Chapter 169: To Strive Beyond the Boundary
The Neilox System welcomed a new monstrosity to the world, and most people didn’t even know what happened.
You know what, Espr, I don’t even think you need to tell me what that is.
A fraudulent Spiritual Being, well, likely more accurately, an attempt at one. Colour me… Not too surprised that they had something cooking in the workshop.
(“ That guess is good enough, but why not be surprised? ”)
Mechs, artefacts, espionage, slavery, human experiments, and now an attempt at a higher plan of existence? I mean, at this point, it is basically a checklist.
(“ Hehe, it certainly seems that way ”)
Any reason for no prior warning?
(“ Honestly, I wasn't even sure what they were doing. I could feel a bunch of different artefacts and some connections to the void in the Existence of Possibilities, so I expected something to happen but had no clue what was being planned. I was leaning towards either trying to create a super artefact or a bomb, the latter as a last resort to take out everyone, but my guesses were wrong ”)
Varias have any involvement?
(“ None directly for the time being; there were certainly artefacts that had his touch, but none did anything special. I didn’t feel any pulse from any of them ”)
The situation certainly had gotten worse. It was hard to deny that. The good was that the bad stuff was centred on Asta with a little bit of Neo. Lisb looked to be safe from all this extra shit, which I was thankful for. Lisb really just seemed to be mining, or perhaps it was only the recent addition to the expansion, and expansive mining was only the first step.
I stared at the man in the ugly throne. His hair had turned a metallic silver and his features were harder, as if to say if a normal person touched his flesh, they would be cut. For the eyes, one was a mechanical red eye, while the second was a golden one that shone with all his emotions–pride, ambition, joy, satisfaction, and hunger.
No matter what, he was only a fake Spiritual Being, which might’ve been worse for the assault team. The best way I could describe him was as a massive artefact, thousands of points connected into the void and pumping energy into him. Not in the same way Craftalot had done, as Craftalot managed to use his own power to create a connection, but this man did it via artefacts that already had said connection. The difference was that they had found a way to make this connection wider to allow more energy to flow through.
That was stage one, the energy, which was an important step. Of course, it still couldn’t compare to a domain; normally, there were tricks and annoyances that granted him additional power. The freedom that a Domain granted the individual was a powerful creation ability since it was their world; he didn’t have that ability, but there were several artefacts I could feel being funnelled into what was creating the metal hulks.
I wonder if they knew what a domain was? At least the concept of what one is, which led them to try and replicate the abilities of such a concept.
I couldn’t read his mind, but it had made me curious. I knew nothing of Spiritual Beings until Espr had told me, and even then, before I became one, they had kept the information basically a secret.
Was it Varias’s influence that allowed for this development to happen? It would likely even take Espr a while to answer that for me because I doubted they knew either.
So he didn’t have a domain, but that wasn’t the only reason why he wasn’t a true Spiritual Being. I could tell his body was still of this world. It wasn’t like mine, which was an outsider in this place; despite the power flowing into him and his body’s changes, he still belongs to this world, just perhaps more a monster than a man.
The room where the cyborgs came out from wasn’t where the manic was, but luckily for the assault team, most of the cyborgs had chosen to head towards the surface. While the ones that were still down there were slowly whittling down the team, trying to defend themselves.
Those two factors weren’t the only reasons he wasn’t a true Spiritual Being. Despite being one myself, I wasn’t the best at examining the reasons, but the more I observed, the more confident I was in my assertion.
I leapt down towards the assault team with Starlight weapons at the ready. The most update n0vels are published on novel⸺fire.net
Espr, do you think he could become a Spiritual Being if he stayed in his state?
Espir didn’t immediately respond, and I landed on the ground floor, stabbing one of the cyborgs in the back with my landing. Red blood and black ooze leaked out of its body as it tried to turn around. Superheating its insides managed to keep it down permanently.
I spun a blade of Starlight and slashed through the next one in front of me, but once again, physical damage wasn’t enough. The Starlight blade was sharpened to the point that it easily cut through the flesh of the cyborg, but it hissed and kept moving towards me. Black flames erupted and melted the walls around us. I could even see the armour on the team down here react as it resisted the damage the flames were causing, even when over a metre away.
I spoke to the group. “Trouble on the surface. Enemy reinforcements have arrived.” I continued to fight the cyborg in front of me; the cyborgs were very similar to the man who had transformed.
The man in question clenched his fist, and large metal spheres covered in black flames appeared on the surface. Then, suddenly, the spheres flew towards the spaceships, where they exploded in massive tornadoes. The ships managed to move out of the way; his first attack clearly was not the best since it was the first time he managed to use such an ability.
(“ There is a chance, but it is unlikely, and that is putting it positively ”)
Any reason in particular?
(“ There is a chance they acquired enough energy to begin the evolution process, but they are still lacking in a method to create energy. That can be considered one of the core components after all, and he is far too weak to start developing that ability ”)
(“ 390, he had pushed his body to limits that he could ”)
Damn, nearly reached the level 400 threshold.
(“ Even if everything does go well, his actually becoming a Spiritual Being could be a stretch. Dying within a few years is quite possible, though I know you are aware that perhaps if he managed to become a freshly born Spiritual Being, this fight would be a lot easier ”)
The power following him was immense, and his abilities were unknown, as the man in question was gloating to himself about his newly achieved powers.
If he were a Spiritual Being, then his creation ability wouldn’t be usable in this world. If he were a Spiritual Being, then the flow of power into him would be restricted, and if he were… then his ability to create phenomena all around the base would be impossible.
Our fight against the cyborgs: with my help, we managed to push back against the cyborgs, and despite their non-verbal communication, as the only thing they were managing to do was hiss, they chose to retreat and join the rest who had left to the surface.
“What do you mean, we know the cyborgs have gone up.”
“Correct, but I mean a lot more have reached the surface. The whole lot has gone up.”
Someone else in the team replied, “The secondary units can handle that; we have to find the higher members and take them out.”
I rolled my eyes. “Your funeral.”
“If this is still on, Nina, the assault team is safe. They are planning on going deeper. I can’t do much for them if they do, I will be helping the surface for a moment, and then I will be looking for what created the machine that just spawned.”
I needed to do some experimenting with what the man had spawned.
“Thank you for the warning…”
Nina sounded wary, and I couldn’t blame her; she probably had a view of the surface, and in her weakened state, she must be feeling guilty that she couldn’t do much to help as she recovered.
Breaking back to the surface, my first priority was to judge how strong the constructs that were rapidly created were. It would be a good base to calculate the strength of the bastard downstairs. The amount of energy flowing into him was stupid, but that didn’t mean I lost my advantages; I just needed to see how his energy worked.
More hulks appeared, and I made a dash towards one to begin my series of tests. Everywhere around me had gone up in flames as thunderstorms, large elemental constructs, and tens of thousands of bullets that fell down as rain were the clearest elements. There were also plenty of people speeding around, stuck in high-speed combat.
No one is looking to test these mechs up close; perfect opportunity for me then.
I planned to test everything. It was made up of his energy after all.
How it reacted to physical damage, Fire, Sun, Starlight, and Soul Pressure. The works.
[Disruptive Starlight] didn’t do much, as it acted more like an organic being made of machines than robots. My ability did have a lesser impact on organics, but it needed time.
While I was tearing through the beasts of steel. Their large, bulging frame was tough but not indestructible for me.
(“ I will be gone for a bit ”)
Before I could even say anything else, I knew Espr was gone. Complete silence.
…I wonder if the bastard showed up.