Chapter 266 Soliciting Access

On the battlefield, Moon was already long past the city walls, approaching the mountain pass.

He decided to jump over the last group of soldiers instead of wasting time and stamina on them; he still had a more important battle about to take place.

Bouncing another time on his Echo, Moon landed on a smooth side of the mountain. His Spark Echo gathered once again, plating his shoes and, this time, his left hand.

Moon sheathed Colten’s sword and placed his hand, also coated in slight glitter, on the hilt, trying to keep himself balanced as he glided.

His body was using Echo and momentum to cross the mountain while defying gravity.

He looked to his right side; the army below was marching, and some were even looking at where the sand was falling from.

One of the soldiers stood still, gathering his Echo on his sword before—

Shua~

He sent a sword glare at Moon, who had no choice but—

"Damn bastard!"

—curse while defending with Liquid Mountain.

He also had to be extra careful not to split the glare and damage his foothold and path forward.

Moon whipped Liquid Mountain upward with the flat side of the blade and small glitter—

Ba~

With a muffled impact, the sword glare was sent flying upward.

Moon followed the trajectory of the Echo, going toward the golden second-floor sky; he pursed his lips under the helmet.

’This won’t do!’

As Moon sensed rapid Echo activation, he gritted his teeth.

"YOU BASTARDS, I LET YOU LIVE, SO LIVE WHILE YOU CAN, AND STOP WASTING MY TIME!" He screamed at the top of his lungs while pointing at the one who started this mess first...

Though he was further behind now, Moon used his Echo to go back that short distance in a recoil.

Moon didn’t know if they were suicidal, stupid or just unaware of what he did at the front.

Still, he made sure to waste some more time on them before resuming his glide again.

It was the cool entrance he had prepared, and he couldn’t just let it go.

After wreaking havoc within the last formation, Moon jumped off again to the mountain and started gliding away at the gap between the troops and ascenders.

As well as the tower where Enzo was.

No one attempted to attack him this time; if anything, those who survived were wearing a look of deep-rooted dread.

Not concerned about their well-being, Moon finally reached a descent. He unsheathed Colten’s sword again and let himself go down.

From the rocky mountain to the desert sand.

Moon glided at a blinding speed and momentum, sending sand everywhere his feet dragged.

Only when he was a hundred or so meters away from the wooden tower—

Shhh-rrt... shhh-rrt~

Moon rooted his feet into the sand, taking back the Spark Echo on them while lowering his stance and rotating his body to the left.

Sending a cloud of sand at the ascenders ahead.

"Yo, did it take me long?" Moon asked.

The heavy grains of sand fell right away, showing Moon standing there.

Stab~

He dropped both his weapons, stabbing into the sand before uncovering his face.

"What is going on?" he exclaimed, looking at the ascenders who hadn’t moved an inch.

"It took you longer than expected," Enzo spoke at last.

Moon raised his eyes to him. "Oh, you are here too," he said in surprise. "Ah... Enzo, was it?"

"You remember now?" Enzo asked, not forgetting the last time they spoke.

Moon put his hands in his pockets, stepping away from his weapons. "Nah, I had Talia remind me," he said truthfully.

Enzo’s smile didn’t waver. "I was sceptical about it."

"About what?"

"I wasn’t sure if you’d caught on to my plan for the first battle," Enzo explained. "Turns out, we’re the same kind."

"Like hell we are," Moon retorted, taking a few more steps forward.

"You smell like a corpse-eating rat; it was hard not to figure out what’s on your mind," he added.

"Korr said you’re the dirtiest bastard on the battlefield," Enzo said jokingly. "I didn’t believe him till a little while ago."

Moon didn’t answer immediately.

"I don’t smell that rotten bastard anywhere either," he said first, looking around leisurely.

"He was given a different task this time around," Enzo said with a hint of provocation in his tone.

Moon raised his gaze back, finally letting it fall on Mando, who didn’t look okay by any means.

His face was getting reddish, as if he was holding something back. "Is he constipated?" Moon asked, pointing at Mando.

Enzo glanced at Mando. "Something like that." He turned to Moon. "You don’t seem to mind it much... Korr’s absence, I mean."

"Let him live well, enjoy whatever he’s left with." Moon smiled, a very calm smile. "He should enjoy it as much as he can; that fleeting safety you’re giving him."

’You gay bastard!’ Moon added to himself.

Enzo’s smile waned for a moment. "He really is the one who knows you best." He sighed.

Moon was now standing over 20 paces away from his weapons and another 20 away from the closest ascender stationed between him and the wooden tower.

Most looked at him nervously, while one at the very front line was far from looking afraid.

A man who wore the military attire of Fable seemed to be one of the retired ascenders of the empire.

He was taller and older than most ascenders around him, as well as bulkier.

His muscles stood out, even with the armor covering most of his body. His eyes were glaring at Moon, unlike the avoidant others.

It wasn’t a rare or impossible occasion; such soldiers could exist everywhere and on every battlefield, those fearless ones.

But something about this man, something about him, left Moon with a weird and unsettling feeling.

"Are these guys for show?" Moon asked, standing exactly at an equal distance between the weapons and the ascenders. "Shouldn’t they be screaming and attacking me by now?"

Enzo nodded. "I guess you’re right; I almost forgot."

He glanced at Mando once. "Give them the orders," he ordered.

Mando pointed at Moon, the look of constipation still on his face.

"KILL HIM!"

Mando ordered with unrestrained fury. Moon was still the king of his faction.

Only by killing him here and now, only then, would the deaths of those on the far front be justified and worth it.

Here and now, Moon must die.

The ascenders moved together carefully, trying to surround the unarmed Moon while they still could; yet, the one in question...

That one soldier...

He didn’t join their ranks, staying still.

Meanwhile, in the Control Centre.

THUD~

"DAMMIT!" Lucen smacked the console where the pillar of screens rose, making it crack all the way down.

Not only that.

The entire central branch of the Normalization Facility shook at his simple hit.

"What’s going on?" Ed asked first; it was the first time he had ever seen Lucen angry. "What’s happening?"

It was clear that whatever made Lucen angry wasn’t simply the trial flow or how it was going. It was something more fundamental.

For a few seconds, silence settled over the room.

Lucen pointed with a finger, and a screen appeared before everyone’s eyes.

[Outer God: Primordial Flow, soliciting access to trial broadcast]

[Outer God: Primordial Flow has successfully completed the payment]

[Access Granted]