D.I.O - CH 318

“My luck stat is…?”

There, it was written…

/Luck: 1,000 (???)/

***

Clang! Bang!

“Ugh, each step is so heavy… Gear #3!”

Youngmin threw away the black sword in his hand, which he had used to deflect the rain of bullets that poured down on the Masters, and switched his weapon to a greatsword that shone with golden light.

[Impediments.]

“Ack! I’m so scared… so scared!”

While making a sarcastic fuss, Youngmin fiercely stared at the opponent in front of him. Youngmin felt as if his whole body was light enough to fly away, and his mind was so clear that he almost felt like everything had become transparent.

And that rolling momentum was transferred to his greatsword’s blade.

‘Oh my goodness.’

He was well beyond his best condition. Normally, it would have been hard for Youngmin to deflect a single magic bullet, but currently, he was able to clearly see the trajectory of all the enemy’s attacks as if he was viewing someone drawing the lines and curves in real-time. On top of that, his natural killing intent as the Celestial Killer was brought out; it was as if a disobedient child was given a chance to run amok.

He parried, avoided, and cut down every attack. Considering that his opponent was a transcendent, this sort of feat should have been absolutely impossible.

‘It’s like an extended moment of enlightenment.’

Youngmin had experienced such moments before. The moment when he was completely exhausted from swinging his sword for days on end and was on the verge of fainting, or the moment when he faced a mighty enemy, or when he faced a desperate crisis where he could be decapitated with one false move…

Whenever he reached that moment, he experienced a burst of tremendous growth all at once. Although relatively young, Youngmin was given the title of a Sword Demon because he had surpassed those critical moments many times in the past.

Those moments weren’t tests that could be overcome through effort alone. Inspiration and enlightenment were fickle like that. Those who possessed inspiration and enlightenment could be prepared and ready, but being prepared and ready didn’t necessarily mean that one could gain inspiration and enlightenment.

‘If this sort of thing was quantified as luck…’

Under this line of thought, Youngmin was experiencing a fortuitous opportunity of a lifetime!

No, even the word lifetime wasn’t enough to properly explain just how rare this sort of occasion and opportunity was. This ridiculous amount of luck was at a level that very few beings had ever experienced in their lives.

“Hahaha! Hahaha!”

His innate qi energy as a Celestial Killer combined with the internal energy he accumulated throughout his lifetime as a Celestial Killer to create black flames all around his body and on his weapon.

Slash!

The armor on Alexander’s upper arm, which Alexander had been using as its leading body part when attacking, was sharply cut off. Youngmin’s sword attack, which rose to its peak in an instant, destroyed even a transcendent’s armor, which was protected by the transcendent’s enormous spiritual power.

[Eliminate.]

However, after delivering such a mighty blow, Youngmin was defenselessly exposed to Alexander’s subsequent attack. Even if Youngmin was able to momentarily display the peak of his fighting power, his opponent was still a transcendent, a more powerful being.

“It’s good to take the initiative and strike first, but don’t get too excited! You might suffer a counter!”

The one who saved Youngmin from this precarious situation was Miho, who transformed Youngmin into foxfire for an instant to reel him in. Youngmin smiled as he quickly turned back into a human.

“Hahaha! Thank you, Ms. Nine-tailed Fox!”

“Nine-tailed Fox… eh, whatever.”

“Well, that is what you are, right? Hahaha!”

The temperament of Youngmin, who smiled cheerfully, was completely different from his usual calm demeanor. Surrounded by black flames that burned and flamed up like fire, Youngmin exuded an extremely desolate atmosphere, and adding his beautiful appearance on top of that desolate aura, Youngmin exuded an indescribably bewitching atmosphere.

“You’re in a bit of a strange state.”

“Hahaha! This is my original energy and aura. Ah, today is very refreshing indeed! Hahaha!”

“… You’re acting like a psychopath.”

After she grumbled some complaints, Miho’s eyes started to shine like jewels. Miho’s Magic Eyes didn’t normally work against Legion forces, who were originally mechanical lifeform and impervious to magic power, but the power of her jeweled magic eyes had reached an ultimate level, so they had a direct effect on the material world; this allowed Miho to run mental interference on Alexander.

‘I don’t understand.’

It was a fierce battle, but even so, Miho’s mind was complicated. She had gained her ninth tail, but the feeling she felt was closer to puzzlement than joy.

‘Why did she give up her powers so easily? Because she’s Miss Heavenly Flower? No, that being was the true Heavenly Flower, the Witch of Desolate Nation…’

Miho felt that she had met the true Witch of Desolate Nation. It was a reasonable guess. It made sense that the Witch of Desolate Nation would have signed on as a slave contractor, and since she herself recalled the memories of the Witch of Desolate Nation, the image she saw matched the image of the previous Witch of Desolate Nation.

However, Miho couldn’t help but feel a sense of suspicion.

The being she saw was too small and weak to be the true Nine-tailed Fox.

And above all, Miho knew that her own memory was imperfect and untrustworthy.

Why did the memories of her previous life, her life as the Witch of Desolate Nation, begin at the point after she had slaughtered the heroes of the martial world? What happened to her memories before that time? Why did Miho only recall the memory of the bloody altar?

‘The ninth…’

The truth was simple.

Because that was when Miho was born.

‘The ninth tail…’

The real Heavenly Flower, the Witch of Desolate Nation, wasn’t Miho, it was the Eight-tailed Fox Miho had met in DIO, Ms. Heavenly Flower. Miho was just a temporary personality and identity created after Heavenly Flower’s ninth tail fell off.

But now, in the end, it was Miho who became a full-fledged Nine-tailed Fox being, not the original Heavenly Flower.

‘And that’s why it’s so hard to understand.’

Miho couldn’t understand how such an evil, sinister, and cruel being like the Witch of Desolate Nation could give up everything, seemingly on a whim, and offer her power to Miho.

Bang!!

“Shoot!”

When her mind started wandering, her hands started fumbling over themselves. Of course, she was in a state of [correction], but even so, those corrections had limitations.

Gaia’s Blessing was the power of fate, which maximized the [possibilities] of the subject who was receiving the blessing.

However, even though the blessing was given by a Planet God, the blessing couldn’t offer very much, in terms of power, to a being that had already reached the transcendent realm. In other words, Arc and Miho had already maximized the benefit of the blessing, as it had pushed them across the threshold of transcendence.

In truth, amongst everyone who received the blessing, Miho benefited the most. Even as a secondary personality, as Miho was the personification of Heavenly Flower’s ninth tail, Miho was able to fully acquire Heavenly Flower’s power. Even though Miho herself was only a six-tailed fox, there was still the extreme and rare [possibility] that Heavenly Flower, who had no future anyway, would give up herself to protect her soul. In other words, Gaia’s Blessing had increased the likelihood of Heavenly Flower giving up everything so that Miho, a part of her, could receive her powers and live on.

Also, the parties that received the blessing weren’t the ones who most accurately grasped the blessing’s powers.

[Gaia, in the end, you intervened. To apply the fate of a hero to such a wide range of subjects…] Tan commented.

– Oh, they’re coming back with a roar. How exciting and interesting.

The Beast of the Apocalypse, whose existence seemed to want to crush the whole world, and the Sun God, who was emitting a huge heat wave that seemed to burn up the sky, stopped fighting each other and looked down at the ground.

Grotesque’s first slayer, Sadness, was being pushed back by the combination of Arc and Merlin. Although Merlin was unable to demonstrate an equal level of combat power compared to that of Sadness, the situation changed completely once Arc entered transcendence and realized her powers.

When Arc, who was a magic power user but possessed strong durability as a fighter and had a fighting style commonly referred to by DIO users as a [Tank Mage], took the initiative to head the frontline, Merlin was able to focus on outputting powerfully amplified Irrational Hand strike attacks and sniping attacks with much more composure from the backline.

Alexander, a Named Legion, lost one arm to the combined attacks of Miho, who was wielding a considerably powerful monster qi as a Nine-tailed Fox, and Youngmin, who wielded his black flames. The pirates of Basara, like Alexander and Sadness, found themselves in the same precarious situation.

“Shit! They keep resurrecting!”

“Also, why are these guys getting stronger!?”

The Masters [evolved] at every moment. Those who had been given the maximum heroic fate through Gaia’s Blessing were now exploding [all] of their potential on the battlefield. Though the three factions were still superior based on objective power, they couldn’t find a way to combat a collective force that was getting stronger with every passing second.

‘Not good.’

Tan’s eyes narrowed. The tides of battle were flowing against him. If the Masters won, Merlin would be able to support and recharge Apollo again, and if that happened, it would eventually spell the end for Tan.

‘What if I retreat?’

This thought quickly flashed through Tan’s mind, but…

Throb!

Tan felt the sharp sensation of pain that was transmitted throughout his body from his heart.

‘Arthur.’

Ascalon, a Transcendental Weapon that was created specifically to kill dragons, was playing a tremendous deterrence role. And the stronger this deterrence became, the stronger the feelings of inferiority and hatred burned in the depths of Leviathan’s heart.

[This won’t do.]

– Hmm? Hey, it seems you’re misunderstanding something…

[It’s you who is mistaken.]

At that moment, Leviathan opened his huge mouth, which was so large that it seemed like it could swallow a decent-sized city. A huge amount of turbid blue air rushed into his mouth.

It was a huge force that was on a completely different level from anything Tan had shown previously!

– You’re out of your mind! Using [Absolute Authority] without permission from the Creator? Aren’t you a part of the universe’s law?

[What? Wasn’t this what you guys did all the time when you were all alive?]

– Ah!

Taken aback, Apollo laughed lightly before turning himself into a single ray of light. And when that ray of light hit Leviathan’s head before Leviathan could spit out the huge energy that it collected in its mouth…

Flash!

Leviathan’s head burned fiercely after a terrifying flash. However, the blue air currents that had gathered in Leviathan’s mouth didn’t dissipate.

[… It is because they are trying to forget that the heavens existed from ancient times and that the earth came out of water and was formed by water by the word of God. Because of this, the world at that time was destroyed by overflowing water…] Tan muttered.

– Oh, shit! You’re mad! You’re using your power to recreate the great flood!?

[Stop now! This is neither the last days nor the end of days! According to the laws bestowed upon me as the Planet God…!] the penguin exclaimed.

[Don’t do anything stupid, Gaia. Even if I flood this place, nothing will happen to your precious human civilization on Earth, right?] Tan responded.

[That…]

When the penguin, Gaia, hesitated and panicked, Apollo awakened and mustered all the energy within him.

– I lay an order upon you! Brilliant Light!

After his mighty cry, the sun rose in the gray sky. And Tan sent out his unfinished power toward that sun. The sun represented Apollo’s absolute power, Brilliant Light.

Whoosh!

The two powers canceled each other out and disappeared as if nothing had happened. Tan’s power of flood was a higher power than Apollo’s Brilliant Light, but Tan had utilized his power before it was completed.

Even so, Apollo frowned. He was aiming to nullify Tan’s attack, and though he had achieved just that, Apollo knew that there was no way that the offsetting of Tan’s authority could have been done so easily.

– Huh, what’s going on…? Wait… y-you?

[You were always such a stupid being.]

– You tricked me!! You tricked me you damn Beast of the Apocalypse!!!

The whole world shook as Apollo displayed his anger and rage.

And at the same time…

Rumble!

Black lightning struck down and caused a part of space to split open, revealing a naked woman under the bolt of lightning. She was a slender beauty standing at about 170 cm with pink skin and shiny blonde hair.

She was smiling brightly.

Whoosh!

A wormhole opened and a round metal ball popped out from it. With a diameter of about 1 meter, it was an item made from ordinary modern household items… but at this moment, the power contained within it was truly beyond one’s imagination.

Tap.

And finally, a man wearing a beret and military uniform appeared. He looked at his body for a moment, then looked at Leviathan with a puzzled expression.

“Thank you, but… why is he like that? Is it someone who hated you during his previous lifetime?”

“Captain? Captain, how did you get here?”

The faces of the Masters, who had been excitedly driving the enemy factions into a corner, soon turned sour after seeing the newly arrived enemy forces.

“Wait a minute… They can just come at will now?”

“That, that… Isn’t that Happiness? The most famous among the Grotesque’s Slayers…”

“This is crazy… three more transcendents?”

Like the Masters, the Planet Gods, the penguin and the girl, were at a loss for words.

“Why… why has it become like this?” the girl said aloud.

[This is insanity. You’re ‘consuming’ your life in a place like this?] the penguin commented in a flabbergasted tone of voice towards Tan.

If a rat entered one’s house and took away one’s precious ring, of course it was a normal reaction for one to try anything in one’s power to get it back. It wouldn’t be strange if that person tried to exterminate the rats out of anger if he or she couldn’t get his or her ring back.

But… would someone sacrifice themselves, like a terrorist attack where one would wrap bombs all over one’s body, just to kill those rats?

This wasn’t a normal response.

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“I would have never imagined that he’d go to such lengths… using his authority to forcibly raise the level of civilization…”

The girl groaned as she saw Leviathan, who couldn’t even control his own massive body, collapse onto the ground with a thump, and Apollo, who consumed all his energy, scatter into the air.

And then…

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

Along with a pleasant voice, a whirlwind of strong qi struck Merlin’s party.