ocean-life Chapter 135: First Mission (3)
Chapter 135: First Mission (3)
Although he laughed, in reality...
“This crazy bastard...”
Karlstein could only curse. He had invested so much in the Xianxia world, yet now someone was trying to destroy the spatial passage. Worse still, this would undoubtedly affect the three subordinates he had carefully nurtured, not to mention the Lower Realm itself.
If the enemy were in front of him, he would have seized them by the collar without hesitation.
Talk about throwing a wrench in the works!
Boom-
But regardless of Karlstein’s feelings, the situation rapidly unfolded. Black lightning struck from the vortex’s center as something began to cross over. A chilling sensation seeped out, draining warmth from the entire passage—it was as if the gates of the abyss had cracked open.
[Brat... Quickly use G-Genesis! Before that thing crosses over!]
Even the Puppet Demonic Warlord, who had been so adamant about not using Genesis, now yelled for him to use it.
Karlstein looked around, seeing Virdel, Perpe, and Yongyong shivering, frost settling on their heads. There was no more time to waste.
“Don’t you go regretting this, old man.”
[Ugh! Pl-please! Be gentle!]
“Is that even possible?”
[No! My Genesis! The fruit of tens of thousands of years!!]
“Yeah no, it’s mine.”
[Gyaaaaaah!]
The old man was on the verge of foaming at the mouth.
Swish-
Karlstein took out the golden tower model he had carefully stored in his bag of holding. It mirrored the tower where the Puppet Demonic Warlord had been sealed, now shrunk to the size of a forearm, gleaming in Karlstein’s hand.
Vooom-
[Gently, I beg you!]
He ignored the Puppet Demonic Warlord’s desperate scream.
Thump-
Feeling his heart pounding, Karlstein began to form an image.
An image of none other than himself—Karlstein Babylon, Emperor of the Galactic Empire.
***Genesis. The Puppet Demonic Warlord’s masterpiece, modeled after Hunshi.
Hunshi was one who blurred the boundary between reality and unreality. An entity that appeared in the Upper Realm without warning, destroying the greatest cultivation sect, the Three Purities Dao Sect, in just three days and slaughtering countless powerful beings. ℞a????obΕS
One of the strange mysteries surrounding Hunshi was that no one knew its exact appearance. To some, it appeared as a three-headed, six-armed being. Others remembered it as an old man with white hair, while some recorded it as a woman dressed in seven-colored silk.
No two people saw the same form. Each perceived Hunshi differently.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Another record stated that Hunshi could transform into any being in existence, make everything real, and conversely, turn all of reality into an illusion like a fleeting dream.
Nothing in the Upper Realm could stop Hunshi, and the Puppet Demonic Warlord, fascinated by such power, spent the rest of his life creating Genesis in an attempt to imitate it.
[My, my Genesis...!]
The Puppet Demonic Warlord’s wail echoed.
Whooosh-
A man in golden armor, exuding an untouchable aura, stood against the vortex’s raging currents.
Rumble-
The spatial passage shook unstably, rattled by the mere energy waves of these two titans.
[End it q-quickly! Please!]
Genesis, a treasure capable of turning imagination into reality, allowed Karlstein to manifest his real body lying peacefully in the Galactic Empire.
CRACK-
Golden full-body armor and a crimson cape materialized. Red flames cascaded down the visor of his golden helmet. His mere presence radiated an overwhelming aura that could freeze time eternally and split space asunder.
CRUNCH-
His breathing alone made all things bow their heads and space itself ripple in submission.
The Puppet Demonic Warlord simply gaped in astonishment, momentarily forgetting everything else.
BOOOM-
A massive explosion rocked the spatial passage, tilting it off balance. The force of the blast tore through part of the passage, leaving destruction in its wake, while a blinding flash engulfed everything in sight.
Everyone except Karlstein screamed.
-Ugh!
-Ahhhhhng!
-Gaargh!
[No! My Genesis!!]
One of them screamed for a slightly different reason, but moving on...
CRASH-
The Blood-Draining Needle struck the ever-expanding vortex with precision.
PZZZZT- KABOOM-
It seemed to pierce through overlapping dimensions, anchoring itself deep in the vortex’s core. But even the spatial passage could no longer endure the clash of powers rivaling those of Outer Gods.
BOOM- CRACK-
The fabric of space itself shattered like glass.
***[Have you returned?]
“...”
As soon as he came to, Karlstein gazed down at his own body in wonder.
“Hmm. Nothing changed from before I connected.”
[That’s because you were simply lying there.]
“...”
Aside from a slight sense of discomfort, Karlstain had felt as if he really had returned to his real body earlier. Yet, according to Aria, that was not the case.
“But I could swear it was my body.”
[Did something happen?]
As the matter concerned a Single Number, Karlstein judged Aria needed to know.
“I think I found traces of Proxitan. That Hunshi from the Xianxia world is definitely Proxitan. I’m sure of it now.”
Proxitan’s absurd ability to reverse reality and illusion was unmistakable. It had to be No.4 Proxitan.
Karlstein nodded happily, casually murmuring to himself.
“Mmm. Fortunately, Genesis didn’t break completely. I’ll have to research it later.”
[...?]
His remark would have broken the heart of a certain old man.
In any case, he recalled that fragments left from Hunshi had been used as part of Genesis’s creation.
It really is an amazing piece of treasure.
The last time Karlstein used Genesis, the puppet geezer had been too insistent to allow him a proper assessment. But after using it to the fullest, he was certain: the object’s abilities—meant to mimic Hunshi—closely resembled that of Proxitan, and it was powerful enough to temporarily summon his true self even through an Avatar.
“Ugh... I wonder if Virdel and the others are okay.”
Karlstein had taken precautions before the final explosion, so he was not too worried about them.
“Anyway. I guess the result is half and half?”
While he had successfully destroyed the passage connecting the Upper Realm to the Lower Realm, the shortcut leading from the Lower Realm to the Upper Realm had collapsed as well.
Karlstein silently pursed his lips in regret.
***Far away in the Upper Realm, a certain shocked figure convened an emergency meeting.
Meanwhile, the forces of 《Chaos》 stirred to life.
-We have waited long, and now the time has come. Plunder, destroy, usurp.
A near-infinite legion of Kaiju began to assemble, marching toward an unknown destination.