Chapter 145

Episode 145. Return (2)

"There can't be anything wrong with it. Aren't you mistaken? Or maybe you're exaggerating your pain."

"It's not like that. This side keeps hurting. Didn't you say you weren't abusing me? You said you were just going to teach me proper manners. Do you think it's okay to do this?"

"...Well, I guess not. Okay, I'll take a look at it."

The man stood up and approached me.

The structure of the restraint binding my hands was simple. It was similar to modern handcuffs. Its function was to bind one's wrists and block some of the power used by Transcendents.

So, with these on, you couldn't use your power and both of your hands.

'How sloppy.'

It seemed very clumsy to me. Transcendents had been through all sorts of hardships. But to restrict them with such a simple restraint? These guys weren't experienced. It was as if they were mountain gods from a martial arts novel. It seemed like they had stayed in a remote place, hadn't gone through any difficulties, and transcended by training themselves spiritually.

"Okay... Let's take a look─aargh!"

The man who neared me let out a groan mid-sentence. It was because the moment he reached the exact distance, I lifted my knee and hit him in the chest. The blow landed squarely, and he halted for a moment.

After transcending, I experimented a lot with my body. The body of a Transcendent was not much different. I wasn't able to experiment with death, but I figured out most other things.

For example, effectively targeting their physical vulnerabilities could cause them to lose consciousness and become immobile.

"Ugh... Ughhh!"

The man I hit in the chest breathed heavily. It looked like he didn't understand the situation. I moved at once, not giving him time to think.

I grabbed the back of his neck with my hand I freed by twisting my wrist. And I moved my knee to hit him in the chest again. Along with the sound of bone breaking, I could hear a small groan.

There was still a restraint on my other wrist, so I couldn't use my powers. But I didn't need my two powers anyway. At this distance, anyone who could engage in physical combat had the absolute advantage.

"Sloppy. Too sloppy."

Clunk, clunk.

I twisted my other wrist as well, pulled off the restraint, and fitted it on the man's hand. Now his powers were blocked. At the same time, I kicked his ankle.

His body was ridiculously soft. It seemed like only a few Transcendents were obsessed with combat to construct their bodies with Orichalcum or monster muscles. Otherwise, they wouldn't be this clumsy and stupid. And their bodies wouldn't be so sluggish.

"Ugh... Aargh."

The man fell to the floor with both of his hands in restraints. I strangled him until he fainted. Sticky saliva dripped from his mouth—he was completely unconscious.

After checking on him, I opened the piece of cloth covering the vehicle that was transporting me. It was similar to a wagon, but there wasn't anything like a horse pulling it. A self-moving vehicle. It was very groundbreaking.

"Quit making noise in there. Wait, how did you get out of the restraints...?"

The man waiting outside the tent spoke carelessly and flinched when he saw me. But I didn't give him a chance to react. My hand flew up and stabbed him in the neck.

The blow landed exactly on the vital spot, and his eyes flipped backward. Judging by the subtle glow on his hands, it looked like he had attempted to use his powers.

'Slow.'

His reaction was so slow that I could yawn. Were these really the great and mighty Transcendents? Even Hunter Academy cadets weren't this stupid.

It was like they had never fought properly in their lives. They were idiots flaunting their powers—a bunch of kids with guns.

"Wh-what─!"

Shouted the guy waiting next to the man who fainted as soon as he ran into me. He was better than the others, at least, because he managed to use his powers. But unfortunately, I was free from the restraints, so I could use my powers, as well. And my casting was much faster.

Swoosh!

A burst of flames swept over him. As soon as he saw the flames, he panicked and fell off, rolling on the ground boorishly.

Three guys. In that short period, I incapacitated the three of them without suffering a single scratch. It was disappointing. I didn't want to waste any more time in a place like this. Even at this very moment, I had no clue whether my teammates were dead or alive.

"What are you doing─!"

A thunderous roar broke out. It was the guy sitting at the very front of the wagon-like vehicle. It was the one that looked like a fiery flame.

Once he noticed that his minions had been swiftly incapacitated, he was burning with anger.

"How dare you!"

Boooom!

Flames shot forward like cannonballs. I spotted each one and dodged them. It was similar to boxing. His body flickered, and flames flew toward me. But it was easy to predict their trajectory. All I had to do was observe his movements in detail.

'I just need to look out for that thing.'

The power that suddenly snatched me up in the air and kept me from moving. If it wasn't for that, I thought I could probably deal with him.

An enemy made of fire? Too bad. I had met tons of worse enemies over my few years as a hunter and dozens of years as an Analyst. And as long as I stayed alert, there was no reason I couldn't kill something like that.

"You... you rude bastard!"

I jumped out of the wagon to avoid the fire he was shooting at me. It was going unbelievably fast. It was just like jumping barefoot from a car driving at 100 kilometers per hour.

But I trusted my body. It was the strongest body I imagined, made of Orichalcum and monster muscles. There was no way it couldn't endure an impact like this.

Tap, thud.

My hand touched the ground first. Then, my fingers dug into the ground like a rake and slowed me down. Unable to overcome the speed, my body rotated once, and my shoulder and elbow received the blow instead. But I couldn't feel any pain.

I was now certain that my body was so strong that I could no longer say that it belonged to a human being.

"Not a single wound... How the hell did you make that body?"

The flame that had been standing on the wagon was now in the air, looking down on me.

"Well, how did you make that fire body? That looks more interesting than mine."

"Watch the way you address me. How rude....!"

"You're mad at everything. Is it because your head is full of flames?"

"You... you!"

He was easily agitated. It seemed like his power to tie me in the air had limitations, or maybe he was going to punish me in some other way, but I didn't suddenly end up in the air.

Well, either way, it was good for me. Unless he had some unknown power, I was confident that I could break down and destroy anything that was within the information I had.

'The first thing to check is whether that is actual fire.'

Some monsters were like that. They had abilities that ignored the laws of physics. Some were made of water but didn't conduct electricity. Some were made of fire but burned stronger when hit with water. They really sucked.

Could he be something like that?

Flames flew towards me. I grabbed a handful of sand scattered on the ground. I twisted my body to dodge the flames, and they exploded, creating a pillar of fire.

At the right timing, I threw sand on the flames that fell to the ground.

'...Okay.'

The blazing flames went out the moment I threw sand on them. So his flames did follow the laws of physics. The flame Transcendent was still huffing, not paying much attention to what I just did.

Yeah. Get more excited, you idiot. Only fools were quick to anger and lose their heads in battle. Staying tense was good, but you shouldn't let it get to your head.

Cool heads but warm hearts. It was something an old economist said, and it applied to all situations.

"Keep running like a rat. I'll torture you until you beg me to stop. I won't subdue you with my superior class like before. I'll crush you completely!"

The enraged Transcendent was spilling all the information I needed.

Thanks to him, I could put together the pieces of the puzzle in my head. Then, I tapped my palm a couple of times with my finger.

That flame burning around his body. A handful of sand wasn't enough to extinguish it. So... I had better make something new.

Tap!

I kicked the ground and leaped into the shower of fire he was blasting. Propelled by momentum, I shot towards him. I had already anticipated the flames' trajectory before I jumped, so there was no need to move. The clumps of fire avoided me like clockwork.

'To simplify, there are three things needed for a fire to burn.'

Hurtling through the air, I recalled old knowledge buried in my memory. The knowledge I accumulated by studying basic subjects before attending the Academy. Subjects such as science, physics, and chemistry.

I assembled the trivial knowledge that I didn't need until now and began to deduce the answer.

'Fuel, heat, oxygen.'

Heat for a fire to occur, fuel for it to burn continuously, and oxygen to maintain the flame. Fire was sustained when the three factors came together. So how was that guy maintaining his constantly burning body?

'Some semi-permanent thing must be acting as fuel and oxygen... Well, there's plenty of that around.'

I opened my hand. There was no need to worry about fuel or heat. If that flame did follow the laws of physics, then all I had to do was completely isolate one of the three factors, right?

I closed my eyes and came up with an image in my head.

The first thing that came to mind was a matchstick. A burning matchstick. Then I imagined turning a slightly larger cup of glass over to trap the matchstick. The cup completely isolated the matchstick from the outside. The flame slowly died down.

It burnt all the oxygen provided, and in the end, burned itself and died out.

I opened my eyes.

I was done constructing the image. My third power would be a sort of test. Theoretically, if that body were really made up of fire alone, the Transcendent would die the moment he was subjected to my power.

So... were Transcendents that broke through the wall susceptible to death? I was curious. It was also something I needed to know for my plan.

Because ever since I learned that the Disasters happening in my world were entertainment, I had decided to wipe them all out.

A brilliant light flashed from my palm. A third line appeared on my palm, and the image I constructed began to reveal itself.

"Stop."

But before the power could take effect on the Transcendent, the light on my palm died out. It was because of a sudden word I heard.

"I liked you because you had talent... But you are quite more talented than I thought. Amazing. I didn't expect this."

My wrist hurt. It had been fine even when I jumped off that fast wagon, but now it hurt.

I glanced over. A long beard and a wrinkled face. It was the Traveler. He stood tall between the flame Transcendent and me.

"I don't know if I should congratulate you or reprimand you a little bit."

"...What do you mean?"

"The way you just figured out how to kill a Transcendent."

"......!"

The experiment was successful. Transcendents were not immortal. My method worked on them, too. No matter how special their powers or bodies were, if I chose to uncover and destroy their essence, I could wipe them out as well.

"Well, let's talk about this later. We can discuss it after you are resurrected and once you save your world."

"......."

"Let's go back for now."

The Traveler spoke matter-of-factly. Then he turned his head and stretched out his hand. It was a very slow gesture. However, the flame-shaped Transcendent stood frozen stiff as the hand reached him.

The wrinkled hand pushed apart the flames and dug inside. The Traveler looked frighteningly chilly.

"So, you don't know me, do you?"

"......."

"And you've never heard of such a stupid modifier... How amusing."

"W-wait... Wait, I never said stupid....... I just didn't know... Ugh."

Craaaack.

The Traveler pulled his hand back out. And the burning flame that was floating in the air scattered around. It looked like the Transcendent's body was melting.

Without looking back, the Traveler carelessly wiped the hand he put into the flames on his sleeve.

"You wasted your time getting caught by an annoying fellow. Let's go."

"......."

"And... if you think something like this is going to happen next time. Give them a different name, not the name 'Traveler'. I don't usually use it, so many Transcendents don't know."

"It's not... your usual name?

"Yes."

Thump. Thump.

He walked ahead.

"If it ever looks like something annoying is about to happen, just say this."

His back turned into dozens of different shapes.

It was like a wide sky, and then it looked like an old man or a young man's sturdy back.

"Say that the 'Faceless King' favors you."

And with that, the Traveler disappeared. I stayed still for a long time, then gulped and carved the name deep in my mind.

It looked like he was a lot more incredible than I thought.