Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 1116 - 1116: Unpredictable Variables
When the brilliant light of teleportation faded, Evan found himself within the walls of a vast spatial tunnel.
It was like being trapped inside an immense, turbulent water slide, with spatial-law energy roaring through the passage, an overwhelming force driving everything inside toward a yet-unknown exit.
The sheer density of this energy was overwhelming, like a flood filling the entire pipe to its edges.
Arthur’s sword erupted with a massive burst of destruction energy, shattering the immobilisation on both Evan and Beatrix and forcing the man to immediately shift into defensive cosmic energy manipulation.
Even so, this did not grant them full freedom. Beatrix, though no longer immobilised, could only move with difficulty.
The crushing pressure of the tunnel’s energy slowed her movements, leaving her no choice but to wait for the right moment to strike and drag Artemisia away from the man.
Evan, however, having once been unwillingly hurled through a similar tunnel, adapted quickly and was able to regain control almost instantly, moving in the same moment that Arthur, unleashing the combined power of his four Pseudo-Authorities, attacked their kidnapper.
The man was multitasking at a level that would have shattered the minds of most beings.
One hand kept its hold on Artemisia, while the other manipulated the immense ambient cosmic energy within the tunnel to block Arthur and Evan’s attacks.
Simultaneously, he controlled the tunnel’s structure and flow, bending it with his spatiotemporal powers to redirect the channel across hundreds of thousands of light-years within the galaxy, all to shake off any potential pursuers.
Managing all of this while fighting them off one-handed and unarmed was a gruelling effort, and the strain was beginning to show as the boys pressed him harder.
Arthur’s black sword poured out destructive cosmic energy, breaking through the man’s attempts to suppress his movements by dominating the ambient cosmic energy. Meanwhile, Evan spammed Prismatic Vortexes, his flames even scorching the tunnel walls.
But both Arthur and Evan maintained careful control, knowing they could not risk collapsing the tunnel. A collapse would scatter them randomly through space-time, and the chance of being thrown into a star and instantly annihilated was a danger they could not ignore.
Still, their nonstop attacks overwhelmed the man, his estimations of how well they could fight within the spatial tunnel were crushed as wounds rapidly accumulated across his body.
Arthur feinted a strike with Lostvayne, forcing the man to raise his free hand in defence. In that brief moment, Evan unleashed a vortex aimed at his legs, forcing him to let go of Artemisia to counter the incoming attack.
The split-second chance was all Beatrix needed to activate her Unique Skill and wrench Artemisia’s unconscious body free from his grip.
The instant Artemisia was secured, Arthur unleashed his Extreme Nothingness technique, the condensed beam of energy warping the surrounding space.
Simultaneously, Evan launched a full-powered Prismatic Vortex, the brilliant colours of his flames roaring like a storm.
The two attacks rushed toward the man, their combined force enough to annihilate anything in their path.
But just before the blasts struck, they reached the end of the Spatial Tunnel and were all hurled out into the exit destination.
As they emerged from the tear in space, a sudden burst of cosmic energy erupted from the man’s body.
His power and durability spiked immensely, and simultaneously, the destructive energies within Arthur and Evan’s attacks destabilised.
In that instant, two thoughts crossed through his mind.
‘Good! Now that I’m here, I can finally channel the actual power of my Candidate Sigils.
With this, my temporal and destruction resistances will be strong enough to handle their attacks easily!’
Evan’s Prismatic Vortex and Arthur’s Extreme Nothingness struck him at that moment, triggering a catastrophic explosion that tore across the land.
The overwhelming destructive force annihilated everything within range, flattening mountains, levelling forests, and leaving the ground blackened and lifeless.
But within the churning smoke and raging flames, the man was completely unharmed.
Destruction energy seeped outward from his body, spreading into the air as a crimson mist that mingled with the smoke, and as it did, he fixed his gaze on Arthur, his expression calm.
‘With my Time Sigil, I can overpower that progenitor boy’s Pseudo-Authority.’
A blue marking appeared on the back of his right arm as he commanded.
‘Time St—’
Before the word could be completed, a blur burst through the smoke and slammed into his nose.
“Kuk?! What?!”
In half a second, his eyes widened in disbelief as he found himself staring directly into the barrel of a grenade launcher.
In the next half, the trigger was pulled.
***KAAAABOOOOMMM!!!!!
The explosion that followed was apocalyptic.
The blast released a shell that detonated upon impact with his body, sending out waves of energy that tore through the land, splitting the continent in two and leaving half of it in ruins.
His upper body was completely annihilated by the impact, erasing even the slightest trace of dust, while his lower body was swallowed by the inferno, reduced to ash as the shockwaves spread across the devastated land.
The forearm guard on Arthur’s left arm released a burst of cosmic energy, creating a barrier that shielded him and the other three from the devastating aftermath of the blast.
Though they were hurled through the air and slammed into the ground hundreds of kilometres away as the shockwaves from the explosion that had obliterated half a continent and vaporised the surrounding oceans swept across the planet’s surface, they were completely unharmed.
Watching the colossal pillar of magma and energy erupt into the sky with the force of a geyser, Evan turned to Arthur, his face caught between disbelief and confusion.
“…what the fuck is THAT?!”
Naturally, his words referred to the compact, barrelled weapon with reinforced plating and intricate energy circuits gripped in Arthur’s hands, the one that had fired the shell responsible for the devastating blast.
“A grenade launcher, what else?”
“…since when did grenade launchers do THAT?”
Evan gestured dramatically toward the distant explosion, the searing heat waves rolling over his face.
“Since my mother found out what grenades were,” Arthur answered matter-of-factly.
“…”
Evan stared at him, visibly processing the statement, and in the span of a second decided it was best filed away under things best ignored to avoid unnecessary headaches.
By the next moment, his attention shifted back to the distant eruption, his eyes narrowing as he asked,
“That guy’s done for, isn’t he?”
Although he asked the question, he already had a sense that the situation was far from simple, and Arthur’s response only served to confirm his suspicion.
“Don’t let your guard down, Evan. Nexus Events aren’t so straightforward.”
“?! Nexus Event?! Are you saying we’re in one right now?!” Evan exclaimed, eyes wide in shock.
A Nexus Event was a convergence point in space-time, a phenomenon where countless probabilities and outcomes collapsed into a single unavoidable path.
The mention of it brought to mind a memory of a conversation ‘Prisma’ once had with Kayla, but he quickly pushed the thought aside since this wasn’t the time, and instead he spoke.
“Oh well, I figured things weren’t gonna end so easily. Even now, my Danger Sense skill is going wild, sending me warnings from all directions.
It’s almost as if—”
“—just being on this planet is a DANGER to us.
A familiar voice cut him off, and both boys snapped their heads toward the source, where they saw a groaning Artemisia being helped to her feet by Beatrix.
“Arty, don’t push yourself!”
While Artemisia’s focus was fixed on the issue of the Nexus Event, Beatrix’s concern remained squarely on her friend’s condition.
Wiping away the blood that trickled from her nose, Artemisia seized Arthur’s arm, her voice trembling.
“We need to get off this planet. NOW!”
“Easier said than done, Artemisia. Creating Interplanetary Cosmic Gates takes time, and I have no idea when we can get at-!”
Arthur’s words abruptly cut off as a sudden, overwhelming sensation crawled up his spine.
Danger Sense shrieked in Evan’s head as well, and simultaneously, both boys moved.
Arthur’s right hand grabbed Artemisia, pulling her back, while Evan shoved Beatrix aside and conjured the Gazebind Aegis with his left.
A split-second later, a fist meant to crush Artemisia’s skull slammed into the shield.
**BOOOOOMMMM!!!
The collision released a thunderous shockwave, a violent surge of energy rippling outward like a tidal wave that split the air apart.
The ground beneath them was obliterated, collapsing into a massive crater as molten debris erupted skyward in blazing arcs.
The force scattered everyone except Arthur like dry leaves in a storm.
Evan’s shield, powerful though it was, couldn’t fully withstand the strike.
Despite absorbing the brunt of the impact, the sheer force of the strike reduced every single bone in Evan’s left arm to dust. Not fractured, not splintered, but pulverised into powder in an instant.
His muscles tore apart like overstretched fibres, and his flesh was shredded into ribbons under the devastating energy.
Blood burst across the scene, but that brief defence he managed was enough for Arthur to raise his grenade launcher.
*THUM—!
“??!!”
Arthur’s eyes widened as the man, now shrouded in a crimson aura of cosmic destruction energy, caught the shot in his hand without the slightest change in expression.
It was neutralised instantly, and though it attempted to explode, its destructive energy offered only faint resistance before being completely overwhelmed by the man’s cosmic energy, erasing any chance of detonation.
Arthur fired another, but the man’s other hand shot out, snatching it mid-flight. Once again, its destructive law energy was neutralised in mere moments.
The man’s cosmic energy swelled inside him, on the verge of erupting in a retaliatory strike.
But before it could, Arthur fired two more shots straight at his face.
The combined blasts this time unleashed waves of chaotic destruction, the destructive energy crashing against the man’s cosmic barrier. The violent clash warped space itself and sent a shockwave tearing through the skies.
Once again, Arthur relied on the Cosmic Artifact on his left forearm, burning another of its defensive charges to cloak the four teens in a shield of cosmic energy that absorbed the worst of the destruction and kept them alive.
It protected them from the collapsing space around them, but the lingering aftershock still hurled them into a spatial rift ripped open by the explosion’s cosmic energy.
The group spun helplessly through the rift, the turbulence threatening to scatter them apart.
Reacting instantly, Arthur activated his Spatial Pseudo-Authority, linking them together and ensuring no one was separated.
They couldn’t risk splitting up now.
Seconds later, they were flung out of the rift and slammed into solid ground, the collision gouging craters as their bodies skidded across the broken earth.
Arthur forced himself up, eyes scanning his injured allies and the unfamiliar terrain around them. Clicking his tongue in irritation, he narrowed his gaze as he checked his weapon.
As for his grenade launcher…
“…out of ammo.”
‘I didn’t reload it after the last time!’
He still had spare ammo stored in his subspace, but reloading a grenade launcher wasn’t something he could manage with just one hand.
For those few seconds it would take, both of his hands would be occupied, leaving him unable to wield his sword, and if he were attacked during that window… it was a risk he couldn’t afford.
Besides, there were far more urgent matters than reloading the launcher right now.
