Chapter 893 Nice Try
Nathan walked out from behind Archibald, geared up to the teeth. It was hard to even recognize him, as nothing but his eyes were visible. He had guns in holsters, cannons on his shoulders, silver and black metals wrapping around him as though he were afraid to get touched by even the wind.
But when he saw the scene before him…
"… What the hell?…"
Both men stood there in the skies, energy forcefields beneath their feet, their mouths gaping behind the armor they wore.
Where was the battle? Where were the enemies?
Archibald's gaze looked down and saw that one of the altars was empty. In his hand, he held a device that would have freed all the heroes of Earth. He had been ready to lead everyone into one final battle for the Fate of humanity, but…
It was over?
The corpses of Corrupt Beasts littered the ground, the sparse pieces of land beaten and battered beyond recognition. Intertwined between them, it was possible to see globs of flesh and random pieces of bone sticking out in every which direction. It was hard to believe that they had even been people before.
Just what could have left them in such condition? Did they get bombs implanted into their guts or something?
And just what were these fluctuations in the air? As an E-Grade himself, Archibald knew Level 51 Aether when he sensed it. But why was there so much expelled into the air, and why were there no signs of the men and women that had been forced to use so much of it?
Archibald couldn't wrap his head around what was happening.
Because Sylas had delayed things so much, he had assumed that he would end up being late. It was a bit frustrating that this descendant of his was so stubborn, but it also couldn't be helped.
He had rushed here as fast as he could; everything had already been laid out, he just needed the Metarock.
But Sylas insisted on going on ahead alone, which only made things more complicated.
Logically speaking, there was no way they had gotten here early. The signs of battle made that obvious. But…
WHERE WERE THE ENEMIES?!
Archibald felt like he was going crazy.
And then a light tap touched his shoulder.
"It seems you wasted your time. It must suck. What was it? Thousands of years of planning just to find out you're useless?"
Archibald's eyes twitched.
He hadn't gotten to use this power on anyone else, but since this useless descendant of his wanted to talk so much, he let him.
BANG!
Nathan was sent flying into the distance.
"Why are you hurting me?! I'm just the messenger?!" Nathan's voice grew fainter as he soared into the distance.
**
Sylas sank deeper and deeper into the bloody waters.
He had thought about why he wasn't being burned alive many times now. If this was truly the center of the Earth, being a mere F-Grade elite shouldn't be enough to protect him from these flames of hell. But in the end, he just accepted it. There were too many oddities about this world for him to be so tied down to the logic of his previous life.
'Yes… that's what it is… a previous life…'
Sylas felt his mind clearer after having fused with Gogo.
Suddenly, his feet hit the bottom of something.
'Hm?'
He looked around, but all he saw was darkness, the heaviness of the blood all around him.
'Follow it.'
Sylas felt a tug, so he started to walk.
Slowly, the surroundings began to gain some light to them, illuminating themselves.
For a while, all he could see was a red glow growing brighter and brighter around him. There was nothing else.
Until he almost stumbled.
The pressure vanished and he found himself floating.
Ahead, there was an orb of gold so bright it might as well have been the sun.
And yet, despite knowing this for a fact, Sylas didn't feel his eyes hurting when he looked at it.
The best way he could describe it was how he had felt when he looked at Genes.
When he first started to use Extricate, he didn't even have Rune Breath. Staring at those Runes felt like looking at bundles of complexity and life; he couldn't even make heads or tails of them back then. Trying to do so made his mind feel as though it were splitting.
But now, although he couldn't fully grasp them with any ease, he could feel them, hear their breath, understand their intent.
Right this moment, it felt like this orb of gold was embracing him in the same way.
Deep inside, he knew what it was.
This was the Flame he was meant to spark.
The Progenitor Flame of Earth.
Sylas slowly reached forward, feeling the warmth around him increasing as though it were enveloping him. He didn't even notice that this location had been fiercely protected, surrounded by a barrier that not just anyone could make it through.
He was only here… because Earth had allowed him to be here.
When he felt its surface, it didn't really feel like he was touching something at all.
It was like a blanket of air, and yet he was sure of it.
This was the start of the Progenitor Flame.
—
[Use your Will to Ignite the Progenitor Flame of Planet Earth?]
[Yes][No]
—
The system appeared.
Sylas was about to act when he frowned.
Something felt off.
'No. This doesn't make sense.'
He paused, staring at the notification.
Almost anyone else would click [Yes] in excitement, eager to finally complete the Summoning and claim the victory Earth so desperately deserved after so many failures. But Sylas' mind had warning bells going off.
These didn't come from his Luck. It was deathly still.
They came from his deductive abilities.
Why would the system be involved in lighting this Progenitor Flame? The method the system used was the System Cities, not lighting the Progenitor Flame.
As far as Sylas knew, this method was what was used in ancient times before this system was put into place.
'I see… so this is one more trap, huh?'
But this trap… it was far more sophisticated than anything Aki could accomplish on his own, that much Sylas knew for sure after battling him.
Aki was a great powerhouse, but it wasn't to the extent that he should have been able to play Earth in the palm of his hands so easily.
After seeing Aki's Warlord Tiger Armor, Sylas was even more sure of this. Aki didn't have the skill in Rune Mastery to do what had been done to Earth's Mesh of Reality.
Only someone with Rune Spark Mastery could possibly even begin to do such a thing.
Only someone at that level could pull the wool over the system's eyes for so long. Only someone who had an ability similar to his own could put Earth in such a terrible time warp.
Sylas simply didn't believe Aki when he said the time manipulation was his doing.
The more Sylas learned about this world, the more he understood just the level of enemies they were up against.
"Nice try," Sylas said coolly. "Trigger my Progenitor Flame Quest."
Sylas seemed to be speaking to no one at all, and yet the world rumbled.
—
[Progenitor Flame Quest: Activated]
[Quest Accepted]
[Quest Type: World War]
[Silver Grade Battlefield Solidified]
[Final Contestant Chosen]
[Time to Activation: 02:23:59:59]
—
At that moment, in distant locations across the Galaxy, four individuals saw a flash across their notifications.
Aurion Stormveil.
Phyrex Guiz.
Ulrik Vecunish.
And Lorien Myst.