angel Wings, yes he could!] [But wait, it''s unstable¡­if he tries to get out now, he''ll be lost in different dimensions!] The three tiny human-like creatures seemed to have been knowledgeable enough about magic that they knew that there was something wrong with Atlan''s Angel Wings. In truth, Atan didn''t know what he was doing. He could get in and out of the Remedium, which was good for escaping, but now, he was only trying to get out of this prison. He still wanted to stay in the Remedium, which was why he was trying something new, something he wasn''t familiar with. ''WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!'' Just as Atlan was about to use his wings to transport himself into another location, he suddenly saw three blobs of light appear in front of him. He was completely caught off guard and immediately moved away from them. And even without instructing his puppets, the three humanoids immediately attacked the three blobs of light. The Huntsman fired off an arrow with the power of the Apocalyptic Hellfire. The Prince charged towards them with the Beastly Thrash LifeSkill, allowing him to have tremendous physical strength. The White Beauty used her book of contracts to summon the giant rat to attack as well. But just as the attacks were about to hit, the three blobs of light waved the wands on their hands and created some kind of magic. Suddenly, the Huntsman found himself floating in the air, without any control of his own body. He couldn''t even keep his grip on the bow! The same went with the Prince, the White Beauty, and the giant rat she summoned. They were all immobilized by an invisible spell. The arrow, on the other hand, simply missed its mark and hit the wall, destroying nothing in the process. [We''re not here to hurt you.] Atlan grabbed his head, feeling a splitting headache as the three blobs of light tried to communicate with him. ''Stop messing with my mind. I can hear and talk to you just fine,'' Atlan said in the Canzer language. Because the three blobs of light thought that Atlan couldn''t understand their words, they immediately tried to invade his brain and make him understand his words. It came with a splitting headache, but they thought it was worth it since it was the only way he could understand them. But surprisingly, the human was able to speak like a Canzer. This surprised them greatly. It seemed that they truly underestimated this human. He had possession of Angel wings, and now, he could speak like a Canzer. They started to wonder what more secrets he had in store. Slowly, the three blobs of light lessened the glowing on their bodies, letting Atlan see their true form. Atlan saw three tiny human-like women floating in the air. They seemed to be in their early fifties, but their attire looked like it was made for someone younger. They looked like they were on their way to a dance ball. If they weren''t so little, Atlan would have mistaken them for a human. The one on the left wore a red dress, the one in the middle wore blue, and the one on the right wore a green dress. ''You can understand us? How peculiar.'' ''How do you understand us? Is it a magic spell?'' ''Ladies, ladies, let us not get bogged down by details. We shall introduce ourselves first.'' S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The three little women bowed to Atlan, showing grace in their movements. ''We are the Three Good Fairies, and we are also prisoners of this dungeon,'' they all said in unison. Then, they looked over at Atlan and waited. It seemed that they wanted him to introduce himself as well. ''Ahem¡­I''m Atlan. I''m a human.'' The red fairy floated over to Atlan and bowed. ''Well, Atlan, we can see that you have the powers of an Angel.'' The blue fairy followed next to her. ''Now, we won''t ask you how you obtained that power, nor will we tell others, but we have a simple request.'' Then, the green fairy followed as well. ''We want you to take us with you.'' Even though they were named the three ''good'' fairies, Atlan had no reason to take them with him. Who knew if they were actually evil creatures? After all, they were imprisoned in this dungeon as well. ''And why should I do that?'' The three fairies then pleaded to Atlan with all their hearts. ''Please! We need to save our daughter!'' Chapter 349 - 349: Fairy mothers ''I know that you''re a human, and you''re supposed to hate all Canzers, but I promise you that we don''t mean any harm,'' said the blue fairy. ''That''s right, that''s right. I don''t know if you have the same saying as us in the human language, but there''s something called the enemy of my enemy is my friend,'' said the green fairy. ''Since Malificient was the one who trapped you here, I''m assuming that you also hate that Queen. It just so happens that we also hate her with all our hearts,'' said the red fairy. Meanwhile, Atlan stayed silent with his thoughts. Somehow, there was something strange with this. It was as if he was close to figuring something out. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn''t quite grasp it yet. ''As long as you get us out of this prison, we will do anything for you. Please. We need to get there before the Queen does.'' ''I''m sure you don''t understand why we''re so desperate¡ª'' Then, Atlan finally understood why. He looked at the three fairies floating in front of him and said, ''You''re Tulip''s mothers, right?'' His words seemed to have sent a shockwave to the three fairies, surprising them so much that they ended up backing away from him to the wall. ''You!....you know about our daughter?'' asked the blue fairy. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''That''s our daughter! Do you know about her? Where is she?'' asked the green fairy. It was an incredible coincidence that the human they found in this prison knew about their daughter. In terms of probability, it was about a hundred thousand to one odds that this would happen. Yet it did, as if there was something else at play here. But despite the two fairies feeling a tinge of hope and desperation, the red fairy looked at Atlan with a grim face. ''How do you know about her name?'' Once the red fairy said those words, the rest of the fairies immediately realized the implications. After all, no one was supposed to know about Tulip''s name¡ªespecially not a human. One possibility that might have happened was that Atlan encountered Tulip and witnessed her death, in which she said her name as his last words. After all, that was what they taught her from when she was a child. Suddenly, the three fairies glowed with an intense light. An invisible, overbearing pressure bore down on Atlan, forcing him to kneel just to survive the impact of their pressure. It was at this point that Atlan realized that the three fairies were not simple creatures. The combination of all three fairies was probably equal to the Magical Queen in terms of raw power. Atlan cursed his luck. It seemed that he was an attractor to strange, powerful creatures in the Remedium. ''How did you know her name? Is she dead?'' they all asked him simultaneously. Atlan borrowed the powers of the puppets and fought against the pressure of the ''good'' fairies. He forced himself to stand up and look at the fairies eye to eye. ''No, she isn''t dead. I was trying to save her¡­it''s the reason I''m here in the first place. The Queen was about to get a hold of her, but I put myself in between them and ended up trapped here.'' Atlan said the truth and nothing but the truth. With these kinds of powerful creatures, he knew that telling lies would only result in a bad ending. And since they looked like they were Tulip''s mothers, he correctly thought that they would feel gratitude for him after saving their daughter. ''She¡­she''s alive¡­she''s alive!" shouted the green fairy. ''You''re telling the truth, right? You saved her?'' asked the blue fairy. Meanwhile, the red fairy looked at Atlan and tried to discern his words. But all she saw was something genuine. ''He''s telling the truth,'' the red fairy declared. But that wasn''t all. The red fairy seemed to have sensed a greater connection with Atlan and their daughter. It seemed much deeper than an acquaintance. ''How is she? Has she been feeling well?'' asked the blue fairy. ''Has she been taking care of herself? Oh poor Tulip. She must have been on the run all this time¡­'' cried the green fairy. But before he answered their questions, Atlan had his own question for them. ''What happened to you? Tulip told me that she tried to find you after your house burned down, but you were gone.'' The fairies all looked down, ashamed of themselves. ''Truth is, we''ve been trying to hide Tulip from Malificient for all her life. For some years, living in seclusion in the middle of the forest gave us that peace. But, we knew that it was only a temporary solution. The Queen would find us eventually.'' ''So, we thought that we would try to kill her ourselves before she could try to kill Tulip.'' ''But, that ended up in our capture, and the burning of our house. It''s our fault this is happening.'' Atlan sighed. Their life seemed tragic. All this while, Tulip thought that she was the one who caused their home to be burned down and her mothers to disappear. As it turned out, she had nothing to do with it at all. ''When I first met Tulip, she was extremely sad. She blamed herself for what happened. But, she pulled herself together and helped us reach your burned house.'' When they heard that, the fairies became even more depressed. But there was hope. If they could go out now and fight the Queen, they had a chance to finally finish this once and for all. ''I have another question,'' said Atlan. ''Why Tulip? She doesn''t seem like she''s anything special, but why is the Queen hell-bent on catching her? Is there something hidden about her?'' The three good fairies looked at each other, debating whether they would tell this human the secret or not. ''We shall tell him,'' the red fairy said. ''But¡ª'' ''There''s no point in keeping it a secret anymore. The Queen is on her way to her right now.'' The three fairies nodded and finally told the truth about Tulip. ''She is this kingdom''s inheritor.'' Chapter 350 - 350: Fate ''She''s an inheritor of this kingdom? That means she could threaten the Queen''s control of this kingdom¡­that makes sense why she would want to kill her.'' As expected, the reason why the Magical Queen wanted to kill Tulip was solely because of her greed for her throne. Atlan didn''t know why, but it seemed that Tulip was the only being who could threaten her claim to the throne. ''Truthfully, we are not Tulip''s real mothers. We are merely her guardians, given to her by her parents.'' ''And even though Tulip looks harmless now, she has the potential to become a powerful being just like Malificient. But to do so, Tulip has to kill the Queen with her own hands. It is fate. It will happen unless the Queen does something about it, which is what she''s doing right now.'' Atlan couldn''t believe that a harmless Canzer like Tulip would someday become as domineering as the Queen. It didn''t fit her personality at all. ''So, the Magical Queen, Malificient, wants to extend her reign for as long as possible by killing Tulip?'' he asked. ''That is right. But ruling the kingdom is not her only goal. By killing Tulip, she would also be getting rid of the only thing that could kill her. She would be invincible.'' Atlan shivered at the thought. It looked like Carmine''s warning about the creature in the castle was true. If they failed to protect Tulip, then the Malificient would have virtually no weakness, allowing her to fight the humans forever without dying. ''Why not just leave this kingdom entirely? Why not emigrate to the other side of the Canzer world so that the Malificient would never find her?'' The three good fairies shook their head. ''It is not that simple, human. This is their fate and it has already been prophesied long before they even existed. No matter where we hide, fate will eventually lead us back to this kingdom.'' Atlan didn''t understand that. After all, he didn''t believe in something called fate. He believed that things were always left in his hands, not in the hands of some abstract concept. Then, the red fairy suddenly realized something. They were so surprised at the fact that Atlan knew about their daughter that they completely missed this fact. ''Wait¡­tell us again. How did you know her name?'' Just from the grave tone of the red fairy''s voice, Atlan felt as if there was something about Tulip''s name that was special. Now that he thought about it, the Queen also acted weird once he revealed to her that he knew about Tulip''s name. Malificient wanted to kill him, but once he uttered Tulip''s name, she suddenly changed her mind and imprisoned him in this dungeon instead. ''Is there something special with the fact that I know about Tulip''s name?'' he asked them. ''Yes. It is vitally important,'' answered the three good fairies simultaneously. ''She told me,'' Atlan said plainly. And surprisingly, the three good fairies'' visibility gasped. They couldn''t seem to believe it and looked at Atlan''s face once again. ''This¡­is this possible?'' ''But he''s a human! That''s not supposed to be¡­'' ''Are you sure you''re a human?'' asked the green fairy. Atlan sarcastically looked at his own body and nodded. ''Yes, I''m still human. Now, can you tell me why that''s important?'' ''We have taught Tulip early on to never say her real name to strangers. She should only do so once she trusts someone with her life. And it seemed as if she had deemed you someone special like that.'' ''So?'' Atlan asked. ''There is another prophecy. One that tells of a prince that rescues our very own Tulip from a fatal injury made by the Malificient Queen.'' ''What?'' Atlan was confused. He didn''t even know where all those prophecies were coming from. And most of all, he simply didn''t believe in them. ''Don''t you get it, young man? You are the chosen one. You are the one who will rescue Tulip from certain death.'' Atlan went silent to digest the information given to him by the fairies. It seemed by virtue of the fact that Tulip gave her name to him, he suddenly became the prophesied prince that would save her in distress. Then, he realized something. ''Does the Queen know about this prophecy?'' he asked. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Yes,'' they all answered. ''But then why didn''t she kill me when she knew that I told her that I knew Tulip''s name? Surely, she would have wanted to kill the prophesized prince that would help Tulip survive.'' But despite how confused he was, everything seemed clear for the fairies. ''It''s because of fate, young man. One should not defy fate or else even the Queen would suffer the consequence.'' ''If she killed you, that would not destroy the prophecy. It would only be passed on to another being. By then, she would have no idea who the prince would be. So, she chose to imprison you instead. By doing so, she can be assured that the prophesized prince, you, would not be able to interfere with her mission.'' Atlan scratched his head. There seemed to be a lot of rules about fate that didn''t follow the rules of logic. ''Are you even sure that I''m that prince?'' The three good fairies all looked at each other. There was doubt between them. ''We are not sure. After all, we were expecting another Canzer to be the prophesied prince.'' ''A human shouldn''t have been the prophesied prince¡­but the words were clear. Whoever shall know their daughter''s name and trust shall be the appointed prince¡­'' ''We are still confused as to whether you truly are the fated prince.'' Atlan thought to himself. His power and mutation to talk to Canzers allowed him to converse with Tulip and earn her trust. If it wasn''t for his unique powers, this wouldn''t have happened. ''Is it possible that I have interfered with fate? Maybe another Canzer was supposed to help her instead of me¡­'' ''It''s possible,'' the three fairies pondered as well. Just then, Atlan felt a tug near his chest. He looked down and realized that something was poking out of his battle suit! He immediately took it out and realized that it was the amulet that Tulip gave him. It was being pulled away from his neck towards the fairies as if there was some sort of attraction between them. Chapter 351 - 351: Tulip amulet Atlan looked towards the fairies to see if they were the ones behind this, but they seemed as shocked as him, if not more. He watched as an amulet given to him by Tulip started to fly towards the fairies. The only reason why it hadn''t flown away from his body at this point was because the rope was still tied around his neck. ''What''s happening?'' he asked them. But the three fairies were too stunned to even answer his question. They all looked at the amulet in his neck as if their entire world had just been turned around. ''Human¡­where did you get that?'' S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''That''s supposed to be Tulip''s¡­'' ''Did¡­did she give that to you voluntarily?'' Atlan looked at the three fairies and was starting to get annoyed. All the things he considered normal always seemed to be something special in their eyes. First, he thought that learning Tulip''s name was not a big deal, but it turns out, it made him the prophesied prince of whatever. Now, the amulet she gave him was also starting to become strange. ''Yes¡­I found it at your burned house, but when I returned it to her, she wanted to give it to me. I couldn''t refuse. Should I have?'' Judging from their shocked faces, it seemed to signal to him that there was something wrong with the amulet. ''No, it''s good that you have it¡­it''s¡­it''s¡­'' Atlan couldn''t take it anymore. ''It''s what?'' he asked, annoyed. ''It''s fate that she gave you that amulet,'' said the red fairy bluntly. ''It has been prophesied that Tulip would give the prophesied prince the amulet of protection. It has also been said that this amulet is what helps in the defeat of the Magical Queen, Malificient.'' Atlan looked at the floating amulet in his chest. From his perspective, the amulet looked nothing like nothing special at all. Even when he used all his observational powers to scrutinize it, there wasn''t any leakage of power from the object. It was only a normal amulet. ''If you didn''t want to become the prophesied prince, then you shouldn''t have accepted it. But now that you have it in your possession, there is no mistaking it. You are the chosen one.'' Atlan still didn''t believe in fate and prophecies. Just because Tulip gave him her name and this amulet didn''t mean he suddenly became the prince that was prophesied in their dreams. It was absurd to think about because everything was a coincidence. He pulled the amulet off his neck and let it float towards the three good fairies. ''Have it yourself,'' he said. ''There''s nothing special with that.'' Just then, the amulet stopped and floated in front of the three fairies, as if waiting for their action. ''You are right. This amulet is nothing special, but that is because it is incomplete. You need to connect it to the other pieces in order to truly see the magic that this amulet hides.'' Just then, the three good fairies waved their hands and summoned something from behind them. A portal with the same color as their dresses appeared and shot out a small fragment of metal. The three fairies then started casting some spells, uttering some nonsense words that Atlan couldn''t understand. But he knew that they were doing something weird. He could feel their power spike up to its peak as they continued to utter a large spell. Suddenly, the three metals they summoned as well as the amulet started to revolve around each other. Atlan watched as the edges of the objects revolving around each other started to glow a bright neon blue. At the same time as the three fairies reached a crescendo in their spell casting, the four objects stopped revolving in the air. Then, the three metals converged upon each other, smashing into its glowing sides with power that should have shattered them into mere pieces. But magically, those three metals perfectly merged into one single unit. It was at this point that Atlan realized something. The combination of those three metals was the complete mirror shape of the floating amulet. ''Reveal the amulet, the one to guide the light to ward off the darkness!'' the three fairies shouted, accompanied by a booming shockwave that caused power from their bodies to transfer to the single metal unit. Then, the two crashed. The single metal part combined with the amulet, forming a single unit. And the resulting shape¡­was a tulip flower. The floating tulip amulet then started to glow with power, as if an ancient god was about to awaken. Atlan started to back away as the mere pressure emitted by this power was more than enough to make him stumble and fall to his knees. This kind of power was even stronger than Maleficoent or the Enchanted Queen. He had never seen this kind of power in an object before. Finally, the object glowed a bright white light until everything in the dungeon prison was enveloped in a blinding light. Atlan had to close his eyes. After a few seconds, the light died down and he could finally open his eyes. And what he saw was the tulip-shaped amulet floating in the air, and glowing with power. The pressure was much more tamer than before, but anyone could see that it was a magical item. The three fairies took a big breath. ''Human, take the amulet. It is yours to possess,'' they said simultaneously. But even though it looked like it could give him tremendous power, Atlan was a bit hesitant. That was because by accepting the amulet, he would be accepting the fact that he was the prophesied prince. If he was going to save Tulip, then he was going to save her because he wanted to, not because some prophecy dictated him to. ''There is no use denying fate, human. It is your destiny.'' Before Atlan could even say something, the amulet suddenly flew towards his neck and attached itself to his body just like before. It was far too fast for him to even react. But once it had taken its cozy place in his chest, the glowing died down and acted as nothing more than a normal amulet. Chapter 352 - 352: Three gifts Atlan looked at the amulet in his chest and saw no sign of hostility from the magical item. Just then, he finally realized something. Carmine told them that they were searching for something in the forest that could help them defeat the creature in the castle, which Atlan now knew as Malificient, the Magical Queen. When they reached Tulip''s burned house, they searched through the entire wreckage trying to find a magical item that glowed with power. But, they found nothing after searching for a long time. The only thing they found was this amulet, which turned out to be Tulip''s possession. But because it looked like a normal amulet, with no glowing power or leaking magic, Carmine and Atlan both thought that this wasn''t the object that they were looking for. However, it seemed that he had it now all this time. ''The amulet only works if all the parts are completed. We kept one part to ourselves, and the last one was kept by Tulip. Now, all the parts have gathered because you, the fated prince, have come just like the prophecies said.'' The reason it looked like a normal amulet was because it was missing the parts that would make it into a tulip shape. In a very strange coincidence, Atlan met Tulip''s mothers in this prison, where all the parts of the amulet finally connected. According to their prophecies, this was an amulet that could help in defeating the Magical Queen. The fairies'' prophecies coincided perfectly with Carmine''s sources. Now that he had it in his possession, there was no use throwing it away anymore. If it was going to help him defeat Malificient, then he needed all the help he could get. He would even let the fairies think that he was their prophesied prince or whatever. ''So, how am I going to use this amulet?'' The three good fairies looked at Atlan with hopeful expressions. ''So you accept your destiny?'' ''Yeah, sure. As long as we defeat the Magical Queen at the end of this, then I''m willing to be your ally.'' The three good fairies nodded, satisfied with his answer. ''That amulet works by empowering yourself into a magnificent warrior of the olden past. This will allow you to have the power to be able to fight against the Queen. Be careful. Do not use it unless you have to because the power inside that amulet is a precious resource. It will not return.'' Having another trump card in his sleeves was what he needed to fight against the Magical Queen. If he could time the use of this power at the most opportune moment, he could get the Queen off guard and he would get the chance to kill her in one go. Of course, that was if he saw an opportune moment. ''If you want the power inside that amulet, touch it for a few seconds and you will feel a magic course through your veins. Do not fight it, let it run its course.'' Atlan nodded. And without waiting any longer, he unfurled his Angel Wings and got ready to get out of this dungeon prison. ''Hang on to me,'' he said. ''Wait, human. I can see that even though you have the power of an Angel, you do not have the appropriate control to be able to use it correctly. If you haphazardly try to travel through the dimensions, you may get trapped in it and never return. After all, this dungeon formed with Malificient''s magic and will interfere with any teleportation spell.'' Atlan looked at the three fairies. ''Then, can you help me?'' The green fairy nodded. ''Yes, we will be your guide in the dimensions, while you use the power of those wings to get us out of this space.'' S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''But before we get to that, there is something else we must do.'' The three fairies waved their hands and cast another spell, creating a portal behind them. ''From our estimations, you are not strong enough to fight against the Queen or her horde. If you were to use the amulet while fighting her minions, then you would stand no chance to fight against her dragon form. So, we have no other choice but to endow you with gifts from our world.'' A single sword and shield shot out from the fairies'' portal and landed on the floor in front of Atlan. ''This?'' When the fairies said that they would give him some gifts to help him fight, he thought they''d be giving him something special. But from what he could see, that sword and shield was nothing special at all. Suddenly, the fairies started chanting their spells again, gathering all the power in the area to their bodies. ''I grant the sword a sharp edge that can slay thousands of monsters and Canzers in a single move¡­'' the red fairy said, throwing her hands towards the sword on the floor. Suddenly, red glowing runes appeared on the sword and gave it a sharpness that would even terrify the best swordsman. ''I grant the shield the ability to protect and deflect the attacks from monsters of all shapes and sizes,'' the green fairy said as she threw her hands to the shield. Just like before, the shield suddenly gained glowing green runes that seemed to have strengthened the material and structure of the very shield itself. ''I grant these two weapons¡­luck and fortune¡­may this be the sword that strikes down the dragon that rules the skies,'' said the blue fairy, throwing her hands on both the sword and the shield. The runes on both reappeared again, but this time, the glow had turned into a golden color. And this time, the runes didn''t disappear into the metal. It continued to glow, finally giving off the appearance that these two weapons were magical. The three fairies looked at Atlan and gestured for him to take their gifts. Atlan bent down and picked up both magical weapons. The sword fit perfectly in his hands and was the perfect length in companion with his height. Meanwhile, the shield was neither too small nor too big for his body. It was the perfect defense while allowing mobility in a close fight. Chapter 353 - 353: Echoing of crows Atlan genuinely accepted the sword and shield from the fairies. Just from holding it in his hands alone, he knew that these were weapons of mass destruction. His hands were shivering just from the mere fact that he was holding the sword and shield. He was fighting the weapons to settle down. It was as if he was holding the leash of two massively powerful bears who wanted to tear down everything in their sight. ''You''ll need these weapons, as well as luck, to save our Tulip from certain doom,'' the red fairy said. Atlan looked at the weapon in his hands. To truly defeat the Magical Queen Malificient, he would need the help of Tulip, who was her weakness. Before he started clashing his sword with her claws, he needed to make sure Tulip was okay. ''I''m ready,'' he said to the three fairies. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They nodded and floated over to his shoulders. They hung on to his battle suit tight, because even with their powers, if they ended up getting lost in the different dimensions, they probably wouldn''t be able to leave it again. ''You use the power of your wings to get us out of here, and we''ll guide you in the right direction,'' the green fairy said. Atlan did as they said and powered up his Angel Wings. Suddenly, the pure white luster of his feathers began to shine with a silvery glint. These sparkles began to intensify and multiply as the power began to gather in his wings. Then, at the crescendo, those silvery particles suddenly shot forward and tore open the very space itself, showing the eternal mystery of the different dimensions. It felt like he was looking at a combination of all the stars in the galaxy as well as its deepest depths. ''Don''t get distracted, human. You must go before this dimension figures out what we''re doing.'' Atlan didn''t hesitate any longer and flapped his wings, rushing his body toward the portal to the other dimension. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª "Ninth, what are we going to do?" The rest of her team looked at her with eyes full of confusion and anxiousness. They were facing a monstrous Spinning Wheel with the same strength as a Specialist Canzer, but they had no help from Atlan or Carmine as to how they were going to defeat it. But that wasn''t what bugged Ninth the most. She looked behind her team and saw the Canzer on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Ninth was conflicted. Even though all she wanted was to leave the Canzer behind and let the Spinning Wheel monster get to her, her better judgment told her that it was not a good idea. "Tsk. Hey you!" Ninth shouted to Tulip. But the Canzer wasn''t listening to her. She was knee-deep in despair after once again putting another being she cared about in danger. The Spinning Wheel monster wasn''t just going to wait for them to sort things out. It shot out a needle-like yarn and aimed it at Tulip. Ninth didn''t have any choice and dove towards Tulip and saved her from the attack. Tulip wasn''t expecting this and looked at Ninth, with their gaze locking into each other. Ninth was clearly showing hate and disdain for the Canzer. But when Ninth looked at the Canzer, she was surprised to see that she saw the same. Tulip was also hating herself. "Get a grip! Do you want to live or not? Will you throw away the chance that Atlan gave you?!" Even though they didn''t understand each other''s language, Ninth''s outrage somehow reached into Tulip. Her eyes started to clear, as she remembered Atlan. If he were here, what would he have done? Tulip nodded to Ninth and stood up for herself. Even though Ninth wanted Tulip to do this, she was still a little bit surprised that her words seemed to have affected a Canzer. It made her think that maybe, Canzers weren''t all that different from humans if they could understand each other like this. Ninth pointed towards the center of her team''s position, where Atlan would have stood. Tulip quickly understood what Ninth wanted to do and rushed towards the center, where she could be protected from all sides. "Listen up, everyone. First, we''ll take down this monster and only then we''ll be able to search for our Star Porter." The rest of the team shouted in unison, "Yes!" With this newfound energy, the team faced the Spinning Wheel monster and started their usual routine of killing, as if this was just another mission. The mage and the sniper took shots at the Spinning Wheel monster, while Ninth and the scout went forward to attack it at its weakest, the legs. All the while, the two tanks protected the whole team if the monster tried to attack them. LifeSkill after Lifeskill was thrown around, creating destruction around the forest. Tulip stood back and marveled at how powerful these humans were. There was even a thought in the back of her mind where she wanted to become just like Ninth, with how powerful she looked as she sliced through the Spinning Wheel monster''s leg with nothing but her sword. As expected, the Spinning Wheel monster was no trouble at all once the team started their assault. To finish it off, Ninth summoned her swordmaid, whose figure was two times bigger than the Spinning Wheel monster itself. With one slashing movement from her head, Ninth cleaved the monster into two, stopping its spinning wheel and turning it into nothing but a large corpse in the forest. "Haaa¡­haaa¡­" Everyone tried to catch their breath after this battle. "We did it!" they screamed. A small smile broke out in Ninth''s mouth, celebrating this small victory amidst the tragedy. "Okay, me and the scout will search the remains of the monster for any clues. You all stay here and search as well. Whoever abducted Atlan should have left some sort of clue that will lead us to his location." But just as they were about to move, they felt the entire ground reverberate. Then, the crows and birds flew away from the trees, as if they were spooked by something in the distance. Chapter 354 - 354: Renewed sense "Is that an earthquake?" the mage asked. But the scout, with his enhanced vision and senses, knew that something was wrong. "No. It''s not that. It''s something much worse." He asked permission from Ninth to separate from the group and try to see what was going on in the distance. Their leader agreed, only with the caveat that he should not go too far off. The scout rushed to the direction of the rumbling, while the rest of the team remained in their places. Their hands were still placed on their weapons, ready to strike whenever something appeared. After a few minutes, the scout finally returned. But this time, his face was aghast. It was as if he had seen a ghost. "Haa..haaa¡­" And judging by how exhausted he looked, it seemed that the scout was forced to run away from whatever he saw, or else he would have been caught by them. "What did you see?" Ninth asked. The scout walked to Ninth and grabbed her shoulders. "It''s¡­it''s a horde! There are about a thousand monsters and Canzers marching towards our location right now! And with how fast they were going, they''ll reach us in a matter of minutes!" The rest of the team was shocked to their core. It was one thing to fight against one Specialist-level Canzer. It was one thing to fight two of them at the same time. But to fight a thousand Canzer marching towards them with the express thought of killing them was far too much to think about. "We should go! Leave, leave right now!" the scout said. Even the rest of her team agreed. "Ninth, let''s retreat now." "They''re right. We can''t possibly fight against all of them." But for some reason, Ninth didn''t move. She looked at the Scout and saw that he was far too distraught. Even though a thousand Canzers were nothing to scoff at, it wasn''t entirely too frightening. With that many Canzers, their weakness was their slowness. "What aren''t you telling me?" Ninth asked. But the scout kept his mouth shut. "I don''t want to tell you. You don''t want to know." Ninth was annoyed. She was supposed to be their leader, yet one of her teammates wasn''t treating her with the respect a leader should have. "Out with it! Or I''ll have to go there myself to look." The scout immediately wrapped his arms around Ninth''s legs. "No, please. Don''t!" But Ninth didn''t stop. She continued to walk, dragging the scout with her. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Stop! Okay, I''ll tell you. But the reason I don''t want to is because I know how you''ll react." "How will I react?" The scout looked at his teammates, and they knew what he was talking about. "Don''t think we haven''t noticed," the scout said. "Ever since we encountered that¡­that¡­.that dragon, you''ve been acting weird. You''re too aggressive and too emotional. It''s clear that you felt something when you faced that dragon." Ninth''s eyes widened as she looked at her team. She didn''t think they knew. She thought she kept it a secret, but it seemed her emotions were as clear as day. She felt even more vulnerable now. "You¡­you knew¡­" "Yes! Now, let''s go. I saw that the one leading the horde was another dragon! It''s different from the one before, but it''s still as dominating as the last one. We need to leave now." Ninth had her head down, with her eyes moistening. Even though she prided herself as the genius who reached Specialist-level at the youngest age, it turned out that her confidence was not yet earned. If it was any other veteran Savior, they wouldn''t have felt fear when facing a dragon. Instead, they would feel excited at the thought of fighting it. But she seemed to have lost that. She was afraid of fighting it and wanted to leave the Remedium altogether. If she can''t even fight a dragon, then did she even deserve to be a Savior? Maybe they were right. Maybe, they should leave and escape from the dragon-led horde. Just then, Ninth looked towards Tulip. And she saw something she didn''t think she would ever see in the eyes of a Canzer. There was a belief in those eyes, as if Tulip trusted with her whole chitinous heart that Ninth would somehow get them out of this situation. The strangest thing was that it wasn''t out of desperation, but because of admiration. In Tulip''s eyes, it was as if she believed that Ninth was the hero she needed in these times. A Canzer was treating a human as her Savior. Ninth was reminded of the reason why she became a Savior in the first place. When she was a child, she also idolized a woman of great caliber. Whenever a Symptom appeared and all seemed lost, that woman would always appear and save everyone from harm. She wanted to be like that woman, to be the person everyone looks up to whenever something bad happens. So, she worked hard through the years and was finally able to become one of the top Specialist Saviors in the entire Genesis City. She thought she achieved her dream. But was she really the savior she wanted to become? Would her idol run away from a fight against a mighty dragon like she did? Would she fear for her life trying to fight against a horde of monsters? The answer was a resounding no. "Ninth, we should go now!" her teammates pleaded to her. Everyone looked at her eyes, and they were surprised to see a fire lit in her irises. There was no longer any fear or trepidation present in her soul. It was as if she regained all the confidence she had at her best. "Ninth?" "We can''t run away. We''ll fight the horde and the dragon." The rest of her team was confused. They thought that Ninth was deathly afraid of fighting a dragon. And they wouldn''t be facing it alone, it had an entire army of Canzers at its beck and call. "Are you serious?" they asked. "Yes. Prepare to give it everything you''ve got. Cause I will." Chapter 355 - 355: Redemption This was the true terror of fighting the horde of Canzers. Even though most of them were just Student-level Canzers, their special ability as Destruction and Infection Canzers allowed them to practically be indestructible. "Oh my gods¡­" "This¡­this is just unfair¡­" Ninth''s team gasped when they saw this horrifying sight. Even though they knew about a Canzer''s ability to regenerate or clone themselves, they hadn''t seen it at this scale. The hundreds that Ninth ''killed'' now grew into a thousand. It would have been better if they hadn''t attacked them in the first place. "We need to kill them all in one go so that we have the time to go after the dragon," Ninth said. This was the reason why she didn''t want her team to waste their energy trying to fight defensively against the horde. They wanted to slowly fight their way through the horde, but Ninth knew that it would only worsen the situation for them. But Ninth didn''t blame her team for forgetting this small fact. After all, they were so used to fighting with a porter in their midst who carried a construct that could disable the Canzers'' abilities. Unfortunately, they had none of those. Atlan was probably abducted by their enemies, which meant that they didn''t have any contact with Carmine or the rest of the Operator Specialists who could help them figure out a way to fight this horde. "What are we going to do," her team asked. Ninth looked ahead and watched as the horde continued to march towards their location. More and more Canzers passed through to the domain, with their strengths becoming much stronger than the first lines of Canzers that entered. "We wait. Once they''re all here, we strike," she said. The Canzers at the back of the horde were now at the strengths of the Intern level. Ninth judged them to be the generals and high-ranking officers of the entire army. They had their own legions under their wing, which they controlled with perfect coordination. Just then, Ninth stumbled forward and held her head as she experienced a mind-splitting headache. The domain she summoned started to shimmer as if it were just moments away from being destroyed. Ninth gritted her teeth and gathered all the strength in her Soul System and increased her control on the domain, allowing it to recover and remain stable. "It''s here," Ninth uttered. There was only one Canzer that could make her domain unstable: the dragon. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It came to the domain, with its fiery red wings spread out in the air. As soon as it entered the space, Ninth felt her control of the domain start to weaken. It was as if the dragon was trying to take away her domain. Usually, when two beings this powerful fought against each other, they would clash their domains and try to overwhelm each other in their own spaces. But this dragon didn''t summon her domain. Instead, she tried to take away Ninth''s domain. It was a power play designed to demoralize Ninth. After all, for a second, Ninth felt like she was losing her domain forever. It would have been enough to shock other Saviors into retreating from the dragon before it could steal their domain. "Don''t kid me. This is my space," Ninth said, standing tall and facing the dragon in the distance. "$*&@(#*&$(*&%" The dragon roared as it floated in the air above its army. And all the Canzers under its control raised their weapons in the air and shouted the same words that the dragon uttered. It was a war cry. The whole domain shook with their war cry. Ninth and her team weren''t that shaken by this display. First of all, they couldn''t even understand what they were saying, and second, they were veterans who did not falter under trivial things like these. But there was one of them who was truly affected. All the color drained from her face. She could hear the dragon and the rest of the Canzers chant out the words, ''I have your mothers and your little friend trapped in my castle. Surrender yourself now or I''ll kill them all.'' Her mothers were alive. This would have been cause for her to celebrate, but it turned out that they were taken captive by the Queen. Not only that, Atlan was also taken by her and threatened to be killed. The worst part about it was that Tulip didn''t know why this was happening to her. She was clueless about her own fate. She didn''t even know that she was the only weakness of the magical Queen Malificient. Tulip wanted to surrender herself. If she simply did as the dragon told her, then her mothers and Atlan would be saved. She knew that if she surrendered herself now, there was a high possibility that she would be killed. But she didn''t care. In her eyes, their lives were so much more important than hers. Tears started to fill her eyes. Then, she started to walk forward. She wanted to end this whole thing now. She didn''t want to be selfish anymore and forget about wanting to live. But just as she was about to leave their formation, Ninth shouted at her. "Don''t you dare. Whatever happens, I will protect you with all I have." Even though Tulip couldn''t understand her words, the meaning was clear. Even now, these humans were trying to protect her at this time. If they had just let her go, then all of this could have ended. Tears streamed down her chitinous cheeks. ''Why is this happening to me?! My mothers¡­my home¡­and now Atlan¡­I just want to live normally! But I can''t. I need to sacrifice myself to stop this whole thing.'' Tulip let out all her frustrations into the air. Even though Ninth couldn''t understand her, the meaning was clear. She left her position in the formation and walked over to Ninth. This was the first time Ninth approached Tulip of her own accord. "I''m sorry. I''ve been hating you even though I don''t know you. You didn''t deserve it. You don''t deserve this." Chapter 356 - 356: Secret move With Ninth somehow spurred on to fight the dragon instead of fleeing, the rest of her team was revitalized upon seeing how reliable their leader was. They thought that she would want to leave like them, but due to some circumstances, she was able to overcome her fears against the dragon. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They didn''t know that it was all thanks to Tulip. "What are we going to do?" asked the Scout. "They''re getting closer. Since they''re coming to us, I think it''s time for us to create a trap for them." The rest of the team agreed. They usually weren''t on this side of the battlefield. Usually, they were the ones who stormed into Canzers territories, where the Canzers laid out a trap for them. Now, they were on the defensive. "Shall I create a spiked crevice?" asked the mage. She was ready to create an invisible giant hole in the ground where Canzers would fall to their deaths. "I could start firing my shots right now. They already know where we''re here anyway, right?" asked the Sniper, cocking his gun. But Ninth didn''t like those ideas. Even though it was good to take advantage of creating traps and attacking first, she thought that it wasn''t enough with numbers of that magnitude. If they were going to fight the horde of Canzers, then they should hit them with everything they had in one shot. That way, they would kill as many Canzers in a short amount of time, possibly demoralizing the enemy. Ninth looked back at her team. "It''s time we use it now¡ªour special move." Their eyes widened. They didn''t think that Ninth would want to use that move so early in the fight. It would have been best if they saved that attack for when they were facing against the dragon itself. "Are you sure, Ninth? If we do this and we fail, we''ll all be incapacitated at the end of it." The reason why Ninth and her team were so apprehensive about using their ultimate move was that they would end up too exhausted to move once it was finished. It was supposed to be used as a last resort when they were completely beaten by the enemy, with no way to win other than to pull off that move. "I''m sure. We will get ripped apart by those thousands of Canzers if we don''t do it. We wouldn''t even reach the dragon''s toes with our normal strength. We need to act decisively now. We carve through the majority of the horde and immediately focus our fire on the dragon. That is the only way we can defeat this army and their leader." Ninth''s strategy was bold and risky, but had the potential to completely change the outcome of the fight. The rest of the team went silent as they all tried to weigh the costs and benefits of performing this move. If Ninth was simply doing this out of desperation and fear to fight the dragon, then the team would have said no and tried to convince her that running away was the best option. But when they all looked at Ninth''s eyes, they didn''t see any fear in her irises. It was clear blue. She wasn''t trying to fight the dragon because she was afraid for her life, she was trying to fight the dragon because she wanted to conquer it! Even though it may seem the same, they knew the true difference between the two. One was motivated by fear, and another by excitement. It was a trademark personality needed to become the very best of the best Savior in the entire world. And now, Ninth was acting like one of those legends in the Savior business. "Okay. Let''s do it," said the Scout. "I agree. If we''re going to do this, we''re going to do it right," said the Mage. "Oh, what the hell. I''m in!" said the Sniper. It was a unanimous decision, as every one of them jumped on board Ninth''s strategy. This was important because to pull off their secret move, they had to all be in perfect synchronicity, with no deviations. If there were any doubts between them, it could quickly dissolve all their strengths and end up with nothing in the end. "Let''s do it," Ninth said. "Let''s pool all our strengths." They all faced the horde in their usual formation. Ninth closed her eyes and concentrated on her Soul System. As she did, the world around her seemed to suddenly change. Instead of the lush green forest that the Magical kingdom was known for, everything was turned into a desert filled with nothing but sand and swords. Weapons¨Crusted, chipped, or new¨Cwere sticking out the sands as if there had been a large-scale battle here in the deserts. This was Ninth''s domain. Everything that enters this domain will have to be submitted under her rule. It would allow her to slash hundreds of Canzers as they tried to step foot on her domain, even while doing nothing at all. It was all done on her mind, and the world of her domain corresponded to it with no exceptions. Finally, the first line of monsters crashed through the domain space, alerting Ninth of their presence. The first few lines of the horde were made up of chitinous soldiers, with their bodies full of armor and their hands armed with a sharp sword. If Ninth were to estimate their strength, they were probably at the Student-level. Without even having to command the domain, thousands of swords floated up into the air and decimated the weak Canzers with air slashes that reached down to the ground. The carnage of chitin and violet blood filled the sands of Ninth''s domain. With just that one move, she killed about two hundred Canzers all on her own. But she didn''t celebrate. She knew that the trouble had yet to start. Just then, the whole domain trembled. It wasn''t because of her, but because of all the dead bodies of the Canzers starting to move and shake involuntarily. Then, decapitated and mangled bodies of the Canzers began to heal with super fast regeneration, as if they were reborn anew. Some Canzers spawned three new clones from their dead carcass, multiplying the horde''s number to even greater heights. They were true Canzers. They could regenerate or spawn clones infinitely. Chapter 357 - 357: Joint domains Tulip finally saw something different in Ninth''s eyes. Instead of the usual hate and anger that flashed whenever Ninth looked at her, there was now only compassion and trust. Somehow, this gave her enough confidence in Ninth. Maybe, hope was not all lost. ''Surrender yourself now, and I will spare everyone else¡­'' The dragon shouted from a distance. Its fiery breath sent out a very real threat by burning the swords in the desert, defying Ninth''s domain as if it were nothing special at all. But no matter how much Tulip wanted everything to end, she knew that it was selfish of her to just give up now. She didn''t even know if the dragon was telling the truth. What if Atlan was still somewhere out there fighting and trying to get to her? She couldn''t just give up now and let all his efforts go to waste. She needed to stay strong and protect herself from harm. ''No¡­I won''t¡­'' Tulip replied to the dragon. Even though her voice wasn''t as booming as the Queen''s voice, it somehow reached all the way to the Queen''s ears and enraged her all the same. She didn''t know why Tulip was so stubborn. If she had simply offered herself as a sacrifice, then everyone would be satisfied. She wouldn''t have to kill all those that she cared for. ''Minions, do you see what our fellow Canzer is doing? She is allying herself with the humans. She is nothing but a traitor!'' The Canzers below her grunted in anger as they looked at Tulip in the distance. She looked to be really chummy with the humans. She was a complete disgrace to the Canzer lineage. ''Anyone that brings me the head of that traitor will become my King, and all the power that it entails!'' The rest of the horde shouted at the dragon''s order, showing their complete loyal faith in their leader. They continued to rush towards the humans with staggering numbers and strength. They didn''t care if they trampled on each other, as long as someone was able to reach Tulip and be the first one to kill her. Seeing these savage monsters coming for them, Ninth stood tall in front of her team. This was the moment. They couldn''t run away now. "Are you guys ready?" she asked. "Yes!" they all answered simultaneously. Just then, all members of her team glowed with different auras signifying their powers. The two tanks glowed blue, the Scout glowed yellow, the Sniper glowed red, and the Mage glowed violet. Every single one of them was reaching deep down into their Soul System and bringing out the power that was hidden inside them. They were breaking the limits that they imposed upon themselves to the point that their bodies were starting to deteriorate. But it didn''t matter. If they don''t release all their strength and kill the dragon now, then they won''t survive anyway. "Domain: All-seeing eye!" the Sniper shouted. Suddenly, a huge eye manifested above the sands of the desert. The Sniper''s domain powers allowed him to see everything in his vicinity down to the very atoms of his targets. With this vision, his sniping skills were enhanced by a thousand percent. However, the appearance of this new domain interfered with Ninth''s domain. The sands and sword started to shimmer as if it was just about to disintegrate. But Ninth held on. She kept her focus. "Open up yourself more. We need to connect our domains!" she said to the Sniper. With a little bit more effort and focus, the Sniper was finally able to reign in his domain, allowing it to coexist with Ninth''s domain. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As the two coexisted, Ninth and the Sniper felt their minds connect. This intrusion into their minds would have made inexperienced Saviors lose their focus and immediately sabotage the connection between them. But this would only result in a tremendous backlash for both of them. Thankfully, they already practiced this beforehand. Ninth and the Sniper let their minds connect, sharing their thoughts, emotions, and hidden desires. Not only that, Ninth also experienced the power of the Sniper''s domain. Just like him, she could see through the entire domain as if she were a god observing his own territory. She could see every minute detail and even the weaknesses of the Canzers that were running towards them. The Sniper also felt Ninth''s power. He was able to command the swords the same as her. "Everyone! Join up!" The mage shouted as she released her domain called Hands of Oblivion. Suddenly a large violet hand manifested in the skies, as if a god was about to grasp the entire world. With this domain, her telekinesis ability was improved by leaps and bounds, allowing her to simply crush Canzers with a single thought in her mind. She reigned in her power, slowly merging it with Ninth and the sniper''s domain. Soon, she joined the mind-melding connection between the two, allowing the three of them to peer into each other''s minds. And with the sharing of their thoughts came the sharing of their powers. They could use each other''s powers as if it was their own, and use them to improve their own powers as well. It wasn''t a few seconds later that the Scout and the two tanks released their domains. The bodyguard tank''s domain was called Cthulhu''s Everlasting Tentacles. Suddenly, large violet octopus tentacles emerged from the ground and wiggled in the air. For as long as these eight tentacles exist, everyone in the team cannot die. Each time they were about to take fatal damage, the tentacles would pull their soul out of their body and turn their dying body into a straw doll. The Scout''s domain was called Historical Peering and it allowed him to see beyond the dimensions, seeing through everyone''s past and their weaknesses as if it was tattooed on their bodies. The main tank''s domain was called Yellow Brick Wall, which allowed him to create as many defensive walls as needed, with their strength being limited only by his imagination. Chapter 358 - 358: Buying time As everyone in their team released their domains, each other their powers clashed with one another, creating a lot of chaos and pain in their psyche. No matter how much they practiced this, they could not get rid of the pain and hardship they were experiencing each time all of them released their domains at the same time. It was bearable with two of them, it was hard with three, but it was almost impossible with all six of them. They could feel each other''s thoughts, but since they were all connected, all they could hear was a high-pitched noise that only induced a head-splitting headache. Slowly, their domains started to shimmer and shake. They were starting to lose control of their domains. Some of them were releasing too much of their power, while some of them were only using too little. They had to find the right balance to truly make the combination of their LifeSkills stable. If they weren''t pressed for time, they could have waited a couple of hours till their powers naturally mellowed down, which would have allowed them to combine their powers. But the dragon and the horde of its Canzers weren''t going to wait that long. Each second they spent concentrating and melding their domains together, the horde drew closer and closer. ''You''re mine!'' ''I''m gonna be a king!'' ''Hahaha! I will kill her first!'' The first line of Canzers was already near enough for Tulip to hear their individual voices. This almost scared her to death. Her instincts and entire body were telling her to run. If she ran away now, she could probably still save herself from certain doom. But then, she remembered Atlan. He wouldn''t have run away. She also looked at Ninth and the rest of her team. Their faces were full of pain and exhaustion, but they weren''t giving up. They were using all of their willpower to keep going and find a way to survive this ordeal. Tulip looked towards the horde and knew what she had to do. She looked down at the sands on her chitinous feet and took out a small knife sticking out of the ground. Then, she faced the horde of Canzers before putting the knife near her throat. ''Stop now or else I''ll pierce this knife in my head!'' Her words forced the first line of Canzers to stop in their tracks. The crazed look on her face told them that she wasn''t lying. The Canzers, although completely loyal to the Queen, also had their own desires. If Tulip killed herself, then they wouldn''t have a chance to kill her themselves. They would lose the opportunity to become a King that bowed down only to the Queen. Although the Queen ordered them to advance without a break, the Canzers slowly stopped and gazed at Tulip. Even if she wasn''t serious, they couldn''t take that chance. ''Now, no sudden movements!'' Tulip warned them. The Canzers all looked at each other, not knowing what to do. They didn''t want to be the first ones to move forward. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After a few seconds, one brave Canzer took a step forward. He didn''t believe that Tulip was serious. And since no one else was moving, then this was his chance to get ahead of the pack and be the first one to kill her. But as soon as he was about to take the second step, Tulip pressed the knife deeper into her throat, causing violet blood to spill down her chest. She wasn''t joking. Some Canzers immediately pulled the idiot Canzer back. They didn''t want anyone to ruin their chance to become a King. After a minute of standstill, the Malificient Queen finally noticed something wrong with her army. She looked down and noticed her army having a staring contest with Tulip. They were so close to her, but they weren''t moving at all! This would have been the perfect chance given that the humans were busy doing something else and were unprepared for this attack. Then, she saw Tulip with a knife on her throat. Her draconic eyes flashed in realization. She knew what was happening. The dragon in the air breathed fire down to her own army, incinerating them into nothing but ashes in the sand. She did not need useless Canzers who did not obey her words with full obedience. ''I will kill anyone that dares to stop my charge!'' the dragon roared. And that was all the Canzers needed to overcome their hesitance. They rushed towards Tulip and the humans with great speed, hoping that they would be able to kill her before she killed herself. Tulip looked at Ninth and the rest of the humans and saw that they still weren''t done with their strange ritual. At this point, they were going to get overrun by the horde of Canzers. With no choice left, Tulip walked forward and out of the formation. She stood in front of the humans. If she was going to die, then she was going to die protecting Ninth and the others. It was only natural. She closed her eyes and felt the rumbling in the sand become more and more intense. She could feel the desperate breaths of the Canzers. The first Canzer jumped towards Tulip, with his clawed hands outstretched to decapitate her in one go. Tulip knew that there wasn''t any other option. She steeled herself and pushed the knife into her throat, hoping that it would give her a clean death not in the hands of the vicious monsters. SHINGGG! But then, she found herself unable to control the knife in her hands. She couldn''t push it any deeper, with the knife fighting her with all it''s got. Finally, it freed itself from her grasp and landed back on the ground. But after a few seconds, she still hadn''t died. The Canzers had yet to rip her into shreds. Tulip slowly opened her eyes and saw the Canzers getting pushed away from her with no visible reason as to why. Then, within a fraction of a second, thousands upon thousands of Canzers suddenly burst into nothing but a violet mist. "Thank you," Ninth''s voice echoed behind Tulip. "You bought us enough time." She looked behind and saw Ninth and the rest of the humans glowing with a prismatic aura that surrounded their entire bodies. Chapter 359 - 359: Prismatic dragon Ninth and her whole team was glowing with tremendous power. Thanks to Tulip, they were able to have enough time to stabilize their domains and allow them to co-exist within one space. Everyone felt their powers within each other, as if they were just one single entity. They were more in coordination now than they ever were before. They knew each other''s thoughts, meaning that they could move with perfect fluidity without bumping into each other. With the combination of all their domains, they were able to repel the monstrous Canzers from ripping Tulip into shreds. With just one thought in their mind, they were able to command the space itself to move the hundreds upon hundreds of Canzers back into the forests. Of course, the Canzers didn''t let that slide and became even more ravenous than before. They finally used their skills, throwing out the black and violet auras around their bodies towards the humans. Ninth and the team chuckled simultaneously. Before this collection of monstrous aura could even get close to them, their own monstrous aura manifested in the air and crushed the Canzers'' powers into nothingness. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This shocked the Canzers to their core. They wouldn''t have thought that the humans could erase their powers as easily as that. But that wasn''t the end of it. Ninth looked back to her team and nodded towards them. There was a silent agreement amongst them all about what to do next. "Let''s kill these bastards!" Ninth shouted. "RAAAHHHH!" they all screamed, as they took the abstract combination of all their domains and tried to manifest it into one single entity that they could use. Slowly, the prismatic aura around them grew from a simple bonfire into a giant flame that almost engulfed the entire skies. Ninth and everyone put all of their powers and their domains into this entity, manifesting it as something tangible. Slowly, the large prismatic flame started to form into a strange but familiar shape. The Canzers below its feet couldn''t help but look up at the new entity that spawned out of nowhere, made out of nothing but prismatic aura. And as the entity finished molding its own shape, it suddenly emitted a large blinding light that forced all the Canzers to close their eyes or else risk their eyes from burning into smithereens. After the light died down, the Canzers slowly opened their eyes. And what they saw in front of them scared some of them enough to try and run away from this new entity. In front of them was a large dragon made of nothing but prismatic energy. But even still, it had a very strange resemblance to their Queen, Malificient. The fear of their own Queen made them want to escape and run away from the war. After all, they knew from personal experience how terrifying a dragon could be. A stampede occurred within the lines of the Canzers. Their generals tried to stop their troops from devolving into further chaos, but they could do nothing once the prismatic dragon roared in the air, letting out a prismatic fire that lit up the skies. The dragon was the manifestation of Ninth and her team''s combined powers and domains. When they asked themselves about which creature they considered to be the strongest one in the world, they didn''t hesitate to answer: the Dragon. In order to defeat the Dragon in front of them, they had to be a Dragon themselves. The Scout sat inside the Dragon''s head, giving everyone a tremendous field of view of the entire battlefield. The mage and the sniper were on the left and right of its front limbs, because they were the one who controlled the dragon''s offensive capabilities. The two tanks controlled the legs, becoming the pillar of strength and stability for the entire dragon. They were in charge of making sure that they were in the proper place at all times using their defensive sensibilities. Meanwhile, Ninth and Tulip sat at the dragon''s heart. Ninth controlled everything there is about the dragon, supplying it with power and courage to fight the entire battlefield with nothing but their powers. As a show of power, they let the dragon roar out, spouting a prismatic air towards the horde of Canzers, turning them into nothing but ashes. Even when the Canzers tried to regenerate or clone themselves, they quickly found out that the prismatic flame that burned their bodies was everlasting, meaning that it didn''t die out like normal fire. The prismatic fire kept burning the Canzers'' bodies, not letting them regenerate or clone themselves properly. The stronger Canzers at the back of the line couldn''t take it any longer and wanted to retaliate. But just before they were about to attack, the prismatic dragon suddenly opened its mouth and spoke out, ''Bow down to your new Queen!'' This spooked the Canzers into freezing. They knew that this dragon was a work of the humans, which meant that it was nothing more than an illusion. But then, it suddenly spoke their language as if it was a real dragon. Of course, this was only due to Tulip being present in the dragon. Ninth and the rest of them figured out that with Tulip on board, they suddenly had the ability to understand the Canzer language. It seemed that Tulip was also able to donate a voice box to the dragon. This unexpected turn of events caused some Canzers to stop what they were doing and surrender to the new dragon. They thought it was real. After all, it was able to speak their language. And if there was one thing they knew for sure, then it was that draconic creatures were the absolute rulers of the Canzer world. They cannot disobey the prismatic dragon in front of them, even if it used to be an illusion from the humans. Using this chance, Ninth commanded the prismatic dragon to fly in the air and torch the entire army of Canzers with their prismatic fire. Chapter 360 - 360: Numbered cards Seeing no choice, the general Canzers knew that it was time for them to step up to the plate. They revealed their true forms, with each of them becoming animated playing cards. Most of the lower generals were numbered one through nine, while the face cards like the Jack, Queen, and KIng were reserved for the top three generals that were under the dragon Malificient''s commands. Each of them displayed enormous strength, throwing out their powers at the prismatic dragon corresponding to their number. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The general card with the number two threw out two knives towards the prismatic dragon, slowly enlarging until they became as big as the dragon. The two knives then combined with each other to create a giant scissors that tried to cut the prismatic dragon into two. Using their superior maneuverability in the air, the prismatic dragon weaved through the air and dodged the scissors before its two claws grabbed its handles and crushed it with its bare hands. But that wasn''t the end of the assault of the generals. The general card with the number three threw out a triangle, which concentrated the power of their aura into one single ray that accurately targeted the dragon''s eyes, the only part that wasn''t protected by its scales. But the Canzers forgot one simple thing: the dragon''s entire body was made out of nothing but prismatic aura, which meant that everything in its body was as strong as the combined powers of six Specialist-level Saviors. It didn''t matter if the Canzers targeted their eyes, their tail, or their scales. Everything was protected. The general card with the number four threw out a large compass, with the four cardinal directions positioned perfectly. Once it was out into the open, the compass glowed in power as it activated its ability. Suddenly the prismatic dragon plummeted towards the ground at fast speeds. Even though Ninth and the rest of the team were trying to steer the dragon upwards, they only seemed to move it further down to the ground. It was only a fraction of a second later that Ninth realized that the compass the Canzer used was trying to mess with their senses. Everything up was down, and everything down was up. It was topsy turvy. Meanwhile the general with the five card activated his power, throwing out a large starfish that stuck itself on the prismatic dragon''s side, sucking out all the energy from the inside. The general with the six card also attacked at the same time, manifesting a large honeycomb in the air. Suddenly, miniature Canzers with wings came out of this honeycomb and started to swarm the prismatic dragon while it was plummeting through the air. The general with the seven cards also didn''t waste any time and attacked at the prismatic dragon''s most vulnerable state. He held out his chitinous hands and summoned a ray of rainbow, with all seven colors, that hit the dragon''s heart. While they were being attacked, Ninth and the rest of the team stayed calm. They used the Scout''s power in the dragon''s eyes to quickly adjust to the topsy turvy world, allowing them to accurately move their body opposite of what they saw in the dragon''s eyes. Finally, they were able to stabilize themselves. It was only at this point that they finally dealt with their attackers. The dragon raised both of its hands and grabbed nothing but the air. Suddenly, the starfish and the pesky Canzers bees that were trying to injure their body were crushed until they turned into nothing but particles of energy. Even the compass wasn''t safe. The dragon flew up in the air and pointed towards the magical compass that was messing with their senses. The dragon then imitated a gun with its arms, and suddenly, a fiery bullet pierced through its body seemingly at light speed. Now that they were stable, Ninth knew that it was their chance for a counterattack. The mage and the sniper both powered the dragon''s limbs, allowing it to have the power of their domains. One by one, they started to crush the general cards that attacked them. And since these generals just got their powers destroyed by the prismatic dragon, they were still feeling the backlash of having it destroyed. Therefore, they were hopeless as the dragon swooped down and burned them into nothing but coal. The generals with the eight card and the nine card both knew that they had to save their fellow generals. One of them turned into a Cthulhu-like monster, with eight clawed tentacles and a massive open maw that spilled out even smaller tentacles. The other one manifested an entire solar system of planets in the air, each one almost as big as the prismatic dragon itself. The cthulhu monster charged towards the prismatic dragon and tussled with it using nothing but pure strength. The cthulhu-monster was trying to assert dominance to the dragon, but how could it compare it to the powers of all six Specialist-level domains? The dragon quickly used its immense strength to throw the monster back down to the ground, but not before spewing out a prismatic fire that burned its face and its tentacles. However, it seemed that while the prismatic dragon was fighting the cthulhu-monster, one of the planets was thrown towards it, giving no chance to escape. Not only that, all the other planets converged towards the prismatic dragon, as if it was being attracted by an immense gravitational pull. All nine planets crashed onto the prismatic dragon, giving it the strongest attack out of all the general Canzers. An explosion of energy, light, and soil burst forth from the collision of all planets. The Canzers down below cheered as they witnessed this explosion. The false dragon wouldn''t survive that attack, they thought. But when the dust and light cleared, they saw that the prismatic dragon was still hovering in the air, with its scales barely even hurt from the attack. This was all due to the power of the two tanks, whose domains allowed them to summon infinite numbers of walls that surrounded them. Even if many of them broke during the collision of each planet, they were able to sustain it enough so that no damage was done to the dragon''s body. Chapter 361 - 361: The red dragon The general Canzers all looked up at the prismatic dragon with fear in their eyes. Even with all of them working together, they couldn''t even scratch on its shiny scales. It didn''t make any sense. To them, the only creature with that kind of defense and offensive outburst was their Queen. This led them to wonder if this prismatic dragon was truly a dragon or not. Was it truly the conqueror of the skies? Of course, with the numbered general cards stunned, Ninth and her team took this chance to finally make their counterattack. The prismatic dragon raised its hands, and the power of the sniper and the mage both increased in intensity. The dragon was now trying to make the two domains work together as one. It suddenly spat out a prismatic fireball from its throat, gurgling as it did so. But they didn''t fire it towards the horde of Canzers. Instead, the dragon spat it out in its hands and molded it into a giant bullet, reminiscent of the one that the sniper used to love firing. Then, its tail suddenly curled up towards the bullet and used its momentum to throw it down towards the horde of Canzers. The speed that it went down was equivalent to the sniper''s bullet. But that wasn''t the end of it. The mage''s Hand of Oblivion domain allowed the prismatic dragon to grab everything in this domain, including the prismatic fire bullet that was shooting down towards the numbered general card Canzers. With each millisecond that it travelled, the prismatic fire bullet was touched by an invisible hand that allowed the bullet to increase its speed infinitely, almost reaching the speed of light. But that wasn''t the end of it. Using the invisible hands, Ninth and her team controlled the light speed prismatic fire bullet to bend and curve in ways that would otherwise be impossible to achieve with a normal bullet. Before the general Canzers could even understand what was happening, the light speed prismatic fire bullet pierced through their bodies at least a thousand times in a matter of a milliseconds, In just a blink of an eye, the horde of Canzers that were proudly boasting their numbers were suddenly torn asunder by a ray of light that travelled through their bodies and wrecked it down to a violet mist. ''Kakkkk¡­.'' They couldn''t even understand what happened to their bodies. And as they tried to regenerate their injuries or clone their bodies into more copies, the prismatic fire that spread from their injuries continued to erode and destroy their chitinous flesh from the inside. Normally, in order to fight a Canzer or even a horde of them, Saviors needed to find out their weaknesses and use the appropriate construct to disable their regenerative or cloning skills. That was the norm. But that wasn''t the only way to defeat the Canzers. There was another way that wasn''t taught in any school or dojo in any territory. Another way to defeat Canzers was to beat them with overwhelming power. That was one of the secrets of Saviors. If one was powerful enough, they could continuously destroy a Canzer''s body until they weren''t able to regenerate or clone themselves simply because of the oppression and tyranny of the Savior. Right now, that was what Ninth and her team was doing. The product of combining their domain was the prismatic dragon, which turned out to be oppressively strong enough to suppress the Canzers due to her overwhelming strength. They were able to prove to the Canzers that they were able to kill them anyway they wanted. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This makes the Canzer fear for their lives and subconsciously disable their own regeneration or cloning ability. "Haa¡­haa¡­we¡ªwe did it!" screamed the scout from the dragon. "I can''t believe it¡­we defeated the horde¡­" the mage uttered. "I thought it was impossible¡­" Right now, the horde that numbered in the tens of thousands was reduced to only a few hundreds. And they weren''t even trying to fight them anymore. They were trying to run away from the tyranny of the prismatic dragon. The rest of them were on the ground either burned into nothing but ashes or charred chitinous corpses. However, the only ones that weren''t celebrating were the two people in the prismatic dragon''s heart. Ninth and Tulip both knew that the fight had barely even started. After all, the greatest threat this horde ever had wasn''t their numbers, it was the creature that was leading them: the Magical Queen and dragon, Malificient. "Uhh..guys¡­what''s the dragon doing?" Everyone turned their attention towards the dragon in the distance. Despite seeing her army getting obliterated by the humans, the dragon barely even fluttered her wings. It was as if she didn''t care about them at all. Only now that her army was defeated did she finally move. She started floating towards the prismatic dragon, with an amused smile written all over her face. Everyone felt it. The dragon was sizing them up, scrutinizing every part of their body as if they were naked. It was trying to see if their prismatic dragon was as genuine as her. ''Interesting magic from you humans¡­I admit, I am impressed.'' Because Tulip was inside their prismatic dragon and connected into their neural network, they were all given the ability to hear and speak to Canzers as if they were one themselves. ''We will defeat you,'' the combined voices of Ninth and her team rang out in the dragon''s throat. A chuckle escaped Malificient''s mouth. It was clear that she wasn''t even considering them as a threat to her. ''This is your last chance, Tulip. Surrender yourself now or else I will kill these humans right in front of your very eyes.'' The prismatic dragon spread out its wings, almost as if it was a subconscious way to try and enlarge themselves, like a prey would do when they were facing a predator. ''You are a Canzer, and it is your destiny to be felled by our hands,'' Ninth and her team remained steadfast. ''Suit yourself,'' Malificient said, before creating a beam of black light from her mouth towards the prismatic dragon. Chapter 362 - 362: Damaged morale Ninth and her team was prepared for anything that the dragon would give them. But even when they had their eyes peeled for its attack, they were still unable to fully protect themselves from this current attack. The black beam of light hit their scales, making the prismatic dragon shimmer, as if it was merely an illusion. Ninth and the rest of them felt like their whole neural network was about to disappear. The once united minds of the team started to destabilize, turning all their domains into the chaotic mess of powers it once was. Ninth knew that they had to keep their cool or else they wouldn''t be able to contend with the dragon in the first place. She quickly took control of the dragon while the rest of her team was trying to control their own domains. She flapped the dragon''s wings, allowing them a quick escape away from the red dragon. Ninth felt blood trickling down her nose, but she ignored it. Controlling this prismatic dragon all by herself gave her body too much power that it was starting to destroy her whole body. She was leaking SoulTime by the decades, but she didn''t care. She needed to stay strong while her team was recovering from the mental damage that the red dragon gave them. "Kugh!" the mage groaned. "What is that power?! It''s too fast." "I know. I barely even saw a blur," the scout said, his pride shattered. He prided himself in having the best reaction time and the best eyes out of everyone, but even he couldn''t see the dragon''s attacks. "Our defenses were almost destroyed. We would have been in trouble if I was the only tank," said the main tank. After a few seconds, they were finally able to stabilize themselves. Ninth felt the burden in her mind start to wane, allowing her reprieve. "Are you guys okay," she asked. "We can manage," they all replied. "Good. We need to find a way to crush this dragon," she said, but there was no answer. When the fight first started, they thought that they at least stood at least a sliver of a chance. But once they took that one attack from the red dragon, they felt the difference in strength Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The worst part about it was that the red dragon could have used this time to attack them and fully destroy them while they were at their weakest. Instead, it let them recover, as if they were just a plaything for her. ''Do you see the difference now between a real dragon and an imitation? I don''t know where you got such an accurate view of a dragon, but even if it looks like the real deal, you can never replicate our strength.'' The red dragon flapped its wings, and the pressure from it reached the prismatic dragon and almost destabilized their flight. They had to flap their wings a little bit harder just to stay afloat. "We need to kill her now. We still stand a chance," Ninth said to her team, hoping to get their morale back up. Since their minds were connected, she could feel the fear and anxiousness in their brains, making them a little bit slower and weaker than they normally were. If they were going to fight the dragon, then they needed to have all the strength they could give out. Malificient, the red dragon, looked at the prismatic dragon and realized something. Even though she showed them the true difference between a real dragon and a fake one, the humans didn''t seem to give up. She thought that they would give her Tulip by now in exchange for leniency, but they stood strong. It was only when she looked down at her own army that she realized something. The humans still thought that they had a chance to win against them because they were somehow able to defeat their army. It boosted their morale. If they could defeat the army, then they could also defeat her. Malificient couldn''t help but chuckle out loud once she realized this. ''Is this why you humans haven''t given up? Well, let me be the bearer of bad news. My army is not dead. They are everlasting for as long as I want them to be.'' The red dragon soared in the air and spread her wings, allowing the horde of Canzers to see her for all her glory. It was as if a ray of light shone down on them. They could feel the power and majesty of the queen once again, literally revitalizing them from their fatal injuries. When they fought and lost against the prismatic dragon, they thought that they were gone. But once the Queen showed them her power, they once again realized the overbearing strength she had. As long as the Queen was alive, no entity whether they be another dragon or a god, would ever be able to defeat their army. This allowed them to finally break out of the prismatic dragon''s fire, overcoming its corroding effects to regenerate and clone their bodies Slowly, the horde started to mend themselves back up to their peak strength. And that wasn''t just that. Since at least half of them cloned themselves into three more bodies, the army once again grew in size and further crowded the battlefield. Once they were at their full strength, they looked up at the skies and roared at their queen, showing them their undying loyalty. After that, they growled at the prismatic dragon, with their eyes full of hate and revenge. Once Ninth and her team saw this, the hope that was once dwindling in their hearts started to die down into a mere ember. The prismatic dragon physically became dimmer, with the strength and majesty it once showed now longer as strong as it used to be. Ninth ignored the feeling in her heart and threw out a fireball of prismatic origin towards the horde, turning thousands of Canzers into mere ashes. But after a few seconds, these Canzers continued to regenerate and clone themselves as if her attack did nothing. Chapter 363 - 363: Torch bearer The prismatic dragon started to waver. The vision of thousands of Canzers regenerating and cloning themselves infinitely was not an easy sight to see. They thought they were able to at least focus on the red dragon entirely without having to worry about anything else, but they were dead wrong. The general Canzers tripled in numbers, and so did their firepower. Once the red dragon showed its majesty to them, they became even more united than before. They were no longer afraid of the prismatic dragon that feigned to be a true royal like their queen. They rallied, charging towards the prismatic dragon in the air by building a mountain of Canzer bodies, which the other Canzers used as a stepping stone to reach the air. These Canzers were willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the queen just so that they could reach the prismatic dragon. Ninth could feel dread and anxiousness within her teammates. The sight of the Canzers slowly clamoring towards them felt like an inevitable end that they were going towards. ''Do you see now, my dear Tulip? Surrender yourself now and we will spare these humans¡­ And you¡ª'' Even though the red dragon was a little bit further away from them, Ninth could still feel her piercing gaze towards her. She knew instinctively that the dragon was talking to her. ''Do you not want to save yourselves? Why are you protecting a Canzer of all beings? Do you not have deep-seated hate towards our species? Don''t deny it. I can see it in your eyes¡­.'' Ninth felt the sudden urge to tear the prismatic dragon asunder and push Tulip towards the red dragon. If this was before, then Ninth wouldn''t have fought the urge. After all, she would be absolving herself of the sin of betraying Tulip since it was the Queen who was manipulating her mind. She could simply follow the orders. But things were different now. She shook her head and screamed out, ''Get out of my head!'' And the moment she did, the red dragon flinched imperceptibly. She wasn''t expecting Ninth to fight her with this much resolve. She thought that she, of all people, would be the one to cave and give up the Canzer in their midst. But it turned out she underestimated her. Somehow, Ninth was able to fight the human urge to kill a Canzer. ''If a war is what you want, then a war is what you''re going to get. Men, destroy this false dragon into bits and bring me the traitor!'' The moment she said that, the rest of the general Canzers unleashed their powers once again, manifesting the objects that corresponded to their numbers. It didn''t matter, Ninth and her team thought. If they could defeat the General Canzers once, then they could defeat them again. The only difference this time was that their numbers were a lot larger than before. The mage and sniper once again combined their domain powers, creating a lightspeed prismatic fire bullet that could pierce through the bodies of the Canzers within a fraction of a second. Because there were a lot of them this time, it was going to take a little bit more time before they could destroy the whole horde. PSHOO! The prismatic bullet traveled at light speed, with the general Canzers barely even moving as the bullet pierced through their bodies and curved to pierce the Canzer right next to them. In a matter of less than a second, the entire ten thousand army of Canzers was once again torn asunder and turned into nothing but charred corpses or ashes. The prismatic dragon opened its mouth, taking deep breaths as it tried to recover strength. But despite their best efforts, the red dragon barely even felt a serious threat from them. ''Hahahaha¡­there is no use. You are only increasing the number of Canzers under my control,'' Just as the Queen said, the prismatic fire that used to suppress the Canzers from regenerating or cloning themselves was suddenly put out, as if an invisible wind had picked up in the air. This allowed the Canzers to increase their overall strengths once again. They were only making things worse for themselves. "No way¡­." "Is there really no chance for us?" "We can''t¡­.we can''t¡­" Her team started to feel hopelessness and despair, with their emotional distress reflecting onto the physical aura of the prismatic dragon itself. Its strength was waning, and this led the Canzers to gain even more motivation to destroy the prismatic dragon. Ninth was slowly losing her wits as well. She couldn''t understand how they couldn''t destroy the Canzers anymore. ''...it''s¡­it''s¡­it''s the fire¡­'' Just when all hope seemed lost, Tulip''s voice echoed out in their heads. ''What do you mean?'' asked Ninth. ''It''s the fire. It''s the one that is allowing the Canzers to heal themselves back up. I feel¡­I feel the red dragon''s aura on that fire.'' Ninth immediately looked down at the horde of Canzers and scoured it for any large fire. But unfortunately, she couldn''t see anything. Then, when she looked at the very end of the horde, she saw a small little light that seemed so insignificant. At the very end of the Canzer army, there were a few flag bearers and a single torch bearer. Since this wasn''t the first war Carmine witnessed, she knew that a flag bearer and a torch bearer weren''t a rare occurrence. It was only a symbol of the territory fighting. But according to Tulip, the fire was the reason they couldn''t defeat the army. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, no matter how much she looked at the torch, it seemed like it had no mystical energy around it at all. The flame wasn''t even all that impressive either. Then, she finally realized it. Throughout all this chaos, that torch barely seemed to flicker or die out. Even though the flame wasn''t all that big, it wasn''t being affected by the environment like it should have. Ninth finally realized that Tulip may be right. That torch could be the key to finally defeating the army of Canzers. Chapter 364 - 364: Fated weakness Ninth transmitted all she learned to her teammates telepathically. And once they understood her, a flicker of hope was finally regained in their eyes. The prismatic dragon once again shined with the luster equivalent to the strengths of six Specialist-level Saviors, surprising the Malificient queen and her horde. It followed up this rejuvenation by spreading its wings out and roaring to the skies, conjuring with it a large dark cloud that seemed to rumble and shake. Then, after a few seconds, it started raining. But it wasn''t water that was falling down in drops, it was small prismatic fire droplets! That wasn''t the only one they used. The dragon raised its hands, conjuring an invisible giant hand that scooped up thousands upon thousands of Canzers in the ground and pushed them together into a single space. The weak Canzers couldn''t handle the invisible hands'' powers and simply died under the pressure. Then, the prismatic fire droplets suddenly stopped in the air and turned their attention towards the grouped-up Canzers. As if being attracted, the droplets defied gravity and rained down towards this single space, turning thousands of Canzers into nothing but ashes. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And since the rain continued to pour down more and more prismatic fire droplets, the Canzers couldn''t regenerate or duplicate themselves properly. Of course, this expended a lot more energy from the prismatic dragon, but it would all be worth it in the end. Then, it conjured its strongest attack once again, the lightspeed prismatic fire bullet, and fired off toward the remaining horde of Canzers. This time, however, the prismatic dragon didn''t stay still. It dove down and wreaked havoc upon the horde of Canzers along with the lightspeed prismatic fire bullet near its body, continuing to riddle the Canzers with holes. ''Decided to dirty your hands? You''re truly not a dragon yourself,'' the Queen Malificient laughed in the air. She let the prismatic dragon do whatever it wanted because she knew that it would do nothing to her army. Not only that, the humans would only be spending their powers uselessly. ''Swarm them!'' the Queen ordered. And just like that, the tens of thousands of Canzers converged upon the prismatic dragon that dared to fly low enough for them to reach. Even though the dragon ripped them to shreds the moment they came close, the Canzers didn''t care and continued to pile themselves up onto the prismatic dragon''s body regardless of the consequences. And no matter how strong the prismatic dragon was, it could not contest against the ever-growing number of Canzers that were trying to swarm her. It finally reached a point where the dragon was completely submerged in a sea of Canzers, unable to move forward any longer. The Canzers cheered, thinking that they finally conquered the false dragon. The Malificient dragon realized that something was wrong. According to her estimations, the humans shouldn''t be this weak. They shouldn''t be swarmed by her army this easily. She was hoping that the humans would be stupid enough to continue killing her Canzers so that they could evolve and clone themselves infinitely, turning her ten-thousand army into millions and billions! But it seemed that they were defeated easily, which didn''t seem possible. After all, they had that lightspeed prismatic bullet with them. It could tear through her army like nothing. It was only then that she realized that the prismatic bullet was gone. It wasn''t hovering around the prismatic dragon''s body anymore. It seemed to have vanished entirely. Using her vision, she was able to keep up with the lightspeed bullet relatively easily. But because she was distracted for a little bit, she lost sight of the bullet the moment it disappeared. She looked at her body, thinking that they were planning an ambush attack. But she wasn''t sensing any threat directed towards her. Just then, she saw a flash of light down to her army. Right next to the torch bearer was the prismatic bullet! Somehow, it had sneaked through the rest of the army and targeted the very weakness of the army itself! Using her wings, the Malificient Queen tried to stop the prismatic bullet from hitting the torch that held her entire army afloat. But it was too late. BOOGSHH! The prismatic fire bullet collided with the torch, tearing it asunder and breaking the very foundation of the torch itself. The fire slowly withered until it was nothing but smoke. Suddenly, the air changed. Ninth and her team no longer felt the oppressing aura of the army bearing down on them. It was as if a window had opened, and all the pent-up pressure was finally let out into the open. Ninth smiled. This was their chance! Using all their strength, they spat out a hundred more lightspeed prismatic fire bullets simultaneously. Each one of them was as powerful as the last one. The Queen saw this and screamed out, ''NO!'' But she could do nothing as the prismatic dragon threw hundreds of prismatic bullets in the air. The Canzers all looked up, a little bit enchanted by the sight of the prismatic bullets similar to fireworks. But before they could even appreciate the sight, the prismatic bullets disappeared from the air and riddled the tens of thousands of Canzers with burned holes in a matter of a fraction of a second. Each bullet tore through every single Canzer in the army, letting no survivor in their midst. After a second passed, the Canzers all felt a strange cold feeling in their bodies. They looked down and saw their bodies missing large pieces of chitin. That was their last thought as they fell to the ground, unable to regenerate or clone themselves any longer. They felt as if they were abandoned by the light of their queen. They looked up at their queen, begging for mercy, but she could do nothing as they all died without her power. In just a matter of a second, the entire army was finally defeated, marking a very significant victory for the humans. ''TULIP!!!! YOU TRAITOR! YOU SIDED WITH THE HUMANS!'' The Queen immediately knew that it was Tulip who guided the humans to the torch bearer. Tulip was fated to be the weakness of the Queen, after all. Chapter 365 - 365: Similarity Ninth finally understood the reason why Carmine said that Tulip was the weakness of the creature in the castle. If it weren''t for her, Ninth and her team would have been swallowed by the endlessly multiplying Canzers of the horde. If Tulip hadn''t spoken to them and gave Ninth the answer to the weakness of the horde, then they wouldn''t have survived the next wave of attack. That was the power of a weakness. Because of that, the dragon no longer had the support of her most loyal soldiers. ''Thank you, Tulip,'' Ninth turned her head and thanked Tulip. The Canzer smiled, but that was short-lived. The red dragon, with her entire army decimated, leaving none for her to rebuild, exploded in a fit of furious anger. The humans were so weak that she was slightly distracted for a moment and forgot that they had Tulip in their midst. Since this was a huge blow to her offensive power, she knew immediately that it was because of Tulip, and not the humans themselves. If it weren''t for her, her army would still be alive. And if she continued to be alive, then it would only be a matter of time until she found a weakness in her! That cannot happen under any circumstance. She had to finish off the humans and kill Tulip at this very second. Because of that, she knew that she had to use all her strength. ''You have crossed the line, humans! Prepare for my wrath!'' The whole domain rumbled, as if there was a giant terrifying archaic monster that was about to awaken from the deepest depths of the ground. Ninth and her team felt their control of the domain start to falter, as if somebody was overpowering them to take control of the territory. And as they lost control, the prismatic dragon once again shimmered, as if it was a mere illusion. If their domain was gone, so was the prismatic dragon. After all, it was a product of the combination of all their domains. If one or more domains faltered during this attack, then the prismatic dragon would cease to exist. Ninth couldn''t let that happen. The prismatic dragon was the only reason why they could survive this long. If they lost that strength, then they wouldn''t be able to survive, much less kill the queen. The prismatic dragon flew away, far from the red dragon as it started to manifest its own domain. They could feel their control over the entire domain start to get eaten up by a dark, malicious, void that seemed to eat up whatever it saw. The red dragon continued to devour the space, even using the dead bodies of her army to nurture her own domain. Despite how much they tried to resist, Ninth knew that they would eventually get taken over by the Queen''s domain. It was far too strong for them to contend, especially now that they had expended quite a considerable amount of energy in their fight to destroy the army. Ninth had to make an executive decision. She had to let the territory get taken over by the red dragon. This would place them at a disadvantageous place because they wouldn''t be able to exert their strength over a large space now that it had eaten up the entire domain. However, if they continued to fight over the territory, then they would eventually lose their grip on the prismatic dragon. So, Ninth and the team collectively decided to make their domains as small as possible, to the point that it was merely just a thin layer above the scales of the prismatic dragon. At least with this, they would be able to keep their strength as a prismatic dragon. Meanwhile, they watched as the entire territory was transformed into the queen''s territory, with everything under its place considered as her own. She was like a god in this place. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was as if they were transported into the land of the dead, with skulls and blue fire present everywhere. The necrotic aura around the place tried to penetrate the prismatic dragon''s skin, but thanks to its concentrated layer, they were able to defend themselves from being rotted inside and out. "Keep your eyes peeled, everyone. The dragon is somewhere here," Ninth warned. Somehow, the oppressive presence of the red dragon was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was quiet¡ªeerily so. Even though there was nothing or no one around them, it was as if they were being watched and stalked from a distance by a predator. They Just then, they saw a small figure float towards them. The prismatic dragon instinctively opened its wings in a defensive position. Even its jaws were wide open, with a prismatic fire gurgling in its throat. It was not unthinkable for the queen to summon another puppet or a minion to fight its battle for her. But when the small figure floated closer and closer to the prismatic dragon, everyone had a startling realization. The figure as small as a human, was actually the queen! It was the creature in the castle whose true form was a red dragon! Yet now, it was as small as a normal Canzer, with two large horns coming out of its chitinous head. Ninth also realized something. Tulip and the Queen looked eerily alike, as if they were twins or something. The only difference between the two of them was the fact that the Queen looked a lot more mature, with her chitinous armor a lot more sophisticated and grown, while Tulip looked like an adolescent version of the queen. Despite taking on this appearance, Ninth and the others knew that they shouldn''t underestimate her. Just like them, it seemed that the queen''s power was all concentrated in that small figure, making it as powerful as a bullet despite its small size. Ninth had a bad feeling in her heart. Whenever she looked at the eyes of the Queen, it felt as if she was looking at her death. She knew that she had to act now. She commanded the prismatic dragon to dive down and devour the small Queen in one go. Chapter 366 - 366: Infection or Destruction? But before they could even move, the Magical Queen disappeared from their sight. Even though the prismatic dragon could see through lightspeed objects, they couldn''t even see a blur when the Queen moved. It was as if she teleported in a mere instant, without giving off any magical waves in the air. Danger! Ninth thought. She immediately tried to turn the prismatic dragon''s body backward, but it was far too late. A large slash made out of a necrotic, black void came hurling toward the prismatic dragon''s back, creating a large cut on the dragon''s scales. "Argh!" Everyone screamed. They all felt the pain of the prismatic dragon, briefly distracting them into another opening. This time, the Queen wasn''t taking it easy on the humans. She was going to get her hands on Tulip whether the humans wanted to or not. The once mighty prismatic dragon who slew tens of thousands of Canzers in one go, was now merely a shell of itself once the shell wreaked havoc on its back. Using this opening the Queen disappeared once again from her position and reappeared on the prismatic dragon''s back. She then shoved both of her chitinous hands onto the large wound on its back and used its strength to rip the wound even wider than it was, transferring an excruciating amount of pain to the humans. "ARGGGH!" "KAAGGH!" Ninth gritted her teeth. Because the Queen dominated the domain of the entire space, she could do everything in this territory without them having to fight for it. This led the Queen to teleport and disappear whenever she wanted, and the Prismatic dragon could do nothing but let her teleport whenever she wanted. ROAR! Ninth and her team tried to retaliate by spitting out another lightspeed prismatic fire bullet and firing it off toward the queen. Since it was moving at lightspeed, they thought that it would be able to keep up with the Queen''s movements. But as the prismatic lightspeed bullet launched in the air, the Queen made a simple ''stop'' gesture, and a strange force somehow enveloped the bullet and slowed it down enough to simply move at a snail''s pace. It was as if an infinite number of void layers were piled on top of the bullet and stopped it in its tracks. "Tsk," Ninth clicked her tongue. But she wasn''t going to give up on her assault on the Queen. The prismatic dragon breathed a giant pillar of prismatic fire directed towards the Queen. But just like before, the Queen just raised her hand and a strange wall somehow prevented the fire from enveloping the Queen. In response, the prismatic dragon didn''t stop its breathing, continuously bringing out more and more prismatic fire to hopefully destroy the defenses of the Queen. And for a second, it seemed that their tactics were working. The invisible wall was starting to melt, with the prismatic fire consuming bits and pieces every time it was hit. After a full minute of prismatic fire breathing, the wall was finally broken through and the pillar of fire headed straight towards the Queen. TUGSSSHH The queen was enveloped by the prismatic fire. This motivated the Ninth and her team to continuously breathe out more and more prismatic fire, even depleting their resources, to finally kill the Queen. After a few seconds, the dragon finally lost all the energy it had stored in its stomach. They couldn''t produce any prismatic fire until a few seconds later. They knew that this attack wouldn''t kill the Queen¡ªshe was far too strong for that to happen. But they at least hoped that it would be enough to deal some damage to her. At least then, they would know that no matter how impossible it may seem, they at least stood a chance in trying to kill the Queen. But when they looked at the remnants of the Queen, they only saw a charred corpse of the Queen. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was as if the Queen died. Even though this was what they wanted in the first place, they didn''t celebrate. Something was suspicious. After all, the Queen''s domain was still up and running. If she truly died, then the domain would have long been destroyed and they would return to the normal Remedium with the mirror world of Genesis City. ''This is merely an exercise in futility. I am invincible.'' The Queen reappeared again, this time, behind the prismatic dragon. ''I warned you. Harboring a fugitive is worthy of death.'' Another queen appeared on their right, with the exact same physical appearance and magical aura as the original one they faced. ''Now, you humans will pay the price,'' The last Queen appeared on the left, completing a triangle offense that cornered the prismatic dragon into one place. Confusion and fear were obvious on the prismatic dragon''s face. It was clear that Ninth and her team had no idea what they were facing. Not only were they facing one of the strongest Canzers anyone had ever faced, but they were also facing her with absolutely no idea what they were up against. They didn''t know about her powers and they didn''t know her weaknesses. They were completely clueless. ''Confused?'' the three Queens asked. ''Humans¡­don''t tell me this is the first time you''ve faced against Canzers like me?'' Realization flashed in Ninth''s eyes. ''Infection Canzer?'' The Queen nodded her head. An Infection Canzer could completely clone themselves after death infinitely. This shouldn''t have been strange. But somehow, Ninth knew that something was strange. ''No¡­that''s not possible¡­'' Ninth uttered as horror flashed across her face. The Queen, realizing that Ninth figured out the truth, couldn''t help but laugh out loud. ''HAHAHAHA! Yes, your guesses are correct.'' When they were fighting the Queen earlier, Ninth was sure that they saw the Queen regenerate her wounds before she eventually succumbed to the prismatic fire. If she was supposed to be an infection Canzer, then that was supposed to be impossible. She shouldn''t be able to regenerate herself. That only meant one thing: she was both an infection and a destruction type Canzer! Chapter 367 - 367: Queen’s retaliation "How''s that possible," Ninth muttered under her breath. Throughout her life, she was taught by all the best Saviors she knew that Canzers were divided into two categories: Infectious Canzers and Destruction Canzers. One of them was able to clone themselves infinitely, while the other could regenerate their wounds till full health. It was an overpowered ability that all Canzers had, and Saviors were the ones tasked to make sure that their ability was disabled before they could kill them. Of course, things were balanced by the fact that they had their own weaknesses, just like all things in nature were. Infectious Canzers may be able to clone themselves infinitely after death, but that meant that their defenses were extremely weak compared to a normal Destruction Canzer. Their chitinous armor was basically nonexistent. Destruction Canzers had better armor and survivability because of their regeneration, but they couldn''t exert as much pressure as the Infectious Canzers because a team of Saviors only had to fight one or two of them at the same time. Despite how overpowering their abilities were, Saviors like Ninth were comforted by the fact that they could take advantage of their weakness to fight them to the death. For Infectious Canzers, Ninth and her team liked to group them all together and kill them in one big go. This necessitated a long preparation period, even while they were fighting. They had to make sure that they wouldn''t accidentally kill just one of the Infectious Canzers, lest they multiply and snowball into a much bigger threat. For Destruction Canzers, Ninth and her team planned to give it all they got at the very start of the fight. If they attacked the Canzer and didn''t relent on their offense, then it wouldn''t have time to regenerate its wounds. This would give them time to set up their construct and disable its regenerative abilities before killing it. That was how they dealt with Canzers, and how Ninth survived all this time after fighting thousands of Canzers. But the Queen¡­she was a beast all on her own. With her strength alone, Ninth thought that the Queen was a Destruction-type Canzers. That was the reason why she wanted to manifest the prismatic dragon so early in the fight so that they could try to kill the Queen as quickly as possible. But then, the Queen suddenly multiplied after her death. One became three. It was such an absurd sight that Ninth and her team thought they were seeing a mere illusion. After all, that was supposed to be impossible. Having the regenerative abilities of the Destruction type Canzer and the cloning ability of the Infection type Canzer was the recipe to become an unkillable demon. They almost used all of their resources, their energy, and all their effort trying to kill the Queen''s body. But as it turned out, it only spawned three more bodies as if fate was playing a joke on them. ''This is the true difference between a true dragon and a Canzer. I am different. I am transcendent,'' the Queen said, spreading her arms to the heavens and proclaiming it as hers. Ninth felt disheartened. She didn''t know how to proceed. She knew how to kill an infinitely cloning Infectious Canzer. She knew how to deal with a regenerating Destruction Canzer. But she didn''t know how to deal with the Queen who could do both. There was nothing they could do. If they tried to fight and kill the Queen before it could kill them, then it would only spawn more clones of her. And if they did nothing but defend themselves, then they would quickly lose the battle of attrition since they had just expended all that energy trying to fight the horde and killing just one clone. She didn''t know what to do. And in her desperation, she turned to Tulip, the only being who could give them a way out of this situation. ''Please, do you know how we can kill her?'' S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Tulip could feel the frustration and desperation in Ninth''s voice. But no matter how much she tried to think of something, Tulip had no idea how to kill the Queen. After all, this was the first time she even saw her pursuer. ''I''m sorry¡­I¡­I don''t know¡­" But Ninth wasn''t going to accept that answer. ''What do you mean?! You''re supposed to know that! It''s the entire reason why we protected you all this time!'' Carmine promised them that Tulip was the weakness of the Queen, the creature in the castle. It was for that reason that they took her all this way without abandoning her. Ninth simply couldn''t believe that Tulip had no idea how to kill the Queen. After all, their similarity was truly alike. It was as if they were twins. And because they looked so much alike, her anger toward the Queen transferred to the innocent Tulip. ''You''re useless!'' she screamed. In this stressful situation, Ninth couldn''t help but feel as if everything had gone to the sewers. No matter how much she tried, no matter how much energy she expended, she still couldn''t overcome the dragon. She thought that it was only her frightful thinking that prevented her from reaching her true potential and killing the dragon, but as it turned out, she was outclassed from the very beginning. Even when they combined all their domains and achieved perfect coordination with her teammates, they still fell short of slaying the dragon. It was at this point that the Queen approached the prismatic dragon. All three clones surrounded the dragon, raising their hands in the air and summoning magic in their hands. Suddenly, Ninth and her team felt as if their body was getting ripped apart from their very bones. A strange void had captured the dragon''s limbs, head, and wings. It was as if a black hole had appeared and sucked in the different parts of the dragon, trying to dismember the once powerful being into mere pieces. No matter how much Ninth and her team struggled, they were helpless as the prismatic dragon''s body started to spaghettify, turning the prismatic dragon into a stream of particles that got sucked in by the void. Chapter 368 - 368: Queen’s vanity In one last spurt of energy, the prismatic dragon let out a burst of energy, turning all the remaining energy inside its body to explode outwards, hopefully taking out the Queen''s three clones in one fell swoop. BOOGGSH! A blinding light followed the explosion, briefly destabilizing the domain that the Queen created. The deathly territory that she had used as her domain started to shimmer as if it were a virtual illusion. One could even see a brief moment in time when the Queen''s domain disappeared and the normal Remedium of Genesis City returned. But after a fraction of a second, the Queen''s domain returned to its overpowering deathly energy. "Haaa¡­haaaa¡­.haaa¡­" Ninth panted as she tried to catch her breath. She looked down and saw her own body, with blood spilling out from her forehead. She raised her head and looked around her, and her worst fears had come true. Her whole team, the scout, the mage, the sniper, and the two tanks, were sprawled all over the skull-filled ground of the Queen''s domain. Their bodies were full of injury, but that wasn''t even the worst part of it. Injuries could always be healed by using their Soul Time. However, they could do nothing to heal their fractured confidence. He could see it in their eyes. They wanted to give up. It was taught to them even before they became a Savior that they should never stay prone in the Remedium. After all, it would leave them vulnerable to any attacks from a Canzer. Their training was embedded so deep into their minds that they would subconsciously get up and take a defensive position no matter how exhausted they were. However, as Ninth looked at her teammates, she saw them staying still, lying on the ground. They didn''t get up. They chose not to. Fighting a monster like the Queen was simply a futile gesture. If they were going to die anyway, then they would rather die on the spot rather than waste their energy struggling to survive. At least then, they wouldn''t feel the dread and exhaustion they were feeling right now. Ninth too, was feeling the urge to simply lay down and take a sleep forever. However, something inside her heart forced her to get up. She couldn''t give up now. If she was going to die anyway, then she was going to die fighting. She pushed herself off the ground, cracking the skulls that were underneath her feet. She looked up at the three Queens above her and showed no sign of fear. This surprised Malificient. She would have thought that the humans would give up now that they had seen the difference in strength between them. Almost all of them had given up on trying to defy her. But there was just one holdout. Their assumed leader, the woman whose strength lightly impressed her, was still standing against her. She could see a fire in those human eyes. She had never seen that before. All her enemies, be they human or Canzers, would always lower their eyes whenever they met hers. After all, her strength was far too overwhelming for them to feel comfortable in making eye contact. But this one human was looking at her in defiance. I truly irritated the Queen. Nobody should feel as if they were strong enough to defeat her. They should feel oppressed. The Queen, to satisfy her vanity, decided to teach the human a lesson first before she killed Tulip. After all, they all lay helpless now. They couldn''t do anything to her even if they tried. The Queen wouldn''t even flinch if Tulip tried to run. She could chase the little runt through the ends of the world even in her sleep. But, the traitor didn''t even try to run. She curled up on the ground and sobbed. Pathetic, the Queen thought. She was going to take her time. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''I warned you, humans. You should have never harbored that fugitive.'' Now that they weren''t connected to Tulip via the prismatic dragon, they couldn''t understand the Queen''s words. But even so, the threat was clear. Ninth tried to raise her sword but found that she didn''t even have the strength to lift it up She could do nothing as the Queen''s three clones raised their hands and summoned another black hole, this time pulling the humans up off the ground and dragging them toward the Queen. "You monster! Let them go!" Ninth screamed, her voice hoarse. For some reason, she was the only one who the Queen didn''t move. Meanwhile, all her teammates were floating up off the ground, with miniature black holes near their hands, as if they were handcuffs. ''I will make you regret that you ever defied me in the first place,'' the Queen said. The Queen smiled and addressed Ninth who still stood in the ground, who was barely even keeping herself standing still. ''Now, choose. Will you save your own kind, or will you give in to your human nature and become mortal enemies with Canzers?'' Ninth was given a choice. She could either save her own teammates or give in to the Queen and surrender Tulip on her own accord. She looked back and saw Tulip still on the ground, sobbing as she felt pain all over her body. The backlash from the prismatic dragon''s death was far too much for a simple Canzer like her to bear. ''I will spare your kind, if you give me that traitorous Canzer.'' Even though Ninth couldn''t understand her words, she knew that the Queen was evil enough to go to such lengths. She immediately knew what the Queen was trying to do. With her body battered and exhausted, her entire mind and body were telling her to simply give in. It would be so easy to lift Tulip off the ground and offer it to the Queen. This little action could end up saving her and her entire team from death. And since Tulip was going to get caught by the Queen either way, it didn''t matter if Ninth was the one who gave her up. It would have been so easy, but could she do that to Tulip? Chapter 369 - 369: Third choice Ninth had to decide now. The Queen''s vengeful hand was nearing towards her teammates, her friends, who she has called her family for years on end. The only thing she had to do was to push Tulip towards the Queen, and she would save not only herself, but her teammates. It would be so easy. Just when Ninth was wracking her mind over this monumental decision, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She looked behind and saw Tulip looking at her with the kindest of eyes. The Canzer nodded, giving the implicit assurance that she was okay. Tulip was letting Ninth choose her teammates. After all, Ninth knew she was going to do either way. At least now, there wouldn''t be more casualties because of her. Ninth and the other humans that had been so kind to her didn''t deserve this kind of fate. Tulip wanted to make sure that they didn''t get caught up in her death. Tulip began walking over to the Queen, offering herself up to be killed in exchange for the lives of the humans. ''A traitor till the very end, huh?'' the Queen ridiculed Tulip. In her opinion, Tulip should have at least struggled a little bit. She should have tried to manipulate the human to save her. After all, that''s what humans were good for. However, Tulip acted unlike her own kind. She was willing to save the humans who killed thousands upon thousands of her soldiers. They might have been monsters, but they were still citizens of the kingdom. No matter what, Tulip should have acted a little bit more sympathetic towards her own kind. But no. Tulip sided with the humans. This infuriated the Queen. If the prophecy became true, and Tulip became the one to surpass her to become the Queen of this kingdom, then Malificient was worried about what she would do to her subjects. Tulip showed no loyalty to the Canzers. She was willing to befriend and side with the humans. If she became Queen, then the whole kingdom would be in danger. She would surely want to make peace with the humans¡ªor worse, trust them. That would spell the end for the entire kingdom. Malificient couldn''t let that happen. She had to stop the prophecy and keep her throne in the kingdom, ensuring that she would be able to lead the Canzers into the righteous path. ''Please get it over quickly,'' Tulip begged, with her body shaking in fear. One of the Queen''s clones floated down to Tulip. She looked ready to receive her prize. Her eyes shone in excitement, feeling triumphant that she was about to defeat the prophecy. And in her elation, she wasn''t able to notice the subtle movement behind Tulip. Ninth suddenly appeared next to Tulip, with her one-handed greatsword about to pierce through Malificient''s heart. The Queen''s eyes widened, not expecting this kind of outcome. But after a fraction of a second, her face returned to normal. She raised her hand and used the power of the void in her domain to defend against Ninth''s attack. ''You could have saved yourselves the trouble, human,'' But just as the Queen was about to repel Ninth away into another dimension, Ninth''s sword suddenly glowed white with power. If the Queen was paying attention, then the power that emanated from the blade was extremely similar to the prismatic dragon''s power. With this brief spike in power, Ninth was able to overcome the black hole void that was manifested to block her attack. SHING! The prismatic energy collided with the dark void, sending bursts of energy everywhere. The mere fact that Ninth could contend with her void surprised the Queen. She would have never thought that a single human could produce this kind of power. The sword sliced the void in half before continuing to pierce towards the Queen''s heart. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Ninth''s eyes were full of focus and determination. As soon as she decided to attack, her mind was as sharp as it had ever been. But using this much power overclocked her body. Blood trickled from her nose. She shouldn''t have been able to manifest the power of the prismatic aura alone. After all, it was the combination of their team''s domain powers. But Ninth was able to reach down deep inside her Soul System to use the remnants of the prismatic aura for one last fight. This would allow her to temporarily have the power of the prismatic dragon. However, doing this meant that she would do permanent untold damage towards her body. Her Soul Time was ticking down by hundreds of years every second. But she didn''t care. The Queen gave her a choice whether she was going to save her teammates or save Tulip. Ninth''s answer was none of those. She chose to save all of them, even if it meant it would result in her death. In this moment of crisis, Ninth was able to overcome her fear of the dragon. Her mind was clear. Despite facing death in the face, she was not scared at all. She was at peace with her own choice. This allowed her to push herself even stronger, pushing the sword towards the Queen''s chitinous chest. The Queen felt a stinging pain as the sword pierced through the chitin as if it was made out of rubber. Slowly, the blade pierced through her heart, killing her in an instant. "RAGGHHH!" Ninth screamed as her entire body got engulfed in the power of the prismatic aura. The prismatic aura slowly spread towards the Queen, infecting it with the ever-lasting destroying properties of the aura. It wasn''t able to regenerate itself, and it wasn''t able to clone itself. With one of the clones dealt with, Ninth set her sights on the two other clones in the air. She leapt up, with a transparent outline of dragon wings behind her back, and sliced her sword towards the two clones. The clones tried to use the power of the void to protect themselves, but Ninth didn''t let them have the chance to defend. She gathered all the prismatic energy inside her body and pushed it out of her Soul System, damaging it in the process. BOOM! But in the end, she was able to let out one giant explosion that destroyed the void protection of the two clones. Soon enough, the clones were engulfed in a blinding white explosion. Chapter 370 - 370: Unexpected appearance Once the dust settled, Tulip opened her eyes to see Ninth, standing alone in the chasm of darkness. Her right arm was mangled beyond belief¡ªa side effect of unleashing all the prismatic power in her body to destroy the other two clones in a giant explosion. Her entire body was bleeding from every orifice. Her Soul Time was now reaching dangerously low levels. Ninth then turned around and looked at Tulip. Her legs soon gave up, making her knees buckle. Tulip rushed over to her side and supported her in the ground. "What¡­what are you doing¡­here¡­.go¡­go now¡­" Ninth''s breathing was getting more and more shallow. VOMIT! Ninth coughed up blood, leaking blood to her mouth. ''No¡­no¡­.this can''t be happening,'' said Tulip. She couldn''t understand why the human tried to fight the Queen. She could have saved herself and her team if she had just let Tulip die. But instead, she fought. And now, even though they couldn''t understand each other''s words, Tulip knew that Ninth was telling her to run away now. But how could she run away after seeing a human sacrifice her life for her? "Go..go before she¡­she returns¡­" Even when she sacrificed her body to try and kill the Queen, Ninth knew that she had failed. Even though they couldn''t see the Queen''s body or her clones in their sight, Ninth still felt the oppressive aura of the dragon in the air. If the Queen truly died, then her domain would have disappeared with her. But they were still trapped in the deathscape. And Ninth knew that she couldn''t fight the Queen a second time. Her Soul System was too damaged. She couldn''t even feel power down in her body, meaning that she couldn''t use any of her LifeSkills, much less her domain, to fight another futile battle with the Queen. ''This is getting annoying,'' a floating voice said. Dread and fear flashed on Tulip''s face. Even when the human sacrificed herself, they could do nothing against the Queen. It was as if she was an invincible monster. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''It''s time for me to kill all of you.'' A large shadow cast over the entire battlefield. Tulip looked up and saw the majestic red dragon in the air. It emitted strength and power unlike anything she had ever felt before. This time, the Queen wasn''t playing around. She was serious. It finally decided to kill Tulip and the humans in one giant explosion. Ninth squinted her eyes and looked at the dragon. Then, a smile formed on her face. On the dragon''s side was a circular scar, reminiscent of an explosion. It looked like everything Ninth did wasn''t in vain. She was able to inflict enough damage towards the dragon''s body that its scales couldn''t protect it. That was enough. Ninth was satisfied. Her eyes slowly closed as a violet storm of energy gathered in the dragon''s mouth. Slowly, power gathered at the dragon''s mouth, growing the dark violet ball into a large sphere bigger than its head. The atmosphere turned turbulent, with huge winds that could uproot trees from the ground. Lightning rumbled in the skies, signalling the Queen''s furious state. It was going to kill everything and turn this battlefield into a wasteland. She was going to make the world forget she was ever disgraced to such a degree. No matter how much she tried to regenerate her body, she couldn''t get rid of the scarring on her body. The Queen glared at Ninth. That human was able to reach her. That was supposed to be impossible, but she did. She needed to get rid of them all. She let out of all her anger into the ball of energy and released it with a fiery breath. GRAGGHH!!! The dark violet sphere crashed towards the ground, with the rumbling intensifying as it came close to making contact with the floor. BUUGGSHH!!! An explosion larger than the one Ninth emitted spread throughout the domain, turning everything into a desert wasteland. It tore every fiber of everything it touched, turning it into mere atoms. The explosion continued to persist much longer than a usual bomb, and created an even larger crater as an aftermath. The mighty red dragon floated in the air. She took a deep breath and a sense of superiority returned on her face. Now that all her enemies were gone, she was the only superior being in her kingdom. Nobody shall ever threaten her throne again. The prophecy was destroyed by her own hands. But¡­there was something wrong. Even though Tulip and the humans were dead, destroyed into mere atoms by her Atomic Void Explosion, she felt as if there was a different presence inside her own domain. Then, the dragon''s head looked down, right at the very center of the crater she created. She noticed them. Tulip and the rest of the humans were alive and well. Somehow, a circular area of the ground they stood on was able to withstand the tremendous power of her explosion. She couldn''t understand it. The humans were barely even alive, meaning they would have had the power to create a defense that could withstand that much power. Tulip was a normal Canzer without any powers, meaning she wasn''t the one who was responsible. Just then, the Queen noticed something different. There was a new human in their midst. This human was healthy and uninjured, unlike the rest of the humans. Strangest of all, the human seemed as if he was too busy tending to the other injured humans to even notice the tyrannic red dragon staring down at him. No, he knows I''m looking at him¡­he just doesn''t care, thought the Queen. And upon closer inspection, the Queen recognized the man. It was the human who she imprisoned in her dungeon! Somehow, he escaped! ¡ª "Are you okay?" Atlan asked as he wiped blood off of Ninth''s mouth. Ninth''s eyes widened as she realized who was speaking to her. "Atlan¡­is that you?" Her eyes were no longer working as good as it used to. "Yes¡­I''m here," Atlan said, holding her arms. "Get out¡­run away with Tulip¡­before¡­before¡­the dragon¡­" Just then, the entire ground trembled as the dragon landed behind Atlan, with its gigantic body posturing its superiority towards Atlan. But even then, Atlan kept his eyes on Ninth. "Don''t worry. I''ll deal with the lizard." Chapter 371 - 371: Reunion Because Atlan activated the False Mutation of his Canzer Polyglot mutation, the Queen was able to understand his words even though he was using human language. She was speechless with his audacity. A mere human treated her as nothing but an oversized lizard. The thought was so absurd that the Queen wasn''t immediately offended but felt that it was a little bit amusing. ''I wonder where you get your confidence, human. Careful. If I wasn''t so magnanimous, I would have crushed your skull along with the humans back there.'' Atlan, instead of answering, continued to put his attention towards Ninth, who was bleeding out of every orifice. He had to rip off part of her battle suit just to make a make-shift bandage to at least patch her up a bit. "Porter¡­what are you¡­doing¡ªCOUGH!'' Ninth wanted Atlan to escape with Tulip before the Queen had the chance to get her hands on him. She didn''t want him to end up like him. "You should worry about yourself," Atlan said as he twisted a knot to stop the bleeding in her arm. "You''re losing a lot of SoulTime." Ninth couldn''t even access her Soul System to see her SoulTime. That was how much she damaged her body. So, she knew that her time was coming to an end soon. So, she wasn''t fighting it anymore. But Atlan could still live. He could still escape with his life intact. Instead, he came here and¡­ It was at that moment that Ninth finally realized that something was wrong. After all, she had never felt Atlan''s presence before he arrived on this battlefield. Her mind and body were so damaged that it took her this long to remember that they were about to die from the Queen''s atomic bomb. They should have all perished into nothing but atoms. But instead, they were alive. Not only that but somehow, Atlan was able to arrive in this place without the Queen immediately noticing him. It didn''t make sense. Ninth blinked her blurry eyes. It was only then that she noticed a peculiar white object behind Atlan. It looked¡­pure. The aura and power it emitted were familiar¡ªlike a warm hug in the deepest of winters. Then, she finally realized. Those were wings. Normally, having a wing mutation wasn''t all that strange. However, Atlan was only a Student-level Savior. He shouldn''t have been given the chance to obtain this kind of mutation at least before his third year as a Savior. And from what she could sense with her limited aura, the power emanating from those wings was something that only top-notch mutations emitted. It was probably above a 6-star rarity, judging from its aesthetic beauty alone. But perhaps the biggest mystery of them all was the origin of those wings. It didn''t look like any of the wings that she was familiar with. Its feathers were too white¡ªthe kind of white that would still glow even in the darkest of nights. It felt like it was forever illuminated by some kind of light that came from nowhere. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just then, she saw the dragon behind Atlan open its mouth and release a ball of void, with violet and black mists of energy swirling around it. The Queen finally had enough of Atlan ignoring her, so she decided to simply punish him by killing him without him knowing it. Ninth, even in her most damaged state, couldn''t help but push past her limits to try and help Atlan. She was willing to put herself in between the destructive void and Atlan. But before she could get up, Atlan pushed her back down and stopped her from doing something unnecessary. Atlan turned around and faced the destructive void. Suddenly, a sword and shield manifested in his hands, atom by atom in a mere fraction of a second. Atlan brandished the shield in front of him and protected himself and everyone behind him from the void''s destructive properties. And as it hit the shield, a strange force counter-acted the tyrannical aura left by the dragon, fighting it till it disintegrated into nothingness. The shield rendered the dragon''s attack useless. Atlan didn''t even feel any recoil from using the shield. The moment Ninth saw the sword and shield, she felt the power those weapons emanated and knew that they weren''t normal objects. If she was reading it right, then those weapons alone were stronger than her at her best! That didn''t seem possible. Ninth didn''t even know why such ordinary-looking weapons would have so much power hidden inside them. The only one who knew the significance of this weapon was the Queen. The moment it appeared in Michael''s hands, was the moment the Queen realized that she hadn''t destroyed the prophecy as of yet. Just as she feared, it seemed as if Atlan was the chosen one. He was the one who was going to help Tulip in killing her. When she first heard that Atlan knew about Tulip''s name, she became suspicious of his real identity. She still wasn''t sure he was the chosen one, but to be sure, she imprisoned him in the infinite void thinking that he would never be able to escape. But he proved her wrong. ''Where did you get that¡­'' the Queen asked, but it seemed as though she knew the answer already. She just didn''t want to accept it. "I got it from a few friends I met in your prison. You might know them," Atlan said with a smile. Just then, three blobs of light emerged out of his battle suit and showed themselves to the Queen. The Queen, upon seeing the three good fairies, couldn''t help but take a step back from surprise. She knew that the shield and sword could only come from the three fairies, but she didn''t think that they would come out of the prison with the human! This completely changed the battlefield. Her previous lack of seriousness in the fight quickly turned around, with her body tensing up as it expected a hard battle. But contrary to the Queen''s thoughts, the three good fairies ignored her. Instead, they floated towards Tulip, showing their faces to their daughter for the first time in a long time. Chapter 372 - 372: Atlan’s power ''Mothers?'' Tulip felt like she was dreaming or perhaps passed over into the next life. She thought she would never see her mothers again in this lifetime. She thought she was the reason they died. Her emotions bubbled up to the surface as tears streamed down her cheeks. The three good fairies couldn''t help themselves as well and wiped the tears off their faces. Then, they floated towards Tulip and rubbed her tears, just like what they did back when Tulip was a child. They all cuddled in this monumental moment. ''Uwaaa!'' ''Calm now, dear. This is not the time for tears,'' said the blue fairy. ''That''s right. That''s right. We have more important things to do right now,'' said the green fairy. ''We have to help your friend,'' said the red fairy. Tulip sniffed and rubbed her eyes. ''Friend?'' She was so distraught about everything that happened that she didn''t notice the appearance of a certain human. The red fairy had to turn Tulip''s head for her to finally notice that Atlan was facing the dragon all by himself. ''Atlan?! He''s¡­he''s alive¡­'' Relief flashed across Tulip''s face. ''I thought¡­I thought¡­I thought he died because of me,'' Tulip cried. The three good fairies comforted her yet again. ''It wasn''t your fault.'' ''Yes. It was the Queen who imprisoned him.'' ''And it led to the best outcome. If he hadn''t been imprisoned by the Queen, we wouldn''t have met him at all. And we wouldn''t have been able to get out of that prison.'' Tulip stopped her tears. She watched as Atlan defended against the Queen''s attacks with just one bash of his shield. This surprised her greatly. She knew first-hand how powerful the Queen was in her dragon form. But now, Atlan parried her attacks as if they were made out of nothing but air. It didn''t make sense. ''We gave him those weapons to fight against Malificient," the red fairy explained. ''Fight? We should run away!'' Tulip warned. ''No, dear. This is his destiny, as well as yours. You trusted him enough to give your name to him, right?'' Tulip didn''t understand, but she nodded her head. Atlan was perhaps the first and only friend she had ever trusted in her life apart from her mothers. He was reliable and treated her not as a Canzer, but as a friend. Her mothers warned her that she shouldn''t give away her name to people she didn''t trust, but Atlan was none of that. ''The reason we told you to conceal your name is because the prophecy told us that the chosen one would come and be the only being you gave your name to.'' ''What prophecy?'' The three good fairies looked at each other and braced themselves. They were finally going to tell Tulip about her real identity. ''The prophecy is a long tale back in the olden days. It has been predicted that you will be the one to succeed Queen Malificient and lead the kingdom into prosperity.'' Tulip couldn''t believe it. ''Me?'' ''Yes. You are the key to defeating Malificient.'' ''But..but..but I don''t¡­I don''t know what you''re talking about.'' The three good fairies knew that this would be overwhelming for Tulip, but they didn''t have the time to explain. ''You''ll know. The answer is hidden deep within you. You know how to kill the Queen, you just don''t know that you know it yet.'' ¡ª Atlan faced the dragon with his two overpowered weapons in hand. The gifts he got from the three good fairies proved very useful after they deflected one of the Queen''s attacks with barely any recoil. With this power, it didn''t seem as impossible to kill her. ''Those weapons are not for mere mortals like you,'' said the Queen. "I know. I think it fits right through your chest. You think I can leave it in there for some time?" Atlan''s banter with the Queen made it seem like he was at the same level as her. But Ninth knew that the Queen was far more powerful than a normal Specialist Savior. She didn''t know where Atlan got those weapons, but she didn''t think it would be enough to kill the Dragon. After all, no matter how powerful the weapons were, it didn''t matter if they were not wielded by the right person. Atlan was only a Student-level Porter. He was far too weak to fight against a being like the Queen. She wanted to say to Atlan that he should retreat now and ask for backup from Genesis City but found her voice to be too strained to say anything. "Truth is, I''ve been hiding some things," Atlan uttered. "I hid a few secrets because I thought that it would lead to further troubles down the line. But now, I think it''s time for me to show my true fangs." Atlan decided to finally show his true powers. He immediately looked down deep in his Soul System and activated one of his LifeSkills. With a single thought, a large yarn and knitting needle manifested in the air. Ninth''s eyes widened once she realized what Atlan was doing. She couldn''t believe it. She thought she was dreaming. Atlan was using a LifeSkill! But this LifeSkill didn''t look like something a porter could do, so it was definitely the LifeSkill of a different job. That was supposed to be impossible. A person should only have one LifeSkill. That was the universal rule. But seeing Atlan manipulate those yarn and needle with his powers made Ninth realize that everything she knew about the world, about Atlan, was a complete lie. And from what she could muster from the strength of this LifeSkill, she knew that it had the strength of an Intern-level Savior! sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just then, the needle and yarn finished knitting a human-like figure. But after the final knot was done, the yarns turned into some kind of liquid that soon solidified into human skin. Somehow, Atlan''s second LifeSkill was able to create humanoid puppets. There were three of them now, with two men and one woman, kneeling towards Atlan and awaiting their next orders. But that wasn''t enough. The LifeSkill was creating more puppets! Chapter 373 - 373: Strong puppets Atlan''s three original puppets were the Huntsman, the White Beauty, and the Prince. That was the limit of his current strength, and if he tried to create more puppets after that, he found that he had trouble controlling his puppets and they were more prone to disappearing after just a little injury. However, Atlan found that whenever he wielded the sword and shield given to him by the three good fairies, he found that he had much more capacity than before. It was as if he was being supplied with a little bit more power to push himself to the limit. It must have been because these weapons were imbued with ''luck''. Atlan didn''t know how that worked completely, but he knew that it had a significant contribution to how he was able to create two more puppets. A thin puppet with two very big eyes finished its transformation, becoming a full humanoid. Then, a large and stocky figure finished its transformation, turning its skin from yarn to skin in a matter of seconds. This humanoid''s body was covered entirely with thick hairs, almost covering every inch of his body. Atlan used the inspiration he found from the Frog Prince and the Beast to create these two Canzers. ''What are these puppets?'' the Malificient Queen asked. ''You will not be able to survive against me using just these flimsy little things.'' Atlan smiled and nodded his head, signaling for the humanoid puppets to start their assault. With five humanoid puppets, Atlan imbued them with the same LifeSkills that he got from the death of their original inspiration. The Frog humanoid was given the Devour Assimilation LifeSkill, allowing it to take a bite out of anything and use the abilities of whatever it ate. The Beast humanoid, on the other hand, was given the Beastly Thrash LifeSkill, allowing it to show immense strength similar to the real Specialists-level Beast. The Prince used the Protection Lion, allowing him to become the tank for the humanoid puppets. It created a protective bubble around the Prince humanoid, and its strength depended on the injustice that was caused by the attacker. Since the Queen was trying to mercilessly kill an innocent Tulip, then the Prince''s protection was at its strongest. The Huntsman and the White Beauty were the only ones who didn''t have the LifeSkills they originally had when they were Specialist Canzers. The Huntsman got a better LifeSkill, the Apocalyptic Hellfire, while the White Beauty had the Book of Contracts, which allowed her to make contracts with any being and turn them into her puppets, which would become Atlan''s puppet by proxy. With a perfect balance of powers, the group of Intern-level humanoid puppets rushed towards the red dragon, brandishing their powers in their hands. First, the Beast Humanoid jumped up from the ground, immediately reaching high up in the air using only the strength of his legs. The red dragon felt a little creature land on its legs and felt that it was very annoying. It tried to swing her leg to try and throw the thing away, but it stayed on by using its intense grip. Having no other choice, the red dragon fired off a ball of violet destruction. But before it hit the Beast humanoid, the Prince suddenly appeared right in front of the Beast and used its protective bubble to defend against the attack. The golden bubble shimmered upon making contact with the ball made out of destructive energy, but since its defensive properties were buffed by the injustice caused by the Queen, it was able to keep itself steady. With the Beast protected, it started to thrash around the red dragon''s back, pounding its scales using nothing but its fists. It trashed and thrashed until one of its scales was uprooted from the red dragon''s body. This scale floated into the air before being snatched away by the Frog humanoid with its freakishly long tongue, It immediately swallowed the scale, briefly stretching its mouth because the scale was far too big for it to swallow. But it didn''t matter. As soon as it got swallowed in its throat, a magical power somehow consumed its entire DNA and allowed the Frog humanoid to replicate its powers. Suddenly, the Frog humanoid''s body began to grow scales, similar to the one it just ate. Its slim body slowly bulked, as if he was growing thick thumps of legs. Then, two large wings grew behind its back, similar to the shape of the Malificient Queen''s wings, but a lot smaller. Slowly, the Frog humanoid became a Frog Dragon, with its entire body turning into the scaled tyrant of the air. However, its signature long tongue and big eyes were retained, making it look like a Frog Dragon. Surprisingly, the Malificient Queen could feel the same destructive energy she had emanating from her Frog impostor. She couldn''t let that happen. She rushed towards the Frog Dragon and tried to consume its entire body to swallow the lost scale it had eaten. But of course, the other puppets won''t let that happen. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Huntsman puppet raised its bow to the air and fired a single arrow. As soon as it did, it left a single line of bluish-green fire leading to the arrow''s tail. Malificient Queen ignored the arrow and continued to fly after the Frog Dragon, but that was a mistake. As soon as the arrow made contact with the Queen, a large explosion of bluish-green fire turned the whole air into a cloudy smoke. More scales fell from the smoke until the Malificient Queen dragon emerged from the smoke. Its entire body was damaged, with its side completely injured from where the arrow had hit it. The Queen would have never thought that a bunch of puppets would give her so much trouble. She couldn''t believe it. They weren''t supposed to have this much power. ''How?! How is this possible?'' The truth of the matter was that everything was only possible because of the White Beauty and the three good fairies. He made her have a contract with all three of them, allowing them to lend their powers to his puppets while they were fighting the dragon. Chapter 374 - 374: Revelation of Atlan’s true power Ninth and the rest of the team looked up at the fight of the humanoids against the Malificient Dragon. They couldn''t believe their eyes. Somehow, they were able to fight against the tyrannical Dragon Queen, and injure her at that point! The only way they were able to do that was by combining all of their domain powers. And when they failed, they used up too much energy and ended up becoming useless in the fight. But now, those puppets were fighting toe to toe with the most dangerous Canzer anyone had ever fought. And all of that was only possible because of Atlan. No matter how unbelievable it looked, the evidence was real. Atlan had been hiding his real strength, his real power from the rest of the world. Everyone thought that he was only a porter with a LifeSkill that only allowed him to lift heavy objects, but the truth was far different. It turned out that he could summon puppets as well. No matter how much they tried to deny it in their minds, they were looking at the evidence right in their eyes. The puppets were listening to Atlan''s voice as if he were their creator. Not only that, all of the puppets, despite having different powers, all emanated the same signature of power. If anyone was looking closely, they would notice that this signature of power was emanating from Atlan and only him alone. This meant that he truly was the one who created these puppets that could fight against the Malificient Queen Dragon. "How¡­is this possible¡­." "Was he lying to us?" "That''s not true. He''s a porter and has a porter LifeSkill. Or else he wouldn''t have been able to lift a construct," said Ninth. She finally figured out why Atlan had been through so much yet was able to survive them each and every time. He was called the Star Porter because he went through so many anomalies in his missions and performed admirably throughout its entirety. Most people attributed this to mere luck. They thought that Atlan survived those encounters through nothing but lady luck looking down at him kindly. But now that they saw his true powers, they realized that it was not true. The more likely conclusion they could come to was that Atlan saved himself! He probably killed those Canzers that tried to kill him! It was unbelievable to think about, but that was the truth. Not only that but upon closer investigation, Ninth remembered that most summon-type LifeSkills weren''t all that powerful. That was because most puppets were simply that: they were puppets. They could move, they could pick up objects, and they could even brandish a sword just like a human. But there was one stark difference between normal puppets and Atlan''s puppets: the LifeSkills. Puppets weren''t supposed to have LifeSkills! They were puppets after all. They didn''t have a Soul System, and they didn''t go through their awakening. There was no way they were going to have a LifeSkill. There was only one way that a puppet could have a LifeSkill. And that was when their creator lent them their own LifeSkill! Atlan''s puppets all had LifeSkills, and all of them were powerful enough to contend against the Malificient Queen Dragon. This only meant one thing: Atlan had multiple LifeSkills in his Soul System. Other people might find that absurd and untrue, but he already proved that he had more than one LifeSkill by having the ability to summon puppets. After all, he was only supposed to be a porter. So, it wasn''t hard to accept the thought that Atlan had multiple LifeSkills that he could lend to his puppets. Just then, one of the puppets fired off a bluish-green fire from an arrow. It caused an explosion that took out a large portion of the Malificient Queen Dragon''s scales. Their eyes flashed with recognition, and then surprise and shock filled their face. They knew that LifeSkill. They had seen that iconic bluish-green fire thousands of times before when they were just kids. Practically everyone in Genesis City knew about that bluish-green fire. This was the LifeSkill of the First Savior, Quinto Kindle. Ninth and the rest of the team looked at Atlan and a cold breeze brushed past their skin, making their hair stand on end. Somehow, Atlan was able to acquire the LifeSkill of the greatest Savior in mankind''s history. Everyone in Genesis City thought that Quinto Kindle was simply sick. But, the more knowledgeable and important people like Specialist Saviors knew that the First Savior was dead. Yes, they knew that death was permanent now that the Angels had died. However, they weren''t supposed to act like they knew it. They didn''t want to alert the general public about it just yet. Everyone in the world was still looking for a way to reverse the situation and return immortality to the world. So, they were still holding out hope that it would happen soon before the rest of the world found out that they could die permanently now. And it wasn''t such a hard leap for Ninth and the others to learn how Atlan obtained those LifeSkills. He must have somehow gotten those powers through death. Now that they thought about it more, the Beast humanoid looked eerily similar to The Beast Canzer they faced recently. Even the Frog Humanoid was very similar to the Frog Prince they faced a while back. Everything was starting to connect. Ninth and the others weren''t stupid. They reached the Specialist level because they were both strong and intelligent. They quickly figured out Atlan''s powers. He had a LifeSkill that could steal the powers of the dead. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just the thought of it sent chills down their spine. It finally made sense how the Star Porter could advance so easily through the ranks without so much trouble. A power like Atlan''s was dangerous. It was too dangerous to leave alive. But, somehow, the team didn''t feel any kind of hostility for Atlan. They all went on this dangerous mission and almost experienced permanent death because of it. They realized that Atlan had been protecting them from the shadows all this time. He always had their back. Even now, when they all thought they would die in the hands of the Malificient Dragon, Atlan came just in time and saved them from certain death. Chapter 375 - 375: Temporary Specialist Instead of feeling dread and fear at the betrayal of trust from Atlan, Ninth and the rest of the team felt hope. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They should be wondering if Atlan was even a human being at this point. After all, he was able to have more than one LifeSkill and all of his LifeSkills had the power to wipe out an entire horde of Canzers all by himself. It was a fearsome kind of strength, something that would make a human wonder if he was still a part of their race, or simply someone that was pretending to be one. But in these dire times, Ninth and the others couldn''t help but put their trust and their faith in Atlan. He could have let them die. If he wanted to keep his secret a secret for a long time, then he could have let the dragon kill them so that there wouldn''t be any witnesses as he revealed all his powers to fight the dragon for survival. But instead, Atlan saved them and risked being called a heretic for it. This meant that Atlan himself wanted Ninth and her team to know about his true powers. "Atlan¡­" Ninth uttered. Atlan didn''t look back. "Don''t waste your energy. You have to focus on healing yourself back up." Ninth nodded, and silence ensued before being broken. "If we survive¡­we won''t tell anyone." Atlan didn''t answer back, but on the inside, he was thankful for their discretion. Now that he was facing his greatest opponent, this wasn''t the time to be pulling any kind of punches. He couldn''t worry about his powers being discovered by Ninth and the others. He had to focus solely on killing the Queen and trying to survive this encounter. Case in point, it seemed as if he was getting the advantage against the Malificient Dragon Queen. But he knew that her strength was far more fearsome than this. He could see her eyes. Those eyes weren''t someone afraid of their life. It was the eyes of someone who was observing everything in her surroundings, trying to find an opening that she could use to destroy the annoying puppets that kept trying to kill her. Atlan knew that he had to focus and control his puppets better. ''This is getting ridiculous,'' said the Malificient Dragon Queen. ''If you can have puppets of your own, then so can I¡­'' The dragon raised her head in the sky and opened its maws, bringing with it an intense screech that made everyone cover their ears. Atlan felt as if his entire being was shaken by that scream. His soul was trembling. He didn''t have to know what it was to know that whatever the Malificient Dragon Queen did was dangerous. Before he could try and figure out what was happening, he suddenly heard the sound of wings flapping in the distance. There, amid the mountain ranges and the thick luscious forest, three new red dragons emerged from the horizon, each having the same strength and aura as the Dragon Queen. "Careful, Atlan¡­it can regenerate its wounds¡­and summon clones¡­it''s an anomaly¡­," Ninth warned. Atlan wondered about that too. After all, the damage done by the Apocalyptic Hellfire was already being healed at an extremely fast rate. The dragon''s body was slowly growing back its scales, to the point that it would only take a few seconds before it was back in its prime state. His puppets continued to pester the original dragon, using their LifeSkills and perfect coordination to deal enough damage to the dragon to prevent her from going anywhere. But with the addition of three new dragons in the fight, Atlan knew that the balance of the fight would quickly tip toward the Queen''s direction. He had to do something. "Can I use my powers now?" Atlan asked the three good fairies. The three blobs of light nodded their heads, permitting him to fight the dragon using the powers that they gave him. Atlan raised his magical sword and shield, bringing with it an intense light that almost blinded everything that looked at it. As the power emerged from the cold steel of the blade, some of it leaked out into the air and quickly got absorbed by Atlan. He felt his powers increase from the Student realm, to the Pre-Intern realm, to the Intern realm, and finally to the Specialist realm. Ninth and her team watched on in shock as they felt Atlan''s power rise to their levels. This was another surprising feat because this was supposed to be impossible. A summoner''s weakness was that they were physically weak. But Atlan proved that wrong. He became even stronger than his puppets! And they simply couldn''t attribute it to the strange and mystical sword and shield he wielded. After all, no kind of weapon could increase a Savior''s strength from the Student level all the way to the Specialist realm. That was simply impossible. Of course, everything was only possible because the three good fairies were beings of powers that were on the same level as the Queen itself. However, for some reason, Atlan couldn''t understand, they didn''t want to fight the Queen at all. They said that it was not their destiny to defeat her. So, they instead pooled all of their strength and lent it to Atlan to use. But of course, if he was a normal human, this would have been impossible. But they found that because of his strange death powers, he could absorb their powers and use them to nurture himself into the Specialist realm. Of course, this was only temporary and only lasted until the Queen was dead. For Atlan, this was enough. He bent his legs and jumped into the air, sending his body flying like a bullet toward the Malificient Dragon Queen in the skies. He had his sword pointed towards the Queen''s heart, ready to pierce it and kill her once and for all. But of course, the Queen knew about the sword and shield. It was part of the prophecy after all. She would be stupid to disregard its threat to her life. So, she quickly used all her strength and shook off the humanoid puppets that tried to hold her in place. Then, she spat out a sphere made out of void and destruction towards Atlan''s face. Chapter 376 - 376: Dragon’s clones And even though his strength was in the Specialist realm now, Atlan couldn''t disregard a full-on attack from the Queen. He put his shield in front of him and braced himself. As the sphere of void and destruction hit his shield, an explosion of pure energy emanated out from the point of impact, obscuring Atlan''s vision of the Queen. Once he pushed past the smoke and leftover energy, Michael saw nothing but an empty sky in front of him. The sword that was supposed to pierce through the Dragon Queen''s heart instead pierced through nothing but air. Atlan stopped himself with a punch, counteracting the force he used to propel himself. Then, he started kicking his legs in the air like a swimmer trying to keep himself afloat. Since he was originally a porter whose strength lay in their physical strength, Atlan''s brute force increased tremendously once he advanced over to the Specialist realm in one go. He felt like he could crush an entire mountain with just one punch. And he used that force to ''fly'' in the air. GRAOOO! Before he could look for the Dragon Queen, it initiated a surprise attack and tried to rip him into shreds by swallowing him whole. Atlan looked back and saw the Dragon''s sharp teeth about to close down on his body. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But he didn''t worry. A single well-timed Apocalyptic Hellfire arrow from the Huntsman humanoid shot towards the Dragon''s throat. Atlan moved his head slightly to the left as the arrow shot past him and headed straight for the dragon''s throat, creating another explosion that propelled Atlan out into safety. The Dragon Queen coughed, with the bluish-green fire wreaking havoc in its throat and insides. Atlan could see its skin starting to melt and make a hole in its body. Unfortunately, the Dragon''s immense regenerative abilities allowed it to recover relatively quickly. Of course, Atlan used this opportunity to command his puppets to harass the Queen again, with the Beast humanoid trying to rip the dragon''s wings into shreds and the Frog Dragon spewing green acid towards its eyes to try and blind it. ''Enough! We will kill you all!'' The presence of the three dragon clones made themselves clear, creating a very tyrannic environment on the battlefield. If Atlan hadn''t advanced to the Specialist realm temporarily, then he could have possibly suffocated from the mere fact that four dragons existed in the air above him simultaneously. The three dragons swooped down from the zenith of the sky and headed straight for his puppets, intending to rip them into shreds. The Prince quickly moved, using his protective bubble to try and protect the other Beast and the Frog Dragon from the assault. The golden bubble expanded, enveloping Atlan and the two puppets in its safety. The three dragons simultaneously crashed onto the bubble, cracking it into pieces before bursting into nothingness. The force of three Dragon Queens was far too much for the Prince to defend against. However, it still saved them from certain harm. The three Dragon clones shook their heads and flew up into the air again, intending to repeat their failed attack. They thought that once the bubble was destroyed, the Prince had no way of protecting his master and the other puppets. But they were wrong. Another bubble expanded outwards from the Prince''s body. This time, its golden luster was a lot stronger than before, signifying that its defensive quality had gotten stronger yet again. After all, his protective bubble was based on the injustice that they were facing. What could be more unfair than having three dragon clones assaulting them with a surprise attack? Not only that, because of the White Beauty making a contract with the three good fairies, their powers were also temporarily increased to the Specialist realm. Meanwhile, the Huntsman continued to fire bluish-green arrows toward the original Malificient Dragon Queen, not letting it recover from its injuries. However, that was not for long. The original Dragon Queen raised its injured throat to the skies and opened its mouth, creating yet another shriek that shook everyone''s soul. Then, three more dragon clones came out of the horizon, coming towards the battlefield with the express intent of dominating the battle through an advantage of quantity. This was perhaps the hardest battle Atlan had ever experienced. Although he could fight against the four Dragon Queens at the same time, adding another three clones on top of it was far too much. It would have been good if he could summon more puppets, but that was the limit of his LifeSkill. After all, the buff that he got from the three good fairies only raised his physical strength to the Specialist realm, not his LifeSkills. To make matters worse, the three dragons on the horizon opened their giant maws, creating a black hole in their mouths and spewing it out in front of them. The black hole traveled through the air and continued to grow until it stopped in the air. The three clone dragons flew through the black hole, with their entire body disappearing into the void. And a fraction of a second later, Atlan felt a disturbance in the air below him. As he looked down, he was alarmed to find out that three black holes had appeared in the thick of the battle. The three dragons soon emerged from the black holes and immediately rushed toward the Ninth and the rest of the team. Atlan didn''t expect them to have the ability to teleport. ''Hahaha¡­this is just a little secret of mine. Be proud.'' This surprise attack truly shocked Ninth and the rest of the team. They could barely even sit up, much less fight another three dragon clones. Atlan immediately commanded his puppets, the White Beauty and the Huntsman down on the ground, to protect Ninth and the whole team. The Huntsman fired off shot after shot, denying one of the dragons that tried to rush toward the humans. The White Beauty summoned its beast, the Giant Rat, and used it to subdue the other dragon. However, there was one dragon left. It rushed towards Ninth and the others, with its maws wide open. Chapter 377 - 377: Atlan’s clones With no one else left to defend them, Atlan directed the White Beauty humanoid to put herself in between the two, using her body to defend against the dragon. The White Beauty didn''t hesitate for a single second before it rushed towards the dragon. Then, before it could reach Ninth and the others, the White Beauty put herself inside the Dragon''s maws, letting it swallow her instead. The dragon, upon having its maws full with the humanoid White Beauty, started to cough as if it had swallowed a fly accidentally. But no matter how much the Dragon Queen clone coughed, it could not get rid of the pesky fly in its mouth. It had no choice but to swallow the whole thing. That was part of the plan. Atlan, using his complete control of the White Beauty, started to overwhelm her with power, turning her insides into a mix of energy and acid from the Dragon''s stomach. This was not a good combination¡ªat least, for the Dragon. The White Beauty inside the Dragon''s stomach started to vibrate and convulse, as the skin on her body started to fray and pop, like a string being stretched far too long. Slowly, the Dragon felt its stomach rumble. It had eaten something bad. And before the Dragon could even do anything about it, the White Beauty couldn''t hold on to her figure anymore and turned into pure energy, creating an enormous explosion inside the Dragon''s stomach. This was an explosion equal to all the energy stored inside a Specialist-level Savior. The strength of the aftereffects was enough to tear through the Dragon''s stomach lining and continue to wreak havoc inside its body. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was unfortunate for the Dragon that its scales were far too strong and durable. The explosion wasn''t able to pierce outside its body, meaning all of the explosion was contained inside its body. This caused further damage to the Dragon''s insides, turning everything into a mushy mess of organs and chitinous bones. The dragon, feeling weakness in its body, fell to the ground with a large thud. The unfortunate trees and nature on the ground were crushed under its enormous weight, creating a dragon-shaped indent on the soil below. With the help of his puppets, he was able to subdue the Dragon clones from killing injured Ninth and her team. They all sighed a breath of relief once they saw the light in the dragon''s eyes start to dim, signaling its death. But they knew that this wasn''t the end of their troubles. Where there''s death, there was life. Now that they killed another dragon clone, three more would pop up in its place. GRAOOO! Out in the distance, another three dragon clones came out of the horizon and showed their fierce roar to the overwhelmed humans. They already had trouble facing the clones, but now, three more had come and rushed towards them at fast speeds. The worst thing was that they didn''t have anyone else to protect Ninth and the others. Atlan and his two clones: the Prince and the Beast, were busy keeping the original Dragon Queen Malificient at bay. They already had their hands full with her, they couldn''t go and assist the others because it would lead the Dragon Queen to make a full recovery and cause further havoc in the battlefield. ''HAHAHAHA! This is your end, humans. Don''t think I haven''t noticed the importance of that puppet.'' The Dragon Queen Malificient knew about the significance of the White Beauty on this battlefield. After all, she was the one who kept the humanoid puppets in Atlan''s hands a powerhouse capable of producing the strength of a Specialist-level Savior. Thanks to her book of contracts, she was able to create a contract with the three good fairies, lending her strength to the puppets and creating more power inside their bodies. But now that the White Beauty was gone, there was no more book of contracts. And without that contract, the puppets returned to their original strength at the Intern level. Although that could be considered quite strong, it was wholly inadequate to survive against the Dragon Queen Malificient, much less fight her. The Dragon Queen was already on the brink of winning the tides of the battle before the White Beauty died, but now that she was fully gone, the Dragon Queen had a complete advantage on this battlefield. And now that three more dragon clones emerged, the Queen knew that she was about to win against the humans. However, something was bugging her. Even though she was about to demolish the humans, the strange human boy didn''t show any signs of trouble. It was as if he wasn''t worried about her in the slightest. ''Stop pretending, human. This is my win.'' But of course, Atlan didn''t think that was true. After all, by having his White Beauty destroyed, Atlan would gain a new slot as a puppet. Atlan closed his eyes and pictured the new puppet in his mind. The process this time was quite easy since he was intimately familiar with this figure. The puppet he created this time was completely faithful to the original and didn''t have any deviations. The giant needle and yarn ball appeared in the air and started to knit together another puppet in the middle of the battlefield. Its speed in executing this task was far faster than anything it had ever created. Slowly, the figure of another human appeared in their midst. Once the needle finished knitting the final knot, the figure suddenly glowed with a blinding light before the figure turned into a completely humanoid figure. It had black hair, striking eyes, and a tall figure. Ninth and the others looked up at the puppet and immediately recognized the puppet. After all, the original was standing right beside it! Atlan created a puppet version of himself! Because he was borrowing from his understanding of himself, he was able to completely duplicate his every human quality onto the puppets. Then, the original Atlan summoned a book of contracts in his hands. With a simple look at the three good fairies, another contract appeared in between its pages, allowing all of his puppets to have the power of a Specialist-level Savior. Chapter 378 - 378: Infinite cloning The Dragon Queen scoffed at Atlan, feeling as if she had been cheated. She thought that she had finally cornered the humans into realizing their stupidity in fighting her, but she underestimated how crafty this one boy could be. ''It''s a crafty neat trick, but it doesn''t matter. As long as I can continue to die, my clones will multiply infinitely and eventually overwhelm you into submission. I will not repeat this again. Surrender the traitor or face the consequences.'' Atlan didn''t even bother to respond to the Queen. After all, he would never give up Tulip to her scheming hands, not now that he was already fighting her with everything he had. Just as the Queen said, the three dragon clones finally reached the battlefield and entered the space with a triumphant screech. GRAOOO! This time, the clones seemed to have realized their mistake after the last time. They moved together as one, protecting each other from any type of distraction or attack that the humanoid puppets could create. The Frog Dragon, one of Atlan''s puppets, tried to rush towards the three clones and rain forth a ball of acid in their direction. Now that they were all curled up in a small space, it was the perfect time to spew acid in their faces. However, the three dragons countered the acid by spitting out three spheres of void and destruction toward the acid ball, turning it into nothing but mere atoms upon contact. And the three balls didn''t stop there. They continued to rush up towards the Frog Dragon and combine into one single giant black hole that swallowed everything in its path. The Frog Dragon used its giant legs to ''jump'' up to a higher altitude, but not before having the black hole graze one of its legs. Upon contact, its legs were destroyed and devoured down to the bone. Atlan''s puppet started to fall. The loss of its legs led to a disharmony in its flight path. Thankfully, since his puppets were at the level of a Specialist Savior, it was able to recover its legs in a relatively fast manner. However, it was not fast enough for it to stop its descent, forcing it to crash down into the forest and land on several trees. Meanwhile, the three Dragon clones continued to rush toward the humans, with their intent clear as day. They wanted to devour the humans. It was at this point that Atlan finally made a move. He commanded his clone puppet to intercept the three dragon clones in their flight path. ''What is your clone gonna do? This is utterly ridiculous!'' the Dragon Queen ridiculed. But Atlan knew what he was doing. The clone puppet flew down to protect Ninth and the other, using its intense physical strength to defy gravity. Then, it simply raised its hands and pointed at the three dragons. At first, the Dragon Queen didn''t see anything significant with the clone puppet. In her eyes, it was as weak as the original or even much weaker. It did not pose a lot of trouble to her own three dragon clones. She even ridiculed Atlan. After all, her clones were a source of pride for her. It was ridiculous to think that the puny human would think that his clone would be better than hers. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But then, the clone suddenly closed its eyes and raised its hands. Suddenly, a familiar power emanated from the clone. It was something that everyone had seen before. A giant needle and a giant ball of yarn suddenly appeared beside the clone. And just like the original, the clone ball of yarn and needle started to move on its own, creating another puppet at a fast speed. It didn''t take long before it created another four puppets in its midst: the Beast, the Prince, the Frog Prince, and the Huntsman. The Dragon Queen Malificient felt that something was wrong. This wasn''t supposed to happen. It wasn''t supposed to be possible. The new puppets then raised their hands. Power surged from their humanoid bodies, the same one that the other humanoid puppets emanated. Then, a single command from Atlan''s clone puppet made the other puppets unleash their LifeSkills. The Huntsman fired off an Apocalyptic Hellfire arrow at the three dragon clones, creating a ruinous explosion that knocked off their scales. The Beast rushed towards the three dragon clones and started to wreak havoc on one of its backs, tearing scales with his bare hands. The Frog Prince swallowed another scale from the Dragon clones and started to transform into a dragon as well. The Prince used his protective bubble to protect the three clones from being destroyed by the dragon clones'' retaliation, which consisted of another three black holes. With the combined strength of the 2nd generation puppets, the three dragon clones were helpless as they got bombarded with Specialist-level LifeSkills. The Dragon Queen Malificient felt her pride get shattered once she saw this. ''YOU BASTARDS!'' Somehow, Atlan''s clones were able to beat her own clones. This shattered her pride into a million pieces and evoked a furious reaction from the Queen. In her anger, she summoned more and more clones, this time bringing a total of twenty Dragon clones from the death of the three dragons. This would have made other people tremble in fear, but Atlan didn''t even break a sweat. "You''re not the only one who can summon an infinite amount of clones." Atlan''s clone puppet summoned the giant needle and yarn again to create the last puppet. The Queen thought he''d create another White Beauty. But instead, Atlan''s clone puppet started to create another clone puppet of its own, with all the powers and abilities of the original Atlan. The Dragon Queen''s jaw dropped once she saw the 3rd generation clone puppet start to manifest its own giant yarn ball and needle. She couldn''t believe it. She thought she would have the advantage of numbers against the human boy. But this ''skill'' completely evened out the battlefield. "That''s right, you lizard. I can infinitely create puppets too." Chapter 379 - 379: War of the clones Because he created a perfect clone copy of himself, Atlan was able to create a clone that had all of his powers in its own Soul System. The reason why he hadn''t been doing this all this time was because he didn''t think it was possible. However, when the White Beauty puppet died, he found that it wasn''t possible to revive her by creating another puppet in her likeness. So, he was forced to think about other sources of inspiration for his new puppet. However, he didn''t have any other figure that he could come up with. After all, he needed to be intimately familiar with the subject he was trying to make into a puppet. With no other choice left, Atlan was forced to draw from himself. After all, he knew himself the best, so he thought that it would be easy to create a clone of himself. When he created the clone, he instinctively knew that this was what he should have been doing in the first place. When he looked at the clone, it was as if he was looking at himself. He couldn''t distinguish it from himself, meaning that it had the exact same properties and aura as him. And since he could telepathically communicate with his puppets, he knew that the puppet had the same LifeSkills as him. The idea of creating a never-ending loop of clones emerged from his mind when he realized that his clone puppet had the same Spinster LifeSkill that could create its own puppets. And since the clone was the same as him, it had the same idea as him at the same time. Slowly, the air got filled with copies of Atlan and his puppets. One became two, two became four, and four became eight until there were about tens of thousands of clones in the air in a matter of minutes. The Dragon couldn''t believe what she was seeing. She thought that Canzers like her were the only ones who could clone themselves perfectly, but it seemed as if this human boy was the sole exception. The more she fought Atlan, the more she realized that he was special. Not only was he able to communicate with her through some weird power, but he was also able to pull off moves that not even the strongest of humans could make. The Dragon Queen Malificient looked down at Tulip, who was sitting safe and sound amid hundreds of clones. She was sure. The human boy named Atlan was the chosen one in the prophecy. He was the one who could threaten her life. This infuriated the Queen. Just when she thought that she had gotten rid of the pesky prophecy, it kept coming towards her any way she did. She regretted taking her leisurely time killing Tulip. If she had simply killed her and not tried to make Ninth and the humans submit to her, then she could have been done with this whole thing before Atlan arrived on this battlefield. Without Atlan, the prophecy would have no chance of being fulfilled. She cursed her own vanity. This was all her fault. But it didn''t matter now. Just because Atlan could clone himself infinitely didn''t mean that he could kill a being like her. The difference in strength was simply far too wide for him to overcome. The Dragon Queen Malificient roared to the skies, with her shout rumbling the entire Remedium. The trees in the magical forest shook, shedding off the leaves from their branches as a massive horde of Dragon clones emerged from the horizon and rushed towards the battlefield. This time, the Queen wasn''t going to hold back her strength. She was going to demolish Atlan before he could even try to kill her. ''You''re just a cheap imitation! Let me show you the true power of Canzers!'' The Dragon Queen Malificient roared, and the tens of thousands of dragon clones surrounding the battlefield roared with her, creating a sound that was only comparable to the breaking of the entire world in half. To protect himself, Atlan commanded his puppets to command their own puppets to prepare for a large battle. As the first horde of Dragon clones came rushing from all sides towards the humans, a fiery bluish-green sea of arrows fired off from the thousands of Huntsman clones. They all targeted their own dragon clones, making sure to target their wings, which was the only source of their flight. The dragon clones, in retaliation, opened their mouths and created mini black holes that arbored death and destruction. Upon screaming at the top of their lungs, the dragon launched the black holes toward the humans. As the thousands of Apocalyptic Hellfire arrows hit their target, a large explosion with great magnitude propagated through the air. A large green plume of smoke emerged from the point of contact, almost creating a mushroom cloud. Immediately, tens of Dragons fell from the skies, with their wings burned or destroyed from the explosion. However, most of the Dragons came out of the volley of arrows unscathed. They were ruthless in using their dragon clones as a defensive shield to defend against the arrows. Meanwhile, the thousands of black sped through the air, continuously sucking up the air and atom particles, making itself bigger by the second. And as its mass increased, so did its force of attraction. Atlan and his tens of thousands of clones and puppets felt their bodies slowly starting to get sucked towards the black holes. To defend against this attack, Atlan made contact with the Prince puppet. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With a single snap of its fingers, the thousands of Prince puppets used their Protective bubble LifeSkill to protect themselves. And as the golden bubbles intersected with each other, they popped and joined together. As thousands of them joined into one, the whole protective bubble became a giant golden dome with enough defensive properties to even defend against an atomic bomb. Case in point, the black holes collided with the golden luster of the dome, creating sparks of energy as plasma. But no matter how much the black holes tried to swallow the energy of the golden dome, it could not do so as it pleased. As the seconds passed, the black holes started to get smaller and smaller before dissipating into nothingness. Chapter 380 - 380: Improvising Unfortunately, some of the black holes were able to pool their strength and were able to break through the golden dome and rush towards its target. Hundreds of Atlan''s clones and puppets were swallowed by the black holes, shredding them into nothing but their atoms, turning them spaghettified. Even though both sides lost hundreds of their clones, Atlan and the Queen both felt nothing from the clash. After all, the Queen could spawn three more copies for each dragon clone that died. That was her inherent skill. Meanwhile, Atlan found that he could infinitely create clones of himself as well. There was no drawback or limit to how much he could create puppets of himself who could create their own puppets. The battle of the two of them now became a battle of how fast they could kill each other''s troops. Atlan could double his current clones any time he wanted, which made his clones explode in numbers. However, it took a long time for this to happen because he needed the clones to summon their giant yarn and needle to create the puppets. Meanwhile, the Queen could summon only three new dragon clones for each clone that died. However, they could spawn immediately. Also, one single dragon had enough strength to go against five of Atlan''s puppets at the same time. This led to a stalemate on both sides, with no side having the advantage over the other. The original Atlan watched on the sidelines as his hundreds of puppets swarmed the hundreds of Dragons, with most of them getting demolished just to destroy the clones. Just then, Atlan felt a touch on his shoulders. He looked to the side and saw Tulip behind him. ''Atlan?'' S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even though there were thousands of identical clones all around him, somehow, Tulip was able to figure out that he was the original one. ''How did you know it was me?'' Atlan asked in perfect Canzer language. This surprised Tulip. Back then, whenever they talked to each other, Atlan would still speak the human language and she would barely be able to understand him. But now, he was speaking in the perfect Canzer language that she spoke. ''Surprised?'' Atlan asked. ''No,'' Tulip muttered. ''I..I had a feeling that you could speak like me¡­there''s something special with you¡­that''s why I ¡­. That''s why I¡­'' Tulip didn''t continue her words and turned away from facing Atlan. The clueless boy would have never thought that a Canzer would have a little crush on him. ''I''m glad you''re okay¡­'' said Tulip. ''Yeah¡­the Queen trapped me, but she didn''t kill me. If you ask me, that''s her biggest mistake.'' They didn''t know this, but the three good fairies were looking at the two of them and giggling to themselves. After all, they could see that the prophecy was coming true. The chosen one and the inheritor were in the same place. This meant that they had a chance to kill the Malificient Queen once and for all. ''My mothers told me about what happened¡­they told me that you were the chosen one¡­I don''t know what that is, trust me. I didn''t know you would get caught up in this just because you got involved with me.'' Even in this situation, Tulip was still worrying about other people rather than herself. It was as if she was more afraid of Atlan and the others dying than her. ''It''s fine. I would have helped you even if I wasn''t the chosen one.'' Tulip turned away again, hiding the bumps on her chitinous skin. She was lucky that Atlan didn''t know much about Chitin physiology. If he did, then he would have known that Tulip was feeling embarrassed, shy, and a little bit excited at the same time. He would see that her chitinous body vibrated every time he spoke because she liked listening to his voice. ''By the way,'' Atlan turned to the three good fairies watching by the sidelines. ''You say that I''m the chosen one. But how am I supposed to kill the Queen? She can''t kill me, but I can''t kill her as well. We are at a stalemate right now.'' The red fairy looked at the other three good fairies before floating towards Atlan. ''We don''t know exactly how you will best the Dragon Queen Malificient. But it has been foretold in the prophecy that the chosen one and the inheritor would combine their powers to stab at the heart of darkness.'' Atlan looked at the enchanted sword in his hands. The ''stab'' part was probably talking about the sword in his hands. He would probably need it for the final kill. However, he didn''t understand how he and Tulip were supposed to combine their powers. After all, Tulip didn''t have any sort of powers at all. She was useless on the battlefield. If he were to take the prophecy literally, then it could mean that Tulip and he needed to hold the sword together as they pierce it toward the Dragon Queen Malificient''s heart. However, if they were wrong, it could lead to the worst outcome possible. To stab the heart of the Dragon, he and Tulip needed to get close to the original Queen. The problem with this was that he would be bringing Tulip right in front of the Queen, giving her a chance to kill her. Right now, he was protecting her with thousands upon thousands of clones. But if he were to bring her to the front lines, he wasn''t sure he could protect her any longer. ''What am I supposed to do?'' asked Atlan. ''This stalemate can''t last forever. I don''t know which one of us will reach the limit, but I don''t like my odds.'' The three good fairies shook their heads. ''We do not know the answer, young man. You do, deep inside you. You are the chosen one, and you will know the right move at the right time.'' Without a proper clue as to how he was going to defeat the Dragon Queen, Atlan had to improvise. Chapter 381 - 381: Trying to talk sense Atlan had no choice but to try and beat the Dragon Queen Malificient under her own game. If she could triple the amount of her dragon clones the moment one of them dies, then he would keep multiplying all of his clones by two each time. By now, his number of clones kept growing at an exponential rate. At this point, the skies would be completely covered with his clones and his puppets. At that point, even if the Dragon Queen summoned more and more of her clones, she would not be able to keep up with his numbers. ''Atlan¡­we can''t keep going on like this,'' Tulip walked towards Atlan. ''We need¡­we need to finish this once and for all.'' Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan was trying to do that, but he didn''t know what to do. ''I''ll keep her occupied till I find the right idea. After all, that''s what your mothers said, right? I will not have the right idea when I think of it.'' But Tulip remained unconvinced. Even though she was still a lowly Canzer who didn''t have the strength or power to take control of the situation, she knew that she had to do something. It was as if something deep inside her was trying to say that she needed to be the one to spur everything on. ''You have to let me meet her,'' Tulip said. Atlan looked back at her like she was crazy. ''The Queen? Are you kidding me?! May I remind you that she is trying to kill you. Bringing you to her, I will be bringing what she wants the most on a silver platter.'' Right now, they were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of clones. No matter how much the Dragon Queen Malificient tried to go through the clones, she would never be able to penetrate the clones. But if Atlan and Tulip voluntarily got out of this protective bubble, the Queen would immediately take that chance and take both of them out at the same time. However, it seemed that he was the only one who was thinking about the consequences. Tulip was still adamant in her request. ''What''s the reason why she wants to kill me in the first place?'' Tulip asked. ''Your mothers didn''t tell you?" ''No¡­they said that you would tell me.'' Atlan cursed the three good fairies. They didn''t have to put that burden on him. They already burdened him by having him fight the Dragon Queen Malificient all on his own, but now, he also had to tell the truth to Tulip. If he complained about it to them, Atlan was sure that their excuse would be that they didn''t want to interfere with the prophecy. ''The reason the Queen wants you dead is because you are her weakness. There''s a prophecy that says that you will be the one to succeed her throne,'' Atlan explained. ''What? I don''t want to do that¡­'' Tulip said, desperate in her plea. ''It doesn''t matter. That''s what she thinks, and that''s what the prophecy says. Even when I say that I''m not the chosen one, that is what it is said in whatever prophecy your mothers are following.'' Tulip thought for a second, and a dangerous thought flowed through her mind. ''What if I explain to her that I mean her no harm? I don''t want to succeed her; I just want to return to my normal life. She can keep running the kingdom, and I won''t ever appear in front of her face.'' Atlan listened to Tulip''s words and couldn''t believe how naivete. ''That won''t work. Before you even get close enough to talk to her, she will blast you out of the sky the moment she sees you. She has already wasted enough time, she won''t hesitate to kill you when she sees a chance. And even if you can talk to her, do you think that she will believe you? I don''t know why, but beings like the Queen and your mothers believe in this prophecy thing like it was set in stone.'''' Atlan tried to reason with Tulip, but he could see the determination in her eyes. It was as if she had finally found the answer to her question. She had always wondered why she was in this situation at all. She only wanted a normal life in the forest with her mothers, but now, she finally understood why she had to be the one to do it. She needed to reason with the Queen. That was the only way they could get out of this. Somehow, Tulip was sure of this. ''Atlan, please escort me near enough for me to talk to the Queen,'' begged Tulip. But Atlan immediately shook his head. ''No. That''s too dangerous.'' Tulip took a big breath and said, ''Fine. I''ll do it by myself.'' Tulip then began walking towards the large collection of dragon clones all by herself. Atlan couldn''t believe how stubborn Tulip had become. He looked at the three good fairies, begging them for help. But instead of helping him convince Tulip out of her decision, the three good fairies nodded their heads towards him. ''What?'' he asked them. ''She has made her decision,'' said the blue fairy. ''We told you that if you have an idea, and it feels right, then it is what is meant to happen,'' said the green fairy. ''Tulip will meet with the Queen. That is in the prophecy. The reason why we didn''t say anything was because we couldn''t be the one to put the idea in her head. She had to be the one to decide for herself.'' Atlan shook his head. He couldn''t believe that even in this situation, the three good fairies were still thinking about the prophecy and its rules. Why couldn''t they just tell them the truth so that things would become so much easier? Well, she''s already decided. So, I guess I have no choice, Atlan thought to himself. And maybe, it was a good thing as well. After all, Tulip was the weakness of the Queen. Maybe, Tulip would show him the way to kill the Queen. Chapter 382 - 382: Destiny The original Atlan walked up to Tulip and grabbed her waist. Using his immense physical strength, he was able to lift her and himself into the air, as if he was walking on the ground. The hundreds of thousands of clones that filled the skies slowly made way for Atlan and Tulip, showing a direct line toward the horde of dragon clones. And further back there was the original Dragon Queen Malificient. Seeing this opportunity, the dragon clones immediately rushed toward the original Atland and Tulip. They looked like hungry dogs that had just gotten a glimpse of a meaty bone in the street. Of course, the moment they got close, Atlan''s clones and puppets converged on them and destroyed them into bits. Thousands of Apocalyptic Hellfire arrows were fired, and thousands of the humanoid Beast jumped from the ground and mounted the dragons, ripping the scales and wings from their back. Meanwhile, an infinite amount of golden bubbles protected Atlan and Tulip. Even when the thousands of dragon clones all shot a black hole toward them before their death, the infinite golden bubbles stopped them from penetrating deep into their territory. The moment one golden bubble shattered, two more took its place, hence the infinite golden bubble. Atlan''s clones moved to surround Atlan and Tulip at the center, creating a sphere of safety as they traveled closer and closer to the enemy territory. Meanwhile, the original Dragon Queen Malificient floated in the air, looking directly at Atlan and Tulip with eyes that could kill. It was clear that the moment she saw an opening, she would pounce and kill the two of them in a mere instant. ''Last chance. Do you really want to do this?'' Atlan asked. ''Yes. I do. I have to do this,'' replied Tulip. Knowing that he could do nothing to convince Tulip, he continued to move closer and closer to the dragon clones. He made sure to keep his eye peeled, making sure that anytime the dragon tried to do something, the clones were ready to make a decisive response. As they got closer and closer, Atlan realized that the dragon clones weren''t moving at all. They all started to move away from Atlan and Tulip. The thousands of dragon clones continued to make way for Atlan and Tulip to get closer to the Dragon Queen Malificient. This is a trap, Atlan thought to himself. After all, there was no way that the Queen would so graciously accept a truce with them without planning something under the shadows. However, Atlan didn''t have a choice. He had to trust Tulip and hope that she was able to convince the Queen out of this useless war. They continued to walk in the air. Atlan and Tulip were surrounded by his clones and puppets. Meanwhile, his clones and puppets were surrounded by a horde of dragon clones, ready to pounce at any time. Of course, this was extremely disadvantageous for Atlan and Tulip. If worse came to worst, then Atlan would have to use his trump card to escape. ''Have you come to surrender yourself,'' the Queen uttered from high up in the air. She slowly made her way towards Atlan and Tulip with a sly smile on her face. There was even a hint of ridicule in her eyes as if she thought that Tulip was stupid for bringing herself so close to her. ''Human, if you want mercy, that boat has long passed. We will not settle this fight until one of us will kill each other,'' the Queen said coldly. Back then, the Malificient Dragon Queen treated Atlan as nothing more than a little human boy. She didn''t treat him as any sort of threat and thought that she could kill him at any time he wanted. But she was quickly proven wrong. The fact that Atlan could keep up with her strength now, when he was just a little kid, meant that he had the potential to kill her in the future. That was what she wanted to avoid in the future. She finally realized why the prophecy treated Atlan as the chosen one. He was different from any human she had ever encountered. He was far too strong and overpowered. Just his ability to clone himself infinitely was enough to put him into one of the most dangerous beings in the Canzer world. ''Right back at ya, you lizard,'' Atlan replied. ''But I''m not here to settle our grudge. I''m here because someone wants to talk to you.'' The Dragon Queen Malificient looked at Tulip, who was right next to him. ''Miss¡­miss Queen¡­.'' Tulip could barely even stand up straight under the Dragon Queen''s gaze. If it weren''t for Atlan''s aura protecting her, her measly little body would be crushed under the weight of the Dragon Queen''s aura. ''I have no words for you,'' replied the Queen, making sure to increase her tyrannical aura to the maximum. But even when Tulip felt like her heart wanted to escape, she endured everything and opened her mouth. ''I want to stop this whole thing¡­I don''t want to inherit your throne. I have no desire for it¡­so, please. Just let us all go and I will never show myself in this kingdom ever again. You can rule this entire kingdom for as long as you can!'' Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Tulip''s words became louder and louder, turning into a shout. Her emotions got the better of her. In response to her charged message, the Dragon Queen Malificient simply laughed. ''HAHAHAHAHAHA! How amusing!'' Tulip frowned, not understanding why her words sounded so funny. From her perspective, her request was fully reasonable. ''Let me tell you something, little Canzer. Prophecies are strange, unpredictable knots of fate. Unless I kill you, then the prophecy will not change. You will eventually lead my downfall. Even if you go to the other side of the world, you will eventually find yourself back in this kingdom one way or another. There is a saying; One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.'' Chapter 383 - 383: Surrender The Dragon Queen Malificient was not receptive to Tulip''s suggestion. Unlike Tulip, the Queen knew a lot more about the true power of a prophecy. She treated it as nothing more than truth, plain and simple. Tulip may feel nothing for the Queen right now. But who''s to say that it won''t change in the future? It could very well be possible that Tulip would gain hatred and anger for the Malificient Queen in the future. After all, she did imprison her three mothers and burned their house down. The Queen also did not like to live a life filled with caution and worry. If Tulip lived somewhere in the world, then she would always have to worry about having her backstabbed out of nowhere. She didn''t like that. She would turn paranoid. ''Please. Let''s stop this nonsensical killing. I will not become your downfall!'' Tulip tried to convince the Queen. But the Dragon Queen Malificient had other plans. ''How about you kill yourself right now? That would solve all our problems.'' The Queen''s words made Tulip hesitate. If she wasn''t going to budge on this, then maybe the best way to go about this was to sacrifice herself and let other people live their lives. But Atlan''s warm hand on her chitinous shoulders told her that this was a bad idea. They weren''t sure that if Tulip died, the Queen would stop her reign of terror. It was more than possible that she would try to kill them all to get rid of all loose ends. Tulip was the Dragon Queen Malificient''s only weakness. This meant that if Tulip died, then the Queen would no longer have any weakness for Atlan and the humans to exploit. She would practically be invincible and impossible to defeat. This would eventually lead to their deaths. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Either way, they were too deep in this thing to give up now. There were only two options where this could go. Either they convince the Queen to stop, or they kill her. That was it. ''I can''t¡­do that,'' Tulip said meekly. ''Well then, we have no more to talk about.'' Just as the Queen said that, the thousands upon thousands of dragon clones all converged toward Atlan''s clones in the hopes of penetrating through their defense and reaching Tulip. Michael grabbed Tulip by the waist, ready to burst out of there the moment things got too dangerous. Atlan''s clones and puppets were ravaged by the dragon clones. Stay connected via My Virtual Library Empire The Beast puppets jumped atop the dragon''s back and tried to steer them to collide with other dragons. The Frog Dragon puppet continued to bite pieces of dragon clones, improving its strength in the process. The Huntsman puppet remained on the ground to protect Ninth and the team. But still, they fired shot after shot, creating a massive explosion that decimated the dragon clone population. With how many dragon clones there were in the sky, the Huntsman couldn''t miss even if he wanted to. Meanwhile, a group of Prince puppets remained close to Atlan and Tulip. Their golden bubbles intersected and combined to create an indestructible barrier. But of course, the Dragon clones continued to multiply by three with each death. They fired black holes after black holes, each growing in size as it devoured Atlan''s puppets. Tulip watched as the onslaught continued to rain down all around her. She couldn''t help but close her eyes. She didn''t want to see all of this. Even if they were mere puppets, Tulip felt as if they were real people. After all, even Atlan''s clones were starting to fall from the attacks of the Dragon clones. Everything happened all because of her. This meant that only she could end everything. Tulip wriggled out of Atlan''s grip and rushed towards the original Dragon Queen Malificient. ''Okay! Okay! I will surrender myself!" she said. Atlan tried to stop her but found that his strength started to wane. It was as if all of his powers were draining from his body for a mere second. This allowed Tulip to walk forward and present herself to the Dragon Queen Malificient. ''Ahh¡­see? That wasn''t so hard now, was it?'' The Dragon Clones made way for Tulip to float up towards the dwelling place of the original Dragon Queen Malificient. Atlan watched, helpless as Tulip went all on her own. ''What¡­what are you doing?!'' he tried to scream at her. But, Tulip just looked back at him and flashed him a smile. It looked like she had just given up, but Atlan could see a glimmer of determination in her eyes. What is she trying to do? Atlan asked himself. But even then, he couldn''t understand anything. Slowly, Atlan felt the power returning to his body. His Student-level strength shot back up to the specialist level, allowing him to have the strength he had back then. However, it was too late. Tulip was already amid the Dragon Clones as she floated up towards the Dragon Queen Malificient. ''Do not worry, little one. I will be gentle. I will only need your heart to consume for myself. I will not desecrate your body, and even leave a funeral for you at the end.'' Tulip looked down at the ground as the Queen pulled her closer to herself. The Queen, knowing that she was about to have whatever she wanted, transformed her body back to her Canzer form. If one looked at the Queen and Tulip, one would think that they were mother and daughter, if not sisters. They almost looked entirely the same, except for the signs of aging on the Queen''s chitin. Tulip floated close enough for the Queen to reach out her hand and grab Tulip''s chest. She was about to rip the heart of her weakness! Atlan could only watch on, helpless. He couldn''t understand what happened to him. If only he didn''t have that moment of weakness, then he could have prevented Tulip from doing something so stupid. But then, a flash of understanding crossed his eyes. He looked back down at the three good fairies, who were looking at him as well. Their expressions were solemn, but they were not sad. Atlan realized that they were the ones who caused his moment of weakness! This meant only one thing: they wanted Tulip to go to the Queen! Chapter 384 - 384: Sacrifice to kill Atlan made a contract with the three good fairies. In exchange for fighting the Dragon Queen Malificient, then they would lend him their powers, allowing him to surpass his current limitation of power and reach the Specialist level. But at that moment, his strength dropped back down to the Student level. It was as if the contract was voided for a brief second, which was enough of a time gap for Tulip to escape from his grasp. Atlan couldn''t interpret this any other way. The three good fairies wanted Tulip to surrender herself to the Queen! He couldn''t understand this. He thought that they cared deeply for their daughter, but this action led him to believe that they wanted her to be killed! His eyes and expression displayed the anger and frustration he had for them. He demanded answers. The three good fairies, knowing what Atlan must feel right now, nodded their heads. They couldn''t tell him anything, but they could at least give him some sort of sign that everything was proceeding as it was supposed to proceed. Atlan''s eyebrows furrowed. This is part of the plan? He couldn''t understand it. Tulip''s heart was about to be wrenched out of her chest, yet this was part of the plan? It was counterintuitive, if you asked him. But Atlan could do nothing but have faith. Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire Just then, Atlan realized something all around him. The thousands of dragon clones, all started to fall a slight bit from their usual flight pattern. It was as if they were losing energy fast. The Queen, in her excitement, only focused on Tulip''s heart. Once she consumed her heart, then she could be sure that the prophecy would be over. If she killed Tulip, she would be invincible under the sun! No human could ever kill her. But because she was so focused on that, she didn''t realize that her own body was starting to betray her strength. As Tulip got closer and closer to her, the Malificient Dragon Queen''s body started to get weaker and weaker. After all, she was in the presence of her very weakness. She was like a construct. The presence of Tulip in close proximity to her allowed a tiny brief moment of weakness. But the Queen didn''t care. She was about to be invincible after she killed Tulip. And even if the humans tried to attack her now, there were still thousands upon thousands of dragon clones ready to sacrifice their lives to buy her enough time to shove her hands into Tulip''s heart. They would never reach her in time. The Queen''s hands felt weak as it was about to reach Tulip''s chest. It started to shake. But the Queen continued to push her hands closer and closer, letting the sharpness of her nails pierce through Tulip''s weak chitin armor. But just as she was about to go deeper, Tulip suddenly lunged towards her and embraced her deeply. The Queen, not expecting this, could do nothing as Tulip had her in her embrace. No matter how much she tried to struggle, the Queen could not wriggle herself out of Tulip''s hands. She was at the peak of strength, and Tulip was at the bottom. Yet, the Queen didn''t have the strength to push her away. Since Tulip was making close contact with her, the Queen was weakened to such a state that she was even weaker than Tulip herself. Then, Tulip shouted back at Atlan. ''Do it now! Kill us both!'' she shouted. Atlan looked up at Tulip and the Queen. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing, but his first response was a definite no. Now that Tulip and the Queen were in the same place, it would be easy to kill the Queen. But, was it so easy? Just then, he remembered the three good fairies. They said that he was the chosen one, the being that would be the one to help kill the Magical Queen Malificient. Atlan didn''t believe the prophecy at all. But now, it kind of made sense. After all, if it was any other human in his place, they wouldn''t have been able to fight the Queen at all. It was only because of Atlan and his strange and overpowered abilities that allowed him to struggle with the Queen for this long. If it was any other Savior, they would have not been able to fight against a horde of Dragon clones all by themselves. But Atlan could do it. Only he could have done it. And even in this situation, where he was faced with killing both Tulip and the Queen, Atlan was the only one who could do it. Since he was a human and he didn''t have a construct, he could never kill a Canzer. This meant that he would never be able to kill the Queen, no matter how weakened she became. But Atlan was special. He had a secret power. He had the SSS class LifeSkill Cherubic Retribution, which was made out of the powers of an angel. With that LifeSkill, he could kill the Queen even if he didn''t have a construct with him. He only needed her to be weakened, just like she was now. But that also meant that he could kill Tulip. Since they were holding each other so close, Atlan couldn''t target just one of them. He had to hit both of them. It finally made sense why the three good fairies all told him to conceal his Angel Wings and his angel power. If he had shown his trump card early, then the Queen would have become too wary of him to let down her guard like she did now. He looked back at the three good fairies, and they all nodded at him with a smile. They were saying to him that this was the time. Atlan finally knew what to do. ''Tulip¡­don''t die.'' he muttered. Atlan commanded the thousands upon thousands of his clones to look up and face the Queen. As he raised his hand, his ten thousand clone army all raised their hand with him. They all pointed at the Queen and Tulip. Slowly, the power of the Angels gathered in his hands. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 385 - 385: Sword pierced The combination of ten thousand Atlan clones allowed the Cherubic Retribution cloud to become as big as an ocean. Of course, the lightning bolt that it would unleash was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. The cloud was so strong that Atlan even doubted that he could control it by himself. It was starting to go out of control, spewing little bolts of lighting everywhere. But it didn''t matter. As long as it hit the Queen, then she would disintegrate beyond a doubt. Even her tremendous regeneration ability wouldn''t save her from the onslaught of the Angel power coursing through her chitinous body. Atlan just needed to snap his fingers to unleash the final bolt needed to kill the Queen. ''Begone,'' he said in the Canzer language. He could have simply said it in the human language, but he didn''t. He wanted the Dragon Queen Malificient to understand that she would perish soon. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As soon as he said that, the giant cumulonimbus cloud above her head started to shake and vibrate as if it was about to explode. Then, a giant golden bolt of lightning came down from the heavens and emerged down the cloud. Even though a bolt of lightning was extremely fast, everyone saw it unfold like it was in slow motion. The bolt of golden lighting crawled down, with little sparks of electricity surrounding the large bolt. Ninth and the others watched on with wonder and amazement as the lightning bolt resembled the peak power of the Angels they were so used to back in the day. For them, it was a symbol of hope. But for the Queen, it was a symbol of death. Even though she could see the golden lightning bolt and follow its movements, she could do nothing but watch as it moved closer down to her body. She couldn''t escape. Her chitinous heart was beating a thousand times per second. She was starting to think that this might be truly the end of her life. Even when she tried to take control of her Dragon clones, they were unable to get close to the giant golden bolt of lightning. The inherent weakness they had against Angel power made them unable to go against their better nature. The Dragon Queen Malificient cursed her clones. She wanted them to swarm the clouds and the golden lightning in an attempt to try and disperse it out of the air, but they refused her request. They all knew that they would die the moment they tried to enter the cloud or put themselves in harm''s way by the bolt of lightning. That was permanent death. They won''t be able to clone themselves after they die from Angel power. ''Curse you, Tulip! Is this truly what you want? Death for both of us?! You are condemning the deaths of millions of Canzers in our kingdom. Without me, they are helpless against the onslaught of both humans and Canzers. Is the life of these humans so much more worth to you? In a choice between millions of Canzers and a handful of humans, you would choose the humans?! Preposterous. This is the reason why you cannot be allowed to inherit my kingdom!'' Seeing the determined face on Tulip, the Dragon Queen Malificient knew that it would be useless to speak to Tulip. ''I''m not doing this for others,'' Tulip said. ''I''m doing it for myself. For my revenge. This is for burning down my house. This is for imprisoning my mothers. This is for trying to hurt my friend!'' Just as she said that, the golden bolt of lightning finally hit the Dragon Queen Malificient''s body. Since her body was in her Canzer form, all the Angel power was absorbed quickly into her body, wreaking havoc and continuing to revolve around her body. She felt her strength waning as if she was about to fall asleep. But the Queen didn''t want to die yet. She was trying to fight the Angel power. As the most powerful being in this kingdom, she couldn''t let herself be bested by a mere human. She even realized that the bolt of lightning wasn''t as strong as she expected. Atlan didn''t use its full strength. If he did, then she would have died the moment the golden bolt of lightning hit her chitinous body. But even after a fraction of a second had passed, the Queen still felt as if she could try to overcome the lightning Angel power. It still hurt as if her entire body was on fire, but the Queen could ignore that and try to endure the power of the Angels. As long as she endured enough, Tulip would eventually pass away before her, allowing her to regain most of her strength. Once the bolt of lightning dissipated, the Malificient Queen would regain enough strength to escape or try to kill Atlan while he was at his most vulnerable. ''Come die, Tulip!'' Slowly, the Malificient Queen felt Tulip''s grip on her body start to lighten. As expected, a weak Canzer like her would be unable to hold on for much longer against an onslaught of the golden bolt of lightning. Even if Tulip wasn''t hit by the bolt directly, she was still holding onto the Queen tightly, meaning the excess Angel power coursed through her body as well. Since she was weak, Tulip felt herself becoming more and more weak, until, her hands finally gave way. She let go of her grip on the Queen, letting her regain some of her strength. The Dragon Queen Malificient smiled, feeling as if she was close to victory. With Tulip falling to the ground, she was getting further and further away from the Queen, dissipating the weakening effect she had on the Queen. And with that power restored, she had more energy to try and resist the golden bolt of lightning. Previously, her chitinous armor was starting to fade away bit by bit as it turned into ash, but now, the Queen was regenerating her wounds. ''HAHAHAHA¡­I WILL WIN. I WILL BEAT THE PROPHECY¡ª'' Before she could speak any further, she suddenly felt a piercing pain in her heart. When she opened her eyes, she saw Atlan in front of her, with his sword pierced towards her heart. Chapter 386 - 386: Finish her off The Malificient Dragon Queen''s eyes suddenly widened as she realized what was happening. The presence of something that even she feared was suddenly present in the little human boy, surprised her into shock. That was the power of the Angels. But that was supposed to be impossible. Not to mention that they were extinct, a human shouldn''t even be able to wield their power at all! Just then, Atlan and all ten thousand of his clones all burst out Angel Wings from behind his back, empowering the Angel power in his body. If the angel power the Queen felt before was like a small drop in the bucket, now, the presence of Angel power in this place was like an entire ocean! She almost suffocated from the pressure of her greatest enemies. After all, Angels were Canzers'' weakness. Now, all of his clones were clouded in a shroud of Angel divinity. And the fact that Atlan only revealed this kind of power meant that he had been planning for this to happen from the beginning. Atlan could have used his Angel Wings much earlier in the fight, and probably have gained the advantage in the battlefield. After all, Angel Wings allowed him to have a tremendous amount of speed and maneuverability in the air. Even if it wasn''t as strong as the original Angel Wings, it was still strong enough to beat the Dragon Queen Malificient and her dragon clones'' speed. But since he kept it hidden all this time, the Dragon Queen thought that Atlan had given all that he had got. This led the Queen to let her guard down and let Tulip get close to her, making her temporarily weak. Now, she was in a very precarious situation. Because of the presence of Tulip, she couldn''t bring up any sort of power to try and get out of this situation. She didn''t even have any power to push Tulip away! Now was the perfect time for Atlan to use his Angel Power. If it was before, then the Dragon Queen Malificient would have been able to get out of this battlefield as soon as possible, taking no chance to fight against someone with the power of the Angels by his side. The Dragon Queen Malificient cursed the prophecy. Just like what others said, it wouldn''t be easy to break what was meant to happen. Meanwhile, Ninth and the other Specialist Saviors looked on at Atlan with surprise written all over their faces. They couldn''t help but force their injured bodies to sit up and stare at the pure white Angel Wings on Atlan''s back. The presence of the Angels brought back a familiar memory within them, like a mother''s hug. Because they were at the top of their field, they were privy to a lot of sensitive information that others wouldn''t have been able to know. As soon as the Angels went extinct, all the high-level Saviors were informed of their death. At first, of course, everyone couldn''t believe the news. After all, Angels were supposed to be an extension of the God itself. There were even some people who didn''t care that the Angels died off. But that was before they all realized that with the death of the Angels, came the death of all living beings. They were made to realize that without the Angels, their immortality came with them. This meant that they could die! This led a lot of the Specialist Saviors to be afraid. After all, they had lived for far too long and lived a life in luxury just so that they would die. So, even though the fate of the City was at stake, some of the most powerful Saviors in the City refused to do this mission, leaving the relatively new Ninth and her team to go on this church mission instead. It didn''t matter to Ninth though. She was going on this mission whether they still had their immortality or not. She cared about this City and didn''t want it to be destroyed. They were all prepared to die during this mission if that''s what it took. But there were still traces of fear and uncertainty in their hearts. No one was ever ready to die. However, when they saw the presence of the Angel Wings in Atlan''s back, they were once again reminded of their aura. It made them realize that the Genesis God hadn''t forsaken them after all. That must have been the reason why the Elder Heads insisted on Atlan becoming part of this mission. They must have known about his Angel powers, simply because the Genesis God foretold them about it. After all, they were the only ones who could communicate with Him. The Genesis God knew this would happen, and knew that Atlan would be the only one to stop it! It finally made sense why a Student-level porter was allowed to be in such a difficult Specialist-level mission. Now, Ninth and her team had hope in their eyes. Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to come out of this unscathed and with the safety of the entire City intact. "Go¡­go kill her, Atlan," Ninth muttered. Just then, Atlan finished his preparation. Even though it took a few seconds for him to lock towards his target, it was easy since they weren''t moving at all. Tulip made sure that the Malificient Dragon Queen wouldn''t be able to escape. As Atlan''s power surged through his veins, all the Angel power seemed to have gathered in the air at the top of Tulip and the Queen''s head. Slowly, a large, dark cloud gathered from out of nowhere and obscured the entire heavens. It rumbled with lightning, warning everyone of its eventual explosion. The Queen felt fear from the cloud above her. This was the first time where she felt as if her own life was being threatened. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She started shaking. She was about to die. The most powerful being in the kingdom was cowering under the strength of the Angel Power, yet in contrast, Tulip wasn''t afraid at all. She was even relieved, knowing that all would be over soon. Chapter 387 - 387: Same circumstance Atlan pierced through the heart of the Queen. His sword sunk deeply into her chitinous armor, penetrating her innards and reaching the most vital part of her body. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She might have escaped from her weakness, Tulip, which allowed her to regenerate some of her health, however, Atlan just came in time to finish the job. Just when the Dragon Queen Malificient thought that she would come out of this unscathed, Atlan suddenly made another injury to her body, weakening it enough to have the Cherubic Retribution lightning tear through her body. The regenerating chitin on the Queen''s body stopped as the chaos and destruction caused by the Angel power in her body started to retake control. Her strong chitin, which would have allowed her to survive even in the toughest of situations, was now starting to burn into nothing but ashes. Slowly, the Malificient Dragon Queen''s face turned paler and paler, with cracks appearing under her skin. She had lost. If only she had known that Atlan had the power of the Angels, then she would have made sure to kill him first. Or if that wasn''t possible, she could have run away for now. In the last dredges of her life, the Dragon Queen Malificient looked Atlan in the eyes, conveying her anger and her fury at him for one last time. And by resisting the disintegration effect of the Cherubic Retribution had on her body, using the last energy spurt in her mind, she opened her mouth and spoke to Atlan. ''Ha..hahaha¡­human¡­you will pay¡­.they will come¡­'' And in her last words, the Dragon Queen finally turned into nothing but ashes, slowly dissipating away from the wind in the air. Atlan felt the power in his sword weaken, finally having finished its job. He looked around and saw the dragon clones fading just like the original, turning their magnificent scales that could protect them from an atomic bomb, into nothing but ashes. Finally, it was just him at the top of the skies, looking down at everything under his feet. He couldn''t believe it. He had done it. He had killed a Specialist-level Canzer all by himself. And it wasn''t just a regular old Specialist Canzer, it was a Dragon of all species. It was perhaps the strongest one out there in the world. Of course, he couldn''t have done it without other people''s help, but it was the undeniable truth that he was the one that injured her to this extent, and sunk the final blow to her death. He killed her. Plain and simple. But it didn''t come at a cost. Atlan unfurled the Angel Wings in his back, allowing him strength and speed, unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He disappeared from the air and reappeared further below, holding the lifeless body of Tulip in his hands. He looked at her face and saw nothing but relief in her expression. Just as she thought, Atlan would be able to fulfill her wishes to the very end. And because of that, she would gladly welcome death that came for her. Atlan couldn''t help but shed a tear for the helpless little Canzer. Even though she was the weakest out of all of them, she turned out to be the strongest. She was able to hold her own against the Dragon Queen Canzer, allowing herself to be taken captive by her, only to turn things around and capture the Queen instead. It was a moment of brilliance that Atlan would never forget in his life. Atlan was only able to kill her because of Tulip''s sacrifice. If she hadn''t weakened the Dragon Queen Malificient to the point of immobility, then Atlan wouldn''t have had the time to target her with his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill. But now, her bravery came at a cost. Because she was so close to the Queen, she was also affected by the Cherubic Retribution. It wreaked havoc on her small and fragile body. Atlan had to be careful because he felt as if any large movements and Tulip''s body would start to fade away into the wind. He looked at her face and saw the cracks starting to propagate throughout her body. She was also starting to disintegrate, but he didn''t want that to happen. He wanted her to have a proper burial. At least then, she would be at peace in her home. He floated back towards the three good fairies. They all surrounded Tulip with tears in their eyes. But just when he thought they''d cry their hearts out at this tragedy, the three good fairies looked at Atlan with a tinge of hope and desperation. Atlan looked at their eyes, but couldn''t decipher their intentions. ''What do you want me to do?'' he asked them. But the three good fairies kept their mouths shut. Even though they wanted to tell him, they couldn''t. The prophecy forbids them from doing so. After all, if they told him the truth, then it wouldn''t happen. Atlan needed to figure it out for himself. But still, the three good fairies could give him hints. ''Human¡­have you seen this before? You must have felt that all of this is familiar¡­'' the red fairy said. Atlan looked at the fairies with a confused face. He didn''t understand what they were talking about. I''ve seen this before? Atlan asked himself. But of course, he would remember whether he experienced this specific moment before. Maybe they''re not talking about this specific moment¡­where have I experienced a similar moment?...where have I seen this before¡­ And as he kept trying to remember, it finally clicked. And the revelation in his mind was so shocking that he couldn''t help but take a step back. He looked at Tulip, and then back at the memory in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He couldn''t believe it. Tulip almost had the same exact circumstances as the White Beauty! They were both princesses who were being hunted down by their Queen who turned out to be a dragon! Chapter 388 - 388: Metamorphosis Even though the two were completely different, Atlan couldn''t help but find a small similarity between the two. The White Canzer was forced out of her castle by the Enchanted Queen because she killed the royal family. So, she ended up fleeing far away from the castle until she settled into the forest. Tulip didn''t know why she was forced out of the castle, but she still ended up settling into the forest, where she hid all her life until Atlan found her. The two situations were completely the same, albeit the small differences. Both of them were being hunted by the Dragon Queens. The only difference was that the Enchanted Queen, the one that Atlan met earlier and became his ally, wanted to kill the White Canzer because she had committed a crime. Meanwhile, the Magical Queen wanted to kill Tulip simply because she wanted to stop the prophecy from being fulfilled. Tulip lived a life of silence and peace with her mothers. And she would have probably continued to do so if the Queen hadn''t been so hell-bent on trying to kill her. And the similarities between the two women Canzers didn''t end there. After all, the White Beauty had a Prince by her side. He was the one who was destined to protect and save her from harm. Back then, Atlan was able to defeat the White Canzer with the poisoned apple construct. This put her into an eternal sleep that would have finished off the job so much earlier than it did. However, her Prince suddenly arrived and revived her from her eternal slumber. If Atlan were to think about it some more, then the equivalent of the Prince in this situation was none other than himself! S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And if he were to follow that logic, then there is only one possible way that he could interpret this situation. ''I can still save Tulip¡­'' he asked the three good fairies. Even though they didn''t say anything, he could see it in their eyes that they were holding out onto the hope that he would somehow realize what they were trying to imply to him. After all, he was the chosen one in the prophecy. It was already foretold that once the Magical Queen Malificient was dead, Tulip''s death would follow. That was unless the chosen one would save her from death''s grasp. Now, they truly hoped that Atlan was the true chosen one in this prophecy. Atlan slowly put Tulip''s lifeless body into the ground. He noticed that she was paler than she was a minute ago, which meant that the window for her revival was nearing its closure. If he wanted to save her, then he had to do it not. Atlan slowly puckered up his lips as he kissed Tulip''s lips. This was how the Prince revived the White Canzer before. A single kiss was able to revive the White Canzer from her eternal slumber. Atlan hoped that this would be the one to bring Tulip back to life. And just as their lips touched, Tulip''s body suddenly began to glow a golden light. Her previously frozen heart was now slowly starting to beat again, spreading blood all over her body and beginning to give her a pinkish complexion. DADUMM¡­DADUM¡­ Slowly, he could hear her heartbeat start to rise as if she was about to wake up from a deep sleep. Atlan pulled away from her and observed her. After a few seconds, the golden light faded away. Atlan thought that it worked. After all, he could hear her chitinous heart beating once again. But as he observed her face, he noticed something weird. The cracks brought on by the effects of the Cherubic Retribution were getting larger and larger as if Tulip''s entire body was starting to break apart. He was getting worried, thinking that Tulip would die out completely. But as he looked at the three good fairies, he realized that they weren''t worried at all. In fact, they looked like they were celebrating with a joyous expression. ''She has awakened!'' ''Human! Thank you!'' ''Do not worry, for Tulip is not nearing death. It is the opposite. She is starting her rebirth!'' Atlan watched as Tulip''s body began to break down even further, with fragments of her chitin cracking down and popping right out of her body. But it was then that Atlan realized that Tulip wasn''t dying, she was undergoing a metamorphosis. Her old body was like a cocoon, allowing her juvenile self to mature. And now that she has fully reached maturation, she no longer needed that cocoon. Her old chitin finally broke down, letting everyone see the new, polished chitin underneath. CRACK! POP! In the small-scale explosion, Tulip''s new body emerged out of her old body and floated into the air. Then, Tulip opened her eyes. She looked everywhere, confused as to what had happened to her. But as she looked down and saw the familiar faces of Atlan and her mothers, her expression softened. Atlan looked at Tulip''s new body and realized that she no longer looked as small as before. She had matured. Her physical appearance was something similar to the appearance of the Magical Queen Malificient, but there weren''t any malicious horns or spikes growing everywhere on her body. Tulip was the embodiment of peace and serenity, with her chitin colored green and white. She looked at her own hands, unable to reconcile that this was now her true body. She held power that was unfamiliar to her yet felt like it was hers this whole time. ''She has finally reached her final form!'' ''She is our new Queen! Our new Dragon Queen!'' ''She will lead us on the right path for the future!'' The three good fairies couldn''t help but praise the prophecy for being right. They believed in it all this time, and now, they were being proven right. ''The old Queen is finally dead. Rejoice, human. For you have accomplished everything that you needed to accomplish!'' Chapter 389 - 389: Green-White Dragon Tulip felt a different kind of power in her body. It felt as if her new body wasn''t enough to contain the magic and power that was hidden inside her soul. Instinctively, she knew what to do. She knew how to unleash this power outside and transform her body into something completely different. She looked at her mothers, and they gave her an assuring nod. They were saying to her that it was okay. That it was natural. Now that she had changed into her final form, she was no longer the weak old Tulip that she was before. She was stronger. And in the future, she would be even stronger than the Dragon Queen Malificient herself. That was the prophecy. Tulip looked at Atlan. This human boy was the reason why she had survived all this time. He was the reason why the Queen was dead. She felt indebted to him. She would do anything she could for him. And even though she had no desire to rule over an entire kingdom, she knew that she had to. There was something deep inside her heart that was telling her that governing the Magical Kingdom was the answer to how she could help Atlan. So, if in the future, Atlan would need the help of the entire kingdom, then Tulip would wait for that moment. And in the crescendo of her emotions, Tulip let go of all restrictions that were binding her body. Her green and white chitinous body started to glow white, turning everyone almost blind from the luminescence. Slowly, Tulip''s body started to grow and enlarge, so much so that she had to float up into the air so that she wouldn''t disturb anyone. She felt her legs grow, her arms extend, and her head become larger. And most of all, she felt a pair of wings behind her, giving her the power to defy gravity and float in the air. She felt superior in the air. She felt like she would never lose in terms of speed. As Tulip''s transformation finished, the glow faded, letting everyone see her new form. She was a Dragon. Her scales were a combination of white and green, allowing her to be eye-catching even at large distances. They would be able to see her in all her beauty, no matter if they were from the other side of the world or not. And even though the power she had now wasn''t all that great compared to the original Queen, Atlan could feel a sense of power hiding deep inside her. It was like a seed, which would slowly grow into a magnificent tree in the future. Tulip spread her wings and soared through the skies, with her expression showing relief and happiness. This was the first time she had ever been this free. She felt as if she could do anything and go anywhere she wanted. Power surged through her body until her scales were glowing a bright neon green. She knew instinctively what this was. She looked down and spotted Ninth on the ground. Even though she was safe for now, it couldn''t be denied that she was in a bad situation. Her body was destroyed beyond belief. She wasn''t in any position to walk, much less continue the mission. And without Ninth, no one can continue the mission. This meant that they would have to retreat for now. Which would be such a shame because they were so close to the Church. Tulip knew what to do. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She gathered all the power in his body and released it into the form of a glowing ball of energy in her mouth. The sphere glowed and rotated around itself before being launched directly at Ninth''s body. The team of Specialist Saviors was a little bit wary. But once Atlan motioned for them to stop, they quickly backed down. Atlan knew that Tulip meant no harm. The sphere of power wasn''t emanating chaos and destruction like the Malificient Queen''s attack. It was emanating warmth and radiance. As it was about to reach Ninth, the ball suddenly slowed down to a crawl before gently making contact with Ninth''s head. As soon as the energy hit Ninth, a strange power coursed through her entire body. It went through all of her veins, fixing the mess that was once wreaking havoc on her body. Slowly, her cuts started to close up. The bruises started to clear. And most of all, the pained expression on Ninth''s face slowly faded and was replaced by an expression of relief. Miraculously, Ninth recovered enough energy to slowly wake from unconsciousness. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see her Soul Time recover from its dire state. She was previously only hours away from death, but somehow, she had gained a thousand years of Soul Time! She couldn''t believe it. She looked up at the dragon in the skies, and she knew instinctively that it was a friend. That was Tulip. She used to feel afraid and anxious whenever she looked at a dragon, but somehow, she felt safe and warm whenever she looked at the white and green dragon in the skies. She chuckled to herself. So much had changed inside her because of this mission. She thought Canzers and humans were mortal enemies, where one could not rest until the other was exterminated. For her, Canzers were killed on sight. But now, her perspective has changed. Just like humans, Canzers had good and bad personalities. Some Canzers deserve to die, just like the Magical Queen Malificient, and there were Canzers who deserved to live, like Tulip. It made her wonder about her previous Canzer kills. If she had tried to talk to them, would they have shown a different personality? Would she have become friends with some of them? She took that even further. Why did Canzers and humans have to fight at all? Why weren''t they making efforts to work together, to make peace between the two worlds? She decided right at this moment. She was going to do everything she could from here on out, to fulfill the peace between Canzers and humans. Chapter 390 - 390: Rewards for the Queen’s death Atlan was approached by the three good fairies. ''Human. We want to thank you again for everything you have done.'' ''Yes. We''re extremely grateful.'' ''And for your troubles, we have decided to let you keep the magical sword and shield.'' Atlan looked at the weapons in his hand. The shield allowed him to defend against a serious attack from the Magical Queen Malificient, even while he was at the Student-level. With this shield, he could be sure that no Canzer could even come close to him. As for the sword, it was even more powerful than the sword. After all, it was the piece of metal that was able to pierce through the Dragon Queen Malificient''s chest, through its hard and dense scales and ribs. It was supposed to be the most protected part of the Dragon, but Atlan''s sword was somehow able to pierce through it with nothing but a small shove. Not only that, but ever since it had been drenched in Dragon Queen blood, Atlan felt as if there was some kind of power hidden inside his sword. ''Do not worry, human. The magical sword has the chance to absorb power from anything that it kills. And because we endowed it with luck, it is practically guaranteed that the sword will grow with every death it takes.'' Atlan nodded happily as he wielded the sword and shield. It was very strong, and he doubted whether he could even get a stronger weapon than this in the real world. However, it simply didn''t fit right in his hands. It was ''perfect'' in every sense of the word, but Atlan felt like it wasn''t perfect for him. He felt like there was a better weapon for him¡ªsomething like the scythe that he found back in the garden. ''Although we would like to give you a permanent boost in power, we must retract the power that we have given you to fight the Queen Malificient'' Atlan nodded. After all, it was stated in the contract that they made from his LifeSkill Book of Contracts, that the lending of their power was only viable until the Dragon Queen Malificient was dead. Now that the fight was over, that contract was null and voided. He also didn''t want to borrow someone else''s power for very long. It always felt like there was something foreign inside his body that he couldn''t quite describe. Atlan closed his eyes and let the power leave his body. His figure glowed, and small blobs of light left his skin and floated over to the three good fairies. Atlan was back to being in the Student-level realm. But he wasn''t sad in the least. After all, by killing the Dragon Queen Malificient all by himself, he was able to gain all the rewards in her death. [You have reaped an absolute being.] [You have defied all the odds.] [Multiplying all rewards by 10] [You have gained 999,999,999 experience.] [You have witnessed the extinction of the Magical Queen Malificient.] [You have gained 100,000,000 upgrade points] [You have gained the SSS-class LifeSkill: Tyrannical Dragon Tamer] ¡ªTamer: (SSS) Tyrannical Dragon Tamer ¡ª¡ª¡ª 1st stage Specialist realm ¡ª¡ª¡ª Allows the user to have complete and total domination over any dragon that he has seen. The user can summon the tamed dragon from anywhere in the world or universe. And if they so desire, he could improve the strength of his dragons, just as the user can improve his strength [You have gained 999,999 F class fragments] [You have gained 10-star genus: Draco Vulgaris] [You have gained 999,999 fragments] Atlan felt power coursing through his veins, power that was even greater than the power given to him by the three good fairies. The power given to him by the contract felt shallow. Even though it gave him enough power to fight against the Dragon Queen Malificient, Atlan knew that it wasn''t his. He knew that as fast as he obtained it, the faster it would be to leave. But with this power, he knew that it was his. It would never leave his side. It was now embedded deep into his bones, his veins, and his Soul System. Right now, his power was in the 1st stage Specialist realm. And for the new LifeSkill he obtained, he couldn''t help but smile. As far as he knew Dragons were the ultimate race in this world or universe. And the fact that he could now tame all of them meant that he now held absolute power in his hands. He no longer had to worry about any Dragon that tried to attack him. He would actually welcome it. After all, it would give him a chance to tame them and keep them for himself! It was as amazing as it seemed. Speaking of which, he wondered if he could try it out right now. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Tulip¡­can you do me a favor?'' The green and white dragon in the skies immediately landed down next to Atlan with excitement. Tulip was so eager that she forgot that she weighed more than a thousand kilograms and was even more massive than some hills. As soon as she landed on the ground, the ground shook and cracked. ''Oops¡­hehe, sorry,'' Tulip said, with her tail shyly covering her head. ''It''s fine, Tulip. You''re still getting used to your new body. By the way, have I complimented you yet about your new look? It''s good.'' Tulip couldn''t help but smack her tail on the ground hard as she tried not to get embarrassed. ''Oh, you! It''s okay, I guess¡­hehe¡­'' Atlan then looked up at her with a sincere look. ''Tulip, do you trust me?'' The green and white dragon didn''t even hesitate as she nodded her head up and down, creating a gust of wind that almost knocked Atlan off his feet. ''Of course I do, Atlan!'' she replied. ''I have this new LifeSkill called Dragon Tamer, which allows me to¡­'' Atlan explained everything to Tulip, making sure to tell her the whole truth, with no secrets. ''Hehehe! Tame me, Atlan!" Chapter 391 - 391: Enchanted Queen Atlan thought that Tulip would deny his request outright. At least, he thought that she would think it through for a long time before ultimately rejecting it. After all, being tamed could be considered a demeaning action, especially to a dragon like her. Now that she had reached the peak of her ultimate form, she was no longer the simple Tulip that she was before. She was now the Queen of the kingdom and the ruler of the skies. ''Hehehe tame me, Atlan!'' But contrary to all his expectations, Tulip agreed to his words as soon as he stopped talking. It was as if she wasn''t even listening in the first place. "Are you sure about this, Tulip? This isn''t some simple contract. Being tamed means that you will always be connected to me. It means that I will always be able to summon you whenever I want, and wherever I want." Instead of getting afraid of those words, Tulip instead became very shy, putting both of her dragon hands on her head and shaking her head shyly. ''Connected¡­with Atlan¡­at all times¡­hehehe¡­'' Seeing her unable to think properly, Atlan looked to the three good fairies for help. "Can you help her make sense of this?" At this point, Atlan wanted Tulip to reject his request. He was worried for her because she answered his request too easily. And since the three good fairies were Tulip''s parents, he hoped that they would convince her to go out of this decision. ''Congratulations, honey!'' ''You bagged a good one there!'' ''This is cause for celebration!'' The three good fairies ignored Atlan and swarmed Tulip. And with their powers, they made fireworks in the sky. They were celebrating more now than they were celebrating surviving the Queen! It was quite an absurd sight to see. "What''s wrong with you all?" he asked the three good fairies. "Don''t you want to protect your child from being tamed by me?" The red fairy looked at Atlan and smiled. ''Human, this is all part of the prophecy too. It is said that after triumphing against the Malificient Queen, the inheritor and the chosen one will intertwine and live happily ever after. We thought you two would mate and become lovers. But, becoming tamed is good too.'' Atlan sighed. He shouldn''t have expected them to be on his side. They were also trying to further their cause. ''It''s okay, Atlan. I know what I''m doing,'' Tulip said. ''You have always protected me whenever I needed it. You even sacrificed yourself just so that I wouldn''t be abducted by the Queen. Now that I have the power, I want to repay all that you''ve done for me. I want to become tamed so that whenever you need me, you can call on me and I will go to your aid.'' Atlan looked at Tulip and saw the sincere intentions in her eyes. He smiled. It seemed that he was underestimating Tulip. She was no longer the innocent Canzer that she was before. She was a dragon, who could think and decide for herself. "Fine. It''s your decision." Atlan closed his eyes and focused on the new LifeSkill planet in his Soul System. And as he did, he suddenly felt something change in his vision. Somehow, even with his eyes closed, he could see the outline of Tulip in front of him. He could see a fire inside her body. Somehow, he felt like he could touch that fire. He felt like he could interact with it. He knew instinctively what to do. His ''soul'' left his body and traveled towards Tulip. And in this strange, dark, world, Atlan grabbed Tulip''s fire inside her body. And once he did, a connection was established between the two of them. A red line was suddenly connected from his heart to her heart, allowing him to feel her presence no matter where he was. [Connection established with the Serene Dragon.] [Taming¡­.] [Complete!] [You have tamed the Serene Dragon. You can summon your tamed being at any time you want.] Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [You can change your tamed being''s appearance whenever you are out of the Remedium.] Somehow, Atlan felt stronger than he was before. Even when he had officially stepped into the Specialist realm, it felt like his natural bump had been increased once again. It''s probably because I tamed a strong being. He was still not getting used to the fact that he was now on the same level as Ninth and the others. It felt like nothing had changed, but in truth, everything had changed. His body felt super strong. Even when he wasn''t using the False Mutation of his Angel Wings, he could now move freely even with the immense weight of the battle suit he was wearing. He could jump, run, and swim, much faster than when he didn''t have his battle suit before. Just then, the whole Remedium reverberated. It was subtle, but beings like Atlan and Tulip could feel the difference from a mile away. ''Something''s coming,'' Tulip said. ''And¡­it feels familiar¡­it feels like¡ª'' Before she could even say something, the space in the sky suddenly split apart, creating a crevice in reality itself. Then, a creature from beyond suddenly put his hands out, grabbing the edges of the crevices and opening them larger with its bare hands. Just from the hand alone, which was full of scales, Atlan knew what he was looking at. ''It''s¡­it''s¡­.it''s another Dragon!'' Tulip shouted in fear. A black dragon with immense pressure and size came out of the portal, showing itself to Atlan and Tulip. The poor Serene Dragon was terrified. After all, even though she was a dragon now, she still wasn''t used to her strength. Compared to a real dragon with decades and decades of experience, she would be of no use. ''Atlan¡­le¨Cleave¡­now¡­I''ll..I''ll. ta-take care of this¡­.'' Even though Tulip was scared to her wits, she still put herself in between the black dragon and Atlan. Even if she was going to sacrifice her life to save Atlan, then she would gladly do so. But Atlan put his hand up to stop her. "You don''t have to," he said. "We know each other." The black dragon smiled, looking down at Atlan. ''You''ve done quite a lot while I was gone,'' said the Enchanted Queen. She was the first Dragon Atlan encountered, and the one he had a contract with. Chapter 392 - 392: Unkillable Atlan looked up at the Queen with an unfriendly look. After all, the Queen was supposed to help Atlan kill Specialist-level Canzers. When they first entered this special Remedium, he came in with the confidence that the Queen had his back. He thought that she would come to his aid whenever he found trouble that he couldn''t solve. However, even though they''d been in this place for more than a day, he still couldn''t feel the presence of the Queen. It was as if she was gone. He thought she''d be the one to defeat the Dragon Queen Malificient since they were both dragons, but it turned out, the Enchanted Queen didn''t even show up. This forced Atlan to be the one to kill the Dragon Queen Malificient herself, which was not as easy as it looked. If he didn''t have the help of the three good fairies, then he wouldn''t have been able to kill the Dragon Queen Malifcient. He, Tulip, Ninth, and the rest of the Specialist Saviors would have been killed. "You''re late," he said, scorning the Queen. The Enchanted Queen shrugged her shoulders. ''This is not something that I could have interfered with. You can ask the three little fairies over there. The power of the prophecy obscured your location from me. I was unable to find you until you killed the Queen.'' "And what if I didn''t? I would have died. I thought we had an agreement." Her protection was the main reason why he trusted her in the first place. And since she couldn''t protect him this time, all his trust in her disappeared. Not only that, he also realized something back then. "Also¡­you didn''t tell me the truth." ''Have you finally realized something?'' the Enchanted Queen asked, a little bit jokingly. When Tulip almost died, Atlan was forced to recognize the fact that there were a lot of similarities between the White Canzer and Tulip. First of all, they were both princesses who were exiled from their castle because of one reason or another. Then, they both almost died. And a prince was the one who saved them from eternal slumber through a kiss. Tulip and the White Beauty were also being chased by a Queen who wanted them dead. This was what Atlan realized. The Dragon Queen Malificient wanted to kill Tulip because she was prophesied to inherit the kingdom upon the Malificient Queen''s death. Tulip was the Malificient Queen''s weakness, so the Queen wanted to get rid of her. Atlan wondered. Was it the same situation with the Enchanted Queen and the White Beauty? Could it be possible that the White Beauty was also the Enchanted Queen''s weakness? And now that Atlan killed the White Beauty, the Enchanted Queen no longer had a weakness of her own? Just the thought of it sent shivers down his body. "Was the White Canzer your weakness?" Atlan asked plainly. The black dragon looked at Atlan with an amused expression. She didn''t think that he would figure this out so soon. But, she wasn''t angry that he discovered the secret. She was more impressed at his intelligence. ''Yes. That is right. The White Canzer was indeed my only weakness,'' she explained. Atlan looked up at the black dragon. "This means that you can''t be killed by a human. Any human. Even me." Without a weakness, the Enchanted Black Dragon could no longer be killed by any human. She was practically invincible. ''Fufufu¡­yes. That is right. I cannot be killed by your kind.'' "And now that the Dragon Queen Malifcieint is dead, there is no Canzer that is strong enough to kill you," Michael guessed. ''You are partially correct. There are still some beings that can kill me, but they are all in hiding. So, yes. In the current world of the Canzers, I cannot be killed by anyone. That is unless, of course, your little friend over there becomes strong enough to surpass the old Malifcient.'' Atlan glared at the Queen. "Was this the reason you made a contract to help me? You wanted me to be the one to kill the Dragon Queen Malificient?" The black dragon shook her head. ''I do not have that kind of foresight, Atlan. I wanted to help you because you helped me become invincible against humans. That is the reason why despite your very strong and strange powers, I wanted to become your ally. I never thought that the Dragon Queen Malifcient would try to kill you and the other humans. I thought she would stay in hiding.'' Atlan couldn''t quite believe her story. After all, everything turned out to benefit the Enchanted Dragon Queen even though she did nothing to help. It was all Atlan''s efforts. "Then why are you here now? If you''re here to kill Tulip and prevent her from being strong enough to kill you, then I will prove to you that a human can kill you," Atlan warned. Atlan''s words sent a shock to Tulip, making her act defensive around the black dragon. But the Enchanted Queen shook her head and sighed. ''Is this what you really think of me, Atlan? I am not some malicious being as you think. I could have killed the White Canzer and gotten rid of my weakness even before you arrived in the Remedium. However, I didn''t. I let her live because I didn''t want to waste a precious life. Do you think I would want to kill an innocent baby dragon like her?'' Tulip looked at the black dragon and felt as if she was telling the truth. Now that they were facing dragon to dragon, there was an unspeakable bond between them that could not be explained through normal means. ''Atlan, she''s telling the truth. I don''t think she''s a bad dragon.'' Though Tulip vouched for the Enchanted Queen, he was still hesitant to trust her. She should have told him the truth from the start. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Atlan, I couldn''t help you fight the Dragon Queen Malificient. But I can help you right now. You''ll need it. After all, they''re coming¡­'' Chapter 393 - 393: Kingdom up for grabs "What are you talking about?" Atlan asked. ''I heard it. In the last dredges of her life, the Malifcient Dragon Queen made a global announcement to the entire Canzer society,'' the Enchanted Queen said. Atlan did not like the sound of that. "What did she say?" he asked her. ''She told everyone that the Magical Kingdom is up for grabs. Anyone that could kill the humans that killed her would inherit the entire Kingdom for themselves,'' the Queen said with a grave voice. Atlan frowned. That was definitely not a good sign for them. After all, if he treated Canzers just like humans, then there would definitely be a lot of Canzers who would be tempted to go after them. "Why is this kingdom any good in the first place? Why are Canzers so hell-bent on becoming its ruler?" ''A kingdom allows a Canzer power and influence, unlike anything they had ever seen before. Not only could they have thousands of Canzers under their banner, but their strength would also increase manifold. This is because in the Canzer world, status equals power. The more influential you become, the stronger you can get.'' Atlan finally understood why the Canzers wanted to become the ruler of a Kingdom. If Atlan also shot up to become a Specialist-level Savior by simply becoming the ruler of a kingdom, then even he would be tempted to fight for the inheritance. ''As soon as I heard that, I knew that you were going to be in trouble,'' the Queen said. "Do you think there''s going to be a lot of them?" he asked. And before the Queen could answer his question, they suddenly heard a rumbling in the distance. Trees were being shot off into the skies, a cloud of dust emerged, and a mixture of power and pressure emanated from all sides. ''There must be thousands here¡­most of them at the Specialist level,'' the Queen said. "Damn. I thought it would at least be a combination of small fries who want a quick shot at becoming stronger. Why is it all Specialist-level Canzers?" Atlan asked. ''These Canzers are strong, but they are not the strongest. If they don''t become a royal and rule their own kingdom, then they will never be able to surpass their current strength. It makes sense that there''s a lot of Specialist-level Canzers trying to fight for the kingdom,'' the Queen explained. ''Oh no¡­oh no¡­what are we going to do?!'' Tulip panicked. Even though Atlan had become a Specialist-level Savior, he still wasn''t confident in fighting thousands of Canzers at the same time. Yes, he could always multiply himself into the thousands, but so could the other Canzers. He wasn''t just fighting one being like the Dragon Queen Malificient, he was fighting against thousands of different unique Canzers. This meant that he would have to find the weakness of a thousand different Canzers, which would be an impossible task for other people. "Why are we even still in this Remedium?" Ninth asked from the side. "The Dragon Queen is dead. We should be returning to the normal Remedium by now." "It doesn''t work that way," Atlan answered, translating the Queen''s answer. "We need to defeat this last horde because it is still an attack from the Queen beyond her death. She summoned this horde." Even though Ninth and her team had recovered from their previous injury thanks to Tulip''s help, they still weren''t in any shape to fight a thousand more Specialist-level Canzers. They barely even had enough energy to stand up, much less fight another horde of Canzers. Thankfully, Atlan was more than energized to fight. He had just gotten a lot of power from killing the Dragon Queen Malificient, so he was raring to fight. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If his Cherubic Retribution was still at the Specialist level, Atlan would have simply multiplied himself by a thousand times and led each of his clones to target a single Canzer by themselves. However, it wasn''t that strong anymore. It was back at the Student level. And even if Atlan put his Cherubic Retribution to his puppets, which would immediately turn the LifeSkil into an Intern-level LifeSkill, it still wouldn''t be enough to deal with the Specialist-level Canzers. He needed the powers of the three good fairies. "Can you help me? Can you give me that power again?" he asked them. Unfortunately, the three good fairies all shook their heads. ''It is not that easy, young human. We had given you all that we had when you fought the Dragon Queen Malificient. We are also recovering our strength so we cannot spare you any strength.'' Atlan bit his lips. Without their help, he would have to rely on himself. Even though it would be a lot harder, he could still use his previous tactic. He would give his Cherubic Retribution to his puppets and let them attack the horde of Canzers. Even though it would take at least a couple of lightning strikes, it would probably be enough to kill the Canzers. ''Hahaha,'' the Enchanted Queen laughed as she saw the worried look in Atlan. "What are you laughing about?" he asked her, a bit annoyed. ''Why are you worrying so much? Did you forget that I am here?'' the Enchanted Queen asked. "Are you going to help me this time? I almost forgot that we were allies this time. After all, you didn''t help me with the Dragon Queen Malificient." ''I told you, I couldn''t help you back then. But now, I am here. I''ll earn your trust back by taking care of this. You don''t have to do anything,'' the black dragon said. And just as she said, the Enchanted Queen looked up at the skies and soared to the heavens, showing its majestic appearance to the thousands of hungry Canzers in the distance. GRAOOO! She screamed. This sent a shiver down the Canzers'' spine. All those who were hesitating for a fight immediately turned back around and left the place. But most of them still went on. This was a chance for a lifetime for them. Chapter 394 - 394: Served up in a plate As soon as the black dragon showed itself in the skies, the rest of the Canzers felt its oppressive aura try and repel them from coming forward. If they were just by themselves, they would have immediately turned around and left the place. Who cared if they were going to inherit a kingdom if they were going to die for it? However, there were thousands upon thousands of other Specialist-level Canzers here with them. They weren''t alone. This gave them the hope that maybe, the black dragon wouldn''t be able to kill all of them. And somehow, one of them would be able to penetrate their defenses and kill the humans. They were hoping that others would get killed, and they would survive long enough to inherit the Kingdom. That was what they were all thinking when they faced the black dragon. They rallied under the assumption that the black dragon couldn''t kill all of them. But that was faulty from the very beginning. She was a dragon. No matter if there were a million of them in this world, they couldn''t hope to defeat a Dragon that had already lost its weakness. Not only that, they thought that the humans were easy pickings. After all, when the Dragon Queen Malificient announced to the world that anyone could inherit her kingdom, she didn''t tell them about Atlan. So, they thought he was simply just one of the weak humans that were close to dying. They charged, stomping on each other and the forest trees to try and get to them as fast as possible. But as soon as they stepped into the dragon''s territory, the environment around them suddenly changed. They looked around and saw blackness above their heads. And within this dark heaven were a couple of white spots that twinkled in the distance. Some Canzers marveled at the scenery. After all, this was outer space! They had never seen this kind of thing before. For others, they ignored it. They thought it was mere decoration. But as soon as they tried to dash towards the humans, they suddenly found themselves unable to push their feet to the ground. No matter how much muscle and chitin they used, they couldn''t feel the ground underneath their soles. When they looked down, they were stunned to find out that they were slowly floating up! The worst thing about it was that they seemed to be unable to do anything about it. No matter how much they tried to move their body to jump or fall, they couldn''t move their body the way that they wanted to. These Canzers had never experienced zero gravity before, meaning they didn''t know how to move or even balance themselves in the air. A lot of them ended up rotating around themselves, making them nauseous. And there were some who were unlucky and ended up far too high above the ground, unable to move themselves down. They struggled and struggled, but there seemed to be a strange force that pushed them further up and into the stars. As they got higher and higher up in the atmosphere, they realized that they were leaving the ground faster and faster than before. It was as if they were accelerating at a constant rate! It only takes a few minutes for those unfortunate Canzers to find themselves shot off the planet, and onto the endless chasm of outer space. And no matter how much they screamed, they couldn''t seem to utter any sound out of their bodies. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It didn''t even matter if they had multiple clones beside them. They all fell into the deepest depths of outer space regardless of how many clones they could create. The black dragon smiled as she watched this. No matter how much the little Canzers struggled, they could not escape from her Domain. This whole place was her territory. There was nothing that they could do. Of course, some Canzers seemed to be able to find a balance within themselves. Some also had a fortunate physiology that allowed them to propel themselves in a zero-gravity environment, making traversing the domain easier than before. But that was only limited to movement. As for defense or attack, they were useless. Thousands upon thousands of Specialist-level Canzers were flailing around in the air, trying desperately to move towards the humans. The Enchanted Queen then looked at Atlan with a smile. ''Here. I served them up to you in a nice platter,'' she said. Atlan looked at her, confused as to what she was implying. ''Fufu¡­don''t you get stronger with every kill you get? This is the perfect opportunity for you to improve your strength a lot more. There are about a thousand Specialist-level Canzers out there waiting to be killed and harvested for power. Why do you think I created this domain? I could have just decimated them all with a fraction of my power, but I didn''t. I wanted to give that honor to you as a way to atone for my tardiness earlier.'' Atlan couldn''t believe the Queen''s words. She treated Specialist-level Canzers as if they were mere easy pickings. But Atlan couldn''t help but agree with her words. This was the perfect time for him to gather more power and more experience. Now that the Canzers were floating in the air, they were easy to target with his Cherubic Retribution. As long as Atlan created double the amount of clones than the current number of Specialist-level Canzers, then he could make sure that two clones would target one Canzer, dealing enough damage to kill the beast. "This¡­this could be really good," Atlan uttered to himself. Perhaps the rewards he would get with these Canzers would be greater than what he got from killing the Dragon Queen Malificient. Atlan closed his eyes and manifested the giant needle and giant ball of yarn. It started to stitch a very accurate clone of himself. After a second, this clone used its own giant ball of yarn and needle to create its own clone. This continued onward, with Atlan''s clones increasing at an exponential rate. Chapter 395 - 395: Nothing but ashes Within a few minutes, Atlans clones more than doubled the amount of helpless Specialist-level Canzers floating aimlessly in space. All the Specialist Canzers had no idea what the strange human was doing. Even though he had multiplied himself a thousand times, they still didn''t think that it was enough to deal with the likes of them. So, they ignored Atlan and continued to try and get themselves out of this situation. However, that was probably the biggest mistake they have ever made in their entire lives. It was unfortunate for them that the Dragon Queen Malificient told them nothing about who they were facing. After all, the Dragon Queen Malificient already underestimated Atlan once and paid the price for it dearly. Now, it would be the thousands of Specialist-level Canzers that were going to pay. As Atlan continued to create clones, he slowly prepared his Soul System with the Angel Power in his body. In his mind, he targeted a Specialist-level Canzer in front of him. It didn''t even have to be the strongest one out of all of them. Atlan just had to target one. Meanwhile, the other clones also began selecting their own Specialist-level Canzers to target. Using their telepathic communication, there was no misunderstanding between all of them. They knew each other''s roles, meaning there wouldn''t be any kind of overlap in their missions. Atlan told them that two clones would target one Specialist-level Canzer. That would be enough to kill them despite his Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill only at the Intern level. As he finished his preparations, Atlan raised his hand and pointed at the Canzer in front of him. The Canzer wasn''t even looking at him. It was busy trying to find something to hold on to so that he wouldn''t float around aimlessly like the other Canzers. But then, his vision started to dim. He suddenly looked down to notice a large cumulonimbus cloud overlooking them all. The previous starry night of space was replaced by a very ominous cloud, which began rumbling with electricity. At first, the Specialist-level Canzers didn''t think much of them. After all, they never minded the weather even back when they were younger. They weren''t going to be afraid of a little lightning now that they were Specialist-level Canzers of their own. But soon, they suddenly felt the growing power of something oppressing. It was the kind of pressure that made them immediately look up at the dark clouds in fear. Somehow, even if they couldn''t see what was hidden in the dark clouds, they instinctively felt that they were being hunted down by their worst enemy. These Specialist-level Canzers had lived long enough to know about the oppressing force of the Angels against the Canzers. But ever since they became extinct, the Canzers never had to worry about them again. So, they were utterly shocked when they felt the same power from the clouds as those Angels sent by God. They couldn''t believe it. Their hairs stood up on end, their chitin rumbled in fear. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The ones who were floating up into the clouds because of the zero gravity environment screamed for his Canzer comrades to save him, but they could do nothing but watch as the Canzer floated up into the clouds and disappeared into its midst. The last thing they saw was a brief light illuminating the part where the Canzer disappeared. Then, silence. Eerie silence. They didn''t have to see to know that the Canzer was dead. This immediately sent a panic throughout the Canzers. They thought that the Angels were hiding over those clouds, waiting to kill them one by one. They started to hang onto whatever they could hang on to, even if it was another Canzer in their midst. However, this only ended up taking both of them into the skies, slowly going up into the dark cloud filled with Angel power. Atlan didn''t know why they were so adamant in trying to stay on the ground. After all, they would all die regardless. Atlan and the thousand of his clones behind him all uttered one single word. "Begone." And as soon as he said that, holy lightning started to rain down upon the helpless Specialist-level Canzers. BOOM! BUGSH! CRUSH! Golden lightning struck down from the heavens and dealt a heavy blow to the Canzers. Its Angel power coursed through the Canzer''s body and destroyed it from the inside and out. But, after one lightning strike, the Canzer still found themselves alive. They were barely hanging onto their lives, but they were still alive. Because of this, some of them even thought that the Angels had lost their power after their supposed ''extinction''. This gave them a little bit of hope. After all, they were still Specialist-level Canzers. They could regenerate any kind of wound they sustained after a few seconds. The others were even ready to multiply themselves into different clones. But just as they thought they were about to escape from this onslaught, another lightning strike suddenly rained down upon them, truly destroying their insides and killing them outright. They couldn''t even understand what happened. All the Canzers stood still. Their chitins no longer rumbled. And after a few seconds, they all started to turn into nothing but dust. They were dead. Soon, the whole field was filled with nothing but ashes scattering in the wind. Everyone watched this sight with an expression of disbelief. The Enchanted Queen smiled, but on the inside, she was a little bit frightened of Atlan''s powers. It was a good thing that she decided to become friends with him. Tulip, on the other hand, smiled and became proud of her friend. She had already expected Atlan to be able to do this, so she wasn''t that surprised. She felt like Atlan could do anything he wanted. Meanwhile, Ninth and the rest of the Specialist Saviors couldn''t close their jaws from the surprise. After all, they knew that all those were Specialist-level Canzers. They weren''t supposed to die so easily like that. But Atlan did it. Chapter 396 - 396: Lost the fight, won the war Their disbelief was logical. After all, they were also a team of Specialist Saviors. And compared to other teams in Genesis City or the world, they were considered to be one of the best out there. But even then, the best they could do was fight against two Specialist-level Canzers at once. That was their limit. But somehow, Atlan was able to kill a thousand of them. Not three, not ten, not a hundred, a thousand! This was a scary number. But perhaps the most surprising fact out of all of them was that Atlan used no kind of construct to defeat them. They simply died with that one attack. This overturned everything they knew about Canzers. They always thought that they needed to use constructs to defeat Canzers no matter if they were just at the Student level or in the highest level Specialist realm. They thought that Atlan simply wanted to kill the thousand Canzers just so that they could be bought enough time to run away. They were even expecting the Canzers to suddenly respawn from those ashes. But after a few seconds, nothing happened. The Canzers were dead. They couldn''t regenerate or spawn any clones! This was a mind-blowing fact that they couldn''t understand. "This is because of my angel power," Atlan explained. Ninth and the rest of the team looked up at Atlan, who had pure white feathered angel wings on his back. They all looked at him with disbelief. But before they could even say anything else, something rumbled in the ground. They were all forced to look around. ''Humans¡­the price you pay for killing me is not something you can afford.'' Surprisingly, Atlan and the rest of them heard the voice of the Dragon Queen Malificient echoing in the forest. This made Atlan wary of his surroundings, thinking that somehow, the Dragon Queen Malificient was able to regenerate from her death and come back to finish him off. Tulip also became afraid. She turned back into her Canzer form and stayed close to Atlan. "How is she alive?" Atlan asked the Enchanted Queen. The black dragon looked up at the skies and smelled the air. Even she was surprised that the Dragon Queen Malificient was still able to speak beyond her death. ''She isn''t alive. She is dead. This is merely a remnant of her power. She must have left more of her magic before her death, more than I thought.'' The Queen thought that Malificient only used the remnant of her power to announce to the world that her kingdom was up for grabs. But it looked like she had something else planned as well. ''You may have won the fight, but you lost the war,'' the Dragon Queen Malificient''s voice echoed. ''No. We won,'' Tulip uttered out loud. She couldn''t help but speak up against the Dragon Queen Malificient. But since this was essentially just a recording of the Queen''s voice, it didn''t respond to Tulip''s provocation. ''Let me remind you of what you''ve forgotten.'' Just as Malificient said that, the whole Remedium suddenly changed. The Magical Forest that they were in was starting to change, from the very skies down to the very ground. It was as if the environment was melting, showing the true scenery that was hidden from their sight. ''Atlan¡­'' Tulip said, as she tried to touch Atlan. But it seemed as if she couldn''t even touch him. Her chitinous hands just phased through his body, as if he was just a projection. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This confused Atlan. He looked over at the Enchanted Queen, who seemed to be looking at him even with the difference in dimension between them. ''Be careful Atlan. I don''t know what she''s planning but¡ª'' Then, even the Enchanted Queen''s words were cut off she her black dragon body shimmered out of existence. The only ones left that Atlan could see were Ninth and the rest of her team. Tulip and the Queen were gone. And when Atlan looked at where he was, he suddenly realized why he couldn''t see the other Canzers again. All around him, he could see the tall buildings and skyscrapers of Genesis City. And on the horizon, he could see its great walls protecting the city from the Unclaimed Lands. And in front of him was the Church. This was their very goal for this mission from the start. But because of all the things that had happened, he seemed to have forgotten that. Now that the Malificient Queen was dead, there was no longer any reason for Atlan and the other humans to remain in the Magical forest. They were transported back into the normal Remedium, where the world was the mirror image of the City itself. He knew that this was normal, but he couldn''t help but feel as if something was off. Just then, he suddenly saw something in front of him. There was a large rift portal opening, made up of nothing but chaos and destruction. This was very similar to the black hole that the Dragon Queen Malificient had used back in their fight. This put Atlan on high alert. And as the portal became larger, a single figure came out on the other side. It was a simple raven. This raven, with its black and shiny feather, hovered in the air and looked Atlan in the eyes. And somehow, Atlan felt as if this raven was sentient. Not only that, but it also had the same power signature as the Dragon Queen Malificient. This was a remnant of her power. The raven suddenly turned around and flew inside the Church. Goosebumps. Atlan''s hair stood on end. He finally realized what the Queen wanted to do. She wanted to blow up the Church by killing the Ifrit that was holding the Genesis God hostage! Atlan couldn''t let that happen. He unfurled his Angel Wings and tried to move towards the raven in an attempt to catch it. But before he could even move, he suddenly felt something aching in his chest. [You have reaped the death of a Specialist Canzer.] [You have reaped the death of a Specialist Canzer.] [You have reaped the death of a Specialist Canzer.] ¡­ [WARNING! There is an overload of power contained in the user''s body!] Atlan fell to his knees, unable to move. Chapter 397 - 397: Summoned dragon Atlan felt an overload of power inside his body, tearing it from the bones and tendons so much that he couldn''t even try to stand up. No matter how much he tried to go after the Raven, he couldn''t even muster up any strength to speak out. He tried to use his LifeSkills to try and at least kill the Raven before it could go inside the Church, but the moment he did, he felt an even more excruciating pain. He couldn''t believe it. This pain was the worst feeling he had ever experienced. [Overload! Warning! If left unchecked, the power inside your body will continue to react within your Soul System] What does¡­that mean?!?! Atlan could only guess that it was not good. After all, every second that passed, he felt his body start to expand more and more like a balloon that was about to pop. "Atlan?! What''s wrong?" Ninth and the rest of the specialist-level humans finally regained their composure. They immediately went towards Atlan to see how he was doing. Even if it was eating him from the inside, Atlan forced his body to move and speak to Ninth. "The¡­Raven¡­inside¡­church¡­ explode!" Even though his words were barely even a sentence, Ninth and the others were smart enough to decode his sentence. And once they understood what he was trying to say, hair stood up on their body. The main reason why they even started this mission was so that they could save the church from a total explosion. They didn''t come here to kill Specialist-level Canzers or the Dragon Queen Malificient, they came here to save their city. Altan had forgotten that. He had been so focused on killing the Queen that he didn''t expect her to move from beyond the dead. He didn''t even think that was possible. He could only blame his incomplete knowledge of Specialist-level Canzers. If only he knew that Canzers could leave behind a remnant of their power to do stuff like this, then he wouldn''t have let down his guard. Not only that, if he hadn''t been experiencing this overload, he could have stopped that Raven from even entering the Church. But now, all seems to have become too late. The only thing he could do was to try and control the overload in his body from destroying everything inside him. "Come on! Let''s find that Raven!" Ninth rallied to her teammates. Even though they were still injured to a good extent, compared to Atlan who couldn''t even sit up from his position, they were in a much better place to try and save this mission. This wasn''t just a matter of pride for them. They weren''t thinking of the win percentage in their mission list. They only thought about the safety of the City first and foremost. If they failed now, all the hard work they went through these past few days would have been all for nothing. They couldn''t let that happen. If they failed now, millions upon millions of innocent citizens would blow up along with the entire City. Huge responsibility was placed on their shoulders. They can''t fail now. Just then, two rifts in space suddenly appeared right next to Atlan. The rift in space on the left was colored green, while the right in space on the right was colored red. After a few moments, two distinct figures traveled from the different dimensions to finally end up right next to Atlan. ''Atlan! You''re here!'' Tulip said, immediately coming over to Atlan''s side. ''You''re in a terrible state,'' the Enchanted Queen said on the other portal. If Atlan could move his face right now, he would have exhibited surprise after hearing the voices of those two. After all, he thought that they were still back at the Magical Forest. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And as far as he knew, Canzers couldn''t simply travel from one Remedium to the other. They needed to bring their own Remedium to this space, which was why back then, the Genesis Cit Remedium had turned into the Magical Forest. If the Dragon Queen Malificient hadn''t done that, then she wouldn''t have been able to fight Atlan and the others. Despite feeling like his entire would explode at any second, Atlan opened his eyes. And once he saw the figures of the two dragons, he couldn''t help but almost laugh out loud. "Kuku¡­.kukuku¡­.what happened¡­to your bodies?" he asked them with a hoarse voice. The two mighty dragons, tyrannical overlords of the sky, had suddenly turned into cute ''mini'' versions of themselves similar to a doll. Atlan could basically hold them in his chest with both arms! ''''Atlan, don''t laugh! I''ll try to heal your first,'' lectured Tulip. Even though this was such a situation, she couldn''t believe that Atlan had the gall to laugh. Her body glowed a green light, showing off her powers as a White-Green Dragon that could heal any kind of ailment known to the universe. She was even able to bring back Ninth from the brink of death. But somehow, as she focused her power on Atlan, she felt as if she had just stared into the very surface of the sun! She couldn''t help but jump backward to save herself from the backlash. ''Ah! What¡­what is that?! I couldn''t heal him!'' Tulip felt that if she continued to force the healing magic onto Atlan''s body, it would only make things worse. She didn''t know what to do. She turned to the Queen, who inspected Atlan''s body with a serious gaze. ''You can''t heal him because he''s not sick,'' the Queen explained. ''He''s strong. Too strong, in fact, that his body cannot handle the strength of his soul. It is on the brink of exploding into a million pieces.'' Tulip jumped up. ''That can''t happen!'' "I know¡­what''s happening to me¡­but first¡­how did you guys get here?" Atlan asked them, his curiosity getting the better of him. ''Did you forget your own power? We are your tamed Dragons, meaning that we have an intangible connection with each other. You can summon us any time you want, and if we think that you''re in danger, we can summon ourselves to your location.'' Chapter 398 - 398: Fight explosion with explosion Atlan couldn''t forget about his first Specialist-level LifeSkill. However, he didn''t think it would be powerful enough to bend space and allow them to travel wherever he was. "Why do you guys¡­look like this?" Atlan asked them. ''That''s because our true bodies are way too big for this Remedium. But don''t worry, our bodies are the only things that are different. We still have all our powers at our disposal,'' the Enchanted Queen explained. "I remember¡­I only¡­tamed Tulip¡­Queen, why are you¡­here too?" As far as Atlan remembered, he only made an agreement with Tulip about becoming his tamed dragon. He was sure that he made no such connection with the Queen. ''Oh, that? Well, I made you tame me when you weren''t looking. It''s easy since we already have a contract that binds us together, right?'' the Queen said, with a little bit of a sly smile on her plush-dragon face. Atlan couldn''t believe that the almighty Enchanted Queen would bow down so low just to be tamed by a mere human. Even though he couldn''t access his Soul System yet, he felt an intangible connection with the Queen the same way that he was connected with Tulip. This meant that she truly was his tamed Dragon. Because of this, Atlan had to re-evaluate his thoughts on the Enchanted Queen. At first, he thought that she was just having fun and playing with a small human like him. And once she was no longer interested in him, she would throw him away and simply sever the connection between them. Once the mission with the church was over, their contract was supposed to be null and void. But by becoming his tamed Dragon, the Queen was now forever bonded to Atlan, with no way of ever breaking free of him. He thought she was just a selfish Dragon who used him for her own gains. But this unselfish act made him trust her again. Perhaps, she truly couldn''t try to save him from the Dragon Queen Malificient. Maybe, she was telling the truth. ''This is not the time for this, Queen!'' Tulip couldn''t help but panic by herself seeing as Atlan and the Queen were just talking to themselves casually as if Atlan wasn''t going to burst into an explosion any second later. ''How do we save him?!'' she begged the Queen. The black dragon plushie floated up into the air and looked at the Church. ''Your human friends are far too late. The Raven has already reached the basement and is now on the verge of killing the Ifrit clone, meaning that it will blow up at any second.'' Atlan gathered all the strength in his body to sit up on the ground. Because of this, skin started to crack, with a bright white light glowing in the crevices of the cracks. He was about to explode. But even still, he couldn''t help but try and do the impossible. He wanted to go over there right now and kill the Raven before it killed the Ifrit. He knew it was impossible, but he couldn''t just give up. ''Don''t worry, Atlan. This is actually the best situation for you,'' the Queen said in a hopeful manner. Atlan looked at the black dragon plushie and couldn''t help but flash her a confused look. He couldn''t understand how blowing up the entire City would be something beneficial to him. Did she want to kill all the humans? "What do you mean?" he asked her. ''Right now, I''m assuming your body has an overload of power from all the Specialist-level Canzer deaths you consumed. Your soul is now an uncontrollable beast, unable to unleash all of its power.'' "Are you saying¡­that I can somehow calm down my soul?" ''That is right, Atlan. At the very moment of the explosion in the church, you must also unleash all the power in your body. You must let yourself explode.'' Upon hearing that, Tulip couldn''t help but scream out in panic. ''What? Isn''t that dangerous?'' "What will my explosion do?" he asked her. ''By counteracting the force of the explosion, you will be able to control your soul and temper your body at the same time! S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Think about this. The church explosion will prevent your body explosion from fully destroying your body and soul. Instead, the church explosion will allow you to unleash all that power without having to destroy yourself. This is the only way you can save yourself, and the City!'' Atlan could barely understand the Enchanted Queen''s reasoning for this kind of plan, but he understood what he needed to do. However, he couldn''t believe that this plan would even bear some kind of fruit. Seeing his doubtful expression, the Enchanted Queen asked him one simple question. ''Do you trust me?'' There were plenty of reasons why Atlan shouldn''t trust someone like the Queen. First of all, she was a mighty Dragon, Queen of Canzers in her kingdom. He shouldn''t be trusting Canzers in the first place. Second, Atlan didn''t know her true motives for helping him. She said that she wanted his help, but Atlan didn''t know what kind of help he would be able to contribute to her. Not only that, he left her alone to deal with the Magical Queen Malficient all by himself. But despite all these reasons, Atlan couldn''t help but want to trust this Black Dragon. "I trust you," he said. The Black Dragon plushie nodded her head, with a bit of a smile forming on her face. ''Well, then you better prepare yourself. The pain you will feel is much harsher than the pain you''ll feel right now.'' Then, the Enchanted Queen moved over to Tulip''s side and locked arms with her. ''Come on, Tulip. We can''t help him right now. We need to go to a different dimension.'' But Tulip knew that she could still do something to help Atlan. ''I''ll save the other humans. You''ll be safe in the explosion, but they won''t. I''ll try to save them!'' She immediately rushed out into the Church to protect Ninth and her team from the eventual explosion. Atlan looked at the Queen. "Protect her," he said. The Queen playfully shook her head. ''Hahaha¡­these brats¡­'' But of course, she too, went into the Church to help Tulip. Chapter 399 - 399: Explosion in the church Atlan was now all alone by himself, with nothing but the Remedium by his side. Anyone would have trouble with blowing themselves up. After all, it was in a human''s self-preservation instincts to always protect oneself. Even if they were told that they should do it because it was the right thing, they would still have trouble letting go of that last protection they had of themselves. It was like telling someone to hold their breaths for a long time until they passed out into unconsciousness. Even if they tried their hardest, anyone would heave for a breath as soon as things got too tough. They wouldn''t be able to make themselves unconscious. But there was one person who could do that. That was Atlan. This was the reason why he was able to impress the God of Death in the first place and inherited all his powers. If he didn''t have that decisiveness to do the things that needed to be done, then he wouldn''t have jumped into the God of Death''s maws. Atlan felt the powers in his body start to become more and more wild. All the LifeSkills that he gained normally like the Spinster, the Apocalyptic Hellfire, and the others were on his side. They were helping make things a lot more peaceful. However, the influx of all the powers he gained from the Specialist-level Canzers were far too much. They ravaged through his Soul System, destroying everything that made it what it was. They were rampaging, as if they wanted to be unleashed out into the world. It would have been easy if there were only tens of them. Atlan could simply bring out the LifeSkill one by one and let them show their power to the world. However, there were more than a hundred thousand new LifeSkills in his repertoire. They were like newborn chicks wanting to be fed. And in their chaos and desperation, they started to eat through the very hen house they stood on. That was what was happening to Atlan right now. Atlan looked at all around him. Even though it was in an inverted color, it was still the Genesis City that he was so familiar with. If he failed to counteract the explosion, then the whole City would be blown up into bits. He needed to do this. Slowly, the pained expression on Atlan''s face became clearer and clearer. There was now peace and serenity on his face, as if he had accepted his fate. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Meanwhile in the Church, in the deepest part of its basement, the Raven had finally come across the giant door in the wall. And in front of that door was a single Ifirt, whose attitude was starting to get weary. Just then, the Raven appeared in its sights. The Ifrit, upon seeing the Raven, thought that it was finally rescued. The very reason why it stayed inside the basement was because it eventually wanted to leave this place. It took the Door hostage because it wanted the humans to give it a way to be able to leave this Remedium and come back to its home. And now, its luck seemed to have finally turned around. A Canzer was here to save it. But strangely enough, there wasn''t any sort of friendliness in the Raven''s eyes. There was sadness, grief, and whole lot of craziness. The Raven was ready to die to fulfill the last mission given to it by its Queen. This was the whole reason why the Queen prevented the Raven from fighting in the battle against the humans. It wanted to remain in the shadows, and only act once things had gone down hill. She wanted him to exact revenge in the best possible way. And so it did. It spread its wings and put forward its beak. And with a strength and speed of a Specialist-level Canzer, it dove down towards the unsuspecting Ifrit who couldn''t even see the Raven''s movements. TSSHHH In just a matter of a fraction of a second, the Ifrit suddenly had a hole in its body. It looked down, unable to understand what had happened. And before it could even try to look for the Raven that was suddenly gone from its sight, it felt its body losing control. All the power and energy stored up in the Ifrit''s body started to multiply and expand until¡­ BOOM! The explosion of the Ifrit was far weaker than any explosion that happened during Atlan and the Queen''s fight. It could even be compared as the difference between a small matchstick ember and a full on forest fire that consumed everything in its path. Atlan wouldn''t even get hurt from that explosion. However, the problem wasn''t the intensity of the explosion, but the location. Behind the Ifrit was the Door, the literal heart of the Genesis God. As soon as the fire of the explosion hit the surface of the giant Wooden door, another explosion occured. This time, the explosion wasn''t made out of fire, but pure Holy aura and energy that only beings like Gods and Angels could ever emit. The white explosion disintegrated the exploding Ifrit and the Raven into mere nothingness in an instant. There was nothing left of them. Then, the explosion continued to spread, destroying the very foundation of the church itself. All the pillars and floors above were consumed into an explosion that continued to fuel the holy explosion. And as it continued to spread outwards, the explosion would continue to grow and grow exponentially, potentially growing to destroy the very City itself and beyond. The unsuspecting Ninth and the other Specialist Saviors were above the Church. They were frozen in time, unaware of the danger that was hiding just a few feet below them. Tulip, with her cute plush dragon form, was hovering above them and trying to warn them of something. But seeing as they weren''t understanding what she was saying, Tulip was forced to simply use up all her energy to create a bubble of protection around them. A green translucent energy shield encompassed Ninth and the other humans. Just a fraction of a second later, the explosion finally reached the first floor. It continued to tear through the pews and pillars until it reached the bubble. Chapter 400 - 400: Holy explosion Tulip''s bubble of protection continued to stay up even when the holy aura explosion tried to tear through its defenses. This gave Ninth and the others a moment to finally realize the situation that they were in. One second, they were looking at the intricate and moody interior of the gothic Genesis Church. But in the next second, they could only see nothing but a white explosion that tried to tear through everything that was previously there. "What''s happening?" "What about the church?" "The Raven! We should stop it!" The rest of her teammates were still holding out onto the hope that they could save the Church. But Ninth knew that it was already too late. The explosion had already started, and it was on its way to destroy the entire Genesis City. Then, she looked at the cute plush dragon in front of her. Even though she was in a strange adorable form right now, she knew that this was Tulip, the Canzer and dragon that they all knew and learned to trust. They tried to warn them about something, but because they couldn''t understand each other, they still weren''t on the same page. Despite that, Tulip was still trying to save them. The White-Green Dragon plushie''s face were contorted into one of pain and endurance as she tried to keep the protective bubble in place as the explosion continued to try and spread towards the humans. She was using all her energy. She was even able to use power that she didn''t think she had! Everything was brought out of her because of this tumultuous situation. It was do or die. But, no matter how much she tried to resist, she could feel the protective bubble starting to disintegrate. The power of the holy aura was completely winning against her power. Since she was a Canzer, anything she made was immediately weaker than any explosion made out of holy aura. Even the original Dragon Queen Malificient would not be able to hold on to this kind of holy power explosion for a long time. Even so, Tulip continued to protect them. She had to. Just then, as the power of the explosion was about to overwhelm them all, a huge rift in space suddenly appeared in the air. This red black hole continued to grow in size, increasing the sucking force that was inside. Ninth didn''t fight the force and let herself be taken inside the red black hole. And since she voluntarily let herself go, the rest of her team did so as well. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even though they didn''t know what would happen to them once they did, they felt as if they would be safe. After all, the pressure and aura being emitted by that red black hole was similar to the black dragon that Atlan befriended. Tulip was left all alone, with the protective bubble starting to get smaller and smaller. ''Come, Tulip. You have done your job well.'' The Enchanted Queen''s voice seemed to have broken Tulip out of her hyper fixation. Only now did she realize that Ninth and the others were gone, saved by the Queen. Seeing this, Tulip felt all the power in her body go away. The adrenaline in her body started to wane, making her power lose strength. With no power supply from Tulip, the green protective bubble started to shake and wobble in and out of existence. Until finally, it disappeared. But, not before the black hole swallowed Tulip back into safety. The holy explosion continued to spread, tearing through space and time itself. It continued to tear through the church, destroying the thousands upon thousands of years in its history. It continued to spread, until finally, it reached Atlan. The Star Porter faced the holy aura explosion with a calm face. The cracks in his body were spreading more and more, with his entire body looking like a cracked statue. There were even some seams in his body that were already on the verge of explosion. Power was starting to leak out of his body. But Atlan didn''t want to explode. Not yet. He waited for the exact moment. As the holy power continued to spread outwards, it finally reached Atlan. Just mere inches away from his body, Atlan finally let go of all the inhibitions inside his body. He let the power in his Soul System go off, letting all the pent up LifeSkills wreak havoc and chaos towards his body. Just as Atlan''s body was about to be consumed by the holy aura, another explosion destroyed his entire body first. A black explosion, filled with all the deaths of the hundreds of thousands of Specialist-level Canzers spread outwards, clashing with the white holy aura of the explosion. The holy explosion tried to tear through the black explosion, but was not able to penetrate through its defenses. So, the holy explosion decided to ignore the black death explosion and go around him. It wanted to consume the whole City behind Atlan. But of course, he wasn''t going to let that happen. The black explosion expanded in size, pushing the white explosion inwards. And that wasn''t even the end of it. The black death explosion elongated, encompassing the entire Church and holy explosion into a protective dome. The White Holy explosion found itself unable to spread any further. It tried to tear through the black death explosion. But just like any other being, Holy power had a weakness too. If humans were weak against Canzers, and Canzesr were weak against holy beings, then it meant that holy beings were weak against death beings! The death explosion, instead of wreaking havoc around Genesis City, chose to pursue and destroy the holy explosion instead! It started to corner the explosion into a smaller and smaller space, consuming the holy explosion by taking one bite and another. The black explosion continued to consume the holy explosion until finally, it was cornered into nothingness. The holy explosion was extinguished! With nothing else to consume, the black explosion slowly dissipated, turning into nothingness as well. Chapter 401 - 401: Nonexistence In the aftermath of the explosion, there was nothing but ashes and charred concrete on the ground. The Church, which had once stood mighty on the ground of the Genesis City Remedium, was now gone, with just some of its pillars standing as a reminder that it had once existed. After a few seconds, a red rift in space appeared hovering in the air. The rift got bigger and bigger until it became an oval portal that suddenly spat out a few different figures. Ninth and the others felt themselves freed out of the Enchanted Queen''s dimension after the holy explosion of the church. They looked around, and all they could see was chaos and destruction all around. "Where¡­where are we?" "This¡­this can''t be¡­" "The church¡­it''s gone!" Her teammates looked all over, but found only pieces of the church lying around. They couldn''t believe it. They failed. Their only mission this time around was to make sure that the Church was protected, safe and sound. But because of their less than stellar performances, the church blew up. "But wait! If the church is gone, shouldn''t we all be dead by now?" That was the question in Ninth''s mind as well. The Church was the Genesis God''s heart, which meant that once it had blown up, the Genesis God would essentially die. But somehow, they were still alive. They were still standing on solid ground. They couldn''t understand it. Suddenly, two dragon plushie figures appeared and hovered above them. It was the Enchanted Queen, with her black dragon plushie, and Tulip, with her white-green plushie dragon. The only ones that could explain this whole situation to them were these two beings. After all, they were the one that saved them from the holy explosion of the church. They would know what happened. Unfortunately, they were made of different species. They were Canzers, while they were humans. It was impossible to talk unless Atlan was here. But just then, the black dragon opened her mouth and suddenly let out a sound that was familiar to Ninth and the other Saviors. "Hello¡­hello¡­can you understand me?" the Enchanted Queen said, with her voice in a complete human language. It was a bit robotic, as if her voice was being replayed on a stereo, but Ninth and the others could still understand her words. "You can speak human? How is that possible?!" "That''s not possible. You''re a Canzer!" Ninth stayed calm. Somehow, she knew that this ability somehow had to do something with Atlan. After all, somehow, he was the one who could speak Canzer despite being human. They didn''t question this because he was the one that saved them, but it was still strange nonetheless. "How can you speak human?" asked Ninth. The black dragon flashed a smile. "It looks like you already know the answer. It was through Atlan. Because we are his tamed dragons, we gain the ability to speak the human language as long as we are in this form." The rest of the humans were surprised that this was even possible. But perhaps, the most surprising part that they heard was that Atlan had tamed these two dragons! They couldn''t believe it. They had never even heard of a tamer that tamed Canzers! sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hello¡­" Tulip said shyly, greeting the humans for the first time. After a minute of shock and awe, Ninth and the other humans stopped being surprised. After all, this wasn''t the first time that they were surprised with something that Atlan showed them. Somehow, that Star Porter was able to perform miracle after miracle, showing incredible strength and power unlike anything they had ever seen before. Somehow, even as a Student-level Savior, he was able to show the power of a Specialist-level Savior. That was supposed to be impossible. But he did it. And somehow, they didn''t know how, but Atlan continued to get stronger and stronger every time they encountered a Canzer. Unlike them, who would always need time to recuperate and regain their strength, somehow, Atlan gained more and more power as he killed and fought Canzers. It didn''t make sense. "Speaking of Atlan¡­where is he?" asked Ninth. After all, in the midst of all this destruction and chaos, they saw no sign of the Star Porter. "Atlan¡­is the reason why we all survived this explosion," the Enchanted Queen explained. "What do you mean?" asked Ninth. "During the holy explosion of the church, he also experienced an explosion of his own. He became¡­too powerful. He was about to burst into nothingness. But through a stroke of luck, or you could even call it fate, Atlan''s explosion was able to counteract the holy explosion of the church. It was the perfect opposite. He has the power of death, while the church has the power of life. Once the church exploded, Atlan let go of all controls in his body and let himself explode as well. And because of this, the holy explosion of the church was only contained inside the church. Your life, our life, and millions of other lives inside your City is saved because of him," the Enchanted Queen said, with her voice a bit melancholic. Ninth and the others shared a moment of silence as they thought about Atlan. Even now, they were still being saved by the Star Porter. "Where is he now? Why isn''t he here?" asked Ninth. The black dragon shook her head. "That, I don''t know. Only he knows where he is right now. But¡­there is one thing that I do know. Somehow, if he is able to overcome this trial, he will become even stronger than before, stronger than anything we have ever seen." Ninth and the others looked at the black dragon and saw her looking up at the skies. Even though they didn''t know what she was talking about, they still held out on the hope that somehow, Atlan could survive wherever he was right now. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Atlan couldn''t see anything, for he had no eyes. He couldn''t move his body, for he had none. All he was, was a floating soul in the middle of nowhere. Chapter 402 - 402: Star points After the explosion, Atlan''s entire body, his entire Soul System, was destroyed into mere particles. He was just nothingness, floating around in the middle of nowhere. If he was a normal human being, he wouldn''t even be able to think and become conscious at this moment in time. They would be dead, plain and simple. But Atlan was no simple being. He was the inheritor of the God of Death''s legacy. He was poised to become its next ruler. So, death had no meaning for him. However, he felt even weaker than when he was a child. He felt like he had no such power at all. Where am I? Atlan asked himself, but there was no answer for there was only himself in this dimension. Where am I? He continued to ask himself, and yet, no one ever answered his question. He continued in this state of fugue for an indeterminate amount of time. He didn''t know how much time had passed, but it felt like thousands upon thousands of years had passed. He continued to ask this question to himself, with no one answering him. It was only when a million years had passed did he finally remember. He died. The explosion had destroyed both his body and mind. And once this realization had set upon his soul, he finally came to remember who he was. He was Atlan. And as he remembered his own identity, he looked around himself and felt pieces of his own power scattered around like gas in a room. It was just spread around haphazardly with no one there to collect it. Despite his limited mobility, Atlan slowly made his way through the rest of his powers. He felt like he would come back to himself once he had collected all of the pieces of himself back in one place. Millions more years passed until finally, he had collected all of his powers inside a ball of indeterminate size. It looked like a fuzzy white ball with fire raging from the inside. This was his power. This was the Soul System that he had lost when the explosion occurred. But, he could never bring it back the way it was before. After all, that was gone. He had to create something new¡ªsomething completely different. So, he spent more and more years trying to change and mold the ball of power in this unknown space and dimension. He continued to make it denser and denser, consolidating it into a very fine point, with no dimensions. It was just a point in space. It was only then that a substantial change came upon his body. He looked around and suddenly saw himself among a sea of stars. These stars also had the same point of power that had no dimensions. It was infinitely small, yet infinitely filled with power. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And somehow, Atlan felt as if these stars were looking at him. Some looked at him with curiosity, some looked at him with indifference, and some with hostility. Atlan knew. These were Gods. Because they could see him, it meant that he could see them. He was no longer a regular human being. It felt as if he had gone and transcended into something different. It wasn''t necessarily better, but it was different. Way different. After all, he felt like he was among those stars in the sky. It felt like he could touch them and be with them. This meant only one thing. He had reached the starting point of his ascension to godhood. After harvesting the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Specialist-level Canzer, he had finally reached the threshold of power that could be considered godlike. He still had a long way from becoming part of the biggest stars in the sky, but he had reached the threshold. He finally realized why they were looking at him with those eyes. They were looking at the birth of a new god! Upon this realization, Atlan finally found the power within himself to rebuild his body. He wanted to rebuild his body into something better than before, without all the weaknesses that made him human. His Soul System was gone, but despite that, Atlan felt as if he was even more free than before. It was as if the shackles put onto him by a different God were destroyed. He felt like he could finally start his journey as the inheritor of the God of Death. Slowly, he rebuilt his body, one atom at a time. Slowly, flesh and body began to gather around the single point of power that contained all the godhood of his Soul. And somehow, this point of power supplied the flesh and blood, bathing it with power and turning it into something much stronger, something that could not be compared to normal humans. He felt like his entire being was rejuvenated. After a while, his body had been reborn! His physical features remained the same, but there was something different with him. His eyes looked ever so distant, his aura seemed ever so powerful. Atlan opened his eyes. He looked up at the Gods in the skies, who were looking down at him. He opened his mouth and said, "I will come for you," Those were his last words for the gods. Once he had reached this level of godhood, he finally realized why the God of Death hated the other Gods with a passion. He finally understood the crime they committed that was worthy of death. And retribution would come. He will come for them. Atlan opened a rift in space and left the haven of the Gods. He had to return to the dimension of the humans in order to fulfill his plans. As soon as he did, the points of stars in the skies started to tremble. Some, out of fear, but most out of anger. They would have never thought that the God of Death was able to relay his legacy to a human. That was supposed to be impossible. But now, he was led free into the world. Apocalypse had begun. Chapter 403 - 403: Death emerges A sudden emergence of a black liquid substance surprised everyone in the Genesis City Remedium. Ninth and the rest of her team stepped backward as they saw the black liquid form in front of them into what seemed like pillars. Even the Enchanted Queen didn''t know what was happening. She eyed the black liquid with suspicion. She was ready to act whenever this black liquid did something with malice towards them. What was most unsettling about the black liquid was the strange skulls forming around the surface of the black liquid. It looked like they were humans, who were trying to break through the black liquid to gasp for air. But unfortunately, they would be forever trapped in the black liquid with no way out. This led them to believe that the Black Dragon Malificient had come crawling back from the dead. But the only one who didn''t feel afraid was Tulip. Somehow, the power and aura emanating from the black liquid was something familiar to her. It was as if she could feel Atlan''s presence within it. Knowing Atlan''s power to absorb the deaths of all those he had witnessed, everything made sense for Tulip. She watched with bated breaths as the black liquid continued to form into a black door, with deathly symbols and creatures embedded deep into the very door itself. It looked like the doorway to hell itself. A few seconds later, the double door that led to the infernal lands of the dead suddenly creaked open, showing a glimpse of the void and nothingness beyond. TAP TAP TAP The sounds of delicate footsteps rang out into the Remedium, surprising Ninth and the rest of them. Just the fact that those footsteps sounded human led them to believe that this was someone they knew! This was Atlan. And just as they guessed, the one that came walking out of the depths of hell was none other than Atlan himself. Somehow, he only had a black robe donned upon himself and nothing else. The battle suit that he once wore was gone, destroyed from the very explosion that should have killed him from the very beginning. Tulip immediately ran towards Atlan and embraced him. She was worried for a second there that he truly died, but she was glad that she was wrong. Atlan would never die! The Enchanted Queen chuckled to herself. She knew just how low the chances of Atlan surviving that explosion were. After all, it was the combination of the holy explosion and his own explosion that would have certainly doomed his entire being before he could even try to do something about it. But somehow, he was able to do it. Not only that, the power and aura he was emitting now was unlike anything she had ever seen before. If Atlan was a simple worm back then, then now he had grown into his own dragon of death, who emanated a subtle but terrifying aura of nonchalance. It was as if he didn''t care if people died or not, because it all benefited him in the end. "I see you''ve consolidated your new strength," said the Enchanted Queen. Somehow, the chaos and destruction caused by the holy explosion allowed Atlan to forcibly consolidate all the power and strength he gained from the hundreds of thousands of Specialist-level Canzers. That would have been impossible through any other circumstance. But through a stroke of luck, the holy explosion occurred just in time as his own explosion, allowing a very rare moment in time where Atlan and the power he gained were all destroyed into mere atoms. The power he gained turned from a hostile entity into a collection of pure energy. So, when he rebuilt his body, it was easy to incorporate the new energy into his own power, increasing it tremendously without any of the downsides. This was a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and somehow, Atlan was able to achieve it. She didn''t know if this was luck or fate at this point. But there was one thing for sure. The Enchanted Queen was glad that she allied herself with Atlan. Now that he had consolidated into a near demi-god being of death, she was sure that all the other gods of the humans were starting to get afraid. "I still don''t know the full extent of my powers," said Atlan. Right now, he felt both human and godlike at the same time. He felt full of power, yet unable to assess how much. He was still getting used to his new body. Even the Soul System that he was so familiar with back then was gone, and replaced by that dimensionless point in the middle of his body. "Atlan, is¡­is that you?" Ninth and the other Saviors slowly approached the Star Porter. Even though he looked the same, his presence was completely different from the porter that they knew at the beginning. It was as if they were looking at a more mature, scarred Atlan who was ready to do anything to achieve his goals. "Yes, it''s me," Atlan replied. "But I''ve changed. I needed to. We need to. After all, our way of life has been completely overturned. Chaos and destruction are happening in our City at this very moment." Ninth and the others couldn''t understand the further meaning inside his words. "What do you mean?" Ninth asked. Atlan pointed at the remnants of the church beneath their feet. There was nothing but ashes and coal in this place. "The Church is destroyed. The whole City is panicking at this moment," Atlan replied, looking out into the distance. This led Ninth and the others to panic as well. "That''s not possible." "You stopped the explosion, right?" "This is the Remedium. Anything that happens here stays in the Remedium." With regard to their confusion, the Enchanted Queen had to give them the true spiel. "The Church is a critical point in your territory. Once it is destroyed here, then it is destroyed in the real world as well." S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 404 - 404: Chaos in the city Back in the real world, Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators were having a meltdown ever since they couldn''t connect to Atlan''s battle suit for the longest time. This told them that something wrong had happened. However, they could do nothing to help because all forms of communication with Atlan and the rest of the team were through the battle suit. This was the worst thing that could happen to them. Carmine and his team continued to look for solutions, blurting out ideas left and right even if they were utterly stupid. It didn''t matter. They just wanted something to do to try and solve this communication problem. But of course, they were simply beating a dead horse. Even if they couldn''t accept it, it was a fact that Atlan''s battle suit had completely lost its ability to transmit audio and video to them. While the Saviors were busy panicking, the Elder Heads all looked at each other with concern building up in their foreheads. They opened up a private communication to talk to each other. "We can do nothing at this point," the bald guy said. "That is right," the elderly woman replied. "Our Genesis God has already foretold us that this would happen. He told us not to worry." "But even so," the old man with gray hair said. "One wrong move with the mission could spell the doom of our entire City!" The Elder Heads continued to argue amongst each other, some advocating for a different plan, and some trying to calm them down and let things pass as they would pass. Of course, the last decision would come from their leader, the old man at the center of their seats. "Our God has spoken. He told us not to worry, so we should not worry. He has a plan. There is a reason why he chose that Star Porter to lead this mission. Although we do not know why, he seems to regard that young one with high value." The main reason why they insisted on Atlan becoming the porter for this mission was because the Genesis God instructed them to do so. Although they didn''t agree that the fate of the entire city should rest on a talented but inexperienced porter, they had to accept his request because he was their God. Now, they would finally know why God chose Atlan. Just then, a large tremor resounded through the Emergency Meeting room. Everyone stopped what they were doing. They all looked at each other, confused if they were the only ones who felt that or not. After all, this was the Emergency Meeting room. It was supposed to be the most protected and undisturbed place in the entire City. Yet somehow, a tremor was able to shake through their defenses and reach the Emergency Meeting room. Carmine and the rest of the Specialist Operators looked towards the Elder Heads, with confusion on their faces. But when they looked at the Elder Heads, they realized that they too weren''t expecting this result. Their eyes showed confusion and fear. After all, there was only one reason why they would feel a tremor in this room. And before any of them could even speak, the pure white infinite room that surrounded the Emergency room started to bleed red. The words EMERGENCY were plastered around the walls numerous times. Bells and ringing resounded through the room, bringing everyone''s attention to a halt. "What''s¡­what''s happening¡­" Carmine uttered to himself in despair. Just then, the leader of the Elder Heads finally made a move. He reached for the holographic projector in the middle of the large table. With a few inputs, he was able to show the current situation of Genesis City. They didn''t even have to look for the problem. It was staring at them right in their faces. The Church exploded. Plain and simple. There was nothing but dust, ashes, and coal inside the crater that was supposed to be their beacon of hope. Everyone gasped, unable to take a breath as they looked at the destruction that surrounded the Church. They couldn''t believe it. The church was gone. Just like that. "What¡­." "The Church¡­" Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "How¡­" There was only one reason why the Church was gone. The mission failed. But even that was an undetermined answer. After all, if the mission did fail, then they weren''t supposed to even know that the mission failed. They would have just blown up into pieces along with the entire City. Somehow, only the Church blew up, which was completely out of their predictions. According to all knowledge, scripture, and teachings, a church was the heart of a God. Once it was gone, then the God was gone as well. And if the God was gone, then the territory they once held would soon perish with the God. However, that wasn''t happening. They were still alive. "What is happening?!" Carmine said, grabbing his head in a panic. Carmine was worrying about the Church itself and their well-being. But for the Elder Heads, their concern was directed at something else. They all looked at the projection on the table and saw people coming out of their homes and gazing at the church in the distance. They all couldn''t help but kneel on the ground in despair, feeling as if everything was starting to go downhill. More and more people started to walk towards the Church with blank, empty faces. And as they approached, they suddenly saw the dead bodies of the guards and soldiers that were caught by the explosion. And deep down, they realized it themselves. Their immortality was gone. People could die now. This realization sent a shiver down their spines. Some of them simply fell to the floor, giving up on their life once they figured out the truth. Some people shouted in anger and despair, cursing the gods and the destiny that befell them. But more people started to run away. They wanted to get out of Genesis City. They shouted at everyone that were just starting to walk towards the Church. They wanted to warn them. "God is dead! Immortality is dead! Save yourselves now!" Chapter 405 - 405: Don’t trust gods "What''s happening to our City?" Ninth asked, feeling an ominous hunch in her heart. If the black dragon''s words were indeed true, then that meant that the Church of Genesis had blown up into pieces. This would send the entire City into an uproar, creating chaos and bloodshed unlike anything they had ever seen before. Peace was only maintained inside the City because they believed that the Genesis God was protecting them. And if the church, which was the symbol of the God himself, was destroyed, then that sense of security within the citizens would also be destroyed. The fact that people could actually die now only made things a lot worse. Surely, there would be some kind of accidents that would happen as they rioted towards the church. Someone would eventually end up dead, with the Saviors unable to cover it up before the general public found out that immortality was gone. It would only end up with the citizens freaking out even more as they realize they could truly die without a second chance of reviving. Ninth could only shudder at the thought. "We have to get back now," she said to Atlan and the rest of her team. Everyone agreed with her words. After all, now that the mission had failed, they had no other reason to be in this Remedium. They had to go back to the real world and try to help with the aftermath of the explosion. Ninth and the other Specialist Saviors all pushed themselves to stand up. The portal to the real world was still a couple of ways back from where they came from, which meant that they had to walk quite a long distance before they could leave. Their bodies were still hurting, but they ignored it and kept going. However, just before they were about to completely leave, Atlan stopped them in their tracks. "There''s no need to go that far. I can take us back to the real world," he said to them. Atlan then unfurled the Angel Wings in his back. Somehow, the power emanating from his Angel Wings had increased tremendously, as if they were the real thing! The truth was that in Atlan''s transition to become somewhat of a God, he was able to transform all of his mutations into their full potential. This included the Angel Wings, which had now become the same as what the Angels had originally used. This meant that he could travel anywhere he wanted in a matter of an instant. Even the different dimensions were of no trouble to him. If he wanted to, he could even make his Angel Wings invisible to the naked eye, just like how Angels were completely invisible to humans. However, Atlan chose not to hide it this time. Ninth and the rest of the team looked at the Angel Wings in his back and felt that he truly could do as he said. After all, traveling through the different dimensions was the least impressive thing they had seen the Star Porter do. "Just stand near me and let the Angel power overcome your bodies," Atlan said. Ninth and the others huddled closer to Atlan, with the two plushie dragons landing on Atlan''s shoulders. Within just a second, a bright white light suddenly came from above them and shone down onto their feet. Ninth and the others felt a warm sensation flood their entire senses, as if they were completely immersed in a warm temperature bath. They closed their eyes and let the Angel Power envelop them. And after a few seconds, the light died down. When they looked around their surroundings, they were surprised to see nothing but blackness everywhere they looked. At first, they thought that they were still back in the Remedium, where everything was in a negative color. But as they looked at the sky, they saw its normal blue luster, meaning that they were truly back in the real Genesis City. The blackness they were currently seeing was the charred remains of the Genesis Church. They were standing in the very middle of the explosion''s aftermath. "How horrible¡­" Ninth commented. They couldn''t believe that the Church they grew up in had been destroyed just like this. They still remember when they went to mass every week and prayed to become Saviors of great renown. As they became Saviors, they visited the Church less and less because of their busy schedules. But now, when they finally returned to the church''s embrace, they found nothing but a burned ruin. And the worst part was that they were directly involved in its destruction. If only they were a little bit stronger, they could have prevented this from happening. "Don''t blame yourselves," Atlan said to Ninth and the others. "This would have happened either way." His words sent a shock to the others. "What do you mean, Atlan?" Ninth asked. Atlan looked up at the sky and saw the stars all watching them from up above. When he underwent his transformation, he came across the truth. And that truth led him to despise the Gods and everything they stood for. "You''ll find out soon enough," Atlan said to them. "I''ll just give you one piece of advice. Don''t trust the Gods. Any of them," he said with a serious voice. Ninth and the others couldn''t believe Atlan''s words. After all, they were taught that Gods were benevolent beings that helped humans advance and prosper in their lives. But from what Atlan seemed to imply, it seemed as if the Gods were not as good as they were taught. Even though they trusted Atlan with all of their hearts because he saved their lives, they couldn''t help but doubt his words. Unless they saw something that definitively proved his accusations, then they were going to keep believing in the Gods. But of course, because he warned them, they would become a lot more suspicious. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "AAAHHHH!" "HE''S DEAD! THEY''RE ALL DEAD!" Atlan and the others heard screaming and shouting everywhere. As they looked all around the City, they saw nothing but chaos and destruction. Buildings were burning, people were rioting, and many more were trying to get out of this mess. Chapter 406 - 406: Chaos and bloodshed Slowly, the news was spreading to the entire City. Everyone quickly found out that they had lost their immortality. But stupidly enough, the humans didn''t try to preserve the life they had left. No. Instead of hiding themselves from any harm, they went outside and started to riot. They burned buildings, sieged government offices, and stole from businesses wherever they wanted. Their current mentality was to let loose all their hidden desires. If they were going to die anyway, then they decided that they were going to die with a flare. They were going to do whatever they wanted. They were going to get that necklace they''ve always wanted, they''re going to kill that pesky neighbor they''ve had all their life, or they''re going to satisfy their desires to get their hands bloodied. Everyone went into a chaos. Seeing this sight, Ninth and the others couldn''t help but fall to their knees. They couldn''t believe how in just a matter of a few days, everything had collapsed in their society. Everything turned even more lawless than the Unclaimed Lands. "We have to get to the HeadQuarters. They''ll know what to do," said Ninth. Atlan nodded. Just then, Ninth and the others spotted a few Saviors in their battle suit uniform trying to assuage the citizens from creating more chaos than they''ve already caused. "Please, stand down. Everything will be fine," said one of the Student-level Vanguard Saviors. "Calm down? CALM DOWN?!?!?! Everything has gone to shit! And now, you ask us to calm down?!" said the angry citizen with a pitchfork. "Please. I don''t know what''s going on, but I know that HeadQuarters will soon fix this mess. Trust me," said the newbie Savior. "Haa¡­.I''m getting tired of you, boy! You don''t know anything. Get out now, or we will force our way inside and burn everything down!" rallied the angry citizens, which was cheered by the mob behind him. "I¡­.I can''t do that," said the Savior, his voice faltering. Seeing this, the angry citizen thought he saw an opportunity to slip by. He quickly pushed himself towards the newbie Savior and tried to storm through the building. But just as he was about to slip by the Savior, the ordinary citizen suddenly felt something in his chest. And when he looked down, he a blade pierced right through his heart. He couldn''t even utter anything as he vomited blood. He soon fell to the floor, dead on the spot. The rest of the angry mob couldn''t believe what just happened. A Savior, the supposed protector of the City, had just killed a citizen in cold blood. They were named Saviors because they were supposed to save the citizens of a territory. But now, one of them had just killed a citizen. This should have scared the other citizens, thought the newbie Saviors. He thought that if he killed the angry man, then the rest of the angry mob would soon follow his words. Then, after everything had been calm, he would bring the angry man into the HeadQuarters so that they could revive him. This Savior, naively, still thought that they were all still immortal and that everything could be fixed by the HeadQuarters. However, it seemed that the angry mob was a little bit smarter than him. They knew that death was permanent. And now, a Savior had committed murder right in front of their very eyes. This only seemed to consolidate in their minds that the HeadQuarters was a corrupt governmental body that needed to be destroyed. After all, if they were any good, they would have prevented this from happening in the first place. "You bastard!" "You''ll pay for this, you scum!" "Kill him!" The angry mob began to surround the newbie Savior, overwhelming him with their numbers. Then, they soon used their pitchforks and their kitchen knives to fill him with cuts and pierces, leaving him to die right next to the man he murdered. "RAHHH!! Let''s burn this place down!" said the angry mob. Ninth and the others could only watch as they witnessed similar events all around the City. Even if they tried to stop the chaos, they would only end up making it worse. After all, these citizens were no longer with a sound mind. They were angry, and they needed to vent out that anger. No amount of talking would solve this problem. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at the dead bodies lying around in the City as an aftermath of all the chaos and destruction happening. He watched as blobs of light left their bodies and slowly floated towards him. Atlan opened his hands and let the blobs of light land on his palm. Once they made contact with his skin, Atlan began to absorb the souls of all the dead in his vicinity. He felt power coursing through his veins, slowly filling the infinite hunger he had for souls. If he needed to fully transcend into godhood and fight the other gods, he needed more souls. A lot of them. "Is this what humanity has fallen to?" the Enchanted Queen muttered to herself as she floated next to Atlan. "It''s even worse than in our world." "It''s horrible. Both humans and Canzers are so obsessed with killing. Why can''t we all coexist?" Tulip commented. Now that they became Atlan''s tamed dragons, they could freely visit the human world as plushies. They thought it would be a nice little vacation, but this horrible sight was not relaxing at all. They continued to run through the streets of Genesis City, slowly making their way to the center where the HeadQuarters was located. And as they continued going deeper and deeper, the more chaos filled the streets. People were throwing down furniture, TVs, and even themselves off the buildings, making it a hazard just for anyone that wanted to cross the street. Finally, they saw the HeadQuarters just a mile ahead of them. And on the steps leading up to the very building, they saw piles and piles of angry citizens shouting at their doors. They were all trying to get inside, even if it meant they had to tear down the very walls of the building. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 407 - 407: New currency Atlan, Ninth and the rest of the team were unable to get anywhere near inside the HeadQuarters. There were thousands upon thousands of angry citizens demanding an explanation from the top Saviors about the current situation. Many were blaming them for the loss of immortality. They thought that because of the Church''s explosion, their immortality went with it as well. Of course, that wasn''t true. They just didn''t know that Angels had turned extinct. "What are we going to do?" "Should we try to sneak in?" "How? Every door is blocked by an angry mob!" The team tried to debate whether they should even go inside the HeadQuarters to begin with. After all, it looked like the entire building had been barricaded from the inside and out to prevent the rioters from getting inside. "We can''t go inside," Atlan said. "There''s no one there." With his newly gained supernatural abilities, Atlan was able to assess the situation on the inside of the HeadQuarters. And from what he could see, there wasn''t anyone present inside. "They''re probably at a secure Pocket Remedium trying to have a meeting with the rest of the Saviors to try and deal with the current situation," Atlan muttered. Ninth and the rest of the team were unnerved with those words. After all, they were hoping that they could return to the HeadQuarters and report about what happened during the mission. They also wanted to know what they could do to help the situation. Their heart grew heavy with guilt knowing that they may have become part of the reason why chaos and bloodshed was spreading throughout the City. As the rioting continued to grow larger and larger, everyone was suddenly forced to look up into the skies to witness the projections of faces in the air. Everyone looked up to see five distinct floating heads, each one looking quite old and experienced. Atlan, Ninth and the rest of the team immediately recognized them to be the Elder Heads in charge of everything inside Genesis City. It looked like they had finished their meeting and were ready to relay the information to the people to try and calm them down. "Greetings, citizens of Genesis City. As you may not know, we are the Elder Heads of this territory, meaning that we govern everything that is going on inside this land. I''m sure most of you have already figured out that the cone of safety that once protected us is now gone. Death is now permanent." Once he said those words, despair and angry shouting overcame the rioters. Even though they already knew this to be true, the fact that there was an official announcement meant that it was genuinely true. "But that does not mean God is dead. Just because our church has been destroyed doesn''t mean that our faith in the Genesis God has wavered!" the old man shouted with pride, influencing some of the rioters watching from below to put down their pitchforks and simply cry on their knees. "He has not abandoned us. Fear not, because the whole world is experiencing this phenomenon. Every one of us has lost our immortality, even the biggest of Metropolises and Cities in the world." Upon hearing this, some of the citizens trying to escape out of the Genesis City walls couldn''t help but feel all their strength sapped out of their bodies. They thought that if they were able to leave this City, then they would be able to save themselves from death. But it turned out that they had nowhere else to turn to. Every City has lost their immortality. "This is not the time for despair, citizens of Genesis City. We have hope. The Genesis God has given us hope. We were contacted by Him and was given a solution to our current problem." The old man''s words became more and more pronounced as he went on with his speech. His charisma and hopeful words seemed to have affected the rioters and the angry citizens by a large margin. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Everyone stopped burning down buildings, they stopped robbing stores, and they stopped trying to destroy the City in anger. They all watched for the old man''s next words. "There is still a chance for us to become ''immortal''. That is through the use of Soul Time! As long as you have done the City a great service, the Genesis God will bestow upon you a Time Stim, a device that will transfer more Soul Time into your body that will heal any ailments or extend your life for as long as you want! In order to make sure that only those deserving are given the chance to live longer, we are implementing a new system in the City. If you want to buy water and food in this territory, then you must pay using your Soul Time! If you want more Soul Time to heal your wounds, then you must earn Soul Time in the market by offering your unique talents and services to everyone in the City. Soul Time will now become our currency!" Just as the old man announced that, everyone suddenly saw their wrist light up in a blinding light. A few seconds later, everyone saw numbers flashing on their wrists. [250 yrs : 111 d : 01 hrs : 40 min : 34 s] Everyone could now see their Soul Times plastered on their wrists. Of course, they had the option to hide their Soul Time from others, but this also meant that they could flash their Soul Time to others as a form of bragging. Ninth and the others looked at their Soul Times and couldn''t help but wince. Back when they started the mission, their Soul Times were in the tens of thousands of years. But now, due to the injuries they sustained through the multiple fights they had to fight through, they were now down to their last decade. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at his wrist and saw a strange sight. [------------] His Soul Time wasn''t displayed on his wrist. But as he looked closer, he suddenly realised that those lines were flashing a thousand times per second. As he used his advanced sight, he slowed down his perception of the world and saw the world turn in slow motion. Then, he saw his Soul Time was actually increasing so much that it wasn''t registering into the system! Chapter 408 - 408: Unfair outcome Atlan, right at this very second, saw blobs of light flowing out of every single human in his vicinity. These blobs of light signalled life itself in the form of Soul Time. And each second, everyone''s Soul Time ticked down a second, meaning that they were losing life for every second that they were alive. And somehow, Atlan could now absorb those lost Soul Time from the air and implement it into his own life, increasing his Soul Time in absurd numbers. If Soul Time did become the current currency of the world, then Atlan could be considered to be the richest man alive possible. Even if he wasn''t the one with the most Soul Time for now, he would certainly become one in the future. After all, while everybody was losing their lives, Atlan was actually gaining them at an even faster rate than most people died. Meanwhile, Ninth and her team couldn''t help but worry about their own situation. Usually, after a mission, the God would give them back their lost Soul Time during the mission and give them extra for their efforts. Even when the mission was a failure, they were at least given a few years extra of Soul Time as consolation. However, now, they experienced no such thing after the mission in the church. They didn''t expect it as well, after how horrific things turned out to be. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And as the Elder Heads continued to explain about the current situation of Genesis City, Ninth and the others couldn''t help but feel as if they were extremely unlucky. After today, all missions of Saviors were now getting paid through Time Stims only, meaning that the God wouldn''t give them back lost Soul Time, and just pay them for their efforts as long as the mission was successful. To balance things out, the reward for a successful mission had more than doubled, making this job very lucrative. But for those that failed the mission, they would get nothing, not even a consolation prize. This type of system incentivized Saviors to keep on accepting more and more missions. After all, missions were the only way they were going to get more Soul Time. And if they wanted to live forever, then they would have to gather a lot of Soul Time before they retired. Ninth and her team were no slackers. They were one of the strongest teams in Genesis City, even within Specialist Saviors. However, they knew the pitfalls this system would introduce to newbie Saviors. After all, if beginner Saviors failed their mission, they would have nothing to fall back to. Once they encounter a mission too hard for them, they would end up getting injured a lot and losing a lot of SoulTime in the process. And because they didn''t finish the mission, they wouldn''t receive any Time Stim compensation for their troubles. This would only end up becoming an ever growing problem for the rookie Savior. Because they don''t have enough SoulTime, they would be less inclined to risk their life on a mission. And because they weren''t taking on missions, they weren''t going to earn any Soul Time. It would end up with the newbie Savior getting desperate and forcing himself to do missions that are way above his strength just for the chance to get more Soul Time. More often than not, they would end up dead. Ninth felt sorry for the beginner Saviors. They wouldn''t have the proper environment for them to fully develop as Saviors because they would always become too worried about their SoulTime. If Ninth experienced this situation back when she was a newbie, then she doubted she could have become the Specialist Savior she was right now. "Atlan, I think we''re going to go our separate ways now," Ninth said to Atlan. "Yes. We have a lot of things to prepare." "Our SoulTime is getting dangerously low. We must prepare for another mission so that we could have enough to live." The general consensus between Ninth and the team was that they were going to continue performing missions after this. After all, they needed the Time Stim. Not only that, there was also a lingering guilt in their hearts that they could not get rid of until they saved the City from another Canzer. They wanted to prove to themselves that they could still fight Canzers and protect the City. Atlan watched as Ninth and the team slowly backed away from HeadQuarters to head back to their houses. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ninth and her team. [50 yrs : 23 d : 01 hrs : 53 min : 22 s] [42 yrs : 304 d : 15 hrs : 03 min : 52 s] [66 yrs : 153 d : 05 hrs : 14 min : 41 s] Using his innate powers in death, he was able to see the SoulTime of Ninth and the others even though they hadn''t shown him their wrists. He found it unfair for them that they had to suffer for this unfortunate situation. They did their best during the mission and gave it everything they''ve got. However, their opponent this time was truly something that they couldn''t have defeated on their own no matter how much they tried. It wasn''t their fault that the Church exploded. It was the Elder Heads'' fault for not preparing more Saviors to fight in the mission. After all, they had to fight multiple Specialist-level Canzers before they even reached the Church. So, Ninth and the others shouldn''t have to live with worry that they would soon die because of their injuries from the church mission. Atlan raised his hand and gathered a small portion of the light blobs that he had been absorbing each second. Then, he directed these blobs of light towards Ninth and her team, enveloping them with a warm sensation that made them feel as if they were near a fireplace. Immediately, they all looked at their wrists and saw that their SoulTime had increased by a thousand years! It was unbelievable. Too unbelievable, in fact, that they all looked back at Atlan and knew that he was the one who gifted them this new lease on life. Chapter 409 - 409: Change in the City Atlan gave Ninth and the others a silent look. And they accepted his gift with a solemn nod, having the implicit agreement that they would never talk about what happened inside the mission to others. After all, the things that they learned about Atlan were truly mind-breaking. Anyone would start to wonder if he was even human at this point, especially since he could talk and communicate with Canzers as if he were a Canzer himself. Because they knew Atlan personally and saw him fighting for the good of humanity, they knew that he was a good person. However, not a lot of people know about Atlan. They only knew the Star Porter. And if they quickly found out that he had these strange powers, powers that were once originally from Canzers, then they would start to wonder about his true motives. This was especially true in this current chaotic climate. The citizens were both angry and confused. They would quickly turn to Atlan and make him the scapegoat for everything that happened in this City. Ninth and the others looked at their SoulTime and saw it not as a bribe, but as a gift. After all, Atlan didn''t ask them to keep his secret. It was only because Ninth and the others wanted to repay Atlan and keep him safe that they kept their mouths shut. "We''ll convene some other time," said Ninth to everyone in her team. "I''ll call for everyone once the HeadQuarters is open for us to enter. Right now, let''s let the citizens calm down for a few days." Atlan agreed with Ninth''s assessment and knew that in a few days, the citizens would soon get bored trying to enter inside the HeadQuarters. And since everyone now had to worry about their own SoulTime, they wouldn''t want to risk their lives by creating more chaos in the City. Atlan soon bid goodbye to Ninth and the others and went directly to his house. When he arrived at the Suburban village of his property, he saw that most of the houses were either trashed or destroyed by the rioters. After all, this was a famed village that only Saviors lived in. And despite everything that the Saviors did for the City, the citizens all thought that the Saviors were the ones responsible for everything bad happening to their lives. His house was no stranger to this. The doors were broken down, the window glasses were shattered by thrown stones, and even part of his roof was spray painted with some kind of vulgarity. Atlan actually thought that he got it better compared to the other Savior houses in the vicinity. When he went inside, he was thankful that his bedroom and the rest of the rooms weren''t affected by the rioting. It looks like the angry mob only threw stuff at the front of his house, leaving his bedroom squeaky clean. Atlan never cared for how the interior of his house looked, so he didn''t care that it was trashed. As long as he had a roof to sleep in, then he considered himself lucky. "This is your house? You should have stayed in my kingdom and we could have given you a room fit for a king," said the black dragon plushie floating beside him. "It''s nice¡­ it''s not as homely as our cottage in the forest, but it''s nice enough," commented Tulip, the white-green dragon plushie. Both of his tamed dragons floated around his house and inspected everything there was to see in the human world. This was the first time they could freely look around in this dimension without triggering a symptom in the Remedium. So, they quickly tried to fiddle with everything in Atlan''s room. "Oooh! Moving pictures!" said Tulip in wonder as she looked at the TV. "Strange magic, humans have. But I must admit that it is quite amazing," said the Enchanted Queen. Atlan wanted them to explore to their heart''s content, so he let them do whatever they pleased. While the dragons were busy being surprised by the flushing of the toilet, Atlan laid down on his bed and took a nap. As a demigod of death, he didn''t need any sleep to keep his body working. However, a lot of things happened during the mission in quite a small amount of time. He needed this peace and quiet. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ The next day, Atlan got up and found himself looking around him. He took a peek at the window and saw no rioting, heard no chaos, nor felt any disturbance that was so prevalent yesterday. He stepped outside and saw people cleaning the houses that were once thrashed. "Make sure you clean this properly," said one of his neighbors. "Yes, yes," replied the guy with the broom in his hand. "Now, about my payment¡­you''ll give me a tip, right?" The Savior nodded his head. "As long as you finish all the work today and make my house the same way it was before, then I''ll give you a bonus. Here, I''ll give you some compensation now so that you''ll feel motivated." Upon hearing this, the guy with the broom couldn''t help but express his excitement. "Thank you!" Then, the Savior took out a strange syringe-like object from his pockets and stuck it onto his wrist. And with a single push of a button, the syringe suddenly lit up in a strange yellow glow. Atlan saw the same blobs of light that he saw yesterday slowly fill up the syringe, creating that yellow glow. After that, the Savior then gave the syringe to the guy with the broom, who happily accepted the gift. The guy with the broom stuck the syringe into his wrist, letting all of the stored blobs of light in the syringe directly towards his body. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The man showed a euphoric expression as he felt the warmth flowing into his veins. Once the syringe had completely emptied, he gave it back to the Savior and thanked him profusely before going back to sweep all the mess in the house. Atlan couldn''t believe his eyes. They exchanged SoulTime! Somehow, in a matter of hours, the people already accepted SoulTime as the de facto currency of Genesis City. Chapter 410 - 410: New social order Only a few days had passed since that fateful day, but everything had completely changed in Genesis City. Everything used to be free. Water, food, and even housing could be gained only by virtue of becoming a citizen of Genesis City. Anyone who became part of this city would gain everything they needed to survive without worrying about anything else for their infinite life. And if you wanted something more back then, then you would need to prove your worth to the City by performing a great merit. If you want a bigger house, then you must give the City your services like distributing food or tending to the crops. It was a paradise. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, now that everyone found out that they could die, that paradise was shattered and replaced by a cruel reality. People started to charge everyone for their services. If they wanted to drink water, then they had to pay the workers who gathered water with their SoulTime. And if they wanted to buy food to eat, then they would have given their SoulTime to the farmers and the herders who took care of all the animals. Atlan slowly walked through the streets of Genesis City and felt the change in everyone''s expression. There seemed to be a hidden anger within everyone, as if this life that they were so hell-bent on keeping, was not as enjoyable as they wanted. "Are you kidding me? A month''s worth of SoulTime for this little burger? At least give me a bigger bun!" "Honey, we can''t buy that dress you want. It costs a year of SoulTime, and we barely have enough to keep eating for the week." "If you don''t have any SoulTime to spend, then you can''t stay in this house! Pay your rent!" The world had gone to become more cruel. Those with more SoulTime became much more powerful, as they were able to control those that did not have any SoulTime in their Soul Systems. For example, those with more Soul Time to spend immediately started buying out all the apartments and houses in their vicinity. Then, they started taking rent from the inhabitants by asking for exorbitant amounts of SoulTime. The inhabitants could only keep their mouths shut and pay the price. After all, if they were kicked out of their homes, then they would have nowhere else to turn to. And perhaps, the most revered citizens of the City became the Saviors. After all, they were the ones with the most Soul Time in the entire City. The SoulTime they gained from their missions led them to have thousands upon thousands of years left in their lifespans. They were called Thousandairs, for they had thousands of years left in their SoulTime. The top of the very top, the Specialist level Saviors, were the ones who were most revered. After all, they were the ones who were paid the most during their missions. But even the Student Saviors were becoming a part of the higher echelon of the City. Even though the SoulTime they were paid from missions wasn''t all that much compared to Specialist-level Saviors, they were still so much more than the normal citizens were earning during their daily lives. This led a lot of parents to ask for their child to be taught how to become a Savior. The Saviors, of course, accepted this tutoring job in exchange for SoulTime. Of course, the better the Savior, the more SoulTime their time was worth. Just a few days earlier, all citizens were extremely mad at the Saviors. They were blaming them for the church''s explosion and the loss of immortality. But everyone seemed to have quickly forgotten that once the currency of SoulTime was introduced in the City. That was due to the fact that some Specialist-level Saviors donated some of their SoulTime to everyone in the City. In everyone''s desperation, they quickly forgot their anger at the Saviors and even thanked them for their generosity. After all, although Saviors were still saviors. They were doing their job and protecting the City from being destroyed by Canzers. There was one particular incident about two days after the explosion of the church that completely changed the perception of Saviors in the eyes of the normal citizens of Genesis City. A symptom had arrived in one of the districts, creating a tremendous earthquake that continued to ravage the buildings in the streets. Not only that, the earthquake seemed to spread larger and larger from its original position, threatening to damage the other districts. The original earthquake already took a substantial amount of SoulTime from a lot of people, with some completely dying from the incident. And if the symptom continued to spread, then more and more people would be affected and lose their SoulTime¡ªor worse, lose their lives. But thanks to the timely help of some Saviors, the symptom was quickly taken care of, turning the City into normal once again. After their return to the real world, the citizens clapped and praised the Saviors who saved their lives. Even though this incident was routine, and nothing more special than the ones that happened before the incident, their help became so much more impactful now that the citizens knew that they could die if the Saviors hadn''t done their job. And as the days passed, more symptoms occurred, leading the citizens to depend on the Saviors for help. So, in a matter of a few days, the whole situation was turned around. Saviors were once again saviors. Of course, there were still a handful of people who retained an extreme hatred for the Saviors, but anyone who publicly showed their resentment for the Saviors was ostracized. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Atlan was walking around the streets of Genesis City, deep in thought about his next plans, when someone accidentally bumped into him, causing that someone to crash to the ground. Atlan''s physical strength had reached tremendous levels, probably even higher than Specialist-level Saviors. So, anyone who bumps into him would experience something akin to being hit by a truck. "What the fuck? Watch where you''re going, prick! Don''t you know who I am? Look at my SoulTime. You can''t treat me like this." Chapter 411 - 411: Bragging Soul Time? Atlan looked at the man and saw him wearing a green battle suit, which meant that he was a Vanguard Savior like him. However, he didn''t recognize the guy. But judging from the emblem on his chest, it seemed that this guy was in the Pre-Intern realm, just above the Student level and below the Intern realm. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan''s reputation as the Star Porter had spread far and wide in the City, however, due to the church''s explosion and the advent of the Time Stims to transfer Soul Time, everyone seemed to have forgotten about him and his supposed talent. After all, from their perspective, Atlan was nothing more than a porter whose skill was a little bit better than most Student-level Saviors. Sure, in terms of Student Saviors, he was probably one of the best. But in the matter of other Saviors, he was but another newbie. And skill as a porter was not that needed nowadays. After all, ever since Soul Time became much more scarce, every Savior was now looking for any opportunity they could earn Soul Time. This included taking the place of porters during missions. Since Atlan was the only Porter available in the City, most of the missions were done without a porter at all. They used multiple Saviors to carry the heavy construct inside the Remedium. And since the job was relatively easy with virtually no risk, everyone was now vying to be in the porter position. So, all in all, Atlan''s value in the City had gone down considerably. After all, he was still a newbie in the Student realm. This particular guy who bumped into Atlan thought that too. He thought that Atlan had remained at the Student level. After all, it had only been a few weeks since he had first started. How would he have guessed that Atlan had the same power as Specialist-level Canzers. Not only that, but he had two dragons by his side ready to support him at any time he needed it. "Apologies," Atlan said. "But you''re the one who bumped into me." The guy couldn''t believe that Atlan wasn''t prostrating himself on the ground right now to beg for forgiveness. "I have five hundred years of Soul Time in my Soul System, buddy. You don''t get to mess with me," the guy said, disdain written on his face. But Atlan couldn''t understand why the guy was bragging about his Soul Time. He didn''t think it mattered. "So?" Atlan asked. "So?! Are you stupid or something? This means that I''m more powerful than you. Plain and simple. With more Soul Time, I have more health than you and even more power to kill you. And once I kill you, well¡­" The guy eyed Atlan''s wrist, hoping to see the Soul Time hidden inside. Atlan finally realized what the guy wanted to do. He seemed to have bumped into him on purpose, with the very goal of starting a fight. "What are you, a Student? And I''m at the peak of the Pre-Intern realm. We are not the same. If you don''t want to get your ass handed to you, then I''m willing to soothe my anger if you give me 10 years of Soul Time as compensation." Atlan couldn''t believe that this guy was doing all of this effort just to get ten years of Soul Time. Even back when Atlan was just a Student Savior, he could earn that much Soul Time in a few hours just by activating his mutation. It seems things have truly changed in this society. When he first entered Genesis City, he thought that everyone was nice and caring to other people. But now, things have completely changed. "Hey, hey! Are you going to give me your Soul Time or not? I''m getting impatient here," the guy said, slowly taking out the sword from the sheath on his back. Atlan shook his head in disappointment. He then looked around and saw a discreet hall by the side of the street. He started going in that direction, leading the guy away from any prying eyes. "Now, give me your Soul Time!" the guy threatened, brandishing his sword. But Atlan didn''t even flinch. He simply gave the man a stern eye. "I''m probably not the first one that you cornered like this, right? How many Student-level Saviors have you extorted out of precious Soul Time?" Atlan asked, his anger showing on his eyebrows. "You bastard. How dare you say that to me? And here I thought I wouldn''t have to teach you a lesson. But now, you''ve forced my hand. If you don''t want to give me your Soul Time, then I''ll take it away from you!" The guy raised his sword with such speed and ferocity that his blade almost looked invisible. He looked like he barely moved, but in truth, he had completely cleaved his sword towards Atlan''s hand, hoping to sever it clean. The man waited, with a conceited expression on his face, for Atlan to show a pained expression as he realized that he lost his hand. But after a few seconds, nothing happened. The man looked confused. He didn''t know what happened. He knew that his sword had cleaved through Atlan''s hand just from feeling alone, yet none of that happened. "Tsk. You got lucky," said the man. This time, he wasn''t going to miss again. His body started to glow a strange red hue, as if his whole body was encompassed by a great fire. The sword in his hands emanated a dangerous sharpness, enough to cut through layers and layers of steel. As a Pre-Intern level Savior, the man was confident in his strength. Just a normal attack of his could inflict a year of Soul Time damage! The man raised his sword and concentrated all of his strength and cleaving power towards Atlan''s hand, which was resting by the side of his body. SHIIING! A small cut appeared on Atlans hand, but after a second, the cut had seemingly healed and showed no sign of being affected at all. Chapter 412 - 412: Stealing? The man couldn''t believe his eyes. His most proudest skill, that used to cleave through Destruction Canzers with ease, was now treated as nothing more than a surface wound. Not only that, the wound he inflicted was healed in just a matter of a few seconds. "So you''re a little bit sturdier than others, so what? I''ll still cut you up into pieces!" He thought that Atlan had simply expended a lot of his Soul Time to protect himself from the wound. He thought that Atlan wasted some of his Soul Time to heal the wound in a matter of seconds. This led the man to believe that Atlan had a lot more Soul Time than the average person, which motivated him to fight Atlan more so that he could extract all of the Soul Time in his body later. "Let''s see how you deal with this. LifeSkill: Fury of Blazing Blade!" the man screamed, with his entire body and blade becoming enveloped with an even bigger fire. The man started to perform moves and stances with his blade, starting his strongest flurry of attacks. This was a combo that the man relied on to kill lots and lots of Canzers in a matter of a few seconds. The combination of his sharp sword and his intense burning fire would be enough to deal at least ten years of damage for each second he continued the attacks. Finally, the guy began his onslaught on Atlan, slicing towards his body with speed and power that would most certainly impress those who knew nothing but swordsmanship. Slowly, Atlan''s skin began to be inundated with cuts and slashes from the man''s attacks. The man smiled. A second had passed and he had performed about 50 slashes towards Atlan''s body, meaning that in total, he must have lost about 10 years of his Soul Time. This was a precious amount of Soul Time. And if he wanted to heal all of the cuts and open wounds on his body, then Atlan would have to spend more of his Soul Time to accelerate his healing capabilities. The man thought that Atlan would give up at this point. After all, surrendering now would save him from further humiliation and pain. Compared to what he was asking, Atlan would save a lot more Soul Time by relenting to the man''s wishes and giving him the Soul Time he needed. But somehow, Atlan''s face was stone cold. He still looked sternly at the man with absolutely no change in facial expression as his body got filled with cuts and injuries. The man was a little bit unnerved upon seeing this. Just then, he saw that Atlan''s body began to start healing again. All of the cuts that the man inflicted upon him were closing back up even faster than when the man inflicted them. "Are you stupid?! Why are you wasting so much Soul Time?!" the guy shouted. From his perspective, the man thought that Atlan was simply throwing away Soul Time for nothing. After all, he could have just surrendered and made all of this over in just a few more seconds. But no. Atlan refused to surrender. This activated the guy''s stubbornness. He vowed to himself that he wouldn''t stop until Atlan gave up and begged for mercy. He didn''t want to truly hurt Atlan before this and only wanted to extort him out of a few years of Soul Time, yet now, the man''s pride as a swordsman was hurt. He was going to prove to Atlan that no amount of Soul Time could protect him from his burning sword! The man continued his furry of slashes toward Atlan, increasing his movements and deepening his contact with Atlan''s skin. By now, Atlan must have been losing 20 or more years for each second that the man continued his onslaught of sword swings. Yet as the seconds passed, Atlan continued to be unbothered. It was not without reason, for all of his cuts¡ªno matter how deep or how many¡ªwere simply healed in a matter of a fraction of a second. It came to a point where the man was struggling to even cut through Atlan''s skin because Atlan was regenerating his injuries so fast that the cuts were being healed back up the moment they were cut! As the man slowly slowly felt his energy weaken, and exhaustion take over his body, the man realized something terrifying. Atlan seemed to have thousands upon thousands of Soul Time in reserve! Atlan had used up hundreds upon hundreds of years just from the cuts alone, not even including the Soul Time needed to accelerate its healing. It was as if Atlan''s Soul Time was endless. He couldn''t believe it! It was as if Soul Time was nothing for him. The man slowly stopped his sword, with his hands slowly trembling from both terror and exhaustion. "You¡­ give me your Soul Time!" the man screamed as he took out a Time Stim from his pocket and stabbed it toward Atlan''s wrist. This syringe was used to extract and transfer Soul Time from one person to another. And since the act of taking a Soul Time was as easy as stabbing the syringe onto their body, then anyone could theoretically steal a person''s Soul Time. Of course, this was dangerous for the person being stabbed because it was not controlled. The man knew that Atlan must have thousands upon thousands of years of Soul Time. He wanted that. He wanted all of it. So, he stabbed the Time Stim in Atlan''s arm and started to extract all of the Soul Time he could fit in the syringe. The man''s face glowed as he saw the syringe start to light up more and more, sucking up every Soul Time that it could from Atlan''s body. After a few seconds, the Time Stim was completely full to the brim. Ecstasy filled the man''s face as he realized that he had just extracted a thousand years from Atlan. He immediately poked the syringe into his own wrist, transferring all of the Soul Time he stole from Atlan into his body. But then, instead of feeling the warmth of Soul Time flowing through his body, he suddenly felt a coldness overcome his body. He looked down at his wrist and realized that his Soul Time was actually going down! S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 413 - 413: Territorial dispute Horror filled the man''s face as he realized what was happening. Instead of filling himself with thousands upon thousands of years of Soul Time, his own lifespan was the one actually going down! He didn''t understand what was going on. The Time Stim was supposed to suck out all of Atlan''s Soul Time and transfer it onto himself. Slowly, the man''s face began to age, from being a man in his healthy twenties, to a man going through the years and turning ninety. His face had wrinkles all over, with his eyes turning grayish and blurry. The once great physique that he boasted was now nothing more than skin and bones. His hair, once flush with black and healthy strands, now turned grayish-white and slowly fell off his head. It was as if age had finally chased after this man. After living in immortality for all this time, only now did time finally catch up and take matters into its own hands. "What¡­" Those were the last words of the man as he fell to the floor. But not before his body turned into nothing but ashes. He was completely dead, with nothing left to even bury him. Atlan looked at the man and felt no sympathy. If he had simply asked for a favor nicely, then Atlan would have given him a little bit of a Soul Time for him to live on. But no. The man was a scumbag that preyed on the weak so that he could keep himself living much younger than everybody else. Not only that, he was the one who tried to kill him. If Atlan was a normal human, then all of his Soul Time would have been taken by that guy without even a shred of guilt and conscience on his face. It was only unfortunate for the man that Atlan had become the demigod of death. The only thing he could get from Atlan was death particles, which quickly killed all the healthy and living cells in his body until he turned into nothing but bones. Atlan walked out of the discreet hallway and onto the streets as if nothing happened at all. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Atlan went on his day, walking along the streets of Genesis City. Suddenly, he came across someone who brought out a smile on his face. "Lizzie¡­" She was the first woman he kissed, the woman whose feistiness rivaled even that of cats. Even though it had only been a couple of days since they saw each other, Atlan felt as if he hadn''t seen her for an entire year. Things passed way too long for him to meet her again. He walked towards her with a smile, ready to greet her. But then, he noticed that she had a frown on her face as she confronted quite a chubby man. "You can''t be serious!" she shouted. "I''ve been living here for my whole life. It doesn''t make sense that I have to move." The chubby man awkwardly rubbed his hands together. "I am sorry, madam. However, the acquisition had already gone through. Someone has offered a lot of Soul Time for this house, so unless you can give the same amount, I''m afraid you are going to have to leave." "That''s what I''m talking about! How is it sold when I own this house in the first place?! Make that make sense!" she screamed. Just then, another woman slowly approached the two of them and shoved Lizzie away from the house. "Excuse me, I just bought this place and I don''t want you entering my house. Now, would you please get out?!" The chubby man immediately bowed towards the woman and gave her a forced smile as he tried to curry favor with his customer. "Ahh¡­Missus! Worry not, for I have already asked for soldiers to make her leave this place." Lizzie glared at the chubby man and the woman, unable to believe that they could be so callous. She couldn''t believe it. She had spent her whole life in service of the City, yet now, her house was being taken away without even any explanation. Atlan could see that she was close to bringing out her mutation and hissing at the man. He knew he had to interfere. "What''s going on here?" he asked with calmness. "Atlan¡­" Lizzie''s eyes immediately calmed down when she saw Atlan. Meanwhile, the chubby man and the woman immediately glared at Atlan, as if he had been rude to them. "Sir, please go. This is none of your business," said the chubby man. "Lizzie is mine. This is my business," he declared, making Lizzie''s cheeks blush in embarrassment. "Hmph, so what?!" asked the woman. "It doesn''t change the fact that we already own this house! Now get out before the soldiers get here. Ahh! Here they are. Officers, over here!" The woman called over the group of soldiers towards their location. "What''s going on here?" asked the soldier as he bumped his fists onto his chest two times. "They''re bothering me on my property!" said the woman. "Get them out of my face!" The woman gave Lizzie a nasty side-eye as if she had already won. But as the soldiers looked at Lizzie, their eyes suddenly widened as they realized who she was. "Miss Lizzie! We didn''t know you were here." The chubby man and the woman couldn''t believe their ears. The soldiers were actually being respectful to Lizzie! For normal people, Lizzie was an unknown figure. But for soldiers and Saviors alike, Lizzie was like a legendary figure within their circles. After all, she was one of if not the only one in this City whose mutation had surpassed the normal strength. Many were fans of Lizzie''s talent and strength, as well as her beauty. And apparently, these soldiers were fans of her as well. "What''s going on here, Miss Lizzie?" the soldier asked respectfully, ignoring the chubby man and the annoying woman. Lizzie then began to explain what happened to her, including getting thrown out of her own house. The soldiers, upon hearing the story, couldn''t help but frown. They looked at the tablets in their hands and saw some unfortunate news. "I''m sorry, Miss Lizzie. However, the paperwork does suggest that this woman here bought this house yesterday." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 414 - 414: Rich in time The woman and the chubby man both showed their conceit towards Lizzie once the soldier confirmed their story. "See? Now soldiers, please get this peasant woman out of my face!" the woman said, almost spitting at Lizzie''s feet. "Haha, Missus. It''s better not to bother yourselves with these things. Now, would you like to talk about more properties you would like to buy? I''ll process the paperwork this time as well," the chubby man said, rubbing his hands as he felt the Soul Time coming in his direction. "Very well, my husband is a famous Savior, after all. He has a lot of Soul Time that we can spend," said the woman. Then, she looked at Lizzie and saw the Student-level badge on her shoulders. "Hmph. Only Student-level? How dare you try to mess with the wife of a Savior in the Pre-Intern realm? My husband is on a whole other level than you?" Lizzie was indeed only at the Student-level. However, that was only the case for her LifeSkill, not her mutation powers. If she were to fight against a Specialist-level Savior, then she could go toe to toe with them without losing! But of course, ordinary people like this woman didn''t know the intricacies of the power realm of Saviors. "Now, take your loser boyfriend with you as well. He''s been staring at me rudely for quite some time now," said the woman. Then, the woman took out a Time Stim from her pockets and stuck it onto her wrist, bringing a small amount of Soul Time out of her Soul System. Then, she brought the syringe to the chubby man. "Here is your bonus. It''s a 50-year tip. Enjoy your time." The chubby man couldn''t help but jump as he heard the woman''s words. He immediately bowed towards her and took the syringe, stabbing it onto his own wrist and taking the Soul Time for himself. "You soldiers. If you arrest this woman and her boyfriend, then you too can be the owner of 50 years of Soul Time," the woman said, trying to bribe the soldiers. Even though the soldiers respected Lizzie, they were still human. 50 years was a long time. They would need that for themselves, and their family. It was not like being a soldier paid off handsomely like other jobs like Saviors. The soldiers debated within themselves and were about to open their mouths to talk, when all of a sudden, Atlan approached them first. "Wait a minute," he said. "Why is she allowed to take Lizzie''s house?" The soldiers rubbed their heads awkwardly. "Recently, the City had started to sell some of its assets to get more Soul Time in reserve. So, they started to sell houses they owned to rich people like this woman''s husband. Since the City was the one who provided this land to Miss Lizzie in the first place, then they have all the right to take it away from her," the soldier explained. Lizzie sighed to herself. Even though she had lived in this house for all her life, she had no choice but to surrender it to the City. "Atlan, let''s go. I''ll find another house to live in," Lizzie said dejectedly. But Atlan didn''t budge from his spot even as Lizzie tugged on his shirt. "Wait. So, if Lizzie had enough money, then she could buy the house from the City itself, right?" The soldier nodded his head. "Hah! Do you know how much I paid for this house, young man? A Student-level Savior like her can''t afford this kind of place," the woman exclaimed. Atlan looked her in the eyes and replied, "Who said she''d be the one to pay for it?" The woman was taken aback by Atlan''s words. But once she realized that Atlan also had the same Student-level epaulet on his shoulders, she realized that Atlan was doing nothing more than posturing. "And what? You''re going to be the one to pay for it? Newbie, you don''t have to lie," the woman said, shaking her head. But Atlan ignored her. He looked at the soldiers with a serious face. "How much is it and where do I give the Soul Time to?" The soldiers looked at each other, not knowing if Atlan was being serious or not. After all, they knew that Student-level missions certainly did not pay very high Soul Time as a salary. Sometimes, even soldiers earned more Soul Time than Student-level Saviors. "Atlan, it''s okay. I wouldn''t want you to waste your Soul Time for this. I''ll just find something cheaper," she said. But Atlan didn''t want that. Lizzie deserved only the best. "Tell me," he said to the soldiers. One of them finally took out a Time Stim from his pockets, which looked a little bit more official and advanced than most syringes he saw people using. "This house costs 900 years," the soldier said. "You can pay the Soul Time to this Time Stim." Lizzie winced upon hearing that. She definitely couldn''t afford that much to pay for her house. If she did, then she wouldn''t have enough to live much longer. "See? Now, get out of my¡ª" But before the woman could finish her sentence, Atlan suddenly took the soldier''s Time Stim and stuck it onto his wrist. He focused on the power in his body, separating the death energy from the life energy he absorbed in his surroundings. Everyone watched as the syringe started to fill up. And it didn''t seem to stop. The woman, the chubby man, and the soldiers all had increasingly shocked faces as the syringe slowly filled to the very top. "Only 900 years?" Atlan asked. "That''s nothing." He passed the Time Stim to the soldier, who inspected the syringe and saw that it indeed had 900 years of Soul Time inside! They couldn''t believe it. Atlan was able to bring out 900 years of Soul Time in one go without even breaking a sweat! "How¡­how...that''s impossible!" screamed the woman. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 415 - 415: Buying the neighborhood The soldiers accepted the Time Stim from Atlan and processed the paperwork on their tablets. After a few seconds, they looked towards Atlan and gave him the good news. "Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of this house," he said. The woman and the chubby man couldn''t help but crash out once they heard that. "That''s unfair!" the woman screamed. "How is that possible?" asked the chubby man, his anger visible from the jiggling of his fatty neck. "We already processed the paperwork for the purchase of this house. No one should be able to buy it back!" The reason why the woman and the chubby man were so conceited was because they thought that the house was already a done deal. After all, the woman''s husband was a very famous Pre-Intern level Savior who was part of the leaderboard of Rising Saviors. That was the reason they were even able to purchase the house ahead of time. They used the woman''s connections so that they would be able to purchase the house that she wanted. She even processed the paperwork, and only had to give out the necessary Soul Time before she could fully get the house for herself. "My husband is a famous Savior, far ahead of these two! How come they could get the house instead of me?! Do you know who you are offending right now?" screamed the woman to the soldier. But the soldier just awkwardly scratched his head. After processing the paperwork, the soldier saw something impossible about the unassuming youth right next to Miss Lizzie. "According to his profile, this young gentleman here has a priority rating of 1, meaning he has the same privilege as the top Specialists in the City," said the soldier. The chubby man and the woman''s jaws dropped on the ground. They couldn''t believe that the young man they were berating was actually such a big shot. "That doesn''t make sense! I don''t know him at all. How is he a top priority?!" they both screamed. The soldier looked at Atlan, silently asking him if it was okay to reveal his identity. To which, Atlan just shrugged his shoulders and gave a nod. The soldier then respectfully pointed at Atlan and said, "This young man here is Atlan, the Star Porter of Genesis City." Upon hearing that, the chubby man and the woman finally shut up. Now that they knew who he was, they found no courage to speak up any further. After all, the Star Porter was very famous for all of his talent as an up-and-coming Savior. Now, they finally knew the reason why the City allowed Lizzie to buy her house back using Atlan''s Soul Time. The City would definitely favor the Star Porter compared to a Pre-Intern unknown Savior. The woman bit her fingernails in annoyance. She couldn''t believe how her pride was utterly shattered by this one interaction. She thought she was berating some unknown loser from the City, but as it turned out, she was messing with someone she shouldn''t have messed with from the beginning. The chubby man, upon seeing his client''s bad mood, tried to cheer her up by consoling her mood. "It''s okay, Madam. There are still plenty of high-priced properties in this area. To be honest, this house is kind of the worst house in this neighborhood. It''s actually a good thing that you won''t be buying this piece of garbage," the chubby man said. Even though they were just about to buy this property, the chubby man went to great lengths to try and disparage it to the woman. He was afraid that the woman would back out of their agreement and refuse to buy another house because of this. The chubby man really wanted that commission. He wanted to be rich in Soul Time! "Hmph¡­you''re right. Now that I think about it, this house does suck. Let''s quickly get out of this garbage dump and find a much better house," the woman said, not forgetting to smirk at Lizzie with malice. Atlan would have let them go if they had just gone quietly. But after being so rude to Lizzie, they brought this onto themselves. "Wait a minute," said Atlan. "Soldiers, I''ll buy this whole neighborhood. How much will it take?" The woman and the chubby man both immediately turned back and stared daggers at Atlan. They couldn''t believe he would say something so ridiculous. They even started to berate him because of his stupidity to try and lie to them. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Ha! Do you really think you can buy this entire neighborhood? You know how that much costs?" "Young man, I know it''s good to brag about your Soul Time, but lying about it is too much!" said the chubby man. Atlan ignored them and just looked at their soldiers. He waited for them to tell him the price to buy this entire neighborhood. But the soldier once again didn''t know what to do. He didn''t know if Atlan was serious or not. However, since he was asked, he had to answer. "It costs around¡­100,000 years of Soul Time," the soldier said, not even believing that he uttered such an unbelievable amount of Soul Time. "See? Who could even afford that? Surely not this young man. Soldiers, please arrest this young man for even trying to suggest that he had enough time to buy this whole neighborhood," the woman said to the soldiers. The soldier looked towards Atlan again and saw him have a casual attitude towards everything. "Is that Time Stim enough to store a hundred thousand Soul Time," Atlan asked. And upon realizing he was serious, the soldier immediately shook his head. "No, sir. This Time Stim is not rated to transfer a hundred thousand years. You would have to visit the HeadQuarters yourself to transfer the required Soul Time to the city. However, we do have a Soul Time verifier, allowing us to verify that you do have the needed funds to buy the entire neighborhood." The chubby man and the woman both looked at Atlan. "Stop this now, young man. You don''t want to get humiliated for lying about such things, right?" Instead, Atlan just gave the soldiers his hand voluntarily, waiting for them to verify that he did have enough Soul Time. Chapter 416 - 416: Lizzie’s yearning The chubby man and the woman both looked on at Atlan with a nervous expression. Of course, they didn''t believe that Atlan actually had a hundred thousand years in his Soul Time. That would be absurd. However, Atlan had a casual and confident attitude within him that the two of them couldn''t understand. It was as if he truly had that much Soul Time in his body. It was as if he wasn''t lying about it. After all, why then would he voluntarily let the soldiers verify the Soul Time in his body? If he was lying, then he wouldn''t want others to check and see that he was lying. Which meant only one thing for the two of them: they were probably in trouble. They were 99 percent sure that Atlan was simply just lying out of his mouth. However, that remaining 1 percent truly scared the chubby man and the woman. In the lowest of odds that Atlan truly has the amount of Soul Time that he said he had, then that meant that they had offended someone they shouldn''t have offended. After all, having a hundred thousand years on his Soul Time meant that he was part of the upper one percent of people in the City who had tremendous amounts of Soul Time. He was a part of that upper echelon that they couldn''t even touch the toes of. Finally, the soldiers took out a thermometer-like object and poked it onto Atlan''s wrist. Atlan felt the underlying mechanism of the object and felt its powers trying to probe his Soul System and take a look at his Soul Time. If he didn''t do anything, then the probe would quickly find out that his body had no Soul System at all. It was just a collection of death energy that seemed to destroy everything in its path. So, Atlan had to command the death energy in his body to act like a different structure. Then, he closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings, feeling all the life energy just floating around in the air. He quickly absorbed everything that he could see and feel, allocating enough Soul Time in his body. Slowly, the object began to take a reading at Atlan''s Soul Time. The number on the screen went from one year, to ten years, to a hundred years, to a thousand years, and finally, a hundred years. Everyone couldn''t believe their eyes. The soldier even almost dropped the object onto the ground from his shock. Just like the woman and the chubby man, he also thought that Atlan was just exaggerating what he had. He would have never thought that Atlan actually did have a hundred thousand Soul Time in his body! "Hukk!" "A hun¡­hun¡­hundred thousand years¡­" The woman felt her knees go weak, letting herself fall onto the floor. It was as if her reality had shattered. She thought that she was finally part of the small group of people in the City with power in their hands. She thought she was special because she had a lot more Soul Time than the normal person. But upon encountering Atlan, she quickly realized that she was nothing more than an above-average being. Her most prideful Soul Time was like nothing more than a small drop in front of an ocean. It made her feel extremely small. The chubby man couldn''t believe his unluckiness as well. After all, he finally realized that he should have tried to curry favor with Atlan from the very beginning. If he hadn''t judged Atlan from the beginning, then he could have been the one helping Atlan buy the houses he wanted, earning him a lot of commission. However, it was too late now. Atlan had already shown his disdain for the two of them. "Sir¡­ I didn''t¡­ I didn''t know that you were of such great importance¡­" the woman went on her knees. "Please forgive me for my actions!" she said, putting her head on the ground. The chubby man did the same as well, asking Atlan for his forgiveness in the small chance that he would someday want his help in buying a house. "Please forgive our rudeness!" But Atlan didn''t want to deal with them anymore. "Get out of my sight," he said to them. The woman and the chubby man both hurried away from the neighborhood, glad that this incident only ended with nothing but a lecture. If Atlan had truly wanted them to suffer, he could have simply made their lives a lot worse by paying Soul Time to others and harassing them in their everyday lives. He could even pay Soul Time to the soldiers to have them arrested. With the two of them gone, the neighborhood had gotten a lot quieter. The soldiers also bid their peace to Atlan and Lizzie, leaving just the two of them alone. "Atlan¡­" Lizzie said, looking up at the young man. Unlike most people, she knew the truth of what happened in the church. She knew that Atlan and Ninth were tasked to save the church from a hostage situation. Unfortunately, it seemed that they had both failed and succeeded in the mission. After all, everyone thought that if the church exploded, then the whole city would go with it. But somehow, they were able to prevent the destruction of the entire city and only limited it to the church. So, it wasn''t a failure, but it wasn''t a success as well. But Lizzie didn''t care about any of that. She just looked at Atlan with her eyes slowly getting teary-eyed. "I''m glad you''re okay," she said, before running to his arms and embracing him with all of her body. She was deathly worried for him for the whole entirety of the mission. She almost had a heart attack when she heard Carmine say that they lost communications with Atlan''s battle suit. She thought something wrong had happened to him. She had to be restrained by other Saviors or else she would have braved the Remedium and tried to search for Atlan. And now, he was finally back in his life. She was more than glad. Even if immortality was gone, she didn''t care. Atlan was back. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 417 - 417: Reinforcements ambush The two of them spent a few minutes in a quiet embrace. They didn''t talk and just let the moment pass with just the two of them alone. If it was before, then Lizzie would be far too embarrassed to do this out in public. There were a couple of passers-by giving them strange looks and chuckling to themselves, teasing the two of them to ''get a room''. But Lizzie ignored them. After finding out that the world had gone out of order and that everything she knew could soon disappear from her sight, things like embarrassment were nothing to worry about. Finally, she broke the silence by asking Atlan the question that had been bugging her and everyone else in the HeadQuarters. "What happened in the mission?" she asked him. If it was before, then Atlan would have told her some kind of excuse so that she wouldn''t know about his secret. But Atlan changed. He had seen what was out there in the stars and knew that there was no point in hiding his powers any longer. "I am not what you think I am," he said to her. "From the very beginning, after I underwent my awakening, I experienced something that none had ever experienced before." Atlan took a deep breath. "I killed the God of Death and took his place¡­" He then began to tell her everything that he had been hiding from her this entire time. He told her how he became stronger each time he witnessed death and how he obtained angel power after he witnessed the extinction of the angels. Lizzie listened to him with an indiscernible expression. But she didn''t interrupt him. She let him explain everything without saying anything. He also told her about their exploits in the mission, and how everything had been going as planned right up until the Magical Queen sent a raven to the church and started the explosion. He told her that because of that explosion, he was able to transcend into the next plane of strength, lower only to the Gods. Lizzie, upon hearing the whole truth come out of Atlan''s mouth, couldn''t even utter a single word from hers. She didn''t know what to say. Just the fact that he had multiple SSS+ class LifeSkills was enough to shake her whole foundation of reality. But then, he also talked about Canzers and their society, he talked about death, and he even talked about how he was immortal since his Soul Time was forever going upwards by the second. She finally understood how he could so casually buy an entire upper-class neighborhood without even batting a single eyelid. "Can¡­ can I see your Soul Time?" she asked him. Atlan raised his wrist and showed her everything. [--------------] "So¡­ you''re practically immortal because of this¡­ because you''re absorbing all the death around you¡­" "That''s right," he said. Lizzie touched her forehead and felt a little bit woozy. "Sorry, that''s too much information to take in. Can you escort me back to my place?" she asked him. Atlan, being the gentleman that he was, put her arms around his shoulder and guided her back to her house. As he got inside, he immediately noticed the quaint interior of Lizzie''s house. There were all sorts of cat decorations in her furniture, and even a large-sized cat obstacle course running through the walls, presumably not just decoration but a training module for her. He escorted her to bed and laid her down, with her cheeks flushed and her forehead sweating. Atlan used his eyes to sense the life energy inside her body. Thankfully enough, she wasn''t emitting a large amount of death energy for him to be concerned about. And even if he did see those signs, he could have easily reversed them himself. Lizzie wasn''t sick, she was just overwhelmed by everything she learned about Atlan. With a little bit of sleep, she would be okay. Atlan tucked her into bed and slowly walked out the door. But before he could leave completely, Lizzie opened her mouth and uttered a few words for him. "I''m¡­ glad you''re still the same old Atlan that I liked¡­" she said. He could only chuckle at her words. Even though everything she knew about him turned out to be just a facade, she wasn''t mad at him. She looked like she understood why he had to keep it a secret. She just didn''t think that the secret he hid was a world-breaking fact that involved even the gods themselves. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Recover well, my Lizzie," he said to her before walking out her door. Atlan slowly walked out of Lizzie''s house with a casual attitude. He even tidied some of her mess in the living room before he walked out the door. Then, as he stepped foot outside, he suddenly stopped. He looked up at the skies and talked to someone that wasn''t there. "There''s no need for any violence," Atlan said to the air. "I don''t want Lizzie''s front porch to be painted with blood." Just as he said that, the air above him suddenly shimmered and revealed an entire armada of floating Saviors, each with their weapons at the ready. Carmine was one of them, and he slowly approached Atlan. "I''m sorry about this, Atlan. But we have to take you in," he said. Atlan knew that this would happen eventually. He was even surprised that they let an entire day pass before they took him in. "I''m not going to resist," Atlan said. "There was no need to bring in so much reinforcement," he said, pointing to the floating Saviors above his head ready to attack at a moment''s notice. "It''s not my fault," Carmine apologized. "There are a lot of important people who wish to know why the mission failed. Ninth and her team refused to talk, no matter how much we forced them to. It seems like they were protecting something. Was it you they were trying to protect by keeping their silence?" Atlan didn''t answer. But in truth, that was not the reason why Ninth and her team refused to speak. They didn''t do it to protect Ataln. They did it to protect the City after knowing what Atlan''s powers could do. Chapter 418 - 418: Sudden appearance Atlan looked on at Carmine and the rest of the Saviors looking at him. Judging from the Saviors'' looks, it seemed as if they treated Atlan as nothing more than an easy target. Their lax behaviors were indicative of the fact that they thought they could catch him whenever they felt like it. There was also a little bit of a disdain in their looks. These Saviors weren''t told much, but they did know that Atlan was a part of the mission that led to the destruction of the church. Once they found out that Atlan was nothing more than a Student-level Savior, they couldn''t help but question him and the officers who deemed him fit for such an important mission. There were at least a few Saviors here who thought that Atlan was probably responsible for the failure of the mission in its entirety. "So, where am I going?" asked Atlan. Carmine touched a button installed near the chest piece of his battle suit. "All the important people of the City are gathering at HeadQuarters for a meeting to talk about everything that has happened. They want you to personally tell them everything that occurred in the mission, especially those moments when the video and audio transmission were interrupted," Carmine said. Because of the Magical Queen''s influence, the entire ending to that mission was cut off from what Carmine and the others could see. Before that, everything had been going well for the party. Yet, after that, the camera no longer returned to its full functions. So, Carmine and his team of Specialist Operators have no idea what happened. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "So I have to go to the HeadQuarters, right? I''ll just meet you there," Atlan said. But before Carmine and the others could even question him about what he meant with those words, Atlan suddenly unfurled the Angel Wings in his back and disappeared from their sight in a fraction of a second. Carmine and the rest of the Saviors couldn''t believe their eyes. They couldn''t even see how he was able to get away from their sight. He was too fast for one of them to even see what happened. When they finally came to their senses, Atlan was already gone. The Saviors went into a panic mode and immediately searched the area. They even tried to survey from where he disappeared, but they found no sort of signature that they could recognize. "How is this possible?! He''s a Student-level porter!" "I couldn''t even keep up with his speed¡­" "What''s going on here? What were those white wings?!" Everyone was in disarray as they realized that Atlan completely outclassed them in every way possible. It finally made sense why Atlan still had an air of confidence and casualness that the others couldn''t understand. They all thought that he was just trying to act tough in front of fifty Saviors locking him down on sight, but as it turned out, he could have escaped them at any time he wanted. "Carmine, how is this possible?! How did a Student Porter escape from fifty Intern-level Saviors?! That does not make sense." The Specialist Operator was at a loss for words. He had no explanation for what he just witnessed. It was way beyond the realm of what was currently known in the world. "I don''t know¡­" Carmine uttered. "But I think I''m starting to get a sense of what happened in the mission¡­" The rest of the Saviors continued to search their surroundings in search of Atlan. They even went to the ends of the City walls, thinking that Atlan tried to escape Genesis City. But after a few minutes, Carmine was contacted by someone from the HeadQuarters and they said that Atlan suddenly appeared in the middle of the meeting without any sort of explanation. His sudden appearance sent everyone into a frenzied panic. "Boys, call off the search. Atlan''s been found," he said to the Saviors. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ A few minutes later, Carmine finally arrived at the HeadQuarters and he immediately entered the meeting room. This auditorium was large and could house about a thousand people in the stands. Once he entered, Carmine was met with a lot of people who had their shields and their weapons brandished toward the lone man on stage. "Tsk! Why haven''t you taken him down yet? Aren''t you my bodyguards?!" asked a terrified politician. "Boss, we don''t know! Somehow, he can destroy all of our LifeSkills the moment we get close." This meeting was composed of all the important people inside Genesis City. This included influential people from the governmental body of the City, it included representatives of the strongest and oldest families in the city, and there were even a few Specialist-level Saviors who stayed their hand and observed Atlan with curiosity. Because of his sudden appearance, many clueless people thought that Atlan was there to kill them. So, there were a lot of bodyguards who tried to kill him from a distance. One such bodyguard summoned a flaming spear in the air, which was an A-class DPS LifeSkill in the Intern level. This attack could decimate a whole horde of Canzers, and could inflict about 90 years of Soul Time! However, just as the flaming spear was about to hit Atlan, the fire seemed to weaken at a substantial rate, before the power dissipated completely. By the end, the attack had turned into a small ember that barely even hit Atlan''s body. There were also some greater attacks done by the bodyguards, but somehow, none of them affected Atlan. His wounds would heal even before the weapon was taken out of his body. It was as if he had an unlimited amount of Soul Time! Carmine finally had enough and stood in front of Atlan, preventing the bodyguards from attacking him anymore. "What are you all doing? This is supposed to be a civilized meeting!" he shouted. Then, he turned to Atlan and was angry at him as well. "And you¡­ I don''t know how you disappeared from our sight, but you can''t just re-appear in the middle of the meeting room and expect them to treat you with civility." Atlan couldn''t care any less. "You wanted me here, so I''m here." Chapter 419 - 419: Kobra Atlan''s attitude was nothing less than apathetic. He didn''t care that he antagonized the entirety of the people inside this meeting, people who had a large influence on how this meeting was going to go. They could decide that he was guilty of the crime of the church''s explosion even though they hadn''t started the meeting yet. But Atlan didn''t care. That was because once he had ascended to demigodhood, all things seemed trivial. The people around him were still trying to clamor to their old lives, trying to blame someone for making them live the reality of the apocalypse. But if you ask Atlan, then the apocalypse would have happened either way without him. It was just a matter of time. "Stand down," a commanding voice said. Upon hearing this, all the paranoid and scared people in the stands had relieved looks on their faces. After all, the person who just spoke was none other than the current strongest Savior in Genesis City, Kobra. They didn''t think he was sure, but sure enough, he seemed to have just been hiding in their midst without saying anything. Only now did he finally speak up and show his presence to the whole query. Since they now had, in their midst, a master of combat and the strongest Savior in the current world, some of the people who were deathly scared of Atlan now became extremely arrogant and antagonistic against him. They felt as if they could finally do whatever they wanted with his protection. After all, he was a Specialist-level Savior at the top of his field, while Atlan was only at the top of the Student-level field. There was a huge difference between them. "Ha! See that?! The Star Savior says that you should shut up!" "You better listen now, young man, if you don''t want your head blown straight off!" "What are we even waiting for? He rudely appeared right in front of our eyes, we should have him arrested right now!" Atlan just stood there, ignoring all their words. After all, words were nothing but an illusion. However, if they started to make their words into action, then he wouldn''t hesitate to act to defend himself. "WAIT!" Kobra said, standing up to show himself to everyone. The man, with his green battle suit, had all sorts of medals and pins on his chest, lauding him for all the achievements he had made throughout his life. It was clear that this man was the strongest person in the room, evidenced by the amount of attention he commanded from the room. "I didn''t ask for him to shut up, I said it to all of you," he said, looking at the crowd of people among him. He wanted everyone to shut up and let Atlan be at peace. He didn''t want them to antagonize him any longer. Even though he was confident with his own strength, this was the first time that Kobra felt him lose against someone else. When Atlan first arrived in this place, he didn''t even sense him coming. He simply just appeared right in front of the podium, without even any evidence of him coming in through other means aside from teleportation. This was the first time in a long time Kobra felt as if he was unaware of his surroundings. He wouldn''t have been able to prepare himself if Atlan had decided to attack him right there and then. And that fact scared Kobra for a little bit. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After all, he wouldn''t be surprised if another Specialist-level Savior was able to best him in speed and reaction times. However, from what he knew, Atlan was only a Student-level porter. A porter. Not even a speedster or a scout that specializes in speed. Just a porter, whose only power should be the immense strength that helps them lift tremendous amounts of weight from the construct. This was extremely weird. Suspicious. Somehow, when Kobra looked at Atlan, he felt as if he was looking down the maws of giant Dragon Canzer, looking uninterested in doing anything, yet ready to devour him at any second. He didn''t know why he felt this way, but his intuition told him that it was best for everyone inside this room, no, best for everyone inside this City to leave Atlan alone and not to antagonize a man like him. So, as the strongest Savior in the room, he decided to put his foot down and stop the others from making the biggest mistake of their lives. "Settle down. This is a place of civility. We are not here to antagonize this young man, we are simply here to ask him for the truth," Kobra said calmly to the agitated crowd. Upon his words, the rest of them finally came to a rest. They all slowly sat down on their seats and commanded their bodyguards to return their weapons to their sheaths. Carmine sighed a heave of relief once he saw this. It was good that Kobra was here, or else things could have gone worse. Though, Carmine didn''t know why Kobra interfered this time. Usually, he would be disinterested in these kinds of stuff. He would always just stand in a corner and observe everything around him without saying a single word. Carmine just passed this off as a one-time thing due to the heaviness of the situation. After all, they were going to talk about the incident of the Church mission. After a few more minutes, the Elder Heads finally arrived at the meeting room, sending the whole room into silence. The five of them all looked dignified, standing tall as if they had everything under their control. Finally, the old man in the middle spoke up. "First of all, I would like to thank you for gathering at this eve for this meeting. I know you all value your time, so let''s not waste it anymore. As you all know, the Church mission has failed, leading to the destruction of our cathedral. The Saviors involved in the incident are unable to talk due to their injuries, so we can only ask the porter of the group, Atlan the Star Porter." Chapter 420 - 420: Meeting gone awry The crowd of spectators all looked at the Elder Heads with a confused face. They all thought that they were here to disparage the failure of the team in their mission. They thought they were here to see the punishment given to this porter and his team for leading the church to destruction. However, judging from the tone of the Elder Head''s voice, it was as if he was still lauding and praising Atlan for his actions. This was because the Elder Heads knew more than others about what happened. Of course, they knew that if the church blew up, the whole City would have blown up with it. But somehow, Atlan and the others were able to limit the explosion only to the Church itself. They thought this was impossible, but Atlan was able to do it. "Care to tell us about what happened during your mission?" the old man asked. Being put in the spotlight, Atlan decided to just tell the truth to everybody, plain and simple. "We encountered a dragon¡­" He began to explain the details about what happened when they encountered the Magical Queen Malificient, and how they won against her and killed her. He also told them about the Malificient Queen''s lingering power that allowed a Raven to visit the church and agitate the Ifrit enough to blow up the church. As soon as he finished speaking, the rest of the common folk in the audience couldn''t help but chuckle at his words "You met a dragon, and somehow, you killed it? It would have been a lot more believable if you told us that Ninth killed it instead!" "Don''t make us laugh, Star Porter. You may be talented enough among the Student realm, but you are nearly not enough to deal with the dangers of a Specialist-level Canzer, especially not the apex creatures." "Why haven''t we arrested him for his blatant lies?" The common folk, the people who weren''t top Saviors in the crowd, all thought that Atlan was lying. There was no way that he was able to defeat a dragon all on his own. The only ones with a serious face and treated Atlan''s words at face value were Kobra, Carmine, and the Elder Heads. Somehow, they believed that Atlan''s words were true. Kobra already sensed that there was something different with Atlan. And if he was able to defeat a Dragon, then it would more than make sense that he was able to teleport here in this space without him knowing about it. Meanwhile, Carmine''s mind began to click. All this time, he had been reviewing the footage of the battle suit and he couldn''t help but notice that the fog would always come whenever Atlan was in trouble or when something bad was about to happen. He always thought that this was a coincidence, but after seeing it multiple times, there became a pattern. Once the fog appeared, Atlan would suddenly come out on top without any explanation. He would survive tremendously low odds. But now that Atlan told them the truth about everything, Carmine finally understood everything. Atlan had been hiding his true powers this entire time. He was the one who was creating those fogs that obscured everything for them. Meanwhile, the Elder Heads all nodded to each other, finally understanding the truth as to how they were able to survive the mission. "So, please tell us how the explosion was mitigated?" asked the old man. Atlan told them the truth, about how he used the explosion in his own body to counteract the explosion of the church. He couldn''t go into detail about how that was possible because he himself didn''t know the reason. He just knew that the explosion in his body was enough to cover the whole City from the explosion. Once everyone heard this, the crowd shook their heads in resignation. They didn''t know why everyone was still bothering to listen to Atlan when all he did was lie to them. Everything he said was absurd. Most of them were already tuning out of Atlan''s explanation. But of course, the Elder Heads listened to Atlan''s explanation and treated it as the truth. "Thank you for sharing that," said the old guy. Then, he turned to the crowd behind him. "As you can see, the team assigned to the mission is not to blame for this incident. And most likely, they have saved the City from total destruction," the old man said. But of course, the normal crowd refused to believe Atlan''s words. They believed that he must have been lying due to the trauma he received from fighting Specialist-level Canzers and dragons in the mission. "This meeting is therefore adjourned," the old man said. The Elder Heads could have made this meeting private, with just them and Atlan. However, they decided to let others hear about it because they needed to be placated for what happened. If they had kept it a secret, they would have demanded answers and rioted at their doors. But now, whether they believe Atlan''s story or not, they would stop their inquiry about what happened during the mission. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And so, the rest of the group was about to leave when all of a sudden, the whole room started to tremble. Everyone thought that this was a simple earthquake, but the faces of the Elder Heads, Kobra, and even Carmine showed that of shock and horror. Slowly, the four walls of the auditorium changed colors, from pure white to midnight black. All the leafy green plants decorated in pots all turned into a purplish hue. The crowd of normal people didn''t know what was happening. But the Saviors in the room knew exactly what was happening. However, they were helpless to do anything about it. "What''s happening? Why can''t I open the door to the outside?" asked one of the normal people in the room. "Bodyguard! Take me home. I don''t want to be in this room anymore." But instead of moving to his boss''s words, the bodyguard trembled. "Sir¡­we can''t¡­we¡­we''re in the Remedium!" Chapter 421 - 421: Unusual Remedium "WHAT?! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" "We''re in the Remedium?! But how?!" "There must be some kind of mistake!" "Remedium?! As in the place where Canzers roam and try to kill humans?!" The crowd immediately began to stir, a horrified panic setting on their faces. These normal people had never even seen a Canzer in their lives before, but now, they were forced to enter their territory. "Sir Kobra! Please tell us this isn''t the Remedium." But Kobra, considered the strongest Specialist Savior in the whole of Genesis City, didn''t have a pretty expression on his face. There was worry, and a mix of anger on his face, as if he couldn''t believe that the Canzers dared to do this right in front of his eyes. "I have no good news to tell," he said with a grave voice. "Somehow, we are in the Remedium. There''s nothing we can do about it but defeat the one who put us here in the first place." "AUGHH!" screamed the normal people. Just the thought that they were in the Remedium made their backs sweat profusely. They couldn''t have prepared for this, after all, this wasn''t the usual way someone would be transported to a Remedium. It didn''t make sense. This wasn''t even supposed to be possible. Previously, the only way a Savior could enter the Remedium was through an elaborate portal constructed by the very best Specialist Operators like Carmine. They would bend the laws of physics just to try and peer through the different dimensions and send humans to the Remedium. That was the only way they could defeat the Canzer, wreaking havoc and causing a Symptom in the City. But now, things have gone awry. Somehow, the Canzers were able to forcefully transfer humans out of the real world and into the Remedium. Carmine''s mind immediately began to wonder. He tried to explain this phenomenon through his current understanding of Canzers and Remediums, but he could not find the answer he was looking for. This wasn''t supposed to be possible! He looked at the Elder Heads. If anyone knew what to do, then they were the ones with the answer. After all, they were the ones with the most knowledge out of everyone in here, and in the City itself. However, it was clear from their distressed expressions that they did not expect this as well. The Elder Heads immediately instructed Kobra to protect them at all times, and make sure that no Canzer would be able to reach their hands onto them. Kobra did as he was told and accompanied the Elder Heads. "Protect me too!" "Me too! I don''t want to be here!" "Help me!" All the normal people started to crowd around Kobra, thinking that he was the best protection they had in this Remedium. Even if they had their own bodyguards at the Intern-level, they still didn''t trust them enough to protect them in such a precarious place. Only the best of the best could protect them. "Settle down, everyone. I can protect you, but only if you behave and don''t cause any problems. Just stay in your seats, and I will make sure that you will not be affected by any Canzers that dare to invade us," Kobra announced to the group. Hearing his commanding voice led them to be at ease. As expected of the strongest Savior, he was able to give everyone a sense of peace and security with just his voice alone. They felt as if he could truly protect them from the Canzer that was about to come. Kobra then walked over to Carmine and consulted him for his opinion. "What do you think, Carmine? What are we dealing with here?" Carmine, the Specialist Operator who had tremendous amounts of knowledge about Canzers, couldn''t speak for a little bit. He was still a little bit frazzled about arriving in the Remedium. Carmine was an Operator. He wasn''t trained to be inside the Remedium at all. They were only supposed to remain in the real world and support the team whenever through their immense knowledge about Canzers. While Vanguards were training their bodies and their LifeSkills to survive against the perilous Remedium, Operators just stayed in the library to study Canzer behavior. Now, he was forced to be inside a Remedium, a place he knew very well, but knew nothing about. "Carmine?" Kobra asked worriedly. "I''m fine," Carmine said, shaking his head. "I just needed a little bit of time¡­" "I hope you won''t take long because we''re in a bit of a situation here." Carmine slapped his own cheeks, waking him from his stupor. "I''m okay," he said. Then, he looked around him and tried to find clues as to how or why they were forced inside the Remedium. "From what I could see, it seems that we are dealing with three or more Canzers in the vicinity." Kobra frowned. "That bad, huh? But still, you''ll be able to tell me the weakness of each Canzer, yeah?" Carmine nodded, albeit a little bit unsure of himself. "Yes, but I can''t guarantee it. After all, this is an unprecedented event. I don''t know if the Canzer we''ll face today will be the same Canzer we''ve known all this time." Kobra looked around him and gauged the help he could get. From what he could see, there were about thirty able-bodied Saviors in the room. Most of them were in the Intern-realm, which was good to know because they needed a lot of help in this mission. "All Saviors, please come to me and we''ll work together to protect the civilians!" Kobra said, taking control of the situation. The Saviors all convened in his place, taking his direction and implementing his words. Meanwhile, Atlan stood alone, looking up at the Remedium around him. Just then, two dragon plushie figures popped into existence right beside him. "Woah¡­ we''re back¡­" Tulip muttered to herself. "This is wildly unusual," commented the Queen. "Atlan, I think there''s something wrong going on in the Canzer world." S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 422 - 422: No trust Atlan agreed with the Enchanted Queen''s words. There was something wrong, he just couldn''t point it out. There was something wrong with the Remedium, and the Canzer world itself. Otherwise, this wouldn''t have happened in the first place. "Don''t leave just yet, Atlan. I think we need to see what''s in store in the Remedium," advised the Queen. He agreed with her sentiment. Although he could have easily left the Remedium using his Angel Wings, Atlan chose not to. If there was something wrong with the Remedium, then it was better if he could see it for himself. "Hey, kid! You better listen to Kobra''s words. He''s going to lead us out of this." "If you''re not going to listen, then just make sure that you get out of our way." "Don''t wander around, or else we won''t be able to save you." The Intern-level Saviors lectured Atlan for his inattentiveness during Kobra''s debriefing. He was teaching them all they needed to know when facing a Specialist-level Canzer of this magnitude, but the weakest person in the group, the Star Porter, wasn''t even listening to his words at all. He was disregarding it as if there were better things to do. Atlan ignored them and continued to observe the Remedium. Right now, they were confined with four walls surrounding them. Atlan was curious. If he went out of this room, would he still see the same inverted color Genesis City Remedium that everyone was so familiar with, or would he see something completely different? He decided not to get out for now. If he wanted to see the anomaly for what it was normally, then he should not show himself just yet. He should let it all pass without interfering. Meanwhile, Kobra and the rest of the Saviors were finally done with their briefing. They decided that they were going to act as one big team, with Kobra on the lead, and the rest of them following closely behind. Carmine, the civilians, and Atlan were all positioned at the very back, where they would be at the safest. This was chosen after a long time of debating with each other. Some wanted to explore outwards and kill the Canzer as fast as possible so that they could return home quickly. However, some also argued for the choice of staying in this place the entire time. Both choices had merits and weaknesses. If they wanted to explore outwards and seek the Canzer for themselves, then it would leave the civilians vulnerable to any sneak attacks. After all, they were wholly unprepared for this kind of situation. They were untrained, unruly, and unpredictable. They were worse than Student Saviors. At least with Student Saviors, they would know not to do anything stupid. They would know the basics of fighting a Canzer. But Civilians knew nothing. And most of all, they were a panicky little bunch. If a Canzer appeared, Kobra and the others couldn''t be sure that they would stay in the same place. Some of them would probably try to run away out of fear, but this would only lead them into further trouble. The civilians would not be able to stay in their positions for long. The terrifying Canzer in front of them would make all their thoughts go into disarray, leading them to act chaotic. This would only make Kobra and the Saviors work a lot harder. So, it would be much safer for everybody to just stay in one place. However, that choice had its flaws as well. If they stayed here and didn''t dare to venture outwards, then they would only waste their time. If they don''t kill the Canzer that brought this Remedium to them, then they won''t be able to return home to the real world. Not only that, everyone knew that a Remedium came with a Symptom. They didn''t know it right now, but there could be a terrible disaster happening in the real world right now. It was the worst-case scenario as well since they were located at the heart of the HeadQuarters. This meant that if they continued to stay their hand and delay the killing of the Canzer, then they could be putting their HeadQuarters in further harm. "Hmph¡­these humans don''t know what they''re talking about. They''re afraid, and that is influencing their choices," the Enchanted Queen said. "But¡­but¡­it''s good that they''re talking about it, right? They are working together to try and make everyone as safe as possible," said Tulip. Atlan agreed with both of them. However, he knew that this equilibrium won''t be for long. He knew that both choices weren''t ideal. This made the whole group hesitant to go with either choice. But Atlan wasn''t that confused. He knew that there was only one answer that they could do right now that would solve both problems. "There''s only one thing we can do," Atlan said, gathering the attention of the entire group. Some Saviors were immediately annoyed that a porter in the Student realm dared to speak up when the adults were speaking. However, they didn''t say anything to Atlan and just gave him a nasty gaze. The only ones who took him seriously were Kobra, Carmine, and the Elder Heads. "What is it, Atlan?" Carmine asked. "We should lure the Canzer here and fight it on our territory." His words made them all think for a second. Atlan''s suggestion did seem to solve both problems. They wouldn''t have to worry about venturing further out of the Remedium, while having the chance to kill the Canzer at the same time. It was brilliant, and the other Intern Saviors couldn''t believe that they hadn''t thought of it themselves. "You think it''s that easy, kid? How are we going to lure a Canzer here?" "That''s right. It''s impossible¡­" S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "And why are we even believing in this child''s words? Isn''t he completely lying about everything?" The civilians immediately tried to disparage Atlan. They didn''t want to follow his suggestion, not because it was bad, but because he was the one who made it. They didn''t trust him, plain and simple. Chapter 423 - 423: Basilisk "Everyone please, settle down. There''s no need to antagonize each other. In fact, we need to work together. And I think that Atlan''s suggestion is the only one we can make right now," Carmine said, placating both sides. "That is right. Our Star Porter is right. We should try to lure the Canzer here to our location," said Kobra. Once the two Specialist Saviors said those words, the normal folk finally settled down and accepted Atlan''s suggestion. Carmine and some of the Operator Saviors in the room gathered together to brainstorm some ideas. First, they tried to figure out what kind of Canzer they were dealing with, and what they could do to lure them out. It was also imperative for them to find out if they could even kill this Canzer through normal means because if they couldn''t, then luring the Canzer here could mean their deaths. Meanwhile, Kobra and the rest of the Vanguard Saviors convened with Carmine for their suggestions. But an hour after brainstorming, they hadn''t gone anywhere at all. The main problem they had with this was that they didn''t know what kind of Canzer they were facing. After all, the only way they could figure that out was through observing the Symptoms manifested by the Canzer on the outside world. This means that unless they were outside, observing what was happening in the area, then they wouldn''t be able to figure it out. They could try to guess all they want, but each guess would ultimately lead to a weakness in their plans that the real Canzer could exploit. This was the problem with an anomaly. There would still be a chance that with Carmine''s expertise and the help of the rest of the Operator Saviors, they could try to figure out the truth of the matter one way or another. It would probably take them more hours, but at least they could have been able to solve the problem. But this was an anomaly. They had never seen this before, which meant that in all likelihood, they had never seen the Canzer behind it as well. This makes all the preparation they try to do obsolete. After all, this Canzer could work under totally different rules than their current assumption. Atlan just waited patiently as he watched the team argue back and forth about what to do. "You know, you could try to lure the Canzer by yourself," whispered the Enchanted Queen dragon by his side. "Ah." It seemed that Atlan had forgotten his own powers. After all, he only obtained this power about a few days ago. He thought he was still a normal Student-level Savior. But no. His true strength could only be compared to that of Specialist-level Saviors and beyond. He was a demi-god, after all. "You''re right. Thanks for reminding me," Atlan said as he closed his eyes. He searched through his body, finding all the death particles that were hiding in the crevices of his bones and ligaments. And once he found them, he gave them a simple nod of approval. And once the death particles saw that, they started to multiply into greater and greater numbers, up until his whole body was filled with death particles. Atlan started to release all the pent-up death energy in his body. Letting them all out into the Remedium. They seemed to love the air in the Remedium. They began to bounce and jump all over the place, wreaking havoc wherever they could. Meanwhile, the humans below were none the wiser. They didn''t see that their Soul Time was slowly ticking down two seconds for every second that passed once they were in the presence of death energy. As the death energy continued to cause chaos in the Remedium, a certain creature in the darkness lifted its head and looked in their direction. Its eyes widened, unable to believe that there was so much death energy in that place. Its eyes showed greed, showing its intent to devour every single death energy in that place to further its own powers. With great strength and speed, it raced through the Remedium and reached the humans in a matter of a few seconds. Kobra and a few other perceptive Vanguard Saviors immediately noticed the presence of the Canzer and immediately tried to warn the others. "It''s coming!" he shouted. The Vanguard Saviors were able to prepare themselves due to Kobra''s shout. However, the Operator Saviors and the civilians reacted far too late. After all, they weren''t used to such a high-stakes situation where every millisecond was as precious as gold. BOOM! The giant creature burst through the walls of the room, taking with it the very roof of the auditorium. Kobra immediately used his LifeSkill: Sting Ray, to manifest a giant scorpion tail from his back. Using this manifestation, he began to shoot the debris and falling concrete away from the civilians, saving them from harm. The other Saviors worked as well, doing everything they could to put the civilians and the Operator Savrios in a safe position. TSSSS! The giant creature now showed itself to the humans. It looked like a giant snake, with its thin split tongue slithering out of its mouth. However, it had four legs behind it, making it look like a giant lizard instead. Carmine looked up at the creature, shock filled his face. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Ba..ba¡­basilisk!" he shouted. It seemed that they were facing one of the most dangerous Specialist-level Canzers in the world. However, it was not its strength nor its speed that was the most dangerous out there, it was the poison in its body that could destroy even the sturdiest of metals with one breath. Kobra felt pressured as well. Even though he was also famed for his poison, the Basilisk was a creature that he knew he had no chance against. In other words, his strongest weapon, the cobra tail on his back, was useless against the poison-immune Basilisk. This was a very dangerous situation, one where both Carmine and Kobra almost gave up after seeing the creature in front of them. It was the worst match-up possible. Chapter 424 - 424: Let me handle this "Gods help us!" "Ahhh! Monster! There''s a monster!" "He''s going to eat me! I want to get out of here!" The civilians acted as they would upon seeing their very first Canzer. All the preparations and the warnings the professional Saviors gave them were all thrown out the window once they were faced with an actual giant Canzer that could swallow ten humans in one go without a single problem. Their instincts as humans took over, and they panicked. They started to back away from the monster, no matter if there was somebody else they had to crawl over. It created chaos and injuries that could have been totally prevented if they had just remained calm and stayed in their positions. And there was no use in them trying to crawl up the walls for safety. If the creature wanted to kill them, then it didn''t matter if they tried to run 10 kilometers away from this location. The Basilisk would be able to find them and kill them without a problem. But, these civilians weren''t acting rationally. They were scared out of their wits. Unfortunately, this chaos also broke the Saviors'' formation, leading them to be toppled down or stepped on by the civilians. Carmine, himself, felt the intense urge to try and run away from the Basilisk just like the rest of them. However, his wisdom and greater judgment allowed him to remain calm and in position. As long as Kobra was in front of him, then he could be assured that he would be safe. And if Kobra died, then there was absolutely no hope for them at all. They would die either way. KRAOOO! the Basilisk screamed. It tried to search for the death energy it had seen in this room, but somehow, it had disappeared the moment that it burst through the walls. The Basilisk was an intelligent creature. It immediately knew that this was a trap. After all, the Basilisk was famous for its maze lair. The humans were supposed to get lost in the Remedium, and slowly, the Basilisk would kill them one by one without any of them the wiser. But now, the Basilisk was lured out of his lair, meaning that it had lost its greatest defense. The humans no longer had to tread through the maze to find its real body. The Basilisk looked at all the humans in front of him with great hatred and intensity. He was lured here by a human in the crowd, he just didn''t know who. There were a couple of strong humans in the crowd, but none of them gave the Basilisk a feeling of death and danger. Since he knew that the humans had no way of defeating him, the Basilisk decided to simply kill all of them and wait for the humans hiding in the shadows. The Basilisk thought that no one in the room could emanate that kind of death energy. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Meanwhile, Atlan looked up at the Basilisk with absolutely no fear on his face. He observed it with great curiosity. "Altan, you mustn''t let the other humans get to the Basilisk before you," said the Enchanted Queen dragon. "We need to speak with the Basilisk and find out how it''s able to break the rules of reality and summon humans into the Remedium." He would have done that even if the Queen didn''t tell him. He was also curious as to how a Canzer was able to transfer a human onto the Remedium without a portal. And who better to ask than the Canzer responsible for this whole thing. Meanwhile, Kobra slowly approached the Basilisk, braving the dangers and trying to protect his fellow humans. But before he could even take another step, he suddenly heard a carefree voice at his side. "Let me handle this," said Atlan. Kobra, Carmine, and the rest of the humans all watched as Atlan slowly approached the Basilisk with a casualness that completely disregarded the danger and threat of the giant Basilisk in front of him. "Star Porter, what are you doing?" Kobra asked. "Atlan! Get out of there!" Carmine urgently shouted. But despite their warnings, Atlan ignored them. He continued to walk towards the Basilisk step by step, with the creature looking down at him with a bit of amusement on its face. It couldn''t believe that this weak human was trying to face a legendary creature such as itself. With a single poison breath, this human would turn into nothing but mulch. "I''ll fight with you," said Kobra. But Atlan stopped and turned to him with a serious face. "I told you, I''ll handle this myself," As he said those words, a burst of death energy exploded out of Atlan''s body, filling everything and everyone around him with dread. Kobra couldn''t help but take a step back until he tripped and fell on his back. His eyes showed fear. Whenever he looked at Atlan, he felt as if he could see a black ominous figure floating above him¡ªa giant skull that personified death! Even the Basilisk was surprised with the sudden onslaught of death energy. It jumped away from Atlan, afraid that the death energy would somehow affect its own body and degrade it through touch alone. ''What is this¡­who are you¡­'' the basilisk asked. "I am human, and you are Canzer. So tell me, how are you able to transport us into this Remedium?" Atlan asked, his feet slowly walking towards the Basilisk. The giant half-snake half-lizard monster couldn''t help but instinctually step back as Atlan was getting closer to it. The Basilisk couldn''t believe what was happening. A human was able to make him retreat! This was preposterous! SHAAA! ''I''m not going to tell you!'' the Basilisk screamed. Its split tongue suddenly shot down towards Atlan, coming with it an intense cloud of poison fog that would disintegrate anything that it touched. But as it landed on the ground, its target suddenly disappeared. The Basilisk didn''t even see Atlan move, yet he was gone nonetheless. Just then, it felt a strong presence above. The Basilisk looked up and saw Atlan with Angel Wings on his back. Chapter 425 - 425: Basilisk clones Atlan stared down at the Basilisk with a cold gaze. With the power of the pure Angels in his wings, and the power of death coursing through his veins, Atlan was now a creature no one had ever seen before. He was both angel and devil, pure and monstrous. The Basilisk thought it had come across a large clump of death energy ready to be consumed. But as it turned out, it was only a lure for him to be face to face with the very personification of death itself. Only he would end up as nourishment for this deathly demigod. The Basilisk immediately spat out a cloud of poisonous smoke. He knew that this wouldn''t have worked, but its only purpose was to distract Atlan enough for it to escape. But of course, Atlan didn''t get tricked by such things. He could see all kinds of death energy in the world, which meant that Canzers who emanate death would be visible to Atlan at all times. There was no hiding from him. His body suddenly disappeared and reappeared just beneath the Basilisk''s chin. He kicked upwards, sending the creature flying above, and through the cloud of poisonous smoke. Kobra, Carmine, and the rest of the spectators suddenly watched as the Basilisk rose from the cloud of smoke. They thought that it was finally going to attack them. But then, they noticed the dazed expression in its eyes. Not only that, there was a human by its side, with his hands reared back ready for a punch. Atlan''s fist suddenly glowed with a black energy fluctuation, with death energy concentrating in his very fist. He punched the Basilisk''s stomach upwards again, keeping it afloat in the air. As soon as his fist touched the Basilisk''s tough skin, its body started to convulse. After all, ominous death energy had suddenly been injected into its skin. And like poison, this death energy continued to spread throughout his body and infect healthy cells, turning them close to death. The Basilisk was alarmed. It thought that it was immune to all kinds of poisons. However, Atlan''s power was not poisonous. It was death itself, meaning that he held the power to turn anything into decay. Atlan continued his assault on the Basilisk, juggling it in the air with a couple of well-placed attacks. The crowd couldn''t believe what they were seeing. A Basilisk, a Specialist-level Canzer, was being juggled by a mere Student-level Porter! They couldn''t believe it. Even Kobra himself wouldn''t have been able to do this kind of feat even if the situation was beneficial to him. "Is this real¡­" "How is this possible? How is he this strong?...." S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Was he¡­was he always telling the truth?" The crowd began to realize the dire mistake they had made when dealing with Atlan. They had always thought that he was lying to them about all the things he did in the Church mission. They thought that he was simply embellishing his accomplishments to sound good to others. But now, after seeing his strength and power, dealing with the Basilisk as if it were a mere small lizard, they finally realized that he was telling the truth. Atlan did have the power to kill a Specialist-level Canzer by himself. This was a fact that they wouldn''t have thought was possible. If someone else told them what they were seeing right now, they wouldn''t have believed them. But, they were staring at the truth with their own eyes. They could feel the vibrations in the ground as Atlan punched the Basilisk''s head into the ground, pounding it with more kicks and slams. This was true. Atlan was beating a Specialist-level Canzer using his fists alone! Finally, Carmine had an answer as to what had happened. Although Atlan told him about his exploits in the Church mission, there was still a part of him that didn''t believe. But now, his curiosity had been sated. Atlan, somehow, had the power to kill a Basilisk! Kobra was surprised as well. He knew that Atlan was no ordinary human being, but he would have never thought that he had hidden this kind of power. He even found it unfair. After all, he built his power and strength through a thousand years of gruesome and risky work in the Remedium. But somehow, a Student-level Savior who hadn''t even awakened less than a month ago had suddenly become a figure much stronger than he was. But of course, in this situation, he was very grateful that Atlan had this kind of power to save them. He couldn''t have done anything against a Basilisk, so it was fortunate that there was someone else they could rely on. Meanwhile, Atlan kept on punching the Basilisk, filling its body with death energy that decayed its body. The black, shiny luster of its scales had soon turned into a grayish, dull, and cracking chitin. "Tell me. How did you move us to the Remedium without a portal!" Atlan threatened the Basilisk. He wanted to inflict the most pain on the Basilisk to torture it into telling the truth. He wanted to find out how it was able to capture humans and bring them into the Remedium, or else this could happen again. ''Tsss¡­ no¡­ I will never betray our own!'' the Basilisk screamed. Just as its body was about to decay completely, its scales suddenly shot off from its own body and sunk deep into the flooring. Then, the scales began to form and mutate into a slim worm, which began to grow exponentially larger, reaching the Basilisk''s original size in just a few seconds. Right now, there were hundreds of Basilisks spawned in the ground. Each of them showed disdain and anger for Atlan. ''You cannot kill me tsss¡­ you kill one, three more will spawn in its place tss..!'' As it turned out, the Basilisk was an Infection-type Canzer, meaning that it could clone itself infinitely. This alarmed Carmine and the rest of the civilians. With hundreds of Basilisks, they would soon be surrounded by those creatures with no other way to escape. They thought that Atlan was strong enough to fight with one Basilisk, but wasn''t strong enough to fight against hundreds of them at the same time. Chapter 426 - 426: Interrogating a lizard Despite the numerous Basilisks looking at him as if he were a buffet of death energy ready to be consumed, Atlan didn''t show any sign of distress. Instead, there was a smile forming on his face. With more Basilisks, there were more chances of him finding out the real truth as to how it was able to kidnap humans and trap them in the Remedium! S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Finally, he could kill one without worrying that he wouldn''t get the answer he wanted. He could continue to inflict all kinds of suffering onto the Basilisk! "Bad move," he told the Basilisk. Suddenly, a string floated out from a portal to another dimension and began to stitch itself into Atlan''s likeness. Upon completion, the life-size plushie version of Atlan suddenly became enveloped in a blinding light. And once the light subsided, everyone could see that the plushie version of Atlan became indistinguishable from the original one! The Basilisk''s eyes showed that of surprise, and then dread. It thought that it finally had the advantage against Atlan, but as it turned out, he also could clone himself. The Basilisk had to console himself that Atlan could only clone himself by a limited amount. After all, he was still human. But of course, his assumption was soon proved wrong. Atlan''s clone summoned its string from another dimension and began to make another clone. Soon after that, that clone began to create more clones, exponentially growing the number of clones that Atlan had by his side. Soon enough, Atlan had hundreds of clones by his side. Truthfully, he could have kept going and made clones up to the thousands, but Atlan didn''t need that. He only needed one clone for each of the Basilisk''s clones. "Oh my gods! He can clone himself?!" "I thought he was a porter?! Why does he have another LifeSkill within him?!" The crowd of civilians didn''t know a lot about Saviors, but they knew that Saviors only had one LifeSkill. That was it. No one knew that fact more than the Saviors like Kobra, Carmine, and the rest of the Intern-level Saviors among them. They all thought that Atlan''s strength could be explained by a very strong Physique LifeSkill probably in the SSS class rating. However, a Physique LifeSkill would not explain how he was able to clone himself through strings! That would only be possible through a different job and a different LifeSkill! "He has multiple LifeSkills¡­ probably even more than he is showing right now," Carmine muttered to himself. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. He thought he knew everything there was to know about Saviors. But as he kept watching Atlan, the more that reality broke and shattered into a million little pieces. Atlan kept changing the status quo of Saviors into something impossible! Meanwhile, the Basilisk stuck out its split tongue and glared at Atlan. With hundreds of his clones ready to fight them, the Basilisk knew that he had no other choice. He had to run away. So, his real body secretly ran away from the sea of Basilisk clones crowding the ground. However, how could it run away from Atlan, who saw the Basilisk''s death energy from a mile away? Atlan used his Angel wings to arrive just in front of the fleeing Basilisk. "There''s no running away until I find out the truth," he said to the Canzer. The Basilisk hissed at Atlan. Then, it commanded the hundreds of its clones to swarm Atlan and kill him in one go. Even if Atlan could fight against one Canzer, the Basilisk was holding out hope for the fact that he couldn''t fight a hundred all at once. But of course, as soon as that happened, Atlan''s clones all brought out their own Angel wings, each having the power and speed of the original angels. Then, they disappeared and reappeared just in front of each Basilisk clone, with their fists ready to punch them into the air. What happened next was a series of beatdowns that were completely one-sided. Atlan''s clones began to assault the Basilisk clones with his tremendous physical strength. Each punch had the force of thousands of tons of weight, as well as endowing the clones'' bodies with death energy. And of course, no matter how much the Basilisk''s clones got injured or destroyed, Atlan would make sure that it wouldn''t die out just yet. He kept the death energy in the clone''s body just at the right amount where it would feel the most pain. ''AAAHHHH! TSSSS!'' The original Basilisk suddenly felt the pain of a thousand deaths. All the pain and suffering that the clones were feeling was now being transmitted over to the real body, letting it experience death a thousand times. It began to recoil and twist like a dead snake. It couldn''t bear this pain any longer. ''No¡­no more¡­I can''t take it¡­ no more¡­kill me¡­ kill me now¡­'' The Basilisk begged. But of course, Atlan wasn''t going to give it the satisfaction just yet. "Tell me what I want to know," he demanded. ''I don''t know¡­ they only told me to come here¡­ they didn''t tell me how they did it," the Basilisk confessed. Atlan, of course, wasn''t going to believe those lies. However, the Enchanted Queen suddenly appeared beside him with her plushie-dragon figure. "Tell us the truth." And upon seeing the plushie figure, the Basilisk looked confused at first. It was as if he was looking at something familiar, but also unfamiliar at the same time. The black shimmer was familiar, but its small stature was not. The wings symbolized power, yet the small body it was connected to did not. However, as the Basilisk looked closer, he noticed something undeniable. That aura of tyranny was not something that could be replicated. The Basilisk was looking at his ancestor, the olden one, and the original slithering monster in the world: a Dragon! "They talk of an object! One with the power to forcefully break the barrier between Remedium and reality, allowing us to pull humans to the Remedium!" Chapter 427 - 427: Begone Basilisk Atlan and the Enchanted Queen both stared at the Basilisk. And judging from the fear on its face, it looked like it was telling the truth this time. "What kind of object would allow the Canzers to blur the lines between reality and Remedium?" Atlan asked. "There''s no such thing," the black dragon plushie replied. "If there was, then I would have known about it long ago." "Do you think he''s telling the truth?" he asked her. "Yes. Unfortunately, this is all that this creature knows. No matter how much more we press it, it will not know anything more precise than that. The powers that are controlling this event kept this secret object to heart, telling no mere Canzer about it," the Enchanted Queen explained. Meanwhile, Tulip felt completely out of place with their conversation. Even still, she wanted to contribute to their talk. "Um.. isn''t it possible that they were able to get their hands on a portal? You know, the one that humans like Atlan use to travel to the Remedium?" she asked. Atlan looked at Tulip and wondered why he never thought of that possibility in the first place. "Is that possible?" he asked the Enchanted Queen. However, even the ancient black dragon had no definitive answer to give to both of them. "I don''t know," she admitted. "But whatever it is, we know that it is dangerous and must be destroyed at all costs. Atlan, you must try and search for more Canzers to interrogate. Some way or another, we will find what this magical object truly is." Atlan nodded, agreeing with the Enchanted Queen. This encounter was far too dangerous for normal humans. After all, if he weren''t here, then there could have been a lot more casualties in the end. And there could have been a possibility in which the Saviors caught up in the Remedium were far too unprepared to take on the task of killing the Canzer. For example, a Student-level Savior may get mismatched with a Specialist-level Canzer. Most of all, there could be a possibility that this could happen again, but would only contain normal humans, without any Saviors to protect them. In that scenario, they had a sure death. This was a problem that involved everyone in Genesis City. It was another thing that HeadQuarters had to worry about since now, anything could happen. At least back then, they could prepare for a mission. They could assign the proper and most fitted Saviors for the job after scouting what kind of Canzer was wreaking havoc in the Remedium. There was a sense of choice in that matter, and gave security to everyone. However, now, it was lawless. Saviors could end up in Remediums whether they were prepared for it or not. And the fact that they no longer had their immortality did not help either. At least back then, they could be sure that even if their entire body was shredded into pieces, they could still be revived through a single drop of blood. But now, if they were dead, then they were dead. There was no coming back from that. Saviors were already alarmed, anxious, and worried about going on a mission in the Remedium. Now, they would probably be too scared to even go out of their house. "Queen, if there is another incident like this, can you sense it?" Atlan asked. "Yes. As long as it is within the vicinity of Genesis City, then I can see the vibrations in reality, and will tell me where a Remedium has spawned," she replied. "Good. We need to interrogate more Canzers to find out what''s happening with this object." Now that everything was settled, Atlan knew that it was time to kill the Basilisk. And secretly, while Atlan and the Enchanted Queen were too busy chatting about their plans for the future, the Basilisk had slipped out of their sight and tried to escape from their grasp. In response, Atlan had only one thing to say to the Basilisk. "I hereby declare your actions into death." Suddenly, a pure beam of death energy emanated out of Atlan and soon reached the Basilisk slithering away out of sight. It was running on all four of its limbs, but even then, it could not seem to get rid of the soul-piercing gaze from Atlan. Not only that, but the death energy he emanated reached the Basilisk''s body at light speed! There was no chance that the Basilisk could have escaped. The death energy, which looked like black circles, suddenly entered the Basilisk''s body. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And immediately, its body stopped working. Its legs, which had been running with full force away from Atlan, suddenly felt as if they had been cut off from the Basilisk''s body. He couldn''t feel his legs! Soon, the ''death'' spread all over the Basilisk''s body, turning it paralyzed within a few seconds. Even its eyes were prohibited from moving. It could only lie there as good as dead. This was one of Atlan''s abilities that he gained when he became a demigod of Death. Action Death! He used the death energy in his body to completely ''kill'' the movement of a target, turning them paralyzed. Once it had been completely immobilized, Atlan then raised his hand and pointed at the basilisk. Suddenly, his body began to emanate a completely different power. It was the contrast to the death power he had just used. It was light! Angel power began to surge out of the deepest parts of his soul, slowly manifesting itself in reality through a pure white cloud above the Basilisk''s head. Thunder rumbled above the Basilisk. However, it was far too paralyzed to even exhibit any sort of fear from the pure Angel power emerging out of those clouds. But that wasn''t even the worst part for the Basilisk. After all, the hundreds of Atlan''s clones also began to raise their hands and use the Angel power in their souls. Each clone targeted a Basilisk clone, creating a cloud above their heads that thundered with Angel power. "Begone," Atlan uttered. Suddenly, a golden lightning pierced through the clouds and reached the Basilisk and its clones, turning them into mere ashes in just a few seconds. Chapter 428 - 428: Unbelievable witness reports Just like that, a Specialist-level Canzer famed for its difficulty in being killed, was killed with just a single word from Atlan. Kobra, Carmine, and the rest of the humans watching this scene couldn''t believe their eyes. It was almost as if they were dreaming. After all, they had just watched a Student-level Savior demolish a Specialist-level Canzer all by himself, without any help from anyone at all. But that wasn''t even the most impressive part. It was the ease with which he killed the Specialist-level Canzer that made all of them speechless. Somehow, without even using a single construct, he was able to destroy a Canzer into ashes. That was a feat that could not be achieved through hard work alone. The civilians in the group finally realized what kind of strength Atlan had, and why he was so confident in his stories back then. They now looked at him in a completely different light, probably at the same level as Kobra in their eyes. But for Kobra himself, he couldn''t help but put Atlan way above. After all, even if the matchup was favorable to him, he still wouldn''t be able to kill a Canzer so easily by himself. He would always need a team to support him, or else he would find it hard to even survive the encounter. Yet somehow, Atlan didn''t need help. He had all the aid he needed with his clones, which seemed to be able to multiply infinitely if he wanted it to. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After all, Kobra could see much more deeply into the situation than normal people. He saw the power and pressure emanating from those clones. And from what he could see, they were virtually indistinguishable from the original Atlan. This meant that they all had the same power to kill a Specialist-level Canzer by themselves. And with each clone, that similarity didn''t go down one bit. Each of them, no matter how many times a clone created a clone, inherited Atlan''s skills without limit. Infinite cloning was a scary thought just by itself. But if paired with Atlan''s strange powers, then it became a whole different beast. And Kobra had a feeling that Atlan wasn''t even using his full strength in that fight. There was always a sense of casualness and easiness in the way he approached the Basilisk that made Kobra think that Atlan always knew that he could kill the Basilisk any time he wanted. He wouldn''t have had that confidence if he didn''t have the power to back it up. Now that they had fully understood the power of the Star Porter, Kobra was incredibly grateful that he was still a part of humanity. Atlan could have easily left by himself. He could have easily let the Basilisk kill every single one of them here, and he would have still been safe in the end. After all, almost everyone here had underestimated him from the very beginning. They insulted and dishonored him through malicious words, even though all he said was nothing but the truth. He had all the reasons to let the other civilians die, yet he didn''t. In the end, he still saved them. And if there was still any doubt that Atlan truly killed the Basilisk, the inverted colors of the Remedium slowly faded back down, replaced by the true colors of reality. Finally, they were back in the real world. Suddenly, soldiers, guards, and Saviors all swarmed their location trying to see if anyone needed any help. It seemed that in their absence, the other Saviors in the HeadQuarters noticed what had happened. After all, the destruction that happened in the Remedium also reflected in reality. The buildings and concrete walls that the Basilisk destroyed during its rampage remained in the real world. This was what alarmed the others that something wrong had happened. The HeadQuarters issued another state of emergency and asked for any able-bodied Savior to wait by the outskirts of the affected area. This was a big deal, not only because it was unprecedented, but also because there were a lot of lives at stake during this anomaly. After all, the Elder Heads were caught up in this situation! The rest of the Operators were doing their very best to try and create a portal that would let them try to save the ones trapped in the Remedium. But before they could, the destruction finally stopped, and everyone that was lost, suddenly returned to their original places in the meeting. So, when they finally returned, they were swarmed by a lot of people to try and see if anything bad had happened. "What happened?!" "Are you guys okay? Are the Elder Heads fine?!" "Don''t worry, we''ll get you all sorted out." The rest of the rescuers thought that something bad had happened to the survivors. After all, they all had a look of shock still plastered all over their faces. They didn''t know that this expression was not due to the Canzer, but because of the man that killed it. Atlan, with his job done, slowly faded away into the background and left the situation, leaving the others completely dumbfounded about what happened. It took a couple of hours before things finally settled down and witness reports were finally taken. "What kind of Canzer did you all encounter? Did you guys find any clue as to how you were all transported to the Remedium without a portal? Who killed the Canzer? How did it happen?" Those last two questions were the most important ones. After all, most people would have thought that Kobra, the man hailed to be the strongest Savior in the entirety of Genesis City, would have been the one to save everyone from harm and kill the Canzer. But when they started taking witness accounts, a completely different person emerged. Atlan, the Star Porter. The reviewers couldn''t help but question the survivors'' answers. After all, it was incredibly unbelievable to think that a Student-level Savior could do the things that they all saw him do. Because of that, the current theory was that they were all confused about what truly happened in the Remedium due to some kind of phenomenon. Of course, the survivors vehemently disagreed with that, and stuck with their truth. Atlan did kill that Basilisk by himself. In the end, the Elder Heads had to order the HeadQuarters to stop questioning them about it, leaving it to become a mystery with the others. Chapter 429 - 429: Visiting Custodire Despite not a lot of people believing the stories about the Star Porter''s true strength, it soon spread to the different Savior communities. Some treated it as nothing more than hearsay, some treated it as if it had a kernel of truth hidden within the stories, while some treated it as a challenge, as if they wanted to prove to the City that Atlan was not as strong as they said he was. Of course, Atlan didn''t care about any of that. He walked through the streets of the Masamune District, where the commerce of the City was at its highest. Everyone was far too busy either selling their wares at a very high Soul Time price, or trying to get those prices down to somewhere they could afford. The last time he was here, it wasn''t this hectic. Sure, there was a lot of shouting and bartering, but now, it seemed as if it became a battlefield itself. The customers, who were supposed to work together, were now fighting against each other. For example, one of the vendors wanted to sell the full metal armor in his stock for at least 20 years. Of course, this price was far too much for one customer and tried to get it down to just 15 years of Soul Time. However, since this was quite a popular product, other customers also wanted to buy the full metal armor. Now, they would try to barter with the vendor to get it in just 16 years. Of course, the other customer wanted the armor as well. So, he would be forced to increase his bid as well. "Fine! I''ll buy it for 16.5 years." "I''ll buy it for 17 years!" Now, this may have seemed good for the vendor. Unfortunately for him, he wasn''t the only one who was selling the steel armor. "I''ll sell my armor for 19 years!" The other vendor was clearly trying to get the customers to his side of the street. And of course, since his price was a lot smaller, a lot of the customers who bid for the original vendor''s product immediately switched to the other vendor. This would force the original vendor to lessen his original price as well just to be able to compete with his competitor''s prices. "You can have it for yourself for just 18 years!" It was a total bloodbath, especially since they were all bartering in exchange for more Soul Time, which was their lifespan. This was why the commerce and market were much more brutal this time around. After all, they were dealing with their own lives now. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Back then, people just ignored these vendors. After all, they could get whatever they wanted without buying it. Back in the days of immortality in Genesis City, anyone could get anything without having to pay for it. They could get water, food, housing, and other such amenities for free just by being a citizen of Genesis City alone. Now, they had to pay for it with their own life. And previously, the only ones who bought armor and weapons were those who were Saviors, or at least training to become one. After all, the civilians had no reason to purchase any defensive or offensive artifacts for themselves. After all, they were immortal. And not only that, there was no such danger here in the real world. But now, they had a reason to protect themselves. There were a lot of desperate people who resorted to killing and stealing other people''s Soul Time from others. Because of that, it became normal for people to carry weapons around to protect themselves. And if people found out that Canzers could now kidnap humans and forcefully bring them to the Remedium, then they would fully panic even more than they were doing right now. Thankfully, the HeadQuarters had the good thinking to prevent the news from spreading. Or else, they would be faced with another riot from the whole City. Meanwhile, Atlan continued to stroll through the busy streets. For him, he didn''t have to worry about his Soul Time. After all, as people shed away a second of their lives for every second they were alive, Atlan was able to siphon off that death energy and use it for himself. However, he still felt like he needed a weapon of his own. There were a lot of weird things happening in the Canzer world. And he wouldn''t feel satisfied if he didn''t have the proper weapons to fight against those forces of evil. Right now, he had two weapons, the Sword and the Shield that the three good fairies gave him. These were pretty good weapons, all things considered. It was probably the best thing anyone could have ever wanted. However, Atlan felt as if it didn''t fit him quite right. His hands felt awkward when holding those two weapons. So, he wanted to seek the help of his good friend Custodire, who was a specialist blacksmith. She was probably the only one who could help him with his problem. When he finally arrived at her store, he was surprised to see it already full of people. There were dwarves and humans alike, crowded themselves in her store as they looked at her wares. And since Custodire was one of the premier blacksmiths in the City, her weapons were very much highly sought after within the Savior community. That meant that the prices she had to put on the weapons reached the high hundreds or even thousands of years of Soul Time. "Miss Custodire. Please, my boss is willing to offer you a thousand years of Soul Time if you custom-make his weapons," one human wearing a formal black suit and tie said. "No can do. Can''t you see I''m extremely busy? There are much more important things to do than to make the weapon of an Intern-level Savior," Custodire said, her eyes never leaving the metal in her hands as she slammed it with a hammer. Chapter 430 - 430: Dwarves repaying favor "This is not over, Miss Custodire," threatened the black suit man. "You will regret making my boss angry. He is the son of a very important man in the HeadQuarters!" "Whatever," Custodire waved off the man''s threats with a shrug of her shoulders. This was not the first time that someone threatened her life. Ever since immortality had been discovered to be gone, there had been a huge increase in people wanting better weapons and armor for themselves. And since she was considered one of the best, those entitled and rich folks, despite being in the low ranks, wanted Custodire to make one for themselves. However, they were far from the most important people that Custodire wanted to serve. As a Specialist-level Savior herself, she knew how much this City needed the help of Specialist-level Vanguards. She knew that they were the only ones they could count on whenever there was an anomaly. And if one of them dies, then the whole City suffers. They would all lose a very big part of their defense. In her perspective, a thousand Intern-level Savior was not enough to equate to a single Specialist-level Savior. After all, Specialist-level Saviors had their own domains, which could turn the tides of a battle extremely quickly. She had a feeling that things would only get worse much later. So, right now, she was preparing for that inevitable crisis. She was creating weapons and armor for Specialist-level Saviors, making sure that they had the best defenses and the best offenses possible to fight against the onslaught of Canzers that plagued their city. But since Specialist-level armor and weapons needed a lot of time to make, she couldn''t spare any time for lesser Saviors who didn''t need custom-made weapons. "Hello, Miss Custodire. It''s been a while." Custodire, hearing the youthful voice of the man approaching her, was about to reject his request before he could even make it. But when she turned her head to look in his direction, she realized that this wasn''t just anybody. This was Atlan, the Star Porter. "Atlan¡­ it''s been a while. How have you been?" This was the first time that Custodire stopped her hammering on her anvil. She wouldn''t even do that for Specialist-level Saviors who came to talk to her. But somehow, Atlan was different. He was special. Ever since she found out about his powers, she treated Atlan with the same care as other Specialist-level Saviors. "Why have you come here?" she asked hurriedly. "I was hoping that you could custom make a weapon for me. I want you to remold a weapon of mine and make it into a different weapon," Atlan said. Custodire sighed and shook her head. She didn''t like refusing Atlan''s request, but she had no choice. "I''m sorry, Star Porter. I don''t have time to deal with things like this. I suggest that you just get one of the best Student-level weapons I have in my stock. Don''t worry, I won''t ask you to pay for them. It''s yours for free." Custodire had been in her smithy for far too long, and she didn''t hear about the rumors going about in the City. She didn''t hear the stories going around about how Atlan was able to kill a Specialist-level Canzer by himself without any help from a team. So, she was treating him as nothing more than a Student-level Savior. It was quite unfortunate. She was one of the people who would have believed the stories. After all, she already knew that Atlan was special, so it wouldn''t be that surprising for her. "Is there nothing else that you can do?" Atlan asked. Since he saw how busy she was, he didn''t want to impose on her. After all, the sword and shield were still very much usable for him. If the need arose, then he would use the sword and shield. But just then, one of the dwarves strolling through the store suddenly came upon Atlan. "Wait a minute, young man¡­ you''re the one who saved us during that fire, right?" The dwarf looked familiar to Atlan. And after a few seconds, he finally realized where he had seen him before. He was one of the dwarves he saved during the Heat Wave symptom in the Masamune district caused by the Ifrits. "Yes! You''re the one who saved us!" Another dwarf came and recognized Atlan. They would never forget the face of the man that saved them. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Soon, the dwarves called the other dwarves and showed them Atlan. It seemed that all of them were extremely grateful for Atlan because he saved them during that time. The dwarves vowed to themselves back then that they would do anything to repay the debt they had for Atlan. His efforts in saving them were appreciated greatly, especially after it was announced that immortality had long been gone. This meant that if Atlan hadn''t saved them back then, they would have truly died! Because of that, their debt to him became much greater. "Star Porter! We thank you for saving us!" the dwarves said as they bowed towards Atlan. "Don''t worry about it. You''re welcome," Atlan replied. "Is there anything we can do to repay you?" "Yes, yes, we would do anything!" "Wait a minute, Star Porter. You said something earlier about wanting to have something made to Custodire, right?" One of the dwarves seemed to have heard his conversation with Custodire. "Yes. I want to remold my weapons into something new entirely," he replied to them. "However, Custodire is busy right now, so she can''t help me." The dwarves all looked at each other, their faces full of determination. Then, they all faced Custodire. "Miss Custodire, I know that we are competitors, but can you do us a favor and repay our life debt to this young man over here? We will lend our powers to you to create a weapon suitable for the Star Porter." Custodire stopped what she was doing and looked at the dwarves. She knew that they were all competent blacksmiths, so she knew that if they helped, then they could make Atlan''s weapon in less than a day! Chapter 431 - 431: Remold perfection Custodire looked at the dwarves, then at Atlan before finally nodding her head to agree with their request. "If I have their help, then I can make a suitable weapon for you," she said to Atlan. This ended up making all of them happy. First of all, Atlan now had a chance to have a well-crafted weapon made specifically for him. This would bolster his strengths to even greater heights, especially since he would be using the magical sword and shield that the three good fairies gave him. Second of all, the dwarves finally had a chance to repay the life debt they had for Atlan. As a prideful bunch, they would never let this debt go unpaid, especially since Atlan had saved them from death. If it was possible, then they would even be willing to give some Soul Time of theirs to make sure that the creation of this weapon would go smoothly. Third of all, Custodire would be able to make sure that Atlan was safe in these dire times. From her perspective, Atlan may not be strong now, but he had the potential to become one of the best Saviors this City had ever seen. But of course, he needed a lot of time to progress and mature before that happened. Of course, she didn''t know that Atlan had already gone through a substantial transformation and become equal to or even greater than those Specialist Saviors that she was talking about. "Before we start, we need to find a suitable material for this weapon of yours," Custodire said, convening with the dwarves to plan for this project. "We have some Student-level chitin leftovers in our place," one dwarf said. "Just Student-level? We should go all in and give him a Pre-Intern level or even an Intern-level weapon so that he wouldn''t need to upgrade his weapon for a long time," another dwarf chimed in. "But an Intern-level chitin material is too strong for a Student Savior. We should pick a Pre-Intern chitin material that is just half-step away from becoming an Intern-level chitin." Custodire and the dwarves all talked to each other about which material would best be used in creating Atlan''s weapons. The chitin material that they were talking about was leftover materials from Canzers'' corpses that most Saviors salvage after missions. This is usually found on Destruction-type Canzers, especially since they were famed for their very strong and durable chitin. "It is unfortunate, but we only have a Pre-Intern level chitin in my forge," Custodire said, a bit disappointed. The higher the level of chitin, the rarer it was to get. Even back then, the amount of high-level chitin materials that she would get was few and scarce. It was even more rarer and more expensive now, especially since everything was paid for by using Soul Time. "I''ll fork over 20 years!" a dwarf said. "I''ll give 15 years as well," another dwarf said. "With our leftover Soul Time, surely we can buy the right materials!" The dwarves were willing to give so much Soul Time for this project because if it weren''t for Atlan saving them, then they would have lost all of their Soul Time. Losing a few years of Soul Time was nothing compared to losing their whole life! But of course, Atlan didn''t think they needed to do that. After all, he had the best material in his hands right now. "Is there any way we can recycle the material from these weapons?" Atlan pulled out the magical sword and shield from the death dimension in his body, which acted like an inventory space for all of his belongings. As soon as the sword and shield were brought out into the real world, Custodire and the dwarves couldn''t help but gasp and stare at the magnificently crafted weapon in Atlan''s hands. They had never seen such a beautiful craft. Not only that, the weapons themselves were emanating a kind of power that they only saw in Specialist-level weapons using the very best chitin materials that couldn''t be obtained through normal means. Not only that, the sword and shield seemed to be infused with a different kind of magic, something that was completely out of the ordinary and could not be explained through human means. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It felt as if they were looking at a real Canzer! That was how pure the chitin material used in the creation of the sword and shield. "Atlan¡­ What are those weapons? Where did you get these?" He explained to Custodire and the rest of the dwarves that it was a present he received after finishing a mission in the Remedium. He told them the truth about how the three good fairies lent the sword and shield to him to help him defeat the Dragon Queen Malificient once and for all. After he killed her, the three good fairies decided to give the weapons to him. "..." Custodire and the dwarves couldn''t close their jaws shut after hearing about Atlan''s stories in the Remedium. "So it was true¡­ those stories about the Star Porter were real!" said one dwarf. They had heard some rumors that the Star Porter, who was only a Student-level Savior just a few weeks ago, was somehow able to defeat a Specialist-level Basilisk all on his own. They never thought it was possible, but judging from the power of that sword and shield alone, Atlan did have the capacity to kill a Specialist-level Canzer on his own! After all, if he was any weaker, that magical sword and shield would have melted his hands off the moment he tried to touch them. The power contained in those two weapons was far too great for a Student-level Savior to handle them. But in Atlan''s hands, the sword and shield were as tame as if they were just ordinary objects. As blacksmiths, this only told them one thing: the weapons considered Atlan as someone much stronger than them! "Do you think it''s possible to melt these weapons down and use them to create my weapon?" Atlan asked casually. Custodire and the dwarves looked at him as if he were crazy. Chapter 432 - 432: Scythe The dwarves considered the sword and shield to be the pinnacle of craftsmanship. And yet, Atlan was asking them to melt it all down and re-use its materials as if it was just made out of iron or some other lowly material. As blacksmiths, this was akin to blasphemy! After all, they might be great blacksmiths on their own, but even they could only cower in front of the beings that made these weapons. If they were going to melt it down and remake it from the start, then they would only make an inferior version of it. "Atlan, this is far too precious of a weapon for you to simply just melt down!" Custodire shouted. "That''s right, that''s right! Why not just use these weapons instead of making a new one?" the dwarves asked. Although Atlan didn''t hate a sword and shield, it simply didn''t fit his style of fighting. He didn''t like to carry a shield around because he had no need for it. First of all, had his SSS Grim Reaper Physique, which transformed all the death energy he accumulated in his body to create an almost invincible skin that could withstand anything. Second of all, all the injuries that he incurred could easily be healed back up using the infinite amount of Soul Time at his disposal. There was death happening all around Genesis City, which powered the death energy in his body, and in turn, made him almost immortal. He also didn''t need a sword to fight. For him, it had far too short of a reach for his kind of style of fighting. A sword was best used in one-on-one fights, which wasn''t that much of use in a battle against Canzers that could duplicate themselves a thousand times in just a few minutes. He needed something that could cleave through those clones in just one swing of his weapon. "I need something like a scythe as a weapon," Atlan said to the dwarves. "That''s what I need." sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Custodire and the dwarves didn''t know why Atlan needed a farming tool to use as a weapon, but the look in his eyes meant that he was serious. This was the same look that truly dedicated people had when they knew the right weapon they needed for an intense fight. "Fine," Custodire said. "We''ll try our best to create a suitable Scythe for you, but don''t expect too much. We are operating in uncharted territories. This is the first time any one of us will try to melt down a perfect artifact such as this." Atlan handed over the sword and shield to Cutodire, who handled it with care and caution. As she made contact with the weapons, she immediately winced, as the power contained within them was surprisingly a lot stronger than she anticipated. Atlan is even stronger than these weapons?! Custodire thought to herself. She estimated that even the top Specialist-level Saviors in Genesis City wouldn''t even be able to touch these weapons for a few seconds before they had to let go of them because of the backlash. But somehow, Atlan could handle it with ease. This gave her an estimate of Atlan''s strength, and she couldn''t believe that the once baby cub Savior that she met had now fully turned into a lion that could triumph over even the strongest of monsters. "Let''s work carefully," she said to the other dwarves as they placed the weapons into the fire. Using a combination of their LifeSkills as blacksmiths, they were able to create a fire strong enough to reach a very high temperature. An hour later, the weapons began to glow as they reached a temperature enough to break down their structure and slowly turn into a liquid. Custodire and the dwarves worked with great cooperation and efficiency despite this being the first time they had ever worked with each other. They were spurred on to do their very best by two things: The first was that they were doing this for Atlan''s sake. The second was that this was probably the only time in their lives that they would get to handle such a precious weapon. The power and the magic contained in the sword and shield were unlike anything they had ever seen and ever will see. At first, they were incredibly slow and careful when dealing with the weapon. They struck it gently and molded it carefully. But as they continued to work on the weapons, the more and more they were incredibly inspired by its design. They were led into the deeper secrets of Canzers and their body morphology, allowing them to work even faster than they had anticipated. They stopped communicating and just started working. They were in a flow state where they didn''t need to think about the right decision to make for the weapon, they just made it instinctively and intuitively. Slowly, the form of the Scythe''s handle was done. They just needed to get its blades created. This was the most precarious moment of the whole forging process. After all, the blade was where all the power and strength would be stored, so any wrong movement they made could seriously compromise the weapon''s effectiveness in battle. The hours passed, with Custodire and the dwarves keeping their intense focus on the forge, making sure that there were no mistakes in their smithing. Atlan stayed behind, watching everything unfold. Finally, they were at the last step of their process. The whole weapon was molded into the shape of a flaming scythe. They just needed to cool it down and let it solidify. Custodire and the rest of the dwarves held their breaths as they watched the Scythe slowly lose its glow from the heat. If it successfully cooled down without breaking into pieces, then they would know that they finished creating this masterful weapon. If it broke then, that was it. There would be no do-overs. CRACK¡­ Unfortunately, it seemed that their craftsmanship wasn''t enough to fully mold the sword and shield into a scythe without breaking it down. Custodire and the dwarves panicked, but they knew that they could do nothing else. They thought everything was over. But just then, Atlan felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down and saw his chest plate was trying to get out of his body and meld into the scythe! Chapter 433 - 433: Scythe complete Atlan, feeling the chest plate wanting to get out, immediately released it from his inventory. And as soon as he did, the chestplate immediately flew towards the glowing Scythe. "What''s happening?!" asked the dwarves. They had never seen this type of thing before and were alarmed. "Stay your hand. That is a semi-sentient chest plate. It''s not trying to sabotage the Scythe, it''s trying to help it. It knows what it''s doing," said Custodire as she eyed the chest plate with a bit of a smile on her face. She would have never thought that things could end up like this. After all, she knew best what kind of item that chest plate was. It was not even just a normal semi-sentient piece. It was a relic from the olden days, worn only by the very First Savior of the world! This could only be a work of fate. After all, a semi-sentient weapon could be considered to be broken. After all, it wasn''t a normal weapon, but it wasn''t fully sentient as well. It seemed to have lost any capacity for sentience due to the loss of time and its owner. But now, the chest plate was willing to sacrifice itself to complete the Scythe. It was willing to sacrifice its semi-sentience to give the Scythe a new life, a new chance to become sentient! Custodire couldn''t believe this sight. As the chest plate melded into the Scythe, the Scythe glowed a bright light even brighter, turning its inside temperature a lot higher than before. The chest plate, trying to envelop the Scythe, was caught up inside the hot temperature and started to melt as well. This was painful for the semi-sentient chest plate, but it endured. It was going to save this Scythe no matter what happened. The Scythe, which was supposed to explode into a million pieces due to its complexity, was suddenly subdued by the chest plate. It was being embraced, just like a mother embracing her child. The Scythe soon began to dim, as the internal temperature inside its body became lower and lower, slowly solidifying the process that Custodire and the dwarves worked on. After a few seconds, the Scythe was finally cold to the touch. It had finished forming without exploding into a million pieces. It was done! They couldn''t believe it. But they couldn''t celebrate just yet. The chest plate, which had done its job, soon lost all its luster. Its semi-sentience was slowly fading away into death. The chest plate had been far too damaged after enveloping the Scythe that it had now turned into a melted piece of metal. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But just before it fell to the floor, a mystical force suddenly pulled it back up. The Scythe itself was welcoming the broken chestplate! Slowly, the melted chest plate began to be pieced back into pieces and fully melded with the Scythe, creating a kind of metallic look for the Scythe''s handle. To symbolize its new birth, the Scythe''s blades suddenly lit up in flames, showing everyone the true strength and luster that it had from the start. Custodire and the dwarves couldn''t believe that the Scythe was complete! The complexity and strength that the Scythe exuded were far stronger than they had anticipated. They could hardly believe that they were the ones who created this weapon in the first place. It was as if it was suddenly birthed by the heavens, not made by their grimy hands. If they were to compare it to the masterpiece of the magical sword and shield, the Scythe was somehow much better than that! They couldn''t believe it. Usually, when a weapon is broken down and made into something new, the quality will always go down. Even the very best blacksmiths in the world and history would have not been able to keep more than 90% of the original weapon''s strength. But now, Custodire and the dwarves were able to make a weapon that was greater than 100%! The Scythe far exceeded the sword and shield. They could feel it just from the aura alone. This was a weapon that only the very peak of Saviors could look at, much less wield. Not only that, it felt as if they were looking at something alive. It wasn''t just a weapon, it was a living being! This was the side effect of the chest plate''s sacrifice. It was able to imbue the Scythe with the potential to be alive, to have its own life, and be able to transcend the title of semi-sentient. Someday, it could become fully sentient! Custodire and the dwarves felt their hair stand on end. After all, this was a dream of all dwarves and blacksmiths. It was in their very blood to dream of that time when they could create something that had consciousness. And now, they seemed to have achieved that. It was not because of their skill, but it was because of the materials they used to create this Scythe. Even still, this was a breakthrough for them. It gave them a lot of insight into weapons that they otherwise wouldn''t have been able to gain. It transformed their smithing by leaps and bounds! Even Custodire felt as if she had increased her knowledge and skill by at least two stages! This was a tremendous leap forward! The dwarves could only chuckle to themselves about this situation. After all, they were trying to repay Atlan the life debt they had for him, saving their lives. But now, after completing the Scythe and repaying their debts, they were once again in his debt. After all, they had experienced a great transformation in their smithing knowledge, and it was all thanks to Atlan. So, in the end, they weren''t able to repay all their debts to Atlan. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at the floating black and flaming Scythe in front of him. Even though this was the first time he was seeing this Scythe, it felt like he had been waiting for this his entire life. Slowly, he walked forward until he touched the Scythe''s handle. Chapter 434 - 434: Finding a symptom Atlan slowly took Scythe''s handle, taking it out of the air and letting all of its weight fall into his hands. And as soon as he did, he felt the Scythe try to pull him down to the very ground. He was surprised! The Scythe was trying to test him if he was worthy of becoming its owner. The Scythe increased its weight, almost a thousand tons weighing down on Atlan''s hands. But the Scythe didn''t know who it was dealing with. Atlan was originally a porter, with a physical strength unlike this world had ever seen. Not only that, he had an SSS class Grim Reaper Physique LifeSkill that allowed him to harness death energy to become physical strength. He slowly lifted the Scythe and swung it around casually, as it weighed nothing more than a few kilograms! The Scythe was surprised and tried to fight against Atlan''s power by increasing the fire in its blades. But it was no use. Atlan was able to handle the Scythe without any problem at all. He would have been able to do this even before he had his transformation into a demigod of death. So, the Scythe truly had no chance of trying to intimidate and test him. There was no way it was going to win against Atlan in a contest of strength. The Scythe seemed to have realized this and started to use a different approach. Its reddish flames, which seemed to have been caught from the very hell itself, suddenly became brighter and spread itself down to the handle. It was trying to see if Atlan was going to burn! But of course, Atlan held the handle even as it got burned with fire. Atlan could harness the Apocalyptic Hellfire itself! There was no way he was going to get burned by a small campfire. "Had enough?" he asked the Scythe. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And the Scythe, realizing its loss, immediately tamed down and lost all its fire. Then, it floated out of its hands and jumped up and down, like a very loyal puppy. "Good. We''ll be working together from now on, so it would have been awkward if you kept trying to test me," Atlan said. The Scythe, knowing that Atlan was slightly annoyed that he was tested, immediately started to endear to Atlan by acting like a lost puppy. Atlan laughed, making the Scythe happy. Then, it voluntarily placed itself on Atlan''s back, making itself smaller, waiting for the right time when Atlan would need its help and it would expand to its full size. "This is beyond my expectations. Thank you for making my new weapon," Atlan said to Custodire and the dwarves. He even bowed towards them to show his respect. "No, no, we did nothing. The Scythe would have been destroyed if the semi-sentient chestplate had not moved and sacrificed itself," Custodire said, waving her hands in Atlan''s thanks. She didn''t feel as if she deserved his thanks. As a blacksmith, she had failed. She was supposed to have been able to handle all kinds of materials, but this was something that she could not handle. "Do not thank us, Star Porter. We helped you because of our debt. But now, it seems like we also owe you another debt. We have learned a lot from making the Scythe, so do not thank us. We have to thank you," the dwarves said. In response, Atlan shook his head. "No, if it weren''t for all of you, I wouldn''t have my Scythe, plain and simple. I''m sure that if I had gone to any other blacksmith, they wouldn''t have been able to make a Scythe in the first place," he said to them. Atlan thanked them again before leaving Custodire''s smithy. Now that he had his weapon, it was time for him to search for more Canzers to interrogate. Just like the Enchanted Queen said, they needed to find more clues about this mysterious object that could blur the lines between reality and Remedium. And just in time, Atlan felt a surge of death energy coming from the southern direction. He looked over and saw death particles almost flooding the very streets. Atlan took out his Angel Wings and immediately teleported over there. And as soon as he reappeared, he suddenly felt the whole ground shaking wildly, as if there was a war going on underground. He was in a Symptom! This meant that there was a Canzer wreaking havoc inside the Remedium right now. Atlan looked to his left and saw that there was a collection of Saviors standing around and preparing for the mission. He walked over to them, and they immediately noticed him. "Huh? Student Savior, why haven''t you evacuated yet? Get out of the Symptom!" Their leader gestured for Atlan to come towards them, and he did. Atlan looked at their epaulet and saw that they were Pre-Intern Saviors, which meant that they were a realm above Student-level Saviors. Right now, they all thought he was a Student-level Savior because of the epaulet on his shoulders. However, one of them seemed to have recognized Atlan''s face. "Hey, wait a minute. Isn''t he the Star Porter?" As soon as the guy said that, the whole team looked at Atlan and scrutinized his features. Only then did a flash of recognition breeze past their faces. "Oh, the Star Porter from the stories? The one who is rumored to have defeated a Specialist-level Canzer all by himself?" The rumor about Atlan defeating the Basilisk had already spread far and wide. And it seemed to have reached this group as well. However, it was clear from their expressions that they didn''t believe an inch of the rumors. After all, they were Pre-Intern Saviors. They were above Student-level Saviors like Atlan, and they knew that fighting against a Specialist-level Canzer was way beyond their strength. So, they had no other choice but to treat the rumors as nothing but lies. Just then, the earthquake seemed to have gotten worse and worse. There was now a large fissure growing in the middle of the road, slowly spreading outwards and starting to affect the other streets. "Damn it! We don''t have time. We need to get to the Remedium right now!" shouted the leader. "But, we still don''t have a porter!" And as soon as one of them said that, they all looked at Atlan, the Star Porter. Chapter 435 - 435: Already over? "Can you please be our porter?" the leader asked. And as soon as he said that, his team immediately started arguing with each other. The others didn''t want a Student-level Porter going with them because the mission was far above his pay grade. In a state of emergency, they didn''t have any capacity to save themselves, much less another Student-level porter who clearly could not contend with a Pre-Intern level Canzer. So, in their minds, Atlan would just end up as unnecessary baggage. In any other scenario, they would have all probably been welcoming Atlan''s help. However, this is already the end of time. They could truly die now. They couldn''t risk their lives just to be nice to someone. However, they didn''t really have any choice. They needed a porter, plain and simple. They wouldn''t be able to carry the construct with them without a proper porter. They tried to get other Saviors to join them and fill in as a porter, but none of them were available, at least at this time. They were all either too busy doing their own missions or training for an upcoming mission. Some of them even quit being a Savior entirely. They figured that a mission in the Remedium was far too dangerous for them to undertake. They just wished to become a normal citizen and live through the Soul Time that they saved throughout all the years that they were active. Although joining a mission rewarded them with a lot of Soul Time, the risk in their life was very real now. In trying to chase a hundred years of Soul Time, they could end up paying their whole lives for it. And for some, this was not a chance they were willing to take. That was the true reason why there weren''t so many Saviors trying to help them right now. "We don''t have a choice. If we want to earn Soul Time, then we have to do this mission. And to do this mission, then we have to ask a porter for help!" their leader screamed, stopping all of the arguing in their team. "Star Porter. Please, help us." the leader begged Atlan. In his eyes, Atlan could see the Soul Time in their bodies. Most of them only had about 5 years or less of Soul Time left. They were truly desperate to complete this mission. Atlan was going to just do this mission himself, but it didn''t hurt to have a few more people with him. "Sure. But don''t get in my way," he said to them. His words sent confusion to the whole team. They didn''t get what they meant, especially since they were the ones who were supposed to say that to him. From their perspective, he was the novice. The leader then approached Atlan and showed him the construct. It was placed in a black box, ready to be taken by a porter. However, when the leader pointed at the construct, Atlan shook his head and refused. "There''s no need for that. Let''s just go inside and find that Canzer. If we don''t, then more people will get hurt," Atlan said, looking over the infected district. Even now, there were still a lot of soldiers inside who were trying to evacuate the people to safety. But because of the earthquakes that destroyed the very foundation of houses and toppled them over, it was hard for the soldiers to effectively search for more survivors. No matter what they did, they could not push through the mountain of rubble to save the woman trapped inside, even if she was shouting for them to save them. The only way that they could be saved was if the Canzer was defeated and the symptom was cured. Only then could HeadQuarters issue a rescue operation to save all those trapped in the buildings. And if team of Pre-Intern Saviors took their time and argued over inconsequential stuff, then the earthquakes would continue and destroy more homes, potentially crushing those that were already trapped inside. This was a dire situation, especially since there was no reviving this time. Atlan could already feel the death energy filling this place. From what he estimated, about 15 people had already died. And if they continued here, there would be more casualties. "Just follow me through the portal," he said to the team. Without waiting for their response, Atlanta walked through the black portal and entered the Remedium. This left the team of Pre-Intern Saviors utterly confused. They could not understand why Atlan was taking over control of the situation, when he was only a Student-level Porter. Not only that, he even left the construct in the real world! This alarmed the team since they thought that they couldn''t kill a Canzer without a construct. "Damn newbie!" "He''s looking to get himself killed!" "This is why I told you to not recruit him! He doesn''t even know that we need a construct to kill a Canzer!'' The leader and his team, feeling guilty that they might have caused the death of the Star Porter, couldn''t help but chase after him inside the Remedium. They were going to pull him back to the real world even if he wanted to or not. ''"Hey, porter! Get back there and get the construct!" the leader shouted as soon as he crossed over the portal. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But as soon as he looked at the inverted-color palette of the Remedium, he saw something incredulous. He almost couldn''t believe it even after he was looking at it with his own eyes. Just then, his other teammates crossed over the portal and saw their leader just standing there, dumbfounded over something. "We''re here," they said. "Where''s the porter? Did you bring him back yet?" But in response, their leader just silently pointed ahead of him, where the Star Porter was located. And as soon as they gazed in front, they gasped, unable to believe what they were looking at. Atlan was holding the giant mole-like Canzer by the throat, with the monster kicking and struggling to get out of his grip. Chapter 436 - 436: Wishing for death They couldn''t believe their eyes. The Pre-Intern level Canzer, the monster that they were dreading to face, was already in the hands of Atlan. He had already caught it by himself and was tormenting its life. They couldn''t believe that this was even possible. Even the stronger person in their group, the leader, even if he used his greatest punching LifeSkill, couldn''t bring the monster airborne. Yet, Atlan was holding the Mole Canzer with one hand, all while floating in the air. No one could believe what they were seeing. "How¡­how is this possible¡­" "He''s a Student-level Porter¡­ I can''t understand what''s going on!" "Is that a Student-level Canzer? Were we given the wrong information?" But as they focused on the Mole Canzer, they found that the aura and energy that it was giving off as it tried to get out of Atlan''s grip, was a power that only Pre-Intern level Canzer could bring out. And if they thought about it more, the Pre-Intern level Canzer was even stronger than they thought. Yet somehow, Atlan could catch and subdue this monster in just under a few seconds without any help whatsoever. There wasn''t even a minute of delay from when Atlan entered the Remedium and when their leader entered it as well. This meant that Atlan must have caught the Mole Canzer in just under thirty seconds! That was an insane thought that they could not wrap their heads around. "Could it be¡­ could the rumors be true?" One of the Pre-Intern Saviors looked at Atlan with shock and awe. The only way to explain what they were seeing right now was if the rumor about him killing a Specialist-level Canzer was true. If he could kill a Basilisk by himself, then a little Mole Canzer in the Pre-Intern realm would pose no problem to Atlan. And it seemed that they were seeing that exact thing right now. "Oh my gods¡­" "It''s true?...it''s true!" "But how¡­ he was only a Student-level Savior just a few weeks ago?! Heck, he just awakened less than a month ago!" They could only watch on with are and shock as Atlan handled the Mole Canzer with absolute ease. He could have crushed the monster''s neck in just a second, but he didn''t. He seemed to be doing something to the Canzer. Even though they were curious as to what he was doing, the team didn''t want to move closer to him. They couldn''t. They were too stunned to move. Meanwhile, Atlan looked at the Mole Canzer with coldness in his eyes. "What is that object? Where is it?" Atlan asked, his grip on the monster''s neck getting tighter. ''I don''t¡­ I don''t know¡­ they didn''t tell me¡­'' the mole said. Of course, Atlan didn''t believe the monster''s words for a single second. He began crushing the mole''s neck, killing it with a resounding CRACK. A few seconds later, the Mole Canzer came back to life, gasping for air. This particular monster was a Destruction-type Canzer, meaning that it could regenerate its wounds, no matter how severe it was. Usually, this would bring the Canzer joy, and the Saviors dread. After all, this would show that no matter how much the Saviors tried to kill the Mole Canzer, it would always regenerate its wounds. But in this case, the Mole Canzer couldn''t help but curse its own power. After all, just when it thought that it had been freed from Atlan''s grip by dying, it would always come back to life and be caught in Atlan''s deathly grip. "What is the object? Where can I find it?" Atlan asked again. ''I don''t¡ª'' Before the Canzer could even finish its lies, Atlan crushed its neck again, killing it instantly. Then, he waited patiently for the Canzer''s broken neck to suddenly reconnect again as its body regenerated its fatal injuries. ''GAAH!'' the Mole Canzer gasped for breath. ''NO MORE! PLEASE, NO MORE!'' the Canzer begged. Atlan looked at it dead in its eyes and reiterated his question. "Tell me. What is the object, and where can I find it?" The Mole Canzer shivered. It didn''t know what it was going to do. After all, if it continued to lie to Atlan and say that he didn''t know anything, then he would continue to feel suffering and pain from being killed a thousand times. But if he told the truth, he would die from the other Canzers anyway. They would surely find out that he blabbed to a human, and he would get killed by them. It was a lose-lose scenario, something that the Mole Canzer dreaded. Just then, a black plushie dragon popped out of Atlan''s shoulder and talked to the monster. "Just tell us the truth now. At least with Atlan, he would give you the relief of being killed in an instant. But do you think the other Canzers would do that? Now, who do you like to be killed by? Atlan, or the other Canzers in your world?" she asked. As a Canzer herself, the Enchanted Queen knew how Canzers operated. She knew the kinds of horrible punishments, something even worse than death, waiting for the Canzer once he got back home. Even if the Canzer didn''t tell the secret to Atlan, then it would still be punished for failing its mission. So, the Mole Canzer had no other choice but to tell the truth to Atlan. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Please¡­ I only heard that the object is going to be used soon¡­ that''s all I was told!'' Atlan looked to the Enchanted Queen, who nodded her head. This time, the Mole Canzer was telling the truth. This was all he truly knew. After all, it was only a Pre-Intern level Canzer. It wasn''t going to be told the big secrets, simply because it was too weak. If Atlan wanted to find out more about this object, then he would need to interrogate higher-level Canzers in the future. "For telling the truth, I will give you what you wish. An instant death," Atlan said as he brought out his flaming Scythe. Chapter 437 - 437: Reward for bravery Atlan raises the Scythe in his hands and brings it down swiftly towards the Mole Canzer. A direct line appeared in the monster''s body, separating its body. After a few seconds, both parts separated, showing that Atlan''s Scythe had cleaved the monster clean in half. Suddenly, the ends of the Mole Canzer''s body suddenly caught on fire, with the embers left from the Scythe''s flaming blades letting it burn asunder. The Mole Canzer showed a pained expression at first, but as the flames consumed its whole body, relief started to wash over the monster. It was as if it was being taken to a better place, to a place free from suffering. Soon enough, the Mole Canzer was nothing but ashes on the ground. Atlan, knowing that the job was finished, swung his flaming Scythe in the air, extinguishing the flame that it showed. Then, he put it back on his back as if everything was normal. However, the Pre-Intern level Saviors knew that this was anything but normal! First of all, Atlan wasn''t even supposed to be able to kill a Pre-Intern level Canzer with just one move. Second of all, that Scythe of his seemed to emanate a kind of strength that even they could not estimate. It was the kind of strength that only the weapons of Specialist-level veteran Saviors had. And perhaps the most surprising of all was the fact that the Mole Canzer had not yet regenerated at all. Even after they waited a few seconds and a full minute, the Canzer didn''t return to life. It remained as ash flowing through the air. This meant only one thing: the Mole Canzer was dead. This was supposed to be the one thing that was impossible. They could believe that Atlan, through some fortunate encounter, was able to improve his strength tremendously. However, the fact that he could kill a Canzer without using a construct was another thing entirely. They believed that Canzers had their own weaknesses, and the only ones who could figure out those weaknesses were Operator Saviors. After that, they would create a construct with that specific weakness to counter the Canzer''s ability to regenerate or clone itself, allowing them to kill it without problem. However, Atlan killed Mole Canzer only with his flaming Scythe. He didn''t even use a construct because he left it in the real world! S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was only now that they understood why Atlan was so confident in going on this mission. He didn''t get the construct because he didn''t need it. He told them not to disturb him because he knew that he could deal with the Canzer all by himself! After a few seconds, a bright light suddenly appeared in the skies and showered everyone with a beam of light. The blue wisps of experience points and Time Stim containing Soul Time suddenly floated down towards each of them. This was the greatest confirmation they could ever get that the mission was finished, that the Canzer was truly dead. Slowly, blue experience filled their bodies and got them closer to advancing to the next stage of their LifeSkill. Then, they took the Time Stim from the air and saw that it contained 50 years of Soul Time. This was their reward for finishing a mission. In any other case, they would have immediately accepted these rewards. After all, 50 years of Soul Time was a pretty hefty sum of rewards. They could buy a lot of things with 50 years of Soul Time such as a new house or a new set of armor and weapons. However, they were all reluctant to accept it this time. After all, they did nothing to deserve these rewards. Atlan was the one who killed the Canzer, and they barely did anything but stay on the sidelines and watch everything unfold with their very own eyes. "Take it," Atlan said to them. They all looked up and saw that Atlan threw the experience points and the Time Stim toward their direction, disregarding the rewards as if they were nothing to him. "But..sir..Atlan. We don''t deserve this," said the leader. "You do deserve this. You didn''t cower under the pressure and took this mission. I''ve seen many other Saviors let fear take over their hearts and refuse to do any missions for the City. But at least you guys, you still braved the mission and risked your life. And you could have left me here all alone when I went in. Instead, you all went inside with me and tried to pull me back into safety. Even though I didn''t need it, I appreciated it. If you still think you''re not worthy then don''t think of this as a reward. Think of this as a gift. Take it, or else I''ll be giving it to someone else." Atlan said those words and walked towards the portal, leaving the Remedium entirely. The Pre-Intern Saviors all looked at each other and took Atlan''s gift with them with appreciation. Because of this incident, their view towards the Star Porter would be changed forever. They no longer believed the rumors that he was lying about killing a Specialist-level Canzer all by himself. They truly believed it now and would try to convince others to believe it too. After all, everyone''s been treating him as a liar, when in truth, he was simply being a Savior¡ªhe was killing Canzers. They all left the Remedium soon after Atlan did. A few minutes later, they were swarmed by a lot of survivors thanking them for their service. Because of the quick action and termination of the Canzer, the earthquakes stopped entirely and they were able to evacuate the affected area, preventing any more casualties. Many were cheering and clapping for them, but they could only awkwardly stand there and look around the area. They couldn''t see Atlan. They couldn''t see the man who was the true savior in this scenario. "If you want to thank anyone, then you must thank Atlan, the Star Porter! He''s the one who killed the Canzer!" the leader of the Saviors shouted, announcing to everyone what he had seen. Chapter 438 - 438: Finishing missions Atlan spent the next few days monitoring the situation in Genesis City. He used his unique sense of death energy to sense any Tymptom in the City, allowing him to be the first one to respond even before the Saviors could get there. He would use his Angel Wings to bypass the dimensions between the real world and the Remedium. This allowed him to get to the Canzer without using the HeadQuarter-sanctioned black portals. After all, even with how fast HeadQuarters reacted during a Symptom, it would take them at least thirty minutes to respond after they realized there was a Symptom in the City. For the first fifteen minutes, the Operator Saviors were alerted of the Symptom. Then, they would start to analyze the Symptoms to learn what kind of Canzer was wreaking havoc in the Remedium. Then for the last fifteen minutes, the portal is then constructed in the affected area. This will give the Vanguard Saviors who were enlisted the chance to begin their preparations. After the portal is finished, only then would they be able to start the extermination process of the Canzer. But that wasn''t even the end of it. It would take even the best of teams about an hour to kill the Canzer inside and finally stop them from creating the Symptoms in the real world. So in total, the best response time that a Savior could have when dealing with a Symptom would be around an hour and a half. That was already the best time they could ever do when things were all normal and there wasn''t any anomaly. But if things had an anomaly, or the Canzer they were dealing with was rarer than normal, it would probably take the Operator Saviors hours of preparation before they could fully assess what kind of Canzer they were dealing with. Not only that, they would also need to create the rare construct, which will take even more hours. However, Atlan could bypass all of that. He could go straight to the Remedium in just a matter of a few minutes at the very latest. With his Angel Wings, he could teleport anywhere he wanted inside Genesis City. He also didn''t need to wait for Operator Saviors to teach him about what kind of monster he was dealing with and how to defeat them. If there was a Canzer that was a little bit trickier to deal with, then the Enchanted Queen dragon could always elaborate for him about what kind of monster he was dealing with. After all, who would best know about all things Canzer-related? Of course, it was the Queen of Canzers herself! And he also didn''t need a construct to be able to kill a Canzer. With his new flaming Scythe, Atlan was able to infuse Angel Power into his very weapon itself, allowing it to wield the power of purity to purge the very atoms of a Canzer. He was able to imbue the Cherubic Retribution LifeSkill to his weapon! So, all he needed was his Scythe, and he could kill any Canzer that he wanted. As for a team, he didn''t need any. He only needed himself, and that was enough. And since most of the missions popping up around the city were around the Pre-Intern and Intern level, Atlan had no trouble killing the Canzerse responsible for the Symptoms. If he could kill a Specialist-level Canzer in just a few minutes by himself, then a Canzer, even if it was at the peak of the Intern realm, would stand no chance against Atlan. His speed and power were far too strong for those Canzers to contend with. Because of that, Atlan was able to cure a Symptom in just under ten minutes. This meant that while the Operator Saviors were busy consulting their books to try and find out what kind of Canzer they were facing, Atlan had already gone inside and exterminated the Canzer without anyone knowing about it. By the time the Operator Saviors were finished deliberating, they would then be told by the guards that the Symptom had already passed and that there was no more Canzer wreaking havoc in the Remedium. Atlan spent the rest of the week finishing about 30 missions without anybody knowing about it. At first, people thought that it was just a simple anomaly. They thought that the Canzer somehow died on its own and nothing else. This kind of thing wasn''t common, but it did happen now and then. However, the rate at which these mysterious Canzer deaths kept happening was far too frequent to simply say that the Canzer ''somehow'' died on their own. By the tenth time this happened, most of the Saviors knew that something was up. However, no matter how much they tried to report this to the HeadQuarters, they were told to simply ignore it. After all, if Canzers were being killed before it could affect the civilians, then they should just be thankful that it happened. Because of this, there were fewer casualties happening every day. But, people were still curious as to what was happening. Then, a few days after this all started, there were reports of seeing a black hooded figure entering the premises and leaving only after the Canzer was dealt with. This black hooded figure then became a local legend. Most people believed that it was a secret Savior, while most believed that it was just a rumor. Meanwhile, Atlan didn''t care about what people thought. He didn''t try to hide that he was the one killing the Canzers, but he also didn''t announce it to everyone. After all, his only goal in doing this was to find more information about this mysterious object that the Canzers knew about. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And in his investigation, almost every Canzer that he interrogated under the threat of death, all said the same thing: there was something big going to happen soon, and it would involve the ''object'' that they had. Atlan and the Enchanted Queen both tried to find more high-level Canzers who may know more details about this, but they were far too sparse during this time. They just had to prepare for that eventual big event. Chapter 439 - 439: Return of Otis Meanwhile, in a secluded room where there were no windows nor any light source, a man was sitting in the corner of the room. This man was Otis Orioness, the older brother of Obek Orioness, the prideful young master that Atlan had encountered back in the Pocket Remedium. Even though it was an anomaly and a horde of Canzers that killed his brother, Otis Orioness still blamed Atlan for the death of his younger brother. After all, there were a lot of people who witnessed Obek Orioness arguing with Atlan, the Star Porter. So, in Otis'' mind, Atlan had something to do with his younger brother''s death. Back then, Otis planned for his lackeys to harass Atlan and give him a hard time. After all, while his brother was dead in the church, Atlan was still being hailed as the Star Porter of the City who had tremendous potential. However, Otis could only think that his younger brother had an even better potential than Atlan, but he was killed in cold blood. When the lackeys he instructed to harass Atlan came back with no memory of it happening, Otis decided not to pursue the matter any further. It had been long enough that he was able to see logic in what happened. He decided to spare Atlan. However, something happened in the City. They suddenly announced that there was no longer any immortality in the world. If someone died, then they were truly dead, with no chance of ever reviving in the future. Otis wallowed in despair. He thought that after a few years, his younger brother would be able to revive from a single drop of blood and grow into the young man he was supposed to be. But that was all over. His younger brother was dead, and there was nothing else he could do about it. As the days passed, Otis was depressed. That was until he heard a certain piece of news from his father, Byron Orioness. During one of his late-night talks with his advisors, Otis sneaked in and listened in on their conversation without them knowing about it. This was supposed to be a privileged conversation, with no one knowing about it because it was supposed to be reserved only for those higher-ups. Otis was only an Intern-level Savior. Even though he was already half-step towards the Specialist realm, he was still not allowed to listen in on this conversation. "Is this true?" Byron asked his trusted advisor and butler. "Yes. Atlan, the Star Porter, was said to have been the one to join Ninth and the others in their mission to save the church. Unfortunately, they failed, leading to the destruction of the church," the butler muttered to the room. And once he heard this, Otis'' eyes widened with a realization. Atlan, the Star Porter, was the one responsible for the Church''s destruction. In Otis'' mind, this meant only one thing: he was also responsible for the disappearance of their immortality. This meant that Otis'' younger brother, Obek, could have still been revived if Atlan had not failed in his mission in the church. Slowly, the sadness in Otis'' heart turned into furious anger. He stopped listening to his father''s conversation and returned to his room to sulk alone. There, he planned all kinds of torture and pain he was going to inflict on Atlan, the Star Porter. He began to have designs on how he was going to capture Atlan and make him pay for his sins. He was going to make him pay for killing his younger brother! Back then, he didn''t get his hands dirty because Atlan was only a Student-level Savior, while he was an Intern-level Savior. Otis thought that he was too good to get blood in his hands if he was the one who harassed Atlan. But now, Otis wanted to do it himself. He wanted to choke the life out of Atlan and see his pained expression himself. He didn''t care that Atlan was only a Student-level Porter with no way to defend himself. Otis only cared about enacting his revenge. Of course, if he had listened a bit longer to his father''s conversation, then he would quickly know that Atlan was far stronger than he had anticipated. They talked about how Atlan had killed a Basilisk, a Specialist-level Canzer, all by himself without any help from Kobra. They even talked about the mysterious disappearance of symptoms in the city just a few minutes after they appeared on their radar. They would have never thought that Atlan was the one who had been finishing these missions even before the news spread to the HeadQuarters. But, the news of Atlan easily killing a Specialist-level Canzer with his own hands was an eye-opening ordeal. If he could kill a Basilisk, then he could definitely finish weak Pre-Intern and intern-level Canzers in just under a few minutes. Atlan was the only explanation as to how those symptoms disappeared so quickly. If Otis had heard this part of the conversation, then he would have known that Atlan had far outclassed him in every way possible. However, Otis'' blind rage and prejudice against Atlan led him to come to the wrong conclusions. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He had been wanting to find an excuse to kill Atlan, and now, his mind forced a reasonable motive for him to get his hands bloody with Atlan''s blood. Otis began to call all of his friends and allies, promising them large amounts of Soul Time in compensation for their help. He also decided to have Atlan tailed all around the City so that Otis could know what he was doing at all times. Finally, after a few days, Otis found a way. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP Atlan was awoken by a relentless alarm from his wristband. He quickly parsed through the messages and saw that he was asked to be the porter in a high-stakes mission in the City. He looked around his room and found that it was teeming with death energy. Something terrible was happening in the city. Chapter 440 - 440: Big event Atlan saw the unusual number of death energy in the area and knew that there was something wrong with the City. He quickly got out of bed and looked through the window and saw military vehicles and guards quickly moving through the streets to send aid to those affected. To get a better look at what was happening in the City, Atlan unfurled the Angel Wings from his back and used them to teleport hundreds of meters in the air, giving him a bird''s eye view of the symptoms plaguing the City. He set his sights on a residential district on the eastern side of the City. The ground in this district seemed to have turned into a muddy wasteland, as if a landslide had ravaged through the place. The buildings were slowly sinking down this muddy quagmire, causing chaos through the structures closely constructed together. But that wasn''t even the worst part. Anyone in the district who was unlucky enough to be standing on the ground when the Symptom appeared found themselves trapped and unable to get out of the muddy quagmire. Not only that, the strange liquid seemed to be pulling them deeper into the ground like quicksand. People found that they couldn''t push themselves up from the quagmire no matter how much they tried, leading them to panic and only push themselves even deeper into the quagmire. Some of them had already been buried six feet deep, with no way to breathe air. They eventually suffocated and turned all the Soul Time in their body into death energy, which Atlan could sense all around him. The only way that they could be saved was if the symptom was cured, and the Canzer was killed in the Remedium. This was already a situation that caused panic all around. However, that wasn''t all that was happening in the City. The muddy quagmire symptom was continuing to spread outwards and infect the other districts. HeadQuarters saw this and immediately ordered the guards and soldiers to evacuate the citizens into a safer place. However, an unexpected event forced them to be pushed even deeper into the muddy quagmire. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A tornado had suddenly spawned on the edges of the safe district. These tornadoes continued to suck up everything in their path and caused them to grow bigger and bigger, all the while having cars, buildings, and even people flying all around. The evacuating citizens found themselves trapped between a rock and a hard place. If they continued to escape outwards, then they would soon face the wrath of the tornadoes. But if they just stayed still or retreated, then the muddy quagmire would have caught up with them and they would eventually drown in the strange liquid with the same consistency as wet concrete. Soldiers and Saviors all around tried to make sure that the civilians did not cause panic. They tried to tell them that it was best to stand still and wait for the HeadQuarters to send aid to them. Once HeadQuarters finished their preparation, a team of Saviors would then go into the Remedium and kill the Canzers causing these symptoms. It was much better to let the muddy quagmire reach them because its danger was slow-moving. People would only fully drown in the liquid in a couple of minutes. If they stayed still, then they would buy themselves enough time for the Saviors to save them. Compared to the tornado, then they could immediately be swept upwards and thrown thousands of meters away, killing them instantly. So in a choice between two symptoms, choosing the muddy quagmire was the better option. However, some citizens panicked and some simply distrusted the words of HeadQuarters. They quickly tried to run towards the tornado, hoping that they could somehow survive the gust of wind that could tear entire buildings out of the ground. Of course, it was a futile attempt. They were quickly sucked into the tornado, killing them instantly, before throwing their lifeless bodies into the air and out of the affected district. And if that couldn''t get any much worse, there were also a couple of small streets and places in the affected area showing a completely different symptom. Some had a crevice suddenly show up in the middle of the road and spouted lava in the air, while some had poisonous green gas emanating from the ground. "This is it," Atlan muttered to himself. "Yes. This must be what they were talking about," a black dragon plushie said, appearing right next to his shoulders. "Whatever happens, I''ll support you, Atlan!" Tulip, the white-green dragon plushie, also showed up next to Atlan and offered her help. These symptoms were far too severe to just be a normal Canzer. The Canzers must be trying to use the mysterious object again, trying to pull humans into the Remedium whether they want to or not. Atlan knew that this had to be stopped. He had to get into that Remedium and kill those Canzers to get the answer he wanted to get. He quickly looked at his wristwatch and accepted the mission. They wanted him to be a porter in this high-stakes mission, but Atlan was going to do more than that. After all, he was the only one who knew that this situation was much more dangerous than they even expected. The Canzers that could appear in this mission could have the same power as the Malificient Dragon Queen or even greater. So, he was the only one who could kill them. Only he had the power to defeat those Canzers. After all, he had the help of two Dragons by his side. With their help, there was virtually no Canzer that could stand in their way. Not only that, but Atlan also felt stronger himself. It was unfortunate, but there was a lot of chaos in the City. this meant that there was a large increase in death all around him. And all those death energy were quickly being absorbed into his body, nourishing his demi-god of death physique and turning him even stronger than before! Chapter 441 - 441: Fighting for control Atlan arrived at the big gathering of Saviors on the ground. Judging from the power emanating from this group, it seemed that they were quite strong and experienced veterans of the field. He even saw Kobra, who was supposed to be the strongest Savior of the current Genesis City. It seemed that the HeadQuarters deemed this mission to be a very hard one. After all, there were far more people here in the mission, just about enough for ten missions entirely. There were about sixty or more of them here. They were all tasked to gather at this location and wait for further instructions from the HeadQuarters. From what they could gather from the symptoms, it seemed that there were multiple Canzers wreaking havoc in the Remedium at the same time. This was the reason why there were a lot of Saviors gathered here on this mission. "Wow! What a big gathering of respected seniors!" S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A man with wavy hair down to his shoulders greeted everyone with confidence and bravado that should not be present in such a disastrous situation. People were dying each second, but he didn''t care. He acted as if everything was just a joke. "Otis Orioness. We welcome your presence here in our group because of your strength but make sure not to get too rowdy. This is a place of work," Kobra warned. It turned out that Otis Orioness was also enlisted to join this mission. Otis took this opportunity once he saw that Atlan was enlisted to join this mission. This was the only chance he was going to get to finally get rid of his younger brother''s killer, so he used his father''s influence to get him and his friends a spot on this mission. Once they were inside the Remedium, then they would try to discretely kidnap Atlan and kill him inside. Then, they would just tell the others that it was a Canzer who killed Atlan. No one would be the wiser. After all, nobody knew that Otis hated Atlan this much. If one looked closely at Otis, then one would notice that his eyes sometimes flashed toward Atlan and showed him a look of disdain and rage. But after a second, that look would completely disappear and he would act like the foolish and arrogant young master that he was known to be. "It looks like we have Intern and Specialist-level Saviors here in our mission. I wonder what the HeadQuarters are planning¡­" Kobra muttered to himself, with the others agreeing with his question. Usually, even if there were multiple Canzers in the mission like in the Church mission, then there would still only be one group who would handle them. That was because they feared that more Canzers would come if many more Saviors were dispatched, then it would incite more Canzers to join the fight and try to even the odds. This was a disadvantage for the Saviors because they wouldn''t know how to defeat those new Canzers. Not only that, they wouldn''t be able to defeat them because they didn''t have the proper construct to disable their powers. But now, it seemed as if HeadQuarters didn''t care that there were too many Saviors in this mission. There were only two reasons why they would do this: either they expected there to be a lot of Canzers in the Remedium or they simply wanted to ensure that the symptom would be taken care of in the shortest time possible. Everyone convened with each other, talking to each other about their situations. Kobra, as the undisputed strongest Savior in the City, became the leader of the Saviors. He took control of all the Specialist-level Saviors especially since he had their respect. "Okay, no matter what happens inside, all of you must listen to my words. The Canzers that we will be fighting are very strong, and we can''t defeat them if we don''t have total coordination. With one mistake, we could even have some deaths in our hands. So, it is important that we are all working together," Kobra announced to the group. Everyone knew the stakes in this mission, so they didn''t disagree with his opinion. Of course, some people disliked Kobra, but they knew that it was much better for them if they simply listened to his words at this time. After all, he was the best Specialist-level Savior in this group. Everyone nodded to themselves, giving their agreement to Kobra. However, there seemed to be one person who didn''t agree. "Wait a minute," Otis said as he raised his hand. "I don''t think this is appropriate. After all, you are a Specialist-level Savior. You are in a completely different league than us at the intern level. If you tell us to teleport a hundred meters away from a location, then we won''t be able to do that because we don''t have that ability yet. Only Specialist-level Saviors can do that. It has been far too long since you were an Intern-level Savior yourself. How can we be sure that you won''t mess up your instructions and lead us Intern-level Saviors into ruin?" Otis'' words were met with a lot of agreement. After all, a Specialist-level Savior was completely different from an Intern-level Savior. It was the difference between heaven and earth. However, Kobra didn''t agree. He wasn''t stupid enough to mistake the Intern-level Saviors for being capable of something they were not. "We all should stick together," Kobra said. But Otis wasn''t going to let this go. "All the Intern-level Saviors raise their hands if you agree with my words." And just as he said, about half of the entire group raised their hands, meaning all of the Intern-level Saviors raised their hands. Of course, most of them were Otis'' friends who were instructed before this to always agree with his words. And even if they weren''t his friends, they were easily influenced after he promised them Soul Time as compensation for being on his side. Kobra, seeing that the majority was agreeing with Otis, had no choice but to relinquish control. Chapter 442 - 442: Volunteering "Fine. You take control of all the Intern-level Saviors in the group. But make sure that you don''t interfere with us Specialist Saviors." Kobra knew that Intern-level Saviors were basically just assistants in a mission of this magnitude. So, he didn''t think it was that important. As long as they didn''t get in the way of the real Saviors who were going to fight the Canzers, then they could do whatever they wanted. However, he didn''t know that this was all under Otis'' plan. After all, now that he was the leader of all Intern-level Saviors, then he would be able to isolate Atlan from the whole group. It wouldn''t be weird if he asked Atlan to join them on an excursion out of everyone''s eyes. Meanwhile, Atlan just looked bored as he waited for the preparations to be finished. Of course, he noticed the hostility and anger that was being flashed to him. The bloodlust was almost visible. He just didn''t show that he noticed the fury directed at him. And to be honest, Atlan didn''t care. He was a demigod of death with the power of death energy flowing through his veins this very second. As more and more casualties appeared in the City, the more powerful he became. In his perspective, Otis was just like a little kid preparing a very harmless prank. He didn''t pay him any mind. Instead, Atlan kept his mind active in trying to find out what was happening with the Canzers. He was sure that they were planning something big using the ''object''. He and the Enchanted Queen both scanned the area to try and find any anomalies. But for now, it looked like just a simple mission. "Are we sure that this is the event that those Canzers were talking about," Atlan whispered to the black dragon on his shoulders. "We''ll know for sure once we''re inside. But for now, you should keep your eyes open. Especially because of that boy who keeps flashing his bloodlust towards you," the black dragon said. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Don''t worry about him. He''s nothing," Atlan said. And he wasn''t even exaggerating. "Everyone listen up!" Finally, Carmine got off the military truck and arrived at the scene. He immediately got everyone''s attention and started to explain everything there was to know about the current situation. From their estimation, there seemed to be more than five Canzers roaming around the district, each exhibiting a symptom in the real world that they needed to stop. HeadQuarters deemed this to be a very crucial mission, and that they must dispose of the Canzers in the shortest time possible. Under no circumstance do they linger inside the Remedium longer than they were supposed to. After all, if they remained in the Remedium for too long, then other Canzers could also spawn in the Remedium and cause a chain reaction that would cause more and more symptoms, essentially making it impossible to cure the city. He also told them about the suspected Canzers they were going to face. He told them of their strengths, their weaknesses, and the constructs needed to kill them. All Saviors listened except for Atlan. He kept his ears peeled towards the environment to sense for any changes. Meanwhile, Carmine and his group of Specialist-level Saviors hauled the constructs towards the Saviors, putting them in the hands of the Intern-level Saviors. This was the main reason why the HeadQuarters enlisted the help of Intern-level Saviors in a mission meant for Specialist-level Saviors fighting Specialist-level Canzers. They needed porters. It would be a tremendous waste of resources if a Specialist-level Savior were to bring in the construct. After all, their strength was better served to defeat the Canzers in the shortest time possible. That was where the Intern-level Saviors came in. They would pool their strength so that they could carry the construct into the Remedium. The Intern-level Saviors weren''t here to fight. They were here to haul constructs. Of course, Otis Orioness had different plans. He had other people carry the construct for him, while he could do whatever he pleased in the Remedium. "Is everyone ready? You are all divided into groups, with each one in charge of a Canzer." Carmine then began to list out the groups. Each group had at least one Specialist-level Savior and a couple of Intern-level Saviors as their assistant. "For the next group in charge of defeating the Intern-level Chupacabra and the Kappa, we have Lizzie and Ninth, supported by our porter, Atlan, and another group of Intern-level Saviors." Atlan looked towards his left and was surprised to see both Lizzie and Ninth coming towards him with a smile on their faces. He didn''t expect to see them here. "Atlan!" Lizzie immediately dove towards Atlan and gave him a big hug, which garnered a lot of attention from the Saviors. After all, Lizzie was famous for being very beautiful with a lot of suitors who tried to get her hand in marriage. Unfortunately, none of them ever succeeded. But now, she hugged a Student-level porter as if they had a very close relationship. "Lizzie, you''re here¡­ and Ninth too. I didn''t expect you both to be here," Atlan said to them. Ninth awkwardly scratched her head after seeing Lizzie hugging Atlan. "I thought I would lay down my battle suit for good after what happened in our mission. But¡­ then I saw the suffering and casualties in this symptom and I just couldn''t help myself. I volunteered," she said. "And I knew that you were going to be assigned to this mission, so I also volunteered to join," said Lizzie. "I asked Carmine to give us an easy mission, just killing two Intern-level Canzers. Me and Ninth can take care of them on our own, so you don''t have to worry about anything." Atlan didn''t care about anything and was just glad that he could be with Lizzie again. "Is everyone ready? We need to go to the portal!" Carmine shouted. And so, Kobra and his team entered the portal first, followed by the other Specialist-level Saviors. Atlan and his team entered last. Chapter 443 - 443: Otis’ trap Lizzie and Ninth both followed Atlan inside, where they were immediately met with the negative color scheme of the Remedium. Almost every other group had already left to find their own Canzers. Kobra and his team went forward, trying to find the strongest Canzer they could find. After all, they were in charge of killing the Specialist-level Canzer that led this whole situation. And since Atlan''s team was the last one to enter, they were the only ones left near the portal. "Where''s our teammate?" Lizzie asked. No matter where they looked around, their teammates who were supposed to join them in the portal were nowhere to be seen. Atlan, on the other hand, had a feeling that this was deliberate. His eyes darted to the side, where multiple people suddenly came out of the building with a strange smile on their faces. And in the middle of that group was a man who kept on giving out bloodlust directed towards Atlan. It was Otis Orioness. "What''s going on here?" Lizzie asked, Her whiskers popped out of her cheeks and started to wriggle. Her cat senses telling her that something suspicious was going on. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Nothing is going on," Otis said. "We''re just here to support all of you." "You''re not our teammates? Where are they?" Ninth asked, with her hand already near her sword. Otis shrugged his shoulders. "I don''t know. They''re probably already gone. Maybe, they were doing their job as they were told." It was clear that there were no good intentions with Otis'' appearance here. After all, the bloodlust he was emanating was as clear as day. Now that Atlan was here in the Remedium, there was no more need for him to disguise his pure hatred for the Star Porter. "What are you doing, Otis?" Lizzie asked. "This is not the time to be doing something so risky." Lizzie couldn''t believe that Otis was trying to incite a fight between them. After all, things had already been so hectic for everyone. He didn''t need to add to their worries more with this kind of stunt. It was especially important for them to work together and preserve their strength now. After all, if more and more Saviors died, then this would only give the Canzers the chance to completely wreak havoc in the Remedium without anyone to stop them. However, Otis was too blind to his own rage to see past his own desires. He just wanted to kill Atlan as a form of twisted justice for his younger brother''s death. "Surround them," Otis said. About twenty Intern-level Saviors slowly approached Atlan, Lizzie, and Ninth. They made sure to block their exit to the portal and made sure that they wouldn''t be able to escape from their enclosure. "Are you sure this is a good idea for you?" Lizzie asked. "If you hurt Atlan or any one of us, then we will not hold back and protect ourselves. Let me remind you that both of us are in the Specialist realm, while all of you are only in the Intern realm." Then, she turned to the other Intern-level Saviors, hoping to dissuade them from following Otis'' stupid actions. "You know the difference between Specialist-level and Intern-level Saviors. It doesn''t matter if you have twenty of you there, you still won''t stand a chance against us," Lizzie warned. "Save yourselves the Soul Time. We will not hesitate to take it away from you," Ninth added. However, no matter how much they tried to persuade the others to give way, they kept their original intentions. Otis promised them a lot of Soul Time as compensation for Atlan''s death. Each of them was offered 1000 years of Soul Time, which was life-changing for them. If they pulled this off, then they wouldn''t have to risk their lives in missions anymore. They could just live the rest of their lives in comfort. And even if they died right now trying to kill Atlan, then Otis assured them that the Soul Time would still go to their families waiting for them in the real world. That was the main reason why they weren''t afraid to fight against two Specialist-level Saviors like Lizzie and Ninth. They continued to get closer and closer to Atlan, encircling him like he was prey. "Don''t think you''ll get away with this," Lizzie shouted. Her anger was truly provoked this time. She couldn''t believe that they were trying to hurt her precious friend even though Atlan hadn''t done anything to them. "HeadQuarters will not let you go for this crime," she warned. But Otis didn''t care. "Maybe they will," he said without a tone as if he didn''t have a care in the world. "But it would have already been too late. I would have already cut off Atlan''s head and offered it up in a plate to my younger brother''s tombstone." Lizzie clicked her tongue. "I know that you''re sad that your brother died, but Atlan is innocent. If you want anyone to blame, then blame the Canzers who killed Obek! Turn your anger into killing them instead!" Lizzie pleaded. "Don''t utter his name!" Otis roared. "Atlan is guilty. He has led my brother to his death. Even if he didn''t kill him with his own hands, he still let my brother fall into the hands of those Canzers." Lizzie finally realized that there was no arguing with Otis. His eyes showed a craziness that could not be persuaded. He was way too invested in this to stop now. Fearing what was about to happen next, she turned to Ninth. "You take Atlan and run away," she said. "I''ll try to fight them and hold them off." Ninth knew that Lizzie had good intentions. But it seemed that she didn''t realize who she was trying to protect. Atlan was not the one who needed protection. It was the stupid boys who thought that they could kill someone who had defeated countless Specialist-level Canzers all by himself. Ninth wasn''t afraid of what Otis would do to Atlan, she was afraid about what Atlan would do to Otis. Chapter 444 - 444: Debating to kill "Nuh-uh!" Otis said, waving his finger conceitedly. "You can''t get away from us no matter how much you want to protect that little bastard." Their circle turned even tighter, leaving no gaps for them to escape towards. Lizzie clicked her tongue. Even with her speed, she wouldn''t be able to break through the tough defenses of the circle. Otis was smart. He made sure to bring Tank Saviors into this fight to make sure that they couldn''t escape so fast. If Ninth or Lizzie tried to break through and escape, then they would quickly find that it would take them at least a couple of seconds before they could completely get away. During that time, Otis and the rest of them would converge toward their location and stab them in the back. The only way that they could truly break free was if Lizzie or Ninth used their full strength and summoned their domains. With their full power as Specialist-level Saviors, they would be able to kill their way out of this trap. However, they didn''t want to do that. After all, they still had their conscience. They might be extremely proficient in killing Canzers, but this would be the first time that they would have to draw human blood. They definitely didn''t have the stomach to do that, especially since the one they were going to kill didn''t deserve it. "We have no choice," Lizzie said. "We have to fight together. If we pool our strength, we can incapacitate them and leave." Although it would take a lot more effort, this would save them from having to bloody their hands. "Hahaha! You can''t do that either!" Otis laughed maniacally. "Don''t you think we haven''t planned for this?" S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just as he said that, the whole Remedium suddenly started to rumble. Lizzie and Ninth both looked to the side and felt the tremors coming from that direction. With their enhanced senses as Specialist-level Saviors, they knew that a Canzer was coming. Not only that, the Canzer seemed to be very strong as well, almost being in the Specialist-level realm. But that wasn''t the worst part. They were able to distinguish from the steps that there wasn''t just one Canzer coming towards them. There were two of them! There were a couple of Saviors running away from them, and leading the Canzers towards their direction. It was clear that this was on purpose. Otis had instructed them to lead the Canzers into this place in order to distract Lizzie and Ninth from protecting Atlan. After all, they were the only ones who could fight against these creatures. If they didn''t want to die, then they would have to fight the Canzers, leaving Atlan unattended and Otis could finally have his revenge. Of course, this plan could easily backfire. However, Otis didn''t care. As long as it gave him the chance to get close to Atlan and rip his throat out of his body, then he was willing to sacrifice as many bodies as possible. The two Canzers were twin Canzers, with one of them being a black floating fish, and the other being a white floating fish. These Canzer fishes swam through the air as if it were water, wading through it with ease. And as their fins flapped, a vibration occurred in the air that toppled everything close to it. Lizzie estimated that she would have to bring out her true strength if she wanted to defeat at least one of these fishes. It was going to be a tough battle, especially since she would be fighting it all alone without any support. But if she wanted to succeed, then she would have to use all of her focus and strength, which meant that she wouldn''t be able to protect Atlan. The same went with Ninth. If she wanted to defeat the black fish Canzer, then she would have to use all of her strength and power to defeat it with just herself. But unlike Lizzie, Ninth didn''t worry about Atlan. She knew just how strong the Star Porter was. "How are we going to do this?" Lizzie asked Ninth, with her voice clearly showing her worry. "There''s nothing left to do," Ninth replied. "You fight the white fish, and I fight the black fish." "But how about Atlan? He''s going to get ganged up on by Otis and his group!" NInth looked at Lizzie, with her eyes showing seriousness and intensity. "Trust me, there''s nothing to worry about in that regard. You are treating Atlan as if he couldn''t protect himself. When in truth, he has more power than you can ever imagine." "What are you talking about?" Lizzie asked, completely lost as to why Ninth had this kind of confidence in Atlan. Sure, he was the Star Porter and showed great talent in being a porter. However, fighting multiple Intern-level Saviors was still way above what he could do. Ninth pointed at Atlan and showed Lizzie just how relaxed he was even in this situation. "If he wanted to, he could have dealt with Otis and the rest of his group in just a single second," Ninth said. "That''s impossible," Lizzie exclaimed. "It''s possible. I saw it with my own eyes. You must have not heard the rumors about him, but it''s true. He has killed multiple Specialist-level Canzers all by himself without any help," Ninth said, with her mind recalling that time when she saw him eradicate thousands of black dragon clones in just one second. "Why isn''t he doing it right now?" Lizzie asked. Ninth looked at Atlan and saw that there was still uncertainty in his eyes. She had seen that face before. It was the same face she had when she was debating on whether she was going to kill Tulip back then. "He''s trying to decide," she said. "Decide about what?" Lizzie asked. "Whether he''s going to spare them. He''s trying to see which one of them will try to kill him. And if he sees that they have malice in their actions, then he will not hesitate to kill them with his own hands." Chapter 445 - 445: Afraid? No way! Atlan looked at Otis as if he was a little fly. It was buzzing around, being annoying as hell. Since it was a harmless fly, Atlan knew that he wouldn''t get hurt by its little antics. So, the better option would be to simply ignore the fly. However, the fly seemed to buzz even louder as Atlan ignored it. Finally, it came to a point where it was annoying. Atlan wanted to spare the fly''s life, but at this point, maybe it would be better to get rid of him and just let it be over with. "What are you doing, Atlan? Why are you not killing him?" the Enchanted Queen asked, appearing beside his shoulders as a black dragon plushie. "I don''t want to make the first move. If he won''t try to kill me, I won''t kill him. Plain and simple," he answered. "Don''t worry, Atlan. I''ll heal any of your injuries and protect you if needed," Tulip said, appearing on his opposite shoulder as a white-green dragon plushie. Meanwhile, Otis looked at Atlan and couldn''t figure out why he wasn''t acting all scared. There were at least ten Intern-level Saviors about to collapse onto him and go for his head, but it seemed as if Atlan wasn''t even concentrating on him or the Saviors around him. He seemed to be preoccupied with looking everywhere as if he wasn''t seeing him at all. "What are you mumbling about?!" Otis screamed at Atlan. "Haha! I got it. You''re probably too scared to even react. I see, so that''s it!" Otis laughed maniacally, thinking that Atlan was too stunned to even react. After all, he was only a Student-level Savior. Of course, he was going to be scared witless when going against ten Saviors two realms above his own level. It seemed that the fear even broke Atlan''s mind. After all, he seemed to be talking to nothing but the air. "I want this to be slow and painful," Otis said. "I want you to experience the pain that my brother experienced. I want you to watch as your own body gets mangled into pieces, trampled till your bones crack, and eaten while you''re still alive!" Otis raised his hand, activating his LifeSkil. Small portal circles appeared behind Otis. A couple of seconds later, each of those portals suddenly spat out sharp swords, each having the quality of a high-level sword. "This is my Unlimited Sword Works!" Otis screamed. Since he was part of the Orioness family, Otis was endowed with the power of the Genesis God. Their whole family had LifeSkills that related to portals, opening up the dimensions and peeking through them with their bodies. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Obek Orioness, the one that Atlan ''allegedly'' killed, had the power to make his punches teleport to wherever he wanted. People hailed this ability to be very powerful and could have led him to be the next Specialist-level Savior in the Orioness family. This made his death extremely saddening for his older brother, who treasured his younger brother because of his talents. Their father, Byron Orionness, became a high-ranking person within the entirety of the HeadQuarters because he was the one who could create portals that led to the Remedium itself. Whenever the HeadQuarters used the portal to enter the Remedium, Bryon was the one who oversaw everything that happened, including the construction of the very portal itself. It also wouldn''t work anymore if he didn''t want it to since all portals acted on his behalf. This was how the Orioness family became part of the elite families in the entire city. They amassed a lot of wealth, prestige, and most importantly, Soul Time for their services to the city. This was the reason how Otis could hire Intern-level Saviors to try and kill Atlan. They had a lot of Soul Time in their reservoir, enough to give each and every one of them a thousand years of Soul Time as compensation for their help. Meanwhile, Otis'' power was not all that much different from Obek''s power. His LifeSkill allowed him to summon weapons from a different location, no matter the distance or the difference in dimensions. Of course, his power was still limited to the amount and quality of his swords. But thanks to his father''s amassed wealth of Soul Time, Otis was able to obtain a lot of high-quality swords and weapons to use, each one of them a masterpiece of some kind. This meant that hundreds if not thousands of swords pointed in Atlan''s direction, was a surefire way to kill a Student-level Savior. With a simple gesture from Otis, the swords halfway out of the portal, suddenly shot towards Atlan at very high speeds, almost surpassing that of a bullet''s speed and almost created a sonic boom. Swords rained down on Atlan''s location. But strangely enough, none of them hit his body. They were just positioned just right so that Atlan couldn''t move away from his position or else he would be cut by a thousand different sword edges. This was on purpose. Otis didn''t want Atlan to escape from his grasp. In Otis'' mind, he could have easily killed Atlan by using his LifeSkill and propelling a sword directly to his head, killing him instantly, but Otis knew that this was too easy. He wanted Atlan to suffer more. Otis walked towards Atlan with an arrogant stride. There was certainty in his movements as if he knew that he had already won this fight. However, just as he walked towards Atlan, he suddenly looked at him straight in the eyes. Otis realized that there was no such fear in Atlan''s eyes. Not only that, Atlan''s eyes felt like he was just observing and waiting for the right chance that he could pounce. Otis felt like he was staring right at a tiger, ready to pounce. It felt like he was staring at the barrel of a gun, with the gun cocked and ready to fire. Cold sweat poured down his back. "Tsk. What is this sorcery? There is no way that I''m afraid of this bastard!" Chapter 446 - 446: Hidden anomaly But no matter how much Otis wanted to push his body forward, it didn''t move a single inch. It was as if his instinct was telling him that he shouldn''t go anywhere near Atlan. Otis was not a novice in fighting against Canzers. He was a bona fide Intern-level Savior, which meant that he fought against very strong Canzers during his whole tenure as a Savior for the HeadQuarters. And during his time fighting in missions, there was rarely any time when he would feel this kind of fear. He always knew that he was going to make it out eventually. One of the times that he felt fear was when he experienced an anomaly in the mission. The Intern-level Canzer that they were supposed to fight was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was a Specialist-level Canzer waiting for them inside the Remedium. Even though they couldn''t see the monster, they could feel it. The tyrannic and oppressing aura that it emitted even from far away was enough to turn their legs into jelly. They almost collapsed from fear of facing this ancient creature of darkness. That was the only time when Otis truly felt fear. But somehow, he was feeling the same thing now when he looked at Atlan''s eyes. There was a strange and subtle feeling of oppression and tyranny emanating out of Atlan as if there was a monster hidden inside him, and that monster''s power was leaking out from the seams of his human body. Otis could only shake his head, knowing that he was simply imagining things. After all, how could a Student-level Savior make him feel afraid? It was absurd to think about. But of course, he didn''t want to move to kill Atlan just yet. "Hey, you! Give me his hand!" Otis screamed to one of the Intern-level Saviors he employed. "Me?" the guy asked. "But you said we only had to corner him! You didn''t say that we had to fight him!" Otis clicked his tongue. "Do it, or else I won''t give you your Soul Time!" With this threat, the guy knew that he had no choice but to follow Otis'' words. After all, he had already committed a crime by doing this in the first place. If he ended up not getting paid for his troubles, then it would truly be a waste. So, he picked up his sword from the ground and slowly approached Atlan. It was clear from his face that he didn''t want to do this. Although he could kill Canzers without batting an eye, hurting another human being was another thing. By doing so, he could forever be named as a murderer. As he got close to Atlan, he closed his eyes and raised his sword in the air. He just had to swing his sword and his job would be done. After all, Atlan was trapped with the hundreds of swords stuck in the ground around him. He couldn''t miss even if he wanted to. However, just as he was about to do so, he suddenly heard Atlan speak to him. "Save yourself," Atlan said to the man. "Huh?" "Run away now or else you''ll get caught up in the fight," Atlan reiterated. The man was confused. After all, Atlan made it seem like he was threatening a fight, even though he couldn''t move at all. He was basically a dummy target right now. He was in no position to threaten anybody. "Hah!" Otis jeered. "Don''t think you can try and threaten us. We aren''t stupid!" Then, he turned to the man with his sword in the air. "What are you waiting for? Give me his hand!" The man looked at Otis, and then back to Atlan. "I''m not talking about myself. I am saying that you brought something here that you didn''t know you brought," Atlan said. "Huh?" "What are you talking about?!" Otis screamed. Meanwhile, Atlan looked around the Remedium and felt the strange vibrations in the air. It felt like something was hiding in the shadows, someone who didn''t want to show himself yet and only waited for the right moment. "You sense it, right?" the black dragon plushie asked Atlan. "That''s a Specialist-level Canzer. And it''s waiting until everyone is tired to fight. Only then would it swoop down and try to go for the kill." "Ughh¡­ I feel it too. Atlan, you can kill it, right?" asked the white-green dragon. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Atlan nodded, then turned to Otis. "When you lured the two Intern-level Canzers here to distract Lizzie and Ninth, you have inadvertently caught the attention of a Specialist-level Canzer." Upon mentioning a Specialist-level Canzer, everyone was suddenly jolted awake. A Specialist-level Canzer was not something that they could fight against. Even Otis was unnerved for a brief second. However, his haughty demeanor returned just a second later. "Don''t lie your way out of this. There''s no such Specialist-level Canzer here. According to Carmine and his team, all the Specialist-level Canzers are accounted for and are being fought by Kobra and the other teams. There''s not supposed to be another Specialist-level Canzer anywhere near here." Once Otis explained this, the rest of his team breathed a sigh of relief. He was right. According to the report given to them by the Operator Saviors, there was no such Specialist-level Canzer that could threaten them in this place. If there was, then Carmine and the others would have seen signs of its existence and warned them beforehand. But of course, Atlan knew what he was feeling. There was no mistaking it. "This is an anomaly," he said. "A Specialist-level Canzer is lurking in the shadows. The moment you try to fight me, it will pounce on all of you while you''re busy." The Intern-level Saviors on Otis'' side were suddenly anxious about their surroundings. After all, his words rang true. There could be an anomaly here. After all, having anomalies in this current era is not that uncommon nowadays. "Don''t listen to him!" Otis screamed. "Go and cut his body up or else I will not give your families the Soul Time you so desperately want!" Chapter 447 - 447: Hypocritical Otis The rest of the Intern-level Saviors had no other choice. They had to do as Otis said or else all of this would have been for naught. They raised their swords high up in the air, about to cut off Atlan''s body into pieces, when all of a sudden, a shadow in the outskirts of the Remedium suddenly flashed into existence, lunging towards the ten or so Intern-level Saviors that were about to cut up Atlan. The appearance of this Canzer caught everybody off guard, except for Atlan who had seen the creature from the very beginning. The creature seemed to be a monster made out of pure shadow, with its body engrossed in full blackness. It had the body type of a lizard of some kind, with two wings as its front legs and two legs to stand on. SCRAAA! the Specialist-level Canzer screamed as it raised its wings and swung it towards the stunned Intern-level Saviors. And because of the difference in strength between them, the humans were sent flying outwards at the speed of a bullet, crashing into buildings and turning their internal bodies broken beyond repair. They couldn''t even react. This only meant one thing. The Canzer was a Specialist-level Canzer, just as Atlan said it was. If they had heeded his warning, then they would have been in this position in the first place. After all, the shadow Canzer seemed to only attack once it knew that it could surprise every one of them into submission. And it worked. "What is this?!?! A Specialist Canzer?!?! This is supposed to be impossible!" Otis screamed. He would have never expected Atlan to be telling the truth. After all, they had asked Carmine and the rest of the other Specialist Operators about the Canzers in the Remedium and they explicitly told them that there were no other Specialist-level Canzer in this Remedium. Even though he was very arrogant, Otis was only at the peak of the intern level. He still wasn''t strong enough to contend against Specialist-level Canzers by himself. He probably couldn''t even solo an Intern-level Canzer by himself as well. Dread and fear overcame his body as the shadow creature suddenly turned its head towards him. It seemed to put its nose up as if it was searching for his scent. And once it locked onto his position, it didn''t let its eyes go far away from him. Otis didn''t know why, but it seemed that this Specialist-level Canzer was trying to catch him for one reason or another. "You! KIll that Canzer!" Otis screamed to his helpers. However, no one was capable of helping him but himself. After all, the rest of the Intern-level Saviors that he brought with him on this mission were already down for the count. The Shadow Canzer seemed to spread its shadow tentacles to each and every human that tried to get close, rooting them in place and slowly crushing their bones into bits and pieces. "Argh!" "That hurts!!" "Help me!" The Intern-level Saviors turned to Otis for help. After all, he had the power to help them. He could use his LifeSKill and summon more swords to rain down toward the shadow tentacles that tried to squeeze them into a blood paste. However, it was clear that Otis had no intention of helping them. He immediately turned around and started running in the opposite direction. "Otis!? You bastard!" "Don''t leave us here with the Canzer!" "You can take your Soul Time and shove it in your¡ª-" Just then, one of the Intern-level Saviors was able to break free from the shadow Canzer''s tentacles due to his special LifeSkill that turned his body into a weird jelly. As he broke free from the grasp of the Canzer, he quickly tried to run away from the Canzer as fast as possible. But just as he was about to catch up to Otis, a single sword suddenly appeared above the guy and pierced through his thighs. "GRAHH!" he screamed as he fell to the floor. The immense pain in his legs told him that he could no longer run as fast as he wanted. He couldn''t even walk if he wanted to. The only way he could get out of this situation was to try and crawl outwards. "Stay there! Keep the shadow monster occupied!" screamed Otis. It turned out that he purposefully injured his fellow human so that he would act as bait and a lure for the shadow Canzer. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Otis didn''t care about other people. He never did. He was willing to sacrifice their lives just so that he could survive himself. He was willing to feed his fellow humans and friends into the mouth of the shadow Canzer if it meant that he would be free from its grasp. He could have tried to save them, of course. With his unique summoning sword LifeSkill, he could have broken the shadow tentacles that binded them. But he didn''t. He wanted them to be caught by the Shadow Canzer so that it would be too preoccupied to chase after him. If he had tried to save them all, then they at least would have had the chance to fight against the Canzer. With their numbers and their coordination, they could have definitely held on for a while until more people showed up to save them. After all, they were not the only ones here in this Remedium. Somehow or another, it was possible that other teams in this mission could find out that there was something wrong happening in this place and come to aid them. But Otis, because of his fear and dread, chose not to do any of that. He chose to flee. It was incredibly hypocritical of him. After all, he was blaming Atlan for the death of his younger brother. But now, he was also killing the sons, brothers, and fathers of many other families back in the real world by letting them be caught by the Canzer. Of course, he didn''t care about that. He just wanted to run away. Chapter 448 - 448: Kidnapping Otis tried to run away as fast as possible, but it seemed that the shadow Canzer was hell-bent on catching him and only him. "What are you doing, you monster?! Why aren''t you trying to kill them, or that bastard Atlan?!" Otis screamed to the shadow creature. He even tried to run towards Atlan''s location to try and get the shadow creature to turn on him, but it was to no avail. It seemed that the Canzer was hungry only for him. "Damn bastards!" Otis screamed. He chose to bolt away from the Shadow Canzer to try and find other teams, preferably Kobra''s team so that they could kill the Shadow Canzer for him. Although he wasn''t proficient in it, Otis could transport himself to another location in the Remedium. It was another perk of being the chosen family of the Genesis God. They were all given the innate ability to teleport themselves through the different dimensions without getting hurt. So, he quickly closed his eyes and scrunched his face as he concentrated on the location of Kobra. He thought hard about Kobra''s presence and tried to locate him throughout the Remedium. And after a few seconds, he was able to find him. His body suddenly glowed with a golden light as a wooden door suddenly appeared right in front of him. This was his teleportation ability, allowing him to traverse to a different location. He just needed to use the door and he would reach Kobra''s location somewhere inside this Remedium. But just as he was about to walk towards the door, Atlan suddenly felt something wrong. His eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He suddenly felt numerous more oppressing auras simultaneously appear around their location. Atlan couldn''t believe it. There were at least five more Specialist-level Canzers that suddenly showed themselves in their surroundings. As Atlan observed these new Canzers, he realized that all of them were shadow Canzers just like the original Canzers that they saw. As soon as Otis used his teleportation door ability, these Canzers suddenly appeared as if they were hound dogs sensing the smell of blood. Atlan knew that there was something wrong going on. There was something suspicious with this whole encounter. After all, if this was an ambush from the Canzers, then they should have just ambushed Kobra and his team. After all, they were the strongest team here in the Remedium. Instead, they targeted Otis, just a single Intern-level Savior who was probably one of the weakest people here in the Remedium. If the Canzers wanted to prevent the humans from killing more Canzers, then it was only natural that they would try to kill the strongest person there. But this time, they didn''t. They targeted a lowly Intern-level Savior. And it looked like this wasn''t just a spur-of-the-moment thing for the Canzers. They looked like they were all waiting just for the right moment when Otis would use his ability to teleport out into another location. Otis'' eyes widened as he realized that there were at least five more shadow Canzers surrounding him, each one of them had their eyes fixed on him as they concentrated all their effort into catching their prize. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In his panic, Otis tried to rush towards his door. The only way he could escape these Specialist-level Canzers was if he could reach the door and teleport into another location. His desperation for his life allowed him to reach speeds so much faster than before. However, his speed was still within the limits of an Intern-level Savior. These Canzers were in the Specialist realm. No matter how much Otis hurried his body to move faster, it would still look like slow motion in front of the Shadow Canzers, especially since these creatures specialized in speed. Atlan knew that he had to do something. Even though he didn''t like Otis and would like nothing more than to just let the guy be devoured by Canzers, Atlan knew that there was something suspicious going on. The Canzers were trying to achieve something by catching Otis. Atlan didn''t want that to happen so he knew that he had to save him. "Wait Atlan," the Enchanted Queen whispered to him. "Let him be caught." "Why?" Atlan asked. "We need to find out why they want that human. I have a feeling that it has something to do with the mysterious object that they possess. It looks like they have no intention of killing him just yet. If they did, then they could have killed him a million times already. This means that they want him alive. This is good. I will secretly follow them and find out what they are up to and why they want that human." The Black Dragon plushie could become invisible due to her being Atlan''s tamed dragon. Her body was halfway corporeal and incorporeal, allowing her to traverse unseen in both the Remedium and the real world. "Be careful. If you need me, you know what to do," Atlan whispered to the Enchanted Queen. Since she was his tamed dragon, he was connected with her and would know if something wrong was going on. In the worst-case scenario, she could simply go back into nonexistence and leave any dangerous situation. But of course, the Enchanted Queen did not need to worry about anything. After all, she was a very proud black dragon, the pinnacle of their species without any weakness. "Good luck! I''ll stay here and support Atlan," Tulip said as she appeared as a white-green dragon plushie. So, the black dragon plushie flapped her wings and flew through the air, reaching Otis'' body in just a few milliseconds. She then attached herself to his shoulders. Meanwhile, just before Otis was about to reach for the door, the five other Specialist-level Shadow Canzers immediately dove towards him and dragged his body away from the door. Otis was helpless as the shadow creatures wrapped their tentacles into his body. His eyes darted over to Atlan, who just stood there and did nothing. Chapter 449 - 449: Queen Slayer Atlan watched as the shadow creatures took Otis away into the darkness. And to make sure that it was a successful escape, the other four Shadow Canzers stayed behind and eyed Atlan with a careful eye. If Atlan tried to rescue Otis, then they would immediately pounce and kill him. Of course, Atlan had no intention of going after Otis. The Enchanted Queen had already attached herself to Otis without the Shadow Canzers knowing, so he would be able to track them anytime he wanted. That was one of the perks of having a tamed dragon by your side. But it seemed that the Canzers wanted to make sure that there would be no other complications. They slowly walked towards Atlan, with the intention of silencing him forever. In their eyes, Atlan would come and ask others for help, altering the humans of what happened here in the darkness. They didn''t want that to happen. They wanted to keep this a secret for a lot longer. And the only way to do that was to kill Atlan and the rest of the humans here. Of course, they didn''t know that this was a huge mistake. If they had simply walked away with Otis, then Atlan would have spared them and let them escape with their lives intact. But now, if they were planning on attacking him, then there was no other choice but to attack as well. "Atlan! Run away!" Lizzie screamed. She was way too busy fighting with the Intern-level fish Canzer that she couldn''t try to help Atlan in this predicament. Right now, her whole body was filled with cat mutations that enhanced her physical and reflexive abilities up to the standards of Specialist-level Saviors. She had cat ears, fur, whiskers, claws, and a tail, each one giving her enhanced abilities of a cat. But even then, fighting against a Canzer alone was a hard job. Even though it was only at the intern level, she was still fighting it alone without any help. Ninth was busy and occupied with the other fish Canzer as well so there was no one there to help her. She knew that she could kill this Canzer by herself. However, it would take all of her focus and time to do so. It was not a matter of if she won, it was when. But in her perspective, she didn''t have any time left. Atlan might have been saved from Otis'' ambush, but he was still in danger from the lurking Specialist-level Shadow Canzer that was slowly coming in his direction. She wanted to come towards him and help him, but the fish Canzer saw her distracted state and took advantage of the opportunity. It suddenly spat out a burst of water towards her, which could cut even the toughest of metals. Lizzie had no other choice but to jump away, getting her further away from Atlan. "This will all be over soon, Lizzie. I''ll help you deal with that fish later," Atlan said with utter confidence in his voice. There was an absolute tone in his voice as if he could easily kill the four Specialist-level Canzers that were coming towards him. He was so confident that he even turned around and faced Lizzie, turning his back to the Canzers. The shadow creatures could easily lunge towards Atlan now that he had his back turned against them. This would have been the perfect opportunity for them. But somehow, they didn''t. None of them moved. Just like Otis, they were paralyzed at the thought. Whenever they looked at Atlan, they saw nothing but a void blank state. There was no fear nor perturbation in his body. Yet, the shadow creatures felt as if they were looking at a volcano about to erupt. "What are you saying, Atlan?! We have to run away. Those four are Specialist-level Canzers! Even Kobra would need to run away from those creatures!" Fighting one Specialist-level Canzer was hard enough, especially since they didn''t have a team to support them. But four? There would be nothing but a massacre in the end. Ninth was the only one who knew that Atlan was telling the truth. She faced Lizzie and tried to calm her down. "He''s more than capable of that, Lizzie." "What do you mean?" Lizzie asked. "Just watch him. I''m sure you''ll see for yourself just how strong your boyfriend is," Ninth said. Before Lizzie could even question her again, she suddenly felt a burst of energy behind her. It was strong, oppressing, and something that she had never felt before. It felt like she was in the presence of the embodiment of death and power. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She immediately looked back and saw Atlan''s whole body with black flames surrounding his body. Immediately, she knew that the power came from him. Her eyes widened as her initial perception of Atlan had been shattered into pieces. She thought that he was just a helpless but talented kid who needed her help. But as it turned out, he was already a man who was even stronger than her, and stronger than anyone she had ever met before. Atlan looked at the shadow creatures, who all flinched backward once they felt Altan''s true power. ''It''s him!... Queen slayer!'' ''Dragon killer!!!'' ''He''s real?!?!'' The four Shadow Canzer expressed their surprise once they felt Atlan''s true power. And as it turned out, they recognized him as well. After all, it was no secret that the Malificient Dragon Queen had been killed by a powerful entity whose body emitted black flames and his strength emanated death. This story circulated around the Canzer circles, with most of them thinking that the ''Queen Slayer'' was a fellow Canzer. So they were entirely stunned when they found out that it was a human! They didn''t even think that that was possible. But the truth was staring at them right in their faces. This also meant that they were facing the only person who could kill all four Specialist-level Canzers like them. Immediately, thoughts of escaping formed in their minds. They must inform the others about the presence of the Queen Slayer. However, before they could even react, Atlan already had four clones by his side. Chapter 450 - 450: Atlan’s trap Four of Atlan''s clones immediately locked in one shadow creature, never letting it out of his sight. Before the Canzers could even morph into their shadow form and escape through the void, Atlan''s clones had already used their Angel Wings and teleported right next to the shadow Canzers. With a single hand, the clones grasped the shadow bodies of the Canzers, with a grip that could somehow grasp the incorporeal form of the creatures. This utterly scared the Shadow Canzers. One of the reasons why they were so strong was because of their ability to just slip away from anyone''s grasp before they could even catch them. But somehow, Atlan''s clones could touch their bodies and prevent them from teleporting out into a safe environment. But once they saw the Angel Wings on the clones, they finally figured out the reason. It was because of the holy energy in the clones that disabled the shadow powers in their bodies. The shadow creatures tried to use their tentacles to fight back against the clones, but it seemed that their clones felt a burning and searing pain whenever they tried to touch Atlan. They couldn''t even try to attack him! They were helpless as Atlan''s clones caught them one by one. The shadow creatures prepared themselves to be killed or pummelled to death. With his clones and his tremendous strength, the Shadow Canzers did not doubt that Atlan could kill them in an instant. After all, they were much weaker than the Malificient Dragon Queen, and yet he was able to kill her without a problem. However, the beating they expected never came. Instead, Atlan''s real body slowly hovered toward their location. "Tell me. What did you kidnap Otis? Is it related to that object?" Upon hearing his words, the Shadow Creatures were terrified to know that Atlan, a human, could speak their language. But perhaps they were more surprised when they found out that Atlan knew about their ''object''. All this time, they thought that their plans had been a secret without the humans knowing about it. They thought that the humans were completely oblivious to the presence of this ''object''. But as it turned out, the Dragon Slayer knew about it in the first place! He was the worst person to have known about it because he was the only one who could do something about it. The shadow creatures were alarmed. They couldn''t let Atlan know about the object and destroy their only way to victory against the humans. ''Kill us!'' ''We tell nothing!'' ''We take it to our deaths!'' The shadow creatures were fiercely loyal to their cause. They would rather die than spill out the secrets of the ''object''. Atlan knew that he couldn''t persuade these Canzers. They were much stronger than the other Canzers that they had been interrogating, which meant that they were a lot smarter and more resistant to torture techniques. "But judging from your reactions, it seems that I''m right. Otis is related to the object," he said to the Canzers. And despite how much the Canzers tried to hide it, their micro reaction to his words told him that he was right. They kidnapped Otis for this reason. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Kill us now! We not tell you!'' the Shadow Canzers roared. Atlan didn''t argue with them any longer. After all, he didn''t even need to interrogate them at all. "It''s fine if you don''t tell me. I''ll know soon enough," Atlan said with nothing but confidence. It was at this point that the Shadow Canzers realized something. Atlan was strong enough to have killed them in an instant, which meant that he could have saved Otis if he had wanted to. But for some reason, he didn''t. He stayed his hand and let the shadow creatures take them into their lair. These Canzers were not stupid. They quickly realized the only reason why Atlan would do such a thing. Atlan set up a trap! ''No¡­We must alert others! Human is infiltrating lair! We must alert them!'' the Canzers roared, trying to get away from the clones'' grip. But no matter how much they struggled, they were powerless against Atlan''s strong grip, coupled with his Angel power that could weaken any Canzer even if they were Specialist-level Canzers. It was practically a checkmate the moment Atlan''s clones got near them. Yet, they kept struggling. They wanted to inform their comrades to stop bringing Otis to their lair. They knew that Atlan planted a trap and could somehow locate their lair using Otis. That was the only way they could explain Atlan''s cocky attitude. And they were right. Atlan did plant a trap there, or more specifically, a dragon. "If you''re not going to tell me anything, then you''re of no use to me," Atlan said as he commanded his clones to finish the job. The clones then raised their hands, taking the Canzers''s body up with it, and started to pummel the monster into the ground, weakening it to the point that the Canzers wished they were dead. They couldn''t fight and were helpless as Atlan''s clones threw them around the Remedium like a ragdoll. Meanwhile, Lizzie watched this with her eyes widened and her jaw slacked wide open. Somehow, the four Specialist-level Canzers were being treated like a small little toy being thrown around haphazardly. It didn''t make sense to her. After all, these were Specialist-level Canzers. She would need an entire team of Specialist-level Saviors to defeat just a single one of those Shadow Canzers. But somehow, Atlan only needed his clones with him and he could somehow do it just by himself. It was a surreal sight to see. If it weren''t for her tremendous reflex as a cat person, the fish Canzer that she was currently fighting would have already taken advantage of the fact that she was so distracted at seeing Atlan beat up four Specialist-level Canzers by himself. As for Ninth, this wasn''t the first time she saw this sight. But even still, she couldn''t help but still be in awe of his strength every time. Chapter 451 - 451: Spared "How is this possible¡­" Lizzie uttered in pure disbelief. She always thought Atlan was special, and that he had the potential to be strong, but she would have never thought he would be able to beat up four Specialist-level Canzers just a month from his awakening. It was truly mind-boggling that she even thought that she was simply imagining stuff. He was supposed to be a Porter. Yet the LifeSkill to clone himself in perfect form, with all the power and skills as the original, was not something that a porter could do. She looked at Ninth, who seemed to be completely used to this sight. "This is not even his limit," Ninth said. At this point, Lizzie didn''t even know what to say. Beating up four Specialist-level Canzers was not Atlan''s limit? Beating one Specialist-level Canzer by himself without any help from other people was already a feat that was otherworldly. But somehow, beating up four of them wasn''t Atlan''s greatest show of strength. At this point, Atlan seemed to have finished beating up the poor shadow Canzers. The four clones took the shadow creatures by their scruffs and lifted them up towards the original Atlan. They couldn''t even struggle even if they wanted to. Atlan''s clones had shown the shadow creatures that any time they tried to fight back, they would experience a beatdown that was even worse than before. Unfortunately for them, they didn''t seem to learn this fact only after they were all beaten to a pulp, turning the chitin hiding underneath their shadow form into mere powdered shells. They were supposed to be Destruction type Canzers, famed for their ability to regenerate their injuries. Yet somehow, Atlan''s clones were able to disable their powers without any trouble. "I''ll make this quick," Atlan said as he took out the scythe from his back. Immediately, the blades caught on fire and emanated a power that only Canzers could recognize. That was Angel Power, and a very concentrated dose at that. They could feel the heat and purity of the flames even from far away. It was searing their injuries like adding salt to a wound. As the clones gathered the shadow Canzers into one position, the original Atlan just swung his scythe, seemingly hitting nothing but the air. But slowly, the pain on the shadow Canzer''s eyes had faded, now being replaced by a sense of peace and serenity. A second later, a single cut from their waste had appeared, completely dismembering the shadow creatures into two. The flames left behind the Scythe consumed the remains of the Canzer, turning it into nothing but ashes that scattered to the wind. Just like that, four Specialist-level Canzers were killed. Atlan didn''t need the help of fellow Specialist-level Saviors. He didn''t need the help of Operators telling him what their weaknesses was. He didn''t need a construct to disable their regenerative abilities. All he needed was himself, and that was enough. Lizzie, and the other surviving Intern-level Saviors couldn''t believe their eyes. They had never seen this thing happen before, nor would they have imagined that it could happen. They all looked up at Atlan with his Angel Wings spread out as he floated in the air. Even after killing four Specialist-level Canzers, he didn''t seem to be impressed with himself one bit. He was indifferent, as if this was something normal and to be expected. The Intern-level Saviors couldn''t help but shiver when they looked at Atlan. After all, they had done him wrong. They had sided with Otis and planned to kill Atlan in this Remedium. Even though they weren''t the one who was going to kill them, they were still complicit to the crime since they were the one who would have helped Otis do it. They were afraid that Atlan would enact his revenge on them. After all, it was only fair. But even after a few seconds had passed, Atlan did nothing. In fact, he ignored the Intern-level Saviors and went towards Lizzie and Ninth. It was as if they were invisible. One man, the one who was going to cut off Atlan''s hands because of Otis'' orders, couldn''t stand the fear and trepidation in his heart and charged towards Atlan with his sword. "AAHHH!" he screamed, with his blade pointed at Atlan yet his eyes were closed. As someone who was guilty, the man was sure that Atlan was going to kill him, just like how he killed the Specialist-level Canzers. In his mind, if he was going to die, then he wanted to do it himself. He didn''t want to wait in agony as Atlan deliberated whether he was going to kill them or not. The man closed his eyes as he ran towards Atlan, waiting for the inevitable death coming towards his way. Atlan caught the sword by his hands and did nothing else. The man waited, but there was no death coming his way. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Don''t throw away your life," Atlan said. "I understand the desperation you have in wanting to live. You had to do what you had to do." Atlan used to live in the Unclaimed Lands. Many people were forced to do what they had to do in order to survive. Atlan knew that this guy just wanted to live, and Otis took advantage of that fact and forced him to do something that he didn''t want to do. "Go. Run away. Tell the others what you saw here. Tell them that the Canzers have kidnapped Otis," Atlan said to the Intern-level Saviors. At first, they were all confused and just stood still. "Go!" Atlan roared. Only then did they all disperse, running away in different directions away from Atlan. They were saved. Atlan had all the rights to kill them, but they didn''t. He gave them mercy and allowed them to live. Meanwhile, Atlan looked over to Ninth and Lizzie. Even now, the two of them were busy fighting the two Intern-level Fish Canzers that arrived. Atlan raised his Scythe again and swung it in the air, instantly killing the Canzers and turning them into dust. Chapter 452 - 452: Telling the truth to Lizzie Lizzie fell on her knees, exhausted. She had fought an Intern-level Canzer by herself. This was very impressive in her own right, since most Saviors wouldn''t be able to do what she had done and survive. This was why a team was needed in order to survive an attack against a Canzer. But Atlan had easily killed the Canzers with just one swing of his Scythe. It was absurd to think about. She couldn''t even understand it. She turned to Atlan. "How?" she asked him. Atlan, knowing that Lizzie was a trustworthy person and someone that he valued greatly, decided to tell her the truth¡ªthe whole truth. "When you saw me in the Unclaimed Lands and I had my awakening, I somehow ended up meeting the God of Death¡­" Atlan began to tell the story of everything that happened to him from the very beginning, without missing anything at all. He told her about how he gained the powers of the god of death after killing him. He told her about how he got stronger with every death that he witnessed. He gained experience, Soul Time, LifeSkills, and mutations from any and every death that came his way. He also told her about the Angel''s extinction, and how he found out that Angels were the natural weakness of Canzers. He explained that this was how he was able to kill Canzers without using a construct. He was using Angle power all this time. He told her about the missions in the Remedium, about the anomalies that had been happening to him all the time. He told her how he was the one who killed those Canzers. That was the reason why he miraculously survived those missions. "This is my tamed dragon, Tulip. She''s the one who helped me in the church mission," Atlan said as he pointed in the air. Suddenly, a plushie figure of a white-green dragon appeared in their vision, surprising both Ninth and Lizzie. "Hello¡­ nice to meet you!" Tulip said, a bit meekly. She was still a little bit shy when meeting other people. "Tulip?! No way¡­ that''s you?!" Ninth had developed a bond with Tulip because of the Malificient Dragon Queen incident. She didn''t get to say goodbye to Tulip, but she had always kept it in her heart. She was also surprised that she could understand Tulip''s words. Atlan explained that this was a benefit to her becoming his tamed dragon. He bestowed her the ability to talk in the human language. After all, the plushie figurine that she was currently using was Atlan''s own invention, which meant that he could change it however he liked, including changing the voice box to accommodate human speech. As Ninth and Tulip both introduced each other, they quickly found out that they enjoyed each other''s company. Tulip was the only Canzer that changed Ninth''s perspective on Canzers. And now that they could talk to each other, the more Ninth found out that Canzers were just like any other human. They quickly became friends, especially now that they could talk to each other. Meanwhile, Lizzie and Atlan were left all alone. "This is a lot to take in," she said. "I know this is a lot. But I had to tell you the truth. There are a lot of things happening right now, and I need you to know the truth." There are a lot of things that Lizzie had to process. Most of all, she had to process the fact that she had witnessed the deaths of the Angels first hand, yet she was still in denial at that point. Now that Atlan had explained everything, it suddenly made sense for her. It made sense how he was always so strong and capable compared to the other Saviors in his league. She had to change her whole look on Atlan, turning him from an adorable kid that needed protection, into someone capable of killing Specialist-level Canzers by himself. "The Canzers¡­ they''re trying to do something?" she asked him. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Yes. they''re trying to achieve something terrible for the human race. If they succeed, this could mean the end of our lives as we know it. That is why we have to find out what happened to Otis," Atlan said with a serious tone. "And I need your help, Lizzie. I need you." Although Lizzie wanted nothing more than to just return to the real world and just forget about the worries of the world, she still couldn''t leave Atlan behind all alone. Even though he was already much stronger than her, she still couldn''t help but feel as if she was responsible for him. She had an obligation to help him. It was at this point that Lizzie realized her true feelings for Atlan. If any other man had told her that she was lying about his entire identity, then she would want nothing to do with that man. But somehow, Atlan was the only exception. Even when she found out that there were a lot of things that Atlan hid from her, she still cared for him and wanted to see him safe. "Atlan¡­ I¡­" But before she could say anything, Atlan raised his finger and stopped her from saying anything. "Don''t tell me now. Let''s wait until everything is over," he said to her. Right now, there were a lot of things they needed to do. They couldn''t afford to be distracted. If Atlan heard Lizzie say the words that he''d been wanting to hear this entire time, then he wouldn''t be able to stop himself and immediately want to take her as his woman right here. He wouldn''t have cared about the Canzers'' plans and the destruction of the world. He would have only wanted Lizzie. So, he decided to postpone it for now. "Okay. We''ll wait," Lizzie said, looking up at him with a blush on her cheeks. "For now, we need to find the others and tell them about this." Atlan agreed. He took Lizzie and Ninth in his hands and spread his Angel Wings. With just one thought on his mind, he teleported them into another location, right in front of Kobra and his team. Chapter 453 - 453: Kobra’s domain It was a tense situation with Kobra and his team. Since he was considered to be the strongest Savior in the city, he was tasked to kill the strongest Canzer in the Remedium. Not only that, but there were two of them here. As expected of Kobra, he was able to hold his ground against two Specialist-level Canzers. It must be mentioned that he had the support of multiple other Intern-level Saviors, but it was still impressive that he could take them on. His LifeSkill allowed him to summon a huge stinger from his back, stinging any Canzer that tried to go near him. The poison in his stinger was enough to deter even the Canzer with the toughest skins. Cast in point, the Canzers he was facing right now learned a very hard lesson about approaching him. He was able to sting both of them, injecting them with enough poison to slightly lessen their regenerative properties. This was enough to even the odds. And thanks to his active domain, he was able to get the upper hand. His domain was a sea of snakes, turning the very ground itself into the lair of snakes that would bite anyone that Kobra wanted to be attacked. The Canzers found themselves unable to move without having snakes wriggling up to their giant bodies and trying to constrict them into unconsciousness. And if that wasn''t annoying enough, then snakes were also biting the Canzers and injecting them with even more poison, fully counteracting their regenerative properties and now slowly destroying their bodies from the inside and out. This was what made Kobra the best Savior in the entire City. His unique set of skills allowed him to fight against large hordes of Canzer and still come out on top. In fact, he was actually stronger when facing larger groups of enemies. His domain, his poison, and his snakes all became stronger the more Canzers were present. This made him into an Infection type Canzer specialist. He was the one usually dispatched in missions that involved Canzers that could clone themselves infinitely. With Kobra''s power, he could also power himself up infinitely the more Canzers were present in the battlefield. Right now, facing against two Specialist-level Canzers had activated some of his latent powers to be able to deal with these two Canzers. The Intern-level Saviors watching the veteran do his job was something that they appreciated to see. It was not everyday that they would get to witness greatness first hand. They would learn a lot from this experience. But just then, right in the middle of the battlefield, a person carrying two women suddenly appeared right in front of Kobra and the others, surprising the rest of them. "Kobra, we need to talk," Atlan said with a serious voice. Kobra was utterly shocked upon seeing Atlan appear out of nowhere without even a warning. Since he was named as the strongest Savior in the city, he wasn''t used to someone being faster than him. But when he saw that it was Atlan, it finally made sense for him. "What are you doing?" Kobra asked. It wasn''t exactly the best time to chat. After all, there were still two Specialist-level Canzers behind Atlan, who were slowly gearing up to attack them. Kobra knew that this was a crucial time. He needed to attack these two Canzers or else all the preparation he made would be for nothing. He could see that the poison inside the Canzers body was starting to wear off as they produced antibodies to defeat the poison. He needed to attack now and keep reapplying the poison in order for the paralysis to take effect. "Who is this guy?!" "What is he doing here?" "Wait, isn''t he that Star Porter?!" The Intern-level Saviors supporting Kobra were utterly confused as well. First of all, they would have never expected the Student-level porter to be able to suddenly teleport out of nowhere. They didn''t even see him arrive. One second he was gone, the next he was suddenly right in front of their eyes. "The Canzers are behind you!" "They''re attacking!" The Intern-level tried their hardest to warn Atlan of the upcoming Canzer attacks, but he didn''t seem to hear their voices. He was too busy talking to Kobra to even notice that there were two Canzers gunning for his life right now. But just when the Canzers were about to arrive, Atlan took out the Flaming Scythe on his back and turned around to face the Canzers. With just one swing of his weapon, the two Canzers suddenly stopped their bodily movements, yet the inertia of their bodies continued to move forward. The two Canzers were frozen and paralyzed, but their momentum was still going forward towards Atlan. But just before they could collide with Atlan, their bodies suddenly split in half from the upper and lower torso. It was a clean cut, so much so that it wasn''t even visible the first time when the torsos hadn''t separated yet. The two Canzers, split up into four parts, glided away from Atlan and soon turned into dust. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just like that, the two Canzers that they were all having trouble killing were dead just a few seconds after Atlan arrived at the scene. The Intern-level Saviors who witnessed this couldn''t believe their eyes. They tried to look for the remains of the Canzer thinking that it was going to regenerate back into its former self, but there was not even a single drop of violet blood left from the Canzers. They were gone. The five Intern-level Saviors who were carrying the two constructs couldn''t believe their eyes. They hadn''t even activated the constructs, but the Canzers were already dead. They couldn''t believe it. Kobra was the only one who was surprised. He had already seen Atlan kill a Specialist-level Canzer by himself in just a few seconds. He had already expected that as soon as Atlan appeared in this place. However, Kobra wasn''t expecting Atlan to be able to suppress his domain. Even though he tried to exert control over his domain, he couldn''t help but feel as if his domain was slowly losing strength as the seconds passed. And it was all due to Atlan. Chapter 454 - 454: Star Porter is too strong Somehow, Atlan wasn''t affected by Kobra''s domain. The snakes that were supposed to always stay calm whenever they were in the presence of Kobra''s allies were now starting to hiss and bare their fangs at Atlan. Kobra controlled these snakes. He needed full control of them because the domain made everything in the surroundings into snakes. This meant that his allies would also be in the domain and be in the presence of the snakes. Kobra always made sure to will the snakes to differentiate between ally and foe. They would always protect the allies and attack the foes. But somehow, even when Kobra was telling the snakes to calm down and stay away from Atlan, they were all still looking towards the Star Porter and showing him a defensive stance. It was as if they were threatened by his very existence. Kobra couldn''t believe it. Somehow, Atlan''s presence had weakened his control over his own domain. He never even thought this was possible because a domain was supposed to be a god in his own world. There was only one possibility for this to happen. Atlan had his own domain. That was the only way that the snakes would act they way they were acting right now. They must have felt Atlan''s domineering presence and domain and tried to fight against it. But no matter how much they tried to get near him and assimilate him into Kobra''s domain, Atlan had remained steadfast and continued to have his own space for himself, which the snakes didn''t like one bit. That was the only possibility, yet Kobra still couldn''t believe it. After all, he hadn''t seen Atlan use his domain at all. He wasn''t even emanating an aura signature of someone using his domain. He and the rest of the other Specialist-level Saviors capable of a domain would always know when someone else was using a domain. But somehow, Kobra couldn''t feel anything from Atlan at all. He couldn''t feel energy, he couldn''t feel power, and most of all, he couldn''t feel the life inside his body. Does he have his domain active all the time? Kobra thought to himself. "Kobra, this is not the time for deep thoughts. We need to get to Otis now," Atlan said. Upon the mention of Otis Orioness, Kobra shook himself from his stupor and refocused on the task at hand. "What happened to Otis?" Kobra asked. Atlan revealed to him about everything that happened in the Remedium. Of course, he only told him the essential parts. Like how the shadow creatures ambushed them from out of nowhere and kidnapped Otis. "You''re right¡­ this is strange. Very strange. I feel like the Canzers are planning something big¡­ " Kobra understood clearly what Atlan was trying to get at. As a veteran Savior, he knew that this was a very strange behavior from the Canzers. They weren''t the type to kidnap a human. They would rather kill humans. And four Specialist-level Canzers could easily kill Otis whenever they wanted. But they didn''t. They kept him alive and kidnapped him. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What do you want us to do? I think we should go back and inform Carmine about what happened," Kobra said. After all, they were a little bit out of their wheelhouse. Kobra didn''t know anything about Canzer behavior and they wouldn''t be able to decipher this mystery without the help of the Specialist Operator Saviors. "No. We can''t. We have to go after Otis now or else it will be too late," Atlan said. "But we don''t know where we''re going!" "Don''t worry. I know where they are," Atlan said with absolute confidence. Kobra had a hard decision to make. Should he trust Atlan''s words, or should he try to find a second opinion? If this was any other Student-level Savior, Kobra wouldn''t have hesitated and simply just returned to the real world to ask Carmine for help. But somehow, Kobra felt as if Atlan was telling the truth. There were a lot of things that were mysterious about the Star Porter. For example, it didn''t make sense how he could become so strong in so little time. It was impossible to improve that fast, especially since LifeSkills needed a lot of consolidation to advance to the next level. But if there was one thing that Kobra knew about Atlan, it was that he wanted to kill Canzers too. So, if Atlan wanted to go after Otis and the other Canzers, then it was probably the right decision to do so. Kobra couldn''t explain it, but somehow, he believed Atlan''s words. Maybe it was because of Atlan''s overwhelming strength. He had shown tremendous strength, enough to even kill Kobra and the other Intern-level Saviors with just a single swing of his Scythe. It wouldn''t make sense if he was luring them into a trap. After all, he could have easily just killed them right here and now and they wouldn''t be able to do anything about it. "I trust you, Star Porter. We''ll have to gather the rest of the Saviors here to try and find where they brought Otis. I''ll ask some of the Intern-level Saviors to spread the word. I''ll also employ one of them to go back to the real world and tell Carmine about what''s happening here. If they know something, then they''ll send reinforcements here to us." Atlan nodded, agreeing with Kobra''s course of action. It seemed that Kobra wasn''t called the best Savior in the city just for his strength. He was also good at leading his group into victory with his leadership skills. The Intern-level Saviors supporting Kobra soon had their own missions. They ran in all directions, hoping to find the other teams of Specialist-level Saviors to help them find Otis. But in the back of their minds, they were still incredibly shocked at what they had just witnessed. The scene of Atlan raising his Scythe and killing two Specialist-level Canzers with just one swing lingered on their minds. The Star Porter is too strong¡­ Chapter 455 - 455: One man reinforcements The rest of the teams in the Remedium were quickly informed about what happened. They were told that the Canzers had kidnapped Otis Orioness, and that they seemed to be planning something big. At first, some of the Specialist-level Saviors couldn''t believe what they''d heard. After all, Specialist-level Canzers were not known to have that type of behavior. They just knew them as ruthless animals that would kill and maim a human any chance they could get. However, they were given a command from Kobra himself that they should drop whatever they were doing and come to the designated location. The Specialist-level Saviors couldn''t simply run away from the Canzers they were fighting. However, they were told from the very beginning of this mission that they should always answer to Kobra''s word because he was the whole leader of the mission. They would be committing a crime if they didn''t heed his call. So, the Specialist-level Saviors ordered their team to commence a retreat against the Canzers that they were fighting. However, when they started to retreat, the Canzers seemed to be even more panicked and rushed after them. This was very unusual. Running away from the Canzers was supposed to be the easy part. After all, if there was one thing that the Canzers loved more than killing humans, then it was wreaking havoc in the Remedium. They always seemed to celebrate and taunt humans whenever they saw them retreating out. The hardest part about retreating used to be the Canzers'' taunts and watching as they wreaked havoc in the Remedium, which would further worsen the Symptom in the real world. But now, the Canzers seemed to be agitated or even worried at the fact that the humans were retreating. They became so much more aggressive towards the humans, not letting them retreat away safely. And even if the Saviors were fast enough to retreat, they would suddenly see the Canzer showing its own weakness and its critical spot to the Saviors, as if taunting them to want to kill them. They couldn''t believe it. They had never seen Canzers act this way. It was as if the Canzers didn''t want them to run away. It was at this point that they knew that something was wrong. Perhaps Kobra''s announcement was right. There was something that the Canzers were planning, and these Canzers were supposed to keep the humans company while they tried to achieve what they wanted to achieve. "Kobra is right. There is something wrong with the Canzers. We must go to his location now," the Specialist-level Savior said to his Intern-level support. "But sir! The Canzer looks so vulnerable right now. We can kill him in less than a minute!" The Intern-level Saviors were still wet behind their ears and couldn''t understand the truth of what was going on. "Didn''t you hear what I said? We''ll retreat right now! He''s only acting this way so that we''ll get distracted. Go now!" The Intern-level Saviors had no choice but to follow their leader''s order. Despite the fact that the Canzer was showing its weak spot to them, the leader had no intention of fighting with the Canzer again. He was smart enough to know that it was just playing with them to try and buy more time. However, just as they were retreating, they suddenly felt a strange and new oppressing aura come towards them from the other side. "No way¡­" the Specialist Savior said as he looked at two new Specialist-level Canzers in front of him. Because the Intern-level Saviors hesitated in their retreat, the Canzer somehow bought enough time for some reinforcements to arrive. Now, they were sandwiched by four Canzers with no way out. He was the only Specialist-level Savior in this team while the rest of them were inexperienced and weak Intern-level Saviors. They didn''t even have any construct to try and kill these Canzers. Slowly, the four Canzers walked closer and closer to the team, turning their formation into a tight-knit circle. The four Specialist-level Canzers opened their mouths, with a tremendous ball of energy forming at the tip of their canine teeth. Just from the wind pressure alone, they knew that this was a deadly attack that they could not defend against, especially with four of them at the same time. "Damn¡­ we''re going to die." But just as the Canzers were about to release their ball of energy towards the Saviors, a single line appeared in the middle of the Canzers'' torso. As soon as that line appeared, the energy ball in their mouths suddenly disappeared, dissipating in the air. Their eyes suddenly turned cloudy before their bodies separated into two, cleaved perfectly from their waists. The Saviors all watched as the four Canzers simultaneously turned into ashes that scattered perfectly in the wind. They were dead. Four Specialist-level Canzers were dead just like that. And then, they saw one man beyond the ashes. He wore a black battle suit and a Flaming Scythe in his hands. "Star Porter¡­" the Specialist Savior uttered. He was the only one who saw things clearly. He felt Atlan''s power surge through the air and cleave through the Canzers without any resistance at all. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As unbelievable as it sounded, it seemed that the Student-level porter had killed four Specialist-level Canzers with just one swing of his Scythe. "What are you all waiting for?" Atlan said to the team. "Go. Kobra is there waiting for you in our designated location." Atlan knew that the Canzers wouldn''t let the humans retreat away safely, so he took it upon himself to save them. His other clones had already reached the other teams and saved them from yet another impossible situation, killing multiple Specialist-level Canzers in just less than a minute. "You heard the man! Let''s go!" the Specialist Savior said to his team. Only then did they finally move, but not before taking another peek at the Star Porter and his flaming scythe.. As the Specialist Savior passed Atlan, he couldn''t help but say, "Thank you, Atlan. You saved us." Chapter 456 - 456: Planning a heist After half an hour, all the teams had finally gathered near the portal. "Is everyone here already?" Kobra asked the teams. "Kobra, what''s happening?" "Is it true that Otis got kidnapped?" "How did that even happen? And why did the Canzers try to prevent us from leaving? There''s something strange going on!" The Specialist-level Saviors began to inundate Kobra with questions and complaints that even he did not know the answer to. It was to be expected, though. After all, they had never experienced this before in their hundreds of years of life. This was way beyond a simple anomaly, especially since it seemed to affect a lot of Canzers in the area. "Can we back out? I don''t want to get kidnapped." "I don''t want to die!" "Let''s retreat and ask help from the HeadQuarters!" Some inexperienced Intern-level Saviors couldn''t help but express their fears and their anxieties to Kobra. They had thought that this was just a simple mission, and that they wouldn''t be in much trouble. After all, they were just supposed to accompany the Specialist-level Saviors and they would do everything that needed to be done in the Remedium. But now, it seemed that even they were overwhelmed. If the Specialist-level Saviors were anxious and fearing for their lives as well, then the Intern-level Saviors would definitely be scared witless. They were far too weak to contend against four Specialist-level Canzers at the same time. If Atlan, the Star Porter, hadn''t saved them in time, then it was a very real possibility that they could have died there. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If immortality was still here, then they would still be worried for their lives and backed out. Now that they could die without any resurrections, they would definitely want to get out of this situation. In their minds, it was not worth it to risk their lives just for the chance to gain a few years of Soul Time as a reward. They would rather spend their life in the real world and enjoy life without worrying about things like this. And if they needed more Soul Time, they could simply do any other job. "If you want to retreat, then you can do so. However, this is not just a simple mission. This is a fight against the very Canzer race itself. They are trying to accomplish something. We don''t know what it is yet, but we know that it will affect the entire human race. We need to stop them. But, of course, this is dangerous beyond belief. If you don''t want to risk your life for the entirety of humanity, then I won''t blame you. But remember that we are Saviors. We are the ones who will fight for humanity!" Kobra''s speech seemed to have had a positive effect and emboldened some brave Saviors to stay and fight against the Canzers. But of course, there were also some whose minds could not be changed. They wanted to leave, and Kobra didn''t stop them. Now, there were only about fifty or so of them left in this mission. There were about ten Specialist-level Saviors and the rest were in the Intern realm. "Okay, now that we have solidified ourselves, it''s time to attack the Canzers. Atlan, please tell them about the plan." Kobra pointed everyone towards the Star Porter, who stood on his own by the side of the road. "The Canzers have an object¡­" Atlan began to explain to them about everything that he knew about the object, which wasn''t much at all. He told them that this object was what allowed the Canzers to forcefully pull humans into the Remedium without the use of a single portal. This was already a terrifying ability from the Canzers. After all, the advantage of humanity against Canzers was the fact that they could prepare for a fight against a Canzer. They could know what kind of Canzer it was, what kind of weakness it had, and what material was needed to defeat them, all before a single Savior stepped foot into the Remedium. But if the Canzers could forcefully pull humans into the Remedium, then they could have the element of surprise. Saviors or even regular humans would find themselves unable to defeat even the simplest of Canzers because they didn''t have any construct to deal with its abilities. "I think that the Canzers are trying to make this object into something that could pull bigger parts of the City into the Remedium," Atlan said to them. They all gasped. What Atlan said painted a very awful and terrifying future for Genesis City and humanity as a whole. "And it seems that they need Otis in order to achieve that. I don''t know how or or why, but I just know that they deem Otis as critical in their plans. They could have killed Otis, but they didn''t. It seems that they need him alive for now," Atlan said. The rest of the Saviors went silent as they pondered about what they just heard. They didn''t understand why Otis was a special part in their plans, but it was clear that they had planned this from the very start. "It seems that the Canzers lured us here. They made sure to make a big splash in the real world by bringing on multiple Symptoms at the same time, forcing the HeadQuarters to ask a lot of Saviors to come and solve the situation. It was lucky of them that Otis was on this mission. I''m guessing that if he wasn''t in here, then they wouldn''t stop until they found him. They have targeted them from the very beginning!" Kobra said. They knew that Canzers were smart, but they didn''t know that they could scheme like this. It was far beyond what they had shown in the previous missions. "How are we going to stop this?" they asked. Atlan stood up. "I put a tracking location in Otis before they left. I know where he is and can lead us here." The rest of the Saviors seemed relieved to hear that. If they didn''t have anything to go on, then it would have been impossible to find Otis in this endless Remedium.