Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 1161 - 1161: NOT According to Plan

“…Earthquake + Sandstorm!”

The Veiled Legend kicked off the ground and charged straight at Evan, his spear glowing with demonic energy as he thrust it toward the Hero’s head.

But it wasn’t fast enough to reach before Evan’s foot slammed against the ground.

“Disaster Genesis!”

**BOOM!!

The ground convulsed violently the moment Evan’s foot struck, a deafening crack echoing through the dunes as the sands erupted in waves, and a massive slab of solid earth burst upward from the fractured ground, crashing into the Veiled Legend from below with crushing force.

His body was hurled skyward, his spear missing its mark as the impact threw him off balance. Before he could recover, an immense whirlwind collided with him mid-air, its pressure flinging him sideways through the remains of several ruined buildings, scattering stone and debris in every direction.

Fissures split open beneath the feet of the Demonic Hand members, and they didn’t even have the chance to flee before the sky was consumed by swirling walls of dust, the roaring wind drowning out every sound.

The two disasters intertwined, the earth tearing apart from below while the wind howled from above, merging into a maelstrom of destruction that none of them could resist.

The Level 600s were lifted off the ground and tossed into the air as though they weighed nothing, spinning helplessly within the violent winds.

The lower-level Demonic Hand members fared even worse, with some swallowed by the quaking earth, their screams silenced as the ground collapsed and buried them beneath the falling stone. Others were torn apart within the storm itself, their bodies shredded by sand moving at lethal speed.

Entire buildings were ripped from their foundations, the quake breaking their supports as the wind wrenched them skyward. Walls crumbled, towers folded in on themselves, and fragments of shattered stone and glass were flung across the desert like blades.

It didn’t take too long for the once yellow sands to darken to a grim red as the blood of the Demonic Humans mixed into the storm.

Seeing the devastation unfold around him, the Veiled Legend, who was shielding his body with a layer of demonic energy, gathered the ambient earth law energy swirling through the storm, raising his spear before stabbing it down into the ground with immense force and a roar.

From the point where the spear struck, a deep rumble echoed through the storm, followed by a burst of blinding dark-brown light.

The surrounding sand and air were drawn inward as the gathered earth law energy whirled into a massive cyclone of power that spiralled upward. The ground trembled as the cyclone expanded, its dense energy waves pushing outward in all directions and colliding violently with the raging winds of Evan’s sandstorm.

The clash unleashed a deafening shockwave that shook the land, the Veiled Legend’s law energy growing heavier as the storm winds began to lose their strength under the pressure of the countering force. The tremors running through the ground softened, the cracks across the dunes slowly sealing as the earth calmed under his control.

Within moments, the sandstorm was no more, leaving behind a small spiral haze of dust that was slowly dispersing into the still air.

Breathing heavily, the Veiled Legend dropped to one knee, his hand gripping his spear like a crutch. His chest rose and fell with exhaustion, sweat running down his temple as he surveyed the destruction around him.

Most of his forces were gone, either buried beneath the earth or torn apart by the raging winds, with the latter far more common, and only a few silhouettes staggered weakly through the wreckage.

‘This is bad. We need to re—’

“That didn’t kill him?!”

The sudden voice interrupted his thoughts, and his eyes widened as he turned toward the fountain.

Standing there was Evan, the one responsible for this mess, his face pale, his breathing ragged, and sweat dripping from his chin.

At the sight of the visibly weakened Evan, the Veiled Legend’s brain momentarily considered attacking him now, a thought that delayed him from giving his retreat order.

“Well,” Evan said between breaths, his tone deceptively casual, “that was surely enough of a ruckus to wake someone from sleep now, wasn’t it?”

The words made no sense to the Veiled Legend, but they stirred an uneasy feeling in him regardless. He rose and pulled up his spear, preparing to attack, when the ground beneath them began to tremble once more.

‘Another one?!’

He turned and shouted the retreat order for the surviving Level 500s and 600s, but his voice hadn’t even finished echoing when the fractured ground caved in, creating a massive sinkhole as a giant humanoid arm burst out from beneath the surface.

“W-what?!” he stammered, stumbling backwards as the enormous limb reached out and seized one of the Squad Leaders who had been trying to pull his men out of a wreck.

The fingers curled around the unfortunate Demonic Human and clenched, crushing his bones with a sickening crack.

Right after, another massive limb, roughly 100 metres from shoulder to fingertips, emerged from the sinkhole, slamming down onto the ruins of a nearby building and scattering the debris in all directions.

The Veiled Legend’s instincts screamed at him to flee, but the instant he tried to move, the world around him slowed.

His thoughts still moved normally, but his body moved sluggishly, as if he were forcing his way through an invisible mass of thick, heavy liquid.

‘What’s happening?! What is that arm?!’

Immense demonic energy erupted from the sinkhole as armour covered the massive limbs, the two of them using the ground as leverage to pull up the body they were connected to, a gigantic, lean full-plate armoured humanoid that rose from beneath the earth and towered over the surrounding ruins.

It moved smoothly in the slowed world, and once its body rose past the waist, two red lights began to glow within its visor, and a deep, furious voice rumbled from within the helmet.

[Just who the hell are you bastards disturbing someone’s sleep?!]

Each word released a pulse of immense demonic energy that crashed over the weakened survivors of Evan’s Disaster Genesis, blood spurting from their orifices as their slowed bodies gradually fell to the ground.

Evan momentarily stiffened, but quickly broke free of the slowed world, teleporting to Eliza’s side and gripping her shoulder as he channelled his magic power into her to shield her from the effect.

He glanced toward the Deadly Sin Siblings, noting that they too were unaffected, but his expression grew puzzled the moment he saw that Bianca was also unaffected, her gaze fixed on the armoured avatar with a weird expression.

‘Why is she…?’

His thoughts were cut short as the enraged voice from earlier echoed across the city once more.

[It matters not, anyway. Death is all that awaits you all.]

With that declaration, the armoured avatar extended one massive hand, swinging it through the air and punching several Demonic Hand members flat against the ground.

Its other hand released the mangled body it had been holding and swept to the side, unleashing a shockwave of law energy that hurled the remaining survivors through the air.

While airborne, law energy seeped into their bodies, and before everyone’s eyes, their skins began to age and wither.

Each movement of the armoured avatar literally carried the weight of collapsing mountains, crushing clusters of Demonic Hand members each time its hands slammed into the ground, before scooping up another group and squeezing, bones snapping like dry twigs as their bodies shrivelled within its grasp.

A second later, it swung its arm wide, releasing another devastating shockwave that tore through the air, sending the remaining ones flying, their screams drowned beneath the roaring sound of collapsing earth.

Their flesh sagged and wrinkled as though years had passed in moments, their vitality drained in seconds until only brittle husks remained.

Watching this happen, Evan recalled a piece of information that not even the Royals of Tarse were aware of.

Several hundred years ago, when Tarse hadn’t yet risen to the global superpower it is now, Meekdune had been filled with many thriving cities.

However, those cities were evacuated and abandoned after their oases dried up, or so the world was led to believe.

The truth was that the drying up of those oases had been a manmade disaster, created solely to justify the cities’ abandonment by the Royals of that era.

After all, they had all been forced to swear oaths of mana that prevented them from ever speaking of the true reason for the evacuation.

That ‘true reason’ was the entity now rampaging—or rather, eliminating all those who dared to disturb their slumber.

In the slowed world, the Demonic Hand members were killed one after another until only the Veiled Legend remained.

The armoured avatar turned toward him and grabbed him, hurling him high into the air before raising a hand and slamming it down.

Demonic energy condensed rapidly, creating a massive castle-shaped shield with a spiked tip. The shield plummeted at supersonic speed, its spike piercing through the Veiled Legend’s chest and pinning him to the ground in a tremendous explosion that sent a vast cloud of dust billowing into the sky.

With the last of the Demonic Hand members dead, the armoured avatar waved its hand to dismiss the shield, then scanned the surroundings to ensure no one was left alive.

After confirming there were none, it turned its massive body around, fists clenched, facing Evan’s group, who stood a few dozen metres beyond its arm’s reach.

[As for you lot…!]

The armoured avatar’s glowing eyes moved from the Deadly Sin Siblings to the two Heroes, and then to Eliza, silence filling the area.

That silence broke only when Evan, after helping Eliza stand properly, looked up and waved at it.

“Sup.”

The armoured avatar glanced at him, then looked back at the Deadly Sins before speaking.

[Nope.]

With that single word, the avatar pulled back its arms and descended into the ground, the earth trembling as the sinkhole it had emerged from smoothed over.

Evan chuckled at the sight, but before he could speak to the Deadly Sin Siblings, the hole that had just closed widened again, and the enormous avatar rose from the ground once more.

Stretching its body forward, it reached toward their group, its enormous hand grabbing Bianca and lifting her into the air, setting her upon its shoulder.

“…eh?”

After placing her on its shoulder, it sank back into the ground once more, the earth sealing itself as the world around them seemed to rewind, the collapsed buildings and shattered terrain restoring to how they had been before Evan’s group arrived.

“…”

Left standing there, Evan blinked in disbelief, his expression making it clear that the last part had most definitely NOT been part of his plan.

After all, there was no way he intended for his fellow Hero to be kidnapped in broad daylight by one of the Seven Deadly Sins, was there?