Chapter 674 Shattered Circuits and a Damaged Formation
?Unnamed Research Facility
Calnola Island Country
Divider Ocean
June 13th
Year 1053
A pleasant jazz melody resonated through the atmosphere as a gentleman, adorned in a meticulously tailored three-piece suit, drew a magical circuit in the air.
On the operating table in front of him, was an unconscious elf with their chest laid bare and the magic circuit board floating mid-air found its root on their body.
The magic circuits flickered with a blue light as he drew up an additional one. The instant he finished, however, they changed colours to a bright green and the man smiled.
He picked up a notepad with the number '#37' written at the top and scribbled some things on it before setting it back down onto another table.
"So that's the reason why the Heroes Level up faster. The Laws of 'Replication' and 'Proliferation' work in tandem to duplicate the amount of exp they absorb on each kill."
A small smile graced his face as he summoned the energy of close to a dozen World Laws and condensed it at the tip of his pen, before continuing to draw his magic circuit.
The circuits flickered with blue light as he slowly constructed an additional segment.
"If I get this done, I can make these Fakes finally be able t—GAK?!"
The man suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot through his body, from his chest and straight to his head.
His hand moved out of the path he was tracing and the straight line he was drawing in the air became curved, intersecting with a different segment of the circuit.
Suddenly, the flickering blue lights of the circuit changed to a deep ominous red, and then—
**BOOMMMM!!!
—the whole thing exploded in his face with the force of a large-yield conventional bomb.
The building he was in was completely blown to bits and the elf on the operating table was reduced to a mass of charred flesh in a second.
The flames died down almost instantly, and the man's figure was revealed. He had no scratches on his body, and there was only a little bit of soot on his suit.
His facial expression, however, was one of anger.
"This feeling…it's the same as when Dominik Died.
Evan Eris…it's him!"
He clenched his fist so tightly that his nails cut into his palms, barely holding back from punching a hole in the ground to vent his rage.
It was then that two streaks of light descended from above and landed right behind the man, revealing their true forms to be that of a brown-skinned dwarf with rusty red hair and a pale white-haired woman with slightly pointed ears.
Her gaze momentarily went to the corpse of the charred elf on the table, but she quickly looked back to the suit-wearing man.
"Lord First…"
If there was anything this woman—Cellica Berzon—knew, it was that the man in front of her was the kind to easily contain his emotions.
But right now, something made him feel so much anger that he clenched his fist hard enough to draw blood.
And that something was revealed to her by the man's next statement.
"Maude is dead."
"?!"
Expressions of shock crossed the faces of both Cellica and the dwarf beside her at this sudden news. Sure, they had only known her for a few decades when compared to the centuries they had lived, but she was still a comrade they were close to.
Suddenly being told she was dead was a lot to take in.
"She was in the GEE, wasn't she? Perhaps it was one of the Seven Star Generals! I sh-"
"Her killer is Evan Eris. I'm sure of it."
The dwarf's words were cut off when the man spoke again, finally releasing his fist and letting his injured palm heal.
"Her soul was destroyed. Revival is impossible."
In his field of vision, he could see the notification telling him that the link he had with her via his Unique skill had been cut off.
"My Lord. This Hero is a serious nuisance. Give the order and I would personally see to it that there would not even be a corpse left to bury."
"Don't."
"But My Lord!"
"Kranul!"
The Dwarf instantly shut his mouth the moment his Lord had called out his name in a loud voice. For someone who was clearly angry, it wasn't a wise decision to worsen his mood.
But still, it was a fact that Evan had become a serious nuisance to them, and they needed to eliminate him like they had done all the others who were in a similar boat over the past century.
"Leave Evan Eris. Focus on the Barbarians. Find Morass' crown.
If we have that, we can control the Barbarians and their advanced Magi-technology."
Kranul wanted to object and say he should kill Evan before going back to the Barbarians, but Cellica held his shoulder and shook her head.
"Cellica."
"Yes, my Lord?"
"Focus on what I tasked you with. Look for the remaining members of the 'Iremith Family'.
Hydran and Ashe are not the only ones…"
Cellica's expression fell when she heard her orders. She had spent decades looking for the Iremiths and the only ones she had managed to find were Hyrdan whom her Lord already knew of and Ashe in Vuwhax.
There were no records of the existence of any of such powerful beings anywhere else, so she had thought that they were the only ones, but her Lord kept insisting there were others.
"Just as Hydran and Ashe survived the war a millennium ago, so did the others. Find them, and seal them away until its time."
Cellica nodded to acknowledge her orders, before asking a question.
"Pardon my Impertinence, but what about the 'Second'? Can we not send them to deal with this Eris boy before he becomes even more of a threat?"
The half-spirit, half-elf casually suggested sending the person Evan feared even more so than the First Finger after him, but then again, she could not be blamed.
"I received a report that Vaeri was on the Alpha Continent. Why did she not kill the boy when she was there?!"
Kranul questioned with annoyance in his tone. A big problem for the Demonic Hand could have been solved if Vaeri had just taken action, but she didn't.
"You should know by now that Vaeri only listens to her contractor. Those two were already contracted even before they joined us, so I have no authority over Vaeri like I do the other Demons we unsealed.
Vaeri would not move unless her contractor wills it. The problem is that the said contractor could not care less."
From the man's words, it could be surmised that managing the 'Second Finger' was a hassle even for the Leader of the Demonic Hand.
"But if you went to them in person, they would listen to yo-"
"Has your intelligence reduced to be as low as your height?"
"…"
"?!"
The First Finger's question caused the area to turn silent.
Cellica wasn't the one being spoken to, but even she felt how deep that hurt, much less the dwarf whom the question was directed at.
As for Kranul, the man just went silent.
"Why would you even think to consider that as a suggestion?
The same reason I avoid the 'Second' is the same reason I am not on the Alpha Continent right now, ripping out Evan Eris' heart!!"
The First Finger's aura burst from his body and a terrifying pressure descended upon the area. Creatures of flight crashed to the ground and if it wasn't for his last bit of self-control, then every single existence on this island would have been slammed to the ground by the pressure he released.
"Right now, the World Formation is very weak.
Domnik helped us fill it before he died and despite the odds, Kethryllia did her best.
However, it's not enough. The Formation's efficiency reduced ever since we lost the Tenth, and it hadn't had time to heal when Dominik died and the Formation was damaged greatly.
If Kethryllia had died, it would have been a disaster, but Vaeri stopped that.
Now, we only needed a few more days for it to return to pristine condition but Maude's death has returned us to square one."
The man facepalmed and sighed heavily, taking a moment to calm himself before continuing.
"The only bright side about this is that Maude was the 'Ninth Node' so the damage her death has caused is not too much."
Looking at the Third and Fourth Fingers in front of him he asked.
"You know why I do not personally interact with the Second, do you not?"
"They are an 'Irregular'…a Grade 2 Irregular to be precise."
As the Central Node of the World Formation, if you were to go near them, they'd disrupt the World Laws that comprise the formation and the damage would be the same as if any of the 'Fingers' died.
If the World Formation is damaged any further, we may not be able to generate enough energy to force the rift open and widen it enough for Transcendents to pass through."
When he heard the answer that Cellica gave, the First Finger nodded in affirmation, before muttering something to himself.
"At least one of you still has their intelligence intact."
It took every single bit of self-control that Cellica had to not burst out laughing right this instant, somehow managing to maintain a poker face.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺