Chapter 153 Absolute Torture (Bonus)

Zzzzt…

Bzzzt…

The Ultramen unleashed a combined barrage of finishing beams, completely obliterating the Mechanical Island. Following up, they swiftly dismantled the colossal super-mech it had deployed, once again securing peace for Earth.

But just as they finished wiping out the rogue machines, another crisis erupted. And then another. And another.

A meteorite crashed near the Space Research Institute. It carried a payload of parasitic spores that rapidly infected the local villagers, fusing them together into a massive parasitic kaiju.

Due to humanity’s heavy abuse of electromagnetic waves, the Gazort—a mutated ionosphere creature—awoke. It began aggressively hunting human aircraft, leading to multiple catastrophic commercial airline crashes.

The Iludo, a parasitic hive-mind species, ambushed two close friends of GUTS member Shinjo. They forcibly assimilated the pair into monsters as part of a grander scheme to assimilate the entire human race into their collective.

The Menjura, an alien race possessing advanced shapeshifting and cloning capabilities, launched a devastating sabotage attack on humanity’s lunar base. Worse, they began secretly replacing high-ranking human officials with clones in a bid to silently conquer the Earth.

…

The relentless, non-stop wave of absolute chaos left the Emperor completely stunned.

Earth really is just a cosmic truck stop! Every freak in the galaxy thinks they can just roll up and take a piece! This planet is practically molded into the shape of a monster!

“First the extra-dimensional freaks, and now every alien with a spaceship wants a piece of the action?” The Emperor sneered. “Fine. If they want a war, we’ll give them one. They might have started it, but they sure as hell won’t decide when it ends.”

Acting with his full authority as Federation President, the Emperor ordered a massive, planet-wide screening initiative to root out every extraterrestrial hiding among the human populace.

The policy was simple: any alien willing to peacefully coexist with humanity was granted asylum and allowed to continue living on Earth. Any alien harboring hostile intent or caught plotting against mankind was immediately black-bagged and thrown into a black site prison.

Meanwhile, Vane wasn’t sitting idle either. He was actively scouting candidates for his upcoming Desire Grand Prix.

He found Shinjo wandering alone through a quiet park, still mourning the recent deaths of his two best friends. Slowly, Vane approached and slipped an ornate invitation card right onto the bench beside him.

“Shinjo. Do you want to save your fallen friends?”

“What the hell is this?” Shinjo muttered, picking up the card and examining it.

“An opportunity to fix your greatest regret,” Vane replied smoothly. “If you can survive and win the tournament, you’ll earn the right to make a single wish to the incredibly handsome and brilliant Creator. Even resurrecting the dead is child’s play for him.”

Vane naturally took the opportunity to hype himself up.

“Bring back the dead?” Shinjo stared at him in disbelief. “Is this some kind of sick joke?”

“There’s no way anyone can resurrect the dead in this world.”

“That invitation is yours, Shinjo,” Vane said, ignoring the skepticism. “The tournament begins soon. Whoever takes the crown can rewrite their tragedy. Wealth, power, status, or life itself. Win, and it’s yours.”

“Who the hell are you?” Shinjo narrowed his eyes, staring hard at Vane to catch any sign of a lie. But he found nothing. Vane’s expression was an unreadable mask.

“Who I am is irrelevant. What matters is what you want.” Vane slowly began walking backward, his physical form phasing out and turning transparent.

“Hey, wait!” Shinjo lunged forward to grab him, but his hands passed straight through empty air.

“Damn it! Get back here and explain yourself! What is the Desire Grand Prix?!”

There was no answer. Shinjo’s voice merely echoed across the empty park.

On the other side of town, Vane tracked down Mayumi. The young woman was completely devastated, grieving the brutal murder of her boyfriend.

Just a few weeks ago, Mayumi had been excitedly waiting to pick him up from the airport, only to receive the horrific news that he had been collateral damage in a monster attack. He had promised that as soon as he got back, they would formally meet the parents and start planning their wedding. Instead, her happily-ever-after was violently snuffed out before it even began.

“Do you want to bring him back? Do you want to spend the rest of your life with him, just like you planned?”

“Join the Desire Grand Prix. Win the game, and you’ll be granted any wish your heart desires. Even pulling your lover back from the grave is possible.”

“Is… is that really true?” Mayumi clutched the elegant invitation in her trembling hands, looking like a drowning woman who had just been thrown a lifeline.

“It is. Just be patient. The game will begin shortly.”

With that, Vane vanished into thin air, leaving Mayumi standing frozen in the street.

After hand-delivering invitations to those burdened with the deepest regrets, Vane spent some time tagging the souls of the unlucky victims who had died in recent monster attacks. Once he finished conquering this universe, he planned to drag all of them back to the Minecraft universe to serve as competitors in the Desire Grand Prix.

With the prep work handled, Vane regrouped with the Emperor and Keigo Masaki to finally launch their preemptive strike against the God of the Kyrieloids in sub-space.

“So this is the ‘God’ who mouthed off and demanded humanity bow to him?” Keigo asked.

The Emperor cracked his knuckles, his eyes practically glowing with violent anticipation as he stared at Vane. Taking a beating lying down was completely against his nature. It was time to go on the offensive and show these extra-dimensional freaks the true meaning of the phrase: He who strikes at Mankind, no matter how far, shall be purged.

“That’s the one.” Vane nodded. Like a magic trick, he pulled a shimmering, rainbow-colored pickaxe out of his inventory.

This was the Dimensional Pickaxe he had earned from a previous quest. It could literally mine through the fabric of space-time.

“I’m going to dig us a backdoor right now,” Vane said, looking at the Emperor and Keigo. “Go rally the troops.”

With his orders given, Vane found an isolated clearing and materialized his Stand, Steve. The blocky avatar hoisted the pickaxe and violently swung it into thin air.

CRACK!

A massive, spiderweb fracture appeared in the empty air.

SHATTER!

A perfectly cubic chunk of reality popped out of existence, instantly sucked into Vane’s inventory. After a few more swings, a massive, perfectly square tunnel opened up, radiating a bizarre, paradoxical light.

Just as the portal stabilized, the newly formed Earth Defense Force—led by Keigo—arrived at the clearing, accompanied by GUTS under the command of Captain Iruma.

As Vane stepped forward to brief the strike team, Shinjo’s eyes widened in sheer shock.

Wait a minute! That’s the guy who gave me the invitation!

Shinjo’s mind was racing, but with no one to safely confide in, he forced himself to keep his mouth shut. Still, his curiosity about the Desire Grand Prix burned hotter than ever. If he won… could he actually bring his friends back?

After a brief, obligatory pep talk, Vane brought the focus back to the target.

“The Kyrieloids are hiding in their little pocket dimension, spying on us. The second we drop our guard, they’ll strike again. Since they refuse to coexist with humanity, we’re going to introduce them to true annihilation.”

“We’re going right through this tunnel to exterminate them. We’re going to ensure that humanity—and any alien refugee who actually wants peace—never has to live in fear of these zealots again.”

“Take these.”

Vane pulled out twenty Bamboo Copters from his inventory and passed them out to the strike team.

The dimensional tunnel was massive, but it still wasn’t wide enough to fit a GUTS Wing jet. Plus, human vehicles weren’t exactly rated to operate in the physics-defying environment of sub-space.

“Fascinating! Such a tiny rotor can actually generate enough lift to carry a human?” Horii marveled, wobbling unsteadily in the air like a kid with a new toy.

“Horii, focus on the mission! Secure your flight path!” Deputy Captain Munakata barked.

“I got it, I got it!” Horii grumbled. “Jeez, you don’t have to yell.”

“This tech is insane. That guy is seriously dangerous,” Shinjo muttered, watching Vane closely.

“Yeah. Master really is incredible,” Daigo whispered, his eyes filled with absolute reverence as he watched Vane lead the formation into the tunnel.

Huh?!

The entire GUTS squad whipped their heads around to stare at Daigo.

“What did you just call him?” Munakata asked, flying over to hover next to him.

“Master,” Daigo admitted, looking slightly embarrassed. “He’s the one who’s been training me. I wouldn’t be anywhere near this strong without him.”

“Amazing. He got you that shredded in such a short amount of time?” Horii asked, his eyes wide. “How the hell did he do it? Do you think he’d take me as a student? I’d kill for a muscle-bound physique like that.”

“I don’t know… Master has a really weird temper,” Daigo said, shaking his head. “Besides, you guys would hate his training regimen. It’s absolute torture.”

“If you’re calling it torture, never mind. I’m good,” Horii immediately backed down.