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D.I.O - Chapter 189

Published at 18th of March 2023 06:48:20 AM


Chapter 189

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“Hey… who are you?” Minah asked after Merlin cleared the Infected from the area and also dealt with the series of Slayers which followed. She was the first survivor that Merlin had met after materializing on planet Ayan. Everyone else was too cautious and scared to go near him, as he seemed like a god in their eyes. Though the survivors all possessed special talents and spiritual powers, the abilities themselves and how they used them couldn’t stand against Merlin. Essentially, Merlin was a being cut from a completely different cloth.

“In simple terms, I’m a fixer, a problem solver.”

“Where are you from?”

At her question, Merlin looked up into the sky. Minah flinched.

“You’re from outer space? You’re an alien?”

“An alien… you can say that. I’m definitely not from this planet.”

Merlin wasn’t the only one that found DIO a bit weird. The game’s operators and developers didn’t seem to be hiding the fact that DIO wasn’t a normal game anymore, and as more Master Level users appeared, a larger portion of the user base began to question DIO’s origins and how it related to reality.

However, Merlin knew more than any of the other users. In truth, even if he only had a little information, Merlin could logically surmise the overall structure due to his affinity for deduction and reasoning. Moreover, he was an advanced mage that could peer into the [Knowledge of the Universe].

“So, you’re really an alien? Then, do you know where these monsters are from-”

“I can only answer up to here.”

When Merlin cut her off sharply, Minah couldn’t continue her line of questioning. Though Minah was exceptionally pretty and physically attractive, as she was a sort of celebrity here, Merlin didn’t give her any attention because they’d never meet again after he completed the mission. Merlin wasn’t aware of this, but planet Aya was several hundred million light years away from Earth.

‘Sickening.’

Merlin stood against a wall and closed his eyes, remembering the image of Miho within the glass tube.

‘I can’t do anything. My access to information is limited as well. I’m like a monkey dancing on Buddha’s palm.’

Furthermore, even if he continued doing missions and gathered enough gem points to bring Miho back, there was no guarantee that she’d be the same. Her memory could have been erased, or she could be another existence that only looked like Miho. In the worst case, she might be a spy put in place to monitor his every move.

Of course, as an advanced mage, Merlin could think of solutions to any problem, but what could he possibly do to those who had created the transcendent-like system that was DIO?

Creak.

“Is it time already?”

As he felt a disturbance wave in the surrounding spiritual environment, Merlin opened his eyes and stood. However, instead of finding any Slayers, Merlin saw Quiet Heaven approach him. Until now, the bird was flying around and helping the survivors.

“Wait, the aura this time feels different,” Quiet Heaven murmured.

Quiet Heaven chanted a few holy words and covered its body with a red-colored spiritual qi while Merlin turned his head and spoke to Minah.

“Go underground. I sense something extremely dangerous approaching.”

“Huh? B-but, if it’s a dangerous enemy, then we should all pull together and-”

“You’re saying you can help?”

When Merlin looked at her with an expression that seemed to state she shouldn’t continue speaking nonsense, Minah flinched and took a step back. However, when she realized what she’d done after Merlin gave her a condescending look, she grew angry.

“Hey! I’m being considerate, alright-”

“It’s here.”

Boom!

A space in the air split and a huge steel door emerged. At first, Merlin thought it was an oddly-shaped Slayer. The Slayers weren’t regular living beings, and they came in many different shapes and sizes.

Yet, the steel door wasn’t a Slayer. It was truly a door.

“Hmm? I don’t feel good about this,” Quiet Heaven commented.

“I feel the same way. I should break the door.”

Merlin immediately shot a magic bullet at the door. Since the door had appeared, something must be emerging from it, and in this situation, there was no chance it’d be friendly. So, Merlin wanted to destroy the door in advance, but before he could, two Slayers materialized on either side of the door and blocked Merlin’s attack.

“Hahaha. I guess this is the user they were talking about. We received the news late, so you’ve been able to deal quite some damage to our forces.”

“Union bastards… they’re using all sorts of tricks now, aren’t they.”

The new Slayers were terrifying beings who were comparable to advanced demons and angels at Level 14 to Level 16. Masters who fought these monsters for missions could stand up to them with no issue, whether it be alone or in a group. However, if one of these existences showed up on Earth, it would easily devastate and ruin an entire nation before it was handled.

Since there were two of these monsters, even Merlin had to be vigilant, and he was a member of the group popularly known as the Heaven Above the Heavens.

‘Well, this is unpleasant.’

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Yet, Merlin wasn’t focused on the two Slayers. He didn’t approve of the developing situation because he guessed that the door and this new enemy did not show up for the other users. It seemed that the management team, the Noblesse, were testing him.

‘What are they trying to test? My overall power level… Combat power? No. They would already know those things about me… my tendencies? My mental state?’ 

Merlin wasn’t sure what the management team was aiming for, but he didn’t like any of the possible theories he came up with. Alas, regardless of his dislike, he could not prevent the situation.

‘How displeasing.’

As Merlin muttered, one of the two Slayers stepped forward to face him. The Slayer was in human form, but in contrast to a typical human, he had ten pairs of arms and gray skin.

“Fufufu. To be honest, I don’t understand why two ‘Numbered’ Slayers like us need to be mobilized to fight such a lowly being. I suppose it’s because there are a lot of us Numbered.”

Clank! Clank!

Ten black swords suddenly popped up in the air, and the Slayer used all of the hands from one side of its body to grab them. Soon, it started to move freely, creating a bloody sword wind.

“Hahaha! Good! Shall we dance then, human!”

The Slayer’s eyes burst with an overflowing sense of madness. The Slayer was a murderous executioner who had slaughtered countless living things, living on others’ pain and sorrow as if it were food. Even if someone had a firm will, once they met the Slayer’s gaze, they would’ve collapsed in fear. Yet, Merlin just laughed.

“What the hell are you blabbering about, you handicapped SOB.”

Bam.

An almost imperceptible sound was heard. It sounded like a saturated sponge being lightly tapped with the palm of one’s hand. However, after it briefly felt itself lose control of its body, the Slayer looked down at its chest.

There, it saw a deep palm print.

Like an explosive weapon that inflicted physical damage, Merlin had forcefully penetrated his opponent’s body and inputted his own energy into his opponent to cause Qigong Deviation. It was similar to Penetration Power in that it bypassed the enemy’s defense and inflicted enormous internal physical damage like the Great Strength Vajra Hand. Moreover, since this attack could be used over a long distance, it also had properties of the Great Tantra Hand.

If any martial artist had seen this attack, their mind would’ve fallen into disarray. The ability used numerous martial art principles, but at the same time, it was nothing like them.

That attack was the culmination of the true meaning of Strike, which Merlin realized after seeing Lancelot’s stab attack.

“… Huh, what is this?”

Merlin answered the groaning Slayer’s question.

“This is the apex principle that cannot be understood, defended against, or avoided….”

A Woong sound rang out in the area.

“… I call it the Irrational Hand Strike.”

Boom.

As soon as Merlin finished speaking, a ghastly shock pierced through the palm print on the Slayer’s chest and exploded out its back. Merlin had amplified ten years of internal energy into 20 years through Mercury, 40 years through Venus, and then 80 years through Earth. Eventually, his initial ten years were amplified to 160 years once it passed Merlin’s fourth planet, Mars. In other words, the power behind his strike was nearly three full cycles of internal energy.

Three cycles of internal energy was a monstrous amount to release in a single blow, so the Slayer’s internal body was ravaged beyond recognition. Of course, the Slayer had strong defensive abilities, both physically and spiritually, but Merlin’s strike broke through every single one.

Clang!

All ten swords fell to the ground as the Slayer collapsed, and at that moment, Merlin’s two spirits, Younghwi and Shining, retrieved the blades and put them into Merlin’s inventory. After watching the unfolding scene in a leisurely manner, the remaining Slayer shot up in surprise.

“H-hey you!”

“Penetrate through.”

However, the Decian Bow abruptly appeared in Merlin’s hands. When Merlin cracked a yellow topaz, a terrifying electric shock reverberated around the area.

/Lightning Blade of Zeus!/

Rumble!

Lightning struck down. Of course, the Slayer couldn’t avoid the sword of lightning, which moved at the speed of light. It was one of Merlin’s howling spells, the strongest Howling spell that he had for use against an individual opponent.

“T-this is absurd….”

With a moan, the Slayer’s body turned to powder and scattered. Merlin mumbled as he swapped out his bow with a gear change.

“What a waste. It takes so much time to make these magic stones.”

The best-case scenario was killing both Slayers with his Irrational Hand Strike, but unlike his first planet Mercury, which could always be used, his second planet Venus required a cooldown of half a second, and the cooldown was even longer for his third planet, Earth, clocking in at 30 seconds. Mars, Merlin’s fourth planet, required a cooldown of about 15 minutes. This sudden increase in cooldown time was because Merlin’s No Living World system entered a kind of discharge state after amplifying his internal energy through all four planets. Even after his system became stable, if Merlin continued to utilize his four-planet system, the cooldown would grow longer and longer.

Basically, his hand skill could be used as a surprise attack or one ultimate attack; it couldn’t be used multiple times in one sitting. Most importantly, Merlin’s blood vessels screamed in pain whenever such a massive amount of internal energy passed through his system. If he used that attack three times in a row, all of his blood vessels would be torn apart.

Creak!

The door began to slowly open while emitting a loud noise. As he noticed this, Merlin placed his hand on the door.

“I’m not some main character of a special-effects film, so there’s no need to watch this while standing idly by.”

Crack! Crackle!

The surrounding mana was rearranged under Merlin’s control and soon began to erode the gate’s spiritual code pattern. Merlin’s ability to interpret and manipulate spiritual characters was already beyond common sense, so in just ten seconds, the door started collapsing.

Although Merlin was curious about what being would emerge from the door, as two Level 15 Slayers accompanied it as guardians, he didn’t feel that it was necessary to know.

“There’s no need to prolong the battle. It’s not like I’m a crazy fiend addicted to fighting.”

Thus, Merlin led with the most formidable method he had, a technique that could be called his signature special move. If he slowly revealed his strength by fighting in moderation and used this attack later, the enemy would grow aware of his overall power and could possibly block his attack.

For this reason, Merlin used his signature move without hesitation from the start, and due to this, he successfully killed the enemy who’d been looking down on him, needing only one blow. Merlin’s Irrational Hand Strike and the Lightning Blade of Zeus were both techniques that didn’t require time to activate, so his targets wouldn’t have time to prepare.

Crack.

The door collapsed under the pressure of Merlin’s magic power. The metal door, which was protected by a special ability, couldn’t be easily damaged by normal attacks or force, but it was inevitably crushed by Merlin’s magic, as he had already understood the door’s spiritual code pattern.

The door creaked as it tried to somehow open, but the pressure pushing on it increased at a rate faster than what it could handle, and the door broke in half.

“N-no way!”

The shout caused the surrounding air and space to waver. The heavy, bloody cry was strong enough to crush a being’s soul, but Merlin calmly replied.

“Yes, way.”

Crack!

Finally, the door completely shattered. The warp gate that the door represented, which connected to an unknown location, was closed alongside the destruction.

“Wow, something terrifying was coming… but you resolved and cleared that up fairly quickly.”

Merlin nodded after hearing Quiet Heaven’s comments. Quiet Heaven had been flying around the survivors and guarding them, and it now flew towards Merlin.

“Also, I got some good stuff.”

“Good stuff?”

When Quiet Heaven cocked its head, Merlin bent down and grabbed the door, which had become a hunk of scrap metal. Since Merlin’s magic power could crush it, the door wasn’t made from a particularly durable metal, but it emanated strange energy. Merlin couldn’t figure out what type of metal it was or its properties.

“Fly into the air to an invisible place. My sanctuary….”

As Merlin chanted and cast his spell, a space opened, and soon, the scrap metal vanished. As it saw this, Quiet Heaven made a puzzled expression.

“Why did you put it in a subspace instead of your inventory?”

“I have my reasons.”

Merlin made this decision because DIO’s management would notice as soon as the item had entered his inventory. Quiet Heaven had seen Merlin grab the material, so it could leak the information to DIO’s management, or the management team could be monitoring him through other means, but Merlin didn’t fret, as he had to work through everything in a gradual manner.

“Is it over now?” Quiet Heaven asked.

Merlin used Enhanced Eyesight to scan his surroundings. Not a single Infected or Slayer was nearby. By all accounts, the mission was over.

“I think so, but I can’t return.”

Merlin waited for a while, around ten minutes. Merlin was unaware of this, but when he handled the monster he was supposed to face, Madness, he instantly caused DIO’s system to crash momentarily.

However, it was only a brief crash. A new text message showed in his mind.




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