D.I.O

“Now then! Shall we start over in earnest?”

Accompanying that pleasant voice, a whirlwind of strong qi struck Merlin’s party.

Bang!

Arc stood at the forefront of the group to block the raging strong qi. Her armor, which was made of extremely compressed mana, was successful in resisting the strong qi—a qi energy that was able to interfere with all existing attributes.

“Hahaha! It was so frustrating to only be able to look down on what was happening from the ship!” Volcano, the captain of Basara’s 12th ship, [Flame], laughed heartily as he kicked off from the ground. “Why was it so hard for you all to break through this?!”

Bam!

With a roar, the whirlwind of strong qi whipped up once more and exploded into flames, eventually blowing Arc away. The black armor that covered her entire body was shattered into pieces.

[Accept the great calling. You are the owners of pleasure!]

As a spiritual speech reverberated throughout her surroundings, Happiness—a beautiful human-looking specimen—grew wings like those of an angel on her back.

She said, “Ah… Ah… I’m so excited. I feel like I’m part of a moment in history~”

“…Get out, now,” Sadness stated in a mechanical voice.

Apparently, Sadness didn’t seem to get along well with Happiness.

[Exterminate,] Alexander said.

[Oh, as always, you’re so reticent,] the sphere, M-4, about one meter in diameter, remarked.

The M-4 model, which had been produced to conduct ordinary housekeeping and secretarial functions, was sold everywhere and existed in every corner of the universe. In fact, more than 100 million units were produced and sold to date.

It was this same M-4 that spoke calmly to Alexander instead of rushing at the enemy. Of course, Alexander, who had just been in the middle of a fierce battle, ignored M-4’s comment.

Bang! Bam!

“Quiet Heaven…?!”

The sudden bang of a gun firing caught Merlin by surprise. Then his expression hardened when he saw a bullet slam into Quiet Heaven, who was floating next to him. All this happened so instantaneously and suddenly that it had been impossible to stop from happening. Merlin hadn’t even had enough time to raise any of his defenses.

“Ellie!”

“Oh, shoot. Black…”

“Wukong!”

Moreover, it wasn’t just Quiet Heaven who had suffered such a fate. Arc, Bruce Wayne, and Cruze’s pets had also been killed simultaneously. To begin with, they had been the weakest beings with the least fighting power on the battlefield. This disaster had befallen them because they had gathered close together upon seeing new enemy forces suddenly appeared all around them.

[All Noblesse terminals have been removed. Currently in the process of removing all Elohim terminals as well. Clearing the way to create a firm connection,] Alexander stated.

It was a statement that sounded close to an official report.

Nevertheless, M-4 responded with a bright tone of voice, [It’s been a while, Mr. Alexander. How are you doing?]

[Perform the mission. Maintain focus on the mission objective.]

[I’m having a pretty good time these days.]

[Perform mission,] Alexander said with some force in his words.

However, M-4 didn’t seem to care.

[Actually, I’m going through something right now that could change the fate of the Legion itself. It’s top secret, but should I tell you a little bit about it?]

[Focus on the battle…] Alexander responded in a tone that seemed to ask why M-4 was even present.

Nonetheless, Alexander knew that it couldn’t ignore M-4 and act on its own accord. Unlike Alexander, which had been produced to be a combat weapon, M-4 was just a general bot that was used to conduct household chores or menial office tasks… In other words, M-4 was a legacy item of an ancient civilization that had reached the Fifth Stage of Civilization before disappearing from the universe. The power that M-4 possessed may be that of a low-level transcendent, but the influence M-4 had on the Legion as a whole was by no means small.

[Well, to be frank, do we really have to join this battle?]

[Get it together, M-4. I observed an enormous burst of information from that human over there. If we secure that human, we might be able to overcome the Singularity. And if that should happen, we might even be able to reach the Fifth Stage of Civilization…]

[Hmm, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Anyway, let’s hang back and observe.]

[But…] Alexander hesitantly looked at the forces of the other two factions—the Grotesque and the Basara.

Alexander thought that if it and M-4, the representative of the Legion forces, stood back and didn’t participate in the battle, the other two factions would have a higher chance of acquiring the human (Merlin)—a source of excessive amounts of information. The situation already seemed to be progressing in this direction.

“Eh?!” Jeros, who was about to cast a spell, was being choked by Happiness, who had flown faster than a bullet to reach Jeros’ location.

The Hero’s Fate blessing that Gaia had bestowed on Jeros was a very powerful correction… but the blessing didn’t give him the strength to overcome a transcendent—a being who had already surpassed its predetermined fate and destiny.

“Don’t just kill them off. They’re able to resurrect.”

“Oh, is that so? Then…”

“S-Sparks and flames, give me— Eh?!”

Happiness’s red lips locked onto Jeros’ mouth right when he was trying hurriedly to complete his spell chant. Happiness exuded a sense of eroticism; she had a voluptuous body that was no different from that of an alluring woman’s body. However, her actions were extremely gruesome.

Creak!

The expressions of the Masters distorted as they were affected by the sonic shockwaves spreading throughout the area, accompanied by a sound that was like fingernails scratching a blackboard.

“Soul Drain!”

“Jeros! No!” Hanma yelled.

Upon seeing his friend in danger, Hanma, Jeros’ best friend, charged at Happiness like a bolt of lightning. Currently, his ability and power were at the highest level they had ever been in his entire life! Hanma made his body faster and stronger than a cannonball by using his strongest attack and quickest move, Earthly Thunder Strike.

“I feel sorry for you.”

However, everything was relative, especially power.

Bam!

Hanma’s body, which was harder than steel—no, probably much harder than that, was crushed like a piece of paper. What caught him, as he was blown away, were wings that seemed to be made of the same membrane as that of bats’ wings.

Sadness looked at Hanma with a melancholic expression and raised its hand casually into the air. Hanma tried to resist, but he couldn’t move properly; it was as if his body was experiencing a seizure. This left him fully exposed to Sadness’ downward blow.

Crack!

Sadness ripped out Hanma’s heart with its sharp claws, brought the heart up to its mouth, and then chewed on it. What Sadness did wasn’t simply the act of eating the organ that supplied a human body with blood; it was spiritual predation.

When Hanma’s heart was eaten, Hanma’s soul was torn apart and absorbed by Sadness. Jeros, who had been kissed by Happiness, faced the same situation.

These acts meant that the two users had met a total death. Of course, their physical bodies were still alive on Earth, but since their souls were destroyed, their physical bodies would also die eventually.

“Not like this… Not like this…”

They were futile deaths.

Bruce Wayne gritted his teeth as he watched his fallen colleagues get dumped on the ground like garbage.

‘This is absurd.’

Hanma had been Earth’s top life force user, and Jeros was China’s top mage. Truly, the two were the cream of the crop even among the talented; they were the top few among billions of users.

Even so, to the transcendent monsters who had descended from the greater universe, Hanma and Jeros were nothing more than frogs that had lived their whole lives inside a deep well. No matter how much effort they put in or how determined they were, the humans on Earth were as inferior as insects to these transcendents.

‘Don’t be so cocky.’

Bruce Wayne’s breathing became shallower. Dark energy flowed out from his dark magic sword and from his body. With the Hero’s Fate blessing, Bruce Wayne was able to reach the pinnacle of the Dark Magic Technique at this very moment.

‘I will survive.’

With a firm determination, his figure melted into the shadows.

Bam!

However, a single slash of sword qi mercilessly cut through the shadows.

The elf swordsman, Chan, smiled coldly. “What I hate most are cowards who hide.”

Bruce Wayne’s body rose from the shadows. His soul was unharmed, but unlike his comrades… he had taken part in the battle through manifestation, so his life was essentially over.

“Take this!!” Leaf yelled out.

Meanwhile, divine qi exploded in front of the group. At the point of explosion, one could see Leaf blocking and fending off Volcano’s attacks with a powerful aura revolving around her body.

“Man, what’s up with this little girl?”

“Captain, she’s protected by a blessing from the Planet God, so be careful and vigilant.”

“If it’s the Hero’s Fate you’re talking about, I’ve already faced that sort of blessing several times in the past… and… this is absolutely not the Hero’s Fate.”

Merlin continued to create magic stones as he peeked over at Leaf. He was the only one who knew how Leaf was capable of unleashing power similar to that of a transcendent.

‘Kang Sang…’

Kang Sang maintained a translucent appearance while he stood behind Leaf like a shadow. He didn’t imbue her with specific powers, but it seemed like he was helping her in other ways.

‘However, it’s still an uphill battle.’

Although Volcano was surprised by Leaf’s forceful reaction, he was relaxed enough to chat with his subordinates. Even if Leaf were able to hold out, her chances of winning against Volcano were infinitely small—nearly close to zero.

‘As expected, the only answer is…’

Crackle!

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, a burst of light flashed, and Merlin staggered. He was just about to take out a Flame Ruby and activate a spell when he was struck by an attack. The attacker was a spherical machine standing in the distance. M-4 spun around to face Merlin.

[Well, I’m just watching for now, but I can’t allow you to summon Apollo again. That’ll make everything much too complicated.]

“No, this…” Merlin looked in disbelief at the handcuffs binding his arms—no, not just his arms.

There was a locking sound, and his arms and legs were now firmly bound.

‘I wasn’t able to sense the oncoming attack… even though my senses are super heightened…’

At this moment when Merlin was astonished, a spark ignited.

Crackle!

“Merlin!?”

Arc, who had been in the middle of swapping her gear after her full-body armor shattered, caught Merlin as he was falling down. Unlike the other Masters, Merlin didn’t die. However, this was to be expected. After all, the main purpose of the Union’s enemies, who all sent their representative forces onto this battlefield, wasn’t Earth or DIO; their main objective was Merlin.

So, the battle wouldn’t stop with his collapse.

“Hahaha. How bittersweet.”

“… Yes. I am also sad that I have to kill a human like you.”

The heart of Aung Nina, a monk who had dedicated her life to Tibet’s independence, was ripped out, and her soul was eaten by Sadness.

“… Shit.”

Ilyia, who was stealthily moving and aiming to land a blow, collapsed into two pieces after being struck by a flaming blade. The flaming blade, which was reinforced with strong qi, burned her soul.

“Operate Limited Arms! Come out and smash everything! Smash! Earth Breaker!”

“Counter Soul.”

The limited arms weapon, which Cruze barely managed to create with the last remaining aura power that she could scrape together, dispersed futilely into the air. Before Cruze knew it, Shen, the huge whale-headed man, was standing in front of her.

“You can’t keep using the same battle technique in front of your enemy. Once they figure out your combat style, they can cancel your combat operation at any time.” Shen was laughing at Cruze.

Of course, it wasn’t easy for someone to do what he explained…. Shen, like Cruze, had been born with the talent of an Irregular. Even though that tremendous talent acted as a roadblock and prevented him from rising to the transcendent realm, the vast amount of experience he had accumulated as an Irregular gave him the upper hand.

“But it is interesting. Is this your ‘personality’?”

Irregulars were not the same; they were each born with strong individual personalities and proclivities that even other Irregulars couldn’t easily imitate. In Arthur’s case, it was his talent as a Heavenly Draconic Being, and in Merlin’s case, it was his talent was as a kind of [developer].

In the case of Cruze, her talent was the ability to convert aura power into data and reimplement that stream of data into a weapon… Her talent could be described as a [designer], which was what Shen referred to as her unique ‘personality’.

“You…”

“Ah, I guess I’ve been rambling on. Well, you guys are like leftovers anyway, so I guess it won’t hurt to show off my own personality before eliminating you.”

Shen was a bit angry. This was because he had lost an old comrade to an opponent that he looked down upon, just because his opponent was receiving the Hero’s Fate blessing.

“Wow, the situation is so bad that even my Celestial Star’s killing intent isn’t running rampant,” Youngmin murmured.

“I don’t understand… Something… I feel like I’m on the cusp of realizing something,” Lancelot muttered.

Two of the only other beings left were Youngmin, who was exuding a lively atmosphere, and Lancelot, who was muttering words with an incomprehensible meaning under his breath. There was still Arc, who was dealing with Sadness, Miho, who was dealing with Happiness, and Leaf, who was dealing with Volcano. These three were preoccupied with their own opponents, so they could not offer Cruze or the others any help.

No, to be precise, they were in greater danger than Cruze and the others. The difference in power between Arc, Miho, and Leaf and their respective opponents was rather severe.

‘I have to stop this.’

Cruze became determined and had a sharpened gaze after she noticed Shen’s anger. Fortunately, she was receiving the correction qualities of the Hero’s Fate, so all kinds of ideas and inspirations were welling up in her head. However, was it really possible for her to fight a proper battle with her current physical condition? She couldn’t conjure her Master Skill or Master Weapon, and she had completely exhausted her aura power.

Regardless of Cruze’s state of despair, Shen continued speaking, “Look, look closely. This is my personality.”

Whoosh!

Numerous magic characters appeared on his whole body.

“It’s Quintillion.” Shen laughed manically as his magic power rose.

However, at that moment…

Bam!

Shen’s Spell Library, which had been activated and fully operational, disappeared with a light sound like a candlelight getting extinguished.

No, to be more exact, his Spell Library had been annihilated.

“…What?”

Then an ink-black spear lunged toward Shen, who was still flustered.