Chapter 646: Ultimate Goal

Oren felt weird as Melania carried him on her back and ran through the underground tunnels. Although he was silent throughout the earlier conversation, Oren heard everything the two said. That is why he could tell that Melania was not feeling the best.

'Yet, she came to save me.'

The gratitude in his heart was immense, but Oren did not have the time for that. After all, he did not lie about Kino. There were presences inside the underground tunnel that he did not recognize. Oren could tell that because of Lancelot, who arrived here as well.

"Master Melania," muttered Oren, resting his chin on her shoulder. "There are some people other than the soldiers, or Mr. Tate, inside these tunnels. I don't know their goal, but it seems they killed Kino, who was going after Selena."

"I know. I met them before I came here," said Melania as she dashed through the underground tunnel. "Those are not humans."

"What do you mean?" frowned Oren. "Have monsters wandered here too? Then, why didn't you go and help Selena and my mother instead?"

"You are so sacrificial, Oren, that I am starting to think you want to die," smiled Melania while running forward. "Those are not humans, but not monsters. It is hard to call them something, as they are not demi-humans. Their best label would be… humanoid monsters."

"…such a thing is a myth, right?"

"Ironically, the one who made not is related to you. The only reason I could come and save you is because of what they told me at the entrance: we came here to serve our god."

"And who is that?" asked Oren with a frown.

"I asked that too and was surprised when one of them told me it was none other than the creator of everything. I don't think they knew what that title means, but we do, don't we?"

"…Arthur!"

"Exactly," smiled Melania. "Your brother has somehow managed to turn goblins into… something else. I always thought that everything had a limit, even misery, but Arthur keeps exceeding what is normal."

"Then the monsters are an ally?" muttered Oren with relief. "If they are here, that means Arthur is still alive, even if he was badly injured. We still have time."

"It is the opposite, Oren," said Melania with a worried tone. "If Arthur sent these humanoids here, then there is no need for him to come here himself. He will, just like you, choose the hardest path to take: to eliminate the threat to this city."

"…Amelio!" panicked Oren as he realized that would most likely be his brother's goal. "We need to stop him from killing himself."

"Indeed," muttered Melania. "Even the creator is still too weak to handle a god. I have seen what Amelio did to the soldiers and an Astra-ranker. This is not an opponent we can win against, even father predicted that."

For the first time since the two met, Melania referred to Master Ronin as her father. It might be just his imagination, but Oren felt she always wanted someone to confide in that secret. Then, unconsciously, he hugged her tightly from behind.

***

The sky was blue, the clouds were white, and the earth beneath him was brown. Those colors were everything that he could see, except for the glaring sunlight from above. The scraps he was lying atop kept repeatedly rotating, showing him everything.

"How can we… win?" muttered Arthur, with his skin barely regenerated and his bone still broken. The regeneration rune was not as fast as the healing rune, but it was more powerful. After all, a single mishap and his body would crumble. 

Arthur could see what was happening below and how Amelio suffered just broken bones due to his sacrifice. In return, Arthur could not move a single muscle of his body, and all he could do was lie atop the floating metal plates.

These were the remains of the airship that Amelio had destroyed. The scraps were floating around the gravity core that made the ship float, and Arthur was slammed into one of them when Amelio sent him toward the sky.

"I want to fight…" muttered Arthur as he watched the fight from above. His eyes glowed a tint of violet as his vision zoomed on the battlefield. It was still ongoing, between lightning and man. However, in this scenario, the enemy was the man.

Arthur could not move his body, as it was severely injured. A single wrong move could make him bleed to death from the vessels that he hurriedly healed. All he could do now was to look at the fight, the sky, and the clouds.

However, he did not sit idle while waiting for his body to move again. His mind was filled with pain and the possible ways they could win against Amelio.

"There is no need for me to fight, for him to lose," realized Arthur. "All I have to do is save the target he is after. My mother should be there somewhere, and I must find a way to go there."

His first idea was teleportation, but the mere spatial vortex might tear his body apart. The second idea he had was to use whatever strength he had outside his body. Arthur closed his eyes and felt his connection to a specific object.

"Come here," muttered Arthur. Then, he could feel the object inching closer to them, and a smile appeared on his face. Other presences have been waiting for him to summon them, and Arthur did this time.

"We will be there, almighty one."

Arthur did not understand how they were on Earth, but somehow in this timeline, his cute followers were there. Furthermore, they should be more powerful now, as they had time to train and fight, unlike in Alka.

There was nothing he could do now except wait for his summons to arrive. And they will finally have a fighting chance against Amelio when they do.

***

Major General Ilia Perli wondered if this city would be his grave. A place so far away from Yalen and his king turned out to be the target of the other world. However, if every calamity they faced were as strong as this one, then Earth would perish.

"What is wrong, human?" grinned Amelio at them while sitting atop a rock. "As I have told you, all of you can attack at once. I will not move a step from this rock. Is that not the greatest gift I can offer?"

It was the greatest humiliation.

Ilia Perli has always been the god of lightning, feared by the rest of the world. However, in front of this man, he was nothing but a nuisance. Amelio smiled at him, knowing that whatever attack Ilia had was futile.

"Stand back, soldiers," said Ilia Perli as his lightning disappeared. The rest of his followers were confused, but Ilia Perli realized this was futile. "There is no way we can win against him like this, so we need to become stronger."

"Are we retreating, sir?" asked one of the Unbroken Corps, and Ilia shook his head.

"There is no retreat for our unit, remember?" glared the Major at his subordinate. "We are too weak to handle this enemy, so we need to become stronger now."

The soldiers were quiet, stunned and speechless by the Astra-Ranker's words. It might be easy for someone to become stronger if they were on the brink of evolution, but it took years for them, who were all at the demi-rank.

"Sir, we cannot possibly grow stronger in an instant," said the rest of the soldiers with confusion. "We have to call for backup from the kingdom and…."

"And who would come to our rescue?" laughed Ilia Perli. "We are the Unbroken Corps, this kingdom's elite unit. If we fail to handle an enemy, who can?"

The soldiers were silent before the Major stepped forward and unsheathed his sword. All of them stared at the man's back facing the invincible, which looked as big as a mountain. His black hair was dusted, and so were his clothes.

"Humans grow stronger through adversity," said Ilia as he took out a sword. "I doubt you realize the hard work we put into growing stronger, fallen god Amelio."

"I do not," smiled Amelio as he combed his beard with his fingers. "I have always grown stronger from killing others. In any case, I thought that you used a spear of lightning. This weak sword will not pierce my skin."

"This is not a sword, but a handle," said Ilia Perli as his left hand touched the blade, and it disintegrated. "Are you familiar with Intent, Amelio?"

"…I am," frowned the fallen god. "However, those who are capable of using it are a few. I heard your speech about growing stronger, human. Do you think that it is enough to harness the universe?"

Smiled Major Ilia Perli as he closed his eyes. Those words were like music to his years: "harnessing the universe." It was the ultimate goal of every awakener and the sole truth.

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