Chapter 325 - The Bearer (4)
-This is a wonderful awakening, member!
The administrator’s message was cut short, as there was more for him to do than just have a conversation. Kang Shin-hyuk was doing his best to keep the door he opened from collapsing as the administrator got VIP members through as soon as possible.
[Anvil, how are you already...! No!]
“If you were going to use the Hero Universe, Gaia, you should’ve been prepared to face it head-on...!”
Janus, injured after defending Kang Shin-hyuk, leaned against him as she breathed heavily.
“Cheh!”
At the same time, Loki aimed to cut off Janus’s head with his scythe. However, a black flame rose gently in the air to deflect it.
“Tsukuyo...!”
“Loki, I didn’t know I would face you like this. By the way, it was worth waiting near Anvil.”
“I just wanted to be with my grandfather; I have no good excuse.”
Tsukuyo and Shu were the first to arrive, as if to say staying on Earth had been helpful. The two were among the strongest of the VIP members; they wouldn’t be easily defeated by Gaia or Loki.
“I was aware of Janus’s kidnapping, but I didn’t know it would be where Halo’s body was.”
Tsukuyo laughed as she spread the iron fan (that had been reinforced beyond comparison during her stay on Earth) and covered her mouth. Janus laughed weakly as she clung to Kang Shin-hyuk.
“Tsukuyo... Long time no see.”
“Janus. The unlucky look is still there. I particularly don’t like you leaning on Anvil, pretending to be a woman.”
Then, Janus casually revealed a bombshell.
“I’m originally a woman? The male side was caused by Chiral.”
“Oh my, I didn’t know. All the more reason to kill you.”
[Tsukuyo, if you really care for Anvil, you have to help him make a rational judgment.]
While Tsukuyo and Janus had some idle chit chat, Gaia intervened. Gaia’s tone had changed once more. However, Tsukuyo smiled and shook her head.
“I’ve been thinking of it before. Anvil’s ability is perfect, but why does imbalance continue? I guess it was your fault, Halo. No, Gaia.”
No matter how great Tsukuyo was, it seemed she didn’t see through all the Hero Universe’s secrets. She didn’t even know of Halo’s identity as Gaia (though she had her suspicions), and she hadn’t confirmed it until she knew that Janus was associated with Gaia. The fan was unfolded, and Tsukuyo pointed it at Gaia, who looked like a mannequin without a face.
“Gaia, you were too greedy. If you wanted to coexist, at least you shouldn’t have interfered with the Hero Universe. You may have been a decent administrator before then, but now you’re disqualified.”
[It’s cheating. It’s because it was the first time you gained power.]
“No way, are you undermining my power? I control my abilities.”
Nine tails protruded from behind Tsukuyo’s back as if a fan were spreading out. The dark purple energy fluttering from her felt a little different from magical and spiritual power.
“You’re only interfering with everything based on magical power. You don’t impart it but only interfere with those who have it. So you’re just an administrator.”
[Cheeky!]
“By the way, you don’t really understand anything other than magic. If that’s not the case, why not intervene in my powers?”
A black flame erupted in the air. The flame seemed to eat away the light as it quickly invaded Gaia’s realm and exploded. Gaia twisted the entire space around it to extinguish the flame.
[Tsukuyo!]
“It looks like the others are coming. It would be better to talk with them about who is right.”
At that moment, a huge wolf filled the space. After that, a man with a spear and enormous armor, as well as a fairy small enough to fit in Kang Shin-hyuk’s palm, a person that looked like a hawk man, and a shadow that appeared clearly in the light...
“Mirang... Ascaldin, Miyang, Horus, Cycatus.”
Mirang was the first VIP member who had helped him. Following that, people he knew not only by ID but also their real names appeared.
“Anvil, it’s hard to find you. In the end, it made me follow you to this place!”
[You said you were going to help, Anvil. It took longer than expected, but the time has finally come.]
“Milia... Kwati? They aren’t VIPs?”
“It seems the administrator has summoned all those with the ability to survive in this space.”
Tsukuyo added that explanation. Milia had the ability to reach the extremes of one attribute the moment she awakened, and Kwati could withstand even this light before she had awakened. Considering that their time flow was different from Earth, they must’ve been training for longer than him. The important thing, though, was that they were probably unconditionally on his side.
[Ha, how tiresome. What did you hear from the administrator to gather so noisily like this?]
“There’s nothing to do except listen to the administrator. I’ve only come to swallow the sun that’s trying to burn the whole world.”
Mirang, still in his wolf form, was the one who replied with a growl.
“The sun only deserves to exist when it is illuminating everything in its place. Wouldn’t everything be burned if it tried to descend? Gaia, that’s exactly what you did to Janus.”
The space flashed, and he could feel Mirang’s energy being amplified. Gaia hurriedly tried to suppress him but soon quit, knowing there were too many.
[Long time... you’ve been hiding your claws for a very long time.]
“It was one of the reasons why the VIP system existed. Gaia, you didn’t know.”
“Gaia, you have more sins than one.”
Horus, a man wearing a hawk’s head, stepped forward in agreement with Mirang.
“At first, I thought that the Gaia system looked at all fairly and gave strength, but that was only control. I couldn’t stand that... I found out the biggest sin you’ve committed recently. You’ve twisted the flow of mana that should be given to all fairly.”
[...]
“There are people who didn’t obtain the benefit of mana because of that. If it weren’t for my innate spiritual power, I wouldn’t have been able to grow safely.”
Horus clearly looked back at Kang Shin-hyuk.
“After prying through the weapon I bought, I realized that the spiritual power had no mana in it. Isn’t it weird? If you didn’t birth mana, how did you artificially block its flow?”
Janus also spoke up. Gaia had taken mana from Kang Shin-hyuk. When he looked at the mannequin of light for an answer, Gaia responded confidently.
[It was all for Anvil, to help his awakening and to achieve rapid growth of his spiritual power.]
“What...?”
It was surprisingly positive. The reason he couldn’t handle mana was because of the Gaia system?
“It’s obviously efficient in terms of the time it took to reach the status of a transcendent person, except that it feels like you making choices for Anvil.”
Miyang, the palm-sized fairy, added that while sitting over Kang Shin-hyuk’s head. This one who always complained that there wasn’t an Anvil-made weapon for them.
“No, is that true? I was trying to grow and eat Anvil as quickly as possible. An Anvil with greater potential...”
“What? Eat Anvil?! This, unscrupulous!”
[Water Fox, you seem to be mistaken about something. Fall back.]
Kang Shin-hyuk kept his mouth shut as Gaia didn’t deny Mirang and Horus’s bold accusations. As the tension gradually increased, centering on Gaia and Kang Shin-hyuk, the armored Ascaldin and the shadowy Cycatus spoke up in embarrassment.
“I know roughly what’s going on...”
“I don’t think this is still it? Are you guys trying to break down the system that supports this world? That’s what Jormungand would do.”
“It’s the opposite.”
At Cycatus’s words, Janus responded with sarcasm.
“Jormungand doesn’t directly invade Gaia because Gaia is controlling them.”
“Oh, Janus, you’ve gotten better in the meantime.”
“Anvil cured me.”
Suddenly, Janus stood on with her own feet. The wounds left by the spear of light had healed, and the energy contained in the Godslayer seemed amplified. No one added anything, but everything had the same thought as Kang Shin-hyuk at that moment. His ability was similar to that of Gaia.
“Then let’s start again. Anvil said he wanted a majority vote, so let’s try that, Gaia.”
Janus wielded the Godslayer lightly, and a dull vibration ran through the entire space to extinguish the silence around them. Now it felt so tense that it might explode at any moment.
“Janus, I knew you were suffering from your fate. However, it’s unreasonable to cut down Gaia. It’s like killing your parents.”
“She’s not my parent.”
“Have you imagined a world without Gaia? You don’t think Anvil will replace her, right?”
“One thing is certain: Gaia no longer deserves to sit there.”
As expected, Ascaldin and Cycatus went to Gaia. Including Loki, that was a total of four VIP members. But, in fact, that was expected. Including Tsukuyo and Shu, then Horus, Mirang, and Miyang (also Millia and Kwati, who were strong but not VIPs yet), that was seven. Nine, including Kang Shin-hyuk and Janus.
“Gaia, even with your power, it seems difficult to expect a favorable situation. What would you do?”
[Yes, I’m not willing, but I have to change the place. Anyway, as long as all VIP members are gathered, staying in this space is meaningless...!]
-Bang!
A huge hole suddenly opened in the bottom of the world, and a horrifyingly powerful pressure pushed down all of them.
[This is deportation. I will deal with you in a place that suits you, in a way that suits you...]
“Gaia!”
“Where!”
At that moment, Kang Shin-hyuk instinctively reached out and fired a projection at Gaia. It was filled with the power of the Royal Dragon, and spiritual power covered it in five thick chains to bind the reality of Gaia.
[Anvil, you are me!]
“I can’t let you go!”
Gaia tried to cut it off, but Tsukuyo and Janus quickly added their own spiritual power to the chain. Loki tried to help, but Mirang blocked him. Eventually, Gaia, revealed by Kang Shin-hyuk, couldn’t escape and was dragged by the chain down with him.
[You’re pulling me out of my world?!]
“You should’ve been preparing that far from the start!”
“What is this?”
“Yes, in the end, this is...”
Kang Shin-hyuk clenched his jaw as he saw the ground below them. A massive mirror formed the world, with numerous pieces of black dew forming monsters on it.
Perhaps this was Jormungand’s home.
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