After four hours of heading straight towards the southeastern direction, I noticed that there were really Metagens following me. Not just one or two, maybe at least three Assault Teams. They're surely from the Confederacy and straight from the Sentry Bases.
Well, not just them. A simple scan revealed that above me, hidden beyond the clouds, a few aircrafts were also silently following the movements of the Purple Haze.
I noticed that the silhouettes of those aircrafts were not native to this world. At least I haven't seen any aircrafts with those kinds of build.
Aircrafts were still being used in this world, of course, not everyone could become a Metagen Pilot after all. Those are for the common people and the Operators who's unfortunate.
Upon observing them for a while, I determined that those were Anzean aircrafts. They were transport aircrafts, to be precise. They're probably carrying a team of Anzeans who would engage me in a battle if ever I stop or when they decided to make a move against me.
The Darkgens were probably on their way as well. If I didn't have the Orb of Concealment I might really be done in by these lots once they catch up.
Was it the Emperor who arranged this or all of them? Either way, they really don't want to see another Mythic-rank to rise up from Nysia's side. Maybe my identity as the fourth Hero also became a factor to this decision.
Haa... I could only sigh at this turn of events. Even though we already expected this, seeing it really happening was tragic. I could only lament to the fates of those who died due to them being seen as a threat by these petty Transcendents.
Thinking back to the lack of response from the World's Will, it probably has something to do with this. It's always watching them from somewhere, seeing the Transcendents colluding with the enemy like that, it probably lost its hope from its denizens. Even if they're just pursuing their own goals and ambitions, to prevent the others from reaching the same height was surely something it couldn't accept.
Nysia once mentioned that when she became a Transcendent, it congratulated her and told her information about the world but at some point, it stopped responding altogether.
Upon reaching Transcendence in a Mortal World, they probably became something like an entity of equal standing with the World's Will. They will leave the control of it but maintain their connection. As Transcendents, they only represent themselves while the World's Will represents the world itself. Every Transcendent will still be connected to the world as long as they didn't change their Source Energy but the World's Will won't be able to punish them anymore.
Ah. I am overthinking again.
Let's focus on what's in front of us first. Maybe if I reach Transcendence I would be able to talk with it and learn something from it.
I shook my head to clear my mind before focusing on the screen again which showed my surroundings.
I was already far enough from the city that everywhere I looked, there were only ruins of the previous civilization. It's like I was in a post-apocalyptic world due to the never-ending ruins and desolate places.
Below, I noticed some vagrants trying their best to look for loot that they could exchange in a black market somewhere around the area. Just looking at how they struggled like thiw to live compared to those in the city, it's two different worlds.
Then there were still those who took advantage of them by cheating them of their hard-earned regenium shards. What a cruel world, eh? Well, even on Earth, things like that happened so it's not really surprising.
When the Purple Haze passed by them, they all looked up while beaming a huge smile as if they found a treasure. They probably thought another battle would happen where regeniums would fall off the sky.
However, I couldn't really afford to be surrounded by the enemies. I could fight them off but the Purple Haze would probably become battered after the battle.
10 minutes later, as the Purple Haze continued to glide over the sky while leaving a purple smoke trail, the Metagens following me started to speed up in a bid to catch up.
The aircrafts above me also started to lower their altitude revealing themselves below the clouds. When they reached a certain height, the bottom part of the aircrafts opened wherein the Anzeans covered in their carapaces started jumping out one after another.
As they dropped from the sky, their backs opened where insect wings sprouted and started to flap which gave them a boost on their speed.
After that, the ones leading in front took out hexagonal metal objects. Those following behind them then arranged themselves in a V-formation behind.
Right. Like that iconic giant robot anime.
When those hexagonal metal objects were thrown in front of them, they all expanded from their compressed state and split into six parts; a head, two arms, two legs and the torso.
With the ones who threw it taking the head part, the other four in their formations took one of each limb.
It's a bit different than that iconic robot wherein no one took the torso, it became something like a pole that pulled the parts together.
As I watched them do that from a rear camera attached to my Metagen, I couldn't help but silently hum the tune of that anime while they slowly combined together.
With the head part latching itself on top followed by the limbs, 5 shining lights lit up on the torso indicating the location of the cores and the pilots of the giant war machine. After that was the adjustments and locking those parts in place.
It took them at least a minute to complete that transformation which formed into a 15-meter giant robot that towered over my Purple Haze. And it's not just one, there were five of them!
Err... At least they didn't pose after they combined. That would be hilarious.
This was not really the first time I was encountering their own version of Metagens. During my assessment inside the virtual simulation, I encountered and fought them. If I recalled correctly, they're called Pentacom. However, in there, they're already combined. Seeing them combine in live was a bit exhilarating.
With five Anzeans piloting the robot, their efficiency was surely higher than a Metagen which was piloted by only one.
As they sped up towards me to close in the distance, they each took out cannons or guns and shot at me to restrict the Purple Haze's movements.
With my hands completely focused on inputting the commands through the interface, I let my Flux Energy flow to the aperture.
If I let myself be restricted here, those Metagens will also catch up, so it's better to shake them off as soon as possible.
Having decided that, I immediately put it into action.
[Energy Amplification has been activated]
[Energy Burn has started.]
[Burn Rate: 27 units of Flux Energy/second]
[Gained 27% increase in all abilities, skills and energy effectiveness]
[Will expire upon Energy Depletion or deactivating Energy Amplification]
Activating the Energy Amplification, I swiftly followed it by creating four clones.
Just like how I did it during my fight with the triplets. Filling the place with purple smoke to cover their eyesight, the four Purple Haze clones spread out in four different directions while the concealed Purple Haze dropped down from the sky.
I opened the cockpit and jumped out of it before turning it back to its compressed form.
Upon landing on the ground, I immediately pulled out a vagrant cloak to disguise myself as I started sprinting away from the location, without looking back as to what happened to my clones nor the five Pentacoms who chased after them.
No matter how strong I am right now, fighting 5 Pentacoms and 3 Assault Teams will be considered suicide. I wouldn't have any way to retaliate and just dodge them over and over until I ran out of Flux Energy.
I already achieved my goal to let them focus on me, the rest will depend on what Nysia and the others will do. For now, my focus is to safely reach Transcendence and go back.
Until now I still didn't receive any notification about Yumiko and Yuko's Transcendence. It's already 13 hours since they started knocking on that door. According to Nysia, the 2nd and 3rd part could last for a day depending on the person attempting it. For her, it took 20 hours before she completed her Transcendence.
I have no choice but to wait, eh?
A distance away from where I landed, I entered a ruin to rest and let those chasing after me pass by the area.
I took out a tablet pc to check on the map Nysia provided. Marked on it was the place where she did her attempt. It's near the border of her hometown that was already in ruins. Also marked on the map were the landmarks and things I would see there.
After making plans on what route to take, I took out a sphere after pressing a button and throwing it in front of me, it expanded and transformed into a Portable Absorption Room. Well, Nysia had this invented. It's just a normal Absorption Room that was devoid of the function wherein it would collect Meta Energy in the surroundings. Instead of that, there's a space where one could put a container full of energy that will be used for cultivation.
Nysia gave me 7 days worth of Dark Energy that she got from the destroyed black market. Even if I rejected it, she insisted for me to take it.
Well, since my Mortal Path is still in the 3rd realm, I really need to continue absorbing even if I'm already on the verge of being a Transcendent.
Upon camouflaging the ruins I entered and making sure no one will find their way in, I opened the door to the Absorption Room after placing the container that has a Dark Energy that's enough for 6 hours of absorption session.
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