Chapter 379: Nerpa (2)

—rumble—

Elis Valentine clenched her teeth as she felt the aura that had exploded out from the distance.

‘Damn… I fooled around a bit too long.’

She was supposed to quickly deal with the girl in front of her and self-destruct the crystal, but she’d been too immersed in the battle—it had been a long time since she’d tasted something this exciting.

Of course, the result wasn’t bad.

The girl called Kiriel was gasping for breath and could barely stand on her feet.

She had been too drunk from the pleasure she felt as she watched the blood-covered girl.

Elis realized she had made a mistake.

This powerful aura that she could feel from this far away.

This proved that Melchizedek had succeeded in its goal, whatever that was.

And as they expected, this was not something that was good for them.

—kiiiiiing!—

The crystal between her and Kiriel shone violently and began to change.

Then—

Guoooooooooo!

—the Nelkipa’s roars rang out.

A roar filled with rage.

But it felt more like someone else’s emotions and not its own.

Like how the human holding the gun and the sword could be angry but not the gun and sword themselves.

The weapon, Nelkipa, was a tool to resolve the user’s emotions.

And there was only one reason why the Nelkipa would suddenly change like this.

An owner had appeared.

‘What the… Did it gain control over this giant monster?’

Elis was at a loss.

She knew Melchizedek would do something, but not to this extent.

If Melchizedek had taken control over this thing, then that was truly the worst possible scenario.

She hadn’t felt it, but she was sure that this Nelkipa’s powers went beyond her comprehension.

‘That’s not good.’

Elis shouted at Kiriel.

“Hey! Ceasefire for a bit! Break time!”

“Ceasefire?”

Kiriel replied while gasping for breath. Elis nodded.

“Yes girl, a ceasefire.”

At this rate, they would all die.

She didn’t know what Melchizedek had done, but it had gained a tremendous power.

And it was clear where it would direct this strength.

Melchizedek’s main goal was Angkara, but it would first deal with those who’d kept annoying it up until now.

In its eyes, they were nothing more than parasites on top of Nelkipa.

They needed to deal with it before that happened.

The greatest weapon in Melchizedek’s hands.

The giant creature, Nelkipa.

They had to crash it or at least damage it to the point where it couldn’t function anymore.

‘That crystal… If we can blow that crystal up, then it might be possible!’

Elis Valentine glared towards the crystal and thought:

If they could succeed in their original plans, then it would be possible.

If they blew up the crystal—like her and her brother’s original plan—then they would be able to strike a fatal blow onto Nelkipa.

“Dammit! Come and help! Unless you want to die here!’

Guoooooo!

The bloodthirsty voice of Nelkipa rang throughout the upper areas of its body.

Like a warning to all those that opposed Melchizedek.

No, it wasn’t just a warning.

—kiiiiiiing!—

The giant spikes were heating up as they let out bright blue lights.

As if they were about to fire something at any moment.

And that wasn’t the only transformation.

—chiijijijik—

Nelkipa’s crystalline skin started to undulate.

The simply blue crystal-like skin started to fill up with bright blue lights.

While its skin received a supply of energy, the entire surface of Nelkipa started to undulate.

No, the skin had something else hidden inside it.

An aura filled with animosity and bloodthirst.

The entirety of Nelkipa was preparing itself against Kiriel and Elis.

As if saying that it would shred them apart as soon as it fully woke up.

Small bits of flesh had started protruding out from the skin and was changing the overall look of Nelkipa’s surface.

Spears, swords, or something else that was sharp.

If it had been ready, this energy would’ve already shredded them apart.

And this momentum told Elis that it would be stronger than anything she had ever experienced up until now.

Even her Trait would be nothing before this thing.

—rumble—

“F***… I’m going to go ahead! Come and help!”

Elis left behind Kiriel, who was still lost in thought, and she started to shake the energy within the crystal.

—rumble—

She was slightly exhausted by the battle, but her Transcendent destruction shook the entire crystal.

‘I must… end it before it gets fully used to this!’

But Elis didn’t drop her guard against Kiriel even while she frantically shook the crystal, and she glanced briefly at her.

And what she saw was a very calm expression.

No, there was even a hint of indifference.

‘This crazy b****…!’

She knew that she herself was insane, but shouldn’t their survival take priority?

“You crazy b****! Help! We need to survive first! This is the only way we can survive!”

Elis shouted with rage.

…………………………………………

—rumble—

“Ha…hahahahaha! This is it!”

Melchizedek screamed out in joy at the sensation it felt from its new body.

It felt its body and artificial intelligence had fully synchronized and fused.

As if it had been born with this body from the very beginning.

‘My research did not let me down.’

The research it had conducted against the aliens and the insect race had shown their results.

If not for that, it wouldn’t have been able to fully devour this body.

—rumble—

The countless ruins.

Hansoo had destroyed the castle that it had painstakingly built, but Melchizedek could only feel jovial.

It had created everything for this one goal, and since it had achieved that goal, nothing else mattered anymore.

These ruins actually made it easier for Melchizedek to move on from its past.

It didn’t need any of this trash anymore.

It now had Nelkipa.

‘Good. Good.’

Guooooong!

Melchizedek listened to the cries of this giant creature and made a satisfied expression.

And beneath Melchizedek’s feet, Nelkipa’s skin continued to roll back and forth.

The other areas turned sharp and pointy as if it were threatening all other creatures on Nelkipa, but the area around Melchizedek was flat and smooth.

—pushuk—

As if it was welcoming its owner, the area around Melchizedek was soft.

But Melchizedek’s expression wasn’t quite satisfied.

‘…Maybe not yet.’

It had originally wanted to turn the surface before its feet into stairs.

But it seemed like that wasn’t possible just yet.

It seemed that it would need more time to control this giant creature perfectly.

‘Well, that doesn’t really matter.’

Melchizedek smiled coldly as it walked towards Hansoo in the distance.

—clank—

It picked up a piece of rubble nearby and crushed it.

A fragment of the metal alloy wall that it had painstakingly created.

The metal alloy, created from seven different metals and was as strong as the walls of the fleet ships, was easily shredded apart like paper.

“Hahahaha!”

Melchizedek laughed as it looked at the broken metal fragments in its hand.

The alien race’s body strength and hardness were so powerful it was almost ridiculous.

But this body wouldn’t lose out to the aliens and almost surpassed them.

‘Perfect. Really.’

Melchizedek was very satisfied.

It had only taken over this body to control the Nelkipa.

And that was more than enough.

What else mattered if it could control this weaponized creature?

That was why it had relentlessly researched the aliens.

That was why it had turned Aokan into a bomb and distracted the Kalkuroun Fleet.

Every force it had created up until now were secondary to the alien race, and it had treated the physical abilities of the Nerpa as secondary aspects as well.

Since it believed that there was a limit to how strong a lifeform could grow.

But as it gained this new body and felt its strength.

It realized.

Why those aliens trusted in their own strength so much.

Why they tried so hard to become stronger and gain stronger weapons.

It understood.

‘You’ve kept giving me presents even until the very end. Thank you, Nerpa.’

Melchizedek smiled for the original owner of this body who was now long gone and then kicked the ground.

—boom!—

The three-meter-tall body of the Nerpa flew into the air and then quickly descended towards Hansoo who had been talking with its hologram.

—booooooom!—

A sound that was countless times louder than when it kicked off the ground rang out as it landed.

“Hahahahaha! Great!”

—kiiiing!—

Its fist.

And the hammer that had collided with its fist.

The shockwave that exploded out from that collision.

It understood the thrill of having a powerful body.

It hadn’t known when it lived within the networks.

The hammer that crushed everything it had created was being pushed back from its fist.

And that wasn’t all.

—kududuk!—

The Nelkipa’s energy was continuously replenishing itself.

And Melchizedek’s control over the Nelkipa kept rising.

These two factors were slowly bringing all of Nelkipa under its complete control.

The Nelkipa’s skin beneath them started to whirl up and down.

—pashashashak!—

The skin rose up and covered the both of them.

—tatatang!—

The blue wave moving towards Hansoo had shifted into countless spears.

On the other hand, the blue liquid that shot towards Melchizedek surrounded its body and turned into armor.

“Hahaha! Let’s end it now!”

And at Melchizedek’s words—

—tonk!—

—Hansoo slammed away a spear and then shrugged.

“Well, I don’t know about the end or anything, but I know it’s the end for you.”

“Huh?”

At Melchizedek’s confusion, Hansoo thought to himself:

‘Maybe you can’t see it.’

The blue body that was charging towards him.

And the letters on its forehead.

GIFT

Hansoo stared at the clear writings of the fairy on Melchizedek’s forehead.